AN: This chapter was posted a day after the last so please if you have yet to read the last one then go back to avoid confusion.

Chapter 78

Hiccups POV:

It's been two weeks since the fight on Glacier Island and since then nothing much has happened besides me upgrading the defenses on the edge a bit more. Speaking of defenses I had been using my spare time to also modify my ballistae so hold more bolts so I wouldn't run out so fast. I had also been running my dragons through some drills for when the hunters attack while I'm away so they'd be able to drive them off. I did prepare a few other defenses using the sea stacks as the launching place for these traps. The way it works is if a ship should sail through the sea stacks they would pull a chain trip line that runs just beneath the water and when a ship pulls it the trap is triggered. Like on the docks cross bows would line up with the ship that triggered the trap and launch explosive bolts at them but as can be expected these cross bows were the size of ballistae. The only way for a ship to get past them is for the terror little orange terror I've trained and named Trapster flew up to the top of the sea stack and pulled the lever disarming the trap. All in all I doubt the hunters were going to be able to get near my base with my dragons guarding it. Besides that I'd also been working on my 'Dragon fly two' which is a flight suit I'd been working on that would allow me to fly if I ever fell off Toothless or any of my other dragons. 'Dragon fly one' didn't go so well if Toothless constantly needing to save me was anything to go by. 'Dragon fly one' however I'm happy to say has proven to be a major success and I now had different colored ones connected to each of my suits of armor including my regular armor.

As for the dragon eye I wanted it to be better protected since I knew it was well protected but I didn't want to risk it falling into the hunters hands so I moved it to the one place I knew the hunters would never be able to find it. I hid it in the room where all my portal doors lead to since the hunters didn't know about it and without me willingly taking them they would never be able to access it. Surprisingly when I walked into the room with the dragon eye a pedestal rose out from the center for me to rest it on.

Other than that I did have a few encounters with the hunters resulting in new wild dragons being freed, dragon hunters loosing their ships and a few dragon hunters being thrown in prison on Outcast Island. As for the wild dragons most of them returned to the islands but some followed me back to the edge and through the arch onto my island. I would've been concerned about housing them but they all built their nests in Glacia's ice nest which had been growing in size while I've been away meaning there was plenty of room for them plus plants has also began growing on the ice so it felt more natural. Glacia didn't mind the dragons moving in though and actually liked having the new dragons to keep her company and I was happy since them being there made it seem all the more like a true nest. (AN: If you're having trouble picturing it just picture a smaller version of Valka's Bewilder beasts nest.)

Presently I was flying towards an island with Scorch, Violet and Coal at my sides. The reason we were flying towards this island is because I got a terror mail from Johan who was driven here by the dragon hunters and was now being attacked by a very aggressive dragon flock according to his letter. It was then Johan's ship came into view and I saw his ship being attacked by a flock consisting of nightmares, nadders and gronkles. I was glad I brought Scorch, Violet and Coal now since they were the same species and as such might be able to calm down the dragons and lead them away from Johan. It was then they took note of us flying towards them and I could tell they were not looking to make friends if some of the nadders attacking Toothless and me were anything to go by. My other dragons weren't fairing any easier either since they were also being attacked. We dodged the snapping jaws of the nadders that were attacking us. None of this made sense since these species of dragons even when wild were never this aggressive no matter what meaning something was definitely up. I looked at Johan who was watching the battle in what I could tell was silent panic and knew I had to think of something fast. Before I could however one of the nightmares grabbed me by the waist and picked me up off Toothless saddle before another one knocked Toothless to the side. Luckily I was able to switch his tail to automatic before the nightmare took me off the saddle. As I dangled in the nightmares claws I saw the wild dragons begin to leave Johan to follow but I signaled my dragons to stay back since I might be able to figure out what was going on with these dragons. I could see the hesitation in the eyes of all my dragons; especially Toothless but I signaled them that I'd be fine.

As I we flew over the island I kept wondering why these dragons were behaving this way since it was unlike their respective species to be so aggressive. When we landed it was sunset and we had come to a clearing surrounded by large rocks but what was surprising were multiple nightmares were acting as sentries who looked to be ready for anything. I looked around at the dragons, which were mostly glaring at me for some reason, and I could tell one nightmare didn't like me that much. I didn't want to rile any of these dragons up so I sat down on the ground without moving as they sniffed me but most kept a close eye on me. I didn't move or say anything as I looked around the area for any way out of here but saw nothing. I did however see my dragons landing on the edge a bit away but I signaled them to stay back and wait for my signal since I wanted to try and understand why these dragons were acting so aggressive.

