So, I'm going to do a little thing, and reset who's narrating in this section. So rather than starting with Hiccup, we're going to start with Reign again. I think it's really important for Reign to narrate this chapter and Chapter 16 in particular, so we're going to do that. Also, this helps with something I need to happen later on (I absolutely want Blindsided to be narrated by Reign, I think it could be really cool).
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The cold night air nipped at my face, causing blood to rise to my cheeks; it zipped right past me, stinging the little cuts and scrapes on my knuckles, but all of it was worth it. I hadn't gone on patrol with Astrid in what felt like forever, and because of that, I'd completely forgotten how fast she and Stormfly liked to go. Despite that, we were able to do a thorough check of Dragon's Edge and the surrounding areas, leaving no anomaly uninvestigated.
"Well, very good patrol, Astrid," I smiled. "The Edge is secure." Though we'd checked this accomplishment off, Astrid's face still appeared wary, scanning her eyes over the ground with an intense stare. "Uh-oh. I know that look."
"Where are all the Night Terrors?" she asked as we passed over a set of the dragon perches. "Aren't they supposed to be on watch? They're our last line of defense."
It didn't take much for me to figure out exactly where our sentries had gone, causing my hands to involuntarily ball into fists.
"Tuffnut!" I screamed, frustrated.
Immediately, Astrid and I yanked on our dragons' saddles, getting them to flip and turn back around. The closer we got to our temporary home, the stronger the warm, yellowed lantern light grew. It beckoned me toward it, whispering about ending the day and just going to bed, but I had to take care of this first.
As we'd expected, when Astrid and I landed, we found the twins hunched over one of the Night Terrors, dangling a stick over the dragon and coaxing it into jumping up and catching it. I wanted to believe that the twins would understand why they couldn't distract the Night Terrors in particular, but then again, they lacked the important life skill of common sense. It came in and out from time to time, but overall, they didn't really use their heads.
"Uh, what are you two doing?" Upon hearing my voice, the twins whipped around, proud smiles on their faces. An air of guilt crossed Fishlegs', while Snotlout remained stern and slightly annoyed as Astrid and I moved closer.
"What does it look like we're doing?" Ruffnut countered, crossing her arms against her chest. "Dragon training!" Tuffnut leaned down and scooped the Night Terror up into his arms, causing it to squeal and protest.
"Aside from Hiccup, you would think that you, of all people, would recognize that." Tuff's accusatory tone only furthered my frustration.
Right then, I heard the flapping of larger wings, and Hiccup and Toothless landed as I turned to look at them. Upon running his eyes over the scene, he shot me a quizzical look, silently asking for some sort of explanation.
"The twins have decided that playing with the Night Terrors is more important than letting them stand watch like they're supposed to," I huffed, jutting out a hip.
"Uh, excuse you, dragon training," Tuff corrected, like it made any difference. "Prepare to be amazed, my friend. Okay, ready, little guy?" He tossed the Night Terror to the ground. "Shake!" In response, the Night Terror dropped onto its back and began to move itself back and forth, wiggling furiously. I rolled my eyes, annoyed that the twins had truly wasted valuable resources. "See, you thought it'd be a handshake, he'd put out his paw, but I taught him—"
"No, we understand," I interjected, sighing. "I'm just not sure how useful a skill that is."
"That's not all. You wanna see him get my slippers?" Tuffnut treated that like it would somehow make this situation redeemable.
"These dragons are not our pets, Tuffnut," Astrid argued. "They're an integral part of our security system." Despite Astrid's blunt logic, Tuff completely tuned her out and kept going on the tricks he'd taught the Night Terror.
"He can solve math problems by stomping his foot, as long as the answer is three." Thankfully, Hiccup decided to intervene at that moment, shutting down any more of this nonsense.
"She has a point, Tuffnut." Hiccup directed his attention toward the small chicken in front of Tuffnut, happily preening herself and fluffing her feathers every now and then. At first, I'd been opposed to the idea of letting Tuffnut keep the chicken around, but she'd proved to be pretty quiet and relatively out of the way, and the dragons had learned not to try and eat her, so it wasn't that big of an issue anymore. "And you have a pet already."
Tuff followed his gaze, but just ended up shrugging at the sight of his beloved companion, completely unimpressed.
"Eh," he scoffed.
That wasn't good enough for me. There were factors Tuff was too selfish to consider, factors far more dangerous than merely missing an incoming fleet of predatory dragons.
"Dagur could park a whole fleet right offshore and we wouldn't even know they were there because the Night Terrors aren't on their perches," I snapped, fear driving the images in my mind. We couldn't take risk when it came to my brother; though he could be a bumbling idiot at times, he had a way of forming alliances and persuading people to join him. That was the terrifying part.
"Lighten up, Reign." I glared at Snotlout as he approached me. "Dagur doesn't even know where Dragon's Edge is."
"Not yet," Astrid cut in, her frustration beginning to boil over. "But if you guys don't take this seriously, he will soon enough."
"I say bring it on!" Snotlout challenged. "Let him bring that weak sauce in here. Hookfang and I will pummel his deranged butt."
