Lua woke up with a strange feeling, a deep unease, almost as if something were trying to warn her. She let out a low growl, slightly puffing out her chest, but decided to ignore it.
That morning, Hiccup had prepared yet another trust training. This time, the riders were supposed to trust their dragons completely to guide them if they lost their vision during flight. Dark clouds spread across the sky, dense and threatening. Lua flew nearby, drawing wide circles above the group, ready to act if something went wrong.
"How are we supposed to see from up here?" asked Ruffnut, trying to look around, but finding only fog.
Hiccup approached, mounted on Toothless.
"You won't! That's the whole point!" Hiccup replied.
"Ah! I get it!" Tuffnut seemed to understand for a moment. "I don't get it!"
"When you can't see, you have to trust Barf and Belch to see for you," Hiccup explained. "Watch this!"
Hiccup gave a signal, and Toothless flew straight into the clouds, disappearing almost immediately. Soon, it was no longer possible to see them.
"Why does he always talk in riddles, huh?" muttered Tuffnut to his sister.
"We'd better trust ours," Ruffnut replied.
"Yeah! You're right, sis! I'm going with you!" Tuffnut agreed.
"Barf, up!"
"Belch, down!"
Lua spread her wings at once, feeling the air shift. That was not good.
Barf obeyed his rider and tried to climb, while Belch obeyed his rider and forced the movement downward. The two heads began to argue, pulling the dragon's body in opposite directions.
"Up!" growled Barf.
"No! We're going down!" Belch snapped back.
The flight became completely unstable.
"Ah... this is not good at all..." Lua thought, beating her wings hard as she changed direction.
Before she could reach them, Barf and Belch collided with Meatlug and Fishlegs. The impact made both dragons lose control.
Lua's eyes widened as she narrowly dodged the falling bodies.
The twins and Fishlegs plummeted and crashed onto an old tree, dry and rotten inside. The trunk creaked loudly, and the branch where the twins were began to give way dangerously. The twins called out for their two-headed dragon. Barf and Belch tried to get closer, but they were still in conflict, each head trying to take control to save their respective rider.
Luckily, Fishlegs reacted quickly. He whistled loudly. Meatlug immediately raised her head and watched attentively as Fishlegs made clear hand signals.
"Ah! I get it!" Meatlug exclaimed.
Meatlug wasted no time. With a powerful flap of her wings, she dove and grabbed the twins just before the branch finally broke, saving them by a hair.
Lua flew over to Fishlegs, since Meatlug had caught the twins before they hit the ground badly. Lua grabbed Fishlegs by the collar of his clothes like a cat carrying a kitten, but was careful not to hurt him with her sharp teeth.
"Be careful, Lua," Fishlegs asked as he felt himself being carried.
Lua only let out a low growl in response and then flung him upward with all her strength, to Fishlegs' despair, but Lua quickly caught him on her back. Fishlegs held tightly onto her horns.
Hiccup and Toothless approached them.
"Good job, Lua! You're getting better at grabbing every day," Hiccup praised, and Lua purred at the compliment. "And what was that, Fishlegs? What did you do with your hands?"
Toothless moved closer to Lua so Hiccup and Fishlegs could talk more easily.
"For your information, Hiccup, I created rudimentary hand signals for Meatlug in case we get separated," Fishlegs explained, then pointed at Meatlug. "And it looks like they were well understood!"
"Hand signals? That's amazing, Fishlegs!" Hiccup praised.
"Yeah! I know!" Fishlegs got excited by the compliments.
"We have to start working on that immediately!" Hiccup exclaimed.
o0o0o
A little while later, the riders and dragons were in the Academy arena, all of them practicing the hand signals the Vikings had planned.
"Toothless, get ready!" Hiccup clenched his fist.
Toothless raised his wings and growled.
"Toothless, plasma blast!" Hiccup tossed the shield upward and made a downward signal.
Toothless fired the plasma at the shield and destroyed it. Hiccup was pleased that Toothless managed to do it in such a short time of training.
