Fly On Your Own

Chapter 6

"He changed his mind."

"And look where that got him." My fists clenched. How dare he? "So, let's get to the point. I am the Night Fury killer. I've hunted every last one but yours. You are going to give me that dragon, or I will— "

"I will never give him up." He laughed and stood up from the chair, pushing Hiccup's sword aside as though it weren't on fire.

"You wish dragons to live free among us like equals?" He circled the two of us—his prey in this twisted narrative. "A toxic notion, my boy. History has shown that we are the superior species. What if word of your misguided ideas were to spread? It would be the undoing of civilization as we know it." His eyes wandered down to Toothless' tail, and as a suspicious look crossed his face. He kicked it, causing Fishlegs to sit up in his disguise, dazed.

"Did we get him?" he slurred before collapsing back down again.

Hiccup lunged forward, using his sword to remove the crossbow from Grimmel's hand.

"Now!" Astrid, Valka, and Gobber jumped down from the rafters, and Astrid tossed me my sword. I gripped it firmly, staring down the man before us. The twins were safe with Eret once again, and although we had to reveal ourselves earlier than expected, things still didn't look too dire.

"Sorry to barge in." Hiccup suddenly pushed his sword into Grimmel's face.

"You think you can come into my home, sit in my father's chair, and threaten my dragon?" He took another step closer, pushing the flames nearly an inch from Grimmel's face. "This is Berk. And we have defended our way of life from far worse than you." The towering man in front of us smirked, as though some inside joke bounced around in his brain.

"Ooh. A fighting spirit. I love it, only..." His expression suddenly dropped, staring the two of us down with poison eyes. "I'm afraid you are mistaken. You have never seen anything like me."

With those chilling words, he turned around and whistled to the ceiling. A green, smoldering liquid began to drip through the cracks in the boards, causing them to completely come apart and allow two large, snapping dragons to fall down. Their roars were closer to screams as the house lit ablaze, embers and smoke enveloping us. The moment I saw the pieces of wood began to split, I dove toward Hiccup, knocking him to the ground and shielding his body from the falling splinters. My head immediately shot up again, only to see one of those dragons heading right for Astrid.

"Astrid, look out!" I cried.

The dragon revealed a poisoned spike on the end of its tail and brought it down, barely missing her body. Another one opened its mouth and spat out a sickeningly green acid. Valka stuck up her shield to defend Hiccup and I.

"Have my dragon ready when I return, or I will destroy everything you love." A piece of the house's foundation suddenly collapsed, forcing us to run. It was a good thing I'd passed the twins off after dinner.

Outside looked no better, however. Yellow and orange consumed nearly every wooden structure in sight, save for the Great Hall in the distance. People's shouts and commotion rang loud and clear as they scrambled to get to the one place still safe. I felt Hiccup's hand slip into mine, and I gave him an affirming squeeze before looking to the others. Everyone appeared to make it out okay, or at least alive. Fishlegs didn't really seem all that with it, but that was understandable. We all made our way toward the Great Hall, organizing ourselves around the table to call a meeting. I already knew what Hiccup was thinking, and whether I liked it or not, I was going to support him.