Chapter 13: First Blood
Of all the possible experiences that a dragon could have, the Alpha of Berk had never in his life expected teleportation to be one of them. Obviously it was the reasonable alternative—given the obvious danger of traversing the Wastes—but Toothless had not remotely considered how unsettling the sensation was. One moment he and Ash were standing in Nightshade's cave, and then suddenly it was like being enveloped in amber fog, then sucked through a tube. And he found himself hovering above nothing, seeing nothing, free-floating in a void…
And it was over in a fraction of a second; his paws touched rock, and the smell of the sea rushed to his nostrils. The island of Aylan and the seas of Mystholm sat beneath them, almost as if they had been standing on the peak the entire time. The sun was shining brightly amongst wisps of clouds, and it couldn't be later than mid-afternoon. Toothless was astounded, which quickly turned to dizziness as he struggled to find his footing; Ash seemed to be suffering from the same dilemma, crashing into him in a tangle of wings and tails. For a moment they simply lie there, neither Night Fury having the words nor the desire to describe what had transpired over the last couple hours.
Finally, Ash cleared her throat. "Did all that really just happen?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Fuck…" Toothless felt scales firmly brush against him as Ash pressed her head against his chest, her body shaking.
"I'm so sorry… we never should've gone! We could've died, you could've died!"
"Ash, look at me." Toothless said firmly, and she looked up. "We never could've known it was that bad… we're here, and we're safe. That's all that matters."
"But what was the point of that?!" Ash stood up, pacing around while Toothless watched. "Why in the hell would that stone show me the Wastes?! I mean, what did we actually accomplish by going there; yeah sure, we found Nightshade, who just so happens to be selfish at best and completely insane at worst!"
"You'll get no argument from me about Nightshade, but hear me out." Toothless responded. "Yes, he's crazy, but he was kind of right. We got some help from the other colonies, that's a start! And now we know both sides, so we can maybe—just maybe—have some constructive dialogue between Aylan and Seregon. It's not everyone, but we won't have to fight alone." He positioned himself in front of Ash, halting her brooding. "You achieved what you needed to do; maybe not as much as you wanted, but you did something. We did."
Ash lost some of her fluster at his words, taking a deep breath before responding. "Okay, you're right. But I just feel… look, I didn't have to do any of this, alright?! I could've just not worried about what the Watchers were doing, been content with being a normal Night Fury. Instead I've flown all over god knows where and had everything I thought I knew about our people questioned! You're the only good thing that's gone right for me since I left! And sure, maybe we did enough and this will make all our lives better. But it wouldn't have mattered because I almost lost you twice and I couldn't—"
Ash ran out of words, her eyes widening in embarresment. The two Night Furies stood less than a few feet apart, and yet the air between them was as tense as a taught line. Emerald eyes were locked with sapphire, both yearning to say what they really wanted to, and neither having the courage to do so.
"Ash…" Toothless started, but he realized that she was no longer looking at him; Ash's expression had changed from apprehension to terror, her eyes locked on something over his shoulder. He turned, looking north. The ocean appeared to be littered with small dots, steadily increasing in number, and Toothless's heart clenched.
The dragon hunters had arrived.
Elsewhere…
"Lord Talon, look! To the northwest!"
The ruby-eyed Night Fury turned his head, peering at the horizon. Aylan was fast approaching, but he could now see that his scout party—currently flying just above the ocean level—were not the only uninvited visitors. Large ships were becoming more visible as an enormous fleet filled the ocean, sailing directly for the lush island. Talon couldn't help but laugh out loud; Ash and her foreigner friend had been right after all.
"There has to be at least 200 ships, maybe more!" One Night Fury observed.
Another warrior scoffed. "I'd double that number, we can only see them from the sea level!"
"You're right!" Talon shouted, his blood beginning to race. "Follow me! Let's get a better look at our new adversary. Do not attack unless a clear opening presents itself, we have several hours before the advantage of nightfall!"
"The first blood will be ours!"
Shrieks of thrill filled the air as a dozen Seregon Night Furies maneuvered in unison, following Talon as he gained altitude. They changed course towards the fleet, increasing speed to almost barrier-breaking levels. A hunger for blood began to overtake them; they had never fought humans before, but it did not matter. Lives would be taken nonetheless.
