BANG!
BANG!
"GROAAAA!!!"
"Whoa!" Thuggory yelped as the giant Monstrous Nightmare swiped its tail at him. The shield at the front held up, as the red dragon kept hammering him. "It's holding up!"
Camicazi was rather close at its back. She stumbled a bit, having thrown off by its tail before. The heiress smirked before charging forward with her sword. "HAA!"
The Monstrous Nightmare heard that. It turned its attention, which gave Thuggory enough distraction to charge as well. Shield up front, he dashed to tackle the red dragon with it. He gave everything he could muster, before colliding.
BANG!
"GRAAAA!" The red dragon flinched back.
"HAAA!" The Bog-Burglar heiress leaped upward. She posed the sword to strike downward, only for it to slide from its scales. Instead, she found herself at its back. "Got you!"
The Monstrous Nightmare began trashing around the place. "GROAAA!" It screeched, trying to throw her off its back. The dragon flailed its body, hitting Thuggory right on his shield. It was obviously not happy having someone on its back.
Camicazi gripped onto the dragon for her life. "Whoa!" She almost dropped her sword. Holstering them, the heiress pulled out her personal knife. She kept them around in case of being disarmed. "How about this!"
Being shorter and having more force, the knife did pierce its scales. It was not doing much, but the constant stabbing was softening the scales. Knowing dragons, Camicazi kept stabbing. "How do you like that!"
The Monstrous Nightmare reared back, before letting out a loud roar. "GROAAAAA!!!"
The sound was deafening. Everyone was quick to cover their ears. They were disoriented by the unnaturally loud roar the red dragon.
At the same time, its body was lit aflame. The heiress quickly jumped off in reaction to the sudden heat. She quickly rolled away on dirt in her attempt to put out the fire. When that was out, she quickly stood up, only to face the dragon right in front of her.
"Cami!" Thuggory shouted.
Suddenly, three arrows hit the dragon. They pierced through its sides and wings, but not deep enough to bleed. Hiccup moved closer as he fired more arrows with his bow. It barely did anything, except pulling its attention to him.
The scrawny boy was agitated and shaking. He never encountered deviant dragon before, and he was the only one who understood what it meant. However, he was more frustrated with how resistant the red dragon was. "Not deep enough!"
The Monstrous Nightmare fired a stream of kerosene fire, which Hiccup quickly jumped away from. Standing up, the lanky boy retaliated by pulling three arrows from his quiver and fired right onto its front underbelly.
They simply grazed its underbelly, before hitting the ground. Hiccup mentally noted it, before moving to reposition. He had to keep its attention to him.
Thuggory had moved closer to Camicazi. Protecting the heiress, the burly heir moved to stab the dragon with his spear. That did go through its wing arm, which wounded it.
The effect was instantaneous - the fire coat suddenly stopped, and the dragon was left dazed and confused. It was sluggish on its movement, as if suddenly poisoned.
Hiccup saw it happened. "It worked!" He cheered. "It's paralysed!"
However, that did not last for long. The dragon recovered within seconds, and it was much angrier than before. Rearing back, it let out an ear-splitting roar. "GROOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
Just like before, the sound was disorienting. No matter how much they covered their ears, it still pounded their ears. It was unlike anything they ever experienced.
Somewhere at the edge of the fire ring, Astrid and others were busy trying to put out the flame. They were digging and dumping dirt with their hands, trying to make a 'hole' for them to escape. Most of the young Vikings were not carrying any weapons when they got there, which left them trying to run away.
Unfortunately, it was an uphill battle. The fire ring was too strong for mere handful of dirt to put off. Dagur knew and acknowledged it, which was why he stopped helping them a while ago. The Berserker heir relegated himself to be their moral support. "Faster!"
Astrid turned to glare. "Why don't you help us here?!"
"Unless you want to fight that." Dagur jerked his thumb at the red dragon, who was fighting the three heirs. "You better get that done."
The petite girl saw it bashing against the shield Thuggory was holding. Each impact rebounded the dragon away, as if the burly heir was pushing against the recoil. It created loud banging sound that rattled the very air. Astrid wondered how they managed to stand up against such dragon!
Not wanting to be useless, she pulled out her axe and rushed to help. Dagur saw that, before pulling out some knives from his pocket. "Let's fight!" He roared, before charging in. "BERSERKER CHARGE!"
Just as they were close enough, the Monstrous Nightmare flailed and spun its tail. Camicazi dived away from its tail, while Hiccup hid behind Thuggory. The rest did not expect this, however, as they were flung away by the impact. The long tail hit the shield like a giant whip.
