After doing one last sweep of the ship, just in case we might find something else, however unlikely, we packed up the Maces and Talons board and headed on back to the Edge. When we arrived, we set up the board again, back in the cave where the twins were apparently playing with the Dragon Eye. I wasn't sure why we didn't meet in the clubhouse, but I went along with it.
"Oh my goodness!" Fishlegs squealed as he saw Hiccup and myself setting up the Maces and Talons board. "Maces and Talons!" The chunky Viking rushed over to the board. "Hiccup! Does this mean…" He trailed off with a wide grin.
"No, Fishlegs." Hiccup said with a sigh.
"But Maces and Talons was designed to test the abilities and decision making of future Chiefs in the heat of battle." Fishlegs responded, confused.
"It was also designed as a pastime for intellectuals." I chimed in with a dull tone.
"I'm not taking over as Chief of Berk, FIshlegs." Hiccup told the Gronckle rider. "Viggo left this for me. He's challenging us. He wants us to play Maces and Talons with him." Hiccup explained.
"Wait, Viggo's here?" Tuffnut piped up.
"We got next!" Ruffnut announced as both she and her brother tried to paw at the board.
"Uh, no guys. He's not here." Hiccup tried to communicate with the twins, keeping them from touching the board, but they were stubborn, not listening to a word he said. Eventually, I got tired of watching that, and decided to take care of it myself. I grabbed my spear, and without extending it, I whacked both of them on the heads with it. Well, on their helmets anyway.
"Whoa!" Tuffnut yelped as he felt the blow. He waddled a bit, setting his eyes on his sister. "One, two, three, four, five… SIX!" He exclaimed. "That's a six! Impressive!" He gave me a wide grin with a thumbs up. Literally a second later, he fell to the ground, as did his twin.
"That was hardly necessary." Hiccup told me with a disapproving look as he dusted himself off.
"I disagree." Snotlout laughed.
"Moving on." Hiccup sighed with a shake of his head. I noticed he does that a lot. "Viggo is forcing my hand." He said as he picked up the broken Traitor piece. "He's making me play him for Windshear's life, and likely the Flightmare as well." He explained.
"All of our own as well." I said with a dark undertone.
"What happens if we don't play?" Heather asked, dread in her tone. Hiccup didn't respond, he only dropped the broken Traitor piece back onto the board.
"We're gonna play, right?" Fishlegs asked, looking up at Hiccup.
"I certainly will be." I told him. "Viggo's made it clear he wants me in the game." I said, pointing to the Accomplice piece.
"We're going to play, right Hiccup?" Heather repeated Hiccup's question, fear in her eyes.
"If you're asking whether or not we'll get Windshear back, we absolutely will, I promise you Heather." Hiccup assured the girl. "But as far as playing goes, we can't without a strategy." He said, looking down at the board. "Seth? Got anything?" He asked after a moment of thought.
"I was waiting for you to ask." I said with a smirk, beckoning Nightshade over to me. I reached into the satchel that was attached to her saddle and pulled out a large scroll. I unrolled it to reveal a map, one of Viggo's base. "This isn't an excessively detailed map, but it should be fine for our purposes." I told them as I placed the map over the board, and everyone huddled around it.
"Viggo's base." Hiccup deduced.
"Indeed." I nodded. "First thing's first, we'll need to go in under the cover of night. Viggo will expect this, but going in broad daylight is just plain dumb." I said, getting a nod from him. "Second, there are two locations we need to search for Windshear and the Flightmare." I placed a finger on the map. "There are elaborate tunnels and caverns running all throughout the island, all of which have an entrance at the base of the quarry. The working theory is the island used to be a Screaming Death nest a couple hundred years ago. Viggo keeps the dragons he doesn't plan on slaughtering in the cavern on the north side." I explained.
"So we'll need to split up." Hiccup concluded, getting a nod from me.
"On the far side of the island, there's a sparse forest, where Viggo has the tanning stations, slaughterhouses, numerous cages, and all manner of things." I shifted my hand on the map. "It'd be much easier for us to sneak around there, but it would also be easier for Viggo to set up an ambush there. A much bigger one at that."
"So, we'll need one team, agile and swift, to comb through the caverns, while the other team searches the forest." Fishlegs thought out loud.
"It may behoove us to have a third team in the air, keeping the archers and arbalists off of the ground teams' backs." I suggested.
"Good call." Hiccup said, looking over the map. "From what direction should we approach?" He asked.
"The docks, here." I said, shifting my hand to the west side of the island. "The forest team would have to cross half the island, but it's not as defendable as the rest of the island. Viggo would likely compensate for that somehow, so we'll definitely find some resistance, but it's probably the best place for us to go in."
