I Own Nothing
All Rights Reserved
To one of my guest reviewers, I was not slighted by your words, merely amused and confused. And I shall do my best to keep to the standards you're holding me to.
To my other guest reviewer from chapter 18, I know I could write a prequel, but I am against writing it because I think it would be boring and I honestly have no desire to write it. Sure, a few moments would get tense and I wouldn't mind describing some places, but most of it would amount to Hiccup landing somewhere, seeing some sights, getting into a few largely irrelevant misadventures, and then flying to the next place. There would be no overarching plot, the segments would get repetitive, and the language barrier would make for awkward conversations, among other problems.
There are only going to be two Dragon King Stories.
Chapter 19
The Cave
The Tabernas Desert was a vast expanse made up of triangular yellow hills and ridges. Here and there were clumps of shrubs, but for the most part it was all sand and rock. There was a fascinating kind of stark and decadent beauty to the landscape, but only at certain times of day. At other times, especially in the mid afternoon, when the sun was at its zenith and there were no clouds in the sky, the area looked bleak, wasteful, and hopeless. And while the landscape at times resembled sandcastles half washed away by a passing wave, there was a decided lack of water anywhere.
For the Dragon Riders, it was as if they had come to another planet. Only Hiccup and Toothless had ever seen a real desert before. The rest had only ever seen sand on the beach, and that was nothing compared to this. The sand here was dry, grainy, and various shades of yellows and browns. Walking at times was very difficult, especially for Hiccup, but much more worrisome was the weather. The heat was incredible, even by the standards of the locals, but for the Vikings, who were used to near arctic temperatures, it was almost torturous. Nobody had slept much once they had entered the desert. Snotlout and Tuffnut were already sunburned in several places. Everyone had put on thin cloaks, which they had bought in the last town they had seen. The water supply was already half empty, and this worried everyone and made them all the more anxious to get going and get out of there. Even the Twins showed concern about the water supply and did nothing rash to it.
Only the dragons seemed at ease, except for Windshear. Her metallic scales made her incredibly and uncomfortably hot, so hot that Heather almost burned her hand trying to mount her one evening. By contrast, Hookfang was much happier than he had been in Greenland. The heat seemed to give him more energy and he could set his body on fire and not worry about burning anything!
It was towards midday when Hiccup climbed to the top of a slope some distance from their camp and peered through his spyglass. "There they are," he smiled to himself. Through the glass he could see Viggo and his hunters. They had left their ships behind and made their way inland two days before. The Riders had been following them discretely ever since Calais. They had not tried another boat raid because they knew Viggo would expect it. The fact that the hunters had kept close to the coastal towns had reinforced this assumption. But now that they were in the desert, they were a long ways from any help, and they could not bring those net launchers and catapults with them. Hiccup smiled. Here in the wilderness the dragons had the advantage. He looked up at the sky. Plenty of daylight left.
He heard panting and saw Fishlegs lumbering up the hill towards him. "That's some climb," he gasped, his face red with sweat, "So, whatcha looking at?"
Hiccup pointed and grinned. "Look at them, Fish. They're following the dried riverbed to that dead end over there. If we take certain precautions it'll be like grabbing eels in a barrel."
"How would there be a riverbed in the middle of the desert?" Fishlegs asked skeptically.
"Flash floods," Hiccup replied, "When it actually rains in these climates it comes down in torrents, and the ground can't absorb all the water. So for a short time you have a river cutting through the landscape. And by the looks of it, this little canyon's been a water route for centuries,"
"Are we in any danger here?" his friend asked nervously.
"Not as long as we stay high. It's Viggo's people who are in danger; although I don't think it's gonna rain now," he looked up at the sky. It seemed clear, though weather in the desert could change very quickly, he knew.
"Yes, they're in danger from us. Are we gonna move in?" Fishlegs asked eagerly.
"Not yet. We'll do it at early sunset. They'll all be hot and tired, and we'll come in from the west with the sun right behind us. And this time we won't have to worry about rescuing any dragons. And there'll be no trapdoors for Viggo to slip through." He smiled at the thought of having Viggo at his mercy.
"You're sounding rather devious," Fishlegs observed. He plopped himself onto the rock Hiccup was lying on, and to their surprise, it wobbled badly.
"Whoa there!" Hiccup cried, "hold still!"
"Sorry! I didn't think it would do that! I forgot it's on a hill of sand!" Indeed, this rock was on a hill of sand and if it had wobbled a bit more it might have rolled down that hill of sand and taken them with it. "But as I was saying, you're looking pretty happy in a dangerous way."
"Is that a problem?"
"It's a nice change, actually, considering how moody you've been these past bunch of days. Is something wrong?"
"We're in Spain, Fish," Hiccup said quietly. He gestured slightly to his back with a sweaty and twitching hand. "I'm sure it's a nice place and all that, but I think Adoncia ruined it for me forever."
"Are we close to where it happened…?"
"No." Much to his relief, the conversation went no further because Snotlout came lumbering up the hill to join them.
"Phew! That's some climb! Hi guys, what's happening?"
"Get down and keep your voice low! We're scouting out the Hunters," Hiccup said quickly.