CRACK!
Thuggory grunted as he was pushed few metres back. Hiccup winced at that; he was thankful that the draconic shield held up strong.
The two unfortunate young Vikings, however, landed close where Snotlout and others were digging. Astrid and Dagur simply laid down there as they processed what just happened.
"... ow." Dagur winced.
Meanwhile, Camicazi was trying to find an opening. Having paralysed by Thuggory's spear briefly somehow, the red dragon was focusing on the burly heir. It relentlessly hammered the shield. She was shocked that Thuggory was holding it back!
It was when she got an idea. "Hic!" The heiress called out. "Blast stick!"
Hiccup almost panicked. He searched around for anything to use, before realising she meant Thuggory's blast stick. The scrawny boy searched around the boy in front of him, before finding what he was looking for. There was a blast stick in his belt. It was still intact.
"Hiccup!"
The scrawny boy heard his father. Looking back, he could see Vikings just outside the fire ring. There was Stoick, Bertha, Mogadon, Oswald and many others; they were horrified by what they were seeing. Which was fair. The Monstrous Nightmare was probably the biggest they had ever seen.
Having no water, Vikings rushed to shovel dirt into the fire. It would normally put out the fire, but something strange happened. Instead of putting them out, the fire ignited brighter. They took few steps back when they realised it had no effect. "Chief! It's not working!"
Stoick was about to give an order when he noticed something. "Dive!"
"GROOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
The Monstrous Nightmare let out an ear-splitting roar. Everyone clutched their ears as the fire ring became much hotter. Vikings were quick to dive away from the flame, as it started to expand outward. Nobody was caught on fire yet, thankfully.
Probably at the cost of wet underpants for some.
When things started to calm down, Thuggory peeked from the shield. The red dragon was rearing back in preparation for a fire blast. Camicazi was on the ground behind the dragon; still disoriented from the roar. She was incapacitated. The burly heir braced himself as the dragon let out its flame.
BOOOOM!!! FROOOOOSH!!!
However, instead of the usual straight kerosene flame, it spread rather intense fire in almost half full directions. The Monstrous Nightmare breathed its fire in flat cone shape, incinerating everything on its path.
Thuggory felt intense heat coming from all around him. He did not know how long it would last with only the shield protecting him from the flame.
For those outside the ring, they hid behind ditches and ridges. Some Vikings were unfortunately incinerated. The heat was so intense, the whole forest was caught on fire.
Hiccup was frozen behind Thuggory. The scrawny boy saw the fire all around him; the fearful and panic expression of his father; and the incapacitated body of Camicazi.
He could feel his heart rate speeding up as he felt his vision began to darken. However, when the overwhelming fear and stress took its toll, Hiccup felt something shift from within.
It felt like a mental click.
Suddenly, those emotions were gone. He suddenly felt better than ever - as if he was in his dream as Charcoal. Hiccup looked down at his bow, before realising what he had to do.
The scrawny boy took a deep breath, hoisted himself over Thuggory, notched an arrow and leaped up toward the red dragon.
Everything felt like slow motion. Hiccup felt eyes staring at him as he pulled the bowstring. He searched for possible weak spot while mid-air - something he had been looking for quite some time. The scrawny boy saw the part where Camicazi stabbed with her knife.
Aiming for the vulnerable part, he let the arrow loose.
Snap!
"GRAAAAAAA!!!" The red dragon flailed around as it ended the stream of fire. It certainly did not expect an arrow to pierce deep into its body. Hiccup watched as it quickly recovered. The Monstrous Nightmare focused and glared at the scrawny boy.
It took a deep breath, before firing another stream of flame. However, a puff of smoke came out instead. The red dragon was shocked that it did not work. It tried once more on the scrawny boy, only for another puff of smoke to come out.
"Dragon Seal." Hiccup called out, getting their attention. He notched another arrow. "That's the name of the bow. It seals dragon fire. Do you like it?"
Given its expression, the red dragon certainly hated it. The Monstrous Nightmare rushed for a bite, but Hiccup jumped away in time to avoid it. Seeing opportunity, Hiccup quickly fired an arrow to its left eye. It struck and went deep into its skull.
"GRAAAAEEE!!!" The red dragon flailed back, retreating from its advance. It could feel the sting from where the two arrows hit. It was incredibly itchy.
The Monstrous Nightmare held onto the arrow in its eye and pulled that out. It could feel the sealing effect dissipating, but not enough for its fire to return. It began scratching its back, trying to find and pull the other arrow.
