AN: I'm having a really good flow right now. It's been a long time since the last one. So another chapter, just for you.
BTW, there were some remarks about Hiccups fire-powers. Yes, he still has them. I just forget he does. But don't worry, they will be of use in this chapter.
As to why he didn't use them in the last chapter when the fat lord had Illiona with him in that meeting/throne room, well, she WAS guarded by a dragon. He didn't want to risk it.
Anyway, enjoy.
Love Kate
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Chapter Eighty-Nine: Prison-Break
The ride back to the barracks was a lot faster than the way to the city.
Hiccup had no idea what was going to happen.
He tried to catch Illionas eyes but she was looking down, still silently crying.
His eyes caught something from the corner of his eye as the cart rumpled through the forest. Something moving very fast.
Something black.
Hiccup glanced at their guards.
There were only five. Two for each of them and one who steered the cart, though this one pulled by two oxen instead of dragons.
When they again stumbled across some big roots of some tree coming out of the earth Hiccup pretended to fall to the ground due to the jolt.
Doing so he fell on the ground and against Illiona who looked up.
He jerked his eyes in the direction of which he'd seen the movement.
As the guard pulled him back on the bench his hand slipped inside the man's belt and withdrew one of the knives which he carefully his behind in his waist-coat-pocket.
Suddenly something moved overhead and the oxen came to a stop.
Hiccup could see their wide eyes and saw how fast their sides moved up and down.
Something had spooked them.
"Why are we stopping?" growled one of the guards next to Illiona.
"Don't know. The stupid cows won't move. Something has spooked them." The driver said and hit the oxen's backs with his whip.
"Go on!" he shouted.
But the animals didn't move muscle.
The guy to Hiccup left growled: "Probably just a wayward dragon. Let me handle it."
He blew into a similar whistle like the fat Lord wore one and the guard from last night.
Again Hiccup could only faintly hear something.
The men waited for something to happen.
But things stayed quiet.
"Probably just the wind." The guy to Hiccup right said.
"Try to tell that to the cows." The driver grunted.
Hiccup used the distraction to nudge Illiona again.
He mouthed the words: 'Be prepared' and she nodded.
"They're oxen, not cows. Of course, someone with as little brain-cells like you wouldn't know the difference." He said casually.
The left guy struck him again.
"No one asked for your opinion you little shit. No one likes a know-it-all."
"You really don't want my advice?" Hiccup asked.
"No." the man to his right growled.
"So you're not going to move aside?"
"What are you on about?" he asked.
"Then his is going to hurt." Hiccup said and as fast as he could he jammed the small knife he'd taken from the other guard into the man's ribcage.
He screamed in pain and fell to the cart floor.
The stunned moment of disbelieve of the other guards Hiccup used to send his other guard with a well aimed kick to the chin tumbling over the side of the cart to the ground and throw a hand of fire at one of Illionas guards.
The back-up arrived.
Something bluish-white hit the driver with a whistle, blasting him into the trees.
Hiccup grabbed Illionas arm and pulled her away from the other guard.
The man came at him like a bull but Hiccup was prepared. He lived for these moments.
He dodged the first swinging blow to the head and moved in, catching the guy in the floating rib with the left and grabbing his ear with the right. He pulled while kicking from the side against the guy's knee. There was a sickening cracking-sound and the guy collapsed screaming.
A well placed last hit against the temple and it was lights out for him.
Hiccup turned around, panting and saw Toothless, Zhang and Nightlight, the latter Conner had loaned from Kate for their trip.
So the dragons had escaped somehow. Humongous hadn't been able to tell him but he was glad they had made it away.
Then he remembered his other companion and swirled around.
Illiona was still shaking awfully pale and still crying.
With one big leap he was there and hugged the traumatized girl tightly to his chest.
"It's alright Illiona. I'm here, I promised you I'd do it, that I'd come."
She sobbed into his chest.
"It's….it's so…good…so good to see you…Hic…cup." She whispered between sobs and buried herself deeper in his waist-coat.
"I promised you. Now all we have to do is get the others and get the heck out of here." He said silently and stroked her hair.
He held her at arm's-length.
"Are you anywhere else hurt?" he asked concerned.
She shook her head.
"Good. Now, take a deep breath and stay calm. Alright?"
She nodded.
He smiled at her.
Then he turned around and walked her over to the dragons.
"Nightlight, come her girl." He said softly.
Imminently the tall black dragon stepped forward, her big star-like eyes looking curious and excited and happy at the same time.