As I shook my head, the screech of a dragon drew my attention away from the lunacy I'd been smashed between. A green blur was frantically zig-zagging right for us, threatening to make impact if we didn't react in time. I threw my hands over my head and managed to hit the deck before I would've gotten hit, as did many of my friends, but Fishlegs, unfortunately, didn't seem to get the memo in time, causing the little Terrible Terror to smack him right in the face. Frightened by the sudden hit, he collapsed to the ground, struggling and flailing in an attempt to pick himself back up. Once he finally managed to pry the dragon off his face, he reached down and pulled the little note off. The longer he read, the more his pleasant expression dropped, causing my stomach to twist.
"What is it?" Hiccup asked warily. Fishlegs hesitated to answer, refusing to lift his eyes from the parchment when he finally did.
"It's Berk," he whispered. "And it's not good."
I stiffened, already imbibed with an inkling of what happened; I didn't want it to be the case, but at this rate, it was all too possible. Hiccup's lips were stretched into a thin, hard line, his thoughts evidently resembling mine. Words seemed to be caught in his throat, so I had to be the one to speak up. Gently, as to not upset him, I made my way over to his side and set an arm around his waist before I looked to the rest of the group.
"Get you dragons saddled up," I ordered. "We're leaving now."
The rest of the group immediately scrambled toward the stables to get the saddles, while I remained by Hiccup's side. His eyes were glazed over and distant, his mind in some realm of panic and worry. It wasn't until I brushed some of his auburn hair from his eyes that he finally snapped out of it, staring at me like I was foreign for a moment before dropping his head to my shoulder.
Neither of us spoke a word, even as the rest of the group came back with our saddles. I flashed Astrid a thankful smile as she passed me Shriek's, and Hiccup finally came back to reality when Fishlegs placed Toothless' in his hands. By this point in our lives, we'd become experts at putting on dragon saddles, so all of us were able to get up in the air mere seconds after everyone returned. Every second for this flight counted.
Thankfully, we managed to reach Berk as the sun was peeking up through the clouds, the orange and purple painting the sky strangely ominous as thick plumes of black smoke rose from the ground of our home island. My hands balled up into fists, my breath already picking up as I scanned over the broken and smoldering buildings from a distance, while Stoick and Skullcrusher flew closer to our formation.
"Son, I'm glad you're here." There was a relieved sigh twisting its way into Stoick's words, something I didn't often hear from him.
"Who did this?" Hiccup growled, not bothering to return the formalities. "Dagur?"
Stoick's lack of a confirmation told me everything I needed to know. My brother took his opportunity, and once again, we hadn't been quick enough to stop him. I could already tell he was taunting us from his ship, laughing and reveling in his victory. The sheer thought of him enjoying something so brutal made me sick.
"It was a hit and run attack," Stoick informed us, momentarily breaking my anger up with a bit of confusion. "Catapults and volleys of fire arrows. Hit a few buildings in town. Astrid, one of them was your parents' house."
My eyes widened as the words left Stoick's lips. They hadn't been my actual parents, but the Hoffersons had taken me in and raised me like I was their real daughter. There was a certain sense of detachment with me, but hearing of the danger Dagur had put them in furthered my frustration and anger with what happened here.
I followed close behind Astrid as she dove down, heading straight toward the childhood home we'd both adored. Metal and planks of wood were now decorated with dark spots where fires had been extinguished too late. Grey ash still fell from the air like morbid snowflakes, piling up on the grass and stone beneath our feet. I'd expected to find Astrid's parents out in front, but they were nowhere near the crumbling remains of the building. Were they...?
Horrified at the thought, I reached over and grabbed onto Astrid's hand, the two of us squeezing tight at an attempt for some sort of comfort.
"Relax, lass." Astrid and I turned to our left to see Gobber making his way toward us, coated in the thick layer of soot. "Your parents are fine. They were at the yak races. I'm sorry we couldn't save your house." That did nothing to comfort either of us.
"If they had been home, Gobber..." Astrid trailed off, her eyes falling to the ground.
"But they weren't," I reminded her, trying to find some sort of positive in all of this. "It'll be all right, Astrid."
"Exactly, Reign." Gobber was feigning his optimism as much as I was. "We'll get this place rebuilt good as new."
The entire time, my mind kept wandering back to what my brother had done. Let him believe he'd gotten away with this; he'd get what was coming to him soon. His ships were slow-moving, meaning he couldn't have gotten far. When I got my hands on him and his men...
For a moment, I'd gotten too lost in my revenge fantasies, forgetting I had someone next to me that may have needed me more.
"Astrid, I—" Immediately, she offered me a half-hearted smile.
"Go after your brother." I shook my head, still impressed to this day that she could read my thoughts. "Take him down for me."
"Absolutely," I laughed. Though part of me still felt bad for leaving her, I needed all the ground I could get on Dagur.
I turned on my heel and ran toward the center square, finding Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, Stoick, and Bucket and Sven gathered around each other, handing out orders within their respective groups. From the distance, Hiccup spotted me, and pushed through the rest of the crowd. Once he was close enough, he reached out and placed his hands on my shoulders.
"Are you okay?" he asked, though I knew he thought that wasn't really the appropriate response. "How are Astrid's parents?"
"Fine," I sighed, shrugging my shoulders. "I haven't seen them yet, but Gobber said they weren't near the house when it was attacked, so they're okay. I'm sure Astrid is on her way to see them now." I leaned into his touch, needing the comfort. "We need to find my brother now."
I expected Hiccup to protest and try to tell me to put my head on straight first, or something along those lines, but instead he turned toward the rest of the group and threw tasks at them, stating he and I were going to look for Dagur. I stood there in slight shock for a moment, then called for Shriek. The two of us were about to take off, when Stoick's voice halted us.