Morning

I was still sitting in the same spot, as I was yesterday with a gronkle, nadder and nightmare all surrounding me while also glaring daggers at me. I still didn't understand why but it was then I noticed them all step aside for a nadder who I'm guessing was their leader. It leaned down and examined me before pulling back to growl at the nightmare that had been watching me which gave me a good view of the side of its head. I saw that the nadder was covered in scars before noticing the Nightmare had just as many if not more scars. I admit I saw the nightmares scars last night but I figured they were just from fighting other dragons. Now with the light I could see the scars more clearly and realized they weren't from other dragons but from arrows and blades. This is when it all came together and I realized why these dragons were acting so aggressive even though it wasn't in their nature. They were all hurt by dragon hunters in the past and thought I was a hunter as well and when they attacked us they were trying to save my dragons from me. I knew if I could get this flock to join me in my fight I'd be able to do some serious damage to the hunters but I first needed to figure out how to show them I'm not like the hunters. My eyes then widened in another realization as to why the hunters drove Johan to this island that they'd most likely try to avoid. They knew I would come to save him and leave the edge unguarded allowing them to get into my base. I just hoped Heather could stall them while my defenses and the dragons I left to guard the base kept them at bay for the time being because even though I had the dragon eye locked up some of my notes were still there.

Nightfall

Back on dragons edge

Nobodies POV:

Ryker was in no way in a good mood considering how their invasion of the dragon's edge has been going and to be honest who could blame him. At sunset he sent two ships in to begin the invasion only for them to trigger a trap that launched explosive bolts into the hulls making huge holes that ended up sinking them. In other words he'd just lost two of his best ships to a simple trap. He knew with this trap they couldn't get to the docks but he figured an attack from behind might work which is why they were now docked on the side of the island that was made up of cliffs that had beaches on the bottom and forests on the top. Ryker watched as his men climbed the cliffs so they could begin attacking the edge from behind with a smile on his face. However his smile was turned into a frown when Heather walked up next to him and said.

"I'm not sure this is going to work." Ryker turned to glare at her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Hiccups a smart guy and I'm sure he'd come up with some sort of other defenses besides just setting up traps on the dock."

"Well I highly doubt he'd be expecting an attack from the cliff side." Dagur turned to glare at him and said.

"Me and Heather keep telling you not to underestimate him but you keep doing that AND IT ALWAYS LEADS TO OUR DEFEAT."

"Well then explain how my men are now at the top of the cliff." Heather answered.

"Hiccup probably booby trapped the forest since the last time we sent men in there to kidnap Hiccup only one out of the three escaped."

"Well I doubt my men will fall into the traps so easily since part of being a hunter is knowing how to spot traps."

"Yeah but the thing is he didn't come out right minded for some reason." Ryker raised an eyebrow. "He kept saying something about the forest coming to life and attacking them." Ryker was about to reply but it was then screams were heard from the top of the cliff making them all turn to face where the screams were coming from as they wondered what was happening.

In the forest

One lone hunter ran through the forest in fear, which considering the circumstances was the right emotion to be feeling. He had gone into the forest with a squad of twenty other men behind him and now he was the only one remaining as the others had been caught in some way or another. It all started out fine with them all-walking into the forest armed with their bows, axes and swords but as they got deeper things began happening. A few men were caught in hidden netters, which were expected, as were the few hidden bola launchers and logs being rolled down from up hill. These were all things they could deal with since it was easy to either free the others from with a little difficulty since they were mostly made of gronkle iron chains or avoid keeping a careful eye out like or dodging. It was when they got deeper that things began to get scary and not just because of the traps. The entire forest seemed to have it out for them with everything that was happening to his men. They were falling into holes in the ground that were deep enough to reach the men's shoulders just appearing underneath them before the holes closed up around the shoulders leaving them trapped. If that wasn't bad enough the holes weren't the only thing to attack his men from the ground as what looked to be roots would burst out of the ground and tie his men up while rooting them to the spot. When this happened a few of the men would back up into the trees in either shock or fear only for the trees to then use their branches to wrap around them and pin them to the tree. The hunter saw the end of the forest and smiled at the thought of getting out of this forest of horrors but in his hurry he forgot the cliff and ended up jumping right off it. Fortunately Heather and Windshear had taken off to investigate the screaming and were able to catch him mid fall and take him back to the ship where Ryker was waiting for a report and made that clear by glaring at the lone hunter and asking.

