Fly On Your Own

Chapter 11

     I'd never seen this large of an armada before. The cover of night made the already threatening ships nearly heart-stopping. Their jagged shadows stuck up from the dark surface of the calm waters below, nearly poking us on occasion. Hiccup's hands rested on my shoulders, his body pressed firmly against my back as we sped toward where Valka was sure Grimmel was hiding out. Yellow light flooded out from a singular window carved into the fortress in front of us, cutting through the black and blue of night. Once we got close enough, Hiccup looked to me and nodded, then stood. Shriek's flat body allowed him to step forward and jump off her back. Once he touched down on the rock below, the rest of us landed our dragons. We'd have to keep them nearby, in the event of a quick escape, but they couldn't come in with us. If we could capture Grimmel here and now, we might be able to end this and move to the Hidden World safely... once Toothless found it and came back.

The rest of the group went to patrol on the ground, in case any person or dragon found out we were here, while Hiccup and I ascended a staircase. Not far above, I could hear someone pounding their tools against a surface, seemingly unaware of our presence at the moment. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, waiting for the source of the pounding to leave. It took a few moments, but finally, footsteps creaked across the boards, fading as they left the room we were under. Once Hiccup was sure they were gone, he activated his Inferno, and we stepped into the room. While he looked around, guard refusing to lower, my eyes wandered to a table where the person had been working. Vials of bright purple liquid rested on the wood surface.

What would someone use those for?

Suddenly, out of the silence, someone yanked on a chain, and a metal net fell over any means of escape. Hiccup and I started to run back down the stairs, hoping we could find some sort of crack we could squeeze through.

"Where's your dragon when you need him?" My blood ran cold as the two of us whipped around, spotting Grimmel down at the bottom of the stairs. He held a lantern in front of his face, casting contouring shadows across his smirk. "Hmm, chief?" Hiccup lifted the visor on his helmet, brows crinkled in anger as he glared down at the hunter. "Must've forgotten all about you. First rule of the hunt, separate the prey from its pack. You just removed yourselves from the equation."

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded, leaning forward so far I danced between the line of standing and falling off.

"Really?" Grimmel's word held a condescending laugh. "I didn't think you cared. Well, unlike your husband, when I was a boy and came upon a Night Fury, I killed it where it slept. That simple act of courage made me a hero in my village. So I decided to kill every last one, bringing real peace to the people of the world." He whipped around, mocking expression replaced with anger. "Until you two came along, preaching that dragons are something other than thieves and murderers. That nonsense dies now, starting with you."

"But you have dragons of your own," Hiccup shot back. Grimmel laughed bitterly.

"These?" He rested a hand against one of the tusks of the Deathgrippers. "They're dragon killers, drugged into obedience with their own venom." I winced as Grimmel plunged one of the vials with a needle on the end into the dragon's neck. "Not even your precious alpha can control them. They serve me, and only me. Allow me to demonstrate."

Grimmel whistled once, and his whole lair suddenly went ablaze.

"Take cover."

I wrapped my arms around Hiccup's waist and pulled the two of us onto the ground as one of the Deathgrippers spat acid in our direction. It nearly missed our heads, coating the chains holding up the bottom parts of the stairs. I yanked Hiccup back up and pulled the two of us higher up, watching as Val pried open the net with her stick. I jumped out toward the wall, grabbing onto some of the metal and heaving myself up to climb toward freedom.