"Illiona, this is Nightlight. She's my friend Kate's dragon. She's a gentle soul. She'll keep you safe." Turning back to the dragon he said: "Nightlight, this is Illiona. She's a nestling without mother. Keep her safe from all harm, yes?"
The dragon cooed and licked Illionas cheek. The small girl smile din delight and patted the gentle beast's head, before hiccup lifted her onto the saddle and strapped her in.
"Alright" he said to her "She's gonna take you to the others now. Our ship anchors far away from here but don't worry, she'll find her way."
The look of delight on Illionas face vanished and she looked panicked.
"No! No please, don't leave me Hiccup! Please, I'm too afraid." She cried and started to undo the fastenings.
"Illiona stop! You need to go. There you'll be safe! I just go and get the others out and then we'll join you on the ship with the others! Everything will be alright."
"What if you get captured? What if you don't make it?" she asked with fresh tears brimming in her eyes.
"At least you'd be safe." He said honestly and took her hand. She shook her head.
"NO! You already nearly died because of coming here. I'm not leaving."
Gods, she was more bull-headed then Kate!
But they didn't have the time to argue on. Their disappearance would soon be discovered.
"Alright. But you stay on Nightlights back the whole time and if I tell her to fly, then you will go with her, understood?" She nodded.
The she asked: "Do you have a fiendishly clever plan?"
"It is a plan. I'm not so sure about fiendishly clever though."
"What do you need?" she asked.
"Where are the dragon stables?"
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At the same time on The Huntress of the Sea
"They should've been back by now." Kate said and turned around to her two friends. "Something's wrong." She added, looking eastwards.
"But what should we do?" Hope asked with her arms crossed and shifting her weight from one foot to the other.
"Yeah, what should we do? It's not sure they're in trouble. Maybe they're fine and if we storm in there like headless chicken we could get captured." George said, though he too kept glancing eastwards, hoping to spot their friends.
"They've been gone for hours." Kate said again.
"God, woman, we know but what can we do?" George asked.
"Go and look for them." Kate said determined. "Who's with me?"
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A little while later somewhere else
"Josh stop it, it has no use! You'll break your hand or foot if you keep kicking and punching a solid metal door you dork!" Conner said exasperated from his spot on the floor.
"Shut up." Josh said and shoved his shoulder against the door. "Everything has its weak point. I just have to find it."
Conner groaned and rolled with his eyes. "Gods, I give up." He said.
"And that's the only reason why we're still in here." The other boy growled.
Conner sighed.
They'd been in this tiny cell with metal walls and roof and door for what felt like days.
Josh had been impatient ever since he'd woken up.
And since then he'd tried to break down the door.
With no luck.
Just once the small hatch at the bottom of the door had opened and two trays with floor on them had been shoved inside and the hatch had been closed before any of them could react.
Conner was mainly concerned for Hiccup.
When the boy had fallen out of the saddle that night his heart had stopped beating for a moment. And he would never forget those dragons and the guards and how they were all taken away and how Josh shouted at their dragons to flee.
Everything had goon all wrong.
He tried not to blame on Hiccup. The boy had the heart in the right place and just wanted to help.
H got up.
"Josh, stop it. You're powers are useless in here, we're both not strong enough to break down that door. We have to wait for Hiccup. Or the others. They will come as soon as they realize that we've been gone too long."
"I just can't sit here and wait!" Josh shouted frustrated.
"Then it's a good thing you won't have to any longer." A third voice said.
Both boys swirled around.
The hatch had opened again and the grinning face of their leader looked at them.
"Hey guys. You alright?" Hiccup asked.
"Well, I could do without your face but alright?" Josh said jokingly.
"Ha ha. I could go, if you want to stay here." Hiccup offered grinning.
"Naw, you'd be helpless without us." Conner said.
"Which is why I have to save you?" Hiccup asked with raised eyebrows.
"We're just testing you." Josh said.
Hiccup rolled with his eyes.
"Step back, will you?" he asked and his face disappeared from the hatch.
Conner and Josh backed off against the opposite wall and waited.
They only had to wait a few seconds.
Because suddenly the door started to glow orange around the locks and the orange turned into yellow and the yellow into white, until with a hiss, a hole appeared in the massive metal door!
That hole quickly grew and grew and soon they could see Hiccup standing outside, both hands on fire, burning the door!
"Awesome mate!" Josh shouted.