"It was a strange attack," he said. "A single ship. It fired a few salvos, and then just, turned tail and ran." That information only furthered my confusion about this attack.
"That's not Dagur's style. Why attack at all?" I thought aloud.
"Good question," Stoick encouraged. Talking about this would get us nowhere, though it brought a strange amount of comfort to me.
"Tell you what: I'll ask him when I find him."
"He was heading north," Stoick informed us. "That's your best bet."
Hiccup and I took off, heading out toward the north first. The entire time, I kept my eyes glued between the horizon and the water, scanning every little crack and crevice I could spot that a ship could potentially hide behind. Every now and then, Hiccup would try to say something, attempting to break the silence, but I just nodded or offered a short response, focused on the mission I'd set for myself. Dagur couldn't just keep getting away with this, or at lease keep believing he had. He deserved to be locked up behind bars he couldn't break free from this time around.
My frustration mounted as Hiccup and I circled back around to Berk, our search coming up completely fruitless. The sunset pushed on my discouragement, taunting me with the reminder my brother now had a two-day head start on us. I wanted to keep looking for him, but Hiccup managed to convince me to turn Shriek around and head back to Berk. I didn't want to face Stoick or the rest of the village yet, so the two of us headed toward the old training arena, finding the rest of our friends camped out there as well.
When we landed, Hiccup and my eyes fell on Meatlug, who had her feet dunked into buckets.
"Uh, is Meatlug okay?" I asked, eyeing her with confusion.
"Of course, she'll be fine," Fishlegs assured us. "But all this taking off and landing is tough on her insoles." That didn't really clarify anything, but then again, I never really understood the dynamic when it came to Fishlegs and Meatlug. That didn't mean it was any less sweet, however.
"Oh, okay," I shrugged. "We couldn't find any sign of Dagur, but he did have a full day's head start on us."
"How'd you two do on the repairs?" Hiccup asked the twins, trying to direct my attention away from what I viewed as my failure.
"Awesome," Tuff boasted. "We fixed so many houses."
"Yeah, but everybody was just so grateful," Ruff added. "They just, gave us all this food." She gestured to a table filled with suspiciously well-made food.
"They also gave us this furniture. They just left it in front of their houses for us."
It took me only a split second to realize what had actually happened. Right before I spoke up, footsteps came thundering in behind us, causing Hiccup and I to whip around.
"Hiccup! Reign! It's a terrible tragedy!" Sven cried, slightly out of breath. "Someone's been looting the burned houses, taking food, furniture... anything valuable they can get their hands on."
I cast a suspicious and warning glance at the twins, whose cheeks turned red upon realizing what they'd actually done.
"That's horrible!" Ruff declared, hiding a necklace she'd been admiring. "What kind of world do we live in?"
By that point, I was fairly certain Sven had figured out what was going on here, but I turned him around and started to push him away before he could say anything to or about them. The twins had to fix this on their own.
"Don't worry, Sven. I'm pretty sure it'll reappear. Very quickly."
I was about to chew out the twins again, when Stormfly's distinct squawk sounded over my head, and I immediately rushed to Astrid's side as she landed and slid off her dragon.
"Astrid, how are they?" I asked quietly, trying to shoulder the rest of the group out of the conversation. It's not that I didn't want them involved, everything was just still to raw right now.
"They're okay," she shrugged. "Their house..."
"I know." I stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I grew up there, too. People saying it'll be rebuilt just isn't the same." Astrid nodded along.
"Hey, Astrid, do you need a shoulder to cry on?" As usual, Snotlout treated the situation without any of the nuance or grace this sort of tragedy required, using it as an opportunity to take advantage of vulnerability. Quite frankly, it was disgusting, but thankfully, Astrid was still Astrid. She took hold of the arm Snotlout leaned against her and used it as leverage to get his feet off the ground and chucked him against one of the stone walls. "Pain."
For a moment, a smile crossed Astrid's face, satisfied with what she'd done before she walked over to the boy she'd thrown and offered him a hand to help him up.
"Thanks, Snotlout, I really needed that," she admitted.
"You're welcome," he groaned as he worked his way back up to his feet. "I know my role."
Most of the tension had dissolved at this point, which offered me some relief. Everything wasn't even close to wrapped up, but at least there was some sort of resolution. The big, looming threat over our heads still kept the clouds dark.
"Listen up, everyone." I directed my attention toward Hiccup. "Dagur was last seen fleeing due north. By my calculations, he could be heading out of the archipelago. So, we go back to Dragon's Edge first thing tomorrow. We'll use that as our base to search for him. Just go back to your houses, get a good night's sleep." Hopeful, I leaned back and rested my head against Hiccup's shoulder.
"Thank you," I mouthed, smiling at him. He responded by gently placing a kiss on the top of my head.
When I moved my head again, I noticed Astrid starting to head toward Stormfly, like she was going somewhere.
"Where are you guys staying tonight?" I inquired. Astrid shook her head and removed a fleece blanket from one of Stormfly's saddle bags.
"I figured Stormfly and I would just bed down here." She tried to sound optimistic about it, but I could hear the resignation behind her words. No way was I about to let her go through this on her own.
"What a coincidence!" I exclaimed. "I'm sleeping here, too." I nudged Hiccup a little, trying to get him on board.