While it was busy recovering, Hiccup and Thuggory rushed for Camicazi. The burly heir put his shield at the front, while the scrawny boy moved to help the heiress. "Cami. Cami. Wake up."
"Oh..." Camicazi recovered from the daze. Looking up, she saw the fearless and concerned expression of Hiccup. "... awesome."
Thuggory looked back a bit. "The scales are too thick on the sides." He noted as he watched the red dragon. It was in process of pulling the sealing arrow. "Do we have help?"
Hiccup looked around the place. They were still trapped within the fire ring. He noticed some Vikings trying to throw over weapons for Astrid, Dagur and others, only for the weapons to burn and melt the moment it crossed the fire ring.
In another side, Vikings were busy trying to put out the fire with water, to no avail. Assessing the situation, the scrawny boy turned back. "No help is coming." He decided. "We need to slay the dragon."
Despite their fears, Thuggory and Camicazi firmly nodded. The heiress decided to ask. "What should we do?"
"It's only one dragon. We need to attack from different direction." Hiccup explained his plan. "Break the bones on its wings; we need to stop it from moving so much."
"The scales are too thick."
"But not invulnerable. Keep attacking. It'll break its bones and soften the scales." The Berkian heir further explained. "Your weapons won't break. The shield can repel anything, even sound."
The two heirs stared with incredulity. "What?"
"Trust me." Hiccup assured, before leaning to check on the dragon. It had pulled off the sealing arrow. He could see fire in its maw. "Cami, blind spot on its left. I'll take right. Shield up front. Bash on my mark..."
The Monstrous Nightmare reared back for another roar. Hiccup quickly hid behind the shield. "Now!"
"GROOOOOAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"
The red dragon let out an ear-splitting roar. Thuggory bashed as if countering recoil from impact, which it worked. The loud roar was almost muted on their end. The burly heir could not believe that it worked. It felt like enduring a stream of fire!
After the roar ended, everyone ran to their positions. Camicazi rushed to its left, while Hiccup took right. Thuggory charged in with his spear and shield up.
The red dragon turned to focus on Hiccup, but quickly changed its mind when a spear almost hit its last functioning eye. It moved to attack the burly heir in front of him.
While everything was happening in the forest, Gobber was running around the forge, trying to figure out how to put out the flame. Shovelling dirt did not work; pouring water did not work either; throwing things over certainly did not work. It got worse when the whole forest was catching on fire!
It was one of those moments where Gobber cursed himself for not learning alchemy. Rummaging through papers on the table, all of them were Hiccup's handwritings. There were different recipes for many different things, including something that could put out oil fire.
However, he barely understood any of them. It was frustrating for the blacksmith.
Suddenly, the back door flew open. Stoick had entered the forge. "Gobber." He called out, getting his attention. "Did you find anything?"
"I just need to find where he puts his experiments." Gobber answered while rummaging through the storage. "It should have the thing we need..."
Stoick moved to help the blacksmith. "What does it look like?"
"Some sort of wooden tube." The blacksmith answered as he opened a cupboard. There were iron ingots there. "It can stop oil fire. I reckon it might work against a 'nightmare."
Suddenly, they heard someone entering through the back door. Turning around, they saw Alexander Haddock standing there. The dragon-like man was confused. "Stoick, what's going on?"
"Alex!" Gobber cheerfully greeted. "'didn't expect ye to come back so soon. Did ye found the dragon?"
"Aye. I found them, alright." The great grand uncle put down his backpack onto the table. "No idea why they're around. They're not looking for a fight. But that's it for me. What happened? I saw foreign ships, and everyone's running around outside."
Stoick was the first one to answer. "We have children in danger." He explained. "A Monstrous Nightmare trapped them in a ring of fire, and we can't put out the fire."
"It was the biggest and worst Monstrous Nightmare I've ever seen!" Gobber added, waving around his arms as demonstration. "Much redder than the rest. It trapped them in a fire ring, and we can't put them out. Hiccup's in there!"
"Giant Monstrous Nightmare?" Alexander widened his eyes. "Titan wing? Here in Barbaric Archipelago?"
"You knew?"
"Ye don't usually find titan wing dragon in Barbaric Archipelago, especially on this island." The dragon-like Viking moved to rummage through his backpack. "They live further up north. They avoid fighting unless protecting their nest. Why did they attack?"
"We thought a blast stick disturbed them." Stoick told his theory. "But we have no dragon nest anywhere."
"That's not normal. It's hunting the children." Alexander pulled out some stuff. There were small bags filled with things. "Do they have weapons?"