And the Night Furies of Seregon—as well as Ash and Toothless, who now raced to warn the dragons of Aylan—were not the only observers to the oncoming threat. In the enveloping fog of Nightmare's Eyrie a shadow raced through the barely detectable trees, making its way to the cave where the Lady of the Watchers rested. The Watcher raced into the cave, an older male Night Fury bringing warning to the matriarch. But upon entering he found that the warning was already there; The Lady stood before the obsidian dragonstone, which was enwreathed in white flame. An unholy, ethereal wail filled the cave as though dozens of metal blades were being grinded together, and the usually black dragonstone was alight with indiscernible waves of color.
"My Lady…" the Watcher started, hesitantly standing far from the dragonstone. "There are human ships on the horizon, hundreds of them. They will reach Aylan very soon!"
"Thank you, Shade. Summon the Watchers, all of them. The time has come much faster than we thought!"
The Watcher bowed, exiting the cave, but Holly took no notice. Herentir was in a state of complete chaos, as though some otherworldly force had wounded whatever spirit the stone possessed. She had felt it, an oncoming rush of magic not several minutes ago, as though the world itself had been altered. And it hadn't come from her stone.
"Antaris?" she whispered to herself.
The stone's waves of color revealed nothing.
Holly shook her head, dispelling her mind of distractions. War was upon them, and she was about to meet it head-on. The stone could wait.
Back on Aylan…
Toothless performed a tight corkscrew as he broke through the treeline, his wings barely grazed by the thick branches. Him and Ash had agreed to split up, and she had flown straight for the hatching grounds. The Alpha, on the other hand, was determined to gather as many fully-grown Night Furies as he could to fight. Gritting his teeth, Toothless found himself seething with anger as he navigated the forest. The last few minutes flashed across his memory; Ash had been only mere feet away, and he had been so close. I was just about to finally… He felt sick, and yet Toothless pushed the thoughts out of his mind; the situation was too desperate to be worried about such things.
"Toothless!"
He pulled up hard, craning his neck at the distant greeting. A large pack of Night Furies, both male and female—some of which he recognized from his first night here—were in the process of changing direction to meet him. And at their head was…
"Thorn?!"
"I'll be honest, I still had my doubts." the young dragon flew to his side, his dark green eyes flashing. "But everyone who doubted Ash's worry is eating their words now!"
Toothless frowned initially—clearly, the ships were beyond worrisome—but his expression softened as he allowed himself to feel relief. "I'm just glad to see you, all of you! How many Night Furies can we gather to defend the island?"
"We've got about 30 here!" one dragon yelled. "And packs are being formed all through the forest!"
The Alpha stiffened; that's not going to be enough at all. "We need every dragon we can muster, and we need them to work in unison! Send out a few of yourselves and tell any pack you come across to gather by the beaches, and stay in the trees until I say so."
"Does that mean you're taking command?" Thorn questioned.
The question struck Toothless abruptly, but so did the reality of the situation; none of these dragons had dealt with humans before, and they needed a leader.
"I will," he said firmly. "If you'll have me."
To his surprise, the pack cheered and began to disperse as easily as if they had followed him all their lives; some Night Furies separated themselves and vanished into the trees to carry out his request. Toothless thought back to Berk, of all the hours that young riders and their dragons spent drilling to build teamwork and trust. It would seem that even when they had never formally fought in their lives, the threat to their home was enough to band Aylan's dragons together. He only hoped that the rest of the Night Furies shared that sentiment.
"Go, I'll find others!" Thorn yelled, directing himself towards the heart of the forest.
Toothless didn't have to be told twice; the two young Night Furies flew to and fro, alerting any scaled creature they found to head for the beaches. The entire ecosystem of the forest was greatly disturbed by the sudden horde of movement from the partially nocturnal dragons; elk and other animals were sprinting for cover as dark shadows flew overhead, Night Furies either heading for shore or leading younger dragons to safety. But the longer it took the faster Toothless began to fly, straining himself as much as he could without tiring himself before battle. The ships had been a decent way off, but they had the wind behind them and there were so many. As soon as he was sure he found everyone he could, Toothless bolted for the beaches on the north side.
