Hiccup's Point of View
The wind shifted as I turned to face them all—my vanguard, my fury.
"It's time," I said, voice cold and resolute. "We fly now. We end this."
Five dragons snapped to attention.
Wings spread. Talons flexed. Fire flickered in the back of their throats.
I shot into the sky first, Luna rising beside me, her form sleek and lethal. Razorwind, Daggermaw, Veil, and Torrent launched after us with flawless synchronicity—each one falling into formation like they'd been born for it.
Fang let out a roar and darted ahead to scout the path.
The air sang around us.
Below, Torrent dove into the water, slipping beneath the surface like a ghostly torpedo—his element, his dominion.
Behind us, Thrash, the Speed Stinger, launched into a full sprint across the shallow coastal stream, tail slicing the water as he bolted across the landscape, keeping perfect pace.
Together, we moved like a storm—airborne and aquatic death drawn toward the scent of blood.
Then we roared.
All of us.
As one.
The sound split the skies—five dragons and two Night Furies crying vengeance across the heavens. A sound of war. A sound of justice. Every wingbeat that followed shook the clouds.
They would hear us coming.
⸻
Time Skip
We crested the final ridge just as the sun began to fall toward the western horizon.
And there it was.
The camp.
Nestled deep in the jagged ravine—reinforced with spiked walls, smoldering cookfires, and reeking of smoke and steel. Traps littered the ground. Wagons packed with ropes and bolts lined the perimeter. Dozens of humans—armed to the teeth—roamed the area.
And cages.
So many cages.
My breath caught as I saw them.
Dragons—small ones. Some hatchlings. Some barely grown. All trapped in iron prisons like livestock. Wings shackled. Muzzles bound. Some were crying. Others... too quiet.
My vision blurred red.
How dare they.
How dare these pathetic insects treat dragons like this. Caging them. Muzzling them. Stealing their freedom—on my land.
My snarl vibrated through my bones. My claws curled, the sky around me darkening as my bloodlust surged.
"I'll kill them all," I growled. "Every last one of them."
Luna matched my pace, her eyes on the camp below—but I felt her press against me.
A silent touch. Not to stop me.
But to anchor me.
Her voice came soft—soothing in its darkness.
"Soon, love. But not yet."
I looked at her.
Eyes of fire. But calm. Focused.
She knew the rage. She shared it. But she also knew control. Precision.
I let out a shaky breath.
The storm would come.
But not as chaos.
As retribution.
My wings adjusted.
My voice, low and controlled, echoed across the minds of my vanguard:
"Prepare yourselves.
We strike as one.
Tonight, we free our kin. And we make them remember why dragons ruled the skies."
———————————————-
I hovered in the air, watching the camp below.
Rage still simmered in my chest, but Luna's presence anchored it—shaping it into something focused. Weaponized.
No more blind fury.
Only execution.
I landed lightly on the cliff's edge overlooking the ravine. My vanguard followed suit, wings folding, eyes locked on me.
Razorwind. Daggermaw. Veil. Fang. Torrent. Thrash.
Each one battle-tested. Each one forged in fire—by me.
They waited, silent.
Luna landed beside me, folding her wings with fluid grace.
I lowered my voice, though it cut through the link we all shared like a command forged in steel.
"We kill everyone involved. Every hand that lifted a spear. Every mouth that mocked a dragon's pain. No survivors."
Snarls rumbled in agreement.
"But," I said, eyes narrowing, "before we burn this place to the ground, I want one thing."
Veil flicked her tongue. "Information?"
"Yes. There's a buyer. Someone wealthy enough to pay for bones. Not hide. Not eggs. Bones." My teeth bared. "He's the root. These hunters? Just maggots feeding on his scraps."
Daggermaw growled. "How do we extract it?"
I glanced toward the camp. "There's always a leader. He'll be the one barking orders, not lifting a blade. Find him. Disable him. I'll question him personally."
Luna gave a nod of approval. "Interrogation suits you, my love."
I smiled faintly, but didn't look away from the camp. "We'll divide into waves."
I slashed my claw through the air, forming glowing lines with my talon across a patch of soft dirt—a rough map of the enemy position.
"Razorwind, Veil—flank the east and west ridges. When you see fire, you dive in. Kill fast. Kill silently."
They nodded. Razorwind's wings flexed, eager.
"Torrent—come up from the south. They're least defended on that side. Burst out of the water and obliterate their storage crates first. That's where they're keeping the venom sacs and barbed nets."
Torrent's jaw clicked. "Understood."
"Daggermaw—take the main breach when the chaos starts. Hit them hard, but keep to the outer perimeter. You're there to keep the stragglers from escaping."
The Nadder's spines twitched with approval.
"Thrash," I continued, turning to the Speed Stinger, "you're our anchor. Use the lower riverbed to circle around. When they run, you intercept. Snap legs. Disable. I want one alive—their leader. The rest? Meat for the worms."
Thrash hissed and nodded. "Fast. Quiet. Precise."
I turned toward Luna. "You and I go in from above. You focus on their traps and cages. Break them open. Shield the young. I'll be going for the command tent."
Luna's eyes glittered. "I'll paint the sky black if I have to."
A beat of silence passed.
Then I added, darker now, "If you see the dragons being tortured and have lost all he will to live... kill them quickly. No suffering they have done enough of that."
Veil's voice came like smoke. "And what of the buyers?"
I looked to her slowly. "We get a name. Then we hunt them. If they have ships—we burn them. If they have cities—we raze them. No one traffics in dragon death and lives to breathe another day."
Agreement rolled through the pack like thunder.
Then Fang leaned forward, voice cautious. "Alpha... if they're backed by something larger—a kingdom, a guild, even the Outcasts—"
"Then we send a message," I said simply. "And if it takes an army to get to them... we'll build one."
Luna's lips curled into a wicked smile. "Our army."
I looked down at the writhing camp again—unaware, unprepared.
Their fires burned bright.
Soon... they'd be ash.
"Final check," I said. "No mercy. No hesitation. If they breathe, and they had a hand in this... they die."
Each of them growled in assent.
But before I leapt, I turned back toward them—toward the dragons I'd trained, fought, and bled beside.
"I didn't win your loyalty with words. I beat it into you," I said coldly. "You followed me because I earned it. Because I never asked you to fight battles I wouldn't win myself."
My wings spread.
"And this? This isn't just a battle."
"This is reclamation."
I turned to Luna. Our eyes locked. No words needed.
She leapt first.
I followed.
Behind us—five dragons of death.
Below us—monsters in human skin.
The sky split open as we descended.
And judgment came with us.