Toothless crossed Whiplash's path, blocking her way. The scorching wrath gave him a questioning look. He responded to it by pointing out the forest in front. It only got thinner from there.
We'll get spotted, Toothless told her.
Not moving gets us spotted sooner; now move! Whiplash hissed and butted her head against his side, pushing him.
Toothless growled, dragging his paws. He wanted to face the hunters.
There's too many, Whiplash told him.
Toothless snorted. Who says we have to fight them all at once?
Whiplash stopped as she saw certainty in his eyes. She glared at that look.
"Kiara," she reached out to her rider, "Toothless wants to try stealth mode on these guys. Can I knock some sense into him or would that raise too much noise?"
"Listen to him," Kiara replied after a moment of thought. "Or else you'll get cornered at the cliff."
"I have wings," the dragon retorted, "and four other limbs to carry Toothless."
"And for how long?" Kiara pointed out. "He's a whole dragon. You'll tire and be forced to land."
Whiplash thought it through and realised that with Toothless's idea, they at least had a chance of making their way back to the riders. "Fine." Satisfied, Kiara's presence left Whiplash's mind with a parting whisper, "We'll be there soon."
Whiplash reluctantly backed away. Seeing her acceptance, Toothless flopped his ears gleefully and spun around. A swish of his tail signalled Whiplash to follow. She did so at a distance. The hunters' pattering footsteps and low voices filled her ears. Three minutes away.
Toothless bounded into a large tree. After some rustling, he hung upside down from his tail. He gave Whiplash an encouraging look before stilling and closing his eyes. With the sunny-green glow hidden, his black scales became one with the dark air. He was gone.
Two minutes. Whiplash glanced at the painted scales on her legs. Could she do that? Disappear? Deciding there was only one way to find out, she jumped behind a bush and pressed her back against the bark of a tree.
A minute. It was spent in strained silence while all of Whiplash's muscles were coiled for action but forced to stay still. The iridescent blue of her eyes was pushed to the corners, since her dark pupils were large as they scanned the black forest, trying to see the ones she could hear. Torchlight was visible, but it was a haze and further than the closest hunters. Some had been sent ahead under the cover of darkness.
The first hunter emerged from the brush. His shadowy outline drew closer. The creak of wood being clenched hard told her he held a crossbow. He stalked vaguely towards Toothless, though oblivious of him.
Toothless snatched him up and struck his helmeted head against the tree. The man was knocked out before he could scream.
The second walked past a moment later, undisturbed and clueless about the fate of his fellow hunter. The third, Whiplash swiped.
This might just work... she thought as she looked down at her unconscious prey.
But in no time the swarm was all around them. Their breaths and footfalls blended like fine mist on a cold morning: subtle yet all-encompassing. The click of a loading crossbow stuck out like an icicle. Whiplash's eyes snapped to the sound and she saw the culprit levelling his crossbow, aiming for Toothless.
Whiplash fired. The blast threw the hunter against a dead trunk and lit up the forest like a flash of lightning. There was a pang of silence, then thunderous battle cries exploded from the hunters. Toothless scrambled down from the tree and the two dragons locked eyes.
We're screwed.
-
The riders were racing towards the haze of torchlight when the sound hit their ears. They slowed, frowning. "Did they just...?" Hiccup began.
"Scream?" Kiara squeaked. Urgently, Hiccup pushed forward and forced her to match his speed with a hand on her back. "No slowing," he instructed. As she was dragged along, Whiplash's distressed words ploughed into her. "I lit one up. They've found us! W-we're surrounded!"
"No," Kiara breathed. Hiccup glanced at her, worried. "Just hang on, Whiplash," she urged, "we're almost—"
With a boom, the forest lit up.
"Whiplash!" The scream instinctively ripped from Kiara's mouth before she clamped a hand over it. They pulled to a stop and Hiccup rounded on her.
"Forget our covertness," he snapped. "Tell them to get over here!"
She nodded. "Whiplash, come now!"
"Not without Toothless!"
"They have Toothless?"
"Oh, Thor..." Hiccup's whispered curse made Kiara realise she'd spoken out loud. He ran his hand through his hair as panic ran rampant in his wide eyes. Kiara watched, frozen. "Tell Whiplash to leave him," he said, looking pained. "She's our only hope of getting him back."
"Get back here. Now." Kiara felt nauseous as she gave the command. This wasn't right. How could this happen?