"Good, good," he was so tired he threw himself down next to Fishlegs to rest a little. Instead, the sudden weight increase made the rock wobble again and this time the sand below it gave way. Before anybody could react the rock went into free fall down the side of the hill and they went with it, tumbling all the way to the bottom of the hill.
The hunters heard the noise.
"Go check that out at once," Viggo ordered some of them.
The three men landed in a pile on the ravine floor, but thankfully the rock had tumbled to the right and did not hit anyone.
"I think I've broken something!" Snotlout screamed. "Agh! My arm!"
"That's my arm, Doofus!" Fishlegs snapped.
"OW! Hiccup, your leg just poked my butt!"
"Will you just—"
"OW! Snotlout, that's my nose!" Fishlegs' voice sounded eerily similar to Hiccup's.
"Get your nose out of my fist!"
"Get your—"
"WILL YOU TWO SHUT UP AND GET OFF OF ME?" Hiccup roared. He looked up a little, which was hard when lying on his stomach with two beefy men on his back. Dragon Hunters were approaching, their bows out and loaded. "Oh great,"
The way Fishlegs lay he saw the hunters approach them upside down. "Um…Hiccup?"
"We surrender!" Hiccup yelled. The hunters looked very amused. Hognose joined them and looked ready to have hysterics. "We surrender! There's no need for violence!"
"Jest like old times, eh? Useless on the bottom where 'e belongs, Fishy 'elpless, Snotty 'opeless!"
"And Hognose too heartless to lend a hand to those in need, oh yes, I feel so nostalgic. Now will somebody get these two off me please, before I die of a crushed ribcage and deprive Viggo of a captive?" He knew Hognose would gladly watch him die like that unless it impacted the hunters negatively.
"Git 'em up and bring 'em to Viggo," Hognose ordered.
Back at the Rider's camp, trying hard not to be affected by the heat, Astrid saw Tuffnut moving his mouth as if he was talking and she took offense.
"YOU DON'T FOOL ME, TUFF! MY HEARING'S IMPROVING!" Her ears were still bandaged which, it turned out, kept them safe from sunburn, but she was not almost deaf anymore. She still had to talk loudly, however.
It was just her and the Twins for humans at the moment. Hiccup had gone to scout ahead, and Fishlegs and Snotlout had gone to join him. Heather had left with Windshear about an hour ago to search for any nearby water. She could see the Razorwhip reflecting the sunlight and guessed they would return pretty soon.
Despite not being completely deaf, she did not hear Hiccup, Fishlegs, and Snotlout shouting as they rolled down the hill. Tuff and Ruff did, but assumed they were just playing around and dismissed it. Toothless, however, leapt to his feet at once and rushed over to the source of the noise, the other dragons right behind him. This caught Astrid's attention but by the time she got moving Stormfly was already returning back to her.
From the top of the hill Toothless could see everything that was happening. He saw his human being picked up and bound by those accursed hunters. He was all set to charge down and blast them into oblivion when something made him freeze. He had spotted Skullcrusher some distance to the south.
At once he used his Beta authority to summon the Rumblehorn, wondering what on earth he were doing here and vowing to give him and anyone with him an extra helping of salmon for this as soon as he could.
Viggo was visibly pleased when he saw Snotlout and Fishlegs helping Hiccup hobble over towards him, flanked by his men. Hiccup's metal leg had been bent during the fall, making walking even more difficult on the sand than it already had been. Hognose had found this very amusing, and Dagur were just as pleased. Eret looked at him and quickly looked away.
"Well, Hiccup, we meet again," Viggo said smoothly.
"Erfreut,"
"And these two are?"
"This 'ere's Snotlout an' Fishlegs, sir, or as ah like ta call 'em, Snotty and Fishy,"
"Thank you Hognose, I really needed to know that. And where are the others?"
"No sign of them, sir," a hunter replied.
"See to our security," Viggo ordered Eret. "And Eret…don't forget, it's your security as well,"
"I know," Eret said grudgingly.
"I don't get why you put up with this, Eret," Hiccup said loudly. Hognose slapped him in the face.
Eret shrugged and replied, "Dragons are monsters, and it's my job to hunt them!"
Hiccup scowled at him and grimaced. "Who're the real monsters here, Eret? You don't see dragons turning on each other for bags of shiny metal scraps!"
"Except Smothering Smokebreaths, but that's just—" Fishlegs was silenced by Snotlout kicking him.
Viggo spoke. "Eret, go. And you go with him. And you two, search our guests,"
"We're unarmed," Snotlout said nervously.
"And we don't have any lenses on us," Hiccup added.
"If it's going to be torture, you'll get nothing out of us!" Fishlegs shouted.
"Everybody thinks that," Dagur grinned, "but they seldom stick to it, isn't that right, Hiccup?"
Hiccup smiled slightly, though his hands twitched. "As I recall, Dagur, the last time I cracked under torture I told you a bunch of lies and blew up your harbor,"
Dagur's face turned bright red and not because he was sunburned. Viggo held up a hand. "Well, Hiccup, by accident you're my prisoner again. So where are your friends?"
