The Gift of the Princess (HTTYD)

The Brawl

Chapter 19: The Brawl

Eerie tension filled the air as the armies faced off against each other. Berkian warriors and dragons filled the island, but their numbers were small compared to Drago's armada. Still, Drago had fewer dragons, and as far as Eira could tell, none of them had riders. Valka's Bewilderbeast hovered in the front of the line, taking up an enormous amount of space. Drago merely jeered at him.

Eira remained in the back with Krogan. Despite his willingness to fight, there was no reason to expose him as a target. Eret remained on Berk, watching over the dragon trappers. He wanted to join the battle, but Hiccup insisted he sit it out because he did not have a dragon. Hopefully, this would all be over quickly.

"This is your army?" Drago boomed. "You make me laugh."

Krogan tensed at the sound of his voice, and Eira glanced at him in concern. Perhaps it had been a mistake to let him join them. He might not be physically in more danger than everyone else, but she worried about psychological damage. This would either end really well or really badly.

"I will be alright," Krogan said, visibly relaxing.

Eira nodded. She had no choice but to believe him.

"We are here to free these innocent dragons from your control!" Valka said venomously. "Where is your challenger?"

"I've waited a long time for this!" said Drago. He screamed loudly, waving his bull hook. The water behind him churned, and ships were knocked over as a second Bewilderbeast, bigger than Valka's and shackled in chains, rose from the ocean. "Come on! Take down the Alpha! The rest of you, ATTACK!"

Eira immediately took to the air with Swiftwings just as the two Bewilderbeasts roared loudly and strike their tusks together. She wished Drago had kept to the terms of the agreement but was not surprised. Drago's men charged, throwing weapons and traps at the dragon riders. Eira and Krogan sped forward and attacked. It was all very chaotic and difficult to keep track of everything.

"Eira!" Krogan shouted suddenly. "We have a problem."

Eira followed his gaze to a group of incoming dragons: Singetails... with Vikings on their backs. She swallowed hard. "Flyers." Of course they still worked for Drago and had found new dragons. Why had she not thought of that sooner? She glanced at Krogan anxiously. "Any chance we can get through to them?"

"Not in the time we have."

Eira took in a sharp breath. "Okay." She expected that. These men had been quick to try to turn in Krogan to Drago, after all.

Krogan gave her a regretful look. "I'm sorry. You asked me for information, and there is so much more I could have told you. I-"

"We don't have time for that either. I'm going to need your help."

Determination overtook Krogan's expression. "Tell me what to do."

After quickly explaining her plan, the flyers were upon them, and they were genuinely surprised to see Krogan. "What are you doing here?" their leader spat. "Don't think you can beg Drago for mercy."

"I don't beg," Krogan growled. "I'm here to stop Drago."

The leader and several other flyers laughed. "You're not worthy to even look at Drago, and we'll finish you before you can find him."

"Hey," said another flyer, "where are your dragon's chains?"

"I don't need them," Krogan said while Ruby snarled at the flyers.

"He finally figured out that dragons are more powerful when you work with them instead of against them!" Eira declared.

The leader narrowed his eyes at her. "We'll just see about that." And then the flyers attacked. They were not nearly as many as there used to be (maybe about a dozen), but they still outnumbered them.