"Good job! Smile!" Hiccup ran a finger across his lips and smiled.
Toothless had a bit of trouble with that.
"You're getting good at this," Lua said as she approached him.
"But you're better," Toothless said. "Hiccup only had to show the signals once with you and you already learned them!"
"Oh, it's not that big reminds," Lua chuckled softly.
"Come here, Lua, your turn," Hiccup called her and stepped a little away from Toothless.
Unlike what he did with Toothless, Hiccup didn't need to say a single word. He slowly raised his arm and pointed two fingers toward the sky, making a short, firm upward motion. Lua watched closely and responded immediately, spreading her wings and rising until she hovered a few meters above the ground.
Next, Hiccup closed his hand into a fist and held it up for a few seconds. The gesture was clear. Small sparks began to run across Lua's body, electricity building around her wings, chest, and tail.
Then Hiccup slightly rotated his clenched fist, as if he were "holding" the energy, and finally snapped his hand open, fingers spreading wide.
Lua tilted her body, opened her mouth, and unleashed a sequence of concentrated lightning bolts toward the training target below. The impact exploded in light and sparks, making the target shudder under the electrical discharge.
Hiccup lowered his arm, satisfied.
Lua let out a low roar, the electricity slowly dissipating as she returned to gliding, alert for any new signal.
The other Vikings also managed to get their dragons to attack using hand signals—only Snotlout came out a bit hurt and burned, but that was the usual—but the only ones truly having trouble with this new training were the twins.
The twins couldn't get in sync, which left the poor Zippleback dizzy and a little injured.
"This isn't..." Barf started.
"...being fun," Belch finished.
That made the twins start a serious argument now.
"Guys! Guys!" Hiccup was quick to get their attention and prevent a bigger fight. "Barf and Belch are one dragon! You need to use one signal at a time."
"Good idea. Barf, attack Tuffnut!" Ruffnut signaled with her arms.
"Alright!" Barf headbutted Tuffnut.
Tuffnut crashed into Snotlout, who cushioned his fall.
"I don't think Hiccup wants—" Fishlegs was interrupted.
"Belch, eat Ruffnut," Tuffnut made a chewing motion with his hands.
"Whatever you say!" Belch put half of Ruffnut into his mouth, being careful not to hurt her.
"Tuffnut!" Hiccup scolded him.
"Alright, Belch, drop Ruffnut," Tuffnut rolled his eyes and signaled Belch to let his sister go.
"This is not working!" Ruffnut shuddered as she came out of Belch's mouth.
"It's very unprofessional," Tuffnut stepped closer.
"I'm getting my dragon and going home!" Ruffnut said.
"If you touch my dragon, I'll—!"
"You'll what?!"
And the twins started fighting again.
"Is today Twin Fight Day and nobody told me?" Lua tilted her head to the side.
"I just hope Barf and Belch will be okay," Toothless said.
Not even with Hiccup's help did the situation get resolved. The twins ended up splitting up: Barf tried to go after Ruffnut, while Belch tried to go after Tuffnut, but neither of them could move anywhere since they were the same dragon and needed to go to the same place. That even made the heads start fighting each other.
Like riders, like dragons.
Lua frowned at that.
( Oh no... I know exactly what point in the story I'm at ) The realization made her freeze.
Toothless noticed and nudged her, but Lua ignored it.
( By Thor! What am I going to do if Dagur sees me?! The Berserkers use Skrills as a symbol of power! Not to mention they can control one! And I think... they even worship Skrills a little? Honestly, I don't know! ) Lua panicked a bit over it.
o0o0o
As expected, when they arrived at Hiccup's house, Stoick was getting ready to receive important visitors, which included wearing his ceremonial belt. Gobber was trying to help Stoick put it on, but it proved to be a difficult task, since Stoick had gained a bit more weight.
"Is it time already, Dad?" Hiccup approached.
"Tomorrow is the day of the peace treaty signing with the Berserker Tribe," Stoick explained while Gobber pulled tighter.
