𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟
╰───►chapter twenty-two; yrsa
❝ eret son of eret! ❞

    THE trees were blackened with ash; burnt to nothing but sticks of wood protruding out of begrimed dirt and rock. Yrsa few low on Helrose, her fingers fiddling with the front of her saddle nervously━she searched the black forest bed and found no scorch marks indicating it to be that of a Typhoomerang or a Singetail. 

    Soaring back up, she met Hiccup and Toothless by the sides, giving them a shake of her head. "Nothing," she murmured, and her betrothed pursed his lips. "It could have just been a forest fire, Hiccup━shouldn't mean anything threatening..."

    "We should keep going," said Hiccup, "to at least check it out━" he urged Toothless forward with a burst of speed and Yrsa followed. 

    As they continued on, the sour air started to itch in Yrsa's nose, burning at it like the forest around them. She coughed, feeling the ash in her chest. Helrose moaned, bouncing up and down in her flight nervously. Yrsa placed her hand against her scaly flank, "It's okay, girl," she whispered to her, giving her a soothing rub. 

    Hiccup and Toothless led the way through a set of fallen trees, spinning up and under and around some sea stacks before the group of them pushed through the smoke. Yrsa narrowed her eyes to see, confused by a flash of blue in the soot until she burst forth next to Hiccup, pulling to a hover at his side. She gasped.

    It seemed like a vast explosion had frozen mid blast━a wave of jetted ice, spiking out in all directions. Amongst the ice was remnants of a fort━wood and stone, masts and flags━all ripped and splintered apart. There was a churn in the pit of Yrsa's stomach; she thought of what sort of dragon could have caused this ... most definitely Tidal or Strike━but of this mass and size?

    Either way, it wasn't good. 

    She shared a nervous glance with Hiccup, giving him a shrug of her shoulders as a I don't know to the questioning furrow of his brows. He set his jaw, and Yrsa didn't even need to ask to know that they were going to investigate. She gripped the front of her saddle tighter to let him know she'll follow.

    He nodded, but murmured a protective, "Stay close..."

    Yrsa rolled her eyes, but did as he said anyway. She and Helrose followed him and Toothless towards the icy mass. It only grew in length, spreading back and around towards the shore━the two riders and their dragons veered around it, soaring over to glance down below. Yrsa kept her gaze narrowed, checking to see whether those who had owned this fort were still around.

    "What happened here?" asked Hiccup in a murmur as the two of them slipped through a narrow crevice, coming out into the main destruction━towers of fort sentires now broken apart with ice spiking right through their centre. 

    Helrose made a gutteral whine in her nerves, stopping to hover by a set of large footprints in the mud. She jerked her wings up━Yrsa placed a calming hand back onto her neck. "I know, girl ..." she whispered, frowning at the footprints. They were huge━far bigger than any dragon prints she's seen before ... even the Red Death's. She was sure she could lie in them; in fact, the water pooling in the crevices would submerge her even if she stood in them.

    Toothless purred, edging Hiccup away from the footprints. Both dragons were apprehensive, and it made their riders share concerned looks. Yrsa pulled Helrose back up and she gasped. The fort's ship was still put together with sails and crests she didn't recognise. On the ship, manning the crossbows, were a group of men, and they aimed straight for her betrothed.

    "Hiccup!" she whispered, desperate to grab his attention before it was too late. He frowned up at her and she pointed. "Hiccup━look out!"

    "Fire!"

    Yrsa gritted her teeth and dived Helrose down to get Hiccup out of the way. She managed to shove him and Toothless to the side, but the net had still been set loose━

    Hiccup reached a hand out, "Yrsa━!"

    It wrapped around her and Helrose, and they hurtled to the ocean surface. Yrsa shouted in fury━mostly from hearing her dragon's cries rather than the fall. She tried to get them out, reaching for her dagger, but she slipped through the netting and Helrose spun to the fort ground. 

    "No! Helrose!" she cried, flailing her arms━she knew it was useless, to try and get to her, but that didn't stop Yrsa from trying. 

     The water grew nearer and nearer, and Yrsa repositioned herself for a dive, but Hiccup arrived in time━Toothless snatched her up in his claws before she hit the surface. Yrsa clung on, gazing down in horror at the men surrounding her dragon. A voice called out, "Watch the tail━!" before leaping right onto her snout, forcing her down to the ground. She moaned up to Yrsa for help, and she struggled in Toothless's hold. "Tie those legs up!"

    "Helrose!" she yelled down. "Hiccup━!"

    "I know!" he replied back, turning Toothless around and back down. "You all right, though?"

    "I'm fine!" she said. "But we have to get down there!"

    They dived to the fort ground and Yrsa readied herself to jump. She heard Toothless's cry in her ears, a screech that grew higher and higher in frequency━all the men looked up, recognising the sound immediately ... and with it, felt the fear of the Night Fury.

    "Stop!" shouted Hiccup as they reached the ground. Toothless let go of Yrsa and she hit the floor running━

    "Helrose!" she tried to get to her dragon, but the men pulled out their weapons, keeping her back. Her Devilish Dervish wailed, desperate to reach her. Yrsa would have fought through them, weaponless, but Hiccup skidded in front of her, not even stopping to switch his metal leg over from riding to walking. He snatched his Inferno canister and unhinged the blade out, lighting it up with a flame that sent the trappers shuffling away from them with awes of━ "Whoa..."

    Yrsa reached for something to use as a weapon━she grabbed a broken splinter of wood, holding it up over her shoulder ready to whack it right across anyone who dared to come in between her and her dragon (and right now, that was all of them). "Let go of her, now!" she demanded.