An enraged roar erupted from beyond the forest. "Whiplash," Kiara gasped as she stumbled towards it. Hiccup held her by the arm, rooting her. With her brows pulled together, her gaze was locked onto a spot in the distance where the roar had come from. Tentatively, she sent out a thought. "Whiplash... you coming?"
"I... I can't. I've been netted."
The air rushed out of Kiara's lungs and she found herself leaning on someone beside her, her knees suddenly weak.
"I'm sorry."
"Kiara?" Numb, she barely felt Hiccup shaking her. "What's happening?" he desperately asked. Unable to look him in the eye, she stared at the barren ground.
"I've doomed us."
-
Ryker's glee was apparent as he crouched by the dragon's slumped form and leaned closer. Whiplash growled lowly as his hand stretched towards her face. He chuckled in response and grabbed the strap around her mouth, tightening it painfully. She snarled, snatching her head away. She wished her glare could burn holes into his eyes, or launch him off the cliff she was stuck on. Oh, she would love to see his body impaled on the rocks at the bottom and watch the tide consume him whole. He deserved it. His net had destroyed her. With her down, her rider held no chance of escape. Kiara would be killed.
"Now this has got to be my best catch yet," Ryker gloated, slapping a meaty hand against Whiplash's forehead. She jerked away once more with a snarl. Her lips were pulled back, displaying her rows of sharp teeth. If she could, she wouldn't hesitate to bite his hand off, and he should know that.
"Good thing you didn't head southeast now then, brother," Viggo murmured as he stepped over to her too. Whiplash's slit-pupilled glare snapped to him and she let out a shrill growl. Her wings pressed against the restraints as she felt the need to lunge at him.
Ryker rolled his eyes at the comment but was in too good a mood to bite back. He stood and faced his little brother. "Nightfury and scorching wrath," he declared with a triumphant smirk. "Our mysterious buyer ought to pay anything for these."
Viggo smiled. "Very true." He locked eyes with the black-painted dragon as he continued to address his brother. "On top of that, we'll get to rip out the root of all our problems tonight." He crouched and tilted his head, coming face-to-face with Whiplash while remaining unconcerned by the volumes of fury she was radiating. "Dragon," he addressed her, "tell your rider that there is no place on this island for her or Hiccup to hide in that my men cannot find." The man's eyes glittered dangerously and his voice lowered. "They must know by now: there's no escaping death. Now you will let them know that death will be painless to whoever surrenders to me within the hour."
-
"Think," Hiccup urged himself in a whisper. He was pacing back and forth, so fast that he'd become a blur of jittery limbs. "Think, Hiccup, think."
Kiara was curled into a ball with her trembling arms locked around her knees and her back shoved against a tree. As she watched him pace, she wanted to shrink into nothingness. This was her idea. Coming here was her idea. And now they were all paying for it. "I'm so sorry," she whispered for the umpteenth time.
"Sorry?" Hiccup's foot kicked up dirt as he jerked to a halt and glared at her. "Sorry doesn't fix this!" he barked stormily.
Truth is sharp, and and she felt his words slice her. Kiara turned away to hide how her face had crumpled in pain. You must hate me, she thought, and no one can blame you for it. She almost wished he would lash out more.
Hiccup rubbed his temples and breathed in shakily. Not like this, he couldn't help but think. If these were truly his last hours, he did not want to spend them on bad terms with his friend. He wanted to spend them pouring his everything into freeing their dragons and he wanted her by his side. He could only do it with her by his side.
With a weary sigh, he kneeled down beside her. Her fingers tightened but she didn't move. "Kiara," he said softly. "Look at me."
Taking a deep breath, she gathered the strength she needed before looking up.
"Listen," he said, looking straight into her teary eyes, "I don't want to go like this."
Understanding washed over her face. She gave him a small tired smile. Me neither, she told him with a nod. The end of the line shouldn't mean the end of their friendship.
"Good," he breathed, relieved. "Now how about we put our brilliant minds together?"
Kiara cracked a brief grin but didn't dare to speak with the way her throat had closed up. She wondered what she'd done to deserve a friend like him.
"I just need an idea," Hiccup said truthfully. "Something. Anything. Something stupid or—"
"Something crazy?" Her voice came out small but hopeful. With a peeking smile, Hiccup stood and pulled Kiara to her feet. "Crazy with a 'k'," they said as one.
