??? POV

Oh Thor, they heard me.

I had just dropped a dagger, causing a loud metallic clang to shatter the silence. I perched in a tree, hiding from their sight as I watched Hiccup leave for the others. I listened to Hiccup's steps, a thunk and a clank, until I couldn't hear them any more. Seeing him so afraid was rewarding, but I knew I would have to make the riders all feel much more threatened than this to get them off the island.

Silently, I dropped from the tree. The night fury's ears twitched and I held my breath. It didn't take a look, instead focusing on the metal. Sniffing the air, it was annoyingly very alert. Carefully, I avoided every leaf, twig and plant that could make a sound if stepped on. Once out of earshot, I quickened my pace and looked for the fire I had made earlier. Setting alight two more sticks, I returned to the pit.

Turning my attention to the night fury, I waited patiently for it to turn from next to where I was hidden, my heart beating a mile a minute. When it finally looked away, I threw both at once.

The night fury's sensitive eyes caught the movement, and it instantly shot at one of the torches. Yet it didn't have enough time to react to both, as the second torch landed on the weapons soaked in monstrous nightmare gell.

Instantly they lit up, melting and flaming and burning as bright as the sun. I smiled at the fire; I really did love flames. But now wasn't the time, as I was reminded of when the dragon came charging at me.

I dodged, but it wacked me with its tail. I stumbled, hitting a tree, running round it. The night fury used ecolocation to search for me, but behind the tree I couldn't be found.

Silence.

Slowly I crouched, feeling for a rock, trying not to think about how gruesome being mawled to death would be. I found a stone, and threw it at its tail. It reared, shocked, as I darted away. Foolishly, I looked back, revealing my face. It charged after me, fury filling its eyes.

I threw my hands out, but I couldn't slow. I needed to find something, anything. I was panting hard, probably making myself an easy target, when my arm hit a branch. I grabbed it, broke it off the tree and turned in time to see the night fury leap on me, pinning me down.

It bit at my face, getting part of my hood, as I whacked it with the stick. It reared in pain, shocked, removing enough weight for me to get away. I controlled my breathing as I ran in an effort to be quieter. This time I didn't look back, I just put one foot after the other, my heart trembling.

Maybe this was a bad idea.

Maybe I shouldn't have left my island.

Gosh, I missed my family. My heart clenched, longing for my mother, who had always been kind and supportive. I longed for my brother, but that just gave me more reason to do this.

Just keep running!

"Just keep running," I gasped as I remembered. I was running quickly through the forest, dodging blasts from an angry death song. "Just keep running," my eldest brother yelled to me and my brother as we ran. I weaved through the trees, trying not to hear the wing beats or cracking of flora.

There were thorn bushes everywhere. Some were low enough to jump over, others had to be avoided completely. One was shot with amber, crystallized. I screamed as some sticky death song amber hit my hair, just enough to weigh me down but not stick me in place.

My brothers had the same problem. Amber was under their arms, some on their feet from near-misses. I saw the younger brother fall, but I pulled him up.

The death song roared as loud as thunder.

What had we done?

I snapped out of it. My feet had been running on their own, and I ended up in the mountains. Having not slowed the entire time, I was exhausted.

I missed my family so much. I just wanted to run into my mother's arms, hearing her gentle singing as she worked. I just wanted to play with my brothers, looking for new strategies.

I scowled. They're dead. That was why I had to stay on track. I had a few more steps in my plan that needed to be conducted and getting distracted by home sickness was not an option.

Over the peaks, I watched the sun rise.

As I used to with mother...

My eyes glassed with unshed tears. But I was on a mission, and there was no room for weakness. I needed those answers, and if I had been a couple of days late they would've taken everything away, leaving me with nothing to look through.

The notes had been interesting, but unrelated. What I ideally would want is a record of their missions, maybe some plans when they were put in a difficult spot. I needed to know why and where they'd killed him.

Part three of the operation was simple. Snoop around each individual hut in a great amount of detail, searching for two things: answers and blackmail material. When I had looked earlier, I was after resources and I only barely read all the writing. Now I needed to get the riders off the island to gain free reign.

