I was held there for several more minutes. Then, I felt myself being moved through the village. Abruptly, I was dumped down on hard ground, and I heard the dragons being dragged next to me. A heavy door was slammed shut, and a giant sounding bolt went into place.
The ring. The dragons, except for Toothless, and I were locked up in a cage in the ring.
There was no escape. I couldn't even budge my hands. My knife was too far to my side for me to reach. The dragons couldn't help; they were also tied up.
I couldn't think much. I just tried to breathe without choking on the gag. I'm not sure how long I stayed like that. Eventually, I drifted off into a troubled sleep.
There was a noise. My eyes shot open, but of course I couldn't see anything through the sack.
The noise sounded again. It was the bolt unlocking. My heart started racing.
The door swung open. I heard footsteps running in. "Stormfly!" Astrid gasped. I heard the other teens all rushing to their dragons.
The next thing I heard was the snapping of ropes. They must have cut the dragons loose, because the dragons all rushed over toward me.
"Why are the dragons looking at that old sack?" Tuffnut asked.
"I don't know, but it looks great to play kick-bag with," his sister said.
"Guys, we need to find Hiccup, not play 'kick-bag,'" Fishlegs pointed out.
"Oh, come on, haven't you ever heard of stress management?" Tuffnut said. I felt his boot come in contact with my shins. It was painful, but I couldn't even grunt.
"Ow! That bag must be full of rocks!" exclaimed Tuffnut.
"Let me try," Ruffnut said eagerly. She kicked me hard in the stomach. "You doofus! That's soft!" she told Tuffnut.
"What? No," her brother disagreed. He kicked my shins again. "See? Hard."
Ruffnut kicked my stomach. "No. Soft."
Their back and forth debate continued for perhaps twenty seconds, with them kicking me each time.
"Why don't you just look inside the bag to see what's in it?" Snotlout asked, sounding impatient.
Tuffnut fumbled around with the twisted top. He opened it, and I squinted at even the dim light that entered.
"Oh, hey, Hiccup. What are you doing in there?"
All at once, I heard the others shout, "Hiccup!"
Fishlegs pulled me out of the bag. I struggled to breathe as Snotlout cut my hands free of the ropes, making slow progress because of how tight they were.
Noticing the gag, Astrid untied it from behind my head and pulled the cloths out of my mouth. I gasped for a deep breath of air, just sitting there, panting, for a minute. Snotlout finished cutting the rope off my wrists and started work on the rope around my ankles.
Once I had recovered my breath, Astrid said, "We got back here and saw what's happening. Poor Toothless is going to be forced into showing them the dragons' nest."
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"We decided to follow you in case something went wrong," Astrid explained.
"And something sure did go wrong!" Ruffnut said.
"This- this is all my fault," I said.
"Don't worry about it right now," Astrid said. "Let's just see if we can stop them before they get killed!"
Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the twins stayed behind to make sure the dragons were okay. Astrid and I rushed to the edge of the island. I saw now that it was morning.
We ran to the top of the boardwalks leading down to the docks. I rushed to the edge, watching in disappointment as the ships sailed off into the distance.
I had failed. I had failed the dragons. Worse still, I had failed my people. They would get slaughtered by the Red Death.
I stood there in defeat as I saw the ships disappear over the horizon. I was too late.
Astrid came up next to me and was silent for a few seconds. "It's a mess. You must feel horrible. You've lost everything: your father, your tribe, your best friend..."
"Thank you," I said dryly, "for summing that up."
I felt hopeless. "Why couldn't I have killed that dragon when I found him in the woods?" I wondered aloud. "It would've been better, for everyone."
"Yup," Astrid agreed. "The rest of us would've done it. So why didn't you?" She turned toward me. "Why didn't you?"
"I don't know," I mumbled, taking a few steps away. "I couldn't."
"That's not an answer."
I spun around, frustrated. "Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?"
"Because I want to remember what you say, right now."
"Oh, for the love of – I was a coward. I was weak. I wouldn't kill a dragon."
"You said 'wouldn't' that time."
"Okay, whatever! I wouldn't! Three hundred years, and I'm the first viking who wouldn't kill a dragon!" She stared at me, and I turned back around.
After a second, she said, "First to ride one, though. So…"
I lifted my head, a sudden realization hitting me hard.
Turning slowly toward her again, I admitted, "I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him, and I saw myself."
"I bet he's really frightened now. What are you going to do about it?"
I shrugged. "Eh, probably something stupid."
"Good, but you've already done that..."
An idea hit me. "Then something crazy," I said, backing up, turning around, and running toward the ring.
Astrid followed me close behind.
I arrived at the ring, staring at the dragons. I wondered if the other teens would go along with my plan.
I turned around as I heard Tuffnut coming up behind me. "You were wise to seek help from the world's most deadly weapon. Uh, it's me," he clarified, as Snotlout pushed him aside.
"I love this plan," Snotlout said to me.
"I didn't…" I began to say.
Ruffnut came up behind him, knocking him out of the way.
"You're crazy," she said. She glanced around and leaned forward. "I like that," she whispered. I leaned backwards, away from her.
Astrid yanked her away from me as I breathed in relief. "So, what is the plan?"
I smiled in gratitude as I saw my friends standing in front of me.
I went over to a crate at the side of the ring. "You're going to need something to help you hold on," I said, pulling out some rope. They looked at me in confusion for a second before turning to look at the dragons. Their faces lit up in realization and apprehension.
I spent the next few minutes teaching them how to do basic maneuvers, but I knew we didn't have much time. The ships would be at Dragon Island by now. So a short time later, we made up our minds.
We were ready.