"Only Hiccup and... four others."
"Did you saw them use anything else?"
"No." Stoick shook his head.
The dragon-like Viking hardened his expression. "Then Hiccup didn't bring his equipment." He decided, before heading into Hiccup's room at the back. "Gobber, ready a catapult! We're throwing them in some equipment."
Gobber was incredulous. "Over the fire ring?"
"The fire ring won't put out unless the dragon is killed. The sky is the only way in and out." They heard Alexander answered from the other room. He came out holding a leather backpack, which they had seen worn by Hiccup before. "If those kids are going to die, best give them a way to fight back."
"Gotcha!"
"GROAAA!" The Monstrous Nightmare screeched as it flailed its body. Camicazi managed to get onto the dragon once more. This time, it was safer for her, since its fire was sealed. There was an arrow deep inside one of its wing-arm. The other wing-arm was wounded, which limited its mobility.
The heiress gripped onto the dragon, before pulling out her trusty knife. "Have at it!" She shouted, before repeatedly stabbing the Monstrous Nightmare from its back. Thuggory kept its attention by thrusting his spear at its head.
"Keep it busy!" Hiccup shouted. He was busy gathering intact arrows on the ground; the scrawny boy was running out of them. "I got it!"
At some point, the scrawny boy found an arrow without its arrowhead. Confused, he grabbed a different one nearby. The arrowhead was slowly dissolving into dust. Hiccup remembered that one was pulled out from the dragon. The part with dragon blood was dissolving faster than the rest.
It was then Hiccup realised that the seal was temporary.
Thuggory realised this as well when he noticed sparks of fire in its maw. "Cami! Fire!"
Hearing that, Camicazi dropped her knife and pulled out her broadsword. She jumped to stand over the dragon, who had remained still from exhaustion.
The heiress slashed the softened part of the scale, creating open wound. She made another swipe, slicing a chunk of its flesh. Grinning, she stabbed her sword deep, twisted them, before pulling out with all her might.
CREACK!
That did the trick. She broke part of its spine. Camicazi jumped back and landed right next to Hiccup. The Monstrous Nightmare, however, moved on instinct. It whined as it stumbled forward, right where Thuggory was. The burly heir quickly reacted by slamming his shield onto it.
BANG!
The red dragon was flung away from impact. It stumbled back, before finally collapsed on the ground. Everyone paused to see the red dragon struggling to move. After some time, it finally stopped moving.
Hiccup, Thuggory and Camicazi kept on guard. The Monstrous Nightmare had done similar trick before; pretending to be vulnerable. Slowly moving closer, they noticed that it was still breathing. The red dragon was obviously not dead.
Given its eye movement, it was waiting for anyone to come closer.
Suddenly, something crashed at the centre of the fire ring. Some turned to see what that got into the area. It was some sort of wooden ball, which cracked opened upon landing.
Inside the wooden ball, there were axes, swords and shields, waterskins, including some other that Hiccup recognised. The Vikings outside had figured out a way to pass equipment for those trapped inside.
Seeing his backpack, Hiccup rushed to them. "Wait there."
"Be quick." Thuggory responded, keeping his eyes on the downed red dragon.
The scrawny boy rushed to grab his backpack. Opening them, he saw some of his things: extra arrows, pouches of things, a crossbow-slingshot gauntlet, and some others. He did notice two shimmering arrowheads inside. Hiccup had seen his great grand uncle use them before.
"Hiccup!"
He heard his name being called. Looking up, he saw Alexander standing right outside the fire ring. His great grand uncle was shouting something. "We can't put out the fire while the dragon is here!" He exclaimed. "Ye need to rid of the dragon!"
"I know!" Hiccup shouted back as he rushed to wear his equipment. "It's a deviant!"
The boy saw his mentor swore and ran off elsewhere. Regardless, Hiccup wore the gauntlet; strapping pouches onto his belt; refilled and prepared his arrows. The unique arrowheads were put on arrows, which then stored in different parts of his quiver. They needed everything they could get.
While Hiccup was busy, Snotlout and others rushed to grab weapons from the wooden ball. Dagur pat his back, before grabbing a pair of swords. "We'll take it from here."
"Wha-" The scrawny boy was surprised. The rest of the young Vikings moved to grab their weapons. "Hold on, that's not-"
"Relax, Hiccup!" Snotlout interrupted. He hoisted his hammer and shield. "We'll kill it faster before you get there."
