Chapter 40

The door opened. I wrinkled my nose at the smell of not-dragon. I curled my lip and nudged the dragon closest to me. Intruder. There was an intruder in the den. When the other dragon did nothing, I growled an alarm. The intruders stood still in the mouth of the den; I hoped I had scared them so much that they froze.

Splat. They dumped things onto the ground. Fish. Dead fish. Didn't smell rotten or poisoned . . . the scent made my stomach growl, and I woke up completely. I'd just grasped what was going on when the door started to close.

No! I sprung. My tail slipped through the crack right before the heavy door would have broken it. I froze, half-expecting Drago's men to realize I was there right away. But they had already turned their back to the door, and were laughing as they sauntered down the halls.

Okay, I was out. I already knew I was in the bowels of the ship, and the smell and sound of seawater just confirmed that. I ran down the dimly lit halls, staying close to the walls so that I could blend in with the shadows. Drago's stink permeated the ship and more than once, I detected a sudden spike of fear when his smell mixed with another's. No surprise there. He was a monster wearing a human skin. But we'd find a way to fight him. I just had to find Toothless –

I slowed to a stop. And then what? I didn't know how to get rid of the tyrant's control over my best friend. And if I tried something, and it didn't work . . .

Drago would kill him.

Leaving that room had made no difference. I – we all – were still prisoners. All my plans were already thwarted. I'd never been in this situation before, and my brain didn't seem to understand how to proceed past it. It screeched to a stop, until I heard footsteps behind me.

"Hey, you!"

I almost ran. Then I realized Drago would probably see that as an escape attempt. So I crouched down, shrinking in size, and bit my tongue when a rough hand seized my neck.

"We'd better see Drago about this."

Horrible visions swam in front of my eyes. What if Drago didn't believe me? Would he even listen to me before calling Toothless down and . . . and . . . . He wouldn't hesitate. That I knew. He'd just taken his sword, and grabbed Skullcrusher –

"Drago!" The man carrying me cried. "We found it in the halls."

Drago glanced at me with disinterest. "Did he run?"

"No . . ."

"Then it doesn't matter. You're not going to leave, are you, Hiccup?"

His smile was like a crack in a building: jagged, and just screaming that he wasn't nearly as stable as he claimed to be. His rough palm ran over my head in mockery of a pat, and it took strength I didn't know I had to hold myself back. I wanted to bite him. I wanted to hurt him. I wanted to rip that smile off his face and tear that throne from under him. I could no longer tell if these emotions I felt were human, or those of a feral animal. I didn't care either.

Drago's bullhook tapped as he made his way above deck. The man holding me let me fall, cringing afterwards as if afraid Drago would whip around and tear his throat out. Without anything else to do, I followed the monster.

Sailors were on deck this time. It looked like any ordinary ship, but when I inhaled deeply, I smelt – no, don't think about that. There was a group of sailors near the front of the ship where Drago was heading. They surrounded a giant, dull-eyed creature.

"Cloudjumper," I breathed.

My mother's dragon kept his head slumped as the sailors wound rope and leather around his body. Each passing breeze made him teeter dangerously, threatening to knock him over. He had no reaction when his rider's killer approached him. Drago fit Cloudjumper's chin in the curve of his bullhook, and propped it up. The dragon stared at nothing.

Do not interfere, the tyrant said to me.

I jumped. Cold fingers slithered down my back. Behind me, the tyrant loomed. His glare was like a sword that struck me through and kept me pinned.

What are they doing? I asked.

Don't you know, Dragon Master? The title dripped with scorn.

The crowd backed off. Now, I did see. They had outfitted Cloudjumper with a saddle. Drago easily climbed aboard.

"Go!"

Cloudjumper took off. I watched. If they were going to take these enslaved dragons and use them, then we were all –

Oh.

Apparently, they'd forgotten that leather is flammable. Drago (or the tyrant) had forced Cloudjumper to belch flames, and Drago had foolishly flown through them. Now, the leather saddle was alight, and although the flames weren't big, it was enough to force them to land early. Several men rushed forward to smother the fire.

"Stupid dragon!" Drago spun around. Cloudjumper yelped as the bullhook caught one of his fins –

"Stop!"

For a moment, Drago didn't move. Then he turned slowly, frowning. He finally realized I was the one who made that sound, and he smiled once more.

