I Am Dragonblood: Alpha and Chief {Book Two} (HTTYD Fanfic)

Chapter Seven - Dragon Masters

'Urgh!' Toothless growled. 'These darn baby Scuttleclaws!' He swatted at the hatchlings trying to play with him, a scowl on his black scaled face. 'Why-' bat. 'Won't-' bat. 'They-' bat. 'Go-' smack. 'Away!'
    'They're babies, they don't listen to anyone,' Hiccup laughed. He was sitting on the edge of the Alpha's pool, wings half out in the blueish light and a thoughtful expression on his human face. 
    'Much like you, then,' the Fury grumbled. He slapped a Scuttleclaw that was chewing his tail. 
    Hiccup stood up and stretched, ignoring his friend's last comment. 'Well, bud, we can't wait around for Drago to attack this place. We've got to find him first.' He looked around at the Sanctuary, nodding to the dragons watching. 'Let's go.'
    A hand clamped across his mouth and another on his shoulder, pinning him in place. A deep, gruff voice whispered in his ear before he was released. 'Easy now.'
    'Are you kidding me?! How did you get in here?!' Hiccup hissed. His father stood in front of him, tense and ready to leap into action. 
    'The same way we're getting you out.'
    'We?!'
    Gobber looked out of the tunnel, beckoning to them. 'All clear!'
    'Come on.'
    He rushed after Stoick, who had disappeared into the tunnel, using his wings to leap-glide between rocks. 'Dad! There's something you need to know!'
    'Tell me on the way.'
    'This isn't an on-the-way kind of thing, actually...' He glanced back and saw that Toothless had got his head stuck in a narrow passage, so that the dragon had to reverse and go through sideways. '...more of the Earth-shattering development variety.'
    'Just add it to the pile.'
    'Dad!' Hiccup said with an exasperated growl. 'Unlike most surprises I spring on you, this one you'll like. I promise! You just have to...'
    Stoick had stopped on seeing Gobber frozen in the middle of the tunnel, his back to them. 'Uhh,' the blacksmith said, turning and edging past the Chief. 'You might want to take this one.'
    Stoick drew his sword and advanced on the opening of the tunnel, expecting trouble. 
    'Dad, is the sword really necessary?'
    Apparently not, because he dropped it moments later. Hiccup peered out from behind his father and saw Valka, her four wings folded and her blue armour on, standing by a wall of ice. 
    'I know what you're going to say, Stoick.' Valka said. 'How could I have done this? Why didn't I come back to you? To our son? Why didn't I show who my true self is? Well, what sign did I have that you could change, Stoick? That anyone on Berk could? I pleaded so many times to stop the fighting, to find another answer, but did any of you listen?'
    Stoick seemingly hadn't heard her. He was approaching slowly, as if she were some wild dragon that could take flight any moment, which in a way she was. His small green eyes were wide as she backed up to the ice, her wings pressing flat against the cold surface. 
    'Oh, stop being so stoic, Stoick,' she said, her slitted pupil eyes wide. 'Shout, scream, say something!'
    A second's silence, only their breath could be heard. 
    'Youre as beautiful as the day I lost you.'
    Hiccup and Gobber glanced at each other and sighed in relief. That could have gone a whole lot worse. 

