How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization

Chapter 16: Alvin the Treacherous and the Red Death; Master and Apprentice Battle

The Helheim Gates

After a month and a half, the fleet had made its way once again back to the Helheim Gates. As before, they were attempting to find the Dragon's Nest, and rid their island of the blight that had plagued them for over three hundred years. The first time, they had proved unsuccessful, due to their lack of knowledge of the Helheim Gates, and the fact that the dragons ambushed them with great success. But now, they had a leading edge. Now, they had a dragon that would lead them the way, as Stoick's ship, which held Draco prisoner at the front, chained down and muzzled, as they entered through the fogged up island chains.

Once they had entered, Gobber, whose prosthetic was now a prehistoric hammer, walked up to the hardened Stoick. He was standing at the nose of the ship, as the other ships followed after them. And so, Gobber began to ask, "Stoick, um… I was wondering," he started as he stood at the chief's side, a little jittery, but trying to hide his nervousness, "I was overhearing some of the men just now, and some of them… not me… are wondering what it is we are up to here. Not me, of course, I know you always have some plan in mind, but some… not me… are wondering if there is a plan at all, and what it might be?"

"Find the nest, and take it," Stoick replied, not tearing his eyes off the front of the ship. "And if any dragons stay behind to fight… we kill."

"Ah, strike first, and send them runnin'," Gobber nodded, "That'll do the trick."

"It's rashness at the borderline of stupidity," Draco finally mouthed off, getting the two Vikings' attention, as they witnessed Draco speaking to them, "You honestly think it'll be as simple as that? If they all do run, there's a much bigger problem for you."

The two were silently stunned at this, as they looked to each other for an answer. But Gobber, merely shrugged as he stated the obvious, "It talks."

"First of all, I'm not much fond of being referred to as It," Draco calmly but annoyed, "You can just call me Him, or Draco…"

"I'll call you dead, if you don't shut it, Devil," Stoick threatened as he was now in the dragon's face, glaring daggers at the beast.

"STOP! CALLING! ME! DEVIL!" Draco shouted out in annoyance, until he huffed, "I'd also prefer it if you'd call me dragon." he then turned away as he huffed and mumbled, "At least your son had better manners…"

But Draco was smacked across his face, hard by Stoick, nearly breaking a tooth or two. The Golden Fleece turned to see the Viking chief seething with anger, at the very mention of his son. Draco huffed, "Why are you so upset? You banished Hiccup for going against your word. I thought you didn't mind…"

"Odin, Almighty, Dragon, I mind dearly," Stoick shouted in a fit of rage. "Everything… everything would have been fine… had my son just killed at least one of you vile beasts! He wouldn't have been one of us by now, if he had just stopped being all of… well, Hiccup, and listened…"

"Then maybe you should have tried listening to him, Stoick the Vast," Draco pointed out, a bit calmer than before, "And stop trying to make him into something other than what he is." both the dragon and the Viking chief were silent for a moment, until Draco spoke out again, "As for Hiccup… Stoick, your boy is stronger than you think. I've watched over him for the past three months, seeing him bloom into a strong and courageous warrior. Not the kind you're usually used to seein', but a warrior in his own."

Stoick was silent for a moment, with a fatherly concerned face deep in thought. It had been the same look that Gobber had seen back at the hall that day, when he suggested the boy be put in training. Gobber, who had listened into the conversation, walked over to Stoick as he nodded, "Y'know, he's got a point there, Stoick…"

But it was halted, as Draco uncontrollably twitched and jerked his head in a direction through the fog. Stoick saw this, and immediately indicated that this must have been what his son meant by dragons could find the nest. It was somewhat similar to they way a bee would be attracted back to its hive. Immediately, he ran to the back of the ship, taking the rudder, and immediately steered the ship in the direction that Draco was looking in.

"Stay within sight of each other," Stoick ordered the men, "Divert as much power to the rudders, as possible, and remain in ear shot to each other. Ready your weapons and ready the catapults. We move further now."

The rattle and creaking of the ships' hulls grew louder, as the column of their vessels moved further into the grey fog. Stoick the Vast was at the head of the fleet, flanked by main battle ships on both sides. The optimum time to strike was now. They had a limited window of opportunity; they could not afford to waste it.

