I jumped as a Deadly Nadder slammed its head against its cage, all while Savage pushed me through the rows of dragon pens. Alvin hadn't explained where I was going, but from the moment we touched down on shore, I'd been separated from Toothless and Reign, and I couldn't stop worrying about them.
"Where is my dragon, Alvin? Where's Toothless, and Reign?" I demanded.
"You'll see them soon enough, don't you worry." The menacing tone of his voice convinced me otherwise.
"You know, I have to admit, luring me and Toothless to the Isle of Night, building a fake Night Fury... not bad." Alvin cackled at my words.
"'Not bad...' Says the one-legged boy in manacles," he taunted.
"But turning Mildew into an Outcast? Using him against us? Come on, Alvin. That's low-hanging fruit, even for you." I looked over at him, trying to tell whether or not he would take the bait. But instead, Savage just started laughing, as though I'd made some sort of hilarious joke, causing Alvin to reach back and hit him, in order to correct him.
"No one thinks you're funny, boy," he discouraged. "Now, keep moving." He pushed me yet again into a circle of dragon cages, loud screeches echoing off of the walls. I
looked over to my left to see two Outcasts holding out spears in front of a Whispering Death, who was tied down and thrashing against the restraints. It dug underground to make a tunnel, then shot up right beneath the Outcasts' feet, launching them into the air and roaring at them. They really weren't bright enough to pick up on the pattern here...
"You know it's gonna keep doing that, right?" I asked Alvin. "It is a Whispering Death."
I was caught off-guard by a sudden shove from behind me. Trying to catch my balance, I took a few steps, landing me right in front of the pen of a Scauldron. It drank water from a trough it had been given, then whipped around with an angry look in its eyes. I gasped as it shot out water at another Outcast, sending him flying back.
"A Scauldron... Impressive. You might wanna cut back its water." I hated that I was helping them, but if it got me closer to getting to Toothless and Reign, I would do it.
"Write that down," I heard Alvin mutter to Savage as the Scauldron roared again. Two Outcasts raced past me and entered one of the cages that appeared to be empty. They looked around in confusion, clearly not understanding what was going on.
"It's escaped again!" one of them proclaimed.
"Actually, no, it's right behind you. Changewing." Right then, the Changewing took off its camouflage and spat a tiny amount of acid from its mouth, causing everyone to duck. Thankfully, it just ended up hitting the bars, causing them to sizzle. "Wow... You guys really don't have a handle on these dragons, do you?" Alvin abruptly grabbed my shoulders.
"Well, that's why you're 'ere! Welcome to your new job, Hiccup!" He turned me back around and started to push me further through the pens.
"Uh, job? As inviting as that sounds, I have to pass." I needed to get Reign and Toothless out of here and home to Berk.
"Oh, Hiccup, Hiccup... Why do you always have to make things so difficult?"
"That's not the first time I've been asked that question."
He steered me toward a specific pen, and I expected to have to deal with some other sort of dragon- maybe a Thunderdrum or a Zippleback- but instead, a black dragon was suspended from a bunch of chains and ropes, head hung low. My heart dropped as I looked over the scene, eyes widening.
"Toothless!" He opened his eyes and looked up at me, and as soon as he seemed to come to, he started to fight and thrash. "Hang-hang in there, bud. I'll get you out!"
"He's not going anywhere, neither are you. You will help me train these dragons."
"And if I don't...?" I was afraid of the answer.
"Well, then they're no good to me, none of 'em! Especially yours. Not to mention, your friend'll never leave."
I had to come up with some sort of plan...
"Take 'im to 'is cell." Alvin waved his hand and Savage and walked away.
"Can I get you anything?" Savage asked as he escorted me to my cell for the night. "Food? A cozy blanket? Some warm yak milk?" That made it apparent that he was taunting me, and he opened the cell door, shoving me in and slamming it shut. "Heh, heh. Yak milk." I kept my back turned as he walked away, trying to keep myself from having some sort of outburst.
"Hiccup?"
My head snapped to the corner of the cell, and I saw a flash of fire sticking out among the shadows. She didn't look angry, or scared, just determined. She wasn't shaking, she wasn't crying, she was stone-faced. Carefully, I made my way over and sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry I got us into this." She shook her head, not meeting my eyes.
"We both fell for it. I should have known there was something up." She sighed and leaned back against the rock. "Best birthday ever," she deadpanned.
