Twenty Seven: One Must Die

"Well, Master Hiccup-it is good to finally talk to you, man to man, without any subterfuge," Johann announced, an arm swinging out expensively. Hiccup raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I thought you would find it strange, not lying to me and everyone else all the time," Hiccup replied shortly, his eyes never leaving the Trader. Johann chuckled.

"You feel sore about that? When you lied to your tribe and shamed your family and entire history?" the former Trader taunted him.

"This isn't about me-but my actions prevented a war while yours are aimed at causing one," Hiccup retorted. Johann chuckled.

"There will be no war-only massacre and surrender," he said darkly. "The King of Dragons commands them all-and with every dragon at my command-even your precious Night Fury-then no one will stand in my way."

"We will always stand against those who threaten us," Hiccup snapped but Johann gave a mocking smile.

"Ah yes-your propensity to stick your nose where it has no business," he scoffed.

"So is Johann even your real name?" Hiccup asked him dryly. The man chuckled.

"You know, I can't even recall what that was, I've worn so many over the years," he said dismissively. "Though being Johann has served me well. And I have profited well from the prejudices, vanity and treacheries of you Vikings." Hiccup stared stonily at you.

"So how did you...?"

"Simple. I took what I needed. The tales of real traders. Their names. And finally, their ships and lives," Johann gloated. "How's your shoulder, Hiccup?"

"Perfect," he said too quickly, his hand rising to press against the area. Johann noted the gesture and he smiled broadly.

"And when the other tribes find the the Hooligan Heir is just a slave, nothing, worthless?" he asked cruelly but Hiccup lifted his chin.

"I don't have a brand," Hiccup told him. Johann raised his eyebrows.

"Really? I watched it happen," he sneered, his voice suddenly filling with loathing. "And you have no idea, no concept whatsoever of how long I have dreamed of that moment. From the hour I heard you had befriended dragons, I knew you would be trouble, with your tendency to turn up where not wanted, your stupid but loyal friends and even 'the great Chief' backing you up when he should have slaughtered you for treason! I had to get you out of the way or I would never have progressed my plans. Why did you think I went near Breakneck Bog? Or was on Outcast Island when my operative got the key to Dagur? How did your enemies know where you were, when the Edge was unguarded?"

"You have been busy," Hiccup commented sarcastically, pacing slightly to maintain the distance between himself and the former Trader. "Surprised you had time to do any trade."

"You think I worry in the long term about a few meagre Viking coins when I will become the most powerful and richest man in the world when I am done?" Johann scoffed. "Everything has been bent to this aim." He gave a pitying look. "You know, you are the most smart and innovative of your primitive kind-and you cannot appreciate the level of planning and the sophistication of my strategy. You know, your parochial view of the world is laughable, given the powers that face you that you have no concept about! I am the only one you are aware of-however dimly-and though the others will bring you disaster, I will ultimately triumph. And when I have your father, cowering on his face and begging to slit your throat so I will spare his tribe, I will finally have achieved my aim."

"You aren't getting the DragonEye," Hiccup said, backing up a pace. Johann's eyes narrowed, his voice changing abruptly from his Trader-like, expansive diatribe to a good approximation of Krogan's even tone..

"You know the key to negotiation is knowing what you are prepared to give way on and what are your absolute red lines," he lectured the young Viking.

"Not letting you get your hands on the DragonEye. Not allowing you to find the King of Dragons. Not letting you harm my friends and their dragons..." Hiccup replied stubbornly. Johann gave a theatrical sigh.

"I see I shall have to explain it again," he said. "You have to give something up."

"I have," Hiccup told him. "I came to speak to you."

"And that will be your death!" Johann growled, an arm flinging forward and growing a dagger straight at Hiccup. But the young Viking was ready and the Dragon Sword swung up, the flaming blade parrying the knife harmlessly aside.

"It really was you," Hiccup accused him, shifting his weight forward and keeping his eyes locked onto the opponent's face. "As I was regaining consciousness. I recognised you."

"Aren't you the clever one?" Johann sneered. "Another moment and I would have slit your wrists and left you to bleed out-but that damned worm interfered..."

"Worm?" Hiccup murmured and then he heard a warble. "Toothless? That's just insulting, Johann. I take it he bested you...again..." The other man's fury was even more reassuring as explosions sounded from over the cliffs.