"Probably back where we left them,"
"Hiccup, I can't send a ransom demand or set up an exchange if I don't know where to send the messenger. How can we expect to come to a mutually agreeable arrangement like this? It's bad business."
"Too bad," Fishlegs smirked. "We know what you want, Viggo, and you're not getting it."
"Then we'll kill you!" Dagur grinned, stepping forward with his sword out. "And when we find your friends we'll kill them too! They'll be bits of bones and guts, every last one of 'em!"
"Hognose, go make certain Eret is doing his job properly," Viggo ordered, ignoring Dagur's behavior.
"But ah wanna see this!" Hognose pouted. "Ya all-ready sent someone ta watch Eret!"
"Hognose," Viggo said in a dangerous tone.
"On ma way, sir," but before he left he bent down so his face was almost touching Fishlegs'. "We'll kill 'em all, nice and slowly. And we'll 'ave some fun with them girls 'fore we cut 'em inta litta pieces!"
Fishlegs spat in his eyes. Hognose groaned and struck him, then stormed away muttering curses.
"That kind of mindset is going to get him into trouble one of these days, Viggo," Hiccup remarked.
"Thank you for the warning. Your leg looks a little bent, Hiccup. Having trouble with it? Well, lucky for you, we have only a little further to go now," He turned to Ryker, who had stood by in silence the whole time. "Ryker, have some men set up camp for the night." Unobserved by anyone else, he winked at his brother. "Dagur, bring the prisoners with us. And make certain my men keep swords pointed at their backs."
Astrid could hardly believe it. Stoick the Vast, Skullcrusher, and her own mother were approaching! It was as if they had just risen out of the desert! Greta Hofferson, stumbling over the sand, went right up to her and hugged her tightly. Astrid could faintly hear her crying "Are you alright? What's happened to your head? Where are the others? Are you alright?"
Stoick was less emotional. "What's going on?" he demanded. Cheerful reunions could wait for him.
Stormfly broke the bad news to Astrid (Toothless was still watching the hunters from the hilltop). Visibly shaken, Astrid translated the news for the others. He controlled himself by tightening the grip on his hammer.
"So my son, nephew, and Fishlegs are now prisoners?" he growled.
The Riders exchanged nervous looks.
"And was this deliberate?"
The humans shook their heads. "As far as we know, no sir,"
"Then I think it's time to show these Hunters just who they're messing with."
"That's the spirit!" Skullcrusher said, "We'll teach those two-legged beasts a thing or two!"
"We're right behind you, Chief," Tuffnut said.
They could see Heather and Windshear approaching, both of them looking very confused.
The hunters, with their prisoners in tow, trudged to the end of the gully, where the gaping mouth of a cave was clearly visible. They moved closer, largely unaware that they were being watched by more than just a few pairs of eyes. Eret had spotted Toothless earlier; his black shape easily stood out against the orange sand, but he had said nothing. Eret's enthusiasm for this treasure hunt was as dry as the desert itself. He had realized during the past few days he did not really care who acquired all the pieces of the Dragon Eye, and wondered why he had ever cared about it. If it was not for the fact that they were in the middle of the desert, he might have just turned around and walked away at that very moment.
Dagur was guarding Hiccup, and helping him to walk. Yet at one point his amused expression became dead serious and he spoke in a whisper. "Hiccup—that girl with you, is her name Heather?"
"Maybe," Hiccup muttered back. It was only now that he remembered what he had suspected about Heather and Dagur. The past weeks had given him plenty of other things to think about.
"Is she—?"
"I think so," Why he had spoken truthfully about this he had no idea, but there was such earnestness in Dagur's manner that he felt compelled to take a leap of faith and trust him with this information. He was often on the lookout for a chance to turn enemies into allies. He had almost gotten through to Dagur once before, or so he had felt, and perhaps another push would compel him to change sides, or at the very least cease to be a foe.
His hopes seemed to have some justification, for Hiccup had never seen Dagur look so nervous. But there was no chance for further discussion. They were surrounded by people whom they did not dare talking freely in front of, and not long afterwards they reached the entrance to the cave.
It was a large entrance, big enough for twice Toothless' wingspan and looked rather foreboding, like a gaping mouth waiting to eat whoever entered it. On the other hand, it meant a source of shade and escape from the heat.
"Do we have-ta search the 'ole place?" Hognose demanded.
"I'm afraid so," Viggo said, "the map does not show anything in the cave itself. Well, no sense in waiting."
"Wait a minute!" Fishlegs exclaimed loud enough for all to hear, "Look!"
They looked. And they saw a small dragon emerging from the cave. It looked like a Terrible Terror, except it was considerably smaller, had a less bulbous face, and a thinner but longer wingspan.
The Hunters were not impressed and many started laughing. "That's what ya want us ta look at?" Hognose laughed scornfully.
"A cat's bigger than that thing!" someone spat.
Fishlegs was aghast at their foolishness. "But that's a Spitting Terror! They're very territorial and incredibly dangerous! Speed 3, Fire power 3, Venom—"
"3?" Dagur sneered.
"No, actually—" But his attempted warnings were just making the hunters laugh harder.
"Call that thing dangerous?"
"Sheep are more dangerous than that!"
"What's he do, bite yer legs?"
