Birth of Dragons Edge

The Kill ring and taming dragons

A/N: This is the chapter! I won't say any more. ;)

Hiccup pov:

I walked back into the village to much cheering and fanfare. I stopped confused, before the crowd surrounded me and dragged me along to the arena. I glanced around, shaken at what was about to happen. I knew all too well what this was.

"Berkians! Today my son, Hiccup, will prove his worth to this village by killing the Deadly Nadder. Tomorrow, if he survives, the Monstrous Nightmare!" Stoick yelled above the crowd. I glared in distaste at my father, hot resentment burning deep in my chest. I didn't want to do this, Dragons were gentle misunderstood creatures. I stepped forward slowly, an idea forming in my mind. I could use some of the dragon grass to knock it unconscious, then drag it out into the forest and 'bury' it, aka, I was going to set it free or tame it for Astrid. After all, what Astrid wants, Astrid gets.

I grabbed an axe from the weapon rack and put on my helmet, determination square in my eyes. I wasn't going to kill the Nadder, no matter what. I stepped into the ring and the rough hewn stone burned through my feet as the trellis closed shut. I drew in a long breath and as the Deadly Nadder was released from its cage I could see it was scared. It knew that the people in around the top cheering and chanting wanted me to kill it. 

I dropped my weapons except for my shield and helmet and my father chuckled. "You see that?! That's my boy taking on a dragon barehanded!" Stoick nudged Spitelout and he scowled.

I ran towards it and drew my arm back ready to swing, but my other arm was already furiously rubbing dragon nip all over its nose. I brought my arm down as the Nadder collapsed and made it look like I really had finished it off. The crowd went wild cheering, my Father the loudest of all.

"Did you see that! My son went barehanded and took down a dragon!" I held my hands for quiet and I stared down the multitude of Vikings and Viqueens. (Is this a thing? Gobber mentioned it in ROB?) 

"I call for a sacrifice to the Gods for my victory. This was not in battle, but in sport, so I cannot claim this dragon as a trophy. I will leave it at the top of the mountain as a sacrifice to Odin!" I shouted across the crowd and they again cheered. Gobber then held up his hands for quiet. "What the Lad says is troo, ourh tradition states that th' first victory ov'ra dragon must be sacrificed to the Gods! What the Lad says's right!" Gobber walked unevenly towards me and turned around, motioning for a cart to be brought so it could be moved.

"Well done Lad, I moost say, that was the fastast time I'v ev'r seen a Naddar killed this q'icklay."

I nodded and loaded the Nadder onto the cart, hoping no one would notice it's chest rising and falling slowly. I locked eyes with Astrid and nodded towards the Nadder then her. Astrid covered her mouth with her hand and got to her feet.

 As she jogged over towards me I could see that she was more than ready to tame the Nadder. "I'll go with him, after all, Hiccup will need a second person to push the cart, after all, Nadders aren't just a few apples." Astrid said smiling. "Tonight." I hissed through my teeth with as much stealth as I could muster. Astrid nodded casually and I continued to prepare for the 'sacrifice to Odin'

As we entered the forest the Nadder started stirring. I placed a gentle hand on it's belly and it's eyes snapped open. I stopped the cart and held my hand up. 

The Nadder sniffed it before resting its head in my hand. I grinned at Astrid and motioned her to come over to me. She hesitantly stepped towards it, offering a piece of cooked chicken. The Nadder greedily snapped it up in one gulp, head bobbing up and down in excitement. "Stormfly." Astrid said resting her hand on the Nadder's nose. I smiled before gesturing to the path where Toothless was awaiting with provisions ready for the flight to Dragons Edge.

The mossy ground was soaked and hollows filled with fog, the dark forest foreboding of the dangers that lay ahead. Dragon traps and bits of wooden defenses were scattered everywhere from the last major dragon raid. Stormfly chirped and walked along the path with us, jumping up and down everywhere all at once. Almost as soon as we had started, we arrived. I didn't waste any time as the sun was soon to be setting. I attached a basket onto Stormfly's new saddle I had made for the exact reason that Astrid wanted a Nadder and filled it with fresh fruit and a basket of wheat seeds and two sacks of flour.

I took one last look at the mountainous terrain of the Isle of Berk that had been my home for the last fifteen years. Someday I would return. Someday we would be at peace with Dragons. I mounted Toothless and took off, the remaining dragons I had found on Berk following us. 

It was time to break out the rest of the dragons in the Arena. I nudged Toothless and he launched himself into the night sky, wind whipping my face as torrents of cold air and clouds zipped past in a blur. Toothless banked and I could see the Arena clearly. 

I pointed to a spot near the lever to open the arena gates and I tumbled off Toothless landing in a roll before standing up and switching the lever to open the gates. As soon as the dragon doors were open the Gronckle, Monstrous Nightmare and the Terrible Terror went rushing outside and soaring into the night sky. 

I mounted Toothless and when we were hovering ten meters in the air I pointed to the chain dome and Toothless blasted a plasma shot at the chain holding it up. The dome fell without anything to support it, and I took the opportunity of confusion to blast the one of the dragon crossbows that would instantly kill a dragon.

Vikings were yelling and shouting everywhere and instantly a bright light lit up the night sky as the giant torches were lit and thrust upward. One however was brighter than the others and I had to shield my eyes as Toothless banked to avoid it. Thunder mushrooms. I thought as we set a course for Dragon's edge.

 I met up with Astrid and Stormfly at the flock of Dragons that were in flying formation. I signaled to move forward and Astrid acknowledged. It was time to build a base of operations to harass Dragon Hunters and find the Dragon Queen that made the dragons more desperate and attack humans.

 According to what I had found in the Book of Dragons, evil queens of a nest would sometimes punish dragons if they didn't bring enough tribute by eating them alive.

I would find a way to end this war. I would bring peace to all of the Vikings and end this hundreds of years of war.

A/N: Sorry I took so long. What am I saying? I loved making you more and more desperate for the next chapter.