━━ chapter three
the trapper traps the trapper
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━━Valkyrie loves Astrid very much. She is her best friend. They've been through thick and thin together, raced together, fought together, tried to hit each other in the arena to win the competitions together ... but there was one thing Valkyrie didn't like about Astrid: her training mission ideas.
It wasn't that Valkyrie couldn't handle them. Of course, she can! She is a warrior, a Viking! But ... but hand to claw combat? Even she hated that.
And she dreaded tomorrows mission, huddling together with the others in front of the stone board. She waited for Hiccup and Astrid to begin, eyeing the map drawn out with a peculiar eye. The outline of it looked like Dragon Island, which made Valkyrie already sigh. Maybe she should pretend she was sick or hurt. If she said her ribs were playing up ... even if it's been a few months since she injured them, Hiccup would definitely make her stay. But then he'd not believe her because she'd willingly stay and listen to him ... agh, dammit.
"Okay, gang!" Hiccup called them over. Valkyrie crossed her arms, arching a brow under her auburn hair. "Over here. Tomorrow's training mission was actually Astrid's idea, so I will let her explain it."
The other teens around Valkyrie groaned and muttered in annoyance. Even she threw her head up, letting out an audible sigh.
Astrid stared at them, startled by their responses. "What?" she demanded angrily.
Fishlegs slumped, still nursing a wound to his palm from hand to claw combat. "Your training missions are so hard!" he whined.
Astrid scoffed, "What━they are not."
He arched a brow, holding up his injured hand. "Hand-to-Claw Combat?"
"Spine-Dodging?" added Snotlout.
Valkyrie arched a brow, "Fire-Shield-Holding Competition?"
Astrid propped her hands on her hips, glowering at her friend. "You like that."
"Not when I lose!" Val nursed her arm to her chest, feeling the ache of the burn still on her skin from weeks ago. "That hurt!"
"Well, this mission is easy," said Astrid, gesturing to the map she had drawn. "Dragon Island. You just have to go from this beach on the East side to this cave on the West side."
The Riders considered this. Snotlout tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Huh, that doesn't seem too bad━"
"At night," they groaned at her next words. "With no camping gear━" more groaning. "And no dragons."
"What?!" Snotlout exclaimed, slouching in his disbelief. Astrid crossed her arms, if not a little smug. "That's crazy! What's the point?!"
"To work on our stealth skills and our Wild Dragon Defense," argued Astrid.
Valkyrie groaned, knowing she was right. "I feel sick, can I stay out of this one?"
Hiccup gave her an amused look. "Val..."
"My ribs hurt."
"No, they don't."
She threw her head back up to the sky, turning back to Zephyr and deciding to complain to him instead.
"Astrid's right," continued Hiccup. "We all know how strong we are with our dragons, but we have to be able to survive and defend ourselves if we ever get separated from them."
"Trust me!" said Astrid, grinning. "It'll be fun!"
Val tried again, holding up her hand. "I already know how to defend myself, unlike these idiots━" she pointed to the Twins in particular. "Does that mean I already pass the test?"
"Is she pointing at us?" Tuffnut turned to his sister. "I think she's pointing at us."
Valkyrie crossed her arms, rolling her eyes. "See what I mean?"
Hiccup frowned at her, a little concerned. But he didn't say anything until the others left, groaning and complaining the entire time. She was fixing up Zephyr's saddle to leave, too, until he set a hand on her shoulder and made her glance back.
"You all right?" he asked her. "You usually love these missions."
Valkyrie pursed her lips. She wasn't sure whether she could tell him, or how to exactly explain it. She did enjoy these type of missions, but ... she just liked them when they were having fun, learning about dragons, without much to worry. Now, it was different. The freedom she felt by flying and laughing and enjoying her time with her friends was now filled with frustration, determination and a possible war. It made Valkyrie feel like she was caged again like she had been before when she didn't even realise it. It also made her feel guilty, because this was her job as a Dragon Rider, now. This was the truth they were in, and she was trained to be a soldier. Her name was Valkyrie.
But she was also a teenage girl. A teenage girl who for once in her life didn't feel weighed by expectations, who could make her flower crowns, hug her boyfriend, and fly dragons. She didn't want to go back to being a soldier, not yet. But she had to, and she needed to realise that. She needed to find a middle ground, but she didn't know how to.
Val didn't say anything, she just held out her arms. Hiccup frowned, but stepped forward and pulled her into a hug. She sighed into his fleece vest, closing her eyes for a second and just letting herself feel his arms around her.