He could see them before he even reached the beaches; several hundred Night Furies of varying ages and sizes, males and females. They had all gathered in the treeline only a hundred feet from the edge of the forest, the approaching armada faintly visible through the thick underbrush. Some turned to greet him and Thorn—who had also streaked in with a dozen Night Furies at his back—but most of them were fully absorbed by the human vessels. Toothless landed at the front of the colony dragons, his eyes narrowing.
"What the hell…"
Despite the sheer size of the fleet, it was clear that some of the vessels in the front were already on fire. A small group of black dots were flying above like hornets, harassing the ships but staying very high up to avoid the already visible nets and arrows being fired in their direction.
"I thought I said no one attack!" he yelled, turning to look for an answer.
"That's not any of us!" someone shouted.
Who on earth? Toothless looked back to see some of the ships steering out of the way of the front line boats, of which a few were already beginning to sink. But the sheer number of ships meant that if they chose to spread out, they could potentially surround the island.
"Listen up!" Toothless yelled. "You'll fight in the packs that you formed on the way here, so we can meet the humans wherever they try to land! Pick leaders amongst yourselves and have them step forward!"
The crowd of Night Furies muttered amongst themselves, and a few dozen of them quickly came to stand in front of him. The Alpha took a deep breath, rehearsing every possible useful thing he could remember about dragon hunters. He almost felt grateful that the dragon rider's time at the Edge had been so exploratory and chaotic; it would serve him well now.
"Alright," he started. "Here's what we're going to do."
While Toothless and his new comrades prepared for battle, their mysterious allies were already in the midst of harassing the lead ships. Talon seethed with frustration as he sent a plasma blast towards the base of a ship mast, only to watch it fizzle out against a plate of green steel. Fucking hell… He had to admit, he was impressed by the human's ingenuity, but thankfully there were a multitude of ways to cripple a ship. Leaving a trail burning sails behind him, the Night Fury surveyed the battlefield. There were indeed many more ships; the fleet was likely some 400 vessels strong, the small party of dragons he had brought nothing more than a few flies upon them. One of the Seregon Night Furies had already fallen—a barbed harpoon through the neck—but the remainder were thoroughly enjoying themselves as they set fire to the enemy, occasionally seeing how accurately they could strike individual humans on the deck.
But the closer the ships got to the beaches, the quicker Talon realized his failure to understand how humans thought and fought based on the strength of their inventions. The burning ships in the front caused the fleet to balloon outwards, the ships steering wide to avoid having their hulls shattered by their sinking counterparts. But the fleet now occupied a wide radius of sea that could encircle much of Aylan if given the chance. Talon growled, straining with all his might as he aimed for his next target. Corkscrewing to avoid a hail of arrows and nets, he thrust himself directly into the main mast of a ship, catching the wooden log with all fours. The steel braces held, but the wooden base beneath them did not, as the entire mast was snapped from the ship's deck. Ignoring the screams of crushed sailors beneath him, Talon reared his head and shrieked to his warriors.
"Rally to me! Let's see if we can find some better weaknesses!"
The dozen Night Furies ascended, far above the reach of human weaponry, and fell back behind the fleet. The various ship captains took little notice—they were a small group, after all—and continued to press for land. The first few ships that reached the shore drove right up against the sand, hundreds of dragon hunters climbing down or leaping into the water. The humans were burly and well armed with steel, their dragonroot arrows nocked and ready, and their vessels were already beginning to lower cages to the earth. To them the forests of Aylan provided neither beauty nor interest, their only concern being the possibility of dragons hidden beneath the green. The air was silent, the blasts of the dragons they had already seen silenced for the moment, as the first waves of an army cautiously made their way up the beach.
A torrent of fire broke the silence as dozens of fully charged plasma bolts flew out of the trees; those hunters who had brought shields were mostly protected, but the unlucky ones were torched. The shots continued in quick succession, humans running everywhere as survivors sought to evade the shots, while those who continued to charge towards the vegetation were pulverized. Eventually one hunter managed to raise a signal flag, getting off a wave before a well-placed shot blew the arm from his shoulder; flaming projectiles began launching from the closest ships, barely passing into the forest edge, and the plasma barrage stopped. The hunters cheered as the trees began to burn, charging across the beach in growing numbers. But for those that were the first to break into the vegetation, they found no enemy; some spots of blood could be seen, the occasional dragonroot arrow littering the ground, but the dragons had gone.
