Fury (A How to Train Your Dragon Fanfiction)

Chapter 7: Trappers

We fly over a fjord, winding through forests decorated with gold and crimson. The autumn colours suddenly give way to charred timbers, the trees looking like sickly fingers. As we keep going deeper and deeper in, we see ash and wafting smoke covering the plain. Everything is dismal and creepy. Ahead, in a sheltered harbour, an explosion of ice stands amongst still water. Broken wood splinters lay scattered among the wreckage, like there was a fort here before.

"Stay close," Hiccup commands as we fly towards it. I remain silent.

We soar through the suspended remains of the supposed fort; splintered and frozen in mid-destruction like an eerie reminder of an attack. I swallow a little, the entire spot giving off a chill that isn't from the ice.

"What happened here?" I ask, knowing that it's a rhetorical question.

He shakes his head as his only response. We fly around, looking for anything that could explain what happened. Nightstar and Toothless are both skittish, eyes wide. Hiccup pats Toothless gently.

"Easy, bud," he murmurs.

As we crest the ice formations, I spot a crew of men moored at the stern of a broken ship. One second later, a voice rings out.

"Fire!"

"HICCUP!" I shout a warning.

The men fire a mounted cannon at the two males. The projectile unfurls into a net, which Hiccup and Toothless dodge easily. Another projectile goes flying.

"Thora! Look out!" Hiccup yells.

Nightstar roars in surprise and ducks just as the net flies at us. She tries too late, meaning that the net hits me instead. I fall off of my dragon, letting out a short scream. She makes a distressed sound and rushes towards me, attempting to catch me. Another net flies and hits her, tangling her wings and spinning her out of control. She roars in outrage as she plummets beside me.

I land on something and inhale sharply at the impact. Strong arms wrap around my middle, securing me in a place as I breathe a sigh of relief.

"You okay?" Hiccup asks, cutting the net away.

I nod, looking towards the group. My only concern is for my dragon. "They got Nightstar."

We look towards the boat, where the trappers are trying to control my dragon. A large, raven-haired trapper lunges over the white hot blast she fires from her mouth, wrestling her down like nothing. He deftly ties her jaws shut, wrangling her into submission. Toothless' banshee-like scream rings out as we fly to the rescue, making the men look up.

Toothless streaks across the sky, banking and landing with a ferocious roar. We leap off, the two of us remaining on guard as we face off against the men.

"Stop!" Hiccup commands.

I look to the trappers, growling low in my throat. "What do you think you're doing?"

I try to move towards my frightened dragon, but the men immediately draw weapons. Hiccup extends and ignites his sword, an action that surprises not only the men, but me too.

"Back again?" the lead trapper asks. His chin is lined with blue stripes and his eyes seem to glisten with intelligence. He steps forward, focused only on Toothless. "Soil my britches...two Night Furies. Thought they were all gone for good." He chuckles.

"Let her go," I say, my voice laced with venom as I move forwards.

Hiccup grabs my arm and holds me back. I don't struggle, although every bone in my body wants to.

The man looks to his fellow trappers. "Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads! Don't think Drago has any of these in his dragon army."

His men sound out in agreement. Hiccup and I look at each other in confusion.

"Dragon army?" I ask.

"Look, we don't want any trouble," Hiccup says.

"Ha! You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" the man shouts.

"Wait..." Hiccup mumbles.

"What are you talking about?" I demand.

I take in the icy destruction, putting two and two together. I glance at Hiccup, who seems to have figured out the exact same thing.

"You think we did this?" he asks incredulously.

"Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is, without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them," the man continues.

"What do-gooder-" Hiccup cuts himself off. "There are other dragon riders?"

"You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me." The man approaches. Toothless snarls protectively. "You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?"

"Drago what-fist? Does anything you say make sense?" Hiccup asks.

"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow," another trapper says.

"And Drago don't take well to excuses," a third mumbles, looking scared.

The leader parts his tunic, revealing a large branding-iron scar on his torso. It's in the shape of a dragon skull split by a sword. I grimace, a hand resting on the hilt of my knife.

"This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future," the man snarls.

"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or an ice-spitting dragon, or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay?" Hiccup shakes his head exasperatedly. "Just give us back our dragon and we'll go, strange, hostile person whom we've never met." He puts emphasis on the last two words.

The man bows playfully. "Oh, where are my manners? I'm Eret, son of Eret. Finest dragon trapper alive." He pulls a dagger from behind his back, waving it cockily. His men ready their weapons and net cannons. "After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."

Toothless snarls a warning. Nightstar struggles a little against her bindings.

"That's Nightstar," I say. "She says, 'You'll never hold onto me like this.'" I narrow my gaze. "And I'm Thora, daughter of Thord and Sigrid, and I'm saying that you're not as great as you think you are, hot shot."

"And this is Toothless. He says, 'We're going. Now,'" Hiccup introduces.

Eret chuckles darkly. "They all say that." There's a pause, wrought with tension. "RUSH 'EM, LADS!"

Eret lunges towards us. Toothless blasts the ice above us, bringing down a massive spire. It shatters as it hits the ground, forcing Eret and his men to dive out of the way. Hiccup re-ignites his dragon blade and slashes through the ropes binding Nightstar.

"Nightstar! C'mon, go! Go!" I urge her.

A volley of arrows zips past our heads as I grab on to Nightstar's harness and swing onto her back. Our dragons carry us off into the sky, evading their weapons swiftly.

"YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ON TO THOSE DRAGONS, YOU HEAR ME?! DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!" Eret's voice threatens, ringing out in the brisk air.

We don't look back. We need to warn the others.