"Really, I'm sorry. I mean, I had all this stuff planned, and now..."
"Hiccup." I looked up to see her jade eyes holding a piercing stare, trying her best to silence me. "That really shouldn't be our biggest concern. We need to worry about getting Toothless and leaving this place before something bad happens." I sighed.
"I know. But I can't think of anything yet. Nothing's coming to me." I felt something thump against my shoulder, and when I looked over, I saw Reign leaning down on it.
"Then we should try and get some sleep, at least an hour or two."
She was right. I at least needed to refresh myself a little bit, in order to think straight.
I leaned my head down and rested mine on hers, closing my eyes to get some rest.
Reign kept a careful watch as I did my best to pick the lock on the cell. I could feel things starting to click, when three shadows on the wall started to grow, and I was forced to stop as Alvin, Savage, and Mildew rounded the corner.
"Alvin, I gave you what you wanted, we had a deal!" Mildew protested as Savage pushed him and his sheep toward a cell.
"I didn't like that deal, so I changed it," Alvin shrugged. Reign stood up and the two of us glanced at each other, then Savage looked in our direction and let out a mock-gasp.
"Oh, I believe you three know each other," he lilted. "Don't get too chummy." Savage shoved him into the cell across from ours. "Mildew's hours are numbered, much like you and the Night Fury." Alvin stepped into Mildew's cell with a menacing stance, and snatched the sheep from Mildew's hands without a second thought.
"No! What are you doing with me Fungus?"
"Preparing your final meal. It's lamb." He slammed the door shut, leaving Mildew to grope at the air after him.
"Fungus! No!" Mildew began to sob, and Reign and I looked at each other, clearly both a little uncomfortable.
"Berkians. Still as dumb as the day I left."
"What have I done...?"
I looked on at Mildew's cell, starting to feel some sympathy for him. We'd both been tricked by Alvin, and now it was costing us beloved companions. I couldn't just let this happen, I had to do something.
"Hiccup, no." I looked down at Reign to see her shooting me a death glare.
"Reign, come on." She shook her head and looked down at the ground, before moving her gaze back up with a defeated sigh.
"Let's just try and get out of here, first. Then we'll worry about helping other people."
I realized I'd have to meet her at the halfway point, and started to look around for some other method of escape. I spotted a pile of rocks in the corner, and decided to try and start chipping away at the rock on the ground. Shaking her head, Reign leaned up against the wall and watched as I spent all of my energy banging one rock against another.
"Really, this is so hard to watch," Mildew chimed in after a few minutes.
"What now?" I snapped, barely turning around.
"I just thought Stoick raised a smarter boy than this. And you'll never save your dragon by sitting in this cell, digging in the dirt. You need to go get him soon." My frustration with him started to grow.
"And how would you suggest I do that?"
"By giving Alvin what he wants." I narrowed my eyes and looked over at Reign, who shrugged.
"It's risky, but you might have to take that chance. I mean, I really don't see any other way for us to get out, other than trying to sneak out, but picking the lock proved to be a bad idea." She removed herself from the wall and stood next to me. "If you don't want to do it, we'll find some other way."
She looked up at me with those wide jade bowls, and I knew we were really out of options. This was the best idea, and maybe it would give her time to escape.
"I have to try." She hesitated a moment before nodding.
"Okay. I'm with you."
"Guard, guard, I can't take it, please!" I shouted.
"Nice acting," Reign muttered as the guard came over, looming over us.
"I'll tell Alvin whatever he wants to know. Just let me out of here!"
I did my best to keep my balance as the guard unlocked the cell, thankful he didn't look down before he did. As soon as the door was open, I swung my metal leg out from behind my back and struck him, knocking him back against Mildew's cell. He stumbled and struck it with a great amount of force, but it wasn't enough to knock him out, and he got up with a dark chuckle.
"That worked a little better in my mind." Reign suddenly stepped out in front of me, ready to take a swing at him if he tried to attack me, but before he could even move from against the grate, Mildew pulled him back with his cane with such force that it knocked the guard out. The key slid from his belt, and I rushed to pick it up, impressed with what Mildew had just done.
"Wow... thanks." I looked back at the cell to see Reign carefully making her way around the guard, taking care that she didn't wake him. As soon as she was right behind me, the two of us took off.
"Wait! Take me with ya," Mildew begged.
"You're kidding me, right?"
"No. I know how to get around this island." Reign crossed her arms.