A low whistle began to build in the air, quickly building into an immeasurable shriek as the hunters looked up, nervous. Some were already in the process of diving for cover as they realized they could no longer clearly get off arrows through the treeline, shadows streaking over them. Around 60 Night Furies—having pulled back into the forest but not massing above the island—now descended across the length of the beach, flying faster than the human ballistas could react to. They fired only once, yet the combined strength of their blasts devastated the beached vessels. At their forefront was Toothless, who guided them wide around the ships to avoid any spears and nets. He could now fully see the vastness of the fleet; surely they could devastate them in darkness without many casualties, but the hunters had chosen an auspicious time to attack. The sky was just beginning to change with streaks of red and pink, but they still had another hour or two to wait. And they couldn't afford to lose too many Night Furies before then.
As they circled the fleet—which was now able to encircle half of the island, although the remainder of this area was cliff—Toothless eyed the black dragons from earlier, who appeared to be in the process of trying to destroy the rudders of the rear guard vessels. These Night Furies looked scarred and battled hardened; and at their head, having just dove across a ship deck to clamp a warrior in his jaws, was…
"Talon?!"
As he joined the Alpha's party, Talon bit down hard, crushing the dragon hunter before letting his body into the sea. "Ah, I was wondering if I would see you again so soon!" the lord of Seregon exclaimed, his jaws bloody.
The Aylan Night Furies behind Toothless were in shock to see such members of their kin so bloodridden and battered, some visibly recoiling under the glare of Talon's ruby eyes. "Barbarians! What are they doing here?"
"Shut up!" Toothless snapped behind him. "They're fighting the same humans you are, so insult each other later. C'mon!"
The Night Furies—now joined by Talon's hunting party—dove back into the cover of the forest, where the humans were still marshalling their numbers. By now hundreds more had come ashore amongst their smoldering predecessors, storming into the forest in search of Night Furies on the ground. They were met with claws and teeth, and the slaughter was formidable. Despite the potency of dragonroot and the strength of their steel the hunters found themselves in a field of nightmares; coal-black drakes would emerge from the woods, take the head of a warrior or set fire to a wheeled ballista, and then flee back into the woods. Even the Night Furies that fell wounded or paralyzed were of little worth, as the humans found the fighting so fierce that there was no time to trap the dragons and haul them off. Occasionally one would fall dead to a spear, but the fighting went on, neither side being able to truly take stock of their losses in the all-surrounding jungle.
In the chaos, Toothless found himself fighting as a pair with Talon, the two males tearing through dragon hunters as they tried to wheel a ballista from the beach. "You know, if I had to guess…" the lord of Seregon quipped, flattening a bearded warrior with one swing of a paw, "... I'd say you're enjoying this as much as I am!"
The Alpha couldn't deny that there was a strange, almost predatory feeling about not holding back; he had always tried his best for years to not fatally harm a human, considering it both a duty and a goal to respect Hiccup's intentions to convince his enemies rather than hurt them. But amongst the other Night Furies Toothless felt no such inhibition, his claws and teeth already stained with blood.
"Maybe, but I definitely don't look forward to this kind of thing!" he shouted back as he swept several hunters off their feet with a wing. "Not as much as your little hunting party!"
Talon laughed, eagerly plunging his claws into a warrior while rearing his head to the side; a plasma bolt sailed from his jaws and made contact with the ballista, bursting into flames. The sight of the two dragons covered in blood caused the remaining hunters to flee, racing back towards the beach. As the clamor of battle and shrieks of dragons surrounded them, Toothless and Talon took stock of the numerous bodies around them.
"You know I love a good test of claws, but I don't think we can fight on the ground for long!" Talon remarked. "The sun will set soon, but how many dragons will have been lost by then?"
Toothless growled in frustration. "I agree. We should pull everyone back, keep fighting at a distance until we have the cover of darkness. Then we can torch the ships without a problem."