Finally the door was so unstable it collapsed into a smoldering heap of molten metal.
Both older boys jumped over the pile of debris and out into the fresh air.
There stood Hiccup and behind him three very familiar dragons.
On Nightlights back sat a young girl, maybe twelve years old. She looked heavily beaten up and her white dress was dirty and shredded. Her brown hair hung loosely in her face. That must have been Illiona.
The turned back to Hiccup and Josh in his high spirits hugged Hiccup ebulliently.
When he pulled back he say the dark purple color Hiccups face had taken and growled.
His overprotective older brother instincts resurfaced.
"Who did that?" he asked.
Hiccup waved it aside.
"Not important. I'm taking care of it as we're speaking. Important is only that we get out of here."
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A little bit earlier
"Over there." Illiona said and pointed at a building, similar to the barracks Hiccup had been held in. But instead of doors they had simple portcullises.
From inside Hiccup could hear angry snarling and howling.
"Where are the guards?" he asked Illiona.
"I don't know. They are probably overseeing the working in the mines. The dragons are so well trained, they stay where they are."
"They're not trained. They're slaves. No trained dragon would allow someone to be treated like that. No. I know what they did. My Uncle did it with his dog because there was no other way to 'educate him' as he put it. It's called conditioning. Whenever the guards produce a sound with the whistle, they would hear that very high unmistakable sound and my guess is that they were hit with whips while listening to that sound or tortured in another way. Anyway, they learned that the sound was connected to pain and if they did what they were asked for, then there would be no pain.*"
"That's awful." Illiona gasped.
"But it works." Hiccup said grimly. Then he pulled something from under his waistcoat.
A whistle and a whip.
Illionas eyes grew wide.
"Hiccup, don't. That's barbaric!"
He didn't look at her.
"Open the door." He just said and stepped in front of the bars.
Illiona didn't look happy about that but she did jump from Nightlights back and together with the dragon she turned the crank and the metal hatch slowly rose.
Once it was high enough Hiccup stepped inside.
Inside it was dark and cool.
Hiccup looked around and saw the glowing eyes of the dragons all around him.
The growling increased.
But Hiccup was unafraid. He continued walking until he stood in the middle of the cage and stopped there, looking around.
The dragons moved through the shadows, talking among each other, staring at him.
Hiccup knew they had surrounded them.
They didn't recognize him. They were probably debating if they should attack or not.
Slowly Hiccup lit one hand on fire and with the other he raised the whip and the whistle.
The effect was instantly.
The snarling increased but it mixed with whimpers and howling and the dragons backed off again.
Hiccup smiled and let the whistle fall…
…and crushed it under his foot.
There was silence.
And with a small hiss he lit his other hand on fire too.
The hand that was still holding the whip.
And he burned it in front of the dragon's eyes.
The remaining ashes floated to the ground.
And Hiccup cleared his throat.
"I know that you can understand me. I know that you are intelligent beings that have been suppressed by an evil fat git. I know he tortured you and your kind for generations and made you his slaves. I know how angry you are and how helpless at the same time. Believe me, I have been in your shoes before. I know the feeling of being helpless but also unable to change things. This is why I am here. I will give you back what is yours. You see, without their whips and their whistles, what are they? Nothing! You are noble creatures. Not some cattle. Be free again, leave this place and find peace somewhere else. Shake off the chains of slavery. You are more powerful than they are. Don't fear the whistles and whips. The door is open." He said strongly and looked them confidently in their eyes.
"You ssssspeake the noble language…" hissed a dragon to his right.
He turned to face it.
It was female, going by the voice and had a scar-covered face. She spoke in the common tongue. Hiccup knew that some dragons were able to speak human languages. Namhera could. But not all dragons could. But they could understand humans just fine.
"Yet you are not one of usssss." She said suspiciously. "Are you a ssssspy?"
"You sssssmell like dragon…" another one said.
"We ssssshould kill him!" howled a different one.
The one that had spoke first roared and the others fell silent.
"Sssssay human…" she growled "What do you want in exchange…?"
"Nothing. The man that enslaved you enslaved a friend of mine and he's planning to do the same with me. I want him dead. As much as you do. I can give him to you if you want. All I ask if that you take your revenge on the people that did this to you. Not on the slaves or on anybody else."
The alpha-female crept closer to him but Hiccup stood his ground. He knew that she was testing him.
"Why…are you doing thisssss?" she hissed curiously.