"I'm just tired," she decided to lie, mumbling. Hiccup squeezed her gently, listening. "There's a sick Monstrous Nightmare that kept us awake all night..."
She pulled away and forced a smile on her face, but Hiccup was still frowning, worried. Not wanting him to be like this for the rest of the day, she decided to tease him. Pinching his sides, she giggled when he squirmed.
"Hey," he let out, trying to grab her hands. "What was that for."
"What was what?" Valkyrie feigned innocence before pinching him gently again.
"Stop it━" he found her hands, grinning and holding them together. Valkyrie was light-hearted, giggling as he tugged her close, keeping her from pinching him again.
"I'm not doing anything," she told him, feeling better already.
Hiccup narrowed his eyes playfully at her, smiling. With him distracted, she tried to squirm her hands away to pinch him again, but he caught her in the act. "Ha!" he exclaimed, holding her wrists with a tight but tender grip. "Got you, Milady!"
Valkyrie was laughing as she tried to tug herself free, but Hiccup wrapped his arms around her and kept her close. The two teens wrestled lightly in the arena, and Valkyrie felt like she was free again, just for a moment. She loved it. Finally, she got the upper-hand and found his wrist, twisting it.
"Agh!" Hiccup cried out amongst his laughter. "Fine! You win! Again."
She let her grip go and pecked his wrist gently in response. "I always win."
Hiccup then cupped her cheek, smiling. "Feeling better?" he asked her, and she nodded. He leaned in and kissed her forehead, and Val's eyes fluttered closed, unable to stop the beam on her lips.
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━━Dragon Island was as dark, cloudy and gloomy as every other time they've visited. Valkyrie eyed the skeleton of the Red Death they passed briefly, remembering the explosion that had rocketed the entire island. She held a torch in her hand, her mallet in her other. As they set down on the rocky, stone beach, she slipped off and took a deep breath. Time to get this over and done with.
The group of teens walked the length to East side, their torches lighting up the path. Their dragons followed, not yet realising they were to be left behind on this journey.
"Okay," Hiccup said as they made it to the East side, "one of us is gonna have to skip the drill and take the dragons to the cave on the other side of the island. That way, they won't try and help us."
Zephyr was not going to like this, thought Valkyrie to herself, he's a big, protective oaf.
The squawk caught their attention. Above, a wild Nadder landed. By his body language, they could tell he was not happy. They must be near his territory. Immediately, their dragons fired and the wild Nadder fled.
Hiccup watched it go with a sigh, "Just like that," he muttered. "Okay!" he turned to his friends. "So, who's going to watch the dragons?"
Fishlegs puffed out his chest, "I think the obvious choice is━"
"Me!" Tuffnut shoved in front of him, waving a hand. "I volunteer!"
"But━but I have way more dragon knowledge!" argued Fishlegs, desperate to get out.
Tuffnut snickered, "Yeah━from a book! But I ... I feel them." He placed his hand on his heart. "In here. Wait, where is it?" he moved his hand from his heart down to his stomach. "In here." There was a loud grumble and he grinned. "Yeah. In my stomach. Besides, I did say 'Me!' first!"
Hiccup winced. "Agh," he shook his head, "I can't believe I'm saying this, but, uh, Tuffnut is right!"
"What?" Valkyrie's brows jumped, as startled as the rest of them.
"Fishlegs," went on Hiccup, "no one can argue with your dragon knowledge, but if Alvin attacks with wild dragons, we need to be able to face them! Any time of the day or night. On our own, without help."
The pudgy Viking glowered. "I hate it when you make sense," he grumbled.
Tuffnut snickered, victorious.
Valkyrie rolled her eyes and decided to turn to Zephyr. The Windstriker was watching on, head tilted at the boys' actions. "All right, boy," she began, scratching under his snout, "I'm going to have to leave you here for a little bit. I'll be coming back, I promise."
He whined, confused.
"Stay with Tuffnut," she sighed, regretting her words already. "You listen to him, he's ... he's the boss."
"Yeah! You bet I am!" Tuffnut had heard her, and pointed at Zephyr menacingly. "You listen to me, you big━uh━oaf."
Zephyr huffed, not bothered by his weak insult. He turned back to Valkyrie, as if to double check whether she'd be all right. "I'll be fine!" she told him, giving him a quick hug around the neck. "Now, go off and keep Toothless in check. I'm counting on you, mister."