"So, the big question, who does what?" Astrid asked.
"We'd need speed and agility and the ground, so Toothless, Stormfly and Nightshade are probably best for the ground." Hiccup surmised.
"There's no way you're going without me." Heather chimed in with a low growl.
"I wouldn't dream of it." Hiccup assured her, a slight undertone of nervousness in his voice. He cleared his throat and turned to me. "Anything else we should be concerned about?" He asked.
"A couple of things. There may be tripwires in the caves, and snares in the forest. Viggo may have also released some of the caged wild dragons to make things a little harder for us, and there may be powdered dragon root ready to knock out anyone that finds themselves locked in a small room, human or dragon." I listed off with my fingers.
"Gee, is that all?" Snotlout snarked in my direction.
"Probably." I said with a shrug.
After a little while longer of discussing our plan of action, it was decided that we would all get some rest before taking off at sunset. Everyone went back to their huts to sleep as best they could. Like the previous night, Heather roomed with Astrid, and I bunked with Hiccup. Whilst he was asleep on the upper level of his hut with Toothless, I lay down in my bedroll on the bottom floor, looking up at the roof as Nightshade lay next to me, her head next to mine, and her tail curling around my legs, and resting on my other side. Arrow was curled up and asleep on her back, her spines folded back.
I tried to fall asleep, but I couldn't. My mind was too full of thoughts about how I will inevitably meet Viggo again tonight. Honestly, the thought scared me. I spent so long at his side, as his right hand man, and now I'm fighting against him. I've seen what he can do to people that make an enemy of him. Odds are, if I told him I wanted to leave, he would have let me. Problem is, my conscience wouldn't have rested while doing nothing about the dragons, and even some people, suffering because of him.
With a sigh, I sat up, my movement stirring Nightshade from her sleep. Gently, I placed a hand on her head, which calmed her. She let out a deep breath before resting her head down once more. With a small smile, I looked at her for a moment before standing up and quietly leaving the hut. It was late afternoon, and the sun would be setting in about 2 or three hours. I doubted I'd be getting any sleep before we left.
I spent a few minutes just walking around before I got bored of that and decided to find someplace to just sit and think. One of the twins mentioned a saltwater cove at the base of the island. I figured it was as good a place as any, being only a two minute walk away from the huts.
I found the lagoon easily enough, but imagine my surprise when I find someone else sitting at the edge of the cove with her feet in the water.
"Alright there Heather?" I asked as I approached her. She wasn't wearing any of her armour, just her leggings pulled up to her knees and a brown tunic. Her boots were next to her.
"Oh, hey Seth." She said as she wiped a single tear out of her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine." She told me.
"I believe you." I said with a dull undertone, sitting next to her. "What's up?" I asked her, taking my own boots off. I wasn't wearing my vest, hood, or wrist guards. Like Heather, just my tunic, pants, and boots. And now my boots were beside me, with my feet in the water.
"I just can't stop thinking about Windshear." She told me. "I have all these images in my head of what Viggo or Dagur are doing to her." She shook her head. "And then it starts to really hit home that he IS my brother." She sighed. "All that time, I was just playing a part. I never actually focussed on the fact that he is actually my blood brother."
"Blood doesn't mean anything Heather." I told her.
"Maybe not to a Saxon." She shot back, almost harshly. "It's not the same for us. I'm a Berserker. It's in my blood. It's who I was supposed to be." She looked at her hand, clenching her fist.
"You're not 'supposed' to be anything." I responded, ignoring her tone. "You have the right to choose who and what you want to be. And it's not always easy doing so." I said, shifting my eyes to the water. "I won't pretend to understand how hard it must be to try and come to terms with the fact that Dagur is your brother, but if you let that dictate your choices in life, you're going to find yourself walking a path you don't want." I said seriously.
"And how would you know?" She demanded. I kept my calm, knowing she was just struggling internally.
"It may not have been as earth-shattering as finding out Dagur is your brother, but I was hit pretty hard with the reality of who and what Viggo truly is." I told her simply. "After I left, I was angry. I shut down almost completely, thinking about how Viggo betrayed my trust, how he manipulated me, and used me, and all that." I sighed again. "It took a few weeks to realise that what I was truly angry at, was myself. And I used all those other things as excuses to justify my actions during those weeks."
"Actions?"
"I got a little more violent with the Dragon Hunters I encountered than was really necessary, I was quite demanding of Nightshade, I started a couple of bar fights, and got a little too rough with a fisherman's daughter that I picked up." I listed. Heather looked at me with a deadpan look, before letting out a light laugh and punching me in the shoulder. I shook my head with a light chuckle. Good to know I could ease the tension. "I'm not completely joking though. All those things, and more, happened over the course of several weeks. Eventually Nightshade just refused to let me back onto her back until I got my arse in gear." I recalled.
