How to Train Your Dragon: The Novelization
Chapter 18: The Chase to Berk; Alvin vs. Hiccup
"Think that did it?" Hiccup asked Toothless, glancing behind them both.
There was a massive roar, and then Hiccup and Toothless both saw the dragon flying after them. It was amazing; its wings could still lift it, what with it being so bulky, plus the fact that it probably hadn't flown for over three hundred years.
"Well, it can fly," Hiccup said to Toothless as they sped through the air.
Alvin, who was in a lot of pain, and with no pain killers, was on the verge of going insane at this point. "You think you're going to win, don't you?" Alvin seethed out; his face twitching with every muscle in his being, unable to cope with the pain to mentally think straight, "Think that you'll gain victory or acceptance, do you?" He then chuckled haplessly and bellowed out in creepy cackles, creeping out the two enemies quite easily.
"It's over, Unfer, or Alvin," Hiccup shouted, "You don't have your dragon army, and your Red Death's just as easy to beat! And if you think you can out fly us, then we can outmaneuver you as well!"
"Oh, I… I never planned to fight you, Hiccup," Alvin stated, starting to lose it big time as he spoke out, and chuckled, "You see this was a… a kamikaze mission. Right from the very beginning." the Colossal Red Death was suddenly catching upward mobility, as it passed over Hiccup and Toothless, with Alvin finishing his twitchy and insane babbled declaration of his true plan, "MY DRAGON… AND I… ARE GOING TO TORCH DOWN ALL OF BERK! AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHA…!" and with a mighty flap of its wings, the Red Death soared over the stunned Hiccup, nearly beating them away with its mighty wings, as it flew fast to its now named target: the island of Berk.
The Vikings below on the beach watched as the Red Death flew away, thinking it was retreating. The colossal beast had proved that its wings could lift it off the ground, and it was turning tail. Hiccup's face was conveyed in horror at the realization of the madman's plot ringing in his head, had made Hiccup's blood run icy cold in his veins. However, he snapped out of it as he shook his head, looking determined to stop Alvin now before he reached Berk.
Astrid, who had reached up to him on her Nadder, stopped as she looked and saw the look on his face. "Hiccup?" she asked in concern, "Hiccup, what is it?"
He looked to Astrid, and answered her, "He's heading for Berk. He's gonna torch it." Seeing the look of horror on his face, he pulled at the harness on his saddle, giving Toothless the order, "Let's ride, Toothless!" the two nose-dived downward, gaining speed as they pulled up, and chased right after the Red Death.
Seeing him go like that, she immediately flew back down to the beach shore, where everyone was present. She landed and looked to Stoick, who was hoping for an answer for Hiccup's chase after Alvin. "Hofferson, what is it?"
"Alvin's going to burn down Berk," Astrid answered, earning much horrified faces and whispers among the Vikings.
Gobber stood by Stoick as he hypothesized, "That's why he burned down the ships. So we couldn't go after him."
"And at the rate he's going, he'll be in Berk in no time, making it into a large bonfire," the Chief stated, horrified by this revelation. "We've got to find a way to get there fast." he then huffed, "But how?"
"Oh, don't worry," Draco spoke up, making his way to Stoick and the others, standing by their sides now as he looked at Hiccup's disappearing form, "I've got an idea."
Not Too Far From Berk
The colossal Red Death had proved that its wings could still lift it, as well as gain speed. And like its master, who was half burned and with his pain driving him mad, it was furious beyond regaining its senses when it was in this mood. Alvin was on the warpath in his own mind, thinking on what he was going to do once they reached Berk. All the screaming villagers, running from the beast's approach. Its flames bathing the village, making sure it was burned to the ground with nothing to leave behind. And Alvin hoped that those who did survive being burnt, would be eaten with horrible squeamish screams of fear, pain, and terror, as the Red Death would soon chomp through their stomachs, tearing them in half, or rip the flesh off of them with its tongue. But what would even make it more grand for the insane Viking villain now, would be that those who were eaten would slowly be digested in the beast's stomach… for the next thousand years.
"Hehehehehe…" Alvin chuckled viciously and insanely, as he looked down to the beast's mighty gnaw, "My pet… make sure to last their pain for a long time for me." He sighed as he allowed his shoulders to slump, "All of Berk's inhabitance, screaming. I wonder if I'll be able to hear it."
KA-BLAM!
The side of the Red Death's back was shot by a blue plasma shot, causing the deranged Viking to turn around. There, flying above them at an angle, was Hiccup and Toothless, chasing after them. The two angled up higher into the sky, toward the dark clouds beginning to from up upon them as they both raced to Berk.
Alvin sneered at the two, as he pulled at his whip reins, and shouted, "AFTER THEM!"