The rest of the riders, aside from Tuffnut, said goodbye to their dragons and began to start the way towards the forest. However, Tuff called them back with a, "Wait━anybody know where this cave is?"
They faltered, staring at him increduously. Valkyrie was really regretting Hiccup's choice of letting him look after their dragons. Tuffnut soon chuckled, nervous. "Ha! Just messing with you ... or am I?" he grinned. "Even I don't know!"
He and the dragons trudged off, and Valkyrie truned to Hiccup, hands on her hips.
"They'll be fine!" he told her, though he didn't sound convinced. "Remember," he then turned to the others, "this is about stealth, not speed. It doesn't matter how fast you get there. What's important is how you handle a wild dragon if you come across one. Understand? All right. Good luck, everybody. I'll see you back at the cave."
"Hey, Valkyrie!" Astrid called as she took off at a run. "I bet you I'll get to the cave first!"
Hiccup sighed, "Not a competition!"
"Oh!" Valkyrie had sudden inspiration to get this mission done. "It is now! Just you wait Astrid━I'm gonna kick your butt!"
The last one to start was Fishlegs. Hiccup glanced back, shoulders faling. The pudgy Viking hugged his little hammer he had brought for a weapon. "What?! I'm forumlating a plan."
"Fishlegs," coaxed Hiccup, "you can do this."
He started at a steady walk. Behind him, Fishlegs grumbled to hismelf. "Aw, man! I should've just stayed in my nice warm bed this morning━Meatlug peacefully licking by toes━but no━"
Hiccup heard him, "Move out, Fishlegs!"
"Dont rush me! I'm having a moment!"
His torch blew out. With a little squeal, he ran after Hiccup.
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━━For quite a while, Valkyrie had no troubles. She was determined to beat this new race her and Astrid had come up with, moving as quick as she could while still being cautious and quiet. She might've made it halfway in accordance to the map Astrid had drawn out. She saw the landmarks on the side of volcano that told her she probably had about two hours to go before she reached the other end. She listened for dragons in the trees and bushes. There was little shrub in the part she took, which meant the dragons had less places to hide, and she could not be taken off guard. She could tell the difference between a Windstriker and a Nadder by its footsteps, so she believed she was quite prepared.
And she was prepared when she heard the shuffle of Winstriker feet. Turning around, she grinned to see a male, purple and yellow Windstriker. He growled at her, but she wasn't fazed. "Hey, boy," she said, keeping a well enough birth to avoid being blasted with fire-hot air. "I'm not going to upset your breeding ground. It's okay. You can have the fish in the lake. I'm off to the left..." she faltered, however, when she saw the length of the horn on his chin; and the whisp dangling below it.
Her eyes widened, and she gasped. "My gods ... you're a Titan dragon!"
Titan's were rare. She's never seen on in her whole life up until now. Valkyrie gawked, unable to control her awe and excitement. Titan Windstrikers were said to be stronger, more dangerous, bigger, and sometimes called Old Men with the whisps on the horns below their chins.
But to see one in front of her, Valkyrie almost forgot the dragon was aggressive she was so awe-struck.
"Right!" she got out of her daze. "Don't kill me, please, I'm just━I have a Windstriker friend! He's great. You two would ... actually, you know, you probably won't. He might end up challenging you, anyway, I got to go, winning a race with my best friend and all━" Valkyrie saw the blast coming and quickly somersaulted across the ground. She broke out into a run to reach his blind spot, and hid in there for as long as she needed until she could slip off into the woods, continuing on.
"Ha!" she whispered to herself, pumping her fists. "Take that, Astrid! I survived a Titan-Wing!"
Valkyrie continued on her way, picking up a few flowers here and there to make herself and Zephyr victory crowns. Thirty minutes must have past, she wasn't too sure when she reached a clearing. Following it, she stopped at the edge of the cliff, and looked downwards at the next set of bush she'd have to travel through. She searched for a way down, until her eyes caught something that unnerved her.
Her feet travelled on their own, walking up to the arrow lodged into the wood of the nearest tree. Valkyrie latched her fingers around it and tugged it out. Her breath hitched as she examined the feathers and the intricate designs on the wood. It made her stomach crawl; it was a Berserker design.
Aloud, she whispered, "What are Berserkers doing here?"
Valkyrie narrowed her eyes for where the arrow could have come from. They were obviously shooting at something ... and realisation hit her with a spark. That Windstriker had been agressive as soon as he saw her; already spooked. Had he narrowly escaped the arrow from a crossbow?