"And how did you do that?" Heather asked, humouring me.
"I realised none of it was really about Viggo, or what he did, or what he said, or anything like that. It was about me. About what I allowed to happen." I looked her in the eye. "I knew from the moment I met him that Viggo was a very dangerous man. I accepted the offer he presented because I knew that Nightshade and I would likely both die if I didn't. And because I accepted, Viggo was good to me. He taught me to speak Norse, had me trained to use a spear, paid me an incredibly generous wage, and put me in charge of some of his most dangerous and important hunts." I allowed a small scoff. "He once told me that there are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true, and the other-"
"Is to refuse to believe what is." Heather finished for me. I nodded.
"I believed what wasn't true, that Viggo valued me, my presence, my input, and my skills. And at the same time, I refused to believe what is true, that Viggo is a ruthless and remorseless businessman, and that I was nothing more than a tool to him. I fooled myself, and that is where my anger came from, anger that I took out on anyone I could. Nightshade, the Dragon Hunters, random bar-hoppers, women, dragons, game, and so on." I sighed.
"Fascinating story Seth, really." Heather's tone, while sincere, did have an undertone of sarcasm in it. "What does this have to do with me?" She asked, growing impatient.
"You don't see the parallels?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "Massive revelation, choices made, consequences?" I went on. She looked away. Seeing where I was going. "Learning that Dagur was your brother shook you to your core. Anybody would make at least one questionable decision after that. You started spying on the Hunters for Hiccup, not necessarily a bad decision, but definitely a dangerous one. You chose to fly in and try to save the Flightmare, even after I told you it couldn't be done." I reminded her.
"It's my fault, I know." She growled, getting tired of the conversation.
"That's not what I'm trying to say." I said, grabbing her wrist before she could stand up. "You made mistakes. You believed what wasn't true when you thought that you had Viggo fooled. You fooled yourself, and it has put Windshear's life in danger, and yours as well if I hadn't been there. As frightening and heartbreaking as that is, there is no doubt in my mind, that above all, you're feeling anger. Anger towards yourself." I explained rapidly. Her muscles tensed as she clenched her fists again.
"You don't know what I'm feeling." She responded, her voice quivering.
"You're right." I said, letting her go. "I can't know for certain that what I'm saying is true. All I can do is speculate on what I'm seeing, and the signs are all there, Heather." I said gently, placing my hand over hers. "Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe I monopolised this whole conversation, thinking it would help, but only making myself look like a self-important idiot. The point of my story is that I refused to allow what happened to continue to affect my life. I lost myself in my anger, and something similar is happening to you now." I said softly. "I don't want to see you falling into the same pit I did."
"How can I not?" She asked, wiping away her building tears.
"Accept what's happened, accept what you've done, accept the consequences, and accept your role in this matter." I said firmly. "And then move on. Look to the future, and think about what it can bring. Look inward, and ask yourself: who are you? And what do you want?" I grabbed my boots and stood up. "If you can't answer those questions, then you'll never be able to move forward with your life." I said, turning and leaving. I felt its best that I leave her with her thoughts for now.
Sunset had come and gone, and we were all off towards Viggo's base. Heather seemed OK once I saw her again. She was calm and focussed on the task at hand. I hoped that was a sign that she'd taken our talk to heart. She rode with Astrid. Since I wanted to avoid putting Arrow in anymore danger, I requested that Fishlegs hold onto him. He was more than happy to do so, and I figured with the Gronckles' immunity to Dragon Root, Arrow would be safest with Fishlegs.
"Hey, so can I ask a question?" Snotlout asked as we all flew through the night sky, above the clouds to maintain cover.
"Doesn't matter what I say, you're going to ask it anyway." Hiccup said dryly as Snotlout hovered over to fly next to me.
"Cool. Why are we bringing this guy with us?" He asked, pointing at me. "I mean sure, his dragon is OK, and he has passable skills as an archer, but do we really need him, is what I'm tryna say." He said, crossing his arms. Nightshade knew she was being insulted and glared at the Viking.
"Easy girl." I said, putting my hand on the side of her head. "Just ignore him. He's not worth the trouble." I said, rolling my eyes.
"You know, how do we even know we can trust him?" He asked, sliding under Nightshade and coming up on the other side, leaning his head on his hand, whilst his elbow rested on his dragon's head. Hookfang didn't seem to mind, or care really.
