Chapter 20
Toothless, Hiccup, and Maaran flew at a steady pace for hours until the two furies saw an island coming up. They knew the village and their riders were behind them and so Maaran signaled with a blast for Stoick and slowed down enough for him to catch up with his dragon, an Aeschwig-Kee or rumblehorn, named Skullcrusher. "What is it Maaran?" Stoick asked not yet seeing the island due to his human sight.
"We are coming upon an island and I suspect it is the one we are seeking." Maaran said to the chief. "The direction and description matches what the patrolling dragon told me of earlier. The fact that the scent of the last patrol lingering here in the air means that we are definitely heading in the right direction."
Stoick nodded. "Very well. We will start to scout the island at night. It is just before sundown so we have a little time to plan."
Maaran nodded and said, "Slow your ships and wait for Toothless and I to return. We will scout out the island from the air and report back to you within the hour." Stoick nodded and flew down to the ships while Maaran went forward and came to be beside Toothless and Hiccup once more. "We will circle the island from above and see where the quietest entry point will be to start the rescue."
Hiccup and Toothless nodded in confirmation and quickly, all three of them shot further into the air and hid in the clouds as they approached the island. What seemed like hours was in reality only minutes as they came upon full view of the island.
Hiccup and Toothless headed to the left first letting Maaran overtake the right side and slowly flew to scour the area. As they observed the island, they noticed that it was heavily guarded nearest to the castle that was in the middle of the island. It seemed that the richer villagers were in the protective inner workings of the island while the poorer villagers were on the outskirts. It was slightly smart to do as if an attack came from ships, the outer workings of the village would be hit while the center could group and attack as a whole but it was also stupid to do as the outer village would start to feel like they were just an ends to a means.
"You see that Hiccup?" Toothless said as he spotted a forest on the far side of the island. "That would be the perfect cover."
"Lets go inform Maaran and father of this." Hiccup said.
Toothless hooded and flew around the island quickly finding Maaran and informing him of the forest that was just off the side of the island away from the enemy's notice. "Good job. You two make sure that area is ready and I will lead Stoick and the ships there." Hiccup and Toothless nodded and flew off to the direction of the forest.
Maaran watched them fly off for a bit before flying back to Stoick and the ships. "We have found a safe part of the island to land on." He informed Stoick once in his presence. "I will take you there now but we have to travel with much caution."
Stoick nodded and said, "We will."
Maaran then turned and led Stoick to the part of the island that Hiccup and Toothless informed him of. It took almost 3 hours to reach the safety of the forested spot on the island due to watch towers and fishing ships but once there, every viking and dragon gave a huge sigh of relief of not getting caught. Maaran, Hiccup, Astrid, and Toothless gathered everyone quickly and got them all fed and rested to be prepared for the ambush. "Now," Stoick boomed. "I know most of you are tired and weary but we will succeed in taking this tyrant down. First manner of order is the attack strategy. Hiccup will explain the strategy as he came up with it."
"Gee, thanks dad…" Hiccup grumbled sarcastically before clearing his throat. "I will need all the Monstrous Nightmares with their riders in front, behind them will be the Zipplebacks, behind them will be the Gronkles, after those three lines, our strongest dragons will be there. Maaran, Toothless, and I will lead the charge and once we give the signal we need the Nightmares to do their fire tumble first, after that we need the Zipplebacks to release their gas and only the gas for hiding our positions in the battle. Gronkles will be crucial in taking down the watch towers during the cover so be quick to spot the towers before the gas spreads across the whole area. Our strongest dragons will halt any advancing army with a combination of their poisonous stingers, deadly screeches, powerful flames, and endurance. Vikings will take out any attacking enemies as well but I will order you not to harm and children or those who are not looking to fight. We need the survivors to trust us after we kill their king and to do that is to not harm those who do not deserve harm. The signal to start the attack will be a single plasma blast in the sky. Everyone understand my orders?"
The whole tribe nodded. "Very well," Stoick said. "Get some rest. We move to attack at dawn."
Maaran and Toothless sighed in relief as Hiccup and Stoick went around the temporary camps making sure nothing gave their positions away. "Well guys," Astrid said startling the two males slightly as they forgot she was there. "What is the plan once you enter the castle?"
Toothless and Maaran looked at her before Toothless sighed. "Maaran is going to scout out the castle from the outside first to try and locate Azora through smell to see if she truly is in there. Once he finds the location of where she approximately is, he will blast a part of the wall away and we will enter through there."
"And what of that King and the other fury?" She asked.
"I cannot fight the fury." Maaran said with a growl. "Toothless must fight him in order to regain what dominance that other male took away from Azora during her time here."
"Will that restore her mind if it is lost?"