"Maybe crazier," Hiccup mumbled as they crept through the woods in search of better cover. While they spoke in hushed voices, their eyes were alert and scanning the dense foliage for any sign of an approaching enemy. "We need to think like the twins," he said.
Kiara hummed in agreement. The thought of the pair of misfits lightened her aching heart, giving her the strength to shove aside the cloud of misery engulfing her. "No better time to be a nut than the hour of death, eh?" she joked.
"It's like old uncle Arnold-or-something used to say," Hiccup said in his best impression of Tuffnut. "First goes the sanity, then goes the soul."
Kiara snorted with laughter. It was cut short as she noticed movement ahead. The riders darted behind a tree.
When the hunters passed, Kiara spoke in a whisper. "OK idea 1. Jump a hunter and snag his clothes. Then sneak up to Viggo and free our dragons."
Hiccup stepped away from her and pointed to his metal leg, then gestured to all 5ft 0 inches of her.
"Well, you said stupid," she retorted.
"Fair enough," he said. As they lapsed into silence, their anxious thoughts grew louder. The dread perfusing the air became blaringly apparent again. Not wanting to suffocate in it, Hiccup urged her along with a wave of his hand and said, "Well, keep it coming."
"It?" she asked.
"The stupid."
Kiara beamed and decided to go all out as they continued through the forest. "We swim and scale the cliff," she declared.
"Um, no."
"Steal a boat?"
"The port's lit up brighter than our future."
"Still not very bright then."
"Hey," he said, jokingly stern. "Only one of us gets to be the pessimist."
The teens shared a smile. Talking helped.
"Fine," Kiara conceded. "Let's blow out the torches first."
He rolled his eyes. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."
She tutted, unimpressed by his attitude. "Y'know Ruff and Tuff actually agree with each other's crazy plans."
Hiccup yanked her down into a bush as he spotted a group of hunters coming from afar. "And they throw ideas back and forth," she whispered pointedly.
"Shh..."
"Where's your idea, huh?"
"Shh!"
"Idea first."
"Fine, uh..." Hiccup glanced around as he scrambled for ideas. "Bushes," he blurted.
Kiara remained quiet until the hunters were out of earshot. Then she settled into a cross-legged position and pushed aside the twigs that were clawing at her face. "Expand," she said.
"Ok, well, uh, we dress—we disguise ourselves..." he cringed as he said it, "as bushes."
She pressed her lips together and scrutinised him for a long moment. "Yeah that'll work," she concluded.
"Oh really?" he said flatly.
"Not likely."
Another eye-roll. "My, who would have thought..."
"And we're still doing it," she proclaimed.
He scoffed. "We can't sneak up to Viggo and free our dragons with a bush."
"Free our dragons? Of course not," she mumbled back, "but it's the best we've got in the sneak department. It worked just now, didn't it?"
"I suppose it can get us closer," he hesitantly agreed. Kiara sat straighter, excited that they were getting somewhere. "So, what next?" she asked.
"Next?" He huffed as he was brought back to the same dilemma he couldn't think his way out of by pacing. He drummed his fingers against the dirt. Kiara listened intently as he spoke his thoughts aloud. "We have no strength in numbers and our stealth is blown, so there's no way to steal our dragons back. The only option aside from stealing is..."
"Trading," Kiara finished.
"Which isn't an option at all!"
Kiara tilted her head when he didn't continue. "Why?" she prompted.
"You know why," he grumbled.
"Obviously. Say it anyway."
Hiccup sighed before continuing, "I'd give up everything for Toothless... but why would Viggo agree to swap our dragons for the dragon-eye or even for our lives on a platter when he can easily and will definitely take everything at once? It's all so... ugh!" Agitated, he scratched at his head, making several twigs snap. "I've just..." his gaze fell to his lap, "I've never been cornered so badly before."
It hurt to hear him sound so broken. The words 'I'm sorry' rose to Kiara's lips once more but she thrust them back down until they were buried deep within her. To help in the only way she could, she dredged up whatever optimism was left in her. "So we're at Viggo's mercy the moment we show ourselves," she whispered. "How can we change that?"
"We can't," he said, eyes back on her. "We have no leverage over him to hold a trade."
"So we need leverage."
"We need a miracle," he muttered.
Kiara ignored the comment, too preoccupied with wracking her brain for options. "You reckon Viggo would trade a dragon or two to keep his brother alive?" she mused.