"Snotlout, Seth has knowledge of Viggo and the Dragon Hunters that can be of immeasurable use to us." Hiccup said, his tone suggesting he was already tired of this conversation. "Besides, Heather vouches for him, and his skills as both a dragon rider, and a fighter."
"I've never been able to take him down, with or without our dragons." Heather commented, surprising the people who cared.
"Not to mention Nateshime's unique form as a hybrid could further our knowledge of dragon hybrids and Strike Class dragons." Fishlegs chimed in. He was very excited to study Nightshade in the beginning, but he's put it aside in favour of the situation with Viggo. Besides, I'm not certain Nightshade wants to be studied like a lab rat.
"Thank you, Fishlegs." I told the chunky Viking. "Although, her name is Nightshade. It's the English translation for Nightshade." I told him.
"You mean those poisonous purple berries?" He asked, opening up his little notebook and taking something down.
"More the beautiful and deadly flowers, but yes." I affirmed. Nightshade let out a satisfied warble at my words. "And as for you, Snotlout…" I turned to face the Viking in question. "If you think I may be incompetent as a rider or a warrior, I'd be happy to assuage your concerns." I told him, keeping my tone completely calm and level. "However, that will have to wait until after we rescue Windshear and the Flightmare. We can have a contest, me versus each Rider, one at a time." I said sarcastically.
"I'll hold you to that." he said with narrow eyes, giving me an 'I'm watching you' gesture. I had to roll my eyes in response as he drifted back into his place in the formation.
"You know he's not going to let that go, right?" Astrid said as she hovered over to my side.
"I gathered." I said with a sigh. "If nothing else, it would be a good way to shut him up. I don't have the patience to deal with that on a regular basis." I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"I guess it will be fun to see how you measure up to the rest of us." She said with a challenging grin.
"Prepare to be destroyed." I responded, completely monotone. Astrid, Heather, and I shared a laugh at this. Astrid wasn't this friendly before. I figured this might be her way of expressing her decision to trust me. Nice to know, I suppose. "I think we're coming up on the island." I called out to Hiccup as I examined the area around us. I couldn't see much because of the clouds, but the timing felt right, and the state of the water suggested a nearby beach.
"Alright gang, remember, Viggo is a master of deception. We have to be one step ahead of him at all times, or it's game over." Hiccup said as we all slowed down, ready to land when the island came into view.
"Sounds to me like it's already game over." Tuffnut commented.
"Yup, that was my interpretation." Ruffnut agreed.
"And what gave you that impression?" I asked. Before they could answer, a volley of arrows suddenly shot up past us from beneath the clouds. We all had to act quick to avoid them. "What in the fuck?" I cursed in English.
"Where are they coming from?" Fishlegs exclaimed.
"There must be ships under the cloud cover." Astrid said, gripping her saddle tighter. Heather held a tighter grip on Astrid.
"How did they know we were here?" FIshlegs asked, dodging another arrow.
"I'll give you three guesses, the first two don't count." I grumbled, jabbing my thumb at the source of light behind us. Snotlout had Hookfang light up, and he was enjoying the warmth of his dragon's flaming body.
"What?" He asked defensively. "I was chilly, now I'm warm and toasty." He said with a huff.
"We must be closer to the island than I thought." I commented as I caught an arrow that would have otherwise hit me. I'm really glad I practised that trick a crap ton over these past three years.
"I think that's an understatement. Look." Heather pointed to the ground as our cloud cover faded, showing the island we sought.
"Viggo's base." Hiccup surmised.
"Absolutely…" I whispered under my breath. It was an odd feeling, being back at the base. I hadn't been there for six months. It was sort of nostalgic, combined with a bit of fear.
"Is this really it? It looks… Deserted." Fishlegs observed.
"That's definitely it." Heather confirmed. Right as she finished her sentence, a massive, swirling vortex of fire erupted from beneath us, just barely shy of scorching someone's face off.
"I stand corrected!" FIshlegs yelped.
"Typhoomerangs!" Hiccup called out. Sure enough, on the ground, there were four Typhoomerangs chained down, being jabbed at with spears, which prompted them to fire their spinning vortexes of death at us.
"He's using freaking Typhoomerangs as blowtorches!?" Snotlout exclaimed as he dodged one of the shots.
"Hey, you wanted toasty." Heather remarked in his direction.
"Toast-Y, not toast-ED." Snotlout shot back.
"Seth, I just want to put on record that you completely undersold this guy." Tuffnut told me as he and his sister also avoided a tornado of flame. "He's way more devious than you said."
"Look out!" Hiccup called out as more Typhoomerangs were seen at our sides. We all had to be swift to not be hit by their fire.