"What happened in there?" He went on to tell them what happened before being dragged below deck to get examined for injuries due to him constantly muttering about the forest coming to life while Dagur turned to face Ryker and said.

"We told you not to underestimate him and now we've lost some men but luckily all of them are expendable including the now loony Lars number two." Ryker glared at him.

"Lars number two is my cousin."

"Well I'm sure he'll be back to normal in no time but you have to give it to Hiccup." Ryker raised an eyebrow before nodding.

"The lad does make some good traps especially if they make it look like the forest is alive." Dagur nodded and said.

"True enough, he is pretty darn smart and when we capture him I'll have to ask him how he built them."

"They'll come in handy in future hunts and the hides of his dragons will fetch a high price at the Northern Market." Heather then cut in saying.

"We first need to get into his base so don't get too excited yet." Ryker turned to glare at her before he looked back at the base and examined the area it was built on before pointing to the cliffs at the side of the base.

"We can use our smaller ships to get onto the island then climb those cliffs to get to the base." Dagur rubbed his chin and nodded.

"Not a bad idea Ryker and it might actually work." He just grunted in reply.

"Prepare the boats to set sail."

Back with Hiccup

I was still sitting in the same spot I was before trying to come up with a way to show the dragons I meant no harm to them but whenever I tried to touch one of them I'd get blasted at. I knew if there was just a way to show them I could be trusted then things would be a lot easier but my dragons were becoming impatient by the looks of things. Before I could come up with any ideas I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard a choking sound. I turned to see an adolescent gronkle on its back choking and I knew what to do since Coal had these problems all the time. I ran up to it earning a glare from the nadder and nightmare but I held up my hands saying.

"It's alright, I can help."

They backed off slightly but continued to glare before I began slamming my fist and elbow into the gronkles gut earning surprised growls from the dragons. I ignored them for now though and focused on the gronkle until it coughed up a chunk of quartzite that I caught. I smiled remembering how I had to lock up all the quartzite on my island since Coal kept choking on them. The gronkle gave me a lick and nuzzle before flying over to the other gronkles as the nadder stared at me as the nightmare growled but the nadder growled back at him but I could see in their eyes they still didn't fully trust me. Unfortunately my dragons didn't see this and came flying in scaring the flock which then began getting ready to attack. I ran in front of my dragons as they landed and held up my hand to signal them not to do anything but they stood ready as the leader of the flock walked out of the flock and spread his wings in a threatening manner at my dragons. This made my dragons growl and Toothless ready to fire a plasma blast but I signaled him to stand down and no sudden movements as the spread wings gave me an idea. I slowly readied Dragon Fly two with the leader glaring at me but when I was ready I stood up and slowly walked towards him but when he growled I stopped. I stared at them and took a breath before I held my hands out revealing my wings making the leader jump back in shock before walking up to me and sniffing the wings as I said.

"See now we're not so different." The nadder pulled its head back as Toothless walked up to me. "I'm not like those hunters." I rubbed Toothless' chin and head. "I'd never hurt a dragon." When the nadder let out a small roar as it raised its head I knew it understood me, which is a good thing because I'm probably going to need his help along with that of its flock if the hunters did this to keep me busy so they could attack the edge.

Back on the edge

The attack was going slow but Ryker wasn't giving up so easily and found a way to reach the dock without setting of any of the traps. He just had to send his men in on smaller ships that were able to get through the sea stacks without pulling the tripwires. As he soon learned though getting to the dock was the easy part since when his men docked they triggered the traps on the dock resulting in all of the men on the dock ending up in the ocean. Not all of the men were on the dock as some were using grappling hooks and rope to climb the cliffs on the side of the base above the water. Unfortunately for them when they came close to the top a pack of Speedstingers looked over the edge. The men looked up at the speed stinger as they each let out growls before biting down on the ropes snapping them and sending the men into the water below. The men climbing the cliffs by the beach weren't fairing any better despite climbing with their bare hands, due to Rubble dropping rocks on them from above. It was then the night terrors made their grand appearance scaring off some of the hunters until Ryker hit Smidvarg with a dragonroot arrow knocking him out of the sky as he said.