"Something wrong?" he asked, making it obvious he knew exactly what it was. "You feel bad for it? It's just a dumb dragon. They don't care what I do to them, as long as I'm the alpha. Isn't that right, you ugly beast?"

He grabbed Cloudjumper's chin, and forced the Stormcutter to meet his eyes. Drago's smile was the grin of a wolf. Cloudjumper snorted. For a few seconds, he seemed to struggle against the tyrant's control. But then, the tyrant took him over once more, and the once-proud dragon whimpered and did his best to flatten himself against the ground.

"See? They don't care. As long as I have power, I can do whatever I want."

"You can't do that!" I shouted at him. "Dragons aren't slaves! You've turned them into something they're not!"

My words came out as a growl. It only served to amuse Drago. He snapped his fingers. "You. Show Hiccup how much you appreciate his concern."

Cloudjumper's head swung over to look at me. His pupils were narrowed into slits.

I gulped. "Cloudjumper- "

It happened so fast. I slammed into the mast. My belly still tickled from Cloudjumper's fire. Drago's cruel laughter echoed over the water. Or maybe it was the tyrant's. He was laughing, too.

"See? It doesn't matter what you think of them," Drago said, turning away and dismissing me. "All that matters is who has the power."

I flexed my legs carefully. I was fine. I'd taken worse hits.

Submit, the tyrant hissed. There is no point resisting.

I shut my eyes. Why are you doing this? Why are you letting him do this? You're the alpha; you're supposed to protect them!

Did your king tell you that? the tyrant asked, and I could feel the hate in those thoughts. He is a fool. There is no such thing as friendship and loyalty, only dominance and submission.

That's not true! Me and my friends have worked alongside our dragons for years. They're our best friends.

Is that so?

I didn't like the way he said that. But before I could respond, I heard wings. Toothless swooped down, landing delicately on the tip of the tyrant's tusk. Hunched, he stared at me the way he would at a barrel full of fish.

This is your friend? the tyrant said.

My best friend, I corrected.

Are you so certain? Have you ever asked him how he feels about you?

I don't need to. We don't keep secrets from each other, I answered cautiously. I could sense the trap shutting around me.

No? the tyrant said. I knew of you before we met: the human child who tamed a Night Fury. Did you think that I hadn't heard the rest? That the Night Fury you tamed was the one you brought down? Tell me, what happened to his tailfin?

For a second, I froze. He was going there. I couldn't believe he would strike me there. I know I hurt him. I know it was my fault. But he's never held it against me.

The tyrant said, He doesn't know, does he?

The tyrant suddenly glanced at Toothless. Toothless shook himself. His eyes almost rolled into his skull before suddenly snapping forward. He looked all around, mouth open so that he could smell better, finally turning to face the tyrant.

He screeched. The sound drew Drago and his men's attention, and they stared as Toothless sprung away from the tyrant, nearly somersaulting in his haste to flee. Then, he was behind me, curled around his body with his abdomen pressed against my back. He growled at the tyrant, teeth bared, wings held aloft to look bigger.

A silent conversation passed between them. Toothless snorted. He suddenly lurched forward, slamming his paws on the ground. I knew what the tyrant was saying to him, and as Toothless got angrier and angrier, I became more certain of what he was saying back.

Liar. Liar! You LIE!

Dragons, especially Bewilderbeasts, were not meant to smirk. But what else could you call that curl to the tyrant's lips? Tell him, Hiccup.

Toothless was still growling. The first time, I spoke too quietly to draw his attention. The second time found success.

"It's true." My dry throat itched. "I shot you down. I'm the reason your tailfin was ruined. I took away your ability to fly."

Toothless took a step back. His tail swept over the deck, twisting so that the tailfins rested between me and him. He cocked his head. It's true?

I looked away. "Yes, it was me! I'm sorry, I didn't know what it would do to you. I've tried my best to make it up to you and I know that doesn't change anything, but I'm sorry! I wish I could take it back! If I could . . . if I could give up an arm just so you could be whole again, I would. I'm so sorry, Toothless."

I finally found the courage to meet his eyes. What I found was emptiness, and pupils narrowed to slits.

"Toothless?" I waved a paw in front of his face. When there was no response, I glared at the tyrant. "Give him back."

Now he knows, the tyrant said.

I don't care! Just give him back! GIVE HIM BACK TO ME!

Toothless smacked me into the rail. I laid there. My cheek throbbed.