"OK, we plan to get through this, now." I thought aloud. "I have arrows laced with Nightshade's venom. It'll knock them out for a few minutes." I put forward.
"That'll just make them more aggressive when they wake up!" Fishlegs returned, his head on his helmet as he quickly jerked his dragon to the side.
"We need to fall back and regroup." Astrid called out.
"Bad idea." I shot that idea down. "There's no way Viggo would allow us to set down on his island and think of a new plan, and he wouldn't try to make us retreat if we have what he wants."
"So this is a diversion." Hiccup responded, looking down at the Typhoomerangs with a serious face.
"It's fire, Hiccup." Snotlout shot back at him. "Actual fire!"
"Gonna have to concur on that one." Tuffnut commented, looking up at his flaming helmet.
"No, what I mean is, he doesn't want us to fall back, he wants us to get past the fire and arrows. He wants us to find Windshear and the Flightmare. And then his game really begins." He said, throwing a look in my direction. "Seth?"
"That's very likely. He wouldn't want the game to end so quickly." I nodded.
"Well, he's got a funny way of showing that he wants us to get through!" Snotlout snarked as we all continued to dodge the fire.
"He doesn't want us to get through." Hiccup corrected him. "He wants us to go around, and attack from the back."
"Where we'll probably meet a massive ambush." I added.
"So what do we do?" Astrid asked as she had Stormfly fire a few spines at the archers.
"We're going in this way, straight into the fire." Hiccup decided. The looks he received were priceless. "Now, I know you guys think I'm nuts." he started.
"A little bit!" Heather responded.
"No, I think he's onto something." I intervened. "A Typhoomerang's fire, it's like a tornado. If we fly into the eye, it'll be hot, but we'll be relatively safe."
"Relatively?!" Snotlout repeated, outraged.
"He's right." Hiccup announced, nodding in my direction.
"Please tell me this plan is not as theoretical as it sounds!" Snotlout cried desperately.
"My fine sister and I have performed said feat of daring a number of times." Tuffnut announced.
"For fun!" Ruffnut continued with a grin. "It does work, so long as you don't panic while you're inside." She explained. We all looked at them. They really were crazy.
"Good luck with that." I told Snotlout.
"Shut up Seth!" He snapped.
Moments later, we had all flown into the vortex of flame from one of the Typhoomerangs. This is not something I've ever done before. I'd flown into the eye of a hurricane before for safety, but never a waterspout or cyclone before. Sure enough, it was hot in there. Nightshade wasn't bothered by it, but I was sure I'd have a few new blisters or something. Maybe even a tan. Thankfully, it only lasted about thirty seconds or so before the Hunters had the Typhoomerangs halt their attack.
"Hello there." I said wryly as they came into view. "Nights, if you would?" I asked. Nightshade let out a roar, blasting the Hunters with lightning. They were all sent flying and/or knocked unconscious by the blast. At least, the group I fired on was. The others all had their dragons attack as well, leaving the Hunters downed in a matter of seconds.
"Alright, remember the plan." Hiccup announced as the last of the Hunters were dispatched. "Astrid, Heather, head to the caves. Seth, you're with me." He told us. We nodded. "The rest of you, free the Typhoomerangs and then keep the archers off of us." He told them. With that, Astrid and Heather flew towards the quarry, whilst Hiccup and I flew towards the forest.
As I released my bowstring, the arrow fired straight and true, burying itself in the neck of the Hunter that was firing at Hiccup and I. I'd noticed that most of the time, the Dragon Riders didn't attack to kill. Astrid was a natural soldier, I'd already seen her shoot a few Dragon Hunters with Stormfly's spines, and Heather has been surviving on her own for years. She'd killed plenty before, I knew that. Hiccup, on the other hand, had Toothless fire to stun. The Dragon Hunters he fired at were sent flying, and usually got knocked out. He seemed a bit taken aback by my shooting the Hunters.
I wonder if he thought about what happens to the people of the ships he sinks.
"Hiccup!" I called out as we hovered over the sparse forests. In the distance, I could see the glow of the Flightmare. "Over there." I pointed to the light.
"Let's get a closer look." he said. With that, we flew on over to the general area it was in, and landed, dismounting our dragons. Without hesitation, we dash towards the light that was leaking between the trees. It wasn't long before we found the Flightmare in its cage, circling around the small space with the muzzle from before still on its head. "What have they done to you?" Hiccup asked under his breath, kneeling before the cage.
"He looks unharmed, just agitated." I observed. "We need to get him out of here."
"Without a key or some Changewing acid, that'll be difficult. We'll have to come back for him." He said, standing up. I shook my head.
"Nightshade can cut through the metal with her lightning, but it takes a while." I told him. He looked at me with eyes narrowed in thought for a moment.