She set off, but not to the opposite beach. No, she followed the sight-line of this arrow, determined to figure out why Berserkers were here.
Valkyrie's worries were heavy in her stomach. Holding her mallet up, she worked on her stealth more than she had before. She searched for smoke, footprints, broken twigs; anything. They were still at peace, and none of them had seen the tribe since Dagur visited and they showed off their great threatre skills in scaring the Berserker's off to save Barf and Belch's life. But it was still dangerous waters. The Berserker peace was on the verge of being destroyed at the slightest misshap. If they were here, and they saw them with their dragons, that peace would be cut quicker than a needle and a thread.
Valkyrie had to find these Berserkers, and then find Hiccup and warn him. Together, they'll rally up the others and hopefully get out of here before they were sighted ... if they weren't already.
When she found smoke from a campfire, she cursed the gods. Of course, they would cause them trouble. When didn't they?
Valkyrie carefully made her way down the slope, keeping both an eye out for wild dragons and Berserkers. The night was pitch-black, the moon nearing the early hours of two in the morning. She reached the bottom of the slope thirty minutes after the moon reached two. Trudging through the brush, she tried to find the smoke again.
But it was smaller; curling and disappearing early into the air. Whoever had made camp there had dampened their fire and were on the move.
Great.
Val wished she had Zephyr with her right now, but at the same time, it would have been terrible to navigate through this forest with a big Windstriker. It wouldn't be an easy escape if they were found━she wouldn't dare risk hurting him in the dense branches overlapping above.
She was alone in this, and perhaps that was the best way through it.
Valkyrie reached a clearing, and was about to survey it through the bushes. They rustled around her, and a second later, she heard the click of a crossbow. She gasped, and went to dart to the side, her auburn hair flashing amongst green━
"NO!" shouted a familiar voice. "Don't shoot!"
There was a scuffle, and the crossbow arrow hit the wood just centermetres from Valkyrie. She stood up, eyes wide. The scene she saw was something she never expected.
Hiccup stood there, with his torch and his Gronckle Iron shield, and with him was Snotlout and Dagur the Deranged.
He was just how Valkyrie remembered; tall, bulky with a Berserker's gleam in his eyes and a crossbow in his hands. He frowned at Val, dropping his weapon to let out, "Valkyrie?" He turned to Hiccup. "You and I have completely different ideas of alone."
Hiccup chuckled nervously. "Val!" he exclaimed, walking towards her. "What━what are you doing out here?" he took her arm and whispered lowly, "Just go along with it, please?" He guided her towards the small group. "I told you to wait with the others while I go hunting for dragons."
"Yeah!" added Snotlout eagerly. "Hunt dragons! Because that's what we do!"
Dagur rolled his eyes at the Jorgensen, clearly disgusted by his presence.
Valkyrie understood with a little, oh, and quickly went along with the lie. "You think I want you to have all the dragons for yourself? Oh, please. I plan on getting myself a big Nadder head to hang over my door."
(Was that overboard? Maybe ... She was going to apologise to Stormfly after this...)
Dagur arched a brow at the flowers around her mallet. Valkyrie narrowed her eyes back, holding the weapon protectively to her chest. "You go hunting ... with flowers on your hammer?"
Valkyrie went to argue. No one insults her flowers! But Hiccup chuckled nervously again, squeezing her arm to tell her, just keep calm for now before letting go. "They help disorientate our scent in hunting for the Night Fury," Hiccup lied through his teeth.
Surprisingly, Dagur believed him. "Huh," he murmured, fiddling a new bolt into his crossbow. "Not the way I'd do it ... but it's effective, I guess, for a girl."
Valkyrie clenched her jaw. Oh, she wanted to punch him so bad ... She hated Dagur; ever since they were kids and he and his father would come and visit Berk. But with the subtle nod from Hiccup, she sighed and let it be, keeping to herself as the hunt continued. Stepping back a little behind Dagur, she turned to Hiccup and whispered.
"So, do we actually have a plan or are we just playing this out until we get into some serious trouble?"
"I'm trying to think of one," murmured Hiccup in reply.
"We're thinking of one," corrected Valkyrie in her hushed whisper. "You can't seriously expect to come up with everything. We're a team for a reason, Hiccup."
He gave her a soft, grateful smile.
Suddenly, a face appeared in between them. "What're you talking about?" Demanded Dagur, grinning like a maniac. Both Hiccup and Valkyrie jumped, startled. The former let out a usual, nervous chuckle. Val glanced around. Snotlout must've gone ahead.