***

    Astrid

On silent wings the five dragons swooped down, entering Drago's camp like ghosts on the wind. Stormfly dropped Eret face first into the snow, then landed on top of him and sat there proudly. 
    'Agh! I got you here, now get this thing off me!' 
    Astrid slid down from the saddle. 'Never take a toy from a dragon. Don't you know anything?'
    'Why does this keep happening to me!' Eret muttered from beneath the Nadder, who had wrapped her wings around him like a broody hen.
    The other Riders were gathered along a ridge, looking down on the fleet of warships. Their dragons stayed back and rested in the snow after their long flight. 
    'What's down there?' Astrid asked Fishlegs, pointing to a rippling in the water. 
    The Ingerman fished out a set of dragon cards from a pouch, riffling through them as he tried to find a match. 'Large diameter bubbles, massive lungs, cold water deep dweller. I'm thinking class five leviathan, maybe six.'
    Astrid heard her Nadder give a warning grunt before taking off, leaving Eret in the snow. Before any of them could react cloaked people ran out of hiding and darted the dragons, making the creatures fall to the ground, unconscious. More men hurried over, surrounding the gang and cutting off any chance of escape. 
    Their hands were tied behind their backs with strong rope, their weapons confiscated. Astrid fought hard against the man trying to tie her up, and it took three of them to hold her in the end. They were herded like sheep down an icy, snowy slope, their dragons being hauled along on wooden boards behind. Drago's men shoved them up a gangplank and onto a ship, forcing them to the front of the vessel by poking their spears at them. 
    Eret was pulled past them and dearmed as Drago approached. The "Dragon Master's" face was disfigured by scars, his black dreadlocks framing his mean expression. He eyed the Trapper like he was an irritating mouse that needed to be squashed, but was too quick to be caught. 
    'Drago!' Eret said jovially while being pushed forward by the cloaked men. 'Always great to see you, my friend! As you can see, I'm right on time with a new batch of dragons, just like I promised.'
    Drago looked at the waking Hookfang with hard dark eyes. The Nightmare shook his head of the drugged sleep and snarled at the approaching Dragon Master, spewing hot fire at him, the tongues of flame licking around the scarred man. For a moment Astrid's hope rose, for surely the heat of Nightmare fire could penetrate even a dragon skin cloak. But it sank again as the fire petered out and Drago roared his defiance, sounding very much like a dragon. He thwacked his staff on the deck, small seed pods rattling in the metal tip, and Hookfang flinched back. With another deranged roar from the Master the dragon lowered his head to the floor, unwillingly allowing Drago to place his foot on Hookfang's snout. 
    'You are mine now, dragon,' Drago said as wisps of smoke leaked from the Nightmare's nostrils. 
    'Hookfang!...'
    'What are you doing?!'
    Eret glanced at the gang, his expression indiscernible. 'And as an added bonus, I also caught you their riders. No extra charge.'
    'Are you kidding me?!' Astrid all but shouted.
    'Turns out there's a whole bunch of them—' Eret was cut off by Drago's strong, scarred hand gripping his throat. 
    'How many?'
    Astrid felt a pang of relief. They hadn't been caught. 
   'How many?!' Drago snarled again after only getting a choking sound from Eret.
    'Hundreds!' Astrid stepped forward, making Drago's men raise their blowpipes in alarm. 'A whole island full!'
    'I wouldn't worry,' the Trapper choked out hoarsely. 'My men are hunting them down. They won't know where you're hiding. I promise that.'
    'Oh, yes they will.' Drago dropped Eret to the deck, his full attention on the blonde Viking. Ok, think, think! 'They know we're missing and they have tracking dragons. If you so much as touch us, Hiccup will—'
    'Hiccup?' Drago smirked. 
    'He's not a problem. Trust me,' Eret said from his place on the floor. 
    Astrid forged on, unable to stop now that she'd started. 'He's only the son of Stoick the Vast, heir to the throne of Berk and the greatest Dragon Master the world had ever seen!'
    'Dragon Master?' Drago growled. 'I ALONE control the dragons!'
    'And unless you let us go, right now,' Astrid hissed, ignoring the twins, who were saying something about crying babies. 'He will blast through here on his Night Fury and blow your entire fleet of ships to splinters!'
    Drago grabbed Eret again, who had just climbed to his feet. 'First there was one rider, and now the whole of Berk?! And YOU led them to me!' He threw the Trapper down and stormed across the deck, his heavy footsteps echoing menacingly. 'STOP ALL PREPARATIONS! WE MUST ATTACK THE RIDER'S NEST AT ONCE!' He smiled cruelly at the captured riders, his face contorting into a horrific mask. 'We will take down their Alpha... Then we will take Berk!'
    Eret had scrambled back up, rubbing his bruised throat. 'You're overreacting!'
    'And get rid of him,' Drago spat as he stomped out of view. 
    'Drago...' 
    One of the men surrounding them threw his spear at the trapper, the deadly point shining as it struck blue dragon hide. Stormfly had landed practically on top of Eret, protecting him from being speared. She grunted when a dart hit her neck, falling to the deck, unconscious. 
    'Stormfly!' Astrid cried out. Eret looked from her to the dragon, his eyes wide as he too had his hands tied behind his back.

***

The clang of metal on metal rattled her nerves, the groan of the ship shook her to her soul. This could be it, for her and the gang. Shoved out into the churning, freezing ocean and left to die in the clutches of the ice. Their dragons had been taken away, there was no way to run with armed men behind, pointing spears and blowpipes at their backs. This was the end. 
    'Could this day get any worse?' Snotlout moaned. 
    'Uh, let me see,' Tuffnut said, fidgeting with the ropes tied tight around his wrists. 'You'll jump into freezing cold water and then die from drowning.'
    Eret, ignoring them, peered over the edge to the rough waters below. 'Looks refreshing. Please,' he smiled to Astrid. 'Ladies first.'
    Astrid decided to throw one last insult before she froze to death. 'You are a steaming heap of dragon—'
    'Duck.'
    She dropped to the deck as Eret pivoted on his heel and kicked the guard down, catching the short handled spear that flew from the soldier's grasp with his tied up hands and cutting through the rope. He knocked out a man trying to run away and darted another with a drugged dart that he'd picked up from one of his fallen comrades. Fishlegs barrelled into two more and pinned them to the deck, and the twins tripped another over. 
    Eret cut the gangs ties. 'So? Are we going to save your dragons and get out of here or not?'
    Astrid just nodded, shocked at the Trappers quick change of heart. 
    'Check every trap,' Eret commanded. 'They're here somewhere.'

1785 words.

Sorry about it being a kind of filler chapter :-\