Chapter 3: Eret, Son of Eret

Moments later, the group flew over the forest, winding deep through undulating crimson and gold trees. The autumn colors suddenly give way to charred timbers. They fly deeper, through ash and wafting smoke. Ahead, in a sheltered harbor, an explosion of ice stands as an eerie marker of what used to be a Trapper's Fort.

"Whoa. What happened here?" Hicca said in shock and bewildered.

"Looks like a Herd of Snow Wraiths could make a nest here." Henry commented.

Raeda then gazed in awe, when she remembered when she saw something similar, "I saw this before, back on Berserker Island." She gasped, remembering when she, Snotlout and Gustav were in the underground caves of Berserker Island.

"You have, Raeda?" Astrid asked in surprise.

"It was underground whe me, Snotlout and Gustav were scouting the caverns, but this is way too familiar." Raeda said.

"Stay close everyone." Hiccup told them as they flew through the suspended remains of the buildings, splintered, and frozen in mid-destruction. "What happened here?" He asked himself.

It's at once harrowing and puzzling. Toothless and Midnight spots an enormous Dragon Footprint in the muddy shoreline below, leaving them uneasy.

'That size is bigger than the Red Death, Toothless." Midnight roars a bit in fear.

'I know. But the ice is familiar. And I don't like this either, sweetie.' Toothless roars in agreements.

"Easy bud." Hiccup calms his dragon down.

"Clam down, Midnight. It's okay." Hicca said as she petted her head to calm her down.

As they crest the ice formations, Astrid spots a crew of men at the stern of a moored ship below. "Guys, look!" She called out to the group as they pointed out to the men.

"Fire!" A man called out as they fired a stern-mounted cannon. The projectile unfurls into a net. Hiccup and Toothless dart out of its way.

"Guys! looked out!" Hiccup called out as Henry, Raeda and Hicca managed to get out of the way, but Astrid wasn't so lucky as the net hit Stormfly, tangling her wings and causing her to spin uncontrolled. Astrid struggles to free her as they hurtle toward a collision as Astrid fell out of Stormfly and started to fall.

"HICCUP! GUY!" Astrid called out as Hiccup and Toothless snatched her at the last second.

Stormfly hits the ground, tangled in the net. Trappers rush out of hiding, piling onto her with ropes and weapons. She whips her tail, sending spikes flying.

"Watch the tail!" A large, raven-haired trapper lunges over the spray of spikes called out as he lands upon Stormfly's head, twisting it and taking her down like a rodeo cowboy. "Tie those legs up!" he called out to his men as he deftly tied her gnashing jaws shut, wrangling her into submission - clearly a pro among pros. He looks up, revealing a handsome face and gleaming, intelligent eyes that search the sky as Toothless and Midnight let out their scream rings while speeding through the sky with Sparkfire and Wildstar behind. "Is that what I think those are?" He asked himself about the two black dragons but no one gave a straight answer as the riders had landed.

Toothless, Midnight, Wilstar and Sparkfire suddenly streaks across the sky, banking and landing with a ferocious roar.

"STOP!" Hiccup yelled.

"Stormfly!" Astrid called out for her dragon in worry.

"What are you doing!?" Hicca demanded the hunters.

"Who do you think you are?!" Henry demanded reach for his sword.

"Let that dragon go!" Raeda called out as she, Astrid, Henry, Hiccup and Hicca mounted off their dragons and rushed to Stormfly.

The trappers immediately draw weapons. Hiccup extends and his Inferno, with some improvements from Viggo's which inspires Hiccup to make his own improvements, as Astrid grabbed a stick since her ax was still on Stormfly's saddle, Raeda pulls out her bow and arrows in ready, Henry pulled out his sword as Hicca pulls out her Inferno, with the same improvements as her brother, but with a fiery blue with a little addition with Flightmare algae for the colors, Hiccup's and Hicca's weapons impress the mens as they never seen a weapon like that before.

"Back again?" The leader said, in thought he saw them before, but he is focused on Midnight and Toothless. "Soil my britches... There are more Night Furies. Thought they were all gone for good." he said to his men as they smiled…

Wait? More? What does he mean while, but no answers as he continued.

