The 'Dragon Master'

Defenders Of Berk

"You came back?" Fishlegs asks, staring at me with wide eyes as though I'd disappear if he dared to blink. "I only came for supplies," I reply. "I'm honestly a little surprised you haven't noticed me coming here before, though. Berk has been a helpful place to trade for years."

"Years? How many?"

"Not enough," I shrug. "Otherwise this world would be free of dra-"

"Dragon hunters!" A familiar voice shouts, cutting me off. Fishlegs and I look to Hiccup, who seems surprised to see me there. "Where are they?" I ask as Shadow growls. He's more than happy to attack.

"They're off the docks," he replied. I nod and hurry in the correct direction. "Artemis, wait! It could be a trap!" He yells after me. "I know what I'm doing," I reply, though not in a cocky manner.

The moment I see the ships coming in I realise these aren't a major group, more just a bunch of one-timers who most likely lost some kind of bet and are trying to find the money to pay their due at short notice. They've already managed to trap a Hideous Zippleback and a Deadly Nadder.

"Ready, Shadow?" I ask my partner, who rawks quietly so as not to alert the hunters. "Get me in close and then watch my back," I instruct. "When I give the signal, burn it to the ground. Go!"

Shadow swoops down over the ship, keeping silent, though the hunters notice us instantly. They begin firing arrows at us, though the inexperience the hunters have with dragons is evident as the arrows are wood. "Ignite," I tell Shadow, who sets himself ablaze. The heat is awful, but I grit my teeth and don't flinch away from the flames that are currently billowing around me like graceful dancers.

The moment the arrows are touching Shadow's burning flame, they catch fire as well and are mere ash by the time they come into contact with Shadow's scales. I leap off of my dragon, twisting in the air to avoid more arrows, and land on the deck of their ship.

They aim their bows at me, but before I have to do anything Shadow takes them out. Pathetic. "Great work, boy," I praise him quickly before hurrying to release the captured dragons. I reach the Zippleback first, using the keys I found on the belt of one of the hunters. It flies away instantly, so I move onto the Nadder. They do the same thing, panicking.

Five dragons land behind me, causing the boat to sway slightly on the gentle waters. I turn to face everyone, who all look surprised that I took care of things so easily. "I'm going to make sure there aren't more dragons below deck," I say, picking up a plank of wood that must've come loose when Shadow and I arrived. My Nightmare lit it for me and I nod to him before stepping through the doors to get down there.

The moment I did the torch was snuffed out and I was grabbed, two large hands reaching for my waist and my mouth. My instincts kicked in and I kicked them in the sweet spot, causing them to yelp out and let go of me, clutching them self in pain. I kicked them again to keep them down and drew my sword, holding it just millimetres away from his neck.

The door then bursts open again and Hiccup's eyes widen when he sees what's going on. "Check for others and be ready for a surprise attack," I tell him before gently rubbing my blade against the hunter's cheek. He seems confused for a moment before the venom sinks in and he realises what I've done.

Leaving him to die, I turn and follow Hiccup, who's been joined by all the riders but only Toothless and Meatlug could fit in here, so we're four dragons down. I keep my sword ready for a fight, not trusting this place.

This room is bare of anything good, so I make my way into the next room, this time Toothless close on my heels in case I'm jumped again. I open the door and gasp in horror at what I see before me.

Dragons. Dozens of the poor creatures locked away behind bars. Their heads all turn to me in perfect sync, fear and pain in their eyes. I rush over to the closest cage and unlock the door. The Gronkles inside all run out as soon as they can, not wasting a moment.

As I unlock each cage the same pattern continues. Hiccup and the others began tying up the hunters to make sure they didn't escape. By the time I'd freed the final dragons I was furious, out for revenge on their behalf.

"Let's go, this ship isn't making it out of here," I snap to the others, storming back onto the deck as I tried to keep myself under control. They seem surprised by my sudden change in attitude but don't say a word about it until we're all off of the boat, which Shadow then burns happily.

"Are you alright?" Astrid was the first to speak up. "I'm fine. Unlike these pathetic hunters are going to be once I get a hold of them," I reply sharply, still riled up. "I can't stand this kind of cruelty to dragons. It's pathetic and disgusting."

"It really is," she agreed. "But you don't need to let them get to you this much."

I glare at her. "I've lived alone with dragons for years now, Astrid. I only have the very rare human contact which is almost always no more than a simple business transaction. Dragons are my family, I would protect them with my life without a second thought if I had to. If your family was caged up and you could see all the fear and pain in their eyes, all because a group of people wanted to make a little money, what would you feel?!"

I realised I was shouting towards the end so I took a deep breath. "So yes, they get to me. Because they got to my family first."