"No." Maaran said. "It will let Azora know which male is dominant over her but she will always be lost in her own mind, trapped."
Astrid gained a determined look. "Azora will fight. She has too much to lose if she truly becomes lost."
"That is why I had Hiccup bring the necklace." Toothless said. "When I win this fight, I will show her how much she means to me in the only other form of love she has come to know."
"The gift of a true love." Maaran said.
Astrid nodded. "Then let's win this thing."
\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Azora awoke slowly as she could, sensing the large figure of Alarka behind her asleep. She searched her mind and immediately let out a small sigh of relief as she discovered all her memories intact but it worried her that while the memories were intact, she was feeling differently. She couldn't explain to herself how exactly she was feeling except for just feeling offset. Something was wrong but she couldn't pin point it and she frowned in concern.
"Awake are you my dear Adie?" A dark purr sounded from behind signaling that Alarka was awake.
"Yes." She answered obediently. "I am hungry." She turned her head slightly to look at him with one eye. "Where do I receive food from?"
Alarka looked at her intensely and she held her breath hoping that he would not see through her facade of a lost dragon. He smiled at her suddenly and said, "Of course you need to eat my dear." Alarka stood and grabbed the chain with his mouth as he opened the door. "Follow me quietly and keep your head down."
"May I ask why?" Azora asked cautiously.
"Our Adiish will punish us both if you do one thing out of turn. I can look at servants and commoners with no punishment but I am forbidden to look upon the Adiish as it is a sign of disrespect. You are fresh meat and will not be allowed to look at anyone until you gain the respect of those in the court."
Azora wanted to snarl furiously but withheld her emotions once more as she nodded in understanding. As Alarka led her out of the bedroom and through the halls she noticed that the floor tiles all had a tiny diagram on them and so she studied the diagrams intensely as they walked. Suddenly they stopped and Azora glanced up to see that they arrived in a sort of banquet hall where the king was seated at a table doing paperwork as servants, high nobles, and soldiers ate at benches that were several feet long. She immediately looked back down at Alarka's growl and was led to the table where the king sat.
"Ah," the king said looking at the two nightfuries before him. "I take it you are hungry?"
Alarka nodded as Azora kept her head bowed hoping that she would be allowed to eat. She was hungry after everything that happened and she knew her young needed the nourishment.
"Very well."
Alarka pulled at the chain and had Azora sit by the end of the long table as a bowl of fish was placed in front of her. "Now you may look up while you eat," Alarka said. "Do not let your eyes linger on a single person."
Azora nodded and was relieved as she looked up due to her neck starting to cramp a little bit. She immediately ate a fish and gulped it down as Alarka dad the same to his own bowl but she paid no attention to him. Her eyes caught onto a window as the colors of a sunrise were appearing through the stained glass. "Beautiful." She whispered gently making Alarka look up.
Alarka looked to where Azora was looking and scoffed at the colors. "It isn't anything I have not seen before." He said haughtily.
Azora glared at him slightly. "You may have seen it but I do not remember seeing such a beautiful occurrence." She retorted in a whisper making Alarka huff in disgust.
"Yeah well don't get use to it."
Before Azora even could say anything back, a huge boom shook the castle grounds and flames were seen through the clear glass windows. "Ambush!" The king roared as the populace of everyone in the hall scrambled to get in defense positions.
Azora immediately dashed away from Alarka's side getting lost in the crowd of scrambling footsteps, the chain being held above the floor with her tail to prevent it clanging against the ground. She ran and ran through the halls and down stairs until she reached a doorway that led to the outside. She gathered all her courage and ran out that doorway only to smash into a hard surface and crashed into the ground.
"Azora?!" A female voice yelled and Azora immediately shot her head up looking into Astrid's worried and relieved face as her deadly nadder clucked at her in worry.
Azora got up and huddled into Stormfly's chest shivering as the reality of them being there finally hit her. "I'm sorry…" She cried quietly.
"Where are Toothless and Maaran?" Astrid whispered as she knelt down, putting her hand on Azora's shoulder.
"Toothless and Papa are here?" Azora asked fearfully remembering what Alarka told her about the spell he could activate in order to kill both Toothless and Astrid. "They can't be here!" She cried desperately. "Alarka will kill Toothless!"
Astrid grew worried as Azora's state of being grew more and more irritated and frantic. "Azora," Astrid calmly and gently said. "They won't die. They will free you and you will be able to return with us to Berk. You will be able to go home."
Azora just looked even more frantic. "No!" She yelled backing away. "Alarka said he put a spell on Toothless! A spell to kill him with just one activation!" Astrid then grabbed the chain Azora was still attached to and brought her down to the ground only to hug her once she tried to get up.