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do." He told me, taking his shield off of his back. "Toothless and I will stay here and watch Nightshade's back while she cuts through the cage. You find out if Windshear is being held in this area." he told me. I nodded in understanding.
"Nightshade, stay here with Hiccup. Plasma Cutter." I said, pointing at the cage. She warbled at me in response, doing as I asked, though I could see the displeasure in her eyes. "I'll be back." I said to Hiccup, who nodded as I dashed off.
I knew these forests like the back of my hand. I knew all the areas where a dragon would be kept in these forests, I knew where all the trebuchets and catapults were, and I knew the best places to set up an ambush. I'd have to search them one at a time. I came across a number of cages that had dragons in them, but I couldn't focus on those. I already learnt that I can't save everyone.
I searched for about twenty minutes before I saw something that caught my eye; a glint of moonlight in something metallic in a tree. Upon closer inspection, I could see it was a Razorwhip quill. There were a number of them lodged in the tree, and a couple more in several other trees in the area. Based on their trajectory, they pointed towards a cage that was draped with a large sheet of fabric.
Definitely a trap.
Putting my bow away, I grabbed my spear in my right hand, without extending it, and unsheathed my seax in my left, in a reverse grip. There was no doubt I had a fight ahead of me.
"Alright, come out." I called out to the draped cage. Nothing happened. "If you think a ruse like this is going to fool me, you don't know me at all." I said simply, not daring to move a muscle. After a moment, a soft clapping sound resounded from the cage.
"Well done, Seth." Viggo said, speaking English, as he came out from behind the cage, gently applauding. "I'm glad to see our games have had the desired effect." He said as he put his hands behind his back. "What gave it away?" he asked, mildly curious, as if not talking to someone who deserted and betrayed him.
"The spines." I said calmly. "They were lodged into the trees at an angle, and not nearly deep enough. If a Razorwhip had fired them, they would be straight, and far deeper in the wood." I explained.
"Very good indeed." He said with a light chuckle, snapping his fingers. From behind the cage, and the trees, several Hunters emerged, all armed with swords, spears, and a couple of archers. "So many guards, so little time." He mused, looking to his left. "But, you know me. I do enjoy my games. I'll give you a head start." He said with a smirk.
"Really?" I said with a dull tone.
"Of course. I'm nothing if not a good sport, you know this." he said with a chuckle. "And what fun would it be if the game ended here?" he asked. I looked at him for a moment, narrowing my eyes, before turning and running. I knew I wouldn't get away, but I had to make use of this. After a few moments, I found myself in a large clearing, with more space for me to move. Even if this wasn't a good spot, I was stopped by two Hunters holding the Flightmare by the handles on the muzzle. That wasn't the worst part though.
"Hiccup!" I gasped, seeing two more Hunters holding Hiccup by his arms, which were tied behind his back, as he struggled in their grip. Next to them was a flat cart, where Toothless was tied up with bolas, but conscious. "Where's Nightshade?" I asked quickly, not seeing her.
"She got away." Hiccup told me through his teeth as the Hunters forced him to hold still. Right as he finished his sentence, we heard the flapping of large wings, and Nightshade landed on top of one of the empty cages nearby, her tusks out, and tail flipped above her head like a scorpion as she hissed at the Dragon Hunters.
"Glad to see you're alright girl." I said to her as I brandished my weapons, ready for a fight. There was quite a number of Hunters surrounding me. "Fuck." I whispered under my breath.
As if on cue, one of the hunters fired an arrow at me. Without moving from my position, I swiped my seax, cutting the arrow off and sending the pieces in two different directions. After that, one of the Hunters charged at me with a sword, coming at me with an overhead strike. Right as he swung his sword, I swiped my spear to the left, parrying his attack, making him stumble, and buried my seax in his neck. This didn't deter the next Hunter, who tried to swipe at me, but I blocked the attack with my spear, spinning and bringing his sword up, creating an opening for me to stab him in the stomach, and yank it to the side, opening his stomach as he collapsed to the ground.
Next, I backstepped, avoiding a downward chop from a guy with an axe, and then jabbed him in the knee, pulling back and doing a 180 pirouette as I spun my spear so that the blade would face behind me as I jabbed again, this time the blade cutting through his windpipe. The next guy tried to hit me with a mace, but I parried that attack in the same direction he was swinging the thing, forcing him to bury the weapon in the ground. As he did so, I threw a left hook with the hand holding the seax, slicing his neck open. With a spin, I blocked another axe with my spear, and stabbed my seax into the attacker's wrist. Pulling back, I kicked him to the ground, and threw my spear like a javelin into the chest of the archer that fired that first arrow.