Hiccup simply watched as the young Vikings rushed to attack the downed dragon. They passed Camicazi and Thuggory, who retreated upon seeing them charging. The group were heading to attack the Monstrous Nightmare. The red dragon was on guard, ready to lash out. Its tail and wings moved to cover its vulnerable parts.
Dagur was the first one to reach it. He swung his sword, but it bounced off its scales. Given the loud bang and yelping, others must have bounced their weapons as well. The Berserker heir swung harder with both swords on his hands.
Bang!
He reeled when the swords rattled on his hands. Dagur gaped when he saw the swords slightly bent from the impact. His attack barely did anything. "How-"
Suddenly, the red dragon swiped its tail on their feet, knocking them down. It quickly stood from the ground. Having the seal effect ended, the Monstrous Nightmare prepared its flame. The young Vikings moved to get away, but it was too late. Its maw was open and wide, ready to incinerate its prey.
Boom!
Something struck its maw, which knocked the fire from its throat. There was a small explosion where it hit. Having not expected that, the red dragon staggered back. "GROAAA!" It gave the young Vikings enough time to get up and flee.
Camicazi looked back to see Hiccup running towards her. He was wearing a backpack this time, and his bow collapsed on his back. There was some sort of small crossbow-like contraption on his left wrist gauntlet. "What was that?"
"Exploding rocks!" Hiccup exclaimed as he collapsed the crossbow-slingshot thing. "It's a mechanical slingshot!"
Thuggory was watching the red dragon. It was recovering from impact. The red dragon seemed to be doing something, as if about to roar once more. "It's roaring!"
"GRAAAAAAAAEEEE!!!"
The red dragon roared up in the sky. It was not as loud as before, but that was not the main concern.
The ground began to shake as fire ring began to dance around them. The fire began to spin into fire tornado, as the Monstrous Nightmare was lifted off the ground. The Vikings could feel the heat coming from all around them.
Most Vikings outside the fire ring had been dealing with forest fire when it happened. Burning trees were ripped off the ground as it was taken by the fiery air of death. Everyone took off into a run to avoid debris flying up into the sky.
Alexander Haddock was watching with the chiefs at a cliff not far from the fire ring. They were there to see the progress on getting rid of the dragon. Stoick, Bertha, Mogadon and others only stared in horror as they watched the whole thing unfolding.
Gobber was also there. "Are ye seeing what I'm seeing?"
They saw the Monstrous Nightmare being engulfed by the fire tornado. The dragon was somehow getting bigger and healthier - the wounded eye and broken wings were mended by the fire. It was something they had never seen before. It was unbelievable such dragon could exist!
"Hiccup was right." Alexander hardened his expression. "It is a deviant dragon."
Everyone turned their attention to him. Stoick hardened his expression. "It's here?"
"Aye." The dragon-like Viking answered. "It can do things most dragons can't."
Mogadon was sarcastic. "We already figured that out."
"But ye don't know where it came from. It can control its own fire." Alexander leaned forward, hoping to catch a glimpse of the empowered red dragon inside the fire tornado. "It spreads them all over and pull them back into its body. It healed itself by taking in everything it burned."
Oswald paled upon hearing that. "Then our Vikings-!"
"Aye. Trees, sheeps and Vikings burned healed whatever wound they did." The dragon-like Viking responded, narrowing his eyes. "It roars unnaturally; fire unnaturally - they followed the same pattern as other deviants further up north. To think they grew them that big..."
Stoick was frustrated. "Alex, what are you saying?"
"That deviant dragon has an owner." Alexander gave his answer. He turned to face the chiefs. "And the owner made them what it is."
"And who is the owner?"
"The very same that burned down the Thing decades ago." The dragon-like Viking focused back onto the fire ring. "Ye know who it is, Stoick. You survived the attack."
It did not take them long to remember. The chiefs significantly paled upon realising that. Stoick was the one who uttered the name. "Drago Bludvist."
Once the fire tornado cleared up, Hiccup gaped at the size of the red dragon far in the air.
It had become massive. The dragon had become much bigger than a small island, which was an absurd thought on size. The Monstrous Nightmare somehow healed itself from its wounds. It could take up the entire forest!
Camicazi and Thuggory had moved closer to Hiccup. The Bog-Burglar heiress was hesitant. "Uh... Hiccup?" She called out. "Do you have any plan?"
Despite everything, Hiccup did not feel any fear. He was determined to take down the deviant dragon. The Berkian heir pulled out an arrow with blue shimmering arrowhead. "Just one."
"And that is?"