"Well, if you're going to sleep here, then I will, too," he laughed, pulling himself together.
"Why?" Astrid question, raising one of her brows at the two of us. "You have a warm bed and a house."
"Yeah, but the way Stoick snores, sawing logs, you know?" I joked. Behind me, heard Hiccup snort, confirming the story I'd offered her. "Neither of us would get a wink."
"Yeah, Meatlug and I were gonna stay here, too, just for old times' sake." I smiled as Fishlegs held up his own sleeping set, furthering the solidarity.
"Uh-uh," Snotlout scoffed. "Nobody is having a sleepover... without Hookfang and me."
The whole group finally got on board with the idea of sleeping in the Academy for the night, so Hiccup started to gather up some wood for a fire, while I went out to get some fish and bread for all of us to eat. Dinner passed with merry laughter and rapid-fire conversations—everyone's attempts to distract Astrid for the time being—further tiring us out. By the time the sun completely disappeared and we'd finished eating, everyone started to fall asleep, leaving just Astrid, Hiccup, and I awake.
"Thanks, guys," Astrid sighed, smiling in our direction. "This is kind of nice."
"I'm always here for you," I assured her. We both offered each other a nod, then Hiccup and I slumped down, drifting off to sleep fairly easily, despite the excitement of the day.
When the sun woke me up the next morning, Astrid was still sat up, slumped over her own knees in defeat. My heart broke to see her this upset; Astrid had her emotional moments, but overall, it took a lot to break her. This was such a simple thing, and the damage it had done was irreversible.
"I'll finish packing up," Hiccup muttered to me, gesturing his head toward Astrid. I nodded and made my way over to her, crouching down beside her.
"Hey." Upon hearing my voice, she looked at me. "Did you get any sleep last night?
"Eh, I spent most of the night thinking," she admitted, which was made clear by the puffiness and dark circles under her eyes.
"Makes sense," I shrugged. "I can't say I really blame you on that." Astrid's gaze lowered again, and she began to pick at some loose fuzz on her blanket.
"I just can't stop playing out all the different scenarios in my head. The ones that have the worst outcomes are the ones that stay the longest."
Sadness washed over me, compelling me to reach forward and pull her into a hug. They had been my parents, too, and the thought of something worse happening to them chilled me. It came up every now and then, but knowing that those images were constantly on her mind made me wish there was something I could do to just fix everything.
"They got lucky. So did you. That's what matters." I hoped that didn't come out as harsh. "We're wings up in an hour. Let me help you with her gear." The tiny smile Astrid managed to offer to me faded away upon hearing that.
"Reign, I've made a decision. I'm not going back to Dragon's Edge. I'm staying here, on Berk."
I froze for a moment, still trying to process what Astrid had just thrown at me. This had come out of left field, and I didn't believe she'd actually said it at first.
"Whoa! You're staying here?" I asked, flabbergasted. "When did you decide this?"
"Last night, when I was talking to Stoick." This idea gave her enough optimism to stand up and face me head on.
"We're warriors, Reign." I jumped, whipping around to stare at Stoick. I hadn't noticed him come in. "We live by a code." Part of me felt wary about putting my foot down against him, but at that point, I hoped we were close enough that he wouldn't take things personally.
"I'm not leaving Berk defenseless again. I can't," Astrid insisted. Her judgement had been clouded by whatever Stoick had said to her last night. We needed her and her ideas in order to keep the Edge safe, and our numbers were much lower than Berk's.
"Astrid, one dragon wouldn't have made a difference," I countered.
"I know that." Her words came out dismissive, acknowledging what I said without allowing any of it to really sink in. "Reign, I'm gonna stay here and train new Riders."
"What?" I almost laughed, the situation only further escalating with each new twist Astrid threw at me.
"An auxiliary," Astrid stated bluntly. "A backup team for situations just like this."
Though I hated to think of Astrid leaving us, her mind had been made up. She and I shared that stubbornness that kept us glued to an idea, so I could kick and scream and insist that she come back with us, but at the end of the day, she'd remain planted right in her spot. Not to mention, her plan actually wasn't half bad.
"That's, uh, actually a pretty good idea," I reluctantly admitted. Snotlout crossed by in the background, catching Astrid and my attentions.
"I couldn't help overhearing your conversation, because I was eavesdropping. If you need instructors for this new dragon-training deal, I'm your man. A Snotlout-trained rider will be able to anticipate his dragon's every move. It's like chess, except I don't know how to play chess." To demonstrate, Hookfang swung out his tail, causing Snotlout to duck back. "See what I mean?" Unexpectedly, Hookfang went back in the other direction, slamming into Snotlout and knocking him onto the stone. "Checkmate."
"Sorry, Snotlout, but I'll be doing all the training myself." Having brushed away that annoyance, Astrid turned back to me. "This is something I need to do, Reign."
If she was going to stay here, I wasn't about to give up easy. Changing our plans maybe wasn't the best idea, especially because I didn't consult anyone first, but this called for a last-minute switch.
"Okay, change of plan," I called out to the group. "Snotlout, twins, Fishlegs, you'll follow Dagur's trail north of the Archipelago. If you don't find him, resupply at the Edge and keep searching." Hiccup shot me a quizzical look, but with a gesture toward Astrid, he nodded and backed down.
"Reign, what part of 'I'll be doing all the training' wasn't clear to you?" Astrid huffed.