The tyrant said, He may be your friend, Hiccup, but you were never his friend. Only his jailer.

Stop saying that! My mental voice cracked and rose in pitch. You don't know anything! I love him, and –

Yet you led him here, the tyrant said. He would not be under my power if you had not led him to me.

I didn't know! I wouldn't have gone anywhere near here if I had known . . .

Then this is the result of your worthless friendship. Your dragon is mine . . .

I arched my back. Don't talk about him like that!

. . . and the other is dead.

That stole the breath out of my lungs. Skullcrusher's dead eyes stared into mine again. What had I done?

"It's not true, right, Toothless?" I blubbered, even as his empty gaze went through me. "Me and you, we're best friends, right? We're friends. Just . . . just give me a sign. Okay, bud? Just a nod, or a sound, please just let me know it's not true!"

Toothless opened his wings.

"No!"

It was too late. He was gone.

Do you see? Power will always triumph over any bond. But I admire you, spoke the tyrant. Not every human hatching could force a Night Fury to yield. You have potential.

Shut up! I'm not like you! That's not what it's like! He's my friend.

Even if that was true, it no longer matters. You don't exist to him anymore. With that last statement, the tyrant retreated into the water.

"No, no . . ." I wanted to break the ship in half with my fists. "He's wrong. He's wrong. Toothless . . . Toothless, please . . . Toothless . . .

". . . please come back."

The boat rocked gently from side to side. If I closed my eyes, I could almost imagine I was in a cradle being rocked by my mother. But that was stupid to even think about. Mom was dead. So was Skullcrusher, and Toothless wasn't much better off. He was over on another ship. The distance tugged at me like a taut string. This was my fault. I'd handed him over with his hands tied, basically given a sheep to the butcher. Last I'd saw of him, he had been gliding stiffly, like someone had tied a metal rod to his wings. But I still remembered those fleeting seconds where he had freed from the tyrant's control; I remembered the terror I saw there.

A boot stepped in front of my face. Had it shifted even an inch over, it would have landed on me. I didn't flinch. I wouldn't have flinched if it had found my head. Who cared? It didn't matter anymore. What was the point? I was just a stupid, stupid kid who had gotten himself in way over his head.

And everyone else was paying for it.

A fish landed in front of me. I stared at it.

"Hey, dinnertime," some sailor said.

It was still writhing. The cold, dead eyes looked skyward, like it didn't even care. My blood suddenly burned; I wanted to smash its stupid skull in so I didn't have to look at it.

"You want it or not?" The sailor nudged the fish with his boot.

"Leave me alone!" I hissed. It was enough to make him jump back. The sailor scampered off, and I faded into the background.

I shoved the fish away. It felt like I hadn't moved in such a long time that the muscles in my legs had shrivelled up and died. I still wanted to kill that fish but . . . what was wrong with me? It was just a stupid fish. It didn't matter if it lived or died.

I folded my wing over my head to block out the sun. I couldn't really feel my body anymore. It wasn't numb, but it no longer felt like mine, as if I was nothing more than a disembodied mind. Hard to keep my eyes open. Couldn't do so for more than a few seconds at a time. Why did it matter? It's not like I could do anything else.

I blinked in and out of reality, never quite asleep, but with time passing much quicker than it should have. In those trance-like times, my head was full with visions of Berk. More than once, I dreamily wriggled my toes, expecting to feel fingers instead.

"Having fun?"

I didn't realize it until then, but seeing red was a real thing. As I glowered up at Drago Bludfist, a thin film of crimson fell over my vision. The monster smiled with that half-paralyzed mouth. What I would give to rip it off. I wanted him dead. I really did. And I don't . . . I almost wanted to be the one to do it.

"Your situation is giving Ragnok quite the challenge," Drago said. He stepped on my head, squashing my face against the ground. I clenched the muscles in my chest, holding my growl back.

"But at least you understand where you stand now," he said.

He walked away. Invigorated by anger, I prowled the boundaries of the deck . . . what was that? I sniffed – Oh. They . . . they must have dragged him along here. Cleaned up the blood. Then dumped . . . over the rail . . .

Are you looking for your friend? I can show you what happened.

My eyes widened. I shoved my tendrils against my cheek with my paws. NO!

Blessed silence. I stayed like that, savouring it. The tyrant watched me for a while, and then went back under the water. I kept my paws on my tendrils for a while longer, then removed them –

I've seen your island before.