"And look at that, another Nadder and a Snifflehunch, very rare." The leader continued, "Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads! Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army." He said with a smirk as his men sounded out in agreement.

The group looked confused at him as they didn't know what they were talking about. "Dragon army?" Astrid said in confusion.

"More Night Furies?" Raeda added in a little surprise.

"Drago?" Henry continued raising a brow.

"What does he mean by that?" Hicca asked but no answers as Hiccup steps up.

"Look, we don't want any trouble." Hiccup tries to reason with him.

"Ha!" The leader scoffed as he grabbed Stormfly's horn. "You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" He pointed out to the now destroyed fort as his men complained in agreement with their leader but the group were even more confused.

"Wait…" Hiccup said in confusion.

"What are you talking about?" Astrid asked as the group took in the icy destruction, putting it together.

"You think we did this?" Hicca asked, directing to the ice spikes.

"We've never been here before, and you're blaming this on us?" Raeda asked in disbelief.

"I think you got your riders mixed up." Henry told him.

"Dragon napping is hard enough work as it is, without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them." The leader pointed out.

"What do-gooder…" Hiccup was cut off as they realized what he said as they group looked at each other in surprise. As Hiccup and Hicca retract their Infernos.

"Wait a minute, there are other dragon riders?" Hicca asked as they thought they were the only ones.

"You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me." The leader tells them as he approaches as he gets off of Stormfly's head. Toothless, Midnight, Wildstar and Sparkfire snarl, protectively. "You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?" he asked them which leaves them even more confusing.

"Who?" Raeda asked.

"Drago what-fist? Does anything you say make sense?" Hiccup asked the leader but his men told them to him.

Hicca then remembered something, "Wait, Ice-spitting…Hiccup." She got her brother's attention, "Haven't we seen a giant dragon that breathed blasts of ice?"

Hiccup thought for a moment before he remembered their final battle with Johann, "The King of Dragons." He gasped.

"Yeah. This is the King of Dragon's handy work." Hicca said as she now remembered, "But why appear now? We haven't seen him, or her, since our final battle with the Dragon Hunters and the Flyers."

"Oh, so it was your dragon that did this to us." The Leader accused them.

"What, no!" Hicca quickly said, "Listen, just tell this Dargo Bluefist that we had nothing to do with this." She told them.

One of the Hunters just laughed, "He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow." he told them.

"And Drago don't take well to excuses." Another added.

The leader pulled down parts of his tunic, revealing a large branding-iron scar on his torso, in the shape of a dragon skull, split by a sword. Leaving the group cringe at the sight in think it might hurt like heck.

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future." The leader stated with narrow eyes.

Henry looked at the mark closely, "Wait, that symbol." He said, before remembering where he saw it, "Guys, it's just like Krogan's mark." He told the others.

The four riders' and their dragons' eyes widened, "W-wait, do any of you know a man named Krogan?" Hiccup asked.

"You mean Drago's former right hand man and successor?" The leader asked with a raised eyebrow as paces in front of him. "Oh, we knew of him, he was meant to be an inspiration to us all. But let's just say, the only good he's done for us is show us what happens when you fail Drago Bludvist." He said.

"What do you mean by that…" Raeda asked before she trailed off while giving a grim expression before turning to the others.

They caught Raeda's expression as they shared the same grim expression before turning back to the trappers. "Wait, are you saying that Krogan is…?" Hicca asked fearfully.

"Oh yes, he is." The leader answered without hesitation, with a smirk and running a finger across his neck. "And it's thanks to people like you, that we're next." He told them.

"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or an ice-spitting dragon, or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay?" Hiccup said in an exasperated voice.

"Just give us back our dragon, and we'll go, strange, hostile person whom we never met." Hicca added with an exasperated voice as well and pointed out the leader never told his name.

"Oh, where are my manners?" The leader said in sarcastic as he playfully bows. "I'm Eret. Son of Eret. Finest dragon trapper alive." Eret added as he pulled a dagger from behind his back, waving it cockily. His men ready their weapons and net cannons. "After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury." He said as he pointed his dagger at them. Which results Midnight and Toothless to roar in a warning while Sparkfire prepares her tail spines and Wildstar prepares her fire.