"Nice try but you can't scare me off so easily." Sadly the night terrors had been trained for this type of situation and swarmed the hunters shocking Ryker. "This shouldn't be happening." Dagur then growled.

"I warn you not to underestimate Hiccup yet that's what you keep doing." Heather then landed.

"Hiccup must've trained the night terrors to do this incase of a something happening to the white one." Ryker nodded.

"Well they can't keep this up forever and with Hiccup busy with those wild and angry dragons we won't have too much to worry about." It was then the roar of a nightfury echoed through the cliffs making all the hunters, Dagur and Heather turn to see Hiccup flying towards him with multiple dragons behind him and the sun at their backs before Dagur asked.

"Why does he always have to make such a production out of everything?" He looked down. "I really hate that guy!"

Hiccups POV:

We arrived in time to see the hunters being attacked by the night terrors as I smiled while mentally saying how I knew teaching them how to attack without Smidvarg would pay off. I looked at the remaining ships before I turned to the dragons behind me smiling as I yelled.

"Alright gang, let's clean up this mess."

The leader squawked before helping me lead them all into battle against the hunters. I smiled as the dragons attacked with so many hunters being chased off by the flames, their weapons being melted by lava blasts, their row boats being sunk by spine shots and so many other things being done to the hunters. It was then I spotted Ryker and felt my blood boil at the sight of him so I yelled.

"RYKER!" He looked up at me and glared before holding his hand up.

"WE WILL MEET AGAIN HICCUP HADDOCK!" Heather swooped down with Windshear grabbing his raised arm and flying him off to the ship as I glared at his fleeting form.

"I'm counting on it." I then turned back to the dragons that were now landing around my base. "I've got a lot of work to do now." It's true I did have work to do with the new dragons, resetting all the traps, checking the traps in the forest for hunters and more sufficed to say these next few weeks are going to be busy.

4 weeks later

As expected these last four weeks have been nothing but hard work for both my dragons and me and I'm including the new ones who were lead by the nadder now named Scardian. I had to increase the size of my dragon stables to hold all the new dragons who were eager to join us at the thought of taking down the hunters, refill all my crossbow traps along with resetting the others, drop off the nineteen hunters that were caught in my forest on Outcast island to be held, tend to some of the scars on Scardian's flock members while also making armor for them and strengthening the bond I had with each of them. Besides that we've been doing nothing but raiding the hunters ships for both dragons and the hunters who we were able to capture and deliver to Outcast Island.

Now however we were facing a serious problem with Heather being discovered and held hostage by the hunters. It started when she told me we had a chance to finally capture Viggo and put an end to all this. The plan was for her, Dagur and Ryker to capture a flightmare that she'd discovered but my dragons and I would ambush them and finally put an end to this battle. Sadly things went horribly wrong since it turned out Viggo knew Heather was the traitor and captured not only her and Windshear but the flightmare as well. I ordered my dragons to save her while I went after Viggo but there were too many hunters for my dragons to handle and Viggo was already gone. He did leave me a message in the form of a game of Maces and Talons with me being as the Viking king, him as the chief of the marauders while Heather was the trader.

I spent hours using my golden falcon to check every inch of Viggo's base and its defenses while also using my crystal map to find out where it was. I knew every inch of the base but I knew if I was going to beat this guy I'd need to pull out all the stops meaning I was going to need to use every trick I had. My falcons were one of the things that he didn't know about as were my god made weapons but I had one thing that I knew would truly give me the advantage. That thing was Heatwave who was the first and only one of his species. Because of this they wouldn't know of his capabilities like his ability to escape any cages, his immunity to dragonroot arrows and all of his other abilities. It would give us a slight advantage over them so there was no doubt about him coming with us on this attack.

