Deception (A Dragons Race to the Edge Fanfic)

Chapter 22

Everything was prepared and in place. You had safely hidden the Dragon Eye lens in an old Whispering Death tunnel, sealed by a mesh of bracken and undergrowth, which you hoped would serve as a trapdoor. You knew the Dragon Riders would find it, and that was exactly what you intended to happen for your plan to work. Meanwhile, Viggo was making sure that preparations were going smoothly on another nearby island. Amethyst was helping you to scatter some leaves over the trapdoor, to allow it to blend in even more with the surrounding forest floor. You knew you couldn't make the location of the Dragon Eye lens too obvious, or Hiccup would realize it was a trap.

For the last week or so, you had hidden in the foliage of the island, and directed Amethyst to target nearby ships, using the hand signals you had taught her. You had made sure that the Berkian ships that sailed close to the island's shores had been targeted, but left functional enough in order to return back to Berk, to inform Stoick and Hiccup of what they had encountered. At least five ships from Berk had sailed within the island's borders, and you had sent each one of them back with scorch marks scarring the sides of the boats. You figured that it was only a matter of time before the riders came to investigate.

Finally, you saw Hiccup and the riders on the horizon, flying determinedly towards the island Bucket and Mulch, as well as many other sailors, must have told them about. Through your spyglass, you could tell that they were all there. You knew if you tried to overpower them, you would be out numbered; only you and Amethyst were on the island. But, that wasn't your plan anyway. You knew what you were doing.

"Ok girl." You said to Amethyst. "Time to hide." You hopped on her back, and the two of you settled in the thick canopy of trees above where the trapdoor lay. Amethyst adjusted her scales to camouflage perfectly with the deep green leaves around her. The dense canopy of leaves around you meant that, if you stuck to Amethyst's side and kept still, you should remain out of sight. You saw the riders land on the shore of the island, and begin to trek inland on foot, scouring the place for clues.

You assumed the riders must have been searching the island in a lot of detail. It had been about an hour since you'd seen them land, and they still hadn't come within sight since.

You held your breath, as you heard voices coming towards you.

"I'm starving!" you heard Snotlout complaining. "There's nothing on this island, Hiccup!"

"Sure, there is!" Tuffnut replied.

"Yeah!" added Ruff, "There are trees, and rocks and – "

"Ugh, fine, I mean there's nothing important on this island! Nothing that Viggo would want to hide from us."

"Maybe Viggo likes this island, and he wants it all to himself." Tuff suggested.

"I concur. Perhaps he enjoys the sandy beaches and lush forests." Add Ruff.

"Yeah, everyone needs to get away from the stress sometimes, you know." Tuff said matter-of-factly.

"Would you guys be quiet!" Astrid hissed.

"Well, as least (Y/n) isn't here." Snotlout said, "She'd be complaining about how it's one of Viggo's traps, and we should have split up or stayed at the Edge." You had to suppress a grunt of annoyance at this remark.

"Actually, Snotlout," Ruff began, "(Y/n) was kind of right about that last time."

"Hmm. But I still don't see the point in us being here. Viggo's not stupid enough to leave something important lying around. I bet there's not even anything on this island! We don't even know if that Changewing belongs to Viggo."

"Well," Hiccup chimed in, "I doubt that was simply a territorial Changewing. No, Changewings don't naturally live in this area. There must be something on this island, and it has Viggo written all over it."

"Really? Where? Did he leave us a note?" Tuff exclaimed excitedly, "Maybe he set us a treasure hunt!"

"Hold on." Astrid said. "You don't think? I mean... (Y/n) had Changewing, could that mean... "

"No." Fishlegs intervened. "Ember was much larger than the Changewing seen guarding this island. And, besides, this Changewing is different - very different from what I could gather from Bucket and Mulch's description. I've never heard of a Changewing like it before. It can't be (Y/n) and Ember."

"Yeah, I though we finished her off anyway." Snotlout added.

"Technically, Ember managed to escape with her still on his back." Fishlegs pointed out.

"I still feel bad about that." Astrid said, looking to the ground for a moment.

'Wait a second. What did she say?' You thought to yourself, feeling taken aback for a moment.

 "I mean, her nonexistent regard for authority frustrated me, but I don't think she deserved that." That surprised you - you always thought Astrid wanted you gone. However, you scolded yourself for letting yourself get distracted from your mission - that didn't mean anything now, that didn't make up for everything they'd done to you. It was no use apologizing now.

"Hey, you guys, look at this!" Hiccup was crouching on the floor, brushing the leaves off the surface of the trap door. You smiled. He opened it up, and the wooden door made a creaking noise, as the gaping Whispering Death hole was revealed.

"That looks like a Whispering Death tunnel." Fishlegs said shakily.

"Yeah," Hiccup agreed. "But, it looks quite old. Hopefully it's abandoned. Everyone stick together; we don't know what we'll find down there." He jumped down into the tunnel, his  sword ignited in his hand, and Toothless by his side. One by one, the other riders and their dragons followed him into the tunnel.

'So far, so good.' You thought to yourself. About fifteen minutes later, the riders emerged from the tunnel. You could see the Dragon Eye lens being held triumphantly in Hiccup's hand, the sun glistening in the glass.

'Excellent.'

"See, Hiccup said that there would be something on this island." Astrid raised an eyebrow whilst smiling victoriously at Snotlout.

"Ooh, another Dragon Eye lens!" Fishlegs squealed excitedly.

"Let's get back to the Edge, before Viggo realizes we've been here." Hiccup concluded. And, with that, you saw them take to the air, and fly back towards the Edge.

"Phew!" you said to Amethyst "That was intense. But, everything went according to the plan, so I guess our work here is done." Amethyst squawked her approval.

Once the riders were out of sight, you took to the air yourself, and began travelling towards the island where Viggo was. A profound sense of relief seeped through you. You were relieved that everything had gone the way it should. You hoped that, now  Hiccup and the Dragon Eye lens would do the rest of the work for you. Of course, it wasn't a real Dragon Eye lens; it was a false one that you and Viggo had been delicately putting together for the last few weeks. It featured a Night Fury, and contained a map leading to an island that was supposedly the nesting grounds for the Night Furies.

As you landed on the island, it seemed completely deserted, but really you knew that there were dragon root arrow launchers in the crevasses of the rocks all around you. You spotted Viggo directing the last few hunters to their positions.

He saw you walking towards him, as he turned around.

"Hiccup took the bait, I assume?"

"He found the lens on the island and, from what I heard, they don't seem to suspect that it's a trap."

"Excellent. I love it when a good plan falls perfectly into place."

"Hopefully." You said, still aware of the possibility of failure.

"I admire your cautiousness." He said, placing a hand on your shoulder, and pulling you a little closer, "But, you must have more confidence in yourself, my dear." You smiled a little, realizing that you had nothing to worry about: you and Viggo had planned this together – it was going to work.

A/N: Finally, this plan is starting to take shape! Hope you enjoyed this chapter!