"We have a deal!" Johan roared.

"That I would meet you-not that my allies wouldn't demolish your base in the meantime," Hiccup told him as the man snapped more knives into his arms.

"You've lived far too long!" he snarled and snapped his head round. "NOW!"

The men lunged at Toothless and the Night Fury bounded back, allowing them to crowd him before he roared and then blasted the nearest man back, his broken body flying five yards beyond slamming into the dry ground. The second man raised a huge, two-headed axe and charged Toothless but the Night Fury simply swatted him aside with his tail. Stiffening, Hiccup glanced backwards and realised he had paced enough during the verbal sparring to put himself between Johann and the entrance to his base. And Johann's men were erupting behind him.

"TOOTHLESS!" he shouted as Johann lunged forward, his knives clanging against the flaming blade. Feeling himself thrown back another step, Hiccup pulled himself up and slammed a powerful overhead blow down on the Trader, forcing him to crouch back to defend himself and allow Hiccup to fly past, rolling back to his feet and managing to get to a point where Johann's men were to one side and Toothless to the other. Johann slashed out and Hiccup hissed in pain as the knife tagged his waist. Teeth gritted, he pressed a hand to the wound and peered at the blood: not too much but painful and a reminder that Johann was dangerous. He just hoped the blade wasn't poisoned but he guessed that Johann wouldn't routinely keep poisoned blades about his person.

Spinning, Hiccup parried the swords of two men who crowded him, slamming them aside and swinging his own blade round to deal the pair a lethal blow simultaneously. As they fell, another surged forward and Hiccup ducked below the swipe, the upwards swing of the blade splitting the man open from crotch to throat. Continuing the motion, he beheaded the man next to him and danced sideways as a spear jabbed where he had been, before dodging back as one of Toothless's plasma blasts took down the spearman. Taking another pace sideway, he found himself facing Johann again.

"You appear to be outnumbered," Johann sneered as he lunged, his blades parrying the sword and making Hiccup realise that Johann was much stronger than he looked-or that he was starting to tire. It had been a tiring day already and Hiccup cursed the after-effects of the Wine of Hela. He was as stubborn as a rock and fully the equal of his father in the obstinacy stakes-but his body was starting to let him down. His motions were just a little slower, allowing Johann's knives to catch his his leg and neck. His bracers blocked a couple of slashes but finally, Johann sliced across his hand and the sword clattered from his grasp, blood welling from the deep cut.

Aware of Toothless roaring in fury as he smelled his Rider's blood, Hiccup threw himself forward, his hands gripping Johann's wrists and wrestling with a man more ruthless and far stronger and heavier than he was. "And that is an act of desperation, giving up the range of your sword when I shall inevitably win," Johann sneered, knowing he would have landed a lethal blow from his knives before Hiccup could have retrieved his sword. Looking into the cold, merciless eyes, Hiccup finally understood what Astrid, Heather and Spitelout had been trying to tell him. This wasn't a man who could be reasoned with, a man who would see the error of his ways and transform into an ally of Berk. No, this was a man who would stop at nothing until he got what he wanted and would sweep any man or dragon aside who stood in his way. A man where there was only one resolution, since he had declared his visceral hatred of Hiccup. One of them had to die.

"I wouldn't bet in it," Hiccup grunted, feeling his energy waning and wrists being forced inexorably backwards. Johann was starting to break free and if they carried on much longer, he would kill Hiccup. Then the roar of a Nadder sounded. And despite everything, he felt his lips curl in a relieved smile. "Especially not now."

Hookfang and Meatlug appeared, attacking the emerging guards with all the ferocity the Riders had used on the Dragon Hunter Tribe. Snotlout was whooping as usual and dimly, he saw Stormfly take a pass the help Toothless against all his foes before Astrid leaped from her back. Meatlug's lava splashed on two guards, horribly melting them and Hookfang blasted a couple more men, turning them into walking infernos. The screams and hideous scents of charred flesh filled Hiccup's senses as Johann smirked, ripping his left arm free.

"I win!" he sneered and stabbed the blade at Hiccup's left side. Grunting in pain as the edge sliced his leather armour, tunic and skin, Hiccup twisted enough to prevent it sinking into his body, though it glanced off a rib. His vision blurred in pain...until a voice dragged him back to reality.