"They really need to change that name. Their leader is Oswald the Agreeable, and they haven't fought in fifty years!" Gobber added.
"Oh please, tell me he's not bringing his lunatic son," Hiccup looked tired just thinking about him.
"Dagur? Oh, he's coming too," even Gobber wasn't happy about that.
"Oh great! Let me guess... I have to babysit him so he doesn't destroy anything," Hiccup clearly hated Dagur.
"Actually, I have a more important job for you. You need to hide all the dragons," Stoick said.
"From Oswald the Agreeable?" Hiccup looked surprised by that. "Why?"
"Hiccup, just because we've been at peace for fifty years doesn't mean they can't..." Stoick tried to find the word.
"Berserker?" Gobber asked.
"Exactly! Dragons are seen as a sign of aggression. Show joy, not blood. I always say that! Haha!" Stoick let out a cheerful laugh.
"I didn't get that," Lua tilted her head to the side.
"Me neither," Toothless tilted his head as well.
"And the last thing we want is another dispute with the Berserkers. They play to win," Gobber didn't seem to have good experiences with them.
"Hide the dragons, son," Stoick was suddenly pulled backward as Gobber tightened the belt.
o0o0o
Lua was flying on the left side of a large group of various dragons gathered by the riders. After a brief explanation of the situation, the dragons began to cooperate perfectly, though there were still a few from time to time that tried to escape.
Lua warned them with crackling sounds and by letting electricity run across her body, but suddenly, an out-of-control dragon broke formation, trying to avoid crashing into the others—it didn't work very well. The dragon slammed into a few Monstrous Nightmares, who got irritated and burst into flames, but Hookfang quickly calmed them down. The out-of-control dragon in question was Barf and Belch.
"Hey! You two are not going that way!" Lua chased after them, growling right behind them.
Barf and Belch ignored her and flew farther away. Hiccup had Snotlout and Fishlegs mount the dragon to try to control it, but it didn't work very well, and the Zippleback completely drifted away from the group.
Unfortunately, the group didn't have any more time to try to stop Barf and Belch. The sound of a trumpet echoed across the entire island, signaling that the Berserkers had arrived. Lua grew worried now.
o0o0o
Lua was left as a lookout for the place where the dragons were hidden. Some had gone to Dragon Island, and others stayed in the caves of Berk—and that's where Lua was.
Hiccup entrusted her with that task. Stormfly, Hookfang, and Meatlug were also with her; only Toothless stayed with Hiccup—Toothless is a Night Fury, smart and stealthy enough to go unnoticed.
"I'm worried," Lua said, staring at the cave entrance.
"We all are," Hookfang moved closer to the exit. "That Zippleback is completely crazy and uncontrollable, but he's our friend."
Lua couldn't stay still. Her tail hit the ground several times, and her wings trembled, almost as if they had a life of their own and wanted to fly. Hookfang nudged her with his snout.
"Hey," he got her attention. "Go to them."
"Huh? But we have to stay here. The Berserkers can't see us, or we'll have to fight them and even put Berk in danger," Lua said, looking at him.
Hookfang snorted at that.
"But you're just as stealthy as Toothless. I'm sure you can go unnoticed too. Besides, your wings are about to take on a life of their own. I'll keep watch here," Hookfang offered.
Lua looked at him, then toward the outside.
"I'll go quickly and then come back," Lua said, opening her wings and taking off.
"Sure! I'll be waiting!" Hookfang watched her leave.
Stormfly and Meatlug approached after hearing the wingbeats.
"Hookfang, what did you do?" Stormfly asked in an accusatory tone.
"I just gave her the push she needed," Hookfang smiled calmly.
If Stormfly had hands, she would have facepalmed.
o0o0o
Lua flew into the village of Berk and had to be careful to avoid the Berserkers and, most importantly, Dagur. She definitely did not want to become a target for Dagur the Deranged.
"I feel like a secret agent!" she whispered, looking to both sides before moving forward. "All clear."
Lua was there to find Barf and Belch and drag them— even if she had to bite their tails—back to the cave where the others were hidden. Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to find them.
