Fly On Your Own

Chapter 15

        Hiccup tightened the baskets attached to my back again. The twins were completely upright, secured to my back with caged holes for their faces. We weren't exactly going for subtlety here, so I didn't have to worry about the the babies crying. Not to mention the case was completely dragon proof, and only Hiccup and I knew how to open it. Once he finished securing Alith and Kerrigan, he turned me to face him and took my hands.

"Are you sure about this?" I shook my head.

"Of course not. But we're out of options at this point." I glanced back at where Grimmel had taken the dragons. "You realize the ten of us are taking on an entire armada, right?"

"We're out of options." I smirked as he threw my words back at me. No matter what, we had to rescue these dragons and let them get back to where they belonged.

"So, jump off the cliff in these?" Ruffnut spread her arms to show off the wing suits Hiccup had made all of us. In my years of knowing him, I'd always protested this thing. I never saw myself wearing one, especially not with our children on my back. "That's the best you've got?"

"No, you guys are the best I've got." Ruff's expression immediately shifted, her angry demeanor falling away.

"Aw... I'm with him, who else?" She pumped her fist in the air. Her brother whipped his head around, glaring at her.

"Ruffnut, that was my line."

Hiccup wasn't wasting any more time on this. Immediately, he snapped down the visor on his helmet and rushed toward the edge of the cliff, leading the charge. I let my mind go as I rushed toward the cliff, not letting my own fear keep me from following him into battle. I tried my best to keep my eyes open as I shot my arms wide, extending the wings Hiccup had fashioned. The ships got closer the further we floated downward, and soon, we were withing earshot.

"Hang on, Toothless!" Hiccup shouted, trying to get his dragon's attention. Grimmel whipped around from his position, eyes widening as he spotted the troops heading his way. He swooped down to knock Grimmel over, then grabbed onto a rope to make his way to Toothless while the rest of us focused on freeing the other dragons. While most of us landed on the deck relatively gracefully, Snotlout somehow managed to get stuck above us. I rolled my eyes when I spotted him, focusing on the mission in front of us instead.

"Perfect timing." I yanked my sword from its sheath, staring down a group of Dragon Hunters heading for us. "Game faces," Hiccup order, warning us we had to be ready to attack.

"Yeah, what are you waiting for?" We all glanced up at Snotlout. "Get in there."

Hiccup sighed in disappointment, but he didn't really have time to dwell on anything. The Dragon Hunters approached us, but the moment they realized we could fight back, some of them tried to flee. Hiccup and I nodded at each other, and I followed one of the hunters to keep him from getting away. He swung his knives at me, attempting to slice at the vulnerable spot of my face left open by my helmet. I did my best to push back, but the hunter had me pinned as close as I could be against a pole. Just as I considered jumping down, Hiccup rushed up behind the hunter and cut a rope with his Inferno.

"Heads up!" I ducked down just as a dragon came swooping down and snatched up the hunter.

"Thanks." Only a second later, another hunter ran up behind an unaware Hiccup. "Look out!" I chucked my sword at the hunter, striking him right in the head and knocking him unconscious. He lifted his visor as I made my way over to him, snatching a cartridge of Zippleback Gas from his sword.

"Thanks." I opened the top of the cartridge and tossed it down onto the deck, causing the contents to begin to spill out. Hiccup smirked at me as he caught on, then without hesitation, tossed his sword down onto the wood, causing a massive explosion to erupt that sent flames jumping across the planks.