Everyone went to their dragons and mounted up. Shadow took a few moments to run back and grab a leather garment and put it on, securing the straps in place, then trigger her transformation. Phantom stopped to stare. Her skin darkened and new scales grew to cover her body, then she fell onto all fours while her bones reshaped themselves. Her body convulsed and shuddered as she grew into a much larger size and her wings and tail elongated. Phantom couldn't help but stare in awe at her. He had never actually seen another one of his kind change into their dragon form without being subjected to it himself. It was a grotesque sight, but oddly beautiful as she shifted. The harness she put on before she transformed stretched and morphed with her and it too grew in size to accommodate her large body.
Finally, she stood there in all her glory, strapped in her harness and standing proudly above the other dragons. The twins ran over to her, bridal in hand and secured it to her horns before climbing onto her back. Everyone else jumped onto their dragons and took off to their allocated positions.
"You two, I need you to find your Zippleback. Barf and Belch wouldn't stop running after Hiccup, so they must be near him. Therefore we need to find that dragon, and then we should find Hiccup." Shadow growled.
The twins, worried for their dragon, called out into the growing night while Shadow flew over the island, but once they came to the northern side of Dragons Edge, Shadow's flying faltered. There in the water, was a gigantic ship, swarming with armed men. Shadow's keen eyesight could make out two key figures on the deck, Hiccup and Dagur.
She growled and started to fly down, but out of nowhere, the Zippleback jumped in to protect the young future chief. Chaos ensued on-board of the ship, with Zippleback gas spewing everywhere and explosions happening left, right and centre.
Hiccup managed to break free of his binds and tried to come up with an escape, whilst at the same time, fighting off Dagur and his men. He wouldn't last long, outnumbered as he was, so Shadow spurred herself on, if only to get Barf and Belch under control first by using the twins. She dive bombed the ship, and pulled up at the last moment, while the twins jumped off her back. They ran towards their dragon when he got wrapped up in a net and fell into the water over the side.
Shadow growled when Dagur laughed in glee and attacked Hiccup, then banked hard around to fly as close as she could to the deranged man. Wind rushed by her face and over her horns, under her wings and down her body as she allowed gravity to pull her down.
At the last moment, she roared, catching the attention of Dagur. Her bellowing roar echoed around with an intense ferocity, undoubtedly catching the attention of the riders close by, and stunning any human on board the ship. Dagur's momentary lapse of concentration caused him to trip over backwards, and crash to the ground when Shadow cannoned towards him, and scratched the air right next to his head. Three of her claws made contact with his skull, and ripped through the skin above his hairline.
Dagur was out for the count now. Now Hiccup was free to run about on the ship, without being pursued by the madman, but the other soldiers still hunted him. Shadow continuously rained hell down upon them, but held herself back. Hiccup was still on that ship, and she couldn't get close enough to rescue him just yet.
The Zippleback and the twins burst out of the water with cries of triumph, and started to blow the ship to smithereens. The other riders started arriving at the same time and added their firepower to the onslaught. Finally, the deck was clear, and Shadow could land to give Hiccup an escape. She crashed on board the ship with a splintering sound, and lowered her head so he could climb on.
Dagur awoke just in time to see him astride the one creature he knew to be feared, the demon. There he was, sitting on the back of the great black beast, that demonic entity. She roared at him, and Hiccup slapped the reigns to command her into the air. Her wings unfurled, flashing with stars and she launched into the air.
In absolute horror and fear, Dagur screamed at his men to retreat, before the demon returned. He didn't have the knowledge or strength to face that beast.