Now I was on up in the air on Toothless, Heatwave and Scardian who refused to be left behind from this battle and if the scars are anything to go by I couldn't blame him for wanting payback but I made sure he and Toothless were wearing their armor. I would've also brought Glacia and Volcana but they were too big a secret advantage, would take too long to get here and I wasn't that desperate yet. I was wearing my regular armor with my spirit arrow quiver over my back and the dragon eye in my satchel. We were quick to dodge a flurry of arrows fired at us from a ship but I sent back four of my fire arrows at the ship, which quickly caught fire and began to sink. It was then I saw the base but it looked deserted however that though was quickly ruined by a wall of flames bursting up in front of me. I looked down and saw a total of four typhoomerangs that were tied to the ground and forced to fire at us. I smiled at them since I knew they were there from my earlier recon with my falcons. I took out two of my scimitar throwing knives and threw them at the ropes binding one the red typhoomerangs. When the ropes were cut the typhoomerangs made the hunter understand how angry it was by picking him up and throwing him into the wall of a nearby cliff. It then went to free its comrades who were eager to be free while Scardian was happy to swoop down and help since then hunters were too preoccupied with the now free typhoomerang to force the others to fire at us. This also gave Toothless, Heatwave and I the chance to fly over and land near where the dragons and Heather were being kept. Once we landed though I turned to Toothless, Heatwave and Scardian who had just joined us and said.

"You guys keep the hunters busy while I look for Heather." Toothless crooned in concern. "I'll be fine bud." I turned to Heatwave. "You know what to do my friend."

He growled and nodded before they went off to fight some hunters while I turned around and ran to where the cages were kept. I ran through them seeing multiple dragons caged and made a promise to free them at a later time but for now Heather was my main priority. I then saw the cage that held the flightmare and was horrified to see the muzzle made of dragon proof metal on it. The thing was horrific but I needed to focus on Heather and was sure to promise the flightmare I'd free it later. I knew I wasn't going to find Heather this way until I saw a string catapult and knew it was my way to finding Heather if I used it the right way. I launched my prosthetic arm up at the top part before getting a good grip and pulling it down and then using it to launch me into the air. While up in the air I spotted some cages but one had Heathers axe in front of it showing it was where she was kept. I pushed myself towards that direction before landing on a covered cage and rolling over it and onto the ground. I ran over to the cage and used my prosthetic to smash the lock off. I walked into the cage looking at the covered bundle and said.

"Heather, we've got to get out of here now." I pulled the cover off not to find Heather but Viggo Grimborn sitting on his knees.

"Welcome Hiccup."

"Where's Heather?"

"Bad news, she won't be joining us tonight but on the positive side you've far exceeded my expectations, good on you." It was then multiple guards stepped out from bushes or to the edge of cliffs all pointing bows at me.

"Clever but you know we haven't been properly introduced."

"Of course, where are my manners?" He bowed. "I am Viggo Grimborn and the leader of the dragon hunters."

"Hiccup Haddock, dragon rider and world traveler."

"Well it's a pleasure Hiccup and since I'm enjoying this I'll give you a headstart."

"Oh really now?"

"Indeed after all I'm nothing if not a good sport and if I didn't the game would end here and what fun would that be."

I took my chance and ran out of the cage and away from the hunters with one destination in mind but when I got there I found two hunters holding the flightmare by the dragon proof muzzle. I looked around at the cages when I heard an all too familiar growl. I then saw Toothless hop on top of one of the cages while Scardian hopped on one opposite to it. I smiled seeing them safe as they hopped off the cages and ran to my sides. I smiled at them before Viggo walked ontop of one of the cages and said.

"There you are Hiccup, you didn't get as far as I'd hoped." I glared at him.

"Games over Viggo."

"I'm sorry to hear that, was I not a worthy adversary?" He held his hand up. "Don't answer that, your surrender speaks volumes."

"No one is surrendering after all I've been in worse situations."

"Have you now?"

"I have and would list them but we'd be here for hours." I then smiled. "So why use the Maces and Talons board on the ship to challenge me." He smiled.

"It's a game of strategy like we're playing now and it does bring back such fond memories of games with my grandfather."

"I know the feeling since I always enjoyed playing the game with my father when I was young but as the years went by he got busier and there was nobody else to challenge." I chuckled. "You'd be surprised how hard it is to find someone to challenge to a game of strategy on Berk." He jumped off the cage.

"I don't doubt it Hiccup but our time must come to an end and I ask that you return what you stole from me, what's belonged to my tribe for centuries and I will give serious thought to letting you and your friends go free."