"Hiccup and I will just patrol the area around Berk, in case Dagur doubled back. You won't even know we're here." I smiled a little as Shriek nudged my hand, vying for my attention. "Right, girl?" She gurgled happily in response. Astrid still appeared a little reluctant, but her posture had relaxed quite a bit.
"Okay, then. This all assumes anyone would even want to try out to for our B-Team."
While Astrid and Stoick went off to tell the villagers about her team, I doubled back around and approached Hiccup, hoping he'd go along with all of this. When I approached his side, he immediately pulled me tight against him, placing a kiss on the top of my head. Both of us remained silent for a moment, swaying back and forth slightly to a silent rhythm as I attempted to fully process everything. I couldn't imagine my life without Astrid close by. She understood things Hiccup couldn't experience, couldn't begin to comprehend, and I relied on her just as much as I did him, if not a little more. Though I knew who my blood sister was now, Astrid would always be a sister to me.
"What are we going to do?" I sighed, my voice slightly muffled against Hiccup's chest. He remained silent for a moment, forming a response that wouldn't hurt even more.
"I know this isn't what you want to hear, but... maybe we just let her do this," he shrugged, though he sounded just as reluctant. "She has to work through this." I shook my head, picking my gaze up.
"This isn't the solution, Hiccup. You have to know that." He remained silent, causing me to push away from him. "We both know her pretty well by this point. She's going to keep assigning herself new tasks after she trains this team, and it's never going to end. I just wish..." It was only then that I realized I'd been raising my voice, and in defeat, my hands dropped to my side. "She's not telling me everything; I wish she would."
Hiccup hesitated for a moment, stepping forward before moving back again. He seemed to be calculating what to do, but ultimately decided to go halfway between the two of us, remaining calm.
"When Astrid's ready, she'll come to you," he assured me. "Somewhere deep down, I know you know that. But right now, I think we should go and patrol around a bit and get out for a while. You can ride on Toothless with me, if you want."
Half out of it, I nodded and took his hand, climbing up on Toothless behind him, who purred happily. That made me smile a bit, slowing my thundering heart but not calming me. We made our way up to the top of the former academy, meeting up with the rest of our riders. As we all were about to head in our separate directions, the crowd started to funnel in, revealing quite a large group of people interested in becoming Riders. Whatever Astrid and Stoick had done or said clearly worked.
"Nice turn out," I commented, genuinely impressed.
"Yeah, look at them, fresh-faced and full of dreams." I turned myself to face Tuffnut, who had lowered down his dragon's head. "Dreams that are soon to be crushed. Huh, Reign, were we ever that young?" I responded by rolling my eyes and turning my attention back to the scene under us.
"Snotlout, is that your dad?" Fishlegs pointed down into the crowd, showing off Spitelout standing proud and tall.
"What!" Snotlout exclaimed, leaning forward on Hookfang's back. "Hiccup, you have to let me stay! I will get to make the rules. I will get to point out every one of his mistakes." The crazed power overwhelming his eyes scared me a bit.
"Not gonna happen, Snotlout," Hiccup asserted.
"You owe me this! The world owes me this!"
Though Snotlout kept shouting and raging, the rest of us took off, heading in our separate directions. Hiccup and I circled around the area surrounding Berk a few times, each completed circle pushing me to ask for another go around. I refused to believe my brother wasn't within our grasp. There was absolutely no way he wouldn't come back to revel in his spoils; he was just that stupid.
Hiccup humored me for a while, circling back around and swooping downward when I asked, but after probably the fifth or sixth go around, he yanked on Toothless' saddle, bringing the two of us to a complete halt. Enraged, I straightened up as he turned his torso to face me.
"What are you doing?" I demanded. "We have to find Dagur! He can't get away with this." Hiccup refused to speak, only furthering my frustration. "What? Why are you just staring at me?"
"You're not doing this for the right reasons, Reign." Hiccup tried to keep his voice calm, in an attempt to bring me back down. "You're doing the same thing Astrid is, just with a different target."
My shoulders slumped, defeated yet again. I knew he was right, and I hated that. I acted like I was the right one in this situation, and Astrid was in the wrong, but there I sat, pushing Hiccup and Toothless toward something we wouldn't be able to find. Dagur was gone, far ahead of us and likely outside the archipelago.
I had to let this one go. There would be plenty of other chances to find my brother and hand him the justice everyone else deserved.
"I hate it when you're right," I teased, causing the two of us to chuckle. "It's starting to get dark. Let's head back and call it a night."
Astrid hadn't given up on her regime the next day. I'd tried to stay with her in the Academy overnight, but she refused, insisting that she wanted to be left alone for a while. It worried me to watch her push herself further and further away from all of us, just to make it easier for herself when we all inevitably had to go back to Dragon's Edge. Hiccup and I decided patrol was useless today, and instead, we perched ourselves up at the top of the Academy and watch over Astrid's lesson for the day. The remaining recruits consisted of Spitelout, Gustav, Gothi, and Bucket and Mulch, which honestly didn't inspire much confidence. But, hopefully, Astrid's training would shape them into fitting Dragon Riders.
Their relaxed postures on their dragons immediately stiffened when Astrid entered the area, wheeling in one of our old training dummies from when we were younger. A wave of nostalgia washed over me, momentarily longing for when I'd been ignorant of my lineage, and all seven of us were thick as thieves.