Hiccup grabbed the blast stick from Thuggory's belt. He strapped them onto the arrow with strings. "I've only seen my uncle do it." The Berkian heir admitted, before pulling out another arrow with blue shimmering arrowhead. "But not against dragon fire."
Camicazi watched as Hiccup notched the second arrow. It seemed to resonate with his bow; the draconic parts began to shimmer. Hiccup focused on the red dragon, waiting for the right moment to fire.
The enormous Monstrous Nightmare looked triumphant as it glared down at the three heirs. It set its body ablaze, becoming searing sun in the night sky.
Most covered their eyes from the light, including those watching from afar. Hiccup pulled the bowstring when he noticed the dragon rearing its head. The arrowhead began to glow with blue light.
The ground glows brighter as the giant red dragon took a deep breath. A second later, it breathed its enormous fire down the fire ring. At the same time, Hiccup let go of the arrow.
Blue light streaked across the sky, before striking the flame in the middle. It made a large bluish cone, which redirected the flame away from those within fire ring.
Those outside the protection was not so lucky. The whole forest went bright as fire engulfed everything on its path.
Everything within miles were incinerated, which thankfully did not include the village. Most of the Vikings were far enough from crossfire, since they did not want to deal with the fire tornado prior to that.
Hiccup was excited that it worked. He grabbed the last arrow, before preparing for another shot. The blast stick was expected to blow on its own. With that in mind, he took aim on where the first arrow was floating. The scrawny boy took a deep breath, pulled the bowstring, and fired.
Blue light streaked across the burning sky; it reached the one that protected them. However, something strange happened.
Instead of going further and pushing the fire, it turned into bright blue flame, which took form of a dragon head. Hiccup did not recognise what it was, at least from where he was standing.
Regardless, the blue dragon head flame pushed through the red fire. The arrows had burned away, but the blast stick was somehow still intact within the blue fire. The flame head grew, before finally enveloping the fire it was breathing out.
The giant Monstrous Nightmare widened its eyes. Then, the blue flame engulfed its head.
Surprisingly, that did not do anything other than stopping the fire breath. However, the blast stick did fly into its maw. There was a short pause. And then-
BOOM!
Its head was severed by explosion in its neck. Surprisingly, there was barely any blood. The shockwave was large enough to put out the blue flame, as well as fire on the ground, including the fire ring. That allowed them to finally flee from the area.
The Monstrous Nightmare was finally dead, but it was still in the air. Hiccup widened his eyes as the now-corpse gargantuan dragon was falling onto them. It was coming down, fast. "RUN!"
The three heirs took off into a run. It was much clearer for them to see, since the forest was gone. Hiccup saw a large gully not far from them. He ran there and dove right into it. Camicazi and Thuggory went in as well, falling prone to brace for impact.
BOOOOOOMM!!!
The crash rattled the very ground they were in. After some time, everything seemed to calm down. Hiccup looked up to see something blocking the top. Looking around, everyone seemed fine. No one was injured. The two heirs were a bit shaken, which was fair considering what just happened.
Thankfully, they were close to the light. They did not have to crawl that far. Hiccup pulled himself out from the gully, before helping others get out as well. "Everyone okay?"
"I'm good." Camicazi answered.
"All good." Thuggory responded, inspecting his equipment. Everything looked intact.
BOOOM!!!
They jumped when the severed red dragon head crashed in front of them. The three heirs had to gape at the size - the head alone was larger than the Great Hall. They had to look up to see its horns. Hiccup gulped at the sight, before turning around to see the rest of the dragon they fought.
It was a Monstrous Nightmare the size of a mountain. The whole body could fit the village of Berk, and then some. Hiccup felt faint upon seeing the sight in front of him. It was enormous; that made him question how he managed to kill it.
"Whoa..." Thuggory breathed out. He was awed by the size. "We killed it. Can you believe it?"
"Seeing." Hiccup instinctively responded. "Still working on believing."
"... awesome." Camicazi whispered.
They fell silent once more, admiring the red dragon they just slain. The fire was all gone, leaving the moonlight illuminating the place. It felt strange for them, considering they had just fought for their lives. It must have taken them hours just trying to survive.
Suddenly, Camicazi released a shout. "YAAAAA!!!"
Thuggory decided to shout as well. "YAAAAAAA!!!"
"AAAAAA!!!"
"AAAAAA!!!"
"AAAAAAAAA!!!" Thuggory and Camicazi shouted together, before falling into fits of laughter together. "Hahahah!"
Camicazi was the first one to recover. "Did you see how Dagur got hit by its tail?" She recalled as she holstered her broadsword. "I heard him scream like a little girl."