"And this is Toothless and Midnight. They said we are going," Hicca said as she narrowed her eyes seriously. "Now." She finished.

Eret shrugged at that. "They all said that." His face turned seriously. "Rush 'em lads!" he ordered his men as they lunged towards them.

Toothless blasts an ice pillar from the frozen frot as a massive spire of ice drops down. It shatters as it hits the ground, forcing Eret and his men to dive out of the way. More starts coming towards them as Midnight blasted them out of the way as Sparkfire uses her spine shots to trap the trappers on the ice temporarily while Wildstar blasted them away.

Making quick use of the distraction, Hiccup re-ignites his dragon blade and slashes through the ropes binding Stormfly, freeing her.

"Stormfly! C'mon, go! Go!" Astrid called out as the dragon riders took to the sky.

Eret gets to his feet in time to see Toothless, Midnight, Wildstar, Sparkfire and Stormfly take to the air, carrying Hiccup, Hicca, Henry, Raeda and Astrid out of reach of the volley of arrows. He yelled angrily at them. "YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ON TO THOSE DRAGONS, YOU HEAR ME?! DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!" he added as the dragon riders flew away from them and back to Berk

(Linebreak)

Some time in flight, Raeda broke the silence. "What does he mean in the middle of the conversation?" Raeda said to the others once they were out of sight from the trappers as they turned to her.

"What do you mean?" Hiccup asked.

"I mean, he said more night furies the second he saw Toothless and Midnight. Do you guys think he means by Toothless and Midnight's kids?" Raeda pointed out as the group was in thought. They were silent for a moment as Henry spoke.

"He did say more Night Furies when he first saw Toothless and Midnight. So it's a possibility there might be more out there." Henry theories.

"And probably with the other dragons riders he talked about." Hicca said as it got Toothless and Midnight attention in hoping they are so close to finding their kids.

"Don't worry you two. We'll find out soon, but for now, we need to head back to Berk and tell my father about this." Hiccup stated.

Hicca then remembered something. "Wait, Henry, didn't Viggo tell us that Krogan was employed to find the King of Dragons from Johann by a Mysterious Buyer from the North?" She asked.

Henry remembered his father's information during their deal to get back at Johann and Krogan for double crossing him. "He did. So if Krogan was employed by this Mysterious Buyer and worked for this Drago guy those Trappers were talking about then…"

Henry trailed off as it became clear to them all, "The Mysterious Buyer is Drago!" They all said in shock as the thought came to them.

"I can't believe it! All this time, there were hints and clues right in front of us!" Raeda yelled out.

"All this time, this Drago was Krogan's master and he was the one who wanted the King of Dragon!" Hicca added with wide eyes.

"You guys think Johann knew about Drago from the beginning?" Hiccup asked them.

"He was leading the Hunters when my father and uncle were gone, he did a pretty good job not revealing this Drago's guy identity." Henry said with a strict tone. "And I don't think my father even knew about Drago from the beginning since he said it himself that Johann didn't tell him from the start." He added.

"The Chief needs to know about this. I get the feeling we'll be seeing them again soon." Astrid stated.

"Agreed. Let's head back to Berk and tell our father about this." Hiccup said as they flew back to Berk.

Toothless and Midnight turned to each other.

'Do you think our kids could be with those other dragon riders, Toothless?' Midnight warbled in worry.

'Not sure, Midnight, I'm just not sure.' Toothless warbled honestly.

'Oh, I hope they are safe, what if this Drago guy captured them?' Midnight warbled in concern.

'I'm sure they are safe, Midnight. They're our kids after all.' Toothless assured his mate.'We'll find them soon and be reunited as one family again and find out more of this Drago guy.' He added.

'I hope so. It's been five years since we last saw our kids, I just want to see my babies again.' Midnight warbled in worry and sadness that she missed her hatchlings so much.

Toothless saw his mate's expression as he flew close to Midnight and gave her a quick lick to the head. 'We'll find them, Midnight. And I know that they are safe. And we won't stop until this family is whole again.' He warbled determinedly with assurance to Midnight.

Midnight gave her mate a smile with a cooed. 'Thanks, Toothless. And you're right, we'll find our babies and be reunited once again.' She warbled as they flew back to Berk to warn Stoick about what happened.