"Ooh, I'm so scared!"
Viggo did not share in the amusement. "Then Fishlegs, why don't you go down and take care of it, since you know so much about it?"
But Hognose pulled out his sword. "Oh, let me do it, sir! One more pair o' gloves fer the market!" He walked towards the dragon.
"But that dragon's got venom that can—"
Hiccup hastily interrupted him. "—it's perfectly harmless—"
Viggo turned quickly to watch but said nothing to stop Hognose.
The little dragon hissed at Hognose, but he ignored it and raised his sword. Then the dragon opened its mouth and spat something into the man's eyes!
Hognose screamed. The dragon spat again and he screamed even louder, his hands clutched his face and he fell to the ground, rolling around in agony.
"—unless it comes in contact with the eyes," Hiccup finished.
Nobody moved to aid Hognose at first because nobody was willing now to get close to the Spitting Terror. So Hognose was left to scream in pain as the venom did its work. He only received help after he, probably unwittingly, managed to stumble his way towards them enough that several hunters felt they were safe from the Terror. Only then did they come forward to tend to his injuries. His eyes were washed with water numerous times, which did nothing to stop his screaming. Much like Astrid's ears, there was little else that could be done except place bandages and hope for the best.
The three Riders had been tied up into a chain gang. Snotlout had tried to escape during the commotion but had been caught before he got five meters. Attempts to struggle and fight back were quickly stopped by spears pointed at his throat.
"Is that venom fatal?" Snotlout asked as he watched them try to tend to the whimpering and twitching Hognose.
"No, but he could go blind," Fishlegs replied, and he was not in the least bit sorry. "I was trying to warn them that Spitting Terror venom is rated at 18,"
Snotlout whistled. "That's pretty potent. And who'd have thought it? A tiny dragon that can spit blinding venom! I've never heard of such a thing before!"
"A cobra nearly did the same thing to me when I was in Egypt," Hiccup remarked, "Luckily it missed,"
Viggo stormed over to them. He was not angry about Hognose being injured, nor had he been really startled by it. He had been expecting an injury of sorts and had wanted to see what the Terror had which worried Fishlegs so much. No, he was just angry at the delay they had suffered because of it. So he ordered Ryker to shoot the dragon dead.
"Wait!" Hiccup yelled before Ryker could react. "Let me go down and talk to the Terror!"
"No," Viggo said coldly.
"Oh come on, what do you think I'm going to do? You've still got Fishlegs and Snotlout for prisoners if I try anything, and I can't ask the Terror to take any messages to someone because nobody but me understands Dragonese! I'll just go down and ask him to leave the cave for a few hours! He might even know where the lens is and save us the trouble of hunting for it! Besides, suppose you shoot him and miss? He might attack and blind you! This way, I'll be the only one risking my eyesight!"
Viggo paused, thought a moment, and then nodded. But he would not let anyone help him walk down, so Hiccup had to essentially bear crawl his way towards the Terror. It hissed and opened its mouth, revealing its large fangs to him.
"Very impressive," Hiccup commented, careful to keep his distance.
"How do you speak my language?"
"You know, I get asked that quite a lot," Hiccup remarked. "I speak your language because my best friend is a dragon,"
"Oh really?" the Terror was skeptical, "and why should I believe that when you're in the company of nasty two-legged Ladder Snakes?"
"You know, you're a lot cleverer than other Terrors I've come across."
"I have to be. Those pests run from their foes—I stay put. I have to know when the time is right to attack," it spoke in a very chilling voice.
"Yes, I can see that," Hiccup replied, "But I don't want any trouble. We only came to enter the cave and get something out of it. A small pane of glass—have you ever seen it in there?"
"Never. I've only taken up residence pretty recently."
"Hmm. Well I had to ask. It would have saved us some trouble if you had." He looked up at the sky and saw a dark cloud to the north. He looked at the surrounding hillsides and saw nothing. "Tell me, do you smell rain in the air?"
"Yes I do. There'll be a storm soon."
"There's not much time, then. Listen, my little friend, I need you to do me a really big favor…"
The hunters watched the two of them converse. Bit by bit they saw the Terror move closer to Hiccup until at last it was sitting in his lap and Hiccup was petting it. Fishlegs felt proud of him, while Snotlout felt a bit jealous. Dragons never did that for him.
"I wish I knew what he was saying," Viggo mumbled to himself. "He's up to something," but even if Viggo had understood Dragonese he probably would not have been able to hear what was being said. Still, he suspected he knew what Hiccup was doing, and was confident his suspicions were correct. If they were, the Terror would summon the other dragon riders and they would come to rescue their friends. That would bring them out in the opened and in range of his arrows. Besides, something about Hiccup and the way he was interacting with the dragon fascinated Viggo. "If we can learn some of his methods we could use them to lure a dragon right into our arms and then cut their head off."
Finally the Terror flew away and Hiccup called back to the hunters. "It's all right! He's agreed to let us in the cave until nightfall,"
Viggo and some of his men moved into the cave, bringing Snotlout and Fishlegs with them. The rest would stand by to watch at the cave entrance.