"BABE! NOW!"

Time slowed as Hiccup responded automatically, relying on and completely trusting the owner of the voice as he had every moment since he had woken from his coma after defeating the Red Death. Immediately, he had thrown himself to the floor as three arrows whiffled right by him, all three slicing Johann's arm, shoulder and body as they shot by.

"HA! YOU MISSED!" Johann roared in triumph, waving his bloody knife in triumph.

"I won't," Hiccup grunted. Rolling, the auburn-haired Viking's fingers brushed against the smooth metal he had made and he managed to snatch his sword. Before Johann could register that he was still alive, he stabbed up, driving the blade deep into Johann's middle.

The man bellowed, breaking away and staggering towards the entrance to his base.

"I'll ruin you!" he promised, a hand pressed to the wound."Everyone will know you're a slave-and that Hiccup and his Riders attacked poor Trader Johann and stole his wares. I'll make you pirates and pariahs. Every Tribe will rise against you... I'll see you DEAD!" And then he vanished, the steel trap door slamming shut and the bolts sliding home with an ear-splitting screech. Hookfang and Toothless howled in pain at the sound as the guards stared after their leader in shock and then back at the furious Riders, who had slaughtered most of their fellows. There had been no quarter given for the men who had tried to end Hiccup and Toothless and none of the men who still faced the Riders without any route for escape could see any future now their leader had abandoned them. They all promptly surrendered. Sagging, Hiccup lay back on the cold ground, his hand pressed to the wound on his chest.

"Hiccup? Babe-are you okay?" Astrid ran forward, the bow in her hand and quiver hanging from her belt. He gave a shaky thumbs-up.

"I'm okay," he sighed as she knelt by him, inspecting his side and whistling Stormfly. The Nadder instantly bounded forward and she reached up, carefully pulling wadding and a bandage from her saddlebags. Murmuring thanks to the Nadder, who went back to greeting her friend Toothless, she deftly padded then bandaged the wound and helped him sit up. Unselfconsciously, she pressed a small kiss to his lips.

"Are you sure?" she asked and he nodded.

"You were late," he told her as she shrugged.

"I had to deal with Snotlout," she admitted. "And it was a little more exciting than usual. Did you cope?"

"I improvised," he admitted. "And you missed..."

"I rather think you tagged him well enough for both of us," she told him. "But I didn't miss." She rose and poured the arrows carefully from the quiver onto the ground where the three blood-stained arrows had stuck into the thin soil and gestured. Instantly, Stormfly came forward and poured a long blast of her Magnesium-hot flame to vaporise the arrows. Hiccup frowned.

"Astrid?" he asked. She crouched by him and sat back on her heels once more.

"The tips were coated in Slitherwing venom," she told him simply. "I only needed to tag him once. I hit him with all three. No matter what he threatens, he's a dead man. So we can treat you and then close down this base...and then go after him."

"How do you know he's not holed up in the base?" Hiccup asked him but she shook her head.

"He always has a way out," she told him. "I learned that over the months..." He sighed.

"You were right," he conceded. She nodded absently. "There was only one way it was ever going to end." And then he sighed. "It's not me...but I had to do it..." Her hand closed on his.

"Is Heather okay?" she interrupted him, her eyes worried.

"A bit bruised and battered but Gothi thinks she'll live," Hiccup reported.

"Where is she?"

"Loki's finger," Hiccup reported as Toothless nudged him and he hugged the dragon. "Bud. You okay?" The Night Fury warbled a swift affirmative, licking his cheek absently.

"That will be where Windshear headed off for," Fishlegs realised, walking closer. He and Snotlout had secured the remaining men and had checked their fellows for signs of life.

"Can we please get off of this mountain?" Snotlout moaned. "Every time we try to do anything here, it always goes wrong."

"What do you mean? We won!" Fishlegs told him.

"There'll probably be an ambush, an earthquake, possibly a plague of Terrible Terrors or something if we hang around here!" Snotlout snapped. "And do I need to point out that Hiccup is wounded-again? And I'm hungry..." Astrid helped Hiccup onto Toothless and checked his wounds.

"And we can't have that," she murmured dryly.

"We wouldn't have had to be out here if you hadn't run..." Snotlout began but Fishlegs gave sharp intake of breath.

"Oooh-you didn't just say that, did you?" he murmured as Astrid rounded on the stocky rider.

