𝓑𝓮𝔂𝓸𝓷𝓭

Chapter 14 - The Defenders

" All hail, Queen Mala, Defender of The Wing." Hiccup looked past the blonde-haired man and gasped. He saw a woman sitting on a throne, with short blonde hair, wearing a golden crown, that was accented by her black armour and fur cape.

" This is not good." The four riders mumbled to themselves, this island apparently did not take kindly to visitors, as the Queen leaned forward to look at them.

" So these are the dragon hunters your men captured, Throk?" She asked the man, standing in front of Hiccup, as he nodded.

" Yes, my Queen." He answered, Astrid and Hiccup looked at each other with concern and shock.

" Hunters, what are you talking about?" Astrid asked, Hiccup was equally perplexed, who would hunt dragons?

" We do not hunt dragons, we have no idea what dragons hunters are." Hiccup told the Queen, who looked down at him with little to no emotion.

" We came here to form a peace treaty." The Queen looked over at the man, named Throk and sighed, scowling down at Hiccup.

" Do you take me for a fool, you were sent by Viggo Grimbourne to attack us and steal The Great Protector." The Queen looked up at the huge statue situated in the centre of the village. Hiccup looked at it closer, he had heard of the Eruptordon before, but never seen one.

" You couldn't be more wrong." Hiccup pleaded, he was hoping this would change her mind.

" Why would we even steal a statue, to pose like it for long hours?" Dagur joked, Heather elbowed him and Astrid groaned. They didn't need Dagur's snarky comments to anger these Defenders anymore.

" Silence!" Dagur pursued his lips and shut up after being told off by this tall, yet a slightly attractive woman.

" Look, we don't know who this Viggo Grimbourn is or what your great protector is, but if your friends with dragons that is something we have in common." Hiccup told the queen smiling, she seemed unphased by his words. She shouldn't believe a word they say, knowing full well that Dragon Hunters would say anything to save their skins.

" That's exactly what the last spy, Viggo Grimbourn sent said." She rolled her eyes, clearly, this boy had never been schooled very well. Though his expression said otherwise, could he be telling the truth, could they all be.

" We don't hurt dragons, we honour and respect their ways, we even..." Before Hiccup could finish, the Queen interrupted him. She had heard enough of his so-called confessions, she needed information not whatever he was doing.

" So you say, yet you shackle and make them do your bidding." She snapped back and smiled, Hiccup internally screamed, didn't this woman recognise a saddle.

" Those are just saddles, we ride dragons, they trust us." Hiccup informed her, the Queen glared down at him. His dragon was missing half it's tail, forcing it to rely on it's master to help it fly.

" Not anymore you don't, your dragons are now free." Mala turned to where the four dragons were standing, of course, they didn't fly off. Toothless and Stormfly yawned, Windshear curled up in a ball and fell asleep, Shattermaster was scratching his back.

" Go, be burdened no more, your free!" Mala shouted, Toothless rolled his eyes at the woman and Hiccup shook his head.

" Hiccup is this woman serious?" Toothless asked, he was becoming rather impatient and didn't like the idea of seeing his friend tied up.

" I don't know bud, I'll think of something." Mala looked at Hiccup in suspicion, was this boy actually communicating with the dragon?

" See our dragons are loyal to us and Toothless can't fly without Hiccup, he has no tail." Mala looked at the Night Fury, she asked upon seeing his tail.

" Ok, if we are dragon hunters, why wouldn't my friend's dragons leave now that you've freed them?" Hiccup asked, holding himself up higher and took in a deep breath.

" Isn't it obvious, they no longer think for themselves and your dragon has been permanently grounded because of you." Hiccup lowered his head, he remembered the look in Toothless' eyes when he found him. The fear his friend had felt, the abandonment of his fellow kin, and the sadness of losing his tail, yes he was to blame.

" You and your friends will pay for your crimes against dragons, take them away Throk and prepare for a royal trial." Throk and the guards below Mala's thrown nodded before making their way to the group.

~ Line Break ~

Standing in a hole, where the riders and one other man, the hole was blocked by a caged roof and guarded by two hooded figures. Astrid and Heather stood on the shoulders of Hiccup and Dagur, who were obviously wincing under the weight of their female friends.

" Ok, you take the guard on the left, I'll take the one of the right, when we're out, run to the dragons." Astrid whispered down to the boys, looking up at the two guards.

" Hold up, we're not going anywhere." Hiccup added as Astrid and Heather jumped down from the boy's shoulders and looked at Hiccup.

" Why, we clearly can't make peace with these guys." Dagur pointed out, rubbing his shoulders, Heather had pretty bony feet. Not that he wanted to say it out loud, his sister would beat him up.

" These Defenders of The Wing, are dragon lovers just like us and the way they fight they are perfect allies." Hiccup suggested, Astrid, Heather and Dagur nodded, they still had a chance.

" Except for the fact that they think you dragon hunters, which you don't look like any I've ever seen." The man who had been in the cells before the riders, he had his hands behind his head and was rather relaxed. He was about 6 and a half feet tall, with huge muscles, waxy black hair, that was tied back into a ponytail and had three lined tattoos inked on his chin.

" And you are?" Dagur asked, pointing his finger at the man, he had this feeling about this man and didn't like it.

" Eret, son of Eret and the greatest dragon trapper alive." Heather rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Astrid.

" He seems rather full of himself." The two girls snickered, Eret smiled smugly at them, before standing up.

" Well, hello there lovely ladies, pleasure to meet you." Eret grabbed Heathers hand, before he was thrown against the wall by Dagur.

" Don't touch my sister, you dragon hunting scum!" Dagur yelled, Hiccup patted him on the shoulder and the angry redhead let Eret go.

" Since we're in this mess together, we need to figure this out, together." Hiccup held his hands up between the two men and glared at them.

" Fine, but as long as he doesn't touch my sister." Dagur sat down on the bench, away from Eret and crossed his arms.

" Good, now let's all get some sleep and wait until this royal trial." Eret sat back down in his seat and the girls nodded, before sitting down.

Hiccup did the same and looked back up at the sky, stars were already starting to appear and he just hoped Toothless was safe.

Not that he didn't trust these people, they trusted dragons as much as he did and he was just worried that Toothless would come looking for him.

" I hope you're alright bud." Hiccup muttered to himself, before laying his head back and closing his eyes.