The Arcane Evil (httyd-fic)

Chapter 32

The days passed by quickly as Fishlegs and the others got ready. The day of departure had come and the plan was to steal some dragons from the stables after the King and his allies had departed.

"This is inhumane" Ruffnut whispered as they watched, crouched behind some crates in one of the stables, as the dragons were manhandled. The dragons were whimpering as they were being saddled and they flinched when one of the leaders of the trappers passed by.

"Viggo are we ready to go?" Drago asked as he climbed onto a Raincutter.

Viggo nodded. "We have an excess of dragons."

"Leave them. Their hides might be worth something on the market later." Drago muttered as the Grimborn brothers also mounted a dragon.

Soon the royals as well as the trappers were in the air. The people of Haleah watched and cheered them on because that morning King Madine had announced that they would embark on a quest to return the symbol of Hope to the land and usher in an age of peace and prosperity.

"Let's go." Snotlout whispered as the group came out of hiding. The dragons who were left in the stable hissed and growled when they saw them.

"They don't look too friendly." Tuffnut said as he backed away from one of the cages.

"Then let's hope that this works." Fishlegs muttered as he picked up some rocks and approached a snarling Gronckle.

"Hey boy" Fishlegs said as he cautiously inched closer. The Gronckle growled at him then. Fishlegs stopped for a moment. "Are you a girl?" He then asked and then received a softer growl.

"This has officially gotten weird." Snotlout stated as he saw Fishlegs try to bribe the Gronckle with rocks. The gronckle hesitantly approached Fishlegs and sniffed at the rocks before eating them. The Gronckle now seemed calmer and even allowed Fishlegs to give her a scratch. "I think I'll name you Meatlug."

"Can you help us out?" Fishlegs asked to which he received a grunt.

Once he opened the cage Meatlug began licking him.

"Guys, pick a dragon." Fishlegs said as he tried to get the Gronckle off of him.

The twins found a green Zippleback who seemed to have taken a liking to them after they fed the dragon some of the jerky from their packs. They decided after a few headbuts to name the dragon Barf and Belch.

Snotlout ended up with a Monstrous Nightmare that he named Hookfang. The funny part of that encounter was that the dragon and Snotlout ended up negotiating over the amount of fish that Hookfang wanted.

"Now it has gotten weird" Ruffnut mumbled as she watched the exchange.

"For once I agree with you sister."

"Let's get the rest of these dragons free." Fishlegs suggested as the dragons in the stable were now much calmer and stood curiously watching them.

The dragons once free happily took to the sky. Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins then departed after the royals.

They held on for their dear lives as the dragons climbed higher and higher. Fishlegs had a deathgrip on Meatlug while the twins were cheering and Snotlout was boasting that his plan had worked.

The flight to the Isle of Shadows on dragonback took them almost three to four hours. The twins stared openmouthed at the sight of the island below them.

"So that is why they called it the Isle of Shadows." Tuffnut said as he and his sister observed the dark mist that surrounded the Isle as well as the dark clouds which hovered above.