Meanwhile, back at the Dragon Auction...
Hiccup peaks his head out of the bushes and looks around before motioning to someone behind him. Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Snotlout sneak out, Tuffnut and Ruffnut exaggerating their movements. They look around in perfectly coordinated movements before Tuffnut yells, "Aha!" and runs over to a cage. He flings the covering on top off and looks inside. The cage is empty. Hiccup facepalms.
"Hmm..." says Tuffnut. "They have made it so it looks like our dragon isn't there. Clever!" He pauses. "Or, perhaps they knew we would know that, so they hid our dragon somewhere else." He pauses again. "Or, maybe they knew we would know that they knew we know, so our dragons are right in front of us and we can't see them." This time he pauses extra long. "Or maybe they know that we know that they know that we know that... wait, what were we talking about again?"
By this point in time, Hiccup, Snotlout, and Ruffnut had looked in all of the cages in the area and freed all the dragons in them except for two. "Hey, uh, bro?" asks Ruff. "I think we found our dragons." She rips off the covering to reveal Barf and Belch.
"Barf, Belch!" exclaims Tuffnut. He runs over, throws the now unlocked cage door open, and hugs Belch and Barf who nudge him affectionately.
Snotlout takes the covering off the other cage and exclaims, "Hooky!" He tries to pet his dragon through the cage, but Hookfang growls at him. "Sorry, sorry. I'll open the cage now."
He opens the cages to let his dragon free, and Hiccup gives a sigh of relief. "Draira must've really delayed the auction. They don't even look like they're going to do it anymore."
"It's like all the Hunters left without the dragons," says Astrid, coming out of the bushes on top of Stormfly. The rest of the Dragon Riders also come out, all on top of their respective dragons. Toothless comes over to Hiccup and Hiccup hops onto him.
The Skrill comes over to them and growls, sparking all over. "Hey, easy there," says Hiccup. Then, he frowns. "Hey, speaking of, has anyone seen Draira?" The riders all shake their heads and a chorus of 'no's are heard.
"I haven't seen her since she stormed off to climb that mountain," says Tuffnut, pointing at the rocky mountain in the center of the island.
Worry makes its way into Hiccup's eyes. "Ok, new plan," he says. "I'll go with Astrid and the Skrill to the mountain to try and find Draira. The rest of you, keep freeing dragons." Everyone nods their heads and takes off.
Hiccup, the Skrill, and Astrid make a beeline straight towards the top of the mountain. Once there, they circle around, trying to find any trace of Draira. Suddenly, the Skrill sparks and dives down, grabbing something in her claws. Hiccup and Astrid squint to try and see what the Skrill picked up. "Draira's daggers?" Astrid exclaims. She takes them gently from the Skrill and the dragon dives again, picking up something else. "And her gold?" questions Astrid, taking the bag the Skrill had picked up and looking into it.
Astrid and Hiccup share a worried look with each other. "Let's land on the top," suggests Hiccup. Astrid nods in agreement. They both fly up to the top, the Skrill following close behind. Toothless and Stormfly land neatly on the top while the Skrill circles overhead. Hiccup and Astrid climb off their dragons and start looking for clues.
They look around, failing to notice a man, probably one of Evlrock's by his dark green clothes, that look uncannily similar to the clothes Tolrock's men wear, and the bandana wrapped around his face. His bright blue eyes are wide open and fearful and his brown hair is matted as though he had just woken up. He appears to try and sneak away but rustles the bushes, startling Hiccup and Astrid. They turn sharply around. Hiccup takes out a sword and lights it on fire while Astrid grips her axe tightly. Evlrock's man pales as he realizes his mistake. Slowly and carefully, he takes the bow from off his back and aims an arrow. He releases it quickly and runs from his spot to the side of the cliff. He was clearly not aiming for the riders or their dragons however as the arrow instead strikes Hiccup's sword which lands in the rider's supply of Monstrous Nightmare gel, igniting it.
The explosion momentarily distracts them, giving the man an opportunity to escape; however, Toothless recovers quickly and shoots at him. The man stops short, barely avoiding getting hit by the blast. His already pale face becomes almost white and he looks about to faint from fear. He holds up his hands slowly in surrender, as though fearing any sudden movements would cause Toothless to shoot at him again.
* * *
Minutes later Hiccup and Astrid finish tying the man up. He leans against a tree, barely concealing the fear in his face. Now that he is out of the bushes, it is easier to see that he is well built. Scars cover his arms and legs, possibly from his time as one of Evlrock's men. "For once," says Hiccup, breaking the silence. "I wish the twins were here."
"Come on. It would take hours to break him if the twins were on the job," replies Astrid. "We can do just fine on our own." She hefts her axe onto her shoulder and the man stares nervously at it. "Watch and learn." She smiles and then her face grows serious. "Tell us where Draira is or," she motions to Stormfly. "I'll make you into my new target for my dragon."
The man's face has lost all its color. "Ok, I'll tell you! I'm going to die anyway." His voice seems to have broken from the strain as he croaks each word out painfully. His face grows hopeful. "If I tell you, will you protect me from Evlrock?"
"Evlrock?" asks Astrid.
The man nods furiously. "He's the one who had me kidnap Draira."
Astrid's face grows deadly. "You were the one who kidnapped Draira?!" she yells. She lifts her axe up and throws it, barely missing the man's face, instead hitting the tree behind him. His eyes widen in surprise as he looks at the axe embedded next to his face.