I spun around, but the tyrant was nowhere to be seen. He must be underwater.

I did not visit it myself, but I saw it through the eyes of my servants. We burned them, the alphas gathered there. Did they ever tell you that?

I swallowed. I knew what he was talking about. Again, the sight of the burning Great Hall flashed before me. I felt the tyrant seize the image and study it.

Ah, so you were a witness. Did you see him, too? He was looking for any recollection of Drago now. He –

I don't care. Just leave me alone!

He stopped speaking. I didn't think that would work. I stayed alert, half-expecting something to pounce on me from behind. But as that imminent sense of danger passed, it took my strength with it. I slumped over to a dark corner, and curled up into a ball –

And cursed as the tyrant started speaking again.

Tell me, Hiccup. What will you do now? Surely, you understand that it is pointless to fight us.

I'll find a way, I vowed. There's no way I'm going to let you hold all these dragons prisoner. And I'm done talking to you.

You cannot stop –

Leave me alone. My tail swung around my body. I buried my head under my wing, as if the tyrant had been speaking to me physically and not –

I will decide when this conversation ends, Hiccup. You –

Go away.

Although he was underwater, when the tyrant growled, I swear the ship shook. I am alpha! You will listen to me!

You can't control me, remember? For the first time since I had landed on this ship, I had some sense of victory.

But I control him! No need to ask who that 'him' was. If I willed it, I could make him drown himself. I could make the Night Fury throw himself onto a sword. I . . .

Just because I won't talk to you?!

I am alpha, said the tyrant. I can do as I please.

If you do anything him, I'll . . . I'll kill myself.

I had expected that to work even less than I had expected telling him to shut up to work. Yet when the tyrant denied my claim, he definitely did so uncertainly. Why would he . . . oh. That's right. For whatever reason, Drago needed me. Apparently alive. Groggily, my mind's gears turned. There had to be a way to use that.

You would kill yourself to make a point? the tyrant asked.

I would kill myself to protect my best friend! I answered hotly. And you can tell Drago that, too!

This silence was different from the rest. I could feel the tyrant's immense consciousness pressed up against mine. The pressure in my head swelled and ebbed every time he thought of something to say, and then discarded it.

Finally, he settled on something. I don't understand.

Of course not. Why would you? You don't care about them. You don't understand what it means to care about someone! (The ship jolted. One of the sailors lost hold of his dinner). You want to understand? Fine! Feel what I feel.

I took my anger, my grief and worry for Toothless, and thrust it at the tyrant's mind like a spear. He retreated immediately, as if I had held a red-hot iron to his soul. Furious, I leapt to my paws and tried to stare through the ship and find the cowardly Bewilderbeast below.

"There you are!" This time, Ragnok picked me up by the tail. I kept my eyes locked on that same spot on the deck. "Just have a few more tests to run . . ."

I whispered to the tyrant. I didn't expect a great alpha like you to run away so quickly. What's wrong? Don't have anything to say? I didn't know that was all it took to get some peace around here.

I landed on a tabletop, still waiting for the tyrant to respond. Ragnok stepped around it and set to fiddling with some things at the side of the room.

You are a fool, the tyrant finally said.

And you're a monster. And apparently a coward, too.

The ship lurched. The table jumped a few inches, and Ragnok squealed as he tumbled across the room. From outside the room and down the hall came Drago's indignant shout. He stomped through the ship and even through the walls separating us, I could sense he was going to go yell at the tyrant. Odin knew how successful that would be. But hey, at least I'd rattled the tyrant. Chalk up a small victory for me.

Review Responses:

GuestGirl: That is the question of the day!

.

Jazz: Lol well I didn't think it was that big of a surprise that Hiccup messed up there :p

It wasn't that graphic. Just mentioned blood a few times, but technically I didn't even show Skullcrusher getting his throat slit.

Thanks! Drago is a monster. Like seriously. He's just this utterly berserk madman. Just wait until it's revealed what his "big plan" is!

.

Noctus Fury: Thank you! The Hiccup-Astrid conflict was a complicated one, where neither party was firmly right or wrong. Which is why it was so hard for them to understand each other.

Yay! Team Stoick!

Skullcrusher needed to die to get across the seriousness of the situation to Hiccup and the readers, and also to show that this Drago is not one to mess around with.