"Today's exercise is to dive at the target, do a barrel roll to avoid enemy fire, and then hit a target with a blast. Like this." Astrid jumped up onto Stormfly and demonstrated exactly what she'd relayed a moment ago completely flawlessly, eliciting 'ooh's and applause from the trainees. "All right. Who wants to go first?"
Spitelout volunteered, his cocky nature no more contained in this scenario. He'd been given a Deadly Nadder, which weirdly suited him. The two of them worked well together, executing Astrid's instructions well right up until the end, when he missed the target by a mile. Still, he managed to hit the actual body of the dummy, and if that were a real person, that shot would have sent them running. However, Astrid didn't count it, and moved right along to Gothi.
The small, old woman had a hard time staying on the back of her Gronckle when it did the roll, which was only coupled by the fact that the purple dragon only flipped upside down and never came back up. Rather than panicking, Gothi used this to her advantage, and when the two of them came in close to the target, she kicked her legs out, knocking the training dummy to the ground.
"Yes!" I cheered. "Gothi, coming in hot!"
"Fail!" Astrid declared, much to my frustration. "To be a Dragon Rider, you actually have to ride on the dragon."
Astrid barely gave Gothi enough time to collect herself and get out of the way before she picked the dummy back up and sent Bucket and Mulch in on their Zippleback. They were wobbly and unsteady, only making it halfway around the turn just like Gothi. They actually managed to spew gas out of their Zippleback and ignite it, engulfing the entire dummy before they hit the ground and began to spin around on their helmets.
"Fail," Astrid sighed. I wasn't really about to disagree with her on that one.
"Oh, come on!" Hiccup cried. "You got to count that." I pointed toward the pair that was still spinning on their heads, their dragon refusing to stop flapping its wings.
"They're not exactly in a good position," I observed. "I have to agree with that one."
It took Stormfly firing at the four of them to get the Zippleback to stop spinning, but Sven took his shot next, perfectly executing the roll but missing the target with his Monstrous Nightmare's fire. Rather than giving up, Sven removed his axe and chucked it at the training dummy, hitting it right where the eye was painted on.
"Cheating. Fail." I scoffed at Astrid's assessment. She'd done that herself on a few occasions.
"What is she doing?" I questioned, waiting to see what happened with the last recruit.
Gustav and Fanghook, being the most experiences riders, nailed Astrid's challenged without any sort of hitch. I had to admit, I was impressed with the control he'd gained over his dragon in the time we'd been gone. Sadly, it wasn't good enough for Astrid, who ordered him to try it again. They came in almost the same way, but right as the two of them fired, Astrid pushed the dummy out of the way, causing him to miss.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Gustav protested.
"Element of surprise," Astrid stated bluntly, crossing her arms over her chest, "key to any battle. Now, land and give me twenty."
I shook my head, disappointed in what I was seeing as Astrid crossed the room, reaching for a box of old brooms.
"We need to start over. From scratch."
"You see this?" I turned my eyes to Hiccup, who nodded vigorously. "It's almost like she wants them to fail. At this rate, she'll never be finished."
Click. The solution slid right into place in my mind, securing what I'd been afraid of before she started her training sessions. She wasn't going to work through this and leave, like Hiccup had tried to tell me, she wanted to stay here. Astrid needed that excuse to try and protect Berk, even though just her alone wasn't enough.
We had to head back to Dragon's Edge soon, and I wasn't about to leave without shooting my shot one last time. Even if I couldn't convince her, just leaving without trying would make me feel far worse.
"I know we have to head back soon, but I think I should talk to her," I sighed, pointing down toward the academy. "Do you need any—"
"I'll get your things," Hiccup offered. "Just come get me when you're ready to go."
My heart warmed in my chest as I smiled at him. I leaned forward and kissed him slowly, unable to fathom how I'd gotten so lucky even after all this time.
"I love you," I murmured when I pushed away from him.
"I love you, too."
The two of us went our separate ways, each with our own mission to accomplish. Upon seeing me, Astrid dismissed everyone except Spitelout, who was still on the ground beside her attempting to do push-ups. I hadn't seen him do anything wrong, but there was a period between when I was watching and when I came down that I could have missed something.
"What did he do?" I inquired, pointing toward the struggling man.
"He's Snotlout's dad," Astrid shrugged, refusing to lift her eyes from her axe.
"Enough said," I shrugged, trying to brush that off. "Can we talk?" Now, Astrid completely turned herself away from me, resting her hands against her hips.
"I would, but I'm busy." Her words were cold and calloused, like she wanted to push me away. However, she should have known that I wasn't one to give up easily. Astrid had left just enough of a gap between her and the training dummy, allowing me to squeeze through and come face-to-face with her.
"Astrid, I know what you're doing." No holding things back at this point. I had to confront her.
"Really? And what am I doing?" she challenged, rolling her eyes.
"You're being overly tough on these guys. I saw what you did to Gustav."
"The element of surprise?" Her tone was starting to grow louder and more hostile, but I had to remain firm on my ground. "How is that being overly tough?"
"It's not that," I clarified. "It's... you want them to fail. That way you have an excuse to stay here on Berk. We both know what's going on here." With that accusation, Astrid turned her back on me again.
"You're wrong, Reign. You're wrong."
