The Great Beyond

Chapter 59: Dawn of Destruction (Hiccup)

              "Hya!"

The heat from the Dragon Blade weighed down on my face as I pushed back against my opponent, keeping her from swinging her own sword too close. Her tactics were strong and swift, calculating every possibility in a split second, but I had the advantage of knowing how she approached fights; trouble was, the same went for her.

Momentary leverage allowed me to throw Reign off to the side, but she thought fast and used that to roll back around behind me, leaving me vulnerable just long enough for her to jump up. Thankfully, the noise her sword made gave her away, and I ducked to the side just in time. Though I technically had the disadvantage on the ground, Reign once again left herself vulnerable as she tried to move around my other side, allowing me to sweep one of my legs out and knock her straight down. Her eyes widened in shock, and for just a split second, I thought maybe I'd beat her. That was, until I made the stupid mistake of extending my hand down to help her up, at which point she slung a leg around my waist and flipped the two of us over, holding her sword a safe distance from my neck.

"And, once again, your good nature serves as your downfall," she taunted as she helped me up to my feet.

"Wha— "

Before I got the chance to shoot something back, Reign swung her sword down near my torso, forcing me to jump out of the way and focus back on the fight. She suddenly began to fight with a rare fury, attempting to tire me out with repeated blows. She often saved that for an enemy larger than her, as their stamina tended to run out fairly quickly. Whatever she was planning next, it became harder to predict with the flurry, but her turn back around was slow enough that I could prepare to block as she swung out again and pushed back with a good amount of her strength.

"Call it a draw?" Her voice lilted sweetly, tipping off her perceived victory.

"Not on your life! I got you right where I— "

Once again, she'd managed to distract me, and I suddenly found myself being thrown to the ground as she grabbed onto my tunic. The air rushed from my lungs as I landed and she placed her foot on my chest, signaling yet another win for her. After a moment of savoring her win, she extended her hand down and helped me up again, yanking me so our faces were mere centimeters apart.

"Congratulations," I teased. One of her eyebrows rose as that smirk returned to her face.

"Mm. Thanks. We'll celebrate it later when we don't have an audience."

Right then, I felt something smack the back of my head, starling me and causing me to shoot straight back up. The twins had been throwing down flowers as they cheered, but somewhere along the line, Chicken got tossed down as well, hence why she was currently sliding down into my hands. Reign's hands flew to her face to cover her smile, but her laughter came through loud and clear.

"Would you two stop?" Reign and I looked up to see Fishlegs leaning over the arena. "Hiccup, I've been looking for you. Johann is here, and he wants— "

"Johann. Oh, great!" I slipped the Dragon Blade back onto my belt, then took one of Reign's hands with one of mine. "Where is he?"

"Uh, at the dock."

Right, right. Of course. That was such an obvious question, but it completely slipped my mind for whatever reason.

"Of course. The dock," I laughed.

"I'll come along."

I pulled on Reign's hand, bringing her closer to me as the two of us headed down toward the docks. Lately, the slight distance between Reign and I had completely closed up again, and though I couldn't completely explain why, I felt myself more compelled to her than usual.