Morning was quick to set in. The sky turned a pastel blue, the grass and snow glittering in the sunlight. I smiled; it was so peaceful. I understood why the riders liked it here.

Navigating back to base was harder than I liked. It always was for me, but I had tried to improve in my navigation classes. I wasn't sure where exactly I was to start with on this island, as it all looked basically the same. It took me ages to get to the stream - the only place where I was confident where I was. When I finally arrived at base, I immediately fell asleep.

I don't know how long I slept, but when I woke, it was sometime in the early afternoon. Sitting up, I felt my stomach rumble. I hadn't eaten since I'd arrived. Grumbling slightly, I quickly made a makeshift fishing rod. The cove I landed in seemed to have a lot of life, so I grabbed my cloak and headed there.

I got lost.

I was kicking myself. It was such a simple task, follow the stream and turn left; follow the fauna until reaching the coast; then walk along the cliffs, careful of the night terror posts. I cursed. Why didn't I make clearer instructions when I first got here? It was so pathetic. Here I was, standing in the forest, hungry and unprepared.

My stomach rumbled again, louder. It was demanding to be acknowledged. Deciding I couldn't just give up, I walked in as straight a line as I could through the woods, eating any non-toxic berries along the way.

The sun was beginning to set and I was getting worried. Night furies ruled the dark; I would be a sitting duck if it came around. I picked up my pace, trying to keep positive and not think about how badly this could go.

Light filtered through the trees, a telltale sign the forest was thining. I switched to a jog, hopeful. As I burst through the tree line, I relaxed. I had found the coast - finally. A massive smile formed on my face as I walked. Luckily, I actually hadn't gone that far astray and I reached the cove rather quickly.

When I had, relief washed over me in massive surfable waves. I cast the fishing line, efficiently catching and preparing myself a good meal. Two mediocre cods - caught and gutted. I was actually quite good at fishing, having had lessons since I was six, along with archery, mapping and... navigation, my least favourite. Not that I was any good at the last one anyway.

Footsteps. A quick and sudden thunk thunk thunk. Panicked, I grabbed my fish and rod, removing any evidence, and hid in a bush. The thumps were coming closer, and a rider was running frantically. They were short, with black hair and lots of muscle. Yet he seemed to have been running for a while, based on his exhaustion.

Curious, I followed from a considerable distance. The early dusk gave me relative cover, and his pace made it difficult to notice me. I was careful anyway.

He was clearly headed for the outpost, which was worrying. It would be much harder to tail him around there. I thought of the night fury's sharp teeth biting at my face. Shaking my head, I followed. I would just need to be careful.

"Icc-up," he panted, coming to a sudden stop at the building I had found notes in yesterday. Many heads snapped up at him whilst I crouched lower.

"Hiccup and Toothless we're ambushed by dragons," he heaved. "He's out cold and Toothless is overpowered. Hooky tried to get them out, but got stuck too," he inhaled, "All the dragons are too big to get anywhere near." With a smirk, I realised now would be a perfect opportunity to capture them. I presumed Toothless was the night fury. Which was odd - I knew first-hand that night furies have very strong and sharp, and most definitely real, teeth.

I could hear panicked cries as the group prepared to go help the struggling duo. They easily had water, first-aid kit, an axe (to my frustration) and a sword (where did that come from?) with a massive handle that I hadn't seen before at hand. Everyone was available and off, but their dragons were all the way in the stables. I would have a large head start.

They all quickly got on their dragons, me running to keep up. As I ran in the dark, I tried to guess how the crash happened. Afterall, it was a night fury - armed with extreme manuverability and echolocation. Yet somehow, the night fury, rider and monstrous nightmare were attacked by wild dragons? On their own island? It was too convenient, too perfect.

A trap.

When an opponent offers an opportunity to capture all his pieces at once, it is the cunning player that seizes the moment.

***

Thanks for reading guys! I mean it!

Any thoughts on the mysterious attacker?

I'd like to shout-out OnlyLittleMia, Whiplash246 and makaila181818 for voting on my story. Thank you!