"You reckon the two of us can actually kidnap Ryker?" he asked incredulously. "It's out of the question. Even if this island had wild dragons and we recruited them, we still couldn't pull that off."
She shrugged. "Let me know if you have a better idea. 'Til then, we're stuck with this."
Hiccup let out a short laugh. "Valhalla here we come."
"I think I heard something," a deep voice said from nearby. The riders' eyes widened. Light from a lantern grew closer and filtered in through the bush.
"From where?" a second voice asked.
"There. That bush."
Leaves crinkled and a twig or two snapped as the hunters approached. The riders' hearts thrummed faster and harder. As one, they reached for their weapons, causing the bush to rustle. Immediately, three scrapes of metal pierced the quiet air. The pair of riders looked at each other, reaching the same conclusion: we're outnumbered. Hiccup placed a hand on Kiara's knee in silent question. Her mouth was set in a thin line and her brow creased in determination. I'm ready, she answered with a single nod. "Now," he breathed. They sprung from the bush.
With one swing, Kiara struck the head of a hunter and shoved the butt of her staff into a second one's belly. While the first was dazed and dropped his lantern, the second didn't hesitate to swing his blade at her with a monstrous cry. She ducked and rolled back between the legs of the first, then kicked out, sending him colliding into the second, and both toppling into a tree. Angered, they rounded on her and stalked forwards menacingly. Kiara inched back, her knuckles growing pale as she gripped her staff. Meanwhile, Hiccup was locked in combat with the third and largest hunter.
"It really takes two of you to get a puny girl like me?" Kiara asked meekly. Please, fragile masculinity, come to my rescue... she silently begged. The pair of hunters charged at her. Or not.
"Hiccup!" she yelled as she scarcely blocked several blows that rained down on her.
"What?" came the strained reply.
"Switcheroo!"
Hiccup sprung away from his opponent and slammed the hilt of his sword against the second hunter's head. He slumped, unconscious. At the same time, Kiara threw her dagger at Hiccup's attacker. He knocked it aside with his shield but the distraction was enough to save Hiccup and let Kiara launch herself at him. He brought up his shield, protecting his head from her staff.
This guy was huge. And he swung at her with his similarly huge sword. Kiara blocked it but the force behind the blade sent her sprawling. Pain flared across her back. Definitely dodging from now, she thought, rolling away. His sword lodged into the earth where she'd just been. She kicked at his jaw and struck her staff against his knuckles. With a yelp, he let go of his sword and slammed his shield against her. She was thrown back but instead of collapsing on her back, she rolled and was back on her feet, just like Astrid taught her.
That's it, Kiara thought. What would Astrid do?
As the man loomed over her, Astrid's words echoed in her head. The bigger they are... "The harder they fall," she finished in a whisper.
She arched her body under his blade and struck his knee with the butt of her staff. He grunted, then slashed. She jerked aside and the blade nicked the tree behind her. After she dodged his next two attacks, a thrill travelled through her as she anticipated an opening. He stabbed at her but missed as she bent aside, making him overbalance. Seizing her chance, she dropped to the ground and swept her staff under him. A strangled gasp escaped him as his legs flew out and he collided with the earth with a large thump. He lay winded for but a moment before Kiara knocked him unconscious.
With her chest heaving for air, she stepped away and retrieved her dagger then turned to see Hiccup still fighting. The remaining hunter matched Hiccup blow for blow but grew defensive when he noticed Kiara approaching. He attempted to back away behind a tree.
Hiccup was having none of that. He sliced through the tree, sending it toppling. The hunter, stunned by the move, was disarmed with a quick slash to the forearm, and swiftly knocked out. Panting, Hiccup turned away and retracted Inferno. A bruise was forming on his jaw, looking especially red in the lantern's glow.
"That's a good sword," Kiara remarked, eyeing the severed tree. While it wasn't large, its trunk was as thick as a Viking's thigh. And Hiccup had cut clean through.
"It is a good sword," he agreed. With a proud smile, he flipped his weapon then looked from it to the smoking stump and back. For a moment he was still and quiet. Then, with his eyes locked onto Inferno, his hand went to his thigh and rested on the bulge in his pocket, and his eyebrows rose. "Kiara..."
At the sound of his cautious tone, she frowned and stepped closer. "Yeah?"
"I think," he said quietly, "I've got our leverage."