The Death turned sharply around, with the speed of a Destroyer ship on a Man Overboard drill. Hiccup saw this as the Dragon attempted to slowly go at them. But the turn wasn't the problem… the flames were as it shot a massive blast at them. Luckily, Hiccup was able to get Toothless to dodge it successfully, as they flew to the side sharply to avoid the blast. Trying to get the advantage on their side, Hiccup looked around hoping to find one. He looked up to the darkened cloud skies, and an idea struck him.
"Okay, Toothless," Hiccup hollered, getting the Night Fury's attention, "Time to disappear!" the duo shot up into the clouds like a bullet, nearly vanishing from sight.
Alvin saw this, and sneered viciously, causing the burnt flesh on his burnt side to nearly tear, as he shouted, "Hiding from me won't bring you victory, Boy!"
And with that said, the Red Death made its way deep into the clouds, both unaware that they had neared Berk's shoreline.
Deep in the Clouds
From their position on Toothless, hiding in the midst of the black storm clouds, the duo could see that Alvin and the Red Death were confused. The giant beast was turning its head from side to side, looking but not finding the young Viking or the Night Fury evading it. Even Alvin scanned around in the dark clouds, attempting to finish off the boy once and for all. But no matter where they turned, all they saw were darkness and emptiness, and the only audible sound heard was the wind and the Red Death's mighty wings flapping in the air.
Alvin snarled as he shouted, "WHERE ARE YOU? HIDING IN THESE CLOUDS!" He heaved as he shouted once again, "Hiding are you? Well, I could use a good challenge, because after I find you and kill you… slaying everyone in Berk, killing Stoick, Gobber, the others, and especially Miss Astrid… WILL BE ALL TOO EASY FOR ME!"
And that's when it happened.
The Red Death's head was knocked to the side as Hiccup and Toothless swooped down, hitting it with one of his blasts of blue fire. The Death shrieked and whipped around to try and find them, but Toothless was too quick, and he shot the Death once, twice, thrice more at its wings, until he only had one shot left. The two fearless heroes veered off as the Death temporarily lost control of its wings and began a slow descent toward the ground, its wings flailing around in the air.
Alvin had had enough as he shouted, "LIGHT THE SKIES!"
It shook its head from side to side and unleashed a long stream of fire that looped through the air like a ribbon. Toothless managed to dodge most of it, as Hiccup pulled them in close to the Death. There, they crashed ito the backside of the Death as the two skidded to a halt on the beast's neck. There, Hiccup spotted Alvin, as he turned around, tying his cape around his burnt arm to make a makeshift bandage.
Hiccup knew right then and there, that if this war was ever gonna stop… Alvin had to go.
He hopped off Toothless, whom the dragon looked fearful to his friend. He got in his path, hoping to stop him, but Hiccup shook his head as he replied, "I have to end it here." Toothless let out a sad purr, knowing that Hiccup was crazy enough to do this sort of thing. The young Viking saw his dragon like this, and patted his head, "It's gonna be alright, I'll be back."
The two looked at each other, both prepared for this battle to come, and yet unknown that they would be the ones to duel each other. Hiccup reached for his sword and drew it out. Grabbing the hilt with both hands, he detached it, so that now he had two swords in hand, lowered to both his sides. Alvin, with his bandaged left arm with his cape, glared at the boy, as he reached for his chain whip sword.
He looked to the boy, as he snarled out, "You may be young boy… but I have almost twenty-five years worth of experience with this." he drew out the sword, as well as his bladed whip, and chuckled, "I hope you have no intention of holding back on me, due to the scars you and your dragon gave me as a gift."
"Believe me, I'm not," Hiccup answered curtly.
"Well, either way, you're too late, boy," Alvin taunted as he twirled his sword in hand, readying to make the first move, "We're here in Berk, and it'll soon burn."
"You have to go through me first, Alvin."
Alvin sighed, letting his calm demeanor show once again, until he replied, "I was actually hoping to do so."
The two stood their ground, with Toothless watching Hiccup's back from afar, as he gripped on to the scales of the Red Death, still hovering above Berk in the darkened clouds. Then, Hiccup charged forward, making a downward slash at Alvin, who easily dodged the swipe. Hiccup attempted another blow to the side, but Alvin blocked it with his sword, and then slashed at Hiccup with the whip. The young Viking used the other sword to swipe it aside, knocking it out of the way, as he attempted to thrust stab his opponent. But Alvin dodged it, and countered it with a spin kick, but Hiccup dodged it, as the Treacherous Viking made up for the miss with a swipe of his sword and whip to the boy. But the young Viking saw this as he tossed his second sword back to his left hand, combining the blades back together, blocking the sword just in time. Now with his right hand freed again, he balled up his fist, activating his Battle Gauntlet's shield mode to block the whip's blow. Truly, this was a worthwhile fight that would have anyone on the edge of their seat.