"Keep following that sound, as well as our ship," Stoick ordered the men from the other ships, "The rest of the ships, follow my lead." He glared daggers into the unknown of the fog banks, "We're coming for you, Devils."

Back at Berk

Dragon Coliseum

Hiccup looked up at the large steel doors that held the dragons all prisoner. Next to him was Toothless, curiously wondering what his human friend could be up to. Hiccup was sure that this plan might have worked, at least in his head it worked; get the other trainees with him, and they all head to the Helheim Gates to stop his father. Unfortunately, he didn't take in account that the others would or wouldn't show up; it was a pretty risky gamble or not.

"If you're planning on getting eaten, I'd definitely go with the Gronckle."

Both Hiccup and Toothless turned around, and were surprised at what they saw. Not only Astrid was there, but Syn, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut and Tuffnut, were all there. He figured the first three would show up, but not all the others. It was then that Hiccup stepped up a bit, confused as he asked, "Guys. What are you…?"

"Astrid told us you had something crazy planned," Syn answered, as she crossed her arms, and smirked at him, "Seriously, you didn't think we'd let you go and have all the fun? Did ya?"

"You and your dragon were wise to seek the assistance of the world's most deadly weapon," Tuffnut pointed out as he pushed his sister aside, and looked to both Hiccup and Toothless as he stood in front of them almost five feet from them, not even flinching as he was close to a Night Fury. He then turned to Toothless, as he finished, "… it's me."

Toothless cocked an eyebrow as he looked to Hiccup for an answer to that. But all Hiccup did was sigh and rolled his eyes at Tuffnut's egoistic comments.

But then they turned to their attention to Snotlout, who popped up and shoved Tuffnut out of the way. "I love this plan," he said to his cousin with much enthusiasm.

Pushing him out of the way, Ruffnut inches closer to Hiccup, commented him, "You're crazy." she stopped as she looked behind her, and then back to him as she whispered seductively to him, "I like that…"

Hiccup was kinda nervous about that, as was Toothless. But luckily, a loud, forced cough from Astrid broke the awkward moment, thankfully. Shoving Ruffnut away, she looked at Hiccup as she gave him an enthusiastic smile, "So, what is the plan?"

He smiled at this turn of events, but regained a composure of seriousness as he turned his attention not just to Astrid, but to everyone else, as he began and explained. "Alright, everybody," he started out to them, gaining their attention, "The plan is pretty short and simple: get to the Helheim Gates, and get the fleet out of there, alive and in one piece." he then shrugged as he further explained, "But if we can't do that, then we'll just have to join and finish the fight." he then stopped as he asked, "Any questions?"

"Yeah, just one," Tuffnut pointed out, "How we gonna get there?"

"Yeah, most of the boats are all gone," Ruffnut added in.

Hiccup smirked, as he knew what kinda response he was going to get, "We're gonna fly there."

Now it was Fishlegs to ask and point out, "How? Sure, Toothless can carry two individuals, but I doubt he can carry…" it was then that they realized what he was getting at, as Fishlegs stammered, "Uh, Hiccup… are you sure about…?"

"Seriously, Hiccup?" Syn began to ask, "I mean, they're not exactly…"

"I don't think Hiccup wouldn't have come up with this idea, if he wasn't sure about it," Astrid defended. And turned to him as she nodded, "Go for it."

He nodded back in a reply, and walked towards the Dragon Holding steel doors, with Toothless at his side.

Back at the Gates

The fog became thicker as the ships sailed in further into the uncharted territory. The tension was palpable as they went in further to the section that they had not crossed in before. As they did so, an odd noise gradually started to build up, sounding like very loud crickets, combined with a howling wind. As they went in further, some of the Vikings took notice of wreckages of ships of different tribes that had tried to venture in to find the nest, and failed to return back. It was then that Gobber had taken notice of a familiar ship, hanging from one of the rock formations they were passing by.

"Ha," Gobber nervously pointed out, "Was wonderin' where that went."

Stoick looked around, trying to figure out something that wasn't right. The last time they had ventured in, a few dragons were in some locations, fighting them away. But now… they weren't even present to fend them off, and send them home with their tails between their legs.

"They should have at least tried to make an attack," Stoick whispered to himself as he steered in the direction that Draco looked in, "Why aren't there any…?"

"They know you're coming," Draco answered, knowing that Stoick was thinking the question out. "They're basically inviting you in, just to finish this war you have."

