Life on the Edge

1.11 Have Dragon Will Travel, Part 2

It's daylight by the time they find Dagur's little armada. Unfortunately, Heather gets there first. She and Windshear are both wrapped in chains and suspended between a circle of ships when they arrive.

Ragnar curses under his breath when he sees the way the two of them are being steadily pulled closer to the ships. "Hiccup..."

"Right," he says with a nod. "We have to save her."

The piercing sound of a Night Fury's cry fills the air as they fly down to help.

"Well, look who the dragon flew in," Dagur calls. "Glad you could join us, brother. It wouldn't feel like a family reunion without you."

Ragnar only has a second to wonder what that comment means when Dagur evidently sees him.

"Ooh, and you brought Ragnar!" he says excitedly. "Even better. Unfortunately, I'll have to deal with this," he gestures broadly at the chained dragon and rider, "before we can talk."

Nightshade gives a decidedly unhappy growl as they circle above the ship. Ragnar nods in full agreement.

"Tell me about it, girl."

"Take out that Night Fury!" Dagur yells.

His little minions do their best with a couple of thrown bolas. Unfortunately for them, Toothless is plenty agile enough to weave between the ropes.

Ragnar sees another set headed their way from behind and, with a silent signal, has Nightshade send a volley of tail spines to knock it off course.

"Blast the chains, Toothless," Hiccup says as they come to a hover beside the still trapped Heather and Windshear. "Now!"

To their surprise, the following plasma blast does nothing.

"Dragon-proof chains?" Hiccup says, eyes wide.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," Ragnar mutters.

Dagur laughs. "Nice try, Hiccup!" he calls as they start to circle above the ships again. "You didn't think I'd make it that easy for you, did you?"

They both dodge thrown bolas this time. Heather gasps when the chains tighten. Hiccup and Ragnar look at each other and, like always, are immediately on the same page.

"We can't break the chains," Ragnar says.

"So, we'll break the winches," Hiccup finishes.

Toothless makes quick work of destroying all three winches while Nightshade distracts Dagur and his crew. Distract, in this case, means more than a few pained yells sound from the ships as more than one of them ends up with a Nadder's spine sticking out of them.

They circle around to join Heather and Windshear when they're free.

"Heather, you can't take on Dagur and his fleet all by yourself," Hiccup tells her.

"I'm not by myself. I have Windshear," Heather says, something distinctly arrogant in her tone.

Ragnar frowns. Arrogance can kill quicker than any blade. "You literally just got captured and would be on one of those ships right now if we hadn't followed you," he points out.

Heather falters for a second before she shakes her head. "I'm too close," she says stubbornly. "I might not get this shot again."

"But this is suicide," Hiccup says, which is fair.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes," she declares.

Ragnar shakes his head. "You're blinded by revenge," he tells her with the sort of certainty that doesn't even require a vision- just common sense. "You'll get yourself killed without accomplishing anything."