"Nope. That's Snotlout." Hiccup collapsed his metal bow, before putting them away on his back. "I'd know that scream anywhere."
"I felt you jumping over me to shoot." Thuggory grinned, before patted him on his back. "You are good archer, Hiccup."
The Berkian heir blushed a bit. "I have a lot of practice."
"Some shots you pulled are just impossible." Camicazi gushed out. She was clearly excited. "That arrow shot to its back - It was the size of my knife, and you hit it."
"I'm just happy it's over." Hiccup gave her a smile. "Maybe we should stay indoor for Maces and Talons next time."
Thuggory holstered his spear and shield. "Will you teach me?"
Camicazi wrapped her arms around him. "We will." She promised. "I'll make sure of that."
The three fell silent once more. They stared at the corpse of the giant dragon, admiring their success on slaying it. Hiccup felt slight guilt for killing the dragon, but he also felt justified in doing so.
The Monstrous Nightmare was a deviant dragon. It was best to put them out of its misery.
Hiccup closed his eyes as he felt something within. Rearing his head to the sky, he could feel himself resonating with the dragon in his dream: Charcoal. Perhaps he had always been that brave, cunning and powerful. His dream hinted him of the fact.
The fight shoved that part of him forward.
Hiccup thought about things he never thought of doing - things he wanted to try - something outside his boundary. His survival was a testament to his effort in training. He must become stronger if he was to survive.
The scrawny boy opened his eyes. He noticed the two heirs staring at him. They were smiling for some reason. "What?"
"So! Heir of Hairy Hooligan tribe." Camicazi wrapped her arms around him. She was grinning. "It's been an amazing visit so far. The food's great; the fight's great. But...! I lost my knife. We'll never find it, so I need a new one."
"I need a knife too." Thuggory added.
Hiccup smiled back when he realised what they were asking. They wanted draconic knives. "Sure." The scrawny boy nodded. "I'll make three for all of us."
"Thanks, Hiccup."
After everyone was accounted for - including those who were missing, they decided to stay for another day. It was the chiefs' decision, mostly because they were assessing the situation, as well as cleaning up the dead, or whatever was left of them.
The day after that, everyone went to check the dragon corpse.
"Yup... that's his, alright."
It was early in the morning. There were Vikings at the dead dragon site. Most were discussing on how to dispose the body, preferably soon before it started to decompose. Alexander was busy inspecting the severed dragon head with Stoick and Gobber standing behind him.
The blacksmith was curious. "How did ye know that?"
"The horn." Alexander pointed at the back of its horn. There was some sort of symbol branded there: a longsword with thin dragon skull over it. "Northern Alliance branding. They always put them there. That's how you know."
The two Vikings looked up to see. They were surprised to see such thing that far up there. "Odin's beard." Gobber cursed under his breath. "How big of a hot iron they got to brand that?"
"They have a special one. It can grow with size." The dragon-like Viking crossed his arms. He was deep in thought. "This one must have been raised since it was a hatchling. Question is how it got this big..."
"The fire might have done it." Stoick suggested.
"Nay. The fire heals them. 'had nothing to do with its size." Alexander frowned as he inspected the fangs. "When titan wing grew big enough, they can shrink their size and grew back the same way. This is the original size. It is impossible to get this big before dying of old age. Even for a deviant. They must have done something to it."
"Stoick!"
The Vikings turned around to face the newcomer. Mogadon, Bertha and Oswald had just arrived. Stoick moved to greeted them. "Ye finally made it."
"I want to see the dragon my daughter slain!" The Bog-Burglar chiefess boomed her voice. "It is the biggest thing! Bigger than the village!"
The Berkian chief was about to answer when he remembered something. "Mogadon, Bertha, Oswald, this is Alexander Haddock; my great grand uncle." Stoick introduced them. "Alex, this is Mogadon, Bertha and Oswald. They're our allies."
"Nice to meet you!" Alexander grinned. He boomed his voice. "Happy to meet the friends of my nephew!"
"Aye. Pleasant all mine." Mogadon grunted, before focusing on the red dragon corpse. "What do we have?"
"We found the branding." Stoick answered, pointing at the back of its horn. "Northern Alliance."
The three chiefs looked up to check. They cursed under their breath. "... I'll be damned." Mogadon whispered. "He does control dragons."
"But why here?" Oswald questioned. The Berserker chief was sceptical. "Why Berk?"
"Finishing the job, maybe?" The Meathead chief suggested. "Stoick did survive the attack."