"So they know we're here," Stoick replied, smirking, "Good. I hate getting a person in the back unnoticed." he looked to the men, "Ready weapons and be ready. Everyone else, stay low and be alert."

"Chief," one of the men called out from the ship, "In front of us. Land."

The ship finally came to a skidding halt on the rocky and sandy shore. Stoick left the rudder, as he walked down the ship's deck, reaching up to Draco's face. The Golden Fleece grunted, "Stoick, listen to reason. There's a dragon on this island you're not capable of defeating with just swords or catapults. For the last time, take your ships and go back to Berk."

But his pleas for Stoick to turn around when unheard, as Stoick looked up. They had landed on an island, which was directly a vast and dormant volcano. He scowered all over the rock formation, finding anything to at least hint out if this was the nest. He almost thought it was just another island… until… he spot it. The tip of a Monstrous Nightmare's tail, moments away hanging out until it zoomed back into the darkness of the volcano's cliff side cracks. They had finally found it. Stoick's face broke into a confident smirk. Finally, the thing they had been searching after all those years. Finally, it was now within their grasp. Finally, they could end the war once and for all.

"We're here," Stoick pointed out with a victorious smile on his face.

He leapt off the boat, landing on the ground. But at the moment he did so… the chirping and whistling sound stopped in an instant.

Back at the Coliseum

At the moment, all the teens that were at the coliseum were in awe, impressed and mesmerized by the scene in front of them. Besides Astrid, as she ever was even though she had grown used to it, Syn, the twins and Fishlegs were equally excited. Toothless was curled up in a corner, close to them, looking on in amusement, silently offering moral support to his rider.

Slowly, Hiccup led the large, red reptile, the Monstrous Nightmare, out of its enclosure cage. His hand placed gently on the dragon's snout, as a sign of trust, showing he had no intention of hurting him at all. Like watching a snake charmer do his magic, it was somehow mystical how the young Viking, the one that they all had once viewed as the most useless of Berk, could bring these great beasts under his control in such a simple manner. Astrid heard him whisper comforting words to the Nightmare, assuring it that he, along with everyone else there, had no hostile intentions to it.

Out of the corner of everyone's eyes, Snotlout was tensing up; his feet shuffling on the spot. Nervousness overcame him, as he knelt down to the ground. He slowly started to reach for a broken spear head that had been left behind. He grabbed it, and was holding it just in case.

Astrid took notion of this, and lightly hit him on the shoulder. "No, don't."

He gave her a look of incredulity, and she returned with her own glare, making it clear that it wasn't a request. Whimpering, he got back up to face Hiccup, with the Nightmare beside him.

Slowly, Hiccup advanced towards Snotlout, bringing the dragon with him. Taking Snotlout's hand, he tried to get Snotlout to become acquainted, 'connected', with the dragon. The cowardly boy flinches, and jerks his arm away in fear. However, he was pushed forward by none other than Toothless, with the dragon's nose pushing him on the back forward to the Nightmare.

"Wait!" he stated as the two got him close to the Nightmare, "What are you…?"

"Shh… It's okay… Relax…" Hiccup reassured him.

Slowly and carefully, the two brought the larger boy closer. And Hiccup brought Snotlout's hand to replace his on the Nightmare's nose. Initially, Snotlout drew back at the feeling of the dragon's warm breath, but slowly, the dragon let out a low growl of acceptance, its eyes softening at the boy's presence. Snotlout heave a sigh of relief, and let out a relaxed and surprised chuckle, as the coolness of the situation finally got the better of him.

Hiccup and Toothless strode away, to Snotlout's surprise and sudden loss of confidence. "Wait… Where're you going?" he cried out, feeling rather nervous.

"You're going to need something to hold on," Hiccup answered, as he reached for a few ropes stowed away in a crate in the corner of the area. Toothless also helped out by pulling out a few shields and leather belts.

More growls are heard from the other side, drawing the attention of the others over to the source. To their surprise, the others faced again the dragons they had fought during training, now curiously pattering over to where those that didn't have a dragon stood. Nervous, and much concerned, they weren't sure of going towards them. Seeing their fear, Syn, who had learned much of what Hiccup had shown her and Fishlegs, decided to step up.

She ran towards the Volcanoback, and looked her arms around its neck, shouting out in pride, "Dibs on the Volcanoback!"

