Age of the Dragons (HTTYD Fanfiction)

Chapter 40

A chapter on the right day! Wow! I think I must have broken a record of some sort!

Shadows lurked in every corner, festering in a dark spot of the Hidden World. There was no sound to be heard, but the air carried a feeling of anticipation.

Any dragon passing by would never have been able to notice, but sliding along through the shadows were dark shapes, ominous yet without the slightest trace of noise. In a line they flowed, a dark river upon the hard rock, flowing into the mouth of a cave.

But all quiet dropped when they entered the cave. The dragons were raucous and loud, shoving each other and growling in anticipation. With each passing second, their numbers grew, culminating into a great crowd in the central chamber of the cave.

Then suddenly, there was a screeching of claws on crystal, and the entire crowd was silent.

And coming out from the depths of the shadows, onto a platform of dark blue crystal, came a great Grim Gnasher. The dragons all roared in approval, and the Grim Gnasher smiled, holding up a wing to silence them.

'Angry dragons of the Hidden World, we have too long been passive, forced into submission by the Kings and Queens of the Hidden World. But no longer! It is our moment to strike, and claim the leadership for ourselves!' The shadowy dragons cheered, firing shots of approval. And the figure sitting on the dark blue crystal platform smiled cruelly.

'Beware, Shadow. Your reign as King is about to be cut short!'

~/|\~

When it got dark, a team of agents appeared out of the doorway, massing in the dark alley around Christopher, Sarah, Hiccup, Annie and Tyler. "We don't have much time to do this, so you'll need to be quick." Christopher said in a low voice. "You each have six houses to detrace, and you need to be back here before dawn."

Suddenly, six dots appeared on every agent's armband. "I've loaded the coordinates into your consoles, as well as the people you should avoid and a key for temporarily disabling the cameras." Christopher explained. "Now it's time to go. Good luck, agents!"

The agents nodded, and took off, spreading out in different directions. Soon it was just the original riders left. There was a moment of silence, and then Soren and Lila walked out. "They're on their way?" Soren asked.

Christopher nodded. "Hopefully all goes well."

Soren smiled. "Maybe you could help us do more than hope." Christopher suddenly realized what Soren meant. "Of course!" Christopher said, and he smiled. "I have just the thing for you!"

In minutes, Soren, Lila, Philip, Stefen, Ruffnut and Tuffnut were suited up in the garment usually worn by the agents. But this one was different. Instead of the usual devices, Christopher had attached all sorts of weapons and tools, all boosted by capsules. Soren himself added a few USB drives, loaded with Skrill capsules, in case he needed them.

Pretty soon, the entire A-Team was masked up and ready to go. But Christopher felt something was missing. He frowned at the suits, trying to figure it out. And then he realized what it was.

With a smile, he grabbed a color projector, and loaded in a design. And with a quick scan of light, there was an image printed on the back of each of the A-Team's suits.

The Strike Class symbol.

Christopher smiled. "Now, you're ready to go!"

Soren grinned. "Okay team, let's get out there!"

And he leapt on Darkfyre, speeding out into the passage.

~/|\~

The A-Team flapped through the air, following the progress of each of the agents on their consoles. At first, all went smoothly, until an electronic distress beacon appeared on Crusher's dot. "I'll take this one!" Soren said, and he dove down.