The Alpha is Rising

Protecting What Matters

As Gobber predicted, Hiccup found the Ice sign not long after they landed, almost as soon as they landed, in fact. Eret had placed his hand on a piece of the ice, and Hiccup found it there. Hiccup wondered about it for a second before Gobber rushed them on towards the temple.

"I don't see Drago or his men, maybe you can put the signs in place before they do get here. Guess you won't need the bell or the apples!" They practically screeched to a halt once within the temple. There, in the very center, stood a large green and brown stone, the dragonstone, next to the same cactus-like tree Hiccup saw in the garden, the dragonfruit tree. But standing in front of them stood a lone figure with a black cloak draped over his shoulder. He turned around when he heard their approach.

"Gobber, Sandy, Gothi! So good to see you again! And I see you've brought your new Dragon Master." He laughed, "Did you think that three old Dragon Masters and elven kids are going to stop me?"

"The prophecy says so," blurted Sandy.

He laughed again, "Not all prophecies come true. What would you do if your young, precious Dragon Master died?" A group of men entered the temple from the other side, swords and bows drawn. Hiccup and his friends drew their own weapons as their dragons inched closer, growling. Everyone paused as the ground rumbled. "The Alpha is waking up finally, and your little party isn't going to stop me!"

"Dragons, fire! Everyone, outside!" blurted Gobber. The dragons let loose several fireballs as the group dashed out the door. The dragons joined them at a distance from the temple doors.

"That cloak is made from dragon skin!" growled Toothless to Hiccup.

"What? The cloak is made from dragon skin?"

Sandy's eyes widened, "It's just as I feared, Drago no doubt killed a Nightfury to obtain it."

"A Nightfury? How . . . ah!" An arrow whizzed by Hiccup's head.

"Alright, this is it! Remember what I said, watch each other's backs!" Gobber quickly shouted before Drago's men charged the group. Arrows whizzed across the field as swords clashed. Hiccup glanced at Gobber between his fights, he understood now why the Dragon Master wanted Hiccup to learn sword-fighting. He took a quick glance at his friends before his sword clashed with another, he was glad they all had some kind of experience with weapons, otherwise, it would have been all over. Hiccup dispatched the warrior fairly quickly, and found himself facing his next opponent, Drago.

"For such a puny, inexperienced thing, you're not half bad." Drago swung his sword a few times, Hiccup blocking each one.

Hiccup gasped as he glanced beneath the cloak, "Your, your arm!"

Drago smiled, "A small price to pay for this fabulous cloak, made from the skin of your dragon's kind. Very effective, isn't it?"

"Why do you want to control the dragons? Why do you want to control the world?"

"Why do you want to be great? Why do you want the attention of a pretty girl?"

"Wh-what are you getting at?"

Drago walked slowly around Hiccup, "Don't we all want to be great? Your version of greatness would come in the attention of a pretty girl, mine is the control of dragons."

"But, why? Can't you find greatness in another way, like, by helping people, or dragons?"

"I am helping someone, myself, and the Alpha. Why was the Alpha put to sleep?"

"Because he's the last of his kind, and the Dragon Masters didn't want to kill him."

"And?"

"And because he was trying to control the dragons for evil intentions."

"Did you ever think that the Dragon Masters may have been wrong?"

"What? What do you mean?"

"Do you even know what the Alpha's intentions were?"

"I . . . uh . . .I . . ."

"Of course not, why would they tell you? They were afraid you'd find out the same thing I did, that the Alpha only wanted to protect the dragons."

"At the cost of them losing control over their minds, their actions?"

"Some things have to be done for the good of all."

"Not to the point where they lose their ability to choose."

"Choose what? They're animals, there's really nothing for them to choose." Drago lifted his sword over his head, swung it in circles, and shouted, turning to face the area where the Alpha slept as he did so. Hiccup backed up, frantically trying to pull out the bell.

"Toothless!" he shouted over the link. "I'm ringing the bell!" He finally got out the bell and yanked out the handkerchief.

"What is that?"

"A much more sophisticated way to communicate with the Alpha than that . . . yell you just did," retorted Hiccup right before he rung the bell. The rumbling stopped.

"No!" Drago charged Hiccup, and was sent sprawling to the ground by a fireball. Hiccup glanced over, Toothless gave him a nod. Hiccup sheathed his sword as he rushed towards Toothless.

"Thanks bud, now let's give that Alpha these apples!" Toothless roared before taking off, the two racing towards the Alpha's head. It was partially out of the ground, his mouth partially open. "OK, get me as close as possible!" Toothless nodded and soared closer to the Alpha, getting as close to his mouth as possible. Hiccup pulled out the three apples and tossed them into the mouth one at a time. "Yes! Let's get back to the others!" Toothless flew back, Hiccup jumping off his back as soon as he landed.

"Hiccup, are you alright?" asked Merida as he approached the group.

"Yeah, is everyone alright?"

"Doing pretty good, a few scratches here and there, but we're still alive, that's all that matters," reported Eret.

"Hiccup, go put the signs in place!" ordered Sandy.

"But how? There's nothing to hold them!" Gobber opened his mouth to answer when a yell distracted them. Drago was at it again, waving the blade over his head as he yelled. A few dots on the horizon behind him were getting bigger, and fast.

"The rest of Drago's army!" blurted Gobber.

"What should we do?"

"We need to cover Hiccup so he can get the signs to the temple!"

"But how am I going to set it up, lay them on the ground?"

"No, they need to be facing the tree and the stone!" stated Sandy. The group glanced at the advancing army.

"Whatever we're going to do, we need to do it fast!" exclaimed Astrid. A loud bellowing echoed over the island.

"Uh, you gave the Alpha all three apples, right?" asked Gobber.

"Oh no," gasped Merida. She pointed towards the center of the island, the Alpha was slowly getting up.

"Are you serious? Three apples only gave us, what, three minutes?" blurted Tuffnut. Hiccup gulped, and they had spent it on arguing over what to do.

"We're too late," whispered Astrid.