"Darkness is rising" the dragons hissed at that but Hiccup continued unafraid "The world is in chaos. We will all die. Unless I unite the world of men and dragons."
"That issss impossssibel!" growled a different dragon.
"There isssss more…" the alpha-female said.
Hiccup nodded.
"I want to ask for your help in this battle. You don't have too if you do not want too. But you are strong and rich in numbers. Together we could save our world."
"Why ssssshould we ssssave you petty humansssss? Why ssssshould we fight with them?"
"Because the more we fight among each other, the stronger darkness grows. You know who he is. What he can do. What he will do if given the chance. Please, if you won't fight with us, at least stay neutral and don't fight at all."
"You assssk a lot, little human…. We could jusssst kill you and be gone." The dragon hissed.
Hiccup shook his head.
"If you'd decided to do that, I would fight you and believe me, I would win and lock you up once again and leave you here to your misery. I wouldn't like it. But if you give me no other chance, I will do what I must do."
The alpha-female came closer again and sniffed at him.
"You are different. I smell Night Fury on you, I smell powerful magic from a god, I smell strong and ancient blood. I smell talent. I can see your soul."
She looked him directly in the eyes and they started to swirl again but somehow Hiccup could resist their hypnotizing effect and calmly looked back, his eyes reflecting the female's eyes.
"You were born with the sssssoul of a dragon but with the body and mind of a human. You are sssssspecial. I can sssssssee why the godsssss chossssse you. Why they sssssssaved you." She said.
Hiccup said nothing.
"You've made yoursssssself a deal. Lead usssss to the fat man and hisssss alliesssss and we will promisssssse to ssssstay out of any fightsssss and maybe…jussssst maybe…we'll even aid you, brother of the sssssnake."
"Thank you."
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Their disappearance had been noticed soon. A convoy of guards and slaves had found the burned cart and the dead guards and had immediately sounded the warning horn.
But by then it was already too late.
Invisible against the sky Hiccup and Illiona flew towards the village on the backs of angry dragons.
"Which isssss it hatchling?" asked the alpha-dragon.
"The tallest one. But before you attack, let me draw him out. Wait here for me." He asked them as they descended a few hundred meters away from the village.
"We'll be watching." The dragon said.
Hiccup nodded.
"Illiona, you stay here. It'll be safer."
With those words he jumped on the ground and sprinted towards the tallest house, the fat Lords estate.
He burst through the front doors, blasting fire at the nearest guard before knocking the other down with a strong kick and ran on.
He burst into different rooms, spreading the fire.
Then he spotted the train of yellow and purple robes and sprinted towards it.
Rounding the corner he was greeted by the fat Lord and a squad of twelve guards, their swords ready.
"I knew you'd try something sneaky like this. Men, get him!" the fat Lord growled.
"Try to catch me." Hiccup said, turned around and ran back through the burning house.
Outside he threw a quick glance back. The fire had spread and other buildings were on fire too.
A brief moment of guilt overcame him when he heard the shouts but then he reminded himself of what this people did and the guilt was gone. He even went as far as throwing another fie-ball onto one house.
Then he spotted the guard and ran.
They soon caught up with him, just outside the village but Hiccup wasn't too concerned.
He let them throw him to the ground and hold him down, as they waited for the fat Lord to approach.
Once he'd made it, he shook his head disapprovingly.
"Do you honestly think you had a chance?" he asked with heavy breath.
"You cannot kill me. Even you with your magic cannot take all of my guards at once."
Hiccup smiled.
"Oh, I don't think I can take you all at once." Hiccup said. The fat Lord looked confused. "What…" he started but Hiccup suddenly grinned devilish and said: "But my dragon can. And let me assure you, he is not in the best mood."
With a hideous growl Toothless leapt out of nowhere from behind Hiccup, sailed over his relaxed figure and crashed into the front row of the guards, taking down at least five.
The remaining backed away, forming a protective circle around the fat Lord.
Slowly, relaxed, Hiccup unsheathed his sword and advanced on them. Toothless was by his side, growling and snapping, the back of his throat already glowing blue.
The fat Lord fumbled with his whistle and blew in it but nothing happened.
Hiccup grin widened when he saw the panicked look in his eyes.
"You know what you fat git, I have a sort of twice-removed cousin back where I come from. She's a Bog-Bugler, and a pretty good one that is. That, of course, got her into trouble more often than I can count. By the way her name is Camicazi, and she once told me something interesting. She said that you can't keep a Bog-Bugler under lock and key. They always find out a way eventually."
