A clarification for last chapter: when Drago was threatening to cut off the tyrant's tail, it was just a threat! He wasn't actually going to do it (nor was he capable of such). Similarly, he when he "immobilized" the tyrant with the bullhook, it wasn't physical immobilization, but emotional.
Chapter 44
I paced and tossed my head in my claustrophobic cage, shutting my eyes tight when the door opened and sunlight spilled into the dark room. It appeared in front of my face as hot, white streaks that burned to look at. At least until my eyes adjusted and remembered how to see in daylight. Even with the twine digging into my snout, I could still show my teeth. It was more out of instinct and frustration than any true ill will toward the person in front of me.
The man ignored me. The door slowly creaked shut behind him, stopping only when it hit a rock that had been wedged into the base. The man set down a bucket I could hear was nearly slopping over with fish. Even the promise of food wasn't enough to make me play nice. I dug in my claws and set my shoulders, glaring in the direction my nose told me the intruder laid.
There was a long silence between us. It was hard to see him; I could only make out the slope and angles of his face. He had no hat – he had probably heard about how I had stolen a hat off the last person to visit me (it was now functioning as a very comfortable bed). No coat either.
" . . . That was a dumb thing you did," the man suddenly said. I cocked my head. He sounded familiar. "Biting Drago Bludvist. I can't believe he didn't kill you."
With that, I suddenly recognized Eret. I hissed at him.
"This isn't my fault!" he snapped. "You're the one who couldn't keep his teeth to himself. You could have just played along nicely and . . . Do you have any idea what he did to me when I came back empty-handed?"
I said nothing. He lashed out sharply, and the bucket toppled over with a metallic clang, spilling its contents all over the floor. I could hear his shoe squelch in the wreckage. Nearly vibrating with supressed anger, he bent over, and then flung a fish in my general direction. It smacked against the bars, and nearly tumbled off the table before I reached through and grabbed it.
He turned to leave. I huffed.
"What?" His glare only grew harder when I lifted a claw and tugged at the twine holding my snout shut. As much as I wanted him to leave, I didn't want to starve because some idiot forgot I couldn't open my mouth. He looked around sullenly, like a misbehaving child looking for his parents. "You better not try anything."
He reached for me . . .
The door slammed open. "Hey, Eret!"
"What is it?" He pulled away from me, swinging his entire body around to face the newcomer.
"There's another one acting up," the newcomer said. He sounded worn and exhausted; it was like his voice had taken up a layer of grime and rust.
"Another?" I could hear Eret's teeth grinding together. He started to leave, and then stopped suddenly. With a snap of his fingers, he said, "I know. Let's take Hiccup with us."
"Are you sure?" the other person said.
"It'll be fine," Eret said. "He'll stay in the cage. We're just going to use him as an example. That's what they do with human prisoners, isn't it? And it's not like Hiccup will complain about getting fresh air."
It didn't take them long to find a cart big enough to push my cage around in. At the first touch of sunlight, I flinched. It felt unnatural after being cooped up like this. My tail poked through the bars, wrapped around one, and squeezed as I was wheeled about. Eret and his companion said nothing, but the dragons noticed me anyways. They stared at us as we went by, often requiring a shout or lash from their handlers before they returned to work.
We finally reached the "misbehaving" dragon. It was a Nightmare – honestly, I had expected it to be Cloudjumper again. They had half a dozen men pinning her down with weighted, metal lines, which were draped over her hide like a blanket, and one man specifically assigned to hold tight a rope binding her muzzle. For her part, the Nightmare looked she had given up on her rebellion. Her chin was flat against the ground, and she made no effort to rise. It almost looked like she was pouting.
"Good, you took it down," Eret said. He stopping my rolling cart with his foot, and leaned his weight onto my cage. He snapped his fingers, drawing the Nightmare's attention. "Now, see here. This is what happens to dragons who misbehave. I know you don't want to end up like poor Hiccup here . . . Do you even understand me?"
The Nightmare's eyes flickered to me. She gave no indication she was even listening to Eret. I did my best to smile.
"Do you think it's working?" Eret asked. "I can't tell anything with these creatures."
His hand slipped. One finger hooked inside my cage. Should I . . .? Sure, why not? It's not like I had anything else to do.
Eret yelped as my claw tore into his skin. The wound was no bigger than a paper cut, but I hope that meant it stung like one.
"You . . .! Argh! Do you have any idea how frustrating you are?" Eret complained. He opened his mouth to berate me some more, and froze. From behind him, came a sound like a creak.
The metal ropes strained and bulged as the Nightmare tried to rise.
"You, stop that!" Eret cried. In the end, it didn't matter what he said, since the Nightmare couldn't throw off the men holding her. But the blazing anger in her eyes left nothing to the imagination when it came to what she would do had she gotten free.
Eret took a step back, seeming surprised . . . And from what seemed to be out of nowhere, a Snagglefang lunged for his exposed back, stopped only by the metal harness digging into its side. Apparently oblivious to the chains holding it back, it clawed at the ground, nearly frothing at the mouth in its attempts to get at the man.