"Uh..." Hiccup shrugged. "Just ... you know ... dragon hunting stuff ..."
"Ooh!" Dagur threw an arm around each of them and hugged them close. Valkyrie turned up her nose at the stench of him being out here for days. "Do tell, brother!"
Valkyrie made a face. "Brother?" she let out, incredulous.
Hiccup sighed to say, don't ask, I don't even know.
Valkyrie was grateful for the sudden screams up ahead. They sounded familiar; Valkyrie has heard Snotlout and Fishlegs scream far too many times. Dagur let go of the two of them and they rushed towards the sound.
Stepping into a small clearing, Valkyrie crossed her arms, unamused at the sight of Snotlout and Fishlegs standing before one another, screaming. They must have bumped into each other.
"Fishlegs!" chuckled Hiccup, making his way over to shut them up. Val grumbled, the last thing they needed was more if the team to show up. "What━would you look at that?! It's Dagur! Who━who is also our hunting dragons, just like us!"
Valkyrie nodded helpfully. Snotlout threw his arms up, and she hung her head, frustrated. "Yeah!" He exclaimed, much like he had when Val showed up. "We are dragon hunters━out hunting dragons!"
Dagur was very confused. "Hiccup," he said, "once again, I feel as such your definition of alone ... and mine, are very different. But," he walked up to Fishlegs, examining him. The pudgy Viking let out a nervous whimper, "perhaps, this one, can help us━"
"Hunt dragons!" Snotlout jumped forward, shaking Valkyrie's shoulders. She glared at him and shoved him away. "'Cause thats what we are doing! Hunting..." he looked to her to finish, and she sighed, rolling her eyes.
"Dragons," she added blankly.
"Okay," whispered Fishlegs, "I think I got it."
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━━"You know, Hiccup," Dagur was saying as the group of them continued through the dry woodland. He had his crossbow up, pointing at anything that dared move. Valkyrie eyed it, wondering if there was a way she could disarm him. She had her mallet after all. Could she whack him over the head? Would that shut him up? "We're a lot alike, you and I."
"Really?" Hiccup wasn't in the mood. "How━how━how is that?"
"Well, we're both born leaders," said Dagur.
"Oh, yeah!" nodded Fishlegs. "He's right about that!" Snotlout and Valkyrie gave him a quick look to not encourage it. He shrugged as if to ask, what do you want me to do, then?!
"Sons of chiefs..." went on the Berserker.
"Yeah!" said Hiccup, unenthusiastic. "That's true."
"... who had to be eliminated so we could gain control!"
"Yes━" Hiccup backtracked, "━wait━what? No. No!" They stopped as he spun on the older Viking, alarmed. "My━My dad hasn't been eliminated from anything!"
"But he could!" grinned Dagur, eager. "Easily! Just say the word and━" he let go of the bolt in his weapon, and it struck the nearest tree. Valkyrie, Snotlout and Fishlegs all froze, startled. Dagur smiled, happy.
"Y━y━yeah!" Hiccup winced, meeting Valkyrie's gaze briefly. "That's ... that's something to think about."
A rustle in the bushes caused for Dagur to swipe in a new bolt and spin on his feet. He aimed at the yellowing leaves, eyes narrowed. Holding up a hand, he ordered for Hiccup to get down, and he motioned for the others to follow. The group of five huddled lowly to the ground, unbeknownst to the light-footed blonde dancing around the leaves behind them.
Astrid Hofferson crept up behind Snotlout and clasped his hand to gain his attention. She put a finger to her lips as he glanced back. Snotlout's eyes lit up, "Wow!" He let out. "Ow━" Astrid smacked his hand to his nose, knocking him down and she disappeared into the bushes.
At the front, Dagur sighed, "Which one of your friends is it going to be this time?" He glanced at Hiccup and the chief's son chuckled, apprehensive.
"It's ... hard to say."
Valkyrie gasped, startled when something grabbed her at the back of the straps of her armour and swiped her away from the group. Glancing back, she was a mix of relief and annoyance to see it was Zephyr, lugging her away and towards the rest of their dragons like a exhausted mother.
"Zephyr!" she risked to scold in a harsh whisper. She signalled for him to put her down with two fingers brushing down past the side of her palm. He plopped her down in front of Stormfly, but before she could get away, he tugged her close with his small two front arms and kept her from going anywhere.