"So do I. What's your point?"
"I can help you two. Please. Let me make it up to you." She and I glanced at each other with suspicion, but we both knew we'd feel bad if we just left him here. With a frustrated grunt, I made my way over to Mildew's cell and let him out.
"Don't make me regret this, Mildew," I warned him as the door opened. He followed closely behind the two of us, careful not to make a sound as we crept our way up out of the cells. From the outside, I could hear dragons roaring and screeching from all directions. We quickly dashed out the door and hid behind a couple of rocks, taking a second to collect ourselves. "Okay, what's the quickest way to get to Toothless?"
"Through that lava field." He pointed his cane down at it, and without second thought, I agreed.
"Let's go." I started to run, when Mildew stuck that cane out in front of me to block my way.
"Wait! You do realize those are wild dragons down there?"
"Yup." I immediately resumed my step. Reign was a few cautious paces behind me, and Mildew was in the very back. All of the dragons were fighting with each other, both of their own species and others. It was a dangerous path to take, but I needed to get to Toothless as fast as possible. "Well, come on, then. Let's go." Reign and I hopped over the rock we were hiding behind, but Mildew hesitated.
"Uh, let's not."
"I know what I'm doing, Mildew," I assured him. "Just stay behind me."
"Oh, perfect. A ninety-pound boy and a little girl are me human shield." Reign whipped around to glare at Mildew, silencing his complaints.
Slowly, we started to inch our way through the field, trying our best not to disturb the wild dragons. They all stared at us as we walked right down the center of the rocks, but generally left us alone. That was, until we were right in the clear, and a Nadder swooped down to block our way. It roared loudly to try to intimidate us, but I was doing my best to stand my ground against us. Reign threw Mildew's cane to the ground, causing him to shudder.
"No, Mildew. The last thing you want to do is threaten him," she hissed.
"Me? Threaten him?"
"We-We have to show him he can trust us." Carefully, I approached the restless Nadder and inched my way around, using a gentle tone. "It's okay. We're not here to hurt you." I was able to get close enough to rest my hand on one of its legs, calming the jumpy dragon. "There you go."
"Very impressive." Mildew's voice was weak. As soon as he moved, the Nadder became defensive again and screeched at him. It circled halfway around him, cocking its head at another person, and while Reign remained calm, Mildew starting trembling.
"No, no, he's just getting to know you. They can sense fear, so... be relaxed." Mildew tried his best to relax his stiff posture and act as though being circled by a dragon were just an everyday occurrence, but he was still unbelievably stiff.
"This is relaxed," he said through clenched teeth. The Nadder affectionately nudged him, causing Mildew to flinch.
"See?" I chuckled, shaking my head. "He wants to be friends. Isn't that nice?" The old man jumped away as the Nadder squawked.
"I've got plenty of friends."
"I highly doubt that," Reign shot back. "We're gonna need a way to get past all those guards at the dragon pit. And I think we just found it."
"What?" Chattering, the Nadder gave Mildew a big kiss, causing him to shudder.
"You earned that," Reign laughed. "Come on. We have to get this moving if we want to get to Toothless." I nodded and approached the Nadder again, resting my hand between his nostrils.
"Remember, dragon training begins and ends with trust. Both of yours." I reached out and grabbed Mildew's wrist, guiding his hand to where mine was on the Nadder and replacing it. The Nadder almost immediately relaxed, and it seemed to rub off on Mildew. "Now, climb on."
"What?" I demonstrated by swinging myself up onto the large dragon, then took Reign's hand and helped her up. "Okay, uh..." He looked over the Nadder for a moment before slinging the upper half of his body over it and flailing his legs. "Okay... again..." With an impressive amount of force, Mildew jumped up onto the Nadder and sat down behind Reign.
"Wow. Mildew on a dragon. This is gonna take some getting used to." The Nadder started to thrash impatiently a little, and I felt Reign's arms tightly wrap around my waist, trying to stay on.
"Eh, why's it doing that? What's happening?"
"Okay, okay, it's okay. He's just never had people on him before." I spit into one of my hands and started to rub it onto the dragon's back. "A-A-A dragon's hide is dry. The moisture from your hands will soothe him."
After a second of hesitation, Mildew began to spit into his hand wildly, causing Reign to flinch and lean closer to me in disgust. The Nadder spaced its feet out and spread its wings, and on my command, it took off. Mildew cried out and grabbed onto Reign's waist, practically throwing her off.
