The Way Home
Hiccup and Toothless spent the last half of the second day and the first half of the third bonding with the Rumblehorn, Monstrous Nightmare and the four Terrible Terrors. He had decided not to give any of the group names, if he gave them all names, he would grow attached to them, and he had remembered clearly his Dad's statement, the 'one Dragon only in this house' rule. Hiccup found himself wholeheartedly agreeing with his Chief's policy for once. Bringing a whole menagerie of named Dragons to the Haddock household would only go on to drive both Haddock's up the wall.
After making sure all of the Dragon's were fed and watered, Hiccup and Toothless went on a recon flight, sweeping a ten mile radius, on the lookout for hostile Vikings and wild Dragons. After finishing his patrol, he returned back to the clearing and greeted each of the Dragons with his hands. They remained there for another hour and half, letting Toothless rest before a long journey. During the break, Hiccup took out a piece of parchment and had started drawing pictures of the landmarks he had spotted and jotting down notes. It had become a hobby of his over the past year, with a Dragon, especially one as fast as Toothless, exploring lands unexplored and going where no one goes. Hiccup finished his map making, packed his gear and mounted Toothless, and led the small fleet of trained Dragons south east back to Berk, their new home.
They had flown for an hour and half, when the Rumblehorn sniffed the air, he then growled and peeled away from the rest of the group.
'Where you off to big guy?' Hiccup questioned, curious of what the Dragon could sense. Trusting the Dragon's instincts, Hiccup gestured to Toothless. The Night Fury nodded and turned towards the direction of the Rumblehorn, leading the flock of flying reptiles with him.
Dagur the Deranged was ecstatic, his men had finally caught his prize and trophy, a newly discovered species of Dragon. They had took it by surprise when it had been in a deep sleep, having used its loud snoring to track it down and cover their sounds of ambush. It's head and hide would make a lovely addition to the rest of his grizzly Dragon souvenirs, if they could keep it still long enough for him to stick his axe in its throat. It was huge. The body of the new Dragon resembled that of a Gronckle, but it was much larger in size and wingspan. Differences were that its eyes were closer to its snout and its teeth were smaller, but sharper then a Gronckles. It's main characteristics that set it apart from other Dragon's were it's habit of eating anything metal that came near it and its tail. The tail itself looked like a cross between a mace and bludgeon. It's bulk made it difficult to control, but it was beginning to tire, it was only a matter of time before it would exhaust completely.
The Berserker group continued their sadistic game, unaware of the fact that it was being watched by a lone Viking and his sizable group of Dragons. None of them were impressed with what they saw. Hiccup, for one, had seen enough of this cruel sport, and he himself wanted another crack at Dagur personally. The Beserker Chieftain had managed to escape justice after his defeat on Outcast Island the year before, so the Heir had unfinished business with the Deranged. He ran through the plan with them again. They were to sweep in with a blast, literally, surprising the torturers. Whilst Hiccup, Toothless, the Rumblehorn and Nightmare held off the Berserkers, the Terrible Terrors would set to work in freeing the new Dragon. They all agreed on their roles and set off to strike.
His men had managed to subdue the Dragon, Dagur was finally going to get his trophy. He approached it with a twisted grin on his face, stood above the Dragon's neck and raised his axe to make his kill. A purple bolt came out of nowhere and hit a group of Berserkers, knocking them off their feet and scattering them. Dagur looked up and saw four Terrible Terrors, a Monstrous Nightmare, a Dragon he had never seen before, and leading the attack was none other than Hiccup and his Night Fury. The group made a sharp curve in the air, swinging around for another pass over the ships and their catapults. They left nothing but debris and splinters. Then they turned their attention to the Berserkers. Hiccup leapt off Toothless to confront Dagur, sticking to the plan, the Night Fury, Rumblehorn and Monstrous Nightmare engaged the warriors, and the Terrible Terrors used their flames and teeth to cut the ropes that bonded the Dragon.
'Up to your usual deranged ways, Dagur?' questioned Hiccup, drawing Inferno.
'Hello, Hiccup, are you feeling all hiccupy good?' answered his opponent, twirling his double headed axe. The Viking leaders clashed.
Within less than five minutes, the Dragons had freed the prisoner and had made short work of the Berserkers. Now all attention resolved around the Deranged and the Pride of Berk. Being Chieftain to the Berserkers meant that Dagur was naturally a fighter. He was, however, mad with anger, to discover that his opponent was more of a match against him. In their past encounters, Dagur was used to the runt of Stoick the Vast either dodging him clumsily or using that pathetic shield of his. Not engaging him head on like this, attacking the Berserker Chief swiftly, deflecting his blows efficiently and dodging attacks nimbly. Unfortunately for him, back at Berk, Hiccup had spent most of his working life in the Forge, lifting weapons, carrying large chunks of metal ore and hefting heavy tools, he had muscle, despite everyone in the past mocking him as a hiccup and runt. He had beaten Snotlout Jorgenson in armed combat in the Thawfest Games last year. He was a capable fighter.
Their weapons locked for a moment, Dagur pulled back an arm and attempted a punch, only for his hand to be caught in Hiccup's palm, his strength matching the Berserkers. Hiccup then pulled his head back and then head butted Dagur, hard. The Deranged staggered back, whilst the Pride of Berk was dazed from his attack. The Berkian recovered first by just a few seconds, but it was more than enough time. Hiccup hit Dagur on the wrist with the flat of Inferno's blade, his enemy yelped and dropped his axe in pain. He then brought the blade up to the Viking's throat, Dagur's face twisted in silent contempt as he slowly raised his hands in submission.
'Do you yield Dagur?' questioned Hiccup, Dagur nodded in response.
'This isn't over, Hiccup,' mocked Dagur, putting emphasis on the last word, he knew Hiccup would not kill in cold blood, but the Deranged knew not to push his luck with the Pride of Berk.
Toothless landed near Hiccup, and he mounted the Dragon, keeping his full attention on Dagur, daring the other Viking to try something. Eventually the group took flight, leaving Dagur devastated, literally. Once in the air, Hiccup looked to the survivor, fortunately it had only minor injuries, the Rumblehorn and Nightmare flying near it, just in case.
The Survivor had been flying with them for fifteen minutes, before it threw up a wave of molten metal, similar to Gronckles.
'Hotburple,' thought Hiccup in deep thought, christening the new species of Dragon.
New chapter guys, hope you enjoy it. Until then, take care :)