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━━ chapter three
dragon army

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SHE has seen many forest fires in her short life so far. Valkyrie could tell the difference between one started by a dragon flame, human hands or a storm against dry land. But what told her that this was something to worry about, was Zephyr's nervous flight as the group of them soared past bright orange trees into the depths of a dark, barren land thick with smoke; fresh and spiking heat to her skin. Valkyrie pushed through the need to cough ash from her lungs to peer at the fallen trees and glowing embers on blackened grass.

She and Zephyr followed Hiccup and Toothless━weaving in and out, up and over, around ashen cliffs and under jagged branches about to fall. Her eyes fixed on the red tail, something bright━stark against the burnt land.

A little nervous, Valkyrie's fingers slipped up to the brooch keeping her coat clasped together━she always wore it, even if there was nothing to clasp. It was a gift given━symbolic of her marriage that Hiccup made for her, given to her after the ceremony. She traced the outline of Zephyr touching noses with Toothless, immediately feeling a lot better despite the heavy air settled around them.

As if sensing her distress, Hiccup glanced back and they locked a quick gaze. He had no idea what this was, either, but he knew━just like her━that it wasn't just an average forest fire.

Together, they surged onwards in between the cliffs and mountain pass towards a blanket of clouds. Valkyrie could smell sea water amongst the ash behind her━the sudden cool blast of the ocean reaching her arms even under her furs. Mountains peaked out of the omnious mist, but Valkyrie paid little attention to the beach cove's beauty.

Instead, she gasped and pulled Zephyr up to a sudden halt, eyes wide at the sight right before her.

Hiccup hovered in beside her, cheeks pale in shock━neither had seen anything of the sort before them.

As if some monster lurked beneath the waters, a tip of a jagged iceberg shot out from the dephts. It shuddered and creaked, ice moving and breaking amongst large splinters of wood━masts, catapults, all captured in a frozen explosion that sent chills down Valkyrie's spine ... and not from the immense cold it seemed to pulse, like heat out of dragon fire.

"What in the name of Thor...?" Valkyrie's words were hitched and hoarse in her horror, stuck in the back of her throat. Her grip on Zephyr's saddle tightened and he squawked, wings beating with more urgency than they had before━he seemed to recognise this structure, and wanted to be far away from it. Valkyrie felt bad to keep him rooted, but they needed to check this out. Those wooden spikes━this ice had attacked something ... there could be people still trapped inside.

But while she knew they had to go onwards, Valkyrie couldn't move.

Hiccup glanced back at her again, in the same state of shock as her. His eyes flickered with a question, one she had no answer to. Valkyrie shrugged, having expected him to know something. But they were both just as clueless as the other.

He pursed his lips. "Stay close," he told her, grave.

Valkyrie nodded and with a tight grip, tapped a pattern to get Zephyr moving.

She and Hiccup approached the vast mountain of ice, hearts pounding in their chests. With swift dives, they entered its maze under a gap in the glacier, slowly rounding it to the back. Valkyrie glanced down at the spikes and wood shattered━even hinges and cages of iron━some frozen completely within the ice's shards.

Zephyr reared back slightly and Valkyrie kept a hand tracing the patterns on his neck to keep him calm. The watch towers of a fort came into view, some protuding, still standing out of the water, while others━like everything else━was shattered into two with spikes of ice shooting forthwith through its centre.

"What happened here...?" murmured Hiccup so softly Valkyrie almost didn't hear.

Valkyrie spotted something below them. "Look..." she pointed.

Stamped in mud and shattered walkways, were two, collosal footprints. At the mere sight of them, Toothless and Zephyr moaned apprehensively, jerking their bodies up and away. Valkyrie's stomach twisted. Yes, something was very wrong.

"All right, e━easy, bud," Hiccup rubbed a soothing hand along the tip of Toothless's crown.

Valkyrie pulled Zephyr up a little to try and get a better look at the destroyed fort. It seemed abandoned━whether those who manned it had escaped or ... or perished in the icy explosion, she didn't know. They came up towards the fort docks, and Val didn't see the men still fortifying it. A net was fixed━

Hiccup saw it before she did. His stomach jolted, "Val━look out!"

The impact of the weighted net sent Valkyrie gasping, thrown from her saddle towards the freezing water. Zephyr shrieked, flailing his body and trying to rip the rope with his claws, entangling it more in his limbs and long wings.

"Zephyr!" she screamed.

Before she could hit the surface of the water, claws snatched her up. Valkyrie clung onto Toothless's leg, eyes wide and heart in her throat to see her dragon hit the wood and stone of the fort, surrounded by men who she had recently believed to be long gone.