"Uh, you, uh... hey, okay." She looked up and glared at me. "Hiccup!"
"Uh, you know, there's a lot of dragon here, Mildew. W-Why don't you grab some of that?"
"H-Huh? Oh, uh, I'm fine."
"Let go of me!" Reign snapped, practically throwing Mildew off of her. The cloud cover made it a little difficult to see, but the dragon pit was too large to miss.
"That's where they have Toothless." I directed the Nadder to fly down into the hole of the dragon pit, keeping an eye out as we made our way through the rows of cages. Dragons screeched to try and get our attention, and set them free, but I had to ignore them for now, and focus on getting Toothless out of here. His cage came into view at the end of the rows, and I instructed the dragon to land. Hurriedly, Reign and I jumped down and raced over to the bars, with Mildew limping slowly from behind us.
My heart dropped as I looked around. The cage was completely barren, save for the restraints that had been keeping him there. There was no evidence of whether he had broken out, or Alvin had taken him for his own purposes, but Mildew drew his own conclusion.
"Toothless is gone..."
"Alvin must've moved him."
Suddenly, from behind us, the cages all swung open, letting out the Changewing, the Scauldron, and the Whispering Death. The Nadder we had flown in on circled us, trying to offer protection.
"Let's see what you can do with some real wild dragons, Hiccup." I looked up to see Alvin standing beside the lever that opened the cages, smirking menacingly at us. The wild dragons roared and got menacingly close.
"Mildew, whatever happens in the next minute, do exactly what I tell you."
"Hiccup, please don't be stupid," Reign begged, looking at me out of the corner of her eye. The four of us jumped out of the way as the Changewing shot acid in our direction.
"E-Eh, I'm all ears." The Changewing shot at us again, leaving him vulnerable and allowing us to jump back up on the Nadder. The Whispering Death roared and bit at us a couple of times, trying to catch us in his jaws. Alvin cackled as it dug under the ground to go through tunnels. "At least that one's gone."
"Well, uh, not for long, actually." The ground underneath us rumbled and rattled as the ground beneath us upturned, showing us the Whispering Death's path. "Changewings shoot acid, Scauldrons fire boiling water, and Whispering Deaths hunt from underground."
The raised dirt got closer to us, I moved the Nadder to jump out of the way, then started to run. The exit wasn't blocked, and Toothless wasn't here, so we needed to leave now. The Scauldron and Whispering Death were right behind us, so I pulled the Nadder up and caused them to crash.
"Come on, Hiccup! Go! Go!" A faint circle of light came into view, and we flew out of it, escaping from that nightmare. Now, we had to focus on finding Toothless and getting out of here. I landed the Nadder on a nearby patch of rocky land to allow us all to catch our breath.
"Well, you know your dragons. I'll give you that."
"Hiccup!"
Relief flooded through me as a large, blue Thunderdrum landed in front of us and my dad hopped off, running toward us with a look on his face as though he thought he would never see us again. Which, in all honest, was a likely possibility from his side of things. "Thank Thor you're all right!" Reign and I jumped down from the Nadder as our other friends landed.
"I am, but Toothless is in trouble."
"And Mildew is on the back of your dragon." Reign jumped as Tuffnut hissed those words right next to her face, not realizing he had been near her.
"We know." Tuff paused to ponder what Reign had just said.
"Weird." Suddenly, Gobber yanked Mildew off of the Nadder and held his hand- which had the mace attachment on it- over his head.
"I should run you through right now!"
"Whoa, whoa, Gobber! He helped us escape." I turned to my father. "Dad, I owe Mildew my life." Everyone stared at us in disbelief, so Reign stepped up and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"As do I."
"Getting weirder."
"I'll explain later. Right now, I have to get to Toothless."
"Or, bring him to you," Reign suggested, shrugging. I got what she was trying to say, and stepped forward, out into the open. Cupping my hands around my mouth, I let out the Night Fury call, and hoped that it could reach Toothless, no matter how far away he was. Reign reached out and grabbed my hand, squeezing it as we waited for something, any form of a response.
And then, a roar sounded in the distance, and we all ran to our dragons. I tried to get the Nadder to go as fast as it could to follow the place where the roaring was coming from. Despite the dark ground that we were flying over, I could faintly make out the figure of a Night Fury crying out.
