I had trouble trying to stay awake. The Arbiter flew into Berk at the crack of dawn yesterday and I was beginning to see the eastern horizon lighting up and preparing for dawn. I couldn't get Hiccup to talk which made the flight really boring but it was probably for the best so he could formulate a plan. I could tell that Starfire was exhausted as well as I could feel her wing mussels straining more than usual. The relaxing cold flight wasn't providing me with any adrenaline to keep me awake.
I snapped to attention as soon as I saw Berk on the horizon. It was visible from allot farther away as it seemed to be glowing. I could feel Hiccup and Starfire tense as well as we came closer and the roars of dragons and screams of people became audible. A loud roar confirmed our fear that Arbiter was already at Berk.
"Now would be a good time to let us know what your plan is." Astrid yelled over to Hiccup.
"I'm sorry, I don't know how we can approach this differently. Support the others in the counter attack." Hiccup stated.
"You have got to be kidding me. All that time you had to think and you can't do any better than last time." I scolded. Before Hiccup could respond we were coming up on the village.
"Close your eyes!" Astrid screamed as Helios came into view, hovering out of catapult range of Berk. I put my hands over Starfire's eyes and after I saw the flash brighten my eyelids I looked at the massive dragon and it looked back at us. A swarm of wild dragons were protecting Arbiter and Helios and subverting Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins attempts of counter attack. A small group of the wild dragons broke away from the Arbiter and began to assault the town. Helios did not attack and simply followed Arbiters commands to manage the assault on Berk and provide some support.
"Attack or defend, Hiccup?" I asked.
"Astrid, turn those dragons around, we are going for the Arbiter." Hiccup commanded. Astrid immediately followed Hiccup's commands and attacked the dragons that had broken away from Arbiter. I reluctantly spurred Starfire forward to attack Helios. She shot three plasma balls out at Helios as we approached. Two hit wild dragons and the third hit Helios's leg but, as it was not augmented by his breath, it harmlessly bathed his scales in purple fire. We kept approaching them and a wild Monstrous Nightmare and Zippleback intercepted us and latched onto Starfire with their claws. We started to fall as they would not let go. We fell over the town and eventually found our way over the cliffs next to the docks. Suddenly a large dark shape hit the Zippleback and the force of the hit traveled through it to us. My head knocked against the Zipplebacks scales and we spun around, shaking off the Monstrous Nightmare. Starfire regained control of her flight and hovered above the bay.
"Ah 'iccup. Your still alive." we heard a voice state in surprise beneath us.
"Alvin? What are you doing here?" Hiccup asked as he saw Alvin on a ship with ten more Outcast ships anchored in the bay.
"Wha' dose it look like? 'onoring our truce." Alvin said while launching rocks up at the controlled dragons.
"Thanks for saving us but that hurt." I stated angrily.
"But you ..." Hiccup stammered but Alvin explained when Hiccup seemed to be unable to ask properly.
"Yeah but when I saw her put two holes in that dragons wings I knew you wouldn't have the stomach to go that far to convince me that he wasn't one of your riders. Also, I'm not having this beast stuck on my Island. He would rip it apart out of boredom." Alvin explained and then gestured to Toothless who was freely on the ship with Alvin.
"Toothless!" Hiccup exclaimed excitedly as Starfire lowered herself next to the ship so Hiccup could jump off. Hiccup quickly mounted and took off and hovered next to me.
"So eh ... any plan on 'ow we should attack this beast?" Alvin asked.
"Nope." I answered for Hiccup "He has no plan that could be better than what you were doing so just carry on.".
"What do you want from me Freya? We either defend our town or it gets destroyed. What would you suggest? Should we just let him destroy us or better yet we could destroy the town ourself and save him the trouble. Our only option ... wait." Hiccup stated angrily and franticly until he stopped completely and put on his deep thinking look.
"Follow me and do as I do, Freya. I have a plan." Hiccup said as he and Toothless gained altitude.
"It's about time." I yelled as I followed him into the sky. We circled around the battle and started to pick up speed. Suddenly, Hiccup dived when we were over Berk. Toothless then shot several plasma blasts at one building in particular. I hesitated for a moment thinking that Hiccup had gone crazy but I inevitably had Starfire fire all of her remaining shots into the armory. The building collapsed in a surge of smoke and fire. The weapons were destroyed by our own doing.
The battle quieted and the roars of dragons ceased. Starfire and I came to a hover over the town and watched as the controlled dragons receded back into the darkness of night. Helios and Arbiter climbed higher into the clouds and disappeared as Helios stopped shining light. A dark shape darted through the night and followed them into the clouds. All the other teens must have saw Hiccup too as we all entered the clouds together. We emerged through the other side and joined Hiccup and Toothless who were hovering in front of Helios.
"If I would have known you would destroy your own weapons, honestly, I would have just asked and we could have avoided all this extra damage." Arbiter stated now standing on Helios's crest.
"Honestly, I don't think you would have. I offered you peace and you chose to destroy us anyway." Hiccup stated.
"Hiccup you know better than that, if I wanted Berk gone it would have been gone before you got back." Arbiter stated coyly.
"Instead you just decide to make us defenseless a day before raiders land on our shores. You could have had peace and now by tomorrow all that will be here is rubble." Hiccup scolded.
"It is not my place to find peace, that is a diplomats job." Arbiter replied coldly. Hiccup looked somber and it looked like the conversation was over so I spoke up.
"Not your place? I thought you referred to yourself as an 'ultimate authority' not a puppet. If you are an Arbiter then the only one who should be deciding your place is you." I scolded. The Arbiter just mounted his place behind Helios's crest again and they flew off into the night.
"Uh ... who is 'The Arbiter'? I'm really confused." Tuffnut stated from the back of his dragon.
Hiccup begun his descent and landed in front of his house. The rest of the riders and I followed him. Stoick also returned to the front of their house.
"Son." Stoick breathed in relief as he grabbed and hugged Hiccup. Hiccup hugged him back. It was odd seeing Hiccup this way after all that had happened and what we knew was coming for us. "When Alvin sailed here with Toothless I feared the worst." Stoick said, almost coming to tears.
"Dad I'm sorry. I couldn't see any other way to get them to leave other than to destroy the armory. I ..." Hiccup sputtered.
Stoick cut him off and said "I am proud of you Hiccup. A true leader needs to be able to make sacrifices. Those sacrifices can be hard to make but they need to be done. Now ... you have fought off one threat, let me plan for the next one. Go inside and get some sleep. All of you get some rest. We are going to need everyone for the battle to come.".
I had no objections or comments for that. I was about to see my second sunrise today and I felt bruised and exhausted. I shuffled up the steps to the Great Hall and found my bed. The cries of all those that had been wounded or blinded in the Arbiter's assault didn't phase me. I closed my eyes and quickly claimed my much deserved sleep. One of Stoick's words echoed in my mind. Sacrifice.