"Barf! Belch!" Lua called out as she ran toward them. "You're coming with me!"
The heads looked at each other and, for the first time that day, agreed on something.
"No," both heads said at the same time.
"No?!" Lua was surprised.
"Without Tuffnut," Belch said.
"And Ruffnut," Barf added.
"We're not going back!" they both said at the same time, snorting.
Lua growled low and sighed. This was going to be difficult, it seemed—but the Skrill was not about to give up that easily.
"Listen here, you fish-heads! You ARE going back with me, WHETHER YOU WANT TO OR NOT!" Lua snarled, ready to jump on them.
The heads looked at each other, then at Lua. The tension thickened as the three stared one another down—it felt like a western showdown.
"Run!" Belch shouted.
The Zippleback turned and took off running. Lua blinked in disbelief, then started chasing them.
"Get back here!" Lua growled as she ran after them.
Toothless, who had been hidden while watching the Great Hall, jumped from his spot when he saw Lua chasing Barf and Belch. But before he could act to stop them, Barf and Belch nearly smashed through the doors of the Great Hall.
Inside the Great Hall, the Vikings stared in shock, eyes wide, as the two dragons burst in.
"Except for those two," Gobber said, glaring at them.
Lua climbed onto Barf and Belch's back, trying to stop them, but it was useless. The Zippleback simply turned and ran off again, with Lua struggling to hold on.
"This is a sign! One head for each leader! And the ultimate prize... the Skrill!" Dagur shouted, laughing like a madman. "Come on, men! Let the hunt begin!"
The Berserkers cheered and grew far more excited after seeing the Skrill, to Hiccup's absolute horror and Stoick's dread. It seemed that Berk and Berserker Island might be heading back to war again after fifty years.
o0o0o
Lua finally managed to make Barf and Belch stop running and led them into the forest.
"Now we're completely screwed! Those Vikings saw us!" Lua snarled.
"Sorry..." Barf said.
"...We got scared," Belch added.
"Scared? Scared of what?" Lua looked at them, confused.
"Without our riders..." Barf began.
"...We get lost," Belch finished.
Lua fell silent, thoughtful. She only had Hiccup as her most frequent rider, but she didn't have a permanent rider—she didn't know what it felt like to experience that kind of bond.
Suddenly, Lua lifted her head when she heard something.
"Wait here," Lua said, spreading her wings and taking off.
She tried to make it the quietest flight of her life, but it was difficult. Lua hid among the treetops, watching like a hunting predator.
Suddenly, Berserkers emerged and used a polearm—a long weapon with a sharp blade at the end—to hook around Barf and Belch's necks, dragging them to the ground to prevent them from using their gas and sparks.
Lua growled when she saw Dagur raise his sword toward the Zippleback. Before anyone else could react, Lua did. She struck Dagur's sword with a bolt of lightning. Dagur's entire body was electrified—but not at a level dangerous to humans; Lua had good control over her lightning.
"Skrill!" the Berserkers shouted.
Dagur recovered quickly from the shock, as if he had always been ready to be electrocuted by a Skrill. He turned and smiled even wider when he saw Lua. Lua roared at him.
"llirkS taht teg!" Dagur exclaimed, pointing his sword at Lua.
Dagur's speech had been affected by the shock Lua gave him, but for the Berserkers, that was more than enough. A single gesture from the young leader was all his men needed to understand exactly what he wanted. From the shadows among the rocks and foliage, Berserkers still hidden sprang into action, hurling bolas with strength and precision in her direction.
Lua noticed the danger at the last possible moment. With a sharp beat of her wings, she narrowly dodged the first ones, feeling the air slice as the ropes passed dangerously close to her body. In response, her eyes sharpened, pupils narrowing, and arcs of electricity cut through the air, striking several of the Berserkers who had revealed themselves. Screams echoed as the lightning hurled them to the ground, their bodies writhing in pain.