Hiccup holds up a hand to stop Astrid. "Astrid," he warns. "Let him speak." Astrid sighs and pulls her axe from the tree.
The man gulps nervously. "I assure you, I had no choice in the matter. You see, Evlrock is a lot like Viggo and his brother Tolrock. He always gets what he wants. And, he decided I was the best man for the job. When he was done with me, he knocked me unconscious and left me here. I'm sure he thought if he needed me again, I would be here since I've no way off the island." He sighs miserably.
"Where did they take Draira?" asks Hiccup.
"To Viggo's island." He pauses and frowns. "I forget its name..."
Hiccup and Astrid share a look. "Oh Thor," says Hiccup. The riders quickly mount their dragons.
The man starts to look desperate. "Wait, don't leave me here! Please!" Hiccup sighs and motions for the Skrill to take the man. The Skrill grabs the man in her talons. Surprisingly, the man doesn't look too worried. Instead, he looks quite relieved, as though the thought of being left here was worse than anything else, including being held by one of the most fearsome dragons on earth.
"Tell us more about this Evlrock," says Astrid.
The man shivers. "He is quite cruel. He and Draira met quite by accident perhaps five or six years ago. I believe Draira was looking for him since he did something terrible to her in her past." Hiccup and Astrid share a look. "Anyway," the man continues, seeming to not notice their exchange. "All the clues led Draira to Tolrock at first, Draira's nemesis and, as I've mentioned before, Evlrock's brother." He pauses and a frown comes onto his face as he tries to remember what happened next. "When Draira found Tolrock, Evlrock just happened to be visiting his brother. When Draira confronted Tolrock, Evlrock was there with his men to defend him."
"Sorry to interrupt," says Hiccup. Then, he turns to the Dragon Riders approaching them. "Did you free all the dragons?" he shouts at them.
"Yep. Definitely. Certainly. All those other positive words that I never hear said to me!" replies Tuffnut.
"Have you found Draira?" Heather asks.
"Yep," replies Astrid. "She's been captured by this guy named Evlrock and been taken to Viggo's island."
Fishlegs eyes go wide. "Um, may I remind you guys that the last time we tried to infiltrate his island, well, it didn't go so well..."
"Wait, you guys infiltrated Viggo's base island?" interrupts the man. "Impressive. You guys might have a chance of rescuing Draira."
"Who's he?" asks Tuffnut.
"Our guide and Draira's kidnapper," explains Astrid.
"Then, should we really be trusting him?" asks Heather.
"It's our only chance of finding Draira. We don't really have any other choice," says Hiccup.
"Then what are we waiting for?" asks Dagur. "Let's go!" The riders race towards the setting sun, and towards Viggo's island...
* * *
"Freedom!" I yell out to the world. Afternoon growls happily from underneath me, clearly agreeing wholeheartedly. After a near death experience where he had almost shaken me off my back, we had bonded and now are equally elated at being free. The Hunter island is far behind us now and both of us are glad to be free of its confinement. I stand up on Afternoon's back and shout, "Freedom!!!!" again. I laugh at myself for being so outspoken, but at the moment, I don't care much. I do a small dance, making sure I don't fall off Afternoon's back. Finally, I sit down again. Afternoon makes a series of growls that I assume to be laughter. I lightly hit him on the head. "Come on, don't tell me you're not glad to be free too." He huffs as if saying Whatever.
I smile and lay forward from my perch on Afternoon's neck. I rest my head on his neck and wrap my arms around him. Then, I close my eyes. My shoulder blade still throbs from the arrow wound. I had managed to not feel it much during my fight in the arena with all the adrenaline coursing through me. Now, however, it hurts once again and makes me feel drowsy and light headed.
I sigh and close my eyes, trusting Afternoon to lead the way home despite the fact that he doesn't know where my home is. In fact, I don't even know if I know where my home is anymore. Is it with dragons on the island that I have a house? Or is it with the riders who are the only humans to ever accept me? I sigh and try to relax.
I am just starting to drift asleep when Afternoon gives out a low growl beneath me. We are in the clouds to avoid being seen by Hunters. Luckily, it also allows us to see the dragons heading for us underneath the clouds. I squint and slowly recognize the NightFury and the Skrill. As we get closer, I also can discern the riders on each dragon's back as well as the stranger in the Skrill's claws. "It's ok," I murmur to Afternoon as he growls nervously. "They're friends." I have Afternoon stay in the clouds awhile longer before instructing him to dive suddenly. He lights himself on fire, adding to the dramatic effect of our entrance. Toothless rears and his mouth goes purple in preparation to shoot before I wave at him and shout, "Hi everyone! Miss me?"
Snotlout rubs his eyes as though he can't believe what he's seeing and Tuffnut says, "Hey look, everyone! We don't have to explode Viggo's island anymore!" Then he frowns. "Oh, shoot! We don't get to explode Viggo's island anymore!"
"Ah man!" grumbles Ruffnut.
"Draira, how did you make it out?" asks Hiccup.
"It's a long story," I say. I glance at the stranger who, I now realize, is one of Evlrock's men. "I'll tell you on the way back," I decide. "But first, who is he?"
The riders share nervous glances, all except for Ruff and Tuff. To my surprise, it is the man who speaks up. And I instantly recognize his voice. "I am Dylan of the Beserkers. Sorry for kidnapping you earlier..."