Heart of a Chief, Soul of a Dragon

Chapter 7

 The sun was setting around us as Toothless and Shriek evened out into a glide above the clouds. I could see just how tense Hiccup was out of the corner of my eye. It killed me to see him like this, fuming and lost, unsure of what to do next.

"Agh!" I flinched as Hiccup let out an ear-piercing scream and threw himself back down against his dragon. Concerned, Toothless purred and did his best to look up at his Rider, making sure he wasn't hurt. "Don't worry, bud. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you. I promise."

"We just need to get ourselves together, try and figure out exactly what we need to do and where we need to go, okay?" I offered, trying my best to offer support from the distance we had to have. He just grunted and lolled his head over to look at me. "Hiccup, you're upset, you're frustrated, no one makes good decisions in that mindset."

"We can't waste time, Reign," he shot back.

"Hiccup..." I cautioned. Before I could launch into some sort of lecture, a figure pulled up beside the two of us.

"Aw, come on, Dad! Really?"

I turned around to look at them, and my blood ran cold. The figure was adorned in an ominous mask, a large cape draped over their shoulder. Not removing my eyes from the figure, I reached down, placing one hand on my sword.

"Uh, Hiccup, that's not your dad," I whispered, trying not to startle the mysterious, hovering figure.

"Reign, what are you-"

He followed my gaze and stopped mid-sentence, clearly as confused and horrified as I was. They stared back at us for a few moments before dipping back down below the clouds. We looked down to where they had gone, but there was no trace of them anywhere.

"Okay. No sudden moves."

Everything was silent for a moment, before the figure exploded up through the clouds, revealing themselves to be on the back of a four winged dragon. We were forced to stop in our tracks as they circled around us, causing Toothless and Shriek to hover there as we stared back at each other. Ominously, they pointed their staff down in our direction.

"Hold on, hold on."

Suddenly, a dragon flew over our heads and grabbed onto my shoulders, lifting me away from my dragon. I could hear shouts from behind me, but if Hiccup was saying anything specific, he was too far for me to catch any specific words. I twisted and kicked to the best of my ability, attempting to get whatever dragon had grabbed me to release, but to no avail. They appeared to be under the command of whoever this figure was, meaning I was completely at their mercy now.

"Hiccup!"

It was no use. He and Toothless were too far away for any sort of rescue. I tried to get the person's attention, shouting up at them and demanding to know where exactly they were taking me, but they just stared on ahead, their real expression hidden beneath the blue mask. I kicked one last time, really just for the sake of it, but it quickly hit me I had no choice but to dangle there and hope that the mysterious figure wouldn't kill me the moment we landed.

Landing didn't come much later, for better or for worse. The cold had started to seep its way into my bones, but that didn't alleviate in any way once we reached our destination. With a simple point of their staff, the figure directed their dragons into a massive cave tucked away on an icy island, surrounding us in darkness. I tried my best to get my footing once we landed, standing up tall.

"Hey!" I barked, staring them down on their perch. "Hey, you dropped my husband and his dragon back there. You have to go back for them!"

The figure never said a word, but instead slammed their staff down against the ground. Beads carved into the inside rattled, creating some sort of sound against the hollow silence. I reached back and prepared to grab my shield, but before I felt the need to attack, I heard the roar of dragons behind me. I turned just in time to see two dragons duck into the caves, and they dropped the figures in their talons down beside me, filling me with relief.

"Hiccup! Toothless!" Toothless shook himself off as Hiccup attempted to stand, but his legs gave out beneath him.

"Whoa." I reached out and grabbed onto his arm, keeping him from completely hitting the ground. "Are you okay?" I whispered, the tables turning.

"I don't know," he groaned. "I feel weird."

I wrapped my arms around his shoulders as the figure rattled their staff, drawing our attention their way. The dragon nearest to their staff opened their mouth, igniting a flame. The other dragons in the circle followed, until we were all illuminated by firelight. I shifted and pulled Hiccup closer against me as the figure moved down from their spot, getting a little too close to us. They stood up straight, and Toothless and Shriek wrapped their tails around the two of us, growling defensively. The figure crouched onto the ground, dropping their sword and shield before almost jumping forward until they were right in front of Toothless. They outstretched their hand to the Night Fury, offering some gesture that caused him to collapse, purring happily. Of course, that caused Shriek to go on the alert, but with the smallest tap against her horn, she, too, was water in the hands of the person. I looked up at Hiccup in alarm as they ran their hand over our dragons' scales, before moving closer to Hiccup and I. I refused to let go, but firmly gripped my sword with my other hand, the two of us ready to strike if this turned hostile.

The figure reached out to touch Hiccup, and he leaned back, trying to avoid them touching him. He started to stutter and bounce his eyes around. They nearly rested their hand on his cheek, when they suddenly gasped and pulled themselves back onto the ground.

"Oh..." Their voice was muffled behind the mask. "Hiccup?"

The two of us exchanged a glance. How did this person know his name...?

"Uh..."

They removed their mask, revealing an older-looking woman, her green eyes wide in alarm, maybe with some relief buried behind them.

"C-Could it be? After all these years? How is this possible?" She stood as something resembling a smile crossed her lips, looking at Hiccup with a strange sort of affection.

"Uh, should I... should I know you?"

"No. You were only a babe. But a mother never forgets."

A gasp involuntarily slipped out of my mouth as I looked over the woman again. She couldn't be Hiccup's mother, that wasn't possible! She was dead, gone. Unless...

I could feel Hiccup starting to hyperventilate, but before I could do anything to calm him, his supposed mother jumped in.

"Shh... shh..." She looked around at her dragons before smiling back up at the two of us. "Come." She dashed off between her dragons, going down another strange tunnel and disappearing into the darkness.

I stuttered. "Can we trust her?"

Hiccup didn't answer for a moment, looking down, back up, and then around at the dragons.

"We have to try."