"This is not what we agreed to!" she snarled, glaring at the other dragons. "You were supposed to stay! Where's Tuffnut?" she noticed a dragon was missing. "And where is Toothless?!"
A roar behind Val answered her question. She looked desperately over her shoulder, trying to see. "No━Toothless━" there was the sound of a bolt letting loose from a crossbow, but no pained Night Fury moan following. Valkyrie hoped that Toothless got away.
Meanwhile, she was still stuck in her dragon's hold as he hobbled towards the group of Vikings, the other dragons following. Hiccup and Dagur were gone.
"That's just great!" Snotlout was growling at Astrid. "How are we supposed to find our dragons?!"
Fishlegs noticed Valkyrie, grumpy in Zephyr's hold. "Actually ... it shouldn't be that hard."
Astrid sighed at Stormfly, shaking her head while the Nadder squawked in greeting, very happy to see her.
"So," said Valkyrie, awkward as her legs swung. "How are we all doing?"
"Great," said Snotlout sarcastically, "just great. Hiccup has gone off with Dagur after Toothless and now we have to find Ruff and Tuff and go back to Berk."
"Back to Berk?" Zephyr set Valkyrie back down, deciding that she won't be going anywhere now. "And leave him here?"
"Hiccup said he'd be fine," reassured Fishlegs.
He probably would be fine, but Valkyrie was still worried. She knew going after him would break their continuous lie, but what if something happened? What if Dagur found out? What if ...
Astrid could see the fear on her face. She stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. "He gave us an order, we have to follow, Val. We're soldiers, it's what we do."
Val pursed her lips, feeling those feelings come back up to the surface. "Yeah, but you know what we always do? We follow him. We make sure he's okay. We're not just soldiers," she began to realise, "we're a team. We're more than a team. We find the Twins, and then we go after him, stay out of sight unless we're needed."
And to her surprise, they all agreed with no argument what so ever.
It didn't take long to find the Twins. Barf and Belch found them first, leading Tuffnut right to them. Then, it wasn't hard for the others to follow, since they could hear their argument from miles away. Now with a full team, they set off after Hiccup and Dagur, eager to keep an eye from above.
Soaring over the island, Valkyrie caught sight of something terrible on the waters. Leaning back in her saddle, she called to the others in formation behind her. "Uh ... do you see what I see?"
"Almost fifty Berserker ships?" offered Snotlout. "No, I didn't see them. I was too busy focusing on the part of water that was not filled up by war longships."
Valkyrie shot him a glare, "Not helping, Snotlout."
"If they see us," Astrid warned, "we'll ruin the treaty."
Valkyrie nodded. "You're right, head for the clouds."
They followed her example, shooting up quickly and precisely. The Berserker fleet would have had no chance to see them. Valkyrie could see the beach from here, where━with a jolt to her stomach━she saw Hiccup in a desperate fight against Dagur, protecting Toothless who was tied together in a set of bolas, unable to defend himself.
Valkyrie's heart began to race.
She didn't think twice.
"Zephyr━" she pointed down at Dagur who aimed his crossbow at Hiccup trying to cut Toothless free, "━fetch!"
He squawked, excited as his answer. Valkyrie leaned close against the saddle as they dived down at immense speed, getting closer and closer, faster and faster ... Dagur had his finger on the trigger, Hiccup scrambled for his shield━
"WAAHHH━" Dagur let out as Zephyr snatched him up in his claws. He dropped the crossbow and Valkyrie glared down at him.
"Don't insult my flowers!" She seethed and Zeohyr threw Dagur down. He screamed as he fell towards the beach. He softer his fall with a roll, staring up at Valkyrie and her Windstriker in shock. The fires of Berserkian arrows aimed from the boats shone against the sun beginning to rise, casting her and Zephyr in a luminous glow.
With a quick turn, she and Zephyr spun down towards Hiccup.
"Come on!" She called down to him.
He didn't waste a minute. Cutting Toothless free, he leapt onto the saddle and they show up into the air after Valkyrie. They regrouped with the others in the clouds.
Down below, they could hear Dagur scream to his men, "DRAGON ATTACK!"
Hiccup scowled down, "We better go," he told the Riders. "Now."
"Oh, come on," whined Snotlout, gesturing to the fleet. "We can take them."
"Uh, no, we can't!" Squeaked Fishlegs.
Hiccup nodded, agreeing. "Not today," he said. "Dagur will be back, and when he is, we'll be ready."
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a/n: Dagur is iconic; truth.