HTLANF: Hidden World

Chapter 4

Elsewhere in the world, a man named Grimmel the Grisly was heading towards an armored island that had a bay full of ships surrounding it. He was aboard his airship that was carried by four Deathgrippers he controlled. He signaled for his dragons to land and the archers of the Trappers aimed at him, but they didn't shoot as he stepped off his airship and made his way to where the warlords who run the island control the dragons using cages and chains, his Deathgrippers right behind him as he walked towards the conversing warlords.

"The Dragon Riders attacked us here..." A Trapper explained as he placed a wooden boat on the map atop the table he and the others surrounded. "...Off the eastern strait."

Ragnar the Rock then began to play with another wooden boat, proceeding to make it 'crash' into the boat the Trapper had placed.

"Nnneeaoowww, BOOM." Ragnar playfully said, a chuckle being held back as he did.

"Ragnar!" Chaghatai Khan warned with a glare.

Ragnar cleared his throat and stood straight. "Um, sorry."

Grimmel stood a couple feet away from the table with a smile. "My dear warlords. How go your plans to go conquer the world?" He asked as he pulled his hood down.

"Ha-ha-ha! Grimmel, my old friend. Thank you for coming." Ragnar said as he went to greet their visitor, but he was stopped by one of the Deathgrippers as it pinned him down for getting too close to its master. "Oh-ah!"

Grimmel paid no mind to Ragnar as he addressed the other warlords. "Three years since Drago's defeat, and no further along with your dragon army, I see."

Griselda the Grievous scoffed and crossed her arms. "You can thank the leaders of the Dragon Riders for that. And the chieftess of Berk for that matter."

"Stoick's children and wife?" Grimmel asked.

"Yup! Them and their peace-loving Dragon Riders continue to raid our ships and steal our dragons." Ragnar explained to the man, still pinned down by the Deathgripper, some of its venom dribbling on him.

"Mmm. That does sound like a nuisance. But I'm in the business of killing dragons, not retrieving them." Grimmel said, then began to walk away from the warlords.

As the Deathgrippers followed him, Ragnar jumped up. "Huh? But, Grimmel..."

"That idiot woman and those idiot children have done all of the work for you, gathering the dragons in one place. Why bother me?" Grimmel waved off, not stopping.

"Because the flock is protected by a Night Fury." Chaghatai said, which got Grimmel to stop in his tracks and look back at them all.

"Not possible." He said shocked.

"Hah, well, it seems one slipped through your fingers." Chaghatai explained.

Grimmel glared at the man, but Ragnar broke his focus as he spoke up.

"Look, Berk's dragons will follow that Night Fury as if it were their Alpha, so we'll pay you to capture it and bring the flock to us. We even have your favorite bait."

The man then gestured to a cage that was close by and Grimmel walked over to it to see what resided within. To his surprise, there was a female Light Fury locked within in her dragon form.

"The only dragon they left us from last night's raid." Chaghatai said.

"A female? Hmm." Grimmel said as he rubbed his chin, inspecting the dragon as he did.

The Light Fury looked absolutely terrified with a muzzle on her face to prevent her from using any plasma blasts. Then something caught Grimmel's attention as he thought over what the warlords have said so far. Did they not know the gender of the Night Fury?

He turned to the others with his arms crossed. "And how are you so sure this Light Fury will help? From what you have told me thus far, you have no knowledge of the Night Fury's gender."

The warlords then looked between one another and Griselda was the one to speak next.

"Well, from the information you've given on Night Furies, the males are usually smaller and sleeker compared to the females, yes?"

"Yes, that is correct. Why do you bring that up, Griselda?" Grimmel asked, now becoming rather suspicious.

"Well, the one that's been helping attack our ships is rather small and sleek. Not like a female at all. And from what our Trappers have told us, the Dragon Master hasn't been at any of the raids in months either. He could possibly be staying behind to keep the dragons under control at Berk while the Night Fury goes with the Dragon Riders on the raids to protect its female rider." She explained, smirking when she saw Grimmel's eyes widen.

"You don't say. So Stoick's boy hasn't been present at a single raid in quite some time? That is very interesting indeed." Grimmel said as he turned back to the cage. "And you three are sure that this Night Fury is male?"

"On our lives, Grimmel." Ragnar said confidently.

"Then you did well with getting this Light Fury. She should do nicely."

"So, do we have a deal, old friend?" Ragnar asked.

Before Grimmel could give his answer though, a Rumblehorn became agitated and broke free from its chains, charging towards the warlords who proceeded to run out of the way.

"Watch out!" Chaghatai warned.

Grimmel swung around with his crossbow in hand, then he shot the Rumblehorn with a projectile. The dragon then collapsed and skidded to a stop, knocked out cold, mere feet away from the dragon hunter as he lowered his crossbow and looked at the others.

"When all is said and done, this chieftess and these leaders of the Dragon Riders will bring me the Night Fury." He said, then he began to walk back to his airship. "They don't have leaders, just a dragon-loving woman and two children."

~~~HTLANF~~~