Stormbound

Scene 19: Dragon's Edge

"HELP!" Fishlegs screams as Meatlug is towed towards the ship by the dragon-proof chain around her ankle.

The other riders can't hear; they're busy with problems of their own. Snotlout is firing blast after blast at the opposing archers in between their volleys of arrows, the twins are surrounding a ship with gas, and Gothi...

Gothi blasts the wooden winch to which his chains are anchored. The tug vanishes, and Meatlug rapidly ascends, shaking off the chains.

"Thanks, Gothi!" Fishlegs calls, buzzing over to help Snotlout.

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a fleet of small rowboats landing on the island.

"Oh no you don't!" he growls, turning Meatlug in that direction instead. Then, a mighty explosion ripples through the air, and Fishlegs hears whoops from the twins. Glancing back, he sees one of seven ships scorched and sinking, giant holes blasted through it.

Yes! he grins, turning away to pursue the hunters.

A wooden craft scrapes the seabed and hunters leap out to pull it ashore.

"Meatlug, spew!" Fishlegs cries. The hunters scatter, screaming as lava drips down their clothes. Their dragonskin clothes. Serves them right, Fishlegs thinks as they leap into the lagoon.

Further up the beach, something catches his eye. Two rowboats, already abandoned, lie on the sand beside tracks leading into the woods.

"No, no, no!" Fishlegs zooms in for a better look, but there's no sign of the hunters. Nothing to do but follow them.

"Come on, Meatlug!"

Flying low, they buzz quietly into the woods, listening for any disturbance. Before too long they pick up the shouts and heavy tread of large men.

"There!" Fishlegs points to the direction of the disturbance, and Meatlug zooms forward, teeth bared. They burst into a clearing with twenty or so men who immediately turn their weapons on the pair.

"Get them!" a hunter shouts, pointing his spear at Fishlegs. A dozen bowstrings are pulled taut and the rest draw swords and spears. Fishlegs squeaks. "Bad idea, bad idea!" he screams as he races the arrows out of the clearing and into the sky to the shouts of enraged hunters.

He gasps a sigh of relief when they're out of range. "That was close!" he pats Meatlug. She grumbles in agreement. "We've got to get the Dragon Eye out of here!"

Then, from behind him, Fishlegs hears a very girlish scream. He turns just in time to see a net wrap around a plummeting Hookfang.

"Snotlout!" he cries. The faraway shape of Snotlout clings to Hookfang's thrashing neck, desperately screaming his head off. Fishlegs hesitates, torn. He can't let the hunters find the Dragon Eye, but someone has to save Snotlout's sorry behind.

Then, with a flash of relief, Fishlegs sees the twins dive down to catch Hookfang. "Hang on, Snotters!" he hears Tuffnut yell faintly. Fishlegs is about to fly back to the clubhouse when he sees the figure on the deck. It's Ryker, with that smug smile, carefully aiming an arrow at the twins.

Fishlegs pales. "Ruff, Tuff, NO!"

It's too late. Barf & Belch flail as the arrow hits its mark. Hookfang's already being dragged onto the ship, and the twins won't be far behind him.

Then Gothi hits the ship like a firestorm, blasting lava on the wooden decks until the entire ship is swathed in flame. Fishlegs can see the furious figure of Ryker ordering men to do something. That something becomes apparent when hunters splash the burning deck with buckets of seawater, making it too wet for Gothi to burn. Nets and arrows fly and Gothi dodges them all, but Fishlegs knows she can't keep this up for long, especially with Ryker holding a bow.

Fishlegs bites his lip, terrified and unsure what to do. His friends need help, but he can't let Ryker get ahold of the Dragon Eye, or Hiccup's gone for good. Meatlug looks up at him questioningly. Below, the hunters burst out of the woods and stampede towards the Edge.

"Clubhouse, girl," he decides. He'll hide the Dragon Eye quickly, and then help Gothi.

They zoom into the clubhouse, barely slowing down to grab the Dragon Eye before zipping out in a flash. He flies to the mountain, depositing it in a cave cut into a sheer cliff, hopefully inaccessible to the hunters. That completed, Meatlug hightails it back to the ships. Gothi's holding her own, but Fishlegs sees Ryker aiming a net shooter and suspects that's about to change.

"Go, girl!" Fishlegs shouts, and Meatlug rams the ship at full speed, rocking it dramatically. The net goes wide.

"Good girl!" he croons, ascending to join Gothi.

Meatlug suddenly jerks to a halt. "What is it girl?" Fishlegs asks, looking down to see a chain caught around her leg. "Not again!" he cries. Gothi attempts to free him, but she can't get close. Once more, he's tugged steadily closer, but this time Ryker's behind the winch.

"Come on, Meatlug!" he cries frantically.

Click, goes the winch. Fishlegs is no more than twenty links away from the ship.

Click, click, click. Seventeen.

Below, Snotlout and the twins are being pulled forcibly from their dragons. Above, Gothi blasts the deck of the ship, but it refuses to catch fire and the lava cools almost instantly.

Fishlegs is close enough to see the individual teeth in Ryker's malicious grin.

Click. Sixteen.

Then Fishlegs hears a high-pitched whistle and looks up, hardly daring to believe it.

Ryker stops, scowling at the sky, an incredulous look on his face. "Impossible," he whispers.

The whistle turns to almost a scream, and Fishlegs finally finds the source. He breaks into a wide grin, "Toothless!"

The Night Fury hurdles from the sky at an impossible speed and with a quick blast, knocks Ryker away from the winch. Meatlug shakes off the chains and barrels over the hunters holding Snotlout and the twins. Gothi takes care of the hunters guarding the dragons, and the riders mount and join them in the sky, cheering.

"Where'd Hiccup go?" Fishlegs asks, looking around at the suddenly Night Fury-free sky.

The other riders aren't listening. Fishlegs follows their amazed gazes to what looks like a small cloud at first glance, but swiftly resolves into a flock of dragons, and at their head is...

"Holy... Astrid?" Tuffnut's jaw drops and he follows their flight with his eyes, turning his head as Astrid, Toothless, and Hiccup zip past him, followed closely by the rest of the A team.

"Well don't just sit there!" Astrid shouts back at them.

Fishlegs jerks into action, speeding after the train of dragons, the others close behind.

Astrid quickly assesses the situation.

"Ok, Spitelout, Stormfly, get the hunters off the island. Try not to use fire if you can help it. We don't want to burn our base to the ground," Astrid orders. The two Nadders break away and make for the island.

For the first time, Fishlegs notices the lump of bandages on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, are you alright? What happened?"

Hiccup opens his mouth to answer, but Astrid cuts him off.

"Fishlegs, is the Dragon Eye safe?"

"Yeah, it's in a cave in the mountains...."

"Good. Then we can focus on getting these guys out of here. I'm not sure I have it in me for another rescue mission," she grins back at Hiccup, and Fishlegs suddenly feels he's intruding on something.

But Astrid snaps back to business and draws her ax. "Let's get them."