At that very instant, the Volcanoback didn't try to flinch or even bite at Syn. Instead, it purred out like a tiger, allowing this gesture of affection to go on with it and its new human companion. This signified in what Hiccup had shown in the ring, and with Toothless, that he was right; both dragons and humans didn't have to be enemies, which swayed their fears instantly aside. The twins rushed over to take the Zippleback, while Fishlegs slowly approached the Gronckle. All that was left, was Astrid, as she was left with the spiky, blue Nadder.

Slowly, she walked towards it; a feeling of nervous excitement taking over her body. This was probably due to the fact that she had attacked the Nadder continuously, and that the dragon would soon feel resentment towards her, even if she got near the Deadly Nadder. Fingers trembling in anticipation, Astrid rasied her hand, attempting to reach for the blue-green scales. Seeing her come close, the Nadder let out a chirping growl, slightly showing her teeth, but not running away.

Astrid nearly backed away, a little frightened, but was stopped as someone grabbed her hadn gently. She turned around and saw Hiccup, standing behind her and leading her forward back to the Nadder; his fingers on his right hand, tracing donw hers as he held a fair and gentle grip on hers, slowly putting up her hand again. They both stopped as both their hands were inches before the Nadder's horned nose.

The Nadder's eyes open wide as she looked at the boy and girl's hand, and slowly, very slowly, she closed her eyes…

… and placed her nose lightly in Astrid's hand, letting out a bird's cooing chirp come out of his mouth softly.

"Feeling's not too bad, isn't it?" Hiccup asked, with a smirk appearing on his face.

Seeing the smile, she blushed slightly, but turned away, not wanting to have him see it sa she stuttered, "Don't… don't be stupid."

Toothless then walked in with the makeshift reigns and saddle. Hiccup then began to help her out by lending a hand as she tied the makeshift reign onto the comparatively thinner frame of the Nadder. Smiling in satisfaction, she muttered very quietly to Hiccup, "Thank you."

Hiccup turned away, blushing as well, as he shrugged, "Ah, no biggie." Toothless, after seeing this display, rolled his eyes, and gagged.

Grabbing the few weapons that had survived the battle against the Nightmare, they slung them over their shoulders and leapt onto theirs own steed. Everyone strapped themselves on to the saddles with their own safety lines, and either grabbed onto reigns or the horns of the dragons. Confidence and exhilaration at actually riding their own dragon washed over each of them, especially Astrid most of all.

One by one, they took to the skies, with Hiccup and Toothless making sure the others were handling their dragons correctly.

Finally, Hiccup and Toothless took off themselves. Toothless seemed glad to be able to fully stretch his wings once more. Once they were all in the air, Toothless and Hiccup flew fast and in front of them, leading the others, as he continued to go forward, but then Hiccup turned around while still going forward.

He got their attention as he called out, "Okay, everybody, listen up! We've got a month and a half to get to the Helheim Gates. We need to get there in less time, like tomorrow morning!" at seeing their faces, Hiccup also stated, "One other thing, the dragon that's on the island, the Red Death, it's not something you'd want to face alone. Believe me, we need to work together, Dragon and Viking alike, just to bring it down." after that was said, Hiccup looked forward, and shouted with his right fist in the air, "Alright everyone, let's rock and roll!"

Exclaiming in the heat of the adrenaline rush, all of them sped off in the air, into the distance, dragons roaring, heading to save the world and their way of life: dragon and Viking, Once-Ways and New-Ways.

At the Dragon's Nest

The Vikings had made it hard at work to ready themselves for this one final battle. They had sharpened up logs and stuck them up to create a perimeter fence in order to fend off the dragons that might have tried to fight back. They even started to unload the catapults and get them in position for the upcoming battle. Stoick was drawing up the battle plan for the battle yet to come against the dragons. And boy, was Stoick going to make sure that they won.

"When we break the ground open, all hell is going to break loose." The Chief addressed his fellow Viking warriors.

"And my undies," Gobber quirked, breaking the silence, "Good thing I brought extras on this trip."

Just ahead of the formation, laid the black, dark crack; an opening into the underground cavern. It was thin, and gave little room for entry. The plan was simple; it was to blow it open, and move in with an all-out assault.

"No matter how this ends," Stoick announced to them all as he looked out at the cave, "… this ends today."

