This was bad.
Scratch that – this was very bad.
Hiccup froze, holding his breath as he listened carefully for any sign of the woman's pursuit. He could feel his heartbeat pounding erratically as the fear continued to sink in.
The tunnel was mercifully quiet, save for the distant echoes of the dragons moving about within the heart of the nest. Still – he was no fool.
Grasping at the bottom of his tunic, Hiccup used a claw to slice through the fabric, removing a strip from the bottom. He lowered himself to the ground, wincing as the chill of the ice bit through his clothes. Carefully, he wound the fabric strip around and around the bottom of his prosthetic foot, creating a thickly cushioned pad around the metal.
He hoped it would help muffle the sound of his steps as he ventured through the tunnels.
After rising and taking a few tentative steps, he was relieved to find that it was working. As an added benefit, the extra traction made balancing a bit easier on the slick surface.
Hiccup surveyed the dark tunnel ahead, brow furrowing as he realized his mistake. In his rush to escape from the stranger, he hadn't really paid attention to where he was heading. Now, he had no idea where he'd ended up…or how to get back to more familiar territory.
Just great.
For a moment, he considered simply turning around and attempting to figure out which turns he'd taken, ideally retracing his steps. After a moment of tense deliberation, he ruled that idea out as too risky. If the woman had been following, he ran the risk of walking right into her path.
Instead, he decided that he'd be better off continuing the same way that he'd been heading. With any luck, he'd stumble upon a fork in the road that would lead to the outside.
He knew from his flight that most openings were located high above the sea, so it made the most sense to look for branches of the tunnel that sloped upward. Surely one had to lead to the outdoors. Of course, there were issues with that plan as well – even if he managed to get out, he'd find himself dangerously high above the sea.
Hiccup hoped there'd be a ledge or something he could pull himself onto, just to fully escape the nest. From there, it was a matter of finding a safe way to climb down – or a shelter he could slip into for the night, to guard against the wind.
He crept along the tunnel, mindful to keep his steps slow and deliberate. Though he could do nothing to calm his heart racing away in his chest, he was able to keep his breathing quiet and in check. Stealth was key to his safety.
Coming to a fork in the path, he paused. Looking left to right, he couldn't discern which would be the more likely route to find an exit. Both sloped similarly, each twisting off into the distance. He took the left option on a whim.
The tunnels were harder to navigate at night, lit only by shards of moonlight that broke through small holes in the ice. Hiccup found himself squinting into the darkness, longing for Night Fury vision to help see the path ahead.
Hiccup crossed his arms against his chest, trying to hold back a shiver. What he would give for a fire…
When the path branched off again, he stumbled to a halt.
The tunnel ahead was occupied by a large Monstrous Nightmare. The dragon's eyes immediately narrowed when they landed on him, and it wasted no time slinking towards him. With every step the dragon took, Hiccup was forced to take another quick one back in order to maintain the distance.
Oh, Thor.
His back hit a wall.
Hiccup blanched, realizing he'd done exactly what the dragon wanted. His hasty movements had cornered him against a stretch of the ice, far from the other tunnel openings. He was stuck, with nowhere to run, unless he could manage to find a way past the Nightmare.
The idea wasn't appealing.
Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut, ducking his head towards his chest and moving his hands up to shield his face. It had been a while since he'd been burned, but he was no stranger to the pain. He braced himself, listening for the telltale sound of dragon fire igniting.
Curiously, it did not come.
There was a bit of heat, but only the bit that came from the warm breath of the Nightmare, who had leaned in closer to study him.
Hiccup forced his eyes open, peering up through his fingers at the dragon before him. The Nightmare was calm, posture fully relaxed. The dragon's eyes had widened, pupils dilated out in a clear sign that it was feeling neither angry nor threatened.
Strange. The only other time he'd seen a dragon behave like this had been when he and Astrid had encountered that Nadder from the arena…
Hiccup tentatively extended his left hand, stopping inches from the dragon's snout. Like the Nadder, this dragon put up no resistance and instead leaned into his touch, closing the gap between them. It hummed, closing its eyes in contentment.
Hiccup's breath caught in surprise.
What was the connecting line here? Was it truly the dragon scent on him that made the difference with these creatures, or was there something else that he was missing? Some connection he'd overlooked? In both instances, he'd simply offered his hand to the creatures, closing his eyes in a show of trust.
Much like the strange woman's technique, he now realized.
Was it really so simple? Did dragons truly value a show of trust so much that they'd give their own in response?
Hiccup's curiosity burned. There was only one way to know for sure.
