ALL NOVEL Chapter 58: chapter 3
"Is that smoke?" Snotlout asked.
Hiccup and I looked at him with a deadpan expression.
"No, it's just a wonky rain cloud." I said sarcastically. "Of course it's smoke you idiot!"
"Okay, jeez!" He said with his hands raised in surrender. "Was just making sure."
After a couple of minutes of gathering up the map and deciding who would transform, we were airborne and heading towards where the smoke was coming from.
The forest became burnt up the closer we got. I whined as I looked over the dead landscape as Hookfang and I flew above it all.
" These poor trees.. " I whimpered out.
As we reached the ocean, a large, piercing structure of ice came into view. There were large protruding icicles that looked rather spiky even from the distance we were at.
"Stay close." Hiccup said as we took notice of Snotlout trying to urge Hookfang to go faster.
"But–"
Hiccup gave him a stern look and Snotlout groaned.
"Alright, alright."
We flew around the ice cautiously, getting a better look at the wreckage. From the looks of it, the ice ensnared ships, boats, and even a wooden fort.
"What in Akatosh's name happened here..?" Hiccup asked worriedly.
" Whatever it was, it was big.. " I said as I took notice of a pair of enormous footprints in the mud below.
"Uh, guys?!" Snotlout shouted to try and get our attention.
"Fire!" We all heard, which got Hiccup and I to look where Snotlout and Hookfang were.
The net that was shot was heading straight for them.
"Snotlout, look out!" Hiccup yelled, but before Hookfang could dodge they were caught in the bola.
Hookfang screeched in surprise as he was being dragged down and Snotlout screamed as he slipped off Hookfang's back. I dived and quickly caught him with my front paws, a tight grip on his attire with my claws.
Down below, the dragon trappers that caught Hookfang were trying to trap him properly.
"Watch for flames! Tie the wings up nice and tight!" The man that seemed to be the leader shouted as I sped past the trappers.
"Is that what I think it is?" I heard as I looked for an area to land.
"STOP!" Hiccup shouted at the trappers, growling a bit at how harsh they were being with our friend.
"Get out of the way!" One yelled as Hookfang released a stream of flames at them, his body going aflame to try and burn the ropes holding him down, but for some reason they had no effect on them.
After that failed, the trappers tightened the ropes of Hookfang, who screeched in pain.
"HOOKFANG!" Snotlout exclaimed, jumping out of my grasp once we were close enough to the ground.
"Whoa, watch out!" Another trapper shouted as I landed, the trappers close by dodging me as I did so.
Hiccup quickly hopped off my back and stood in front of me, drawing out Inferno as he did so.
"What are you doing to my dragon?!" Snotlout asked, very pissed off as he grabbed a stick that was close by and held it like his mace.
"Back again?" The leader asked as he walked over to us then smiled in shock as he got a good look at me. "Soil my britches…that is a Night Fury. Thought they were all gone for good. Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads! Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army." He said towards the other trappers.
'Dragon army?' I thought with a raised brow bone.
"Look, we don't want any trouble." Hiccup said as he moved to cover me up a bit better from the trappers.
"Ha! You should've thought of that before you stole all of our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" The leader said angrily.
"Yeah, look at it!" One of the other trappers added.
"Wait…" Hiccup said, his posture changing from protective to confused.
"What are you talking about man?" Snotlout asked in confusion.
"You think we did this?" Hiccup asked as he gestured to the ice around us.
"Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is, without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them." The leader said with his arms crossed.
"What do-gooder–there are other dragon riders?" My mate asked, shocked.
'Maybe there's a settlement out this way that has dragon allies..' I thought, just as shocked.
"You mean, other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me. You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side, but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?" The leader questioned, which confused us further.
'There's a dragon that can shoot ice instead of fire?'
"Drago what-fist ?" Hiccup asked, confused immensely by the information. "Does anything you say make sense?"
"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow." A trapper stated.
"And Drago don't take well to excuses." Another added.
"And we're supposed to care, why?" Snotlout asked with a bored expression on his face.
" This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed." The leader said as he revealed a scar on his shoulder to us. "He promised to be far less understanding in the future."
"Look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief, or an ice-spitting dragon," Hiccup began as we took notice of the leader nodding behind us, but why was the question. "Or your lunatic boss and his dragon army, okay? Just give us back our dragon and we'll go, Strange-Hostile-Person-Whom-We've-Never-Met." Hiccup finished as he backed up a bit, his sword lowered just slightly.
"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Eret. Son of Eret. Finest dragon trapper alive. After all, it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury." The leader, who we now know as Eret said with a smirk.
I glared at him and huffed. " As if! We need to get Hookfang and go, now! " I shouted, which just came out as a roar to the trappers and Snotlout.
"And this is Kala. She says we're going. Now." Hiccup translated, rather upset now.
Eret laughed, which made my glare sharpen.
"Heh. They all say that. RUSH 'EM, LADS!" He exclaimed.
Our eyes widened and I quickly shot at a large icicle, the ice then broke and fell in front of the dragon trappers that were trying to capture me. They yelped in surprise and jumped away just before the ice could fall on top of them.
"Oh, watch out!" One of the trappers yelled.
Hiccup rushed over to Hookfang and cut off all the ropes with his Inferno, which let Hookfang shake off the rope easily.
"Hookfang!" Snotlout exclaimed as he ran from some trappers.
Hookfang scooped his rider up easily as I ran over to Hiccup, who easily hopped onto my back.
"C'mon, go! Go!" Snotlout yelped as he ducked from weapons being thrown our way.
Hookfang and I then bolted into the air, just barely managing to escape nets and bolas being thrown our way as we did.
"YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ONTO THOSE DRAGONS, YOU HEAR ME?! DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!" Eret shouted at us, but it became barely audible as Hookfang and I sped away.
~~~HTLANF~~~