"Men, they outnumber us three to one; good odds, I must say," Stoick shouted, beginning his speech to his men, "This day, we rescue ourselves, our families, our fathers, sons, mothers, daughters, brothers and sisters from the merciless horrors that the devils have brought us. Today we usher in a new future, not for ourselves, but for the future generations of Berk itself. No longer will the monstrous devils plague us or our home. For those who do not survive this battle, know this; your sacrifice will be remembered."

"Fight bravely, and fight well. For tonight, we will go home to a new era of victory!" Resounding cheers sound from the assembled tribes of Berk, men and women ready to end the war they have been fighting for so long. "And make sure you've had a good breakfast," Stoick added as he raised his battle hammer up and cried out, "FOR TODAY… WE DINE… IN HELL!"

"Catapults! Initiate bombardment!" Stoick ordered, and with that order, lines of the catapults unleash a rain of heavy boulder projectiles at the wall. The signature whistle of the rocks, followed by the thundering rumble made by the rocks as they hit the wall, smashing into it, signaling the start of the battle.

The catapults were once again readied for another assault on the nest. the Vikings were all ready to give the dragons a one way ticket to the Real Helheim Gates. They were battle-ready, adrenaline pumping through their blood.

The fifteen seconds of the rocks smashing into the volcano side seemed like forever. The last boulder finally hit the ground, as it fell to the ground with a loud thud. As it did so, the wall surrounding the fissure began to give way. Rumbles shook the earth, as rocks cracked and tumbled all over the area. The darkness within the passage created by the catapults spread wider, as if consuming the any possible chance in the nest with a black hole.

After a while, the dust finally settled, revealing a forced open entrance into the cavern. Stoick walked up to the entrance, and stood at the entrance, trying to peer into the darkness to make out any shapes or entrances. But so far… nothing. There was a high-pitched howl as wind rushed into the black space. No sunlight shone in, making the fissure seem even darker that it already was. Usually, that wasn't the best of environments to go in without knowing what was waiting for you.

All hold their breath in suspense, awaiting for an attack. The Chief narrowed his eyes, giving his next instruction. "Flame balls, deploy. Shed some light in there."

One of the catapults loaded on a haystack like boulder, covered in flammable oil. Immediately after lighting it, they shot the ball in there, missing Stoick, as he got a gander at what was inside. The bright ball of fire flew into the cave, illuminating it from the inside. There was a collective gasp from all those outside on the beach near the vessels, as the bright light revealed a horrific sight.

Hundreds, maybe even thousands of dragons, different sizes and species, swarmed all over the walls and sides of the cavern. There were a few shrieks and growls, as the reptiles flinched, blinded and irritated by the intense illumination caused by the flamed bombardment that illuminated the cavern hallway. Slowly, the flare faded into the blackness, and the cave fell dark yet once more.

The Berk Vikings, including Stoick and Gobber, stood unfazed, despite knowing what odds they were now up against. Readying their weapons, they all awaited the assault order, in which Stoick finally shouted, "ATAAAAAAACK!"

Ear-shattering roars from the Vikings rocked the cave as Stoick charged in, swinging his hammer like crazy, at the dragons. Gobber and a few others came in, helping him out as possible. Letting loose a roaring battle cry, the Vikings charged in to kill the beasts with their axes and swords; their shields to protect the, and the catapults shot out all boulders, doing their best to kill the beasts. The rattle of weapons and battle cries echoed around the cave, increasing in volume and becoming deafening as more and more Vikings engaged the dragons in combat.

At least, it would have been a bloody battle… if the dragons, boht old and young, didn't decide to dodge and avoid and make a run for it.

Shrieks and roars of rage and pain added to the thundering noises, and the dragons immediately took flight out of the cave. Though some of them countered with fireballs and flamethrowers of their own nature, they realized that they could not win against the human Vikings and their catapults. At least that would have been the reason, though they weren't looking for a fight… they were looking for a way to escape the island. Escaping through the entrance, the numerous swarms beat their wings and soared out of the cave.

However, Stoick was all prepared for this. The general idea was to scare them out of there, but after the events that led him to exiling his own son, he wasn't about to show mercy to these godless, mindless, and treacherous devils so easily.

"Catapults, fire!"