However, Alvin was right about one thing: he did have experience with his sword and whip. But Hiccup seemed to show pretty good promise as a double swordsman. The two duked it out pretty well against one another with both their Red Death tooth sword weaponry. The two outcasts of their tribe battling for the fate of Berk; one good and attempting to do the right thing, while the other allowed himself to be swallowed into darkness and vengeance.
In their battle, Avlin saw an opening and kicked Hiccup far from him. Then, he switched his sword which extended into a bladed whip that shot at Hiccup, missing him at his side. But Alvin pulled back the blade, hitting the switch, causing it to get pulled back, and nicking Hiccup into his abdomen's side, causing a stream of blood to shoot. Hiccup, gasped in surprise and pain, fell to his knees, clutching his bleeding side.
Toothless saw this, and was about to go forward, until Alvin's whip slashed the ground in front of him, causing him to jump back in fear. "Lie down, Dragon!" Alvin shouted at the dragon, and looked to the boy, "And you die already! You're nothing more than the sorry relic's hope of tales… and dead beliefs!"
Hiccup got up again, swatting Alvin's sword away as he defended, "They were your beliefs too!"
"Never, never mine," Alvin explained, "That Old Code he had me recite. I'll let you in on a secret: I only spewed those words out because I couldn't stomach them! He taught me to fight and enslave dragons, that's all! That's all I took from him!"
Hiccup looked to Toothless, and nodded, "Well, then you didn't learn a thing!"
He then dashed towards the end, and he hopped back on Toothless as the two took off once again.
Alvin got back on the reigns, as he pulled the Red Death to let one last blast hit the two. It didn't kill the duo, but one little flicker latched onto Toothless's artificial fin and ignited it immediately. Toothless dove down, looking like the tail was on fire. Hiccup's worry was beginning to grow when he took notice of the tail fin ablaze. He also clenched his side, knowing full well the wound was deep. This was made evident to Hiccup's fears as he pulled his hand back, wet with blood. But that didn't bother him at all, even if his vision was blurring. Not because the fire was hurting Toothless: dragons were mostly fireproof on the outside… but because now that he was alight, the Red Death could easily see them now.
And now it came after them at top speed, having regained the use of its wings.
"Okay, time's up," Hiccup whispered. "Let's see if this works."
Toothless whined in exhaustion. "I know," he soothed, trying to sound calm. "Just bear with me a little longer, buddy." Then he raised his voice and steered Toothless around the Red Death. "C'mon, is that the best you can do?"
"Oh, I can do much more than that, boy!" Alvin shouted.
The Death tried to snap us up, but it couldn't find us. Toothless began speeding back toward the ground.
Behind us, the Death opened its mouth and roared again. "Wait for it…" Hiccup hissed.
Then they heard it: the loud hiss of gas as it was preparing to blast them both. The sound of a large man snoring. Alvin felt victory close at hand as he muttered, "This is it. Farewell, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III…."
"NOW, TOOTHLESS!" he yelled.
Toothless flipped around in midair so they were flying backwards, facing the Death's open mouth. With his last shot, Toothless fired right at the ball of green gas forming in the Death's throat.
The Death's eight eyes widened as the gas inside it ignited, creating a large, deadly fireball in its throat. Unlike the Terror, who came out unharmed, the Death's throat caught on fire and slowly began to travel down. Toothless turned around again and zoomed toward the ground.
Behind us, the Death was plummeting. It spread its wings and tried to slow its fall, but its wings were tearing, and several holes had ripped through the membrane. Alvin saw all of this, as he looked around, with no way out of this, as Hiccup and Toothless passed by them, and he shouted, "NOOOOOO….!"
With an explosion that could be heard up in Valhalla, the Red Death hit the ground and exploded, taking Alvin along with him, on the nearby and uninhabited shores of Berk.
Fire began to consume the monster's remains. Toothless sped along the Death's back as the fire reared up behind them both. The material on Toothless' artificial fin finally succumbed to the fire, and Hiccup's heart skipped a beat as the cloth was torn off, leaving only the metal frame. It was now more possible that he couldn't steer. Groggily, he looked up ahead to see if they had a clear path. But, Hiccup's vision was blurring up too much, as he was nearing into shock from too much blood loss. Even his grip on the reigns were becoming harder to hold onto. As he tried to focus, he took notice of one last thing…
… and saw that they were heading straight for the club on the dragon's tail. "Oh no," he whispered weakly as he realized that this time that none of them might not make it.
Hiccup only had one thing to mutter before he fully slipped, "This… is gonna… gonna… hur…"
And Toothless slammed into the tail a bit, but not enough to knock him out cold.
It was then that Toothless turned a bit just to see Hiccup, unconscious and falling downward towards the inferno. Hiccup was falling through a hot, fiery world, with the roaring of flames nearing him from below and the crying of Toothless from above.
Toothless cried out, but wasn't about to give up so easily. He took a nosedive, using his wings to further his descent towards Hiccup, as the flames engulfed them both.
Next Chapter: The Birth of Glory; the Pets are Dragons