Fury of the Sun

17. Born in Fire, Killed in Ice

A/N: Important! For the soundtrack listen to Hiccup Confronts Drago and then Stoick Saves Hiccup one after the other. It should be timed about right. If not, play them wherever you feel like it suits. If necessary, play 15. Stoick's Ship if you find you have to replay the other songs a couple of times. They all tie in so it's okay.
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Chapter 17
Born in Fire, Killed in Ice
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The Body and the Ice Storm

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Soundtrack: 13. Hiccup Confronts Drago, and 14. Stoick Saves Hiccup
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[Your/The Former's POV]

My paws thudded against the hard stone floor. I stared forward and followed Toothless, but my mind was elsewhere. I couldn't get Jack out of my head. I'd turned him into a monster. He was trapped, like me, only he had no chance of escape. I grimly hoped that he'd forgotten what he was before, because as they say, ignorance is bliss. Maybe he could even be happy that way.

Abruptly, Astrid stopped, and growls of unease rose from the dragons in our party. "Woah!" I heard Astrid's voice call. "Stormfly, it's alright," she said, desperately trying to calm her dragon down. The Deadly Nadder had her tail spikes extended dangerously, and the spines on her head were tilted forward as though she was listening intently. She growled low and uncertainly.

A strange feeling came across me, and I took an unwilling step forward. I growled angrily, the sound similar to that a cat makes; I hadn't meant to do that. Stormfly looked back in a paranoid way, and I saw her pupils were only thin strips of black. A sort of humming vibration filled the air, starting low and gradually getting louder. It filled my ears with a deep and constant drone that made my head hurt. Toothless started growling, and I noticed the same vibration in the sound. I took another step forward without wanting to when the strange humming increased in intensity.

Hiccup's face was drawn as he stroked Toothless' head repeatedly. Toothless kept shaking his head, as though a pesky fly kept bothering him.

Hiccup said something to Astrid, and she nodded, pale-faced but looking determined. One of her hands pressed down on Stormfly's quivering head spikes. The dragon whined, and Astrid made a calming noise, which I could barely hear over the hum invading the air.

Stormfly shook her head similarly to Toothless, and I looked back to find the other dragons in our company struggling similarly. Toothless' sound seemed to be keeping them out of most of their discomfort though. I padded up to them and looked questioningly at Hiccup.

He shook his head while pointing to his ear, and I took that as a sign he thought I wouldn't be able to hear him. I looked resolutely forward and crouched low to the floor, my muscles bunching as I waited out the sound with a snarl fixed on my face.

It cut off all of a sudden, leaving me with a pounding headache. Toothless' growling stopped too, and the dragons, Stormfly and Toothless among them, looked grateful the noise had stopped.

"It's a Bewilderbeast," Hiccup said abruptly, with a worried expression. Of course. The vibrations... it was an Alpha dragon, trying to call our dragons to it's service, probably. Toothless' growling wasn't a match for the Bewilderbeast's calls, but it seemed to help the other dragons fight it off. I myself had never been under the influence of an Alpha dragon, since I hadn't been allowed to participate in the fighting, courtesy of my blunder many months ago when I had charged into combat to find a trap waiting.

How in the name of Thor did Orvask get a Bewilderbeast? I wondered worriedly. Hiccup seemed to be thinking along the same lines, his brow furrowed in thought.