Others, however, did not retreat. More experienced Berserkers advanced, throwing spears. Lua dodged as best she could, each movement demanding greater effort as she split her attention among multiple enemies. The air filled with tension, sparks, and dust kicked up by the chaos of the fight.
It was then, in the midst of the chaos, that she failed to notice Dagur approaching.
The young Berserker leader charged forward quickly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He grabbed a bola lying on the ground—probably thrown by one of his defeated men—and spun it skillfully over his head. With a fast, precise motion, he hurled it with all his strength.
Lua barely had time to react.
The bola wrapped tightly around her wings, cruelly constricting them and preventing any attempt to fly. Her eyes widened as she lost her balance, and the world seemed to spin around her. With a pained grunt, she plummeted toward the ground, hitting it with a heavy impact that made the earth tremble slightly.
Before she could recover, several Berserkers threw themselves onto her, taking advantage of her fall. They tried with all their might to restrain her, using their body weight and brute force. Lua snarled furiously, thrashing and struggling to break free. Her roar echoed loudly, filled with rage and pain, making some of them hesitate.
Even so, one of the bolder Berserkers managed to grab her snout tightly, squeezing it to stop her from biting or releasing electricity. Lua roared even louder, and her anger exploded.
Electricity began to surge through her entire body, sparks jumping across her scales. Some Berserkers screamed and quickly backed away, afraid of taking a direct shock. Others, however—braver or simply insane—kept holding on, gritting their teeth as they endured the pain.
Dagur approached again, sword raised confidently, a wild smile spread across his face.
With a violent effort, Lua managed to break free from the Berserker holding her head. She shook violently until he was thrown aside. Free for a brief moment, she locked eyes with Dagur and let out a deafening roar before unleashing another electric strike straight at him.
Dagur was hit full-on. His body stiffened, and he staggered, clearly stunned, but he did not fall. With an irritated growl, he lunged forward and delivered a hard punch to Lua's face. The impact snapped her head to the side, and she snarled in pain, feeling the blow reverberate.
"Men, secure this Skrill properly!" Dagur shouted, his voice now fully recovered after the shock. "This one's tough-skinned!"
Following the order, a Berserker jumped onto Lua's head and brutally forced it down against the ground, pinning her in place. Others rushed in, bringing a reinforced muzzle and thick chains. Lua tried to fight, snarling and thrashing, but she was exhausted, surrounded, and restrained.
The chains snapped shut with a heavy metallic sound, sealing her capture.
Dagur watched it all with satisfaction, a wide grin spreading across his face as he admired his new prize. His eyes gleamed with pride and triumph, as if nothing else mattered in that moment—he even completely forgot about the Zippleback.
"Dagur!" Stoick called out, drawing his attention. "What do you plan to do with the Skrill?"
"Duh, I'm taking this Skrill back with me to Berserker Island, as you can see," Dagur pointed to the belt bearing the symbol of a Skrill. "Skrills are the symbol of our tribe! The deadliest and most uncontrollable dragons of all!"
Stoick frowned and was about to say something else when Dagur cut him off.
"Oh right! We still have another dragon to kill!" Dagur grinned, baring his teeth. "Let's do it already, Stoick! Let's kill the dragon and sign the treaty with dragon blood!"
"We'll do it, but we'll do it in the arena, where the killing takes place," Stoick said sternly.
Dagur didn't look very pleased with that. He even complained a bit, but eventually agreed to kill the Zippleback in the arena.
o0o0o
Lua was bound in metal chains and completely immobilized, with spears pointed at her. There didn't seem to be any way out. Lua looked at Barf and Belch.
"I'm sorry... I couldn't help anyone..." Lua lamented.
"It's okay..." Barf began.
"...It's not your fault," Belch finished.
The Zippleback seemed to accept its fate of death. Dagur was even licking his lips, growing more anxious to kill the dragon.
However, Stoick was not going to allow that.
Stoick grabbed his sword and stepped forward, ready to strike Dagur from behind. If protecting the dragons meant war against the Berserkers, then so be it.