"There he is!" The Nadder dove down and brought us all in front of Toothless, and the moment we landed, I jumped down and ran toward him. I couldn't contain how happy I was as he tackled me to the ground and started licking me, causing me to laugh. "Toothless! Are you okay, bud?" He purred at me. "Oh, I am so sorry, Toothless. This was all my fault."
Suddenly, Toothless whipped his head around and growled, his dilated pupils narrowing into slits.
"Whoa. What's the matter, bud?" I turned to look in the direction he was focused on to see a large figure looming over the cliff side, shouting at us.
"Hey there, boy! You weren't gonna leave before we finished our business, were you?" Reign moved over to stand beside Toothless and I, her fists clenched in anger as her fiery hair fell in front of her face. "That's what I would expect from Stoick's little runt."
"Oh, boy..."
"Hiccup!" Neither of us were listening to anyone, and as the anger grew more intense, I hopped up onto Toothless and charged right toward Alvin.
"Do it, boy! I'm right here!" he taunted. Alvin cackled as we got closer, and started swinging his axe around. "Now!"
Suddenly, Toothless and I were thrown to the ground as I was tied to him. The Outcasts cheered and started running for us, and I struggled against the bonds as I tried to figure out what to do. They got closer, almost to the point of encircling us, and I started to panic, when a few of the Outcasts were suddenly blasted to the ground. I managed to lift my head up and see that the other dragons had banded together to get rid of our attempted attackers. Stormfly and Hookfang lifted us up and brought us back to our friends, and Gobber, Snotlout, and my dad cut us free. As soon as I was up, I turned to Reign, Astrid, and Fishlegs, confused.
"What happened?"
"The dragons saved you on their own."
"Looks like they took their training to a whole new level."
"We can talk later. Right now, we need to get out of here." My dad pointed toward the large group of Outcasts that were running toward us, shouting and waving their weapons wildly. All of us jumped up on our dragons and took off, blasting at a few of the Outcasts to keep them from attacking us.
Gobber had hopped up on the Nadder, and I looked back to see Mildew dangling from his tail, screaming his head off.
"Mildew!"
"Oh, for the love of Thor. Mildew, get back up here!" One of his hands slipped from the Nadder's tail. I shook my head, but focused on maneuvering through the group of Outcasts and getting out of their line of fire. In a moment, I looked back to check on Reign, and saw from the corner of my eye, Mildew slip off of the Nadder and fall through the trees.
"Mildew!" I turned Toothless around and had him dive down as fast as he could as the Outcasts picked him up and held his arms behind his back. He mouthed something, but I couldn't quite make it out. Before we could get to him, a couple of the Outcasts started shooting at us, causing Toothless to rear up.
"Hiccup, we have to go..." Reign muttered sadly.
"She's right, son. We can't help him now." I stared down at the scene for a moment, before turning around and flying away after my dad. Reign leaned her head against my back and rested one of her hands on mine.
"It'll be okay, Hiccup."
I stared down at the map to the 'Isle of Night' in disappointment, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in my chest.
"I'm sorry this map wasn't the real thing, bud," I sighed as Toothless purred. With one final look at it, I tossed it into the fire and walked over to the Book of Dragons. "But, hey, there's nothing wrong with being one of a kind."
The door suddenly swung open to reveal Reign, staring at me with a hand on her hip.
"Would you come on?" she groaned. I raised an eyebrow at her, asking her to explain. "Bork Week? The parade?"
"Right." I patted Toothless on the neck and raced over to her, her annoyed expression now being replaced with a smile. She turned to walk out, but I needed to say something before we did. "Hey." She turned around and looked at me with big eyes, causing my heart to flutter. "I-I'm really sorry I ruined your birthday." She shook her head and stepped closer to me.
"You gave me the most exciting birthday of my life," she chuckled, trying to put a bright side on it. "And I absolutely love the gift." She reached back and tapped the shield I had made for her. Another smile crossed her face, and she squeezed my hand before turning around. "Come on, we should get going."
"Hold on."
A sudden bravery took over me as she turned around, and I grabbed her hand as I pressed her lips against mine, smiling at her as the two of us pulled away. Her eyes bounced around and her cheeks turned red, before taking my hand and leading me out of the house. We jumped up onto Toothless and Shriek, and looked at the others, who I didn't know had been waiting outside.
"Come on, gang."
A family isn't just something you're born into. It's also the friends who stood with you- the ones who fought by your side. You know that you'll be there for them, and they'll be there for you. For the battles that are yet to come.