"What?" she hissed. Hiccup reached for her but she pulled away, marching towards the Monstrous Nightmare Rider.

"Well, babe-seems to me that we wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't run away..." Snotlout repeated unwisely before Astrid punched him in the face.

"Apart from the fact that you wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't been so stupid and not done as you were told in going with a man I specifically and very clearly told the Chief was an enemy, a traitor and a murderer, I had to leave because Johann was searching for me and being on Berk or near you would put you all in danger. I have bounty hunters on my tail-I've killed about fifteen so far-and they wouldn't hesitate to use you to get to me."

"Well I could always..." Snotlout began.

"NO! Just...no..." she said, her voice suddenly softer. "I don't want anyone else to be harmed."

"Astrid..." Hiccup spoke gently to her and she turned, walking back to catch his outstretched hand. "Astrid...no one else is going to be hurt. We find Johann and we make him remove the bounty...or we spread the news of his death. If no one is alive to pay the bounty, the bounty hunters will give up. They don't work for nothing."

"Especially not with the number I've killed," she murmured, allowing herself to be pulled closer to him.

"Stay with me-please?" he breathed. Her eyes softened.

"I'm not leaving you anywhere, Babe," she assured him, kissing him on the cheek. He winced. "We need to get you to Gothi." She looked over to the others. "Can you sweep for any remaining guards with the twins and Dagur? I'll get Hiccup to Gothi..." Snotlout nodded and got up into the air, though Fishlegs paused.

"Do you think he's gone?" he asked and Hiccup paused.

"I think Astrid's right-there's always a back door," he confirmed as Fishlegs hesitated again.

"Are you okay?" he asked as Hiccup nodded. Astrid securely sat behind him, wrapping her arms around his body and making sure he was secure.

"Keep an eye on Snot, will you?" Astrid asked. "And make sure all of Johann's guards are finished or captured. Then can you tow the Yakmina back from the dock to us? I have an idea." Hiccup chuckled.

"You know, I'm going to have to keep and an eye on you-or I'll lose my job," he told her playfully. She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Never," she murmured. "I'm just doing what any lieutenant would do."

"Oh no," Hiccup murmured. "You're my General-and always will be." He leaned forwards slightly. "C'mon, Bud, Let's get me fixed up and hope Dad doesn't notice..."

"No chance of that," Astrid told him as Toothless launched. Fishlegs stared after them as Hookfang circled round and Snotlout hovered above him.

"Did we just get left with the clean-up, Fishface?" he asked irritably. The husky Rider nodded.

"I think so," he murmured, catching the edge to Snotlout's voice. "Hey, you wanna disagree, you can talk to Astrid..."

"AGH!" Snotlout said and flew off. "I'll just tell the twins to do it..."

oOo

Johann lay back in the stern of the little boat he had stashed in the cove by the back exit of the base on Nameless Isle. It wasn't the Yakmina, but it didn't matter, because he was Trader Johann, known and liked everywhere. And while he despised and cursed most of the brainless Vikings of the Archipelago, the cover he had created over many years was now his best weapon against the Dragon Riders. Who would believe that he, Johann, everyone's friend, was the mastermind behind the Dragon Hunters?

He grimaced, his face twisted in pain. He was dizzy and felt hot and cold and there were green blotches on his skin, while chills surged through him. He gritted his teeth and pressed a hand to the tight bandage around his middle, the wound stuffed with a poultice he had obtained from a wise woman far to the south for sword wounds. The scratches and nicks from the combat had been wiped and smeared with salve and he had sailed away while the Riders were still rending his base apart, heading into the fog banks.

His head jerked up, eyes blinking owlishly. He had dozed off and it seemed to be dusk, the cold orange light illuminating the grey skeins of fog as they clustered around the flaccid sail, hanging motionless and beaded with moisture. The wind had died and the current seemed to have abandoned him, stranding him in this lonely doldrum, as the blood pounded louder and louder in his ears...

...or was it the beating of dragon wings, closing on his location shrouded in the gloom? He felt a shiver tremble through him and swallowed a little spit. His water flask was a few feet away but he didn't have the strength to drag himself over to it and his throat felt like parchment. As he looked up, he saw the fog begin to thin and dissipate as the sounds grew closer-and then he realised that his ship was ringed by hovering dragons, all with Riders staring down on him. His eyes widened and then he pulled himself more upright, flailing an arm and grabbing his bow, lifting it with wavering arms to point vaguely at the shape on the black Night Fury.