Immediately, they fired the catapults at the approaching dragons, smashing down dragon after dragon. Although it didn't hit them hard enough, as those that got smacked down below, immediately got up before the other Vikings could go over them and kill them. The catapults were nearly close to emptying their payloads, as most of the dragons flew into the foggy skies, nearly disappearing from sight.

The dragons realized the dangers surrounding them, and were forced to fly upwards. The dragons did outnumber the humans, several hundred to one, and giving up on the fight, many still managed to escape, albeit with minor injuries on a number of them. Flying off into the surrounding fog, their shrieks and roars subsided into the distance.

The skirmish apparently lasted for no longer than 5 minutes.

"Is that it?" Gobber asked as he shrugged at this turn of unforeseen events.

He was just as surprised as anyone else was. After all, they expected the dragons to put up at least a bit of a fight, and not run away.

As the silence sets in, there is a loud cheer, as Stoick shouted, raising his hammer up, "We've done it!"

The Vikings all cheered out loud, raising their weapons as they cheered on their victory. They had finally forced the dragons out of their island chains, and had won the three-hundred year old war. As further cheers echo about, the General senses something amiss.

A low growl was heard, through the noise of the cheers. Stoick then heard a yelling voice mixed into it, as it shouted, "STOICK!" immediately, Stoick turned his attention back at his ship, and saw the Golden Fleece struggling the bonds. He thought the dragon was going to try and attack them, but it seemed like it was trying to get away. It was then that realized there was something else on the island they weren't aware of.

"THIS ISN'T OVER! Stand your ground, stay in formation!" He yells his orders over the intercom. Stunned, the troops return to their original battle-ready positions.

It was then that they heard footsteps, coming from the inside of the cavern. Stoick readied his hammer, as did all the others with their weapons. Whatever it was, they were gonna pound into it, like they would with any of the other dragons. However, what they saw coming out of the darkness of the cavern, didn't make a whole lot of sense. Coming out of the cave, was a cloaked and hooded figure, who just stopped only ten feet from Stoick and the others.

"Who are you?" Stoick shouted, threatening with his hammer at the ready, "Show yourself!"

The figure just stood there, taking a deep breath, until finally, he pulled back his hood… revealing himself to be none other than…

"Unfer?" Gobber asked, as it was revealed to be Unfer, "What in Volstagg's undies are you doin' out here?"

"Now that's just rude," Unfer stated as he calmly addressed them all, "I live here. Well, that is to say, that I've lived on this island for about close to thirty years of my life."

It was Stoick's turn for interrogation, as he walked up and threatened, "Unfer! You've got some explaining to do, you weak, gutless, sniveling…"

"You shut your Odin-forsaken mouth, Stoick," Unfer interrupted, no longer kissing up, but sounding rather PO'ed as the Viking chief stopped, shocked by this defiant attitude towards him. But Unfer didn't go uninterrupted as he went on, "For nearly thirty years I've had to put up with you…" and shouted to everyone in ear-length, "… WITH ALL OF YOU! You moronic, muscle-bound, grog-drinking imbicels that you all are, and yet for some reason, I managed to find the strength to hold in my disgust for all of you when the time was right to wipe out all of you in a single swift stroke." he then sighed as he wiped back his hair with his hand, and looked contemptibly at Stoick, "And to be in the same room with you… the one who had me exiled thirty years ago…"

"What are you talking about?" Stoick demanded, "I only met you ten years ago, when you became a member of the council."

"Oh, we've met before, Stoick the Vast," Unfer replied, taking a deep sigh as he creaked his neck a bit, "When we were both sixteen years of age, we were put into the Dragon Training course. Of course, I wasn't the most physically-able Viking among all of you, but I was certainly the brightest. Bright enough to see the Nadder about to try and take a swipe at you…" and then seemingly impossible, pulled a bit of the flesh off the right side of his face, "… and push you out of the way…" and revealed a three clawed scar going down across the right side of his face, going down on his eyelids, eyebrow, and under his eye, as he finished, "… but left me this scar… which earned my one-way banishment off of Berk, no thanks to you, your father, and the council on their ways."

Stoick nearly didn't know what he was talking about, but the scar was what struck a cord in his memories. It was then that Stoick's face contorted from rage and shock, to one of horrified surprise as he spoke out in a whisper, only one name.

"Alvin?" he whispered, but only loud enough for Gobber to hear, "Alvin the Treacherous?"