There were only three goons left.
The first one charged at me as I switched my seax to my right hand, still in a reverse grip. I parried the attack and spun, burying the blade into the side of his neck, before pulling back, leaving him half decapitated. The next Hunter tried to stab me, but sidestepped the attack and caught his wrist with my left hand, and stabbed him in the chest. As he fell to the ground, his grip on his short sword loosened, and I was able to grab it as he collapsed. The last guy was using a spear, and he was terrified.
As I approached him, I swiped at him with both weapons, an attack he parried. I spun and swiped horizontally, and this time he blocked. Since he was too occupied trying to keep my blades where they were, he didn't have time to react, much less dodge, when I pulled back the short sword and jammed it through his chest. He dropped his spear in shock as I did so, and I ended the battle when I pulled back my seax and swiped hard at his neck. After a second, his head rolled off to the ground, and his body collapsed.
The only men left were the ones holding down the Flightmare. The two that were holding Hiccup had been the last two I'd killed. They threw him down with his hands still tied behind him. He and the two remaining Hunters were looking at me with mortified expressions. I ignored this as I knelt down and cut the rope that was binding Hiccup.
"Seth… that was…" He looked at the carnage that I'd wrought.
"I know." I said as I helped him up. Once again, I heard soft applause coming from the trees as more Hunters made themselves known. Viggo stepped out of the shadows, looking at us with a smirk.
"Very well done, Seth." He said, looking at the men I'd killed. Some of them weren't even dead yet. "And a belated welcome to you, Hiccup Haddock." He said, turning his attention to Hiccup as Nightshade landed behind us, standing on her hind legs to make herself bigger. Her tusks were still out, and her tail ready to strike. "You didn't get as far as I imagined." Viggo commented thoughtfully.
"I didn't need to get far." I responded. He grinned at my answer.
"Using my move to your advantage. I taught you well." He seemed pleased. I don't know why. "Nightshade, good to see you as well." He commented. He only got a hiss in response.
"Game's over, Viggo." Hiccup said, getting ready to fight himself.
"I'm so sorry you feel that way. Was I not a worthy adversary?" He asked with false sincerity. "Don't answer that." he said immediately. "Your surrender speaks volumes." His voice took a dark undertone as his expression hardened.
"Nobody is surrendering." I responded, readying my seax for another fight.
"Then perhaps we can reach an agreement." Viggo suggested. "If Hiccup were to turn over what he stole from me, what has belonged to our tribe for centuries, I may give serious consideration to allowing him and his friends to go free." He offered. "Even you, Seth." He added.
"You're talking about the Dragon Eye." Hiccup deduced.
"Dragon Eye." Viggo repeated, his tone thoughtful. "A fitting name." He admitted. "I'll use that, if you don't mind." He said with a satisfied smile. Hiccup and I were silent for a moment before he spoke.
"What do you think?" He whispered to me.
"He'll probably keep his word, if only to have our 'game' last longer." I whispered back. "But, notice how he didn't say anything about our dragons." I noted. His eyes narrowed.
"You have to know I won't accept an offer like that." He said, raising his voice back up again.
"Unfortunate." Viggo responded dryly, nodding to the men that were still holding down the Flightmare. The pulled on the handles, and suddenly, the tip of the muzzle started glowing.
"Oh no." I said as I realised what was going on. Before either of us could react, the Flightmare shot a blast of its paralysing spray at us, and we were unable to move. Viggo calmly walked over to us with a smug smile on his face.
"You and your new friends played right into my hands, Seth. I expected more, especially from you." He said condescendingly as he approached Toothless, who was still tied up. Toothless growled at him, but he paid the dragon no mind as he opened the satchel on the side of Toothless' saddle. He smiled as he found what he was looking for, holding it up. The Dragon Hunters cheered at the sight of the Dragon Eye. After a moment, they started falling back, leaving us where we were, Toothless as well. "Hiccup Haddock the Third, I've truly enjoyed our game." He said with a smirk. "Perhaps we can compete again sometime soon." He said as he walked off. "Until next time, Seth." He said to me as he disappeared into the trees.
It took a little while before the paralysing spray wore off. It was difficult to breathe while we were paralysed, so when it wore off, Hiccup and I fell to the ground, breathing deeply. Shaking my head, I shakily walked over to where Toothless was and cut the ropes binding him. Once he was free, he shook off the ropes and hopped over to where Hiccup was, helping him up. Nightshade strode over to me once she'd cleared her fatigue and helped me stay standing.
"Thanks girl." I said, getting into the saddle with a grunt.