"Remember, if anyone tries anything funny, they'll get half a dozen arrows in the chest," Viggo said. "I really only need one of you alive,"
Only Viggo's men were allowed torches. The cave looked as if a giant spoon had scooped out some of the rock face. The walls were very smooth, though here and there were cracks and places where chunks had fallen out. And the higher half of the cave rear did not extend as far back as the lower half. Clearly the lower half got hit by flash flood waters more frequently. There were no formations or anything to make its appearance worth noting. The floor was strewn with rocks and sand.
"Well this is nice," Snotlout grumbled, "what do they want us to do, just start turning over rocks until we find something?"
"Yes," Viggo replied. He himself sat on a rock and watched.
"It would help if we could see better," Hiccup said impatiently.
"You with the torches, spread out and start looking," Viggo ordered.
Fishlegs moved over to Hiccup and helped him hobble about. "What's the plan?" he asked.
"Find what we came for," Hiccup muttered back, "Tell Snotlout be ready to fight when I give the word,"
"Stop that!" shouted one hunter, cuffing them both on the head. Hiccup realized that Fishlegs had just disproven his lie and looked at Viggo to gauge his reaction. But Viggo just sat on his rock and watched them like a patient vulture.
Back on the hillside, the expanded group of Dragon Riders sat mounted, waiting for Hiccup's signal. The minutes felt like hours to everyone. The Spitting Terror sat nearby, eager to see the action.
Stoick glanced to the ravine's western end, where a motley group of tents had been set up. It was an odd place for tents, at the bottom of a ravine with absolutely no defensive capabilities.
"What's taking so long?" Toothless muttered. "He said once they found the last piece, they would use it to get close to Viggo and attack him, and their shouts would be the signal for us to attack. That's exactly what he said—so what's going on down there?" He had been repeating those words over and over again, each time terrified that he had gotten something wrong and that the attack was already supposed to have started. He looked over to the north and saw it was raining over there. Yet over where they were it was completely dry.
Snotlout suddenly gave a shout. "There's a tunnel over here! I don't know about you but I'd hide this thing in a tunnel! Whoop! It drops a bit, I almost fell! Good thing I'm so quick, I'm like a—say, what is that stuff on the ground down there? It looks like the ground is moving! Cool!"
Hiccup and several hunters moved over to join him. He had been telling the truth. There was a drop of about 3 meters that led to a tunnel, roughly large enough for a man to crawl through if they stayed in a crouching position. And he was not wrong, there was something moving on the ground at the bottom of the drop.
"Maybe there's water down there?" Fishlegs suggested. Hiccup asked for a torch. The hunter held it high enough and everyone looking suddenly felt sick at what they were looking at. That was not water moving on the ground.
"Cockroaches," Fishlegs gagged. There must have been hundreds of them scurrying about on the ground. Their large backs were dirty shades of brown and glinted in the firelight.
"Well, now we know why that Terror lives here," Hiccup said, trying to lighten the mood. "Lots of food,"
"Perhaps we should look somewhere else?" Snotlout suggested. He liked bugs and things that crawled in the dirt as much as any young man, but not in a multitude like this.
But the hunter would have none of it. "Get down there and look."
"I'm not going down there!" Snotlout shouted.
"Same here!" Fishlegs nodded vigorously.
The hunters growled threateningly, though they were in no mood to try it themselves.
"I'll do it," Hiccup said reluctantly, "Just lower some rope for me,"
When he had started this whole adventure, he never imaged he would at one point be climbing over a horde of cockroaches. Thankfully one of the hunters had been courteous enough to drop a torch into the horde, scattering many of them away. Still, it took Hiccup four large steps (as large as he was able to make, given his prosthetic's condition) to make it away from the roaches. He squatted and crawled down the small tunnel, only to find it stopped after less than five meters. He looked around but saw absolutely nothing out of the ordinary. It was just a short tunnel through damp sand. He looked back at the cockroaches. What on earth were they doing there, anyway? They seemed to be feeding on something.
Still crouching, Hiccup called up to the others. "Hey Viggo! When you found other Dragon Eye lenses, what were they kept in? Were they kept in anything?"
It was a while before he got an answer. "We found some in small iron boxes, if that's what you mean."
"Did you find any in wooden boxes?"
"…Yes, why do you ask?"
"And how deep were some buried?"
"Deep enough. Now, Hiccup, why are you asking this?"
Hiccup groaned for an answer. He was starting to make out what had happened. The Defenders centuries back had buried a box in what at the time had been the back of the cave. It must have looked incredibly inconspicuous at the time. But over the centuries the flash floods had dug out more and more of the cave and the tunnel he was crouching in. If the Defenders had used a wood box to contain this lens, thanks to the most recent flash floods, the wood might have been exposed for probably the first time since it had been buried, and the cockroaches were now feeding on it.
Hobbling over the cockroaches again, Hiccup picked up the torch and used it to shoo the roaches away. With them gone he could see the sides and top of the box, half eaten and incredibly rotten. He unhooked his prosthetic and used the bent end as a shovel to dig the box up and he gently removed the lid. Inside the box, as well preserved as if it had been made only yesterday, was the final Dragon Eye lens. It was a glass circle encased in a heptagonal piece of beautifully engraved metal. It was very light and cold to the touch.