"Toothless and Maaran would have felt anymore magic on him." Astrid whispered into Azora's ear. "The only magic Maaran sensed on Toothless was yours. You led us here and you protected those you loved." Azora whimpered and accepted the hug slowly before closing her eyes in complete relief. "Azora, we need to get you to where Toothless is." Astrid said. "We need to reunite him with you as soon as possible."
Azora nodded. "I can try and call papa and he could get Toothless." She whispered. "Toothless and I haven't tried to figure out a sound to signal each other."
Astrid nodded and stood back as Azora took a deep breath and let out a high pitch signal to alert Maaran to where she was.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Maaran shot his head up as he was flying as he heard the very distinct signal of his daughter. "Toothless, Hiccup" he called over next to him. "The attack on the castle is not needed anymore."
"What about Azora?!" Toothless yelled in disbelief with Hiccup looking at him in anger. "We need to-"
"She is out of the castle." Maaran interrupted his rant before taking off with Toothless following closely behind.
It wasn't even a minute before they arrived to see Azora next to Astrid with a chain around her neck. Hiccup jumped off Toothless as soon as they landed and hobbled over to Astrid as both Maaran and Toothless huddled close to Azora. Hiccup nodded to Astrid and she hopped onto Stormfly and took off to inform the chief that Azora has been found.
Maaran and Toothless looked closely at Azora and noticed the cuts on her cheek from claws, the scraped on her scales from the teeth of Alarka, the pain her eyes held, the absolute love that showed when she looked at them. "You remember us?" Toothless asked gently.
Azora nodded. "I remember you." She looked at Maaran. "Hi papa."
Maaran immediately nuzzled her closer. "I thought I would lose you forever my young Anila."
Toothless nodded. "We are proud to see you this strong though Azora."
Azora suddenly felt a sharp pain rack throughout her being and she gasped in shock as a voice she hated most echoed from the entryway behind her. "Well, well." Alarka said in a menacing tone. "I should've known that you were stronger than you pretended to be."
Toothless and Maaran immediately got into a defensive position around Azora while Hiccup tried to get Azora to tell him what was wrong. "You defiled my daughter!" Maaran snarled at Alarka.
"You will pay for being a disgrace!" Toothless growled.
Alarka laughed causing Toothless and Maaran to growl even more. "I may be a disgrace to you but I feel like your daughter should be the disgrace." He said.
Azora gasped as a new pain shot through her body. "Please…" she begged. "Stop."
Alarka looked stoically at Azora's pained figure and huffed. "The pain you feel is your punishment for leaving my side."
Azora whimpered. "I hate you…" she whispered as she glared at him through pain filled eyes.
"Hate me all you want." He countered. "You basically sold yourself to me in the end."
Toothless had enough of Alarka's comments towards Azora and leapt at him with claws and teeth out. Alarka immediately dodged him and countered by swiping at Toothless' face but missed as Toothless swerved at the last minute.
Azora immediately felt the pain recede as Alarka's attention was away from her and she slumped in exhaustion. "Papa," she whispered making Maaran turn towards her. "Please, help Toothless win." She then passed out with Hiccup trying his best to wake her back up.
Maaran knew he couldn't help Toothless win due to a dragon law but he knew the law was only meant for dragons. "Hiccup," he said quietly as he carefully studied the fighting style of Alarka.
Hiccup turned towards him. "Yeah?" He answered quietly back.
"While I myself cannot help Toothless, you as his partner can." Maaran nudged Hiccup away from Azora. "Go help him take that monster down and free her from him forever."
Hiccup nodded and headed towards the fighting nightfuries. He slowly took out his knife and got behind Alarka's position nodding to Toothless in silent communication. "Hey troll breath!" Hiccup yelled at Alarka getting his immediate attention.
Alarka turned and roared at Hiccup and Toothless immediately pounced. Alarka tried to buck him off making Hiccup duck away from the thrashing male. Toothless narrowed his eyes before opening his mouth, unsheathing his teeth, and plunging them into the side of Alarka's throat and ripping a huge chunk of flesh out of his neck. Alarka immediately stopped thrashing in surprise as blood dripped down and splattered onto the ground.
Surprisingly, as Toothless leapt away spitting out the chunk of flesh, Alarka was still standing. "I will…have my…mate." He gasped as air escaped his lungs and couldn't be refilled. "She…will…" he then collapsed. "Mine…." His eyes closed and suddenly a bright blue flash surrounded his body before flashing away and the body nowhere to be found.
Soon the call from Stoick's horn signaled the time to go back to the forest and so Maaran, Toothless, and Hiccup picked up Azora's unconscious body and headed to the forest to await everyone else.