With that, the pair of Night Furies took to the air to rally the Night Furies in the forest. Those too injured to fly were still more than capable of racing away on foot, and the dragons began to vanish deeper into the trees. Although the dragon hunters—which had only continued to disembark in great numbers—now had free reign of the beach and some of the forest, it was just as troublesome as if they had stayed on the ships. The forest was beginning to burn, the smoke and flame obscuring vision and filling the once-sweet air with ash. Thankfully Toothless could see that their numbers were still plentiful, although many of the Night Furies bore cuts and some were clearly affected by the dizzying effects of dragonroot.
"Wait!" a voice cried from the forest.
Toothless peered through the trees, noticing a few Night Furies flying directly toward them. At their head was Zephyr, who already appeared to have engaged in battle; she was missing a few spines along her back, and her wings were slightly torn.
"Zephyr? Are you alright, where did you come from?!"
"I was guarding the hatching grounds with Ash!" Zephyr exclaimed, struggling to keep herself afloat. "We moved all the eggs, but they're still coming!"
"Coming? What do you mean?"
"They're climbing up the cliff!" Zephyr shouted at him, eliciting gasps and yells from the pack behind him. "There's not a lot of ships over there but the ones that are have hunters scaling the rock face!"
Oh, shit. He hadn't even thought of that; it wasn't impossible for humans to do such a thing, but it was risky and time-consuming. But with the size of their fleet Toothless supposed it was worth it for them. He swore loudly, turning to fly past them towards the hatching grounds.
"Wait, stop!" Toothless pulled up as Talon cut in front of him, blocking his path. "If you take all these Night Furies to the other side of the island, they will have complete control of the forest!"
Toothless snarled; Ash wasn't with Zephyr, which meant she had to still be there. "What should we do then!"
"Keep your fight to the majority of their fleet, wait for the cover of darkness. They can't haul their big weapons up the cliff without huge numbers, so they are still vulnerable to attack." Talon let loose an inhuman shriek, reverberating throughout the forest, and a few Night Furies separated themselves from the group. Only 6 Seregon dragons remained, but their eyes burned with fury.
"We will take care of them." Talon stated, his warriors coming to hover behind him.
"We can't let these barbarians into our hatching grounds, humans or no!" someone yelled from the pack.
Toothless turned to retort, but Talon had already moved in a flash; he stopped directly in front of the young Night Fury, his chin still dripping with blood.
"If you think you are brave enough, then we can go home, and you can keep Aylan from burning yourself." He said calmly, but his ruby eyes stared straight into the young dragon's without blinking, who looked away in fear.
"He's right." Toothless snapped. "We keep harassing the humans, the sun will be down within the hour. Go, Talon. Good luck."
Without another word, the Seregon Night Furies took off, and Toothless turned to address the remaining pack. "C'mon, follow me!"
As the Night Furies turned to navigate back towards the open ocean—hoping that he could keep the ships from further surrounding Aylan—Toothless forced his fears out of his head. Surely Ash would be fine, and would be getting reinforcements soon.
If only the sun could set faster.
Author's Note: It seems the troubles of our Night Furies are only just beginning. These chapters have given me an excuse to rewatch Race to the Edge episodes so I can remind myself of all the tiny and cool details that Httyd has to offer. Unfortunately I have procrastinated enough on my schoolword, so it might be a minute before I get to post again. As promised, below is a list of named OC's and their ages, at least the ones in this story :) I hope I don't miss anyone. Also, if anyone has any questions about unaddressed details feel free to PM me, I'll answer them if I'm not holding them for my own reasons.
Human OC's:
Lord Ragnar Ivarson (Viking Male): 52 years old
Halfdan of Velesheim (Viking Male): 27 years old
Night Fury OC's:
Ash (female): 22 years old, a few months older than Toothless
Amber (female, fate unknown): 23 years old
Thorn (male): 25 years old
Zephyr (female): 41 years old
Dawn, elder of Aylan (female): 244 years old
Moonlight, elder of Aylan (female): 261 years old
Talon (male): 49 years old
Angalon, lord of Seregon (male): 240 years old
Holly, leader of the Watchers (female): 260 years old
Nightshade (male): 261 years old
Herentir, Kemenar, Nancarin, Antaris, and Haronar (dragonstones): physical age is unknown, Nancarin and Haronar died after 2 years of gaining consciousness. The remaining three have been sentient for 152 years.