Hiccup suddenly felt a sense of awe and betrayal. He was awed at the fact that he was the first man to touch this in probably four centuries and felt treacherous that he had removed it from where it had been hidden for so long.
Viggo's impatience had mounted. He had guessed what Hiccup was doing and at first was willing to let him do it, but he wanted a progress report. "Well? Have you found anything?"
"Yes, I've got it. I'm coming up." He slipped it into his belt. All they had to do now was pretend they were going to give it to Viggo, than attack him and make a lot of noise while doing so, and stay alive until the others arrived. It was a crazy plan but he had only had a very short time to work it out. Besides, he was confident Astrid and Toothless would not keep them waiting long. He picked up the torch and shoved it into the dirt to extinguish it. "There ya go, boys. Eat up," he said to the cockroaches. They came rushing back to feed, but he was already climbing up the rope by that point.
The first thing he saw was the anxious face of Fishlegs. "Give me a hand please?"
"Yes, help him up," Viggo said eagerly, "help him up! And no tricks or someone will get hurt! We wouldn't want that now, would we?"
"Did you get it?" Snotlout asked once Hiccup was up, "was it where I thought it would be? Yeah! Go Snotmaster and Hiccup!" Snotlout gleefully punched Hiccup in the shoulder, as Astrid might have done. The punch, or more correctly a shove, caught Hiccup off guard and he fell backwards, right down the shaft he had just climbed up and right into the mass of cockroaches!
Hiccup screamed loudly and seconds later came screams from the outside. Viggo had maybe an instant to react before Snotlout and Fishlegs lunged at him, trying to pin him to the ground. His hunters aimed their bows, but then something big and black barreled into them.
"Where's my human?" Toothless roared. "Hiccup? Where are you? Hiccup!" He swung his tail and sent a hunter right into the wall. Hookfang burst in with a screech and lit himself on fire. In the gloom of the cave he was truly a terrifying sight. Two hunters dropped their bows and ran for it but, lucky for them, Hookfang made straight for Snotlout. Meatlug was right behind him.
Viggo shoved Snotlout into Fishlegs and the two fell to the ground. They were up in a second, but Viggo was already making for the exit, only to find the dragons blocking his way, compelling him to turn back to the two Vikings. Furious, Fishlegs dove at him and grabbed his foot, making him trip and fall to the ground. Then Stormfly, with Astrid on her back, appeared nearby and threw spines into the edges of Viggo's shirt, essentially nailing him to the cave floor.
"GOTCHA!" shouted Astrid, leading off her dragon and holding her axe to Viggo's neck. As she did so Fishlegs cut the Dragon Eye from his belt and attached it to his own.
"This belongs to the Defenders, not you!" he spat.
Toothless had heard Hiccup's shouting and spitting, and he rushed towards the source of noise.
"Hiccup! Are you all right?"
"GET ME OUTTA HERE!" Hiccup yelled as he swatted cockroaches on his face. Toothless took very careful aim and fired a plasma blast. The cockroaches that survived scampered away at once. Toothless then climbed down, tail end first. He could not fit his wings into the shaft. "Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he yelled desperately, for he could not actually see his human.
"I HATE COCKROACHES! I HATE 'EM! THEY WERE CRAWLING DOWN MY SHIRT AND OVER MY FACE! I NEVER WANNA SEE ANOTHER COCKROACH AGAIN!"
"Then let's get out of here—and stop shouting like that or I'll end up like Astrid!"
Hiccup quickly grabbed the Night Fury's tail and the dragon pulled him out, like a rod pulling a fish out of a pond. And the first thing Hiccup saw when he reached the main chamber of the cave was his father.
"Dad! What are you doing here? Not that I'm complaining, but—"
"I came to save my son, of course!" Stoick retorted as he bashed a hunter on the head, "We both did!"
"What? You mean—" he saw Cloudjumper pinning a hunter to the ground and Valka rushing towards them. "Well I'll be…"
Valka grabbed him by the collar. "Hiccup, are you all right? I told you the Eye was better left where it was! I told you—did they hurt you? What happened? What did you do to your leg? Did they hurt you? What's with those marks on your face—are those bug guts? Did they hurt you?"
"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Hiccup grinned weakly as he clambered onto Toothless so he had actual mobility.
"You kept us waiting for too long!" Toothless said furiously. When the planned signal had not come they lost patience, and just as they started attacking they had heard Hiccup's screams. They had not known it was not the signal Hiccup had intended to give, because Snotlout pushing Hiccup into the roach pile had not been part of the plan. Snotlout had evidently come up with that part by himself.
Hiccup could see Heather and Windshear going after Dagur, who looked torn between fighting and fleeing. At any rate, he was clearly only defending himself and made no effort to harm Heather, but the intent was not mutual. She was throwing all her strength into every swing of her double bladed axe.
Now it was Astrid's turn to come rushing over to him. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Before he could answer she punched him in the leg. "THAT'S FOR SCARING ME LIKE THAT AND GETTING CAUGHT!"
"I was alright," Hiccup grunted. He had probably gotten more injuries from his friends than his enemies today. The expected kiss and hug that usually followed never came. Instead they heard someone from outside bellow "DROP YOUR WEAPONS NOW!"
