The Wild Stryke

Chapter 14

  Lightning blasted from the glacier. Toothless roared in rage, eyes finally clear, heaving with power. 

  "I challenge you, false Alpha!" Toothless screamed as dangerous blue excluded from his body. "You are not fit to rule. You have enslaved countless innocent dragons, and caused the death of so many more! I shall fight you for the title of the true Alpha!" 

  The Bewilderbeast let out a protest, loud and echoing. "You're wrong! I am an honourable Alpha. I am powerful! I am strong! I deserve to be Alpha!" 

  Toothless fired off a warning shot that exploded next to the Bewilderbeast's ear. "Look at the dragons around you! Look at Pitch! They don't want you!" 

  "Attack them!" Drago shouted, waving his staff wildly. The Bewilderbeast charged up a shot of ice. 

  A terrible battle ensued. Bright flashes of brilliant light shattered the air, as roars on both sides deafened the spectating Vikings. That was, until the dragons broke free from the Bewilderbeast's control and whirled around to present an incredible united front beside Toothless. 

  After that, it was a one-sided fight. Toothless and his dragons bombarded the Bewilderbeast with relentless blasts, until the very tusk of the Bewilderbeast was knocked clean off. 

  The Bewilderbeast roared in pain, hesistant, confused, and retreated into the waters, whilst his cruel master descended from the sky, falling and falling and falling. 

  All around them, dragons and vikings alike cheered and celebrated, their hundred-year home safe. 

  But this was no time to celebrate. 

  "Where's Pitch?" Hiccup exclaimed, looking around. "Did anybody see him - a dark blue Triple Stryke? He should be freed from Drago's control by now!" 

  There was scattered muttering, confused. 

  Toothless echoed the sentiment, roaring to his new subjects, but there was no solid response, only quiet squawking and a few huffs of smoke. 

  "Damn it!" Hookfang clambered forward, flicking his nose and launching a yelping Snotlout onto his back. "Come on, we've gotta find him!" 

  "Come on, Toothless!" Hiccup leaped onto Toothless as he bunched his muscles, preparing to jump into the skies. 

  They leaped up in tandem, swiftly followed by the rest of the gang, painting a beautiful picture against the sky, teeth flashing, wings stretching, eyes determined. 

  Little did they know, Dusk was underwater, watching the departure, floating quietly alongside a massive, hulking figure of white coral and ice blue. 

  "Come on, let's go," Dusk muttered, head bobbing slightly above the water level. "They're leaving now - we can hurry and get to Icicle Pine before they return." He spread his wings, preparing to glide on the water. "We can use the fog to obscure ourselves for now; I'll glide on the water, and you can go deep underwater. We'll surface on...the fifth sea stack we get to." 

  Pitch flicked his wings, bunching up his hind legs. "Come on." 

  But a small rumble stopped him.

  Pitch looked back. The Bewilderbeast stared at Pitch, eyes looking surprisingly vulnerable and wide, his large maw opened slightly. "What?" 

  The Bewilderbeast shook his massive head, scattering droplets. "I don't understand, Stryke. Why are you helping me?" 

  Pitch shrugged. "Why not?" 

  The Bewilderbeast hesitated. "I - I took control of you. You suffered greatly under my rule. Why would you want to return to me?" 

  "Don't think I'm doing you a favour, Bewilderbeast," Pitch returned, quiet. "But you deserve a second chance - as we all do." Pitch flapped his wings, driving them into the water, thrusting himself forward.

  The Bewilderbeast followed suit.

  A month passed. A slow, agonising month, as Hiccup spared no corner of the archipelago to search for Pitch - whether it was an injured dragon or, Odin forbid, a corpse. But nothing was found - even after enlisting the aid of the Scauldrons of Berk. 

  Hiccup was close to giving up. Astrid and the gang had tried to comfort him repeatedly, but nothing could erase the dazed image of Pitch, mindless and weak. 

  He would keep on trying. Hiccup had to. For Pitch. 

  A month passed. An unrestrained, incredible month, as Dusk kept on building his relationship with the Bewilderbeast - Aquil, as his name was. They hunted fish together, warded off any stray dragons with bellowing roars and screams of fire, and making sure the Scauldrons strayed clear from the Island of Icicle Pine. 

  Dusk truly felt exhilarated. This was the freedom that he had been missing - not the tame laws of Dragon's Edge, or the mind-numbing control under Drago. 

  He would keep on living as he wanted to, with a trustworthy dragon by his side. He had to. For himself. 

  Two months passed. Then three. 

  Then at last, Toothless overheard a hushed conversation of two Scauldrons.

  "- the growls and roars, I swear -" 

  "- the young 'uns have been avoiding that place like the plague -" 

  "- there are sea snakes, Darmp, you mustn't think bad of those -" 

  "- yall haven't seen what Old Sheen has -"

  "- a great big dragon in the water, big as a mountain, strong as the sea -" 

  "- and a shadow following him, controlling darkness, turning dragons blind -" 

  It was time to go investigate.