"Astrid, I get it. You want to stay here on Berk and protect your family. I wish I could, too. But you can't be there every second of every day for the rest of their lives." I took a step forward, reaching out a hand to try and pull her into a hug, but the way Astrid shifted uncomfortably discouraged that. "Just think about it. Hiccup and I are going to Dragon's Edge to see if they've spotted Dagur. We'll be back in a few days. You and I can talk about it more then."
I didn't necessarily like how that had been left, but sadly, Astrid hadn't given me much of a choice. Hopefully, she'd have a more open mindset when given a few days to breathe. When I tracked him down, Hiccup didn't ask about anything that went down, instead trying his best to brighten my spirits as the two of us flew toward Dragon's Edge. The long flight was suddenly extremely daunting, and the closer we got to our base, the more my stomach began to twist. Something didn't feel right, but I passed it off as the lingering effects of my conversation with Astrid.
That was, until the two of us flew around to the front of the Edge.
A small armada of ships had anchored themselves right against the tall island, illuminated by the fires on Dragon's Edge. I could hear the shouts of the men aboard them over the whooshes and whizzes of arrows and nets being loosed. Just barely, through the frenzy of it all, I spotted a very distinct crest painted on one of the sails in bright red.
I began to seethe in my place, staring down that stupid image of the Skrill.
"Dagur's found the Edge," I growled. "This is not good." I immediately whipped around to face Hiccup, whose expression had begun to darken as well. "We have to find the others. Now."
"Agreed," Hiccup spat back. "If we go low and head for the tunnels, we should be able to avoid fire. But be careful." I nodded, focusing back on the horizon.
"You, too."
The two of us dove Shriek and Toothless down, managing to sneak down right below the boats before we were forced to reveal ourselves. I heard my brother's grating voice shouting orders, and right before Hiccup and I were able to retreat into the safety of the caves, the ships launched thousands of flaming arrows, and a few regular boulders, right toward us. They soared over our heads, threatening to pierce and burn and bludgeon our skin, but we managed to duck into the tunnels and shoot up into the safety of our training arena. Thankfully, Fishlegs, Snotlout, the twins, and their dragons were all huddled inside, shielded from the attacks for the time being.
"Hiccup! Reign!" Fishlegs cried, relieved. I nearly fell off Shriek as the world around us shook violently, indicative of another strike on the land.
"Is everybody okay?" Hiccup asked, rushing to my side and helping me upright.
"Meatlug took one in the wing, but she'll be okay." Thank Thor.
"They got the drop on us!" Snotlout shouted, storming closer to Hiccup and I. "Hit us before we knew they were there. If our early warning system hadn't been—"
"Let's not start throwing the twins under the yak cart," Tuff interjected while still playing with a Night Terror.
I flinched as the world around us jarred again, causing the Night Terror in Tuff's hands to fly away in fear and perch atop Hiccup's shoulders, purring worriedly. The more attacks that came in, the angrier I got. Dagur was out there, laughing and enjoying himself while we hid in the training arena like cowards. I wasn't about to stand for that.
"We have to fight back!" I declared, my desire to fire at my brother growing stronger by the second.
"We tried," Ruff shrugged. "It didn't go so well." Another blast nearly knocked me off my feet.
"Dagur has us pinned down," Snotlout protested.
"With a dozen ships."
"And they have this catapult that can launch 20 arrows at a time." Despite the nature of that revelation, Tuff had a mischievous smile on his face. "It's actually pretty cool. I'm asking for it for Snoggletog. Think Dagur will give it to me?" At my wit's end, I turned to Hiccup, silently begging for an assist in rallying the troops.
"It doesn't matter, okay?" Now, everyone's attention seemed much better captured. "This is our home! We're defending it." He nodded to me, signaling my takeover, and before I spoke, I offered him a thankful smile.
"Now, think. What's our advantage?" I set my hands on my hips, hoping the others would speak up and realize we could do this.
"We do have the high ground," Fishlegs admitted. Brilliant.
"That's right," I encouraged. That seemed to catch on with the rest of the group, who started listing off what they could think of.
"And good cover," Snotlout added.
"And supplies." At Ruff's words, another Night Terror scrambled toward the twins, a yak drumstick in its teeth.
"And we have dragons!" The Night Terror screeched at Tuff in response, dropping the food in its mouth.
"Okay, that's implied, but I like the spirit!" I smiled.
"We'll send a Terror Mail to Berk for reinforcements," Hiccup stated, already crossing over to his bag to write the urgent note. "In the meantime, we hold the Edge."
I'd already climbed up onto Shriek by the time Hiccup finished the letter and set out the Terrible Terror, more trembles and shakes throwing all of us around. The moment the Terror left the grounds of the arena, the rest of us flew down through the crack in the ground that led to the tunnels, spreading out to cover the different areas the armada could reach. Since Shriek could flatten herself, the two of us decided to go with Fishlegs and take on the boats around the back of Dragon's Edge. I laid down flat against my dragon's back and clapped my hands over my ears, shielding myself from being stunned as Shriek let out her loud, boisterous roar. Since the men on the boat closest to us got no warning, they collapsed to the ground, unconscious, and Fishlegs and Meatlug swooped in and lobbed fireballs down onto the wooden ships, bursting them apart and causing them to sink. We would have to retreat back onto land for a while before we could go back in again.
The sun was starting to rise by the time the two of us were able to get out there again. While Hiccup and Toothless were taking down ships as well, and the twins and Snotlout took on anyone daring enough to set foot on land, this wasn't going fast enough. I feared our Terrible Terror hadn't even reached Berk, meaning I had to account for the possibility we'd be doing this on our own.