"You too Bud." Hiccup said, doing the same. "Where did they go?" He asked, seeing the footprints left behind, leading off.
"The caverns." I said as he got onto Toothless' back. "The caves in the quarry aren't the only ones on the island. There are caverns that start at the beach in that direction." I pointed in the direction the prints were leading. Once we were certain the Flightmare Mist had worn off, we took off, but not before retrieving our weapons; my spear and his shield.
It didn't take long for us to reach the beach. With a wide turn, we faced inland and easily saw the caverns. We shot down towards the cavern entrances and flew right into the one that had the prints leading to it. In the distance, we could see the glow of the Flightmare. We fired at a few Hunters as we got closer. Right as we closed in on Viggo, Ryker, and their Hunters, the Flightmare turned from facing them, to us, and let out a loud roar. We both had to dodge a massive blast of its mist, and had no choice but to turn around, or fly right into its next attack.
We turned and fled, the Flightmare right on our tail, knowing there's no way could get to Viggo with this thing on the loose, much less in these cramped caves. As we shot out of the cave's entrance, we both pulled up and turned. It was then that we saw we were headed straight for the other Riders.
"Make way!" I yelled at them, but it didn't do much. Right as the twins got out of our path, the Flightmare shifted its focus to them, and it had them paralysed within a few seconds. Thankfully, they weren't all that high, so their dragon broke their fall, and wasn't injured in the process. Seeing the dragon in a frenzy, Fishlegs tried to get its attention. He succeeded, and it fired a blast of its mist at him, which he dodged. Funnily, the mist ended up hitting Snotlout, who was then in the same boat as the twins. "OK, as amusing as that was, we need to do something about this dragon." I said as Hiccup and I hovered in place.
"We need to get it to safety, back on its food trail." Hiccup agreed. Right as he said that, the beast turned its attention to us, snarling. As it soared right towards us, two new presences made themselves known.
"Heather!" I gasped in surprise as she flew in on Windshear. "You got her!" I was relieved. Astrid too had made it.
"Don't hurt it girl, we just want to scare it." Heather said as she soared right towards the Flightmare. Right before they collided, the Flightmare veered off course, straight towards Astrid, who had Stormfly fire at the Flightmare. Once again, the beast tried to find a new target, but a bolt of lightning from Nightshade made him stop. As he hovered in place for a moment, he looked around, seeing the four of us surrounding him. Knowing his situation was hopeless, he fled, right into the horizon.
Knowing our work was done, Heather and I landed in the same area where the others had done so. As Fishlegs made sure the ones who were paralysed by the Flightmare were OK, Heather and I dismounted, looking over the horizon. We could still see the Flightmare in the distance.
"Is Windshear OK?" I asked. She gave a single nod in response. "What happened?" I asked, seeing she was not all there.
"Dagur." She responded. "He… helped us." She told me. Seeing my questioning look, she elaborated. "We were caught in a gas trap that disorientated us. We were conscious, but we couldn't see straight. They brought us to a cavern where Windshear was being kept. Dagur was there, waiting for us." She sighed. "He didn't say a word. And before the Hunters could lock us up, he took all of them down and released Windshear. Then, he left without a word." She shook her head, placing her hands on her temple.
"That is…" I struggled to find the right word.
"Absurd? Ridiculous? Laughable?" She suggested dryly.
"I was going to say unbelievable." I said softly. She didn't respond, just aimlessly gazing at the horizon, her mind racing from what I could see in her eyes, a stark contrast to the blank expression on her face. "You're not going to stay, are you?" I guessed.
"No." She said after a minute of silence. "After everything that's happened in the past few days, I need to take some time to be by myself, to figure things out." She said, walking over to Winshear.
"I understand." I said with a nod as she mounted her dragon, who looked no worse for wear. That was good to know. "Just promise me you'll keep in touch." I said seriously.
"I promise." She nodded. With one last look in each other's eyes, she took off, disappearing into the horizon in a matter of minutes. With a small sigh, I prompted Nightshade to follow as I approached Hiccup and Astrid, who'd just landed.
"Where's Heather?" Hiccup asked. I simply shook my head in response, making him sigh. Astrid too.
"He got the Dragon Eye, didn't he?" Astrid asked us.
"He did." I confirmed.
"We'll get it back, Hiccup." The blonde assured her friend. "Besides, he has no Snow Wraith key. Without that, it's useless." She reminded him.
"And he knows that." Hiccup responded, looking at the Maces and Talons piece in his hand.
"So the question becomes, why go through all this effort to get it?" I asked.
Nobody had an answer.
And there we have it, Season 2 finished. I suppose I ought to feel some sense of accomplishment here. I don't think I've managed a milestone like this in a while.