"You mean the dragon eye?"

"Dragon eye?" He looked back at me. "A fitting name, if you don't mind I'll use that."

"I'm not going to hand it over to you Viggo."

He turned to the men with the flightmare and gave a nod before they opened a small tube and fired the flightmares spray at my dragons and me. I merely held up my eagle shield blocking the attack completely as a purple shield formed around the shield increasing the amount of protection it offered. When the spray stopped I lowered my shield and turned to face a wide-eyed Viggo who asked.

"What in the world?" He shook his head. "Nothing can block the spray of a flightmare." I smirked at him.

"Nothing in the archipelago you mean but you see Viggo I've traveled the world and seen a lot of interesting things."

"Well Hiccup I have to say this was unexpected." He then slowly clapped. "Well played."

"Thanks but this shield is nothing compared to the dragons I've discovered like the sandphantom."

"The sandphantom?" He rubbed his chin. "I can't say I've heard of this species of dragon."

"No surprise there since I've got the only one and it's helped me in my favorite strategy when it comes to winning."

"And what strategy would that be."

"Luring my opponents into a trap like now." I gestured to the ground that was covered in sand. "Look around you Viggo." Viggo looked

"You wanted me here so your sand phantom could use the sand to attack." I smiled.

"My sand phantom doesn't use sand to attack Viggo." I gave a hand gesture towards the ground and the sand began to move. "HE IS THE SAND!"

As soon as I said that the sand kicked up into a sandstorm as the men yelled in surprise while Heatwave roared and struck them using his claws. I used this distraction to fire one of my fire arrows into the air as a signal before I ran at the cages holding dragons and smashed the locks setting them free. As I did this I heard Viggo yelling at his men to find me while another roar echoed through the area and brought a smile to my face. It was the roar of my own flightmare Specter who I brought but ordered to keep a distance away until he saw the signal of my fire arrow. I smiled as I looked up to the sky and watched him fly in and lead the muzzled flightmare away so the hunters couldn't use it for whatever reason they wanted it for while Scardian gathered the dragons I freed above the sandstorm. When they were all free I mounted Toothless and took to the sky before yelling at Heatwave know it was time to go. He reformed in the sky as I looked down at Viggo who was rubbing his eyes and yelled.

"Never underestimate your opponent Viggo and thanks for the dragons." We then took off meeting up with Angel and Phantom, who were secretly on the island looking for Heather with instructions not to be seen and to protect them I covered their armor in their shed scales to blend in with them, on a large sea stack that was surrounded by other sea stacks. "Did you guys find Heather while we were dealing with the hunters?"

They shook their heads making me frown before I walked over to a covered hole and pulled out my golden falcons before saying the chant and ordering them to show me Heather. I was both shocked and happy to see her with Windshear flying over the ocean safe and sound. I smiled but wondered what happened that allowed her to escape but before I could wonder a glow to my side caught my attention and I saw Specter flying towards us with the still muzzled flightmare. I gave Specter a rub on the head while telling him he did a good job but when I approached the muzzled flightmare it growled and tried to but its head into me to force me away. I stepped back when it did this while Specter jumped in front of me growling at the muzzled flightmare that lowered its head before slowly walking up to me and looking up as if begging me to help. I smiled down at it before I got to work on removing the muzzle and once it was completely off the flightmare let out a pleased roar and nuzzled me as I rubbed its head and said.

"Your welcome." I then turned to my dragons. "This battle with the hunters isn't over yet guys and they will be back so be ready to fight." They each growled before I packed my golden falcons up and mounted Toothless. "For now though let's get these freed dragons to safety and enjoy our victory over the hunters." They all roared before we all took off back to the edge.

AN: Hey all I hoped you liked the new chapter and will keep your reviews kind because nobody likes an Internet troll. Anyway for those of you who are wondering why Viggo didn't get the dragon eye ask yourself this. After everything he's been through in the world would my Hiccup really be stupid enough to bring that thing and risk it falling into the hands of the hunters? I admit I considered doing a fake dragon eye but that would take too much time for Hiccup to create and he didn't want to risk Heather. Rest assured though Viggo will still enslave the dragons he used in the episodes but there will be episode skips in some cases but same rules. If you want an episode let me know. Till next time be kind with your reviews and have a nice day.