"Hey, Johann," Hiccup said, his face pale and looking exhausted. There were bandages wound around his chest and side and he was sagging a little in his saddle. At his right hand side, Astrid was hovering on Stormfly, her eyes fixed on the Trader while Snotlout was hovering to Hiccup's left, scowling. Spaced around the little ship were Dagur on Sleuther, the bandaged Heather on Windshear, the twins on Barf'n'Belch, Fishlegs on Meatlug, Gothi on her Gronckle, Gustav on Hookfang and Spitelout on Spikes. Mulch, Bucket and Sven were escorting the prisoners back to Berserker Island for trial. The trader forced his expression into a sneer, the effort of which hurt his face.

"You think...I'm going to beg for my life?" Johann rasped. "I know you, boy...you won't harm me."

"I don't need to," Hiccup told him in an apologetic voice.

"I already have," Astrid announced. Johan turned the bow on her.

"What have you done?" he wheezed. She gave a thin smile.

"Do you know the antidote for Slitherwing venom?" she asked him. He bared his teeth.

"Imagine...for a moment...I'm not a soppy fool who see dragons as pets, but as a commodity," he rasped. "Give me the recipe..."

"It won't work...not unless you already have a supply of Angelfern root, pine sap...and Slitherwing venom," Hiccup told him tonelessly. "Except...Angelfern only grows a day's flight from here...and Astrid destroyed all her Slitherwing-impregnated arrows once she had shot you. So realistically...we can't help..."

"You must!" Johann yelled. "You're Hiccup Haddock. You interfere in everything. You save even your enemies!"

"Not you," Astrid replied, never taking her eyes off Johann. "You were hit over four hours ago. "You've only got a few hours left at most. Probably less... Have you seen yourself, Johann? You already look dead!"

"Then I'll take you with me!" he growled and launched the arrow straight at her body. But the instant sound of Toothless's plasma blast shattered the missile as the Riders all back-winged away from the ship.

"Goodbye, Johann," Hiccup said quietly. "Say hi to Krogan and Viggo for me!"

"Wait..." he howled, scrabbling to his knees. "You can't leave me. You can't..."

But the clammy fog began to drift back in, muffling the sounds and shrouding the little vessel as his cries went unanswered and finally, alone and unmourned, Traitor Johann and his dreams of conquest quietly died.

oOo

The Riders returned to the ship early the next morning and saw the man sprawled on his face, his lips white and eyes staring, blood-stained spittle still splattered over his tunic and the deck by his face. Slowly hovering, Hiccup breathed slowly and evenly, warring with himself. Every instinct told him that this man deserved a burial, as did every human, but Johann's relentless bile and venom towards Hiccup and latterly Astrid meant that he couldn't force himself to become the world's greatest hypocrite in speaking the words. So he said nothing, looking around his friends-and seeing them all lower their eyes.

So unheralded and unannounced, the Night Fury Rider raised his arm and all the dragons fired on the little boat, setting it aflame immediately. And though the others headed back to the nearby Edge for rest and to ensure that the wounded received proper medical attention from Gothi before they headed on the long flight back to Berk, Hiccup and Astrid remained to ensure the flames completely consumed the boat and its inhabitant. Finally, when the boat sunk below the waves, Hiccup turned to Astrid.

"It's finally over," he told her with relief but she shook her head.

"The enemy is defeated but it's not over," she reminded him. "There will be consequences from this. A Dragon Rider destroyed markets and ships and an entire Tribe. I may not be allowed to stay anywhere in the Archipelago."

"Over my dead body," Hiccup vowed with a small smile.

"I think I did all this because I thought that had happened, Babe," she pointed out. "Not allowing that to happen again."

"Not too keen on it myself, to be honest," he admitted. "It won't happen, Astrid. You fought for me-and I will fight for you. I promise." He paused and smiled. "I only just got you back. I can't lose you again."

"I don't wanna be lost," she admitted, looking into his eyes. "But we may have no choice."

"There is always a choice," he said. "And this time, there is no running. No one is separating us ever again, Astrid. Because I will fly to and fight to the end of the world to keep you, my Valkyrie."