Everybody froze; human and dragon alike. A tense silence followed. Hiccup, on Toothless's back, had the dragon shift closer to the entrance for a better view. A new and large group of Dragon Hunters had arrived and had arrows pointed at everybody not on their side. Ryker was standing in the front, a broad grin on his face.
Before Hiccup could do anything more Viggo pulled free from the Nadder spines, whipped out a knife, and leapt onto Toothless. The dragon roared but Viggo had grabbed Hiccup in a chokehold and yelled "I have the Heir of Berk at knife point! I suggest you do as Ryker says and drop your weapons! And I would think carefully before trying to blast me with fire! You dragons might miss and hit poor Hiccup instead!"
"Do as he says," Stoick ordered quickly. It made little difference in some respects, for the dragons did not have any weapons to lower, so they remained as dangerous as ever. The hunters began picking themselves off the ground and running over to rejoin their fellows.
Viggo muttered in Hiccup's ear, "I thought you'd try to ambush me here, so I prepared to ambush your ambush. Now," he said to the whole assemblage, "I propose two exchanges. You give us the Dragon Eye and all of the lenses, and I'll spare your lives. Then, you let us leave and I will release Hiccup to you—at a time of my choosing. You have one minute to agree or I will order my men to open fire on all of you."
"Do that and we'll return fire," Stoick retorted, "we'll take a lot of you with us. Care to risk the lives of your men like that?"
"Everyone is expendable," Viggo replied coolly, "I am going to count to—!"
At that moment Skullcrusher slid down the hillside, bringing a lot of sand and rocks down with him, and the small avalanche slammed right into the main body of the newly arrived hunters. At the same time a plume of green smoke wafting towards them from behind exploded with enough force to blast everyone except Skullcrusher off their feet.
"LOKIED!" the Twins cheered. A clap of thunder sounded, as if to say the Gods were voicing their approval.
"Get them!" Stoick roared, though his people needed no prompting. Hiccup turned around as best as he could and head-butted Viggo, while Astrid had grabbed Viggo's wrist and twisted the knife out of it. Dazed as he was, Viggo's grip on Hiccup tightened. Another clap of thunder sounded, followed by three more in quick succession. Light filled the cave for moments as lightning struck the desert outside. The storm had reached the area.
And then everyone froze again, for they heard an ominous sound. It was the sound of a roaring river.
"FLASH FLOOD! GET OUT OF HERE!" Hiccup screamed. Toothless had already taken off, and it was a mercy for Viggo that he had been holding onto Hiccup so tightly, or else he would have fallen off the Night Fury and died in the flood waters that came thundering down the ravine.
The dragons burst out of the cave like a flock of bats. The hunters panicked and broke off in random directions. Seconds after they did so, a huge mass of water tumbled down the ravine, smashing into everything in its path as if such obstacles were mere toothpicks.
Some ran for the high ground. Some ran blindly into the cave. Still others ran for the ascending dragons, hoping a Rider would be merciful and save them. And still others were so scared by the sight of brown torrents heading straight towards them that they did not move at all. For such men, it was the last thing they ever did.
Cloudjumper grabbed Valka and Stoick and landed them safely on high ground. The two Haddocks looked around frantically for Hiccup, but saw nothing. Lightning flashed again and a loud thunder clap answered, prompting survivors to cover their ears.
The flood slammed into the cave, recoiled, and did so again, and again, each time with decreasing force. A few bodies and scraps of tent cloth floated on its surface.
Stoick did not have much time to search for Hiccup, because the hunters who had escaped the flood had to be rounded up before they could reorganize and his people had to be organized so they could do this. Spotting Stormfly and Astrid dropping two hunters and pinning them to the ground, he ordered them to search the area for his son. Valka wanted to go as well but Stoick wanted Cloudjumper to stick around, as the Stormcutter would look very intimidating to most hunters. Viggo Grimborn was unaccounted for, but his brother had been snatched up by Skullcrusher and was now being used by Fanghook as a seat cushion and subjected to Gustav's taunting. Stoick shook his head and scowled.
"We just escaped a flood and he's already making jokes!"
"Maybe it's his way of coping with danger," Valka suggested.
"No, he does that by flirting with Astrid. Gustav! Get over here! And everybody keep an eye out for anyone missing!"
Thunder sounded again, but softer this time. The storm appeared to be leaving as quickly as it came.
It was his first time flying on a dragon, but Viggo had no interest in the charms or beauty of the novelty. Instead he pulled out another knife and tried to stab Hiccup in the back, only to find that Hiccup's flight suit was built for such occasions. The blade did not pierce his skin at all. However, the sudden attack made Hiccup accidently move Toothless's tailfin pedal the wrong way and the three of them went into a very sharp turn eastwards, away from the cave and the ravine. Viggo, suddenly aware he was in danger of falling to his death, grabbed Hiccup more tightly than ever.
A bolt of lightning came down not far in front of them. The hairs on the humans stood on end, they were temporarily blinded, and the following thunder nearly deafened them. Hiccup had turned the pedal so that they shot straight up for a dozen meters, dodging the bolt. Then, as if the Gods really did hate Hiccup, Toothless's saddle somehow came unbuckled.