The fat Lord looked irritated.
"And why would you tell me that?" he asked stiffly.
"Well, if there is one thing I learned in Dragon-Training back where I come from, it's that you can't keep a dragon under lock and key forever. It'll only make them angrier."
"So?"
"So you my friend have a lot of caged dragons. And by the look of their faces I can guaranty you, you won't like what they are about to do."
The fat Lord looked around.
"There are no dragons here boy. Now stop this childish game. Men, size him!"
Hiccup jumped onto a boulder that happened to lie there and raised his index-finger warningly.
"But my dear fat git, did you forget what kind of dragons you have under 'lock and control'?" he asked mockingly.
And suddenly it dawned on the fat Lord.
His face went pale and beats of sweat trickled down his forehead.
"No." he whispered and looked franticly around.
"Afraid so." Hiccup replied.
And then he added with an evil grin. "Changewings."
A low growl resounded from all around them and the camouflaged dragons changed back to their original red color.
Acid dropped from their fangs and their claws glinted in the low sunlight.
They had unnoticed formed a circle around the fat Lord and his Honor-Guard and now stalked around them, growling and communicating amongst themselves. Then the alpha-female tore her mouth wide open and made a high-pitched noise.
The signal to attack.
As they jumped at their prey Hiccup watched with a cold glare.
"That's for what you did to my friend Illiona all those years, you sick son of a b****. I hope you rot in hell!"
Then he turned around and headed with Toothless to where Illiona hid behind the trees.
She hugged him when he approached and whispered over and over again: "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
He just hugged her back and said: "Come on, it's over. He can't hurt you anymore. Let's find the others so we can be out of here."
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On their way back to the barracks they passed a lot of guards and slaves but they didn't worry too much about it all. The sight of the burning village as well as the fast travelling news of the death of the fat Lord together with the fact that the dragons were running wild, pretty much occupied everybody more than two wayward children.
Halfway back to the barracks they ran into Humongous Hotshot the Hero.
He grabbed Hiccup by the shoulders and shook him, his face streaked with tears.
"I don't know what you did boy, but I, and everybody else, is eternally grateful! Please, if you are ever in need of my help or anything; do not hesitate to contact me!" He shoved something in Hiccups hands.
"Oh and I think your two friends are held in a single cell behind the barracks." He said.
"Thank you Humongous. Take the boats and as many people as possible and get the heck out of here. And spread the news. The Isle of Tomorrow no longer exists. We will make sure that such horrors will never happen again."
Humongous smiled.
"We will. I don't doubt it. Far well Hiccup. Until our next meeting."
"Until next time." Hiccup said.
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Now
"Conner, you're with Illiona on Nightlight. Keep her safe. Josh, mount Zhang, we have to get out of here." Hiccup shouted instructions over the screams and sound of burning forest and alarm bells.
He wanted to mount Toothless when suddenly a familiar red dragon appeared next to him.
It was the alpha-female.
"Thank you, human…." She said and touched his chin with her snout.
There was a short stinging pain and when she pulled back Hiccup felt something warm and wet drip down his chin.
"I marked you asssss kin, brother of the ssssssnake. May everybody know you are a friend of ourssssss. Human born with dragon-ssssssoul."
With that she took off and with her the whole group of Changewings.
Hiccup touched the small cut on his chin. It was not deep and not really long and only hurt little. Still, it was a huge honor.
He turned to his friends.
They looked at him stunned.
"Let's go."
They hadn't made it far, when through the mist three two familiar shapes appeared.
Fighter and Namhera and on their backs George, Kate and Hope.
They met halfway and Hiccup could see the relief in their eyes.
"Really, what did you do now? Weren't you supposed to just scout?" Kate shouted over the wind.
Hiccup shrugged and yelled back smiling widely: "You know us. We got carried away with our job. But I think we did an awesome job." And glanced down.
"Total destruction, just how I like it." Josh said and nodded approvingly.
"You must be Illiona. I'm Hope!" shouted Hope to the girl before Conner.
"Can we wait with the introductions until we're at the ship?" George asked.
"Sure." Conner shouted.
Merry laughter broke out.
They'd done it.
Then Hiccup remembered his plan and his promise and he shouted: "Hope! Get on Zhangs back."
They looked confused.
"Why?" Hope asked.
"Because I need Namhera to do something. I want him to make the island collapse. There is a giant network of mines under this island, I'm sure he could make it."
"But why?" Josh asked.