Hiccup extended down a hand in which Valkyrie grabbed, letting herself be hoisted up onto the saddle behind him. He tugged back the saddle, and Toothless extended his wings for a quick turn back towards the fort. With one hand around her husbands waist, Valkyrie leaned around to keep an eye on her dragon━his cries making her chest ache in desperation to reach him.

Men with shields and spears surrounded her dragon, smacking his scales and brusing his jaw. Zephyr tried to attack them, pushing himself onto his belly to open his maw━

"Watch the heat-blast━!" another figure leapt out from behind a fallen mast, landing expertly onto Zephyr's snout, clamping his jaw shut with strong hands. Zephyr thrashed and growled, but this man knew what he was doing. He knew to straddle a Windstriker's head to have better access to keep their mouths closed. "Tie those legs up!" With difficulty, he tugged rope and secured Zephyr's snout. He moaned, trying to look for his rider.

"Hang on!" Hiccup told Valkyrie and she did so, feeling her stomach jolt as Toothless readied for a sharp dive. Out of his throat came a shriek of warning━one that any smart Viking knew and feared.

As they neared the fort, Toothless brought up his wings with a snarl to slow for a landing. "Stop!" Hiccup shouted as he did. Valkyrie let go, heart racing to see her beloved dragon so distressed.

"Don't hurt him!" she cried. "Zephyr━!" they landed and she jumped off the saddle. Running forward, she cared little of the armed men. But she had no chocie but to skid to a stop at the tooth-adorned weapons pointed at her.

Zephyr moaned, trying to move his body to help her━even now, his first thought was to protect Valkyrie.

Hiccup tugged Val back from the swords and spears. With his other hand, he swiped up the cannister of his blade, letting it loose with a spark of bright flame that sent the men cowering behind their shields, stumbling back in surprise.

Valkyrie held no weapon. Her mallet was back home, still set up against the desk where she left it last. She didn't think she'd need it for racing! But now, she wished more than ever she had it, just so she could run straight into that line of hunters with a vicious scream. She settled for a broken spear shaft on the ground, ignoring the splinters piercing her palm to hold it up.

"Let him go━now!" she snarled, matching Toothless's growl as he hunched up his back beside her.

Zephyr heaved, stressed and terrified. He glanced at Valkryrie with his small eyes, slittled━he tried to stuggle again, but the hunter who had secured his jaw kept him still with a firm grip on his horn. He stared at them, if not a bit shocked to see a Night Fury━alive and breathing.

He would be older by a few years at the most━strong-jawed and thick-browed, swaddled in furs and armoured with multiple swords. Valkyrie scowled at the insigna clasping his furs together, but didn't recognise it, so she settled on glowering at his stupid obsidian hair and stupid brown gaze━or those stupid tattoo strikes on his chin. Oh, she wanted to smash his head in!

Especially when he plastered a confident, arrogant smile and declared, "Oh! Back again!"

Valkyrie gritted her teeth. It didn't occur to her that he said back again, and not who are you, instead holding up the spearshaft higher and trying to get a hit in. Hiccup stopped her, however (a wise choice on his part, definitely) with an arm in front of her chest.

The trapper━definitely the leader of this group settled his eyes on Toothless, and he was back to staring in absolute shock (and if not a little awe). He was silent for a second, unable to believe it before saying, "Soil my britches ... that is a Night Fury!" He stepped up ontop of Zephyr's back, keeping him━while wriggling━flat onto the stone ground. Valkyrie gripped the spearshaft tighter. Hiccup's gaze caught hers for a second to try and keep her calm, mouthing a, it's okay. Hang on. Toothless bared his teeth further, trying to push through the restraint of his rider to get to his dragon friend. "Thought they were all gone for good."

His men murmured and chuckled in agreement, eyes fixed on Toothless or Hiccup's flaming sword. "Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads!" went on their leader. "Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army."

A chord was struck down Valkyrie's spine━a terrible chill that made her grip her weapon even tighter and share an uneasy glance with Hiccup beside her, "Dragon army?" she tried to show it off as incredulous; that such an idea would be so absurd, but at the look on this man's face, and the trapping equipment around them, she knew that it was serious.

Hiccup held up his hands gently, "Look, we don't want any trouble ..."

The man let out a laugh deep from within his throat, "Ha! You should have thought of that before you stole all our dragons and blasted our fort to bits!" he flung an angry arm at the destruction around them. Valkyrie shook her head; Hiccup frowned.

"Wait ..." he started, but Val was furious. She pushed past him to shout━

"What are you talking about?!" she shoved her broken spear-shaft towards the dragon trapper menacingly. "You let go of my dragon right now or I'll show you who blasted your fort━"

Hiccup placed a gentle hand against her arm━calming, but also stern. She clenched her jaw, but listened to him, and let him step in front, trying to talk this misunderstanding through. "You think we did this?" he pointed up to the icy chaos.