Hiccup felt the straps break loose and suddenly found he was no longer connected to his dragon. He quickly spread his arms and released the Dragonfly 43 wingspan. Unfortunately, he had not counted on Viggo grabbing his foot and hanging on for dear life. The wingspan was not meant to carry that much weight and the leather under one arm started splitting. The two half glided and half plummeted towards a hilltop, landing in a soft patch of sand with loud grunts and thuds.
Viggo was upon Hiccup in an instant. The two rolled around, each one trying to pin the other down.
"I don't want to kill you!" Viggo cried as they wrestled, "just give up and let's discuss this!"
"Says the guy who attacked first!" Hiccup snorted, "You just want me alive so you can use me as a captive!"
It was an even fight, they both were realizing. Neither of them could see too well, Viggo was not the strongest of men, and Hiccup was not in the best physical shape right then. But his broken prosthetic still hurt Viggo's whenever he kicked him. Viggo tried to use his knife and slashed at Hiccup's knuckles. But Toothless came charging towards them like a bull, and he collided with the hunter. Viggo rolled over to the edge of the hilltop they were on. He was on his feet at once, just in time for Hiccup to punch him in the stomach and kicked him again. Viggo went over the edge and tumbled out of sight.
"Nice one," Toothless commented.
"Ugh, I hope we never have a flight like that again," Hiccup groaned, putting a hand on his back and trying to tend to his bleeding hand, "I think I've just aged a few years,"
"Oh stop whimpering. I've aged a few decades thanks to your shenanigans!"
Hiccup lost his balance and flopped onto the ground. "This sand isn't even wet! And the clouds are already clearing!" he looked around quickly, "Where are we? Where are the others?" He was about to tell Toothless they should grab Viggo and head back but they saw Stormfly flying towards them. Astrid leapt off the Nadder and grabbed Hiccup around the middle. "THANK THOR!"
"I'm glad to see you too," Hiccup grinned.
"WHAT?"
"I'M GLAD TO SEE YOU TOO! ARE YOU ALRIGHT? IS EVERYONE ELSE SAFE?"
"I don't know, but we've got lots of prisoners now," Stormfly announced, "Your sire is organizing them."
"Then let's add one more to the lot." Hiccup asked Stormfly to take a look down below for Viggo. She was gone for only a few minutes and came back with a surprisingly docile man in her claws.
"I surrender," Viggo said as soon as he was on the ground again.
"Just like that?" Hiccup said disbelievingly.
"I am no fool, Dragon King. We are in the middle of the desert, and all of my supplies are either washed away by the flood or on my ships, which are several days from here. I know I will never survive on my own, so the sensible thing to do is surrender. However, I do expect to be treated with fairness equal to my standing. Remember, Hiccup, I treated you and your friends well when you were my prisoners."
"Sure you did." Astrid bent down and bound Viggo's hands.
"I must congratulate you for your success," Viggo said, "though really you only won by sheer luck, with the flood. If it had not been for that—"
"I still would have won," Hiccup smirked, "Did you forget I ambushed your ambushed? Do you think I didn't figure out you had hunters hide in those tents of yours?" After a quick situation update from Astrid, he gestured for her and Stormfly to take Viggo over to Stoick. Hiccup had to ride on Toothless because of his leg and, since they had lost his saddle, Toothless were forced to walk. The storm clouds had moved further south and the sky was bright blue again.
Toothless grinned, "'do you think I didn't figure out?' You sure looked smug saying that,"
"Well it was the truth!" And indeed it was. Hiccup had observed the tents being set up and noticed there were fewer hunters at the cave then he had seen earlier. So he had wondered: why set up tents on the nonstrategic floor of a ravine and why not bring every hunter with them to the cave? He could only conclude that some hunters had been left behind in those tents to watch and wait; to 'ambush the ambush' Viggo had anticipated. So Hiccup had told the Spitting Terror to tell some dragons to keep an eye on those tents. Evidently the Twins had taken the job, though Hiccup had hoped the concealed hunters would have been taken care of before they reached the cave.
They found the saddle nearly 200 meters away. It was a largely ruined and dirty heap of leather now.
"It might be salvageable," Hiccup said as he examined it, "If I had the materials…oh who am I kidding? Well, let's rejoin the others, Bud,"
He climbed back onto the Night Fury's back and the dragon started walking again.
Author's Note:
I am going on vacation soon, so this story will be on hiatus for 3 weeks. Chapter 20 will be posted on July 8th. During my trip I will have no internet access, so anyone who writes a review or sends a message should not expect a response for a while.
So to get you excited for what's coming next (and possibly make you impatient and furious with me) here are some snippets from the next 2 chapters:
From Chapter 20:
Stoick's eyes widened. "That's right, yes I did. It was a gift for his newborn daughter. It's customary for a Chief to send a gift when another Chief has a child."
"And this one was a gift for the daughter of Oswald the Agreeable?" Hiccup asked hoarsely. Stoick nodded firmly. Then he understood what Hiccup was implying and he looked at Heather in astonishment.
As for Chapter 21, I think all you need to know is it's titled: The Wedding