"Hey!" In one smooth, yet slightly shaky movement, Eret drew his sword. Just as his master, Drago did, he waved it above his head. "Back off!"
It only seemed to make the Snagglefang angry. Straining at the end of its tether, it barked furiously at Eret. The cry was taken up by the Nightmare, and was echoed further by dragons we couldn't see. As the barks grew louder, Eret and his men looked around with an expression of growing nervousness.
The Nightmare suddenly shook off her attackers. Wasting no time, she set herself alight and spewed a slopping jet of flame at her nearest opponents; the liquid-like fire rolled across the ground. Tail lashing, head turning from side to side as she tried to keep track of everyone, she seemed to naturally gravitate toward Eret and rose up like a rearing horse in front of him.
"What is this?" growled a very unwelcome voice.
Both human and dragon froze in place. Drago Bludvist trudged onto the scene (hadn't appeared to have noticed me yet, thank goodness). He fit himself easily into the space between Eret and the Nightmare, and the non-paralysed side of his lip dipped downward. He thrust his bullhook forward, with a short, punctuated shout. The Nightmare lowered itself back onto all fours, and stepped back. Yet, something wasn't right. The way she was looking at him, it wasn't what I had expected.
The Nightmare cocked her head, pausing for one, calculating moment. Then, she flared her wings and hissed.
Drago blinked, stunned. He roared, and the Nightmare gave ground, but it wasn't giving in. As he stopped to digest this knowledge, the same Snafflefang lunged at his exposed back.
"They've been going nuts!" Eret said as Drago gave him a look. "We get one to yield, and then there's another growling and snapping at us."
Drago grunted. He suddenly hoisted his bullhook up and swung it around, bellowing. That did what nothing else before had, and both the Nightmare and Snafflefang backed off, turning their eyes toward the ground. Drago kept bellowing, until the echoes smothered the rallying barks of the dragons in the distance.
In the ensuring silence, a thought hit me. Where in the world was the tyrant?
Satisfied, Drago turned back to Eret. "How long has this been going on?"
"A few days," Eret said. "Ever since . . ."
He glanced my way. Drago followed his eyes.
"What is that doing here?" Drago roared. He advanced on Eret like a cat cornering a rat.
"I thought it would help!" Eret held his hands up in a placating gesture. It didn't do much, and Drago quickly had their faces almost smashed together. "You know, let the others see what happens if they misbehave."
"And how has that gone?"
". . . Not so well."
"Get rid of it." Drago sneered. He turned his back and I bared my teeth at him in retaliation –
And once again, the Snafflefang lunged for his back. The Nightmare, too, appeared to have regrouped. In the ensuring commotion, a shiver ran down my spine. I had realized what Drago and Eret had not: it was me. These dragons, these two at the least, were taking their cues off me. I was the reason they were acting out like this.
"Enough of this." Drago stomped away from the dragons, and toward the water. He cupped his hands around his mouth, and unleashed that bellow we all knew too well.
The tyrant was slow to rise. When he did, he never looked in our direction. Still, all it took was a mental flick from him, and the rebelling dragons submitted to his power. He tried to leave then, but Drago held up his hand and gave a quick order to stay.
"Do you have an explanation for this?" he asked of the giant dragon. The tyrant purposefully avoided his eyes. "Keeping them in line is supposed to be your job!"
The tyrant made a grumbling noise not unlike that of a child. The cords on Drago's neck tightened. He suddenly whirled around to face me. "You. Ever since you appeared, there's been nothing but trouble."
Well, if I'm that much of a problem, you could just let me go, I said in my mind, since I was muzzled and all.
Drago turned away again, and smacked his bullhook against the ground. "Don't just sit there. Get these dragons under control!"
The tyrant stepped forth from the waters, walking forward until he reached the edge of the village. His rumble pulsed through the air like a calming wave, bringing everyone capable of hearing it under his spell. I saw the Nightmare's pupils narrow, going distant and blurred as she instantly moulded herself into the perfect prisoner. One of Eret's men tugged on her horn, and she went without a struggle.
"Now," Drago was saying to Eret, "put it back." (No points for guessing who 'it' was) "The next time I see him in the daylight, I'll cut off the hands of whoever hauled him there!"
The tyrant's rumble continued to wash over the island in thick, suffocating waves.
"From now on, I alone deal with Hiccup!" Drago commanded. He paced in a small circle, holding his bullhook out so that it pointed at each and every man in turn. "None of you will enter that shack. None of you will speak to him. You even think about him, and I'll let the dragons have a turn at you."
The rumble was in my bones now, and growing stronger.
Drago grabbed Eret by the lapels, holding him up so that his toes just brushed the rocky ground. "Understand?"
The rumble seemed to be part of the world now, and below it all was a quieter, but powerful hum.
"U-understand!" Eret choked out.
Drago opened his mouth -
The tyrant roared.