The hunter clasped the hilt of his sword, propping a foot out and onto the top of Zephyr's horn. He huffed, all of his struggling and stressful breathing now falling away to exhaustion. "Dragon trapping," he snarled, "Is hard enough work as it is without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them!"

Hiccup couldn't help but scoff, "What do-gooder━?" his voice broke off, and the realisation hit him and Val at the same time. Their vicious stances dropped. Hiccup spun the blade back into its hilt, sheathing his fire. "There are other dragon riders?"

The head trapper pointed at them, quite confused━if not more than Hiccup and Valkyrie. "You mean other than your thieving friend from last night? You tell me."

Valkyrie tried to think. But it was hard with Toothless pushing against her leg with dangerous growls and Zephyr moaning in defeat. Hand keeping the Night Fury back, she sought through her memory━dragon riders ... other dragon riders ... Heather? Dagur? No, they couldn't cause this. They didn't have a dragon that could cause this much damage. This was someone else━but who?

"You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side━" the trapper finally stepped off Zephyr and towards them; the Windstriker sighed in content, "━but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?"

Hiccup glanced at his wife, wondering whether she knew who he was talking about, but she shook her head. "Drago what━fist?" he turned back to the trapper. "Does anything you say make sense?"

"Hiccup," Val whispered as a warning. He met her gaze, what? She replied back with a look of her own, a: dont taunt them!

"He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army, by tomorrow," spoke up one of the men, and another added━

"And Drago don't take well to excuses!"

Their leader pulled down the collar of his tunic in agreement, showcasing the red marks of a painful brand━they looked to be still healing, which told Valkyrie this was fresh. "This is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future."

Toothless snarled as he took another step closer and Valkyrie's fingers moved up to grip his saddle to keep him still. Hiccup quickly said, "All right, look, we don't know anything about a dragon thief or an ice-spitting dragon 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."

"Oh," the leader chuckled, a hand to his chest, "where are my manners?" he bowed mockingly and Valkyrie arched a brow in her distaste. "I'm Eret━" she wasn't stupid, she knew he was reaching for his sword behind his back, "━son of Eret." He unsheathed the blade and held it up. "Finest dragon trapper alive. After all ... it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury ..."

Toothless roared in defiance, pushing through. In this movement, Valkyrie finally caught sight of the crowssbows armed above, pointed straight at them. Her breath hitched and she met Hiccup's gaze. He nodded, letting her know he saw it too. Subtle, Valkyrie searched for her dragon's eyes, and was grateful to see him already looking at her. She held up her fingers and signalled for him to be ready━two flicks of her middle finger and forefinger against her thumb.

"And this," said Hiccup as she did, hand reaching back to his saddle, "is Toothless. He says we're going. Now."

Eret son of Eret let out a short laugh, "Ha!" He raised the tip of the sword higher. Here it comes ... Valkyrie thought, and she bent her knees ready to run. Narrowing his eyes, the finest trapper alive sneered, "They all say that."

He flung his blade downwards. There it is━ "RUSH 'EM, LADS!"

Valkyrie and Hiccup leapt to the side. Toothless shot a beam up to one of the large ice shards and it fell straight down, disorientating Eret son of Eret and his men. Valkyrie rolled across the stone, giving Toothless a quick signal Hiccup taught her to keep them distracted while his rider tore away Zephyr's bonds.

Zephyr was ready, just as Valkyrie told him to be. He spread his wings with a mighty roar and hurried her way. She met him in the middle, hooking a hand onto the tip of his wing and letting him hoist her up so she could jump into the saddle. They took off into the sky with Hiccup and Toothless not far behind.

Valkyrie glanced back briefly, eyes wide to see Eret son of Eret run to the edge of the fort. With bellowing fury, he shouted up at them, "YOU WILL NEVER HOLD ONTO THOSE DRAGONS! YOU HEAR ME?! DRAGO IS COMING FOR THEM ALL!"

Heart racing and stomach lurching, Valkyrie pushed Zephyr onwards back to Berk, those words repeating over and over in her mind. Drago is coming for them all.

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    a/n: i literally wrote this with Yrsa's chapters side by side to make sure it's different as much as I could ahahahaha.

    I have Val's design!!!!!!! Zephyr's rushed a bit with the paint, but I can deal with it since our prime focus is on Val and how pretty she is with her flowers and her flower-embroidered outfit because this queen is the wife to a chief's son and bitch she be showing it—

     (AND HICCUP'S PRESENT WITH ZEPHYR AND TOOTHLESS LIKE HON PLS WHY ARE YOU SUCH HUBBY MATERIAL?)

     I'm also tearful because look at her she's all grown up 😭😭😭