    The Viking who held Helrose down by the horns at the tip of her snout perked up. "Back again!" he exclaimed, amused. He had a strong jaw, slashed with war-paint tattoo strikes━three down to its tip. His eyes were dark, as was his hair, pulled back and off his face down by the nape of his neck. He was strong, tall━somebody the girls at Berk would easily fall for. (Yrsa didn't. One, he took her dragon, and two, she had an annoying one-legged dork she loved beside her).

    His brown eyes flickered to Toothless behind them and he chuckled in his disbelief. "Soil my britches," he stood up onto Helrose's back amongst her spines, and she moaned under the weight, breath huffing as she glared up at her captor. Yrsa held her makeshift weapon tighter. She went to attack, but Hiccup held out a hand towards her, calming her down. "That is a Night Fury!" Toothless snarled. "Thought they were all gone for good." He slapped a nearby trapper on the shoulders, and they shared a grin. "Looks like our luck's had a turn for the better, lads! Don't think Drago has one of those in his dragon army."

    Yrsa faltered. There was a twist in her stomach and a chill that crawled down her back━and it wasn't from the cold. "Dragon army?" she let out, frowning. She glanced at Hiccup, and there was a moment between them━a this doesn't sound good. 

    "Look," Hiccup stepped forward, his voice open for the peaceful route out of this, "we don't want any trouble━"

    The man let out a chesty laugh; his men followed him, scoffing and shaking their heads. With his hand settled on the hilt of his sword and standing on Yrsa's dragon like she was just a prize, the rider found him absolutely infuriating. "Hah! You should have thought of that before you stole━" his laughter faded away, his voice turning dark as he grabbed Helrose's horns and tugged them up, straining her neck. She snarled through the ropes holding her jaws closed. Yrsa's breath hitched, her heart screaming with her worry, "━all of our dragons━" he let go roughly, and her jaw hit the ground, "━and blasted our forts to bits!"

    "Wait," Hiccup lowered his sword, a lot more casual than the girl beside him who was more than livid. 

    "What are you talking about?!" she snapped, pointing her jagged wood piece at the trapper. "Just let my dragon go!"

    "You think we did this?" Hiccup gestured to the destruction around them, careful to stay in front of his betrothed before she'd go all murderous on the lot of them. 

    The man scoffed. "Dragon trapping is hard enough work as it is without do-gooder dragon riders sneaking in to rescue them."

    "What do-gooder━?" it hit them at the same time. Yrsa and Hiccup stared at each other with a breath of realisation. Hiccup extinguished his sword. "There are other dragon riders?"

    The man frowned as well, startled they were acting as clueless as they were. "You mean other than your theiving friend from last night? You tell me." He pointed an angry finger at them. "You may have an ice-spitting dragon on your side━" he finally stepped off Helrose, and she huffed in relief, "━but we still have a quota to fill. How do you suppose we explain this mess to Drago Bludvist?"

    "Drago what━fist?" Yrsa could hear Hiccup's sarcasm come out, and she sent him a look. The last thing she wanted was for his quick tongue to taunt these trappers into getting her dragon killed. "Does anything you say make sense?"

     "He's expecting a new shipment of dragons for his army by tomorrow," said one of the trappers, and their leader nodded in agreement as he passed.

    Another, smaller trapper piped up, "And Drago doesn't take well to excuses!"

    The trappers all murmured, agreeing. Their leader tugged his fur vest down, showing a tribal brand burned into his skin. Yrsa and Hiccup shared a disgusted glance. "This," he sneered, "is what he gave me last time I showed up empty-handed. He promised to be far less understanding in the future."

    "All right, look," Hiccup held his hands up, "we don't know anything about a dragon thief━" Toothless snarled again, eyes narrowed at the approaching trapper. Yrsa placed her hand on his head to keep him back, "━or an ice-spitting dragon or your lunatic boss━" up above, Yrsa heard the sounds of men aiming their arrows, and she set her jaw. She glanced at  Hiccup and gave him a subtle nod, telling him that they were being surrounded as he spoke, "━and his dragon army, okay? Just give us back our dragon, and we'll go ... strange, hostile person whom we've never met."

    "Oh," the trapper chuckled, "where are my manners? I'm Eret ..." he gave them a mocking bow, reaching for his sword in its scabbard behind his back, "son of Eret." He unsheathed it, giving it a twist in his fingers. Yrsa shuffled back closer to Hiccup and Toothless, a subtle notion of, get ready to leave. "Finest dragon trapper alive. After all ..." he pointed the blade at Hiccup, smirking, "it's not just anyone who can capture a Night Fury."

    Toothless growled before letting out a defiant roar. Yrsa glanced back at Helrose, bending her knees and ready to run, "And this," said Hiccup, "is Toothless. He says we're going. Now."

    "Ha!" Eret son of Eret loosened his grip of his sword, letting it start to dangle from his fingers, "They all say that━" he tilted in down, and the signal was set off, "Rush 'em, lads!"

    Yrsa and Hiccup darted to either side as Toothless sent a blast to the ice above. It crashed down onto the trappers, knocking them astray and scrambling for their weapons. It gave Hiccup and Yrsa enough time to get themselves sorted. Hiccup lit up Inferno again, running for Helrose's restraints and cutting her free. Yrsa was there to pull her towards the water, "Helrose━lets go! Go!"

    She broke out into a run and Yrsa followed her. Leaping up onto her bent wing, she landed in the saddle with one fluid movement━and they were off, Hiccup and Toothelss right on their tail.

    Yrsa glanced over her shoulder, seeing Eret son of Eret brandish his sword in the sky after them, "You will never hold onto those dragons━you hear me?!" he shouted. "Drago is coming for them all!"

𖣯 ✹ 🌷(úlfheðnar) ꏍ ！┈─❟

     a/n: 'eret son of eret' pfft bitch pls we all know ur jon snow ... and u still know nothing hehehehe.