Under Pressure

Chapter Fifteen: Precious Moments

Toothless and Bloodbath reared onto their hind legs, one screeching at a high pitch, the other roaring with wings lit up by electricity. Bloodbath sparked as Dagur cackled, so sure he would win this duel. But in the back of his mind he knew as well as everyone else that this was Hiccup's territory. Since the Hooligan was fifteen years old, he had always been the best concerning dragons: riding, control, instincts, territory, knowledge. Everything there was to know about dragons was all in Hiccup's head. Luckily for Dagur, Hiccup only had one working leg. He was at a great disadvantage and no one could deny that.

"Fire, Bloodbath!" Dagur screeched mid-cackle.

"Toothless, watch out!" Hiccup shouted, crouching low over the saddle as his Night Fury dodged the bolt of lightning.

The young chief shouted in pain when the action jostled his leg. He found he needed to use more upper body strength than usual to stay on. Without his prosthetic and only his suit straps holding him into the saddle, he was off balance. Another disadvantage.

Toothless roared angrily as another burst of electricity came close to hitting him and his rider. He reared up onto his back legs again, growling warningly and stretching out his wings.

"Toothless, plasma blast!" Hiccup ordered.

The Night Fury gathered a massive burst of burning plasma in the back of his throat and shot it straight at the center of the arena. The blast exploded, sending a cloud of dark smoke through the arena.

"You missed!" Dagur cackled.

Hiccup smirked, struck with sudden déjà vu. "Did I?"

Dagur blinked quickly as his enemies disappeared into the dark fog. "What... Oh perfect-"

A second plasma blast came dangerously close to them, exploding mere feet away on the concrete walls. "Bloodbath, fire! They have metal, find them!"

Bloodbath roared, gathering powerful surges of electric energy into its wings. With a loud screech it released the beams into the fog. Dagur roared in victory when he heard the Hooligan and his dragon cry out in shock and scramble to safety.

Bloodbath again reared onto its hind legs, flapping its wings wildly against the fog. The dissipating fog was not lost on Hiccup. Before they could be seen he directed Toothless into a darker part of the fog. Taking to the air and circling around the arena in a tight circle, they very nearly knocked Dagur right off his dragon's back. But he saw them just in time, swiping his hatchet at the enemy. Hiccup guided Toothless into a tight flip, narrowly missing the blade.

"Toothless, two blasts!" Toothless obeyed, sending another couple of blasts into the arena—one onto the ground to restore the fog and the other toward Dagur. The Berserker jerked in his saddle as Bloodbath dove away. The duo growled angrily before leaping into the darkness in search of their prey, which just happened to be black as the night.

Little could be heard from inside the fog for a few moments as both fighters sought out the other. Astrid bounced on her toes, Snotlout's fingers absentmindedly rubbed the corners of his mouth, Gobber clutched the bars anxiously. Kara and Frederik watched the black fog with darting eyes, wondering how the men and dragons had been so quiet for this long in the darkness. Even the Berserkers seemed a little apprehensive at the growing silence.

Astrid bit her cheek nervously. Where had...

A Night Fury scream snatched away her thoughts and the Skrill suddenly slammed into the metal door she stood behind. Astrid and many others yelped in shock, stumbling backwards as Toothless dove on top of Bloodbath. Dagur was shoved against the bars with a cry of rage. Hiccup raised a bow, arrow cocked and aimed at Dagur.