The Great Beyond

Chapter 78: King of Dragons, Pt. 2 (Reign)

              As a child, my father had told me about how special Berserker Island was. It was one of the few memories I had left of him, and although I hadn't remembered what island he was talking about, I held onto those words dearly. He told me of how our island was special to the dragons—that, although they could attack the villages, they were never able to fly over the center of our proud home land. I'd laughed it off in my youth, dismissing it as nothing more than my dad attempting to make our island appear better in my own mind, but now, I understood.

We had every right to be proud of our island because, whether or not my dad knew it, it was home to the King of Dragons.

Which, of course, explained why Johann, Krogan, and their entire armada of Hunters and Flyers were currently attempting to attack it.

Currently, the Flyers were taking their Singetails high above the island. Clearly, they'd attempting to fly straight over it, and upon finding that impossible, were seeing if they could fly over top of it. Maybe, under some other circumstance, that might work, but something else stood in their way this time— the Dragon Riders.

Toothless and Shriek fired off blasts, knocking two Flyers off their Singetails and catching the attentions of all others. Hiccup and I broke off in opposite directions, circling the massive group with our eyes dead-set on their leader, hovering dead in the middle on his red Singetail.

"Krogan, this ends now!" Hiccup cried.

That signaled the other Riders to begin their assault. Having caught the Flyers off-guard, it appeared we had the upper hand. They were thrown off the backs of their dragons, unable to fight back against the sudden onslaught, and even after Krogan evaded the twins' explosion, we were quickly able to surround him. He dove down to escape, but the look on his face indicated that the message had been relayed: they weren't going to get the King of Dragons this time around. As he retreated back to his own group, I looked down and threw my brother and sister a thumbs-up.

We knew we likely wouldn't have long before the Flyers attempted to attack again, so all of us headed toward the stables and landed, meeting up with Heather and Dagur. The three of us pulled each other into a tight hug, grateful to see that the others were alive, and once we'd gotten past our moment, we started focusing on the real issue.

"I don't understand why we're being attacked," Heather proclaimed.

"They are." Though the situation was serious, I couldn't help but smile just a little bit at her.

"Here?" she gasped.

"And I'm guessing it's beneath the island. There's a network of caves and a giant cavern that Gorm and I explored the last time I was here. I think it lives down there. And that's why the dragons can't fly over the island."

I hadn't had time to go back to the Edge and grab my cold weather gear, but I didn't care. If the King of Dragons was down there, protecting him was more than worth the risk.

"It's his defense mechanism," Fishlegs informed Heather and Dagur, catching them up to speed.

"Exactly," Hiccup confirmed. "He has the ability to control the minds of other dragons."

"Well, no wonder Krogan and Johann want him so badly," Astrid sighed.

"The King of Dragons is a Berserker. Ha! It makes perfect sense to me. What else would he be?" I couldn't help but smile at my brother's excitement.

"Uncle Fenris, that's what. It must me him."

All that pride immediately died down when the twins decided to insert themselves into this scenario. My face slid down into my hand, utterly disappointed in them.