Thankfully, I didn't have to dwell on that any longer. Right as Shriek and I were preparing to take off again, I noticed two figures coming over the horizon, heading right toward us. Truthfully, I wished Astrid would have had the sense to bring the team she'd been training, but her and Stoick definitely would be helpful.
With a renewed sense of confidence, Shriek and I dove down and blasted at another ship. This time, her roar was so powerful, she actually managed to blast away a good portion of the wood, causing the ship to sink. I wanted to revel in the little victory I'd achieved, but there were far more pressing things to worry about. When Shriek and I came back around the front of Dragon's Edge, Astrid and Stormfly had been caught on Dagur's ship, and the former was on the deck, swinging at my brother with her axe. Despite her frenzy and well-placed attacks, Dagur and his men managed to get the upper-hand on her. My heart leaped in my chest, pushing me to force Shriek to fly even faster. It didn't look like I would make it in time, as Dagur raised his weapon over his head, primed straight for Astrid's head...
Suddenly, a blast of hot magma shot down from the sky, knocking the weapon straight from Dagur's hands and causing him to cry out in alarm. I released a sigh as my eyes drifted upward, spotting Gustav hovering just by the sail, a triumphant smile on his face. Never, in my life, did I think I'd be happy Gustav came in for a rescue, but there's a first time for everything. Though I couldn't hear what he was saying, when he raised his arms into the air, the rest of Astrid's fleet came diving in, assisting Fishlegs and I in destroying boats and sending soldiers running. Gutav managed to distract my brother long enough to snatch up Astrid and plop her back on Stormfly.
This was my chance.
Without a second thought, I dove toward Dagur's ship, tumbling off Shriek and onto the deck below. I barely gave him time to register before I yanked out my sword, swinging it in his direction. Dagur managed to dodge the hit and get a hold on his axe again, allowing him to attempt and slice into me. Neither of us quipped or spoke a word, just swung and ducked and dodged, and once I got the chance, occasionally kicked. We seemed to know that we wouldn't be able to win today, but fighting for the sake of fighting was still somehow cathartic. He wouldn't pay for destroying Astrid and my childhood home today...
Right then, I managed to swing my sword just right, nicking Dagur on his arm and causing him to drop his axe.
...or, maybe he would.
I took that as my sign to get out of there, calling for Shriek and hovering above the ship, where they hopefully couldn't reach me. Looking around, most of the ships had been bashed into and were sinking, and when Hiccup joined me at my side, my brother finally started to retreat, shouting at the two of us as the shambles started to sail away.
"You're a cheater, Reign!" he shouted from the distance. "You've always been a cheater!"
I smirked as Astrid's Riders got in a few more shots, before all of us landed back on the Edge. The fury on Astrid's face worried me as her team lined up. I pressed myself close to Hiccup, unsure of what would happen from here.
"You all disobeyed a direct order," Astrid barked, her arms crossed sternly behind her back. "Whose idea was this little mutiny?"
Knowing this group, I expected everyone to remain silent, or even throw the blame at others, hoping to be let off the hook.
"It was mine."
My eyes widened in surprise as Gustav stepped up, not only admitting to the fault but also dropping onto the ground, beginning the push-ups he presumed Astrid would dole out as punishment. Shockingly, after him, the rest of the group stepped up and did the same as Gustav, until all of them were seemingly at fault. Admittedly, that was pretty big of them.
Astrid appeared impressed as well.
"Okay, everybody get up." Despite the little smile on her face, she still remained stern with her Riders. "What you did was dangerous, foolish, and completely not what you were trained to do. But it was also brave. And you worked together, as a team. I couldn't be more proud to call you fellow Dragon Riders." Motivated by Astrid's kind words, her team cheered and talked amongst themselves. "Gustav, as the most experienced rider, I'm putting you in charge of the Dragon Rider's Auxiliary.
"Oh, yes!" Gustav cheered. "Gustav! That's me."
"I'll be staying here on Dragon's Edge." Upon hearing that, I stepped closer to Astrid, who looked back at me with a strange sort of smile. "After all, I can't protect Berk all by myself every second of every day. And you guys proved you're ready to do the job."
"They did handle themselves pretty well," I looked toward Snotlout as he approached, "for the B-Team."
"B-Team?" Something about that didn't sound right. It wasn't an appropriate title for this rag-tag group. "No. This is Astrid's team. The A-Team." Once again, that sent the group into a stupor over the praise.
"But, if I hear you're slacking off one inch, I'll be on you guys like a Gronckle on granite." It was only fitting Astrid ended this on a threat.
"We'll keep the brooms handy," Gustav laughed nervously. "Mount up, A-Team!"
All the riders but Bucket made it onto their dragons, starting to head toward Berk until they realized one of them was still running around on a broom. As they doubled back for him, Snotlout approached Astrid, and whatever he said caused her to throw him again, leaving me room to move in. The two of us smiled at each other, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, affectionately pulling her into a hug.
"I'm glad you're staying here," I admitted. "I'm not so sure I could survive everything without you to go to."
"Me, too," Astrid sighed. "It's good to have somewhere to run when things get tough." She paused for a moment, her eyes drifting toward Stormfly. "Race?"
My head dipped backwards as I laughed.
"Absolutely."