But suddenly, Hiccup and the other riders stormed into the dragon arena, shouting at the top of their lungs:
"Dragon attack!" Hiccup yelled, pointing upward.
Hookfang descended along the chains hanging from the academy ceiling, his neck slipping smoothly between them.
"The dragons are attacking!" Astrid shouted. "Run for your lives!"
Snotlout silently made the signal for Hookfang to annihilate the target, and for the first time ever, the target was not Snotlout.
Stormfly and Meatlug arrived roaring—well, actually, only Stormfly was roaring.
Astrid was hiding behind a wooden wall, and Stormfly looked at her. Astrid made the signal for Stormfly to fire her spines. Stormfly immediately understood and shot several spines at a Berserker, who blocked them with a shield.
Meatlug looked at Fishlegs, who made the hug signal. Meatlug grew excited and flew toward a Berserker, wrapping him in a big hug, though the Berserker was not happy about it at all.
Gobber approached Dagur and grabbed him by the shoulders.
"We need to protect the guests!" Gobber said, trying to pull Dagur away.
Dagur did not like that at all and pulled back, nearly slicing Gobber with his sword blade. Gobber shoved Dagur backward to avoid being hit.
"Run if you want! But Dagur the Deranged never runs!" Dagur declared as he turned to face the Zippleback.
Barf and Belch managed to break free in the middle of the chaos. They stood up and looked upward, spotting where Tuffnut and Ruffnut were. The twins made the signals for Barf to release the gas and for Belch to ignite the spark. Dagur was blasted backward and slammed into the wall.
Lua struggled against the chains, but couldn't break free. Toothless managed to sneak closer.
"Need a little help?" Toothless asked as he approached.
"Oh, very much!" Lua said, looking at him.
Toothless fired a plasma blast at the chains, breaking them and freeing Lua. She immediately stood up and stretched her limbs.
"Hmm! Much better now!" Lua smiled. "But now's not the time for talking."
Lua and Toothless turned toward the Berserkers and growled together. Dagur's eyes widened when he saw Toothless beside Lua.
"A Night Fury! They really do exist!" Dagur exclaimed in shock.
Hiccup, standing behind Dagur, made the signal for Lua to fire her lightning at him, which Lua did gladly. Hiccup quickly shoved Dagur out of the way.
"Dagur! You have to run! I won't let these beasts hurt my friend!" Hiccup said, clearly forcing emotion into his voice, but Dagur didn't notice.
"Hiccup—" Dagur couldn't finish when Hiccup accidentally hit him with the shield.
With Dagur not seeing clearly and distracted by the pain, Hiccup signaled Toothless to fire a plasma blast. Once again, Hiccup shoved Dagur forward, dodging Toothless's attack.
Hiccup kept pushing Dagur toward the arena exit, taking the opportunity to accidentally hit him several times with the shield—and with absolutely no intention of revenge, you can believe that.
"Go, Dagur! Save yourself!" Hiccup said as he faced Toothless with a shield and a small knife.
Lua stood face to face with Stoick, snarling at him as she circled around him. Dagur didn't know which dragon to look at: the legendary Night Fury or the lethal Skrill.
"You owe this to your people!" Hiccup said, trying to defend himself from Toothless's attack.
Dagur, seeing no other option, ordered the Berserkers to immediately retreat and flee to the ships without looking back.
"But what about the treaty?!" Gobber ran up to him with the scroll open.
Dagur stopped and looked back, a blast of dragon fire narrowly missing him.
"Consider it signed!" Dagur shouted before fleeing with the other Berserkers.
Fortunately, once it was confirmed that the Berserkers were already far away and aboard their ships, everyone could stop acting. Lua sighed and sat down; she was exhausted from the day.
Thanks to everyone's efforts, the dragons could return to the village of Berk in peace, and there would be no war with the Berserkers for another fifty years. Still, Lua found herself wondering what would happen now that Dagur knew there was a Skrill in Berk. Would he still go after that other Skrill?
Well, she would only find out in a few weeks—or maybe even months.