"No. It was something else." Stoick gave his answer. "It's the same reason why Lava-Louts wished to enslave us. We have plenty of knowledge on dragons."
"Historically, most famous dragon hunters came from this tribe." The dragon-like Viking spoke up, getting their attention. "Ingar Ingerman was first in mind, and then Hamish the Second before he became the chief. And then there's me."
"So, you hunt dragons." Mogadon pondered for some time. "Why haven't you solved our dragon problem?"
"Because we're solving much bigger problem." Alexander simply answered, before moving to further inspect the dragon head. "We don't hunt normal dragons. Deviants like these are more danger to us and normal dragons. One alone can destroy castles overnight, and worse."
"I have been doing expeditions to stop dragon attacks." Stoick explained his effort. "While my family left to tend more dangerous problems, I stayed to become the chief. Just like my father before me."
Oswald found that humorous. "Hahah... I feel the same way." He smiled reminiscently. "Most of my family left for better opportunity abroad. As exciting as it were, I found my peace in ruling my tribe."
The dragon-like Viking pulled out a large knife from his back. "Well, someone told me that avoiding situations could bring those situations to ye." He carefully peeled a piece of the red scale. Pulling them out, he flipped to see what was behind it. "... whatever that was. Here."
Stoick, Mogadon and others leaned to check. They stared at it for some time, confused with what they were seeing. Gobber was the first one to guess. "Is that... a hand?"
There was a human hand at the red scale. Specifically, the hand was partially melted into the scale. The skins were all stretched like spider webs, as if dissolving into the scale. However, most of the parts were intact, such as the fingers and the palm. It was the strangest thing they had ever seen.
"Yup! Big ugly's got bigger because of that." Alexander prodded the hand. "This deviant melt people to make themselves bigger. 'kind of like how folks wear armour, except it's permanent."
The Vikings paled upon hearing that. "Thor's above." Mogadon whispered. He leaned to poke the hand. There was a slight scaley texture on it. "... that's what happened to kidnapped Vikings?"
"Maybe. There are worse things than death." The dragon-like Viking placed down the red scale, before moving to inspect the severed dragon head once more. Alexander checked the exposed flesh. "... given the size, it must've melted just over a hundred. It doesn't look that old, and it was attacking alone..."
"Maybe they were slaves!" Bertha gave her insight. She boomed her voice. "My Vikings have seen Northern Alliance perform slavery!"
Alexander frowned at that. "No. Slaves are too expensive." The dragon-like Viking responded. He was deep in thought. "... Northern Alliance are filled with folks with different background. I'm guessing they did human livestocking to make their dragons powerful."
The term confused them. "Human livestocking?" Mogadon was confused. "What does that mean?"
"Exactly as I said." Alexander gave his answer. He holstered his knife, before picking up the red scale from the ground. "Folks raised as cattle for dragons to melt."
It was an absurd thought - people grown and raised as cattle for dragons. However, the evidence was there. Most villages only had over 50 to 100 Vikings at best, depending on the size of the tribe. Slaves were too expensive to obtain in large quantity, and it was unlikely that Northern Alliance would use their own.
"That's..." Mogadon whispered. His eyes were wide in shock. "Impossible. They're doing it to their own kind."
"Kings and queens in mainland still trade their children for treaties." Bertha grumbled as she crossed her arms. She was deep in thought. "Some places do practice slave breeding for wealth. I wouldn't be surprised if Northern Alliance do them for their dragons."
Oswald quietly moved to the spot where the red scale was peeled from. Checking what was the behind the scale, he almost puked at the sight. "... I assume it was in process of melting them." The Berserker chief whispered. "All these things... it made them stronger."
The Meathead chief moved to check. It was a mostly melted human face, which looked surprisingly intact. The face was frozen in pain and fear, implying that the melting process was excruciatingly painful for the human, and it was done while they were alive.
Mogadon grimaced at the sight. It reminded him of old Viking stories. Those were not pleasant stories.
The dragon-like Viking turned to face the Berkian chief. "Right. Stoick." He started, getting his attention. "I'll be speeding up Hiccup's training. He should be done in a year."
Stoick was concerned. "You think he can be done by then?"
"Stoick, yer kid soaked decades worth of experience in one year. if ye watched your kid fighting the dragon, it took him minutes to adapt and figure out how to kill it." Alexander gave his reasoning. "He's smarter than he looks. He got a lot braver too. 'best speed things up so I can get back to my work."
The Berkian chief exhaled his breath. "Do what you think is best."
"Alright."