"Don't… CAL ME THAT!" Unfer, now revealed as Alvin, nearly bellowed out in an enraged voice to his former chief, "That name forever haunted me, since I was banished out in this Asgard-forsaken place." But then his anger subsided, as his calm demeanor came back, "Though, I really should thank you, Stoick. My banishment was the best thing that ever happened. It brought me here… were a foolish dragon thought he could change me by teaching me all his secrets." he then let out a devilish smirk as he went on, "It gave me strength beyond anything else, knowledge on how to control the dragons, and the means to take my revenge on the entire village and island of Berk itself."

It was then, that Stoick was starting to piece the whole thing together, as he looked to Alvin, horrified. "It's you," he declared, "You're the one in control of the dragon raids for nearly twenty years now!"

"Oh! So you did listen to your son," Alvin mocked, "But yes, Hiccup found that out when he and his Night Fury stumbled upon the Dragon's Nest, that something had to push the inhabitance of this place to continue to raid your village of its food supply for days, rather than once a month." He then sighed annoyed as he continued, "And believe me, if that Nightmare, while still induced with Sulphurious in its system to boost up its aggressive behavior, he would have killed your son before he had a chance to tell you. Even with his feeble attempts to tame him in front of you all." He then sighed once again, as a smirk on his face once again showed, "But it doesn't matter… today, I finally gain my revenge on Berk… by burning it to the ground, now that all the warriors are here."

"Nice try, Alvin," Gobber shot out, "But you're army's pretty much flown the coop, with their tails between their hind legs."

Alvin smirked, as he let out a chuckle, "Oh, Gobber. You really think I had just an army to attack Berk with?"

Gobber took a deep breath to mouth out a response, but then blankly answered, "Well… I did… until you chuckled like that."

"I needed something to ensure the dragons were under my thumb, rather than have an eel whip at my side," Alvin replied, "No. you need something like my partner." He then turned around towards the mouth of the cave, and shouted out, "RAGNAROK!"

The call of that name echoed throughout the cave entrance, and over the Vikings. It was just enough heard by Draco, that had his eyes widen with surprise, as he now gave all his might to free himself from his bonds. A long moment of silence distilled over the land, until a deafening roar sounded out, and a foul wind blew out of the cave, that nearly blew the Vikings off their feet, save for Alvin. The ground shook, causing more debris to fall within the cave.

Realizing the gravity of the situation, and that maybe he should have listened to his son, Stoick the Vast gave what he felt may have been his final orders. "GET CLEAR! FALL BACK!"

Then suddenly, crashing through the rocks and cutting through the debris and dust clouds, a monstrous creature far larger, and far more hideous than any dragon he or anyone else had ever encountered before bursts through the entrance of the cave. The beast must have been nearly over a hundred… no a hundred and fifty feet in height, and possibly longer in length, dwarfing all the dragons that they ever had seen. If anything at all, it could swallow perhaps twenty dragons by chomping on them and swallow them whole, still screaming, slowly digesting them. The beast was reminiscent of dinosaur like qualities; it showed all over its body of such distinguished features. It was reddish-grey, covered in red rock-like scales that seemed to fuse together to form an impenetrable, yet decaying suit of armor made out of coral reefs. Its limbs were strong and powerful enough to give massive blows, and to steady its own weight, along on each foot giant raptor-like sickle claws to slice up even the strongest of mountains. Multiple protrusions and horns adorned its spine shaped like coral reefs, leading up to two rows of five large bluish-grey eyes on its great skull. Its head resembled that of a T-Rex, with the back of its skull was armored up by coral-shaped plates and horns, and on its nose was a sharp but dull massive rhino horn. Its jaws were large enough to engulf multiple ships, and its yellowish teeth, in which it was missing three and had a nasty scar on where they should have been, was strong enough to crush even the strongest of ships or steel. On its back were giant black and jagged clawed wings folded up, and at the end of its tail was tipped by a massive blunt mace end, used to probably bash its opponents to death.

Stomping out the wreckage of the cavern, the behemoth crushed the very earth under its claws dug into. And its tail swatting down portions of the mountain volcano as if it was made of building blocks. Anguished yells and screams of horror from the Vikings did nothing to convey the fear everyone was experiencing. In truth, they had never encountered such a monstrous beast in their days.

When they were gaining some distance, Gobber was the one to ask, "What in Thor's Beard is that thing?"