"So something like this can never happen again. This gold, this treasure, whatever you call it….people are not ready to own such things yet. Better they are buried deep under-ground, where no one can ever find them."
The others nodded solemnly and Hope jumped from Namheras back onto Zhang.
Josh caught her easily.
Namhera nodded at Hiccup and dived down.
Barely touching the ground he already started digging and within seconds was gone from sight.
They flew in slow circles, watching how one boat after another left the harbor, filled to the brim with people.
"I hope they make it through the volcanoes." He mumbled to himself but his musings were interrupted by Illiona shouting: "Hiccup! We forgot to free someone!"
He swirled around.
But before he could react they heard a deep, not promising anything good, noise from underneath and the island started to shake and break.
Huge gashes appeared, and they zick-zacked across the grounds.
The mountain started swaying.
He looked at Illiona and she had panic standing clear in her eyes.
"Whom?" he asked.
"The dragon that guarded me! He's chained to the wall, he can't get always. The chains are made of diamond!" she cried.
"Oh you got to be kidding me. That thing tried to eat us!" Josh said.
"Hiccup!" Illiona asked begging.
The small scratch on his chin burned.
"Lead the way." He said.
"Hiccup no, it's too dangerous! That mountain is going to collapse any minute!" Kate warned.
Hiccup shook his head.
"I was named dragon-kin. I take that name serious. Now come on."
Kate was right, the mountain started collapsing by the time they reached the entrance to Illionas old cave.
To its side clutched a desperate looking dragon.
It snarled when they got closer and started spitting acid.
"STOP! We want to help you!" Illiona shouted.
Bu the dragon was panicking. The whole mountain was moving, its companions where gone and it was trapped.
It didn't think rational.
"Please!" Illiona shouted. "You will die if you don't clam down and let us help you."
The dragon roared and whimpered and howled.
"Illiona, let me!" Hiccup shouted, an idea forming in his mind.
He few as close as possible and shouted: "Brother! Stop this madness! Stop and look at me!"
It worked.
The dragons eyes fell on him, the mark on his face.
"That's right. I'm your friend, not your foe. Listen to us. We really want to free you. Hold still and you'll be out of here before you know it."
The dragon relaxed and allowed them to approach.
"Kate, take Toothless over for me!" he shouted.
She nodded and jumped from dragon to dragon until she reached him and took his place. She didn't question him, not now when the whole mountain was swaying dangerously.
Hiccup jumped onto the swaying mountain and despite Conners protests Illiona followed him.
"Hiccup if that's really diamond then you won't be able to cut it with anything!" Josh shouted, desperately wishing they could get out of here.
"It was made by the gods. The hardest stone known to humans."
Hiccup grinned and his hands caught fire.
"And I carry godly fire, the hottest fire that is there. There's nothing it can't melt!"
And with that he directed the flames at the diamond changes at the dragons ankle.
The flames concentrated around the lock and grew hotter and hotter until they were nearly snow-white.
The lock cracked slightly.
Sweat formed on Hiccups brow.
Come on Hiccup. You can do it. I believe it. You have the power. Find it.
The voice was there in the back of his head, unrigging him on.
The lock broke, the dragon was free and at the same moment there was a strong jerk and the mountain fell like a tree.
Kates hear skipped a beat when in a huge dust-cloud the mountain fell sideways and took their view on Hiccup, Illiona and the Changewing.
"NO!" she shouted and Toothless dived behind the falling stone, when suddenly something shot from the dust-cloud.
It was the Changewing.
With Hiccup and Illiona clutching to his back as it flew out of the danger-zone.
Relief floated through Kate.
And while sitting on the back of the Changewing, it purred in a deep, comforting voice: "You saved my life. You freed me. That is a debt I will never be able to pay. I'm your humble servant!"
"You can be my friend, my kin, my brother, but not my servant. You can even be free if you want to." Hiccup said firmly.
The dragon purred slightly, before addressing Illiona.
"My little hatchling. You asked him to free me, even though all these years I kept you, just like I was held a prisoner. Why?"
Illiona swallowed.
"Because it was the right thing to do." She said honestly.
The dragon nodded.
"I'd be honored to call you my rider little one. Would you accept?"
"I…I…I don't know what to say…I…yes, of course." She spluttered.
"Thank you."
"What is your name?" Hiccup asked.
"Windwalker." The dragon replied.
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*Pavlov's dogs, anybody? I know, it's similar to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2. The concept is the same.