"What is it?" With a flick of his arm, Drago tossed Eret aside. The tyrant was still roaring in the direction of the beach. The humming in my head abruptly exploded into a deafening sound that drowned out everything else –
Yet I still heard Cloudjumper when he made his move. He was a big, powerful dragon, so it was no surprise that when he wanted to break free, he did so effectively. I saw none of it, but I heard the shouts and splintering wood. And then Cloudjumper was in the sky, hooting as he soared above us, making a beeline for the open water. Drago tried to say something, but to everyone's shock, Cloudjumper snapped his head around and doused him in flame.
The so-called Dragon Master quickly peeked out from behind the cloak he had used as a shield. He stared long and hard at the fleeing Cloudjumper. Finally, he gathered his wits. "Stop it!"
The tyrant turned, noticing Cloudjumper for the first time. His eyes flickered as he asserted his will. The humming exploded again –
Cloudjumper flew right past him.
". . . What?" Drago took one step forward. Even the tyrant fell silent, and that gave us the chance to hear the booms coming from deep within the fog. But as the Stormcutter flew in tight circle around the edge of the fogbank, I couldn't think about those familiar sounds, but only the dragon. How? No grown dragon could resist the call of a Bewilderbeast. I was a first-hand witness to Cloudjumper falling under the tyrant's control several times already. We watched as Cloudjumper made one last circle, then tucked his wings in and dove. About halfway to the ocean's surface, his wings snapped open. His legs swung forward, long talons reaching out and grasping –
And he delicately landed upon the wooden, serpent's head that poked out of the fog.
The serpent's neck grew longer. A pair of oars reached out toward us, and then plunged into the inky waves. They pulled back in time with the booming, propelling the ship onward. The dark, rectangular shadow of a sail appeared behind the serpent's head. Not a minute later, on both sides, the ship was joined by others.
"It can't be." For someone denying what lay in front of his eyes, Drago was quick to backpedal and bark orders. "Sound the alarm! Prepare for battle!"
I could see nothing of the people aboard the lead ship, but what I did see was the mast. A flag limply fluttered at the top, but it was impossible to tell whose flag it was because it was intertwined with another – no, no. There was more. It wasn't just one other, but two, three . . .
Eight. Eight flags.
One for each tribe.
The lead ship sailed gracefully out of the fog. Somebody, someone big and solid, approached the ship's bow where Cloudjumper lay, and Cloudjumper reached for him with a cautious, but steady claw. A hand rose in response, and I watched as the shadow of claw and hand met -
But I was distracted by what came behind the ships. He was as majestic and frightening as he had been in the aftermath of the Nest's destruction. His mouth was set in a hard, straight line, bottom jaw pushed out a bit so that his lower teeth stuck out. His stare did not waver once, but remained fixed on the settlement that his body language screamed he wanted to destroy. Not even the tyrant's enraged howls distracted him from his goal.
The hum crackled in my head once more, and the great dragon threw his head back and roared.
The king had arrived.
Come! his majesty cried. Come to me!
It was instant. It was without hesitation. Suddenly, everywhere, dragons were attacking their captors and smashing their chains. Those that worked themselves free leapt into the air, still dragging straps of leather, wood, and metal with them. The tyrant didn't even seem to notice, so focused he was on his older likeness. Even if he had, with the king's telepathy countering his own, I doubt he could have done much. The dragons were like a raging river: noisy, swift, unable to be stopped as they poured out of the settlement in droves toward the rightful king.
Your Majesty! I couldn't stop my mental voice from sounding like a child falling over himself in his eagerness. How did you . . .? I'm here! Over here - !
The tyrant barked. It was a different sound than the rest, short and direct. I looked over, and could see him squaring up the king. He held his head low, tusks almost grazing the ground as his tail slowly swished from side to side. The tyrant's chest thrust out, and his weight leaned forward as his intentions became clear.
No! My protest was surprising enough to give the tyrant pause. Please, don't do this.
The tyrant stared at me.
Listen to me, please! You don't have to do this. You don't have to fight him.
The tyrant growled. I must.
No, you don't! That's what Drago wants! You don't have to listen to him. Please! I pressed myself against the cage, trying to get as close to him as possible. Please, just listen to me.
For a long second, we looked each other in the eye.
I must.
The tyrant roared once more, and charged.
S*** be going down next chapter!
Review Responses:
Tyten: I find that a tricky topic, because you're right that it is 100% canon IF Toothless understands Norse. If he doesn't, then it becomes debatable although canon seems to lean in the direction that Toothless understands Norse perfectly. For this story, I'm going with the interpretation that Toothless pretty much knew that Hiccup shot him down, but never had it confirmed.
Me: Thank you?
Guest:Not saying anything about that comment ;)
Estrella85: Thank you!
Snowflake: Yes, yes he is.
MMM: I MAKE NO PROMISES
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Jazz: It would be fascinating if it wasn't a smokescreen for mind control and slavery.
Drago's an ass. It's canon!