"What Hiccup tried to warn you," Alvin called out. "I give you the Seadragonus Giganticus Maximus, or more commonly known as the Red Death. The most powerful dragon of all dragons!"

The massive dragon lowered its head, right next to Alvin. The Leviathan dragon lowered its massive gnaw and nose down at the banished Viking… and let out a pleased growling purr. At that moment, they all saw that Alvin was petting the massive nose to the massive dragon. Stoick, nor any other Viking who witnessed this, couldn't believe what they were seeing: Alvin the Treacherous, or Unfer, the weakest of them all, had actually tamed such a massive beast such at this, and it responded to him like any other pet would.

Then, pulling out his whip, Alvin caught it on one of the horns, and immediately, the Dragon lifted his head up. Alvin used this momentum to pull himself directly upward, and land on the dragon's forehead. There, he latched his whip around the horns in front, making them into reigns.

Afterwards, he shouted out to the insects down below, "What did I tell you, Gobber? I said I didn't need an army to take down all of you, or Berk… I have my dragon, Ragnarok, to do all that with me! And he's all that I need to finish my thirty-year vengeance against you all!"

However, some of the Vikings were determined to fight back, as they readied to attack. The catapults shot out massive boulders at the Red Death, hoping to bring it down. But alas, it was to no avail, as they had not encountered such a beast, that they didn't know of its strengths in being a walking fortress. The rocks, whether normal or aflame, did nothing but bounce off its thick armory hide, and couldn't stop its lumbering advance. After its master was safely secured onto its head, Ragnarok unleashed a mighty roar upwards, that nearly shook all the island down to its core.

"Odin, help us…" Stoick whispered in terrified realization.

Now the Chief, shocked by this horrific revelation, lost all the confidence he had a mere hour ago. However, he saw that all the Vikings were heading for the ships. And he turned to look at the Red Death, as it saw what he saw. Immediately, he knew the worst was coming, as he stopped in his tracks, and shouted to everyone, "No! Don't head for the ships!"

But it was too late, as Alvin ordered, "Incinerate the ships, my pet!"

The Red Death took a deep breath, causing green gas to collect in its jaws. And then finally erupting from its mouth, a massive jet of flame, half a mile long, accompanied by dirty smoke, spewed forth from it. The massive and ferociously inferno flames set alight the Viking ships, and the few personnel that tried to get on them, in a plume of volcanic fire. The catapults and log perimeters were blow away in a massive inferno, casting even greater confusion upon the panicked Vikings.

They were now trapped, with no way to escape from this nightmare, as the Red Death slowly came towards them. But before Alvin could gloat at this victory, or the Red Death could savor the meal, another roar sound out. But this roar came from behind the Vikings, as a silhouette flew through the flames, and soared over the Vikings for them to see. A quick silhouette suddenly shot out of the flames, and with a mighty whack of its tail, slammed right into the Red Death's head, knocking it back a bit into the side of the volcano mountain, nearly sending Alvin off its head. The beast regained its composure, as did Alvin, as the treacherous exile looked to see who dared to attack him in his moment of vengeance against those who had wronged and belittled him.

Then suddenly, landing in between the Vikings and the Red Death, but keeping his tail in front of the Vikings, was Draco. He had broken free of the chains and muzzle, and had survived the flames of his greatest foe, as on some parts of him were only steamed up, but didn't melt or burn, as his hide was too strong for that to kill him. Draco stood his ground, snarling at the Red Death, but also to its master.

The Vikings were about to attack the Golden Fleece, but Stoick shouted, "Hold yer ground! All of you!"

The Vikings, albeit confused by this order, obeyed without question, as Stoick looked at this scene.

Draco snarled at Alvin as he spoke out, "It's been a long time… Alvin."

"As it's been with you…" Alvin stated, with a smirk, "… my former master."

"I won't let you use what I taught you before for slavery against the dragons," Draco defended.

Alvin merely boasted, "I'm only using them to their truest potential: to control those who are weaker than I!"

Draco snarled as his claws dug into the earth, and his teeth gnashed together as he finished, "I've been waiting for this rematch for twenty years now!"

Alvin merely just smirked as he sighed, and finished, "Then I guess I and Ragnarok will just have to try harder to kill you than just give you a nasty scar on your shoulder."

Next Chapter: Rise of the Riders; Battle Against the Red Death