Life on the Edge

4.01 Defenders of the Wing, Part 2

"I warned you, Hiccup Haddock," Mala says, sword still pointed in his direction. "I warned you not to betray me."

Ragnar glares and puts himself between them. "You're not gonna lay a damn hand on him," he says furiously. "Not if you know what's good for you, you-"

What follows is a string of insults and threats viler than anything any of them have ever heard.

Scandalized gasps sound throughout the room. Fishlegs looks like he might faint, and the twins' mouths hang wide open. Snotlout trips over his own feet while Astrid chokes on nothing and Heather claps a hand over her mouth.

"Ragnar," Hiccup whispers harshly, ears burning. Even he is shocked by the absolutely filthy words that just came out of his mouth.

Ragnar doesn't look ashamed in the least and he certainly doesn't apologize or take it back. "Have I made myself clear?" he asks, still glaring at the now pale woman.

Nightshade's low growl is a steady thrum in the background as she mimics her rider's mood like always.

Mala blinks and clears her throat as she recovers from the shock. "Quite," she says dryly. "Though I am not sure how clear it can actually be when I am almost certain many of those threats are not possible at all."

"Touch him again and see if I don't make them possible," Ragnar promises.

Mala holds out one hand to stop Throk when he starts to respond to the threat. Eying Ragnar for a long moment, she finally nods in what can only be respect. Even so...

"Seize them!" she orders.

The Defenders rush forward, not one of them questioning their queen as they prepare to capture the Riders again. Hiccup and Ragnar end up back-to-back as the tension rises, dragons and people alike waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Hic, what's the plan?" Ragnar asks, readjusting his grip on his axe.

Hiccup looks around at the impending fight and makes a quick decision. "Stop!" he yells, hands held out as if he can physically stop anyone from coming to blows.

Amazingly, it works.

"Okay. Look. You're right," he says. "You were tricked, but we were tricked too, okay? Viggo used us as a distraction so he could steal your Eruptodon, but without us knowing. We don't work with the Dragon Hunters. They're our enemies."

"And yet our Eruptodon is gone," Mala points out, "our village is in peril from the lava flow, and you hold me in front of your Night Fury."

"And you still have a sword pointed in his direction," Ragnar tells her with a glare. "I think Toothless is being perfectly reasonable."

Hiccup grabs Ragnar's forearm with one hand and holds the other toward Toothless. "Back off, bud," he tells him, turning back to Mala only when the building sound of a plasma blast dissipates. "We will prove it to you. We'll go rescue your dragon and bring it back."

Ragnar relaxes slightly at Hiccup's touch. "We can even leave some people here to help with the lava," he grudgingly offers.

"Only your best," Mala demands.

"Heather's a survivalist. She's dealt with lava before," Hiccup says, volunteering one of their best. "And Ruff and Tuff..."

"Oh, what do we have here?" Tuffnut promptly asks, stealing a blowgun off one of the Defenders. "Huh. A blowgun. I'm just gonna..."

Ragnar watches in unsurprised disappointment as he proceeds to put the wrong end of the weapon in his mouth and suck a dart down his throat. "He deserves this."