Astrid's going to kill me for this, he thought to himself as he slid past the Nightmare and deeper into the tunnels.
It was time to find a few more dragons.
Hiccup's experiment continued to yield the same incredible result.
Every dragon he approached – Nadder, Nightmare, Gronkle, Zippleback and more – was willing to offer the same level of respect and trust that it was shown. After a few successful encounters, he'd even tried switching hands, wondering if the lack of scales would make a difference.
To his surprise, it did not.
While he suspected his scent was the same for either limb, the sight of his skin had to be more foreign for the wild dragons. A few regarded him with deeper curiosity, sniffing at his fingers with enthusiasm, but otherwise treating him the same.
"Ok, that's enough," he laughed, inching away from a particularly curious Terrible Terror. It had been attempting to burrow under his tunic, cold scales like ice against his skin. He'd had to peel the small dragon off his body and deposit it forcefully back onto the floor, realizing quickly that no amount of reasoning would do the trick.
His heart felt surprisingly light in the wake of his experiences. Interacting with dragons, gaining their trust like this…was exhilarating.
It was fulfilling.
It made him feel whole .
A few hours in, he took a turn that led back into the core of the nest. He'd nearly forgotten about the stranger – heart jumping in his chest as he caught sight of her standing at the edge of an overlook, her back facing towards him.
Hiccup pressed himself tightly against the side of the tunnel, careful to stay out of sight as he observed the woman. She was alone, leaning her weight on her staff as she observed something below.
What is she waiting for?
A sudden thunderous noise filled the nest, the deep timbre of it shaking the ground beneath his feet.
Hiccup startled, watching in horror as something massive rose from below. Water pooled off the giant as it rose higher and higher, exposing the face of the largest dragon he'd ever seen.
"Oh my gods…" he whispered to himself, unable to believe his eyes.
Another queen?
Though clearly a different breed than the Red Death, this goliath was no less intimidating. With giant tusks framing its face and towering height, it was a terrifying sight to behold. What struck Hiccup most was the dragon's presence. There was a certain aura about it, a feeling of power and age in the air as if an ancient force was watching.
It was deeply unsettling.
The woman dipped into a low bow of respect, murmuring something that Hiccup couldn't pick up from the distance.
To his shock, the giant dragon proceeded to dip its head in what could only be an acknowledgement of the stranger's gesture. It then expelled a breath of icy mist, dusting the woman's clothing in a thin layer of snow.
A dragon of ice within a maze of ice.
It couldn't be a coincidence. Somehow this…ice-spitter had to be responsible for the creation of the strange fortress.
The woman straightened up and spoke again, shifting her weight off of her staff. Though she stood no taller than the dragon's eye, she seemed completely unphased by the massive creature before her, even as it turned away. The ground rattled once more as the giant dived back down with a loud crash, disappearing from view.
Once more Hiccup found himself dumbstruck by the woman's ease in the nest.
Just who was she?
The gods really do hate me.
Hiccup had finally found an opening to the outside world. The problem? It was a sheer drop off, located near the highest point of the icy fortress. There were no ridges or ledges that he could leverage to make an escape, the area around the opening having melted enough under the sun that it had smoothed out when it refroze.
Escaping on foot was not in the cards. As he had feared, the fortress was only able to be accessed with a pair of wings.
Hiccup stared out at the stars, emotional and physical exhaustion weighing heavily upon him. Somewhere, under those same stars, he knew his father would be worrying about his absence.
Astrid might be…
He shook his head, dismissing the thought. It would do him no good to dwell – though he'd made it to the edge of the nest, he was no closer to making his getaway. The fortress was like a web he'd gotten stuck in, and no matter how much he pulled at it, he couldn't get away.
Resigned to the knowledge that he'd have to wait till sunrise, he raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. He'd need to get some rest – making the flight back in his current state would be too dangerous. If his strength were to give out over the open sea…
Gods.
As much as he hated to admit it, he'd need to find a safe place to sleep until dawn.
The trader had brought troubling news – the sort of news that could not be ignored.
Queen Mala did not like to get involved with quarrels that lay outside of her island, knowing that doing so took away from the defense of her own people and the local dragon population. They were her responsibility, and they would come first.
Always .
However, she could not simply sit still and let this new band of poachers wreak havoc on the archipelago. What the hunters were doing was appalling, and she would be remiss to ignore it now.
She would not afford to be hasty, as rash actions could cost lives – but knew further investigation was needed to assess the threat.
She knew just the ally to reach out to.