第三十章：黑心监狱之战

难怪他们称这个海湾为龙之墓地。无论是过去的还是现在的战场，都难以形容的险恶，风呼啸着穿过那些死气沉沉的龙骨，似乎发出一种千年幽灵般的声音。
现在，潮水又涨了起来，活龙正在苏醒。
海底红沙下的活龙正在苏醒过来，他们成千上万地从深红的沙滩中涌上，从海湾中喷涌而出，没有一条龙是小嗝嗝喜欢的物种。
蛇舌龙（Serpent-tongues）缠绕在白色的龙骨上，抖动着湿漉漉的翅膀。来自遗忘森林到开阔海洋的沙刀龙（Sandrazors）、地狱尖牙（Hellsteethers）、黑暗屏息龙和扭舌龙（Tonguetwisters）加入了他们。那些都是最黑暗的龙种，是怪物，是最痛恨人类的龙。
他们一边高喊着红怒的开始，一边在死去的龙骨上磨爪子。他们看见小小的蚂蚁人类和他们那爆炸性武器的可怕火焰和长矛在城垛上离开，他们知道他们的时代到了。
用人类的鲜血染红你的爪子......
清除人类的污秽......
把人类像木头一样烧掉......

反叛军就要来了......
恶龙Furious蜷伏在这片充满龙族希望、梦想和生活的可怕墓地中央。很难去描述Furious的美。现在他不再是俘虏了，他的皮肤虽然伤痕累累，却又恢复了往日的光彩。那是一种蓝色，是你以前从未见过那种蓝色。比蓝天更深色，比樱桃红更高贵，比宝石蓝更明亮。
“人类在自相残杀。”Furious低声说，他的眼睛里燃烧着胜利的火光。
我意思是，毫不夸张地说，是燃烧着。成年海龙的一个特点是它们的眼睛能着火和冒烟。瞳孔里射出一串串明亮的红色火焰，像激光一样锐利。
“进攻！！！！！！！”恶龙Furious地对他的副手吼道，那是一条巨大的海龙，名叫“雷霆”（Thunderer）。
“进攻！”就这样，黑心监狱之战开始了。
一千年来，龙族反抗军的龙们第一次飞过毫无防御的城垛，进入了监狱。
互相打斗的人类现在还处于混乱之中，他们拿不到他们那爆炸东西（Exploding Things）。
他们的毁灭性武器现在被从上面入侵的华丽翼蛇龙炸毁了。

沃尔卡同时遭到西部荒野战士和恶龙的攻击，她杀死了四只准备用锋利的翅膀直刺她脖子的沙刀龙，并大声喊道：“龙印团们！撤离监狱，到船上去！我们将在西边的沼泽飞贼岛坚守阵地！”
阿尔文和他的支持者现在也逃到船上去了，巫婆也在组织他们自己的撤退，撤退到东边的Uglithug领土。
每个人都必须做出自己的选择。西边是小嗝嗝和龙之印记，东边是阿尔文和巫婆。
当然，Wodensfang和无牙没得选，他们不管喜欢不喜欢都要跟着阿尔文走，因为他们还在阿尔文肩上的琥珀网里荡来荡去。
“我们走...走错方向了！”无牙叫苦不迭。“我们得跟着小嗝嗝走！这真是一场灾难！无牙是最重要的遗失之物，小嗝嗝离不开我的！”
多毛恐怖图书管理员似乎觉得，也许他和小嗝嗝已经绝交了。但现在，他意识到巫婆的承诺是虚无的，他又有了新的方向。于是他向西，去沼泽飞贼岛。
在战场中央，高伯走过鼻涕粗，鼻涕粗正陷入沉思，东张西望。
鼻涕粗决定不了走哪条路。

鼻涕粗会选择哪一边呢？他现在知道巫婆和阿尔文是什么东西了，他恨他们，就像他们吓着他一样。但是让小嗝嗝做他的国王？他那受人鄙视的矮子堂弟？他的自尊心对这种想法感到厌恶。尽管小嗝嗝出手救过鼻涕粗，但即使这样也有点恼人。
“鼻涕粗！”高伯叫道，“你仍可以为正义而战，鼻涕粗。你是我教过最好的战士之一。你还记得你在幸运13之战中战胜阿尔文赢得的黑星吗？你将会是龙印团的一位核心骨干。跟我们一起吧！”
鼻涕粗没有回答，高伯耸耸肩，把他留在那里。
鼻涕粗把手伸进口袋，拿出黑星奖章，这是群岛对勇敢无畏的最高奖励之一。他把奖章翻来翻去，想做出决定。西还是东？西还是东？
鼻涕粗要去哪边？
我们将把他留在那里，让他犹豫不决地站在战场中央。
思考着。
沃尔卡奋力向小嗝嗝冲过去。
“蹲下！”沃尔卡喊道。
“什么？”
“蹲下！”她又喊了一声，把他推下去，朝他头上射了一箭，把一只从空中俯冲下来的沙刀龙射死了。

“好吧，小嗝嗝。”沃尔卡说，“你跟我们呆在一起太危险了。拿好宝石，躲开龙和维京人。致命影龙会知道怎么做。想办法带着你的父亲去明日岛加冕，龙印团和我会在那里与你会面。与此同时，别让任何人知道你还活着。”
“可我一件遗失之物也没有！”小嗝嗝反对道。“除了宝石，阿尔文什么都有了！”
“那颗宝石是最重要的遗失之物。”沃尔卡说，“要小心！”
就在这位伟大的战士转身返回战场之前，小嗝嗝把手放在了母亲的金属手臂上。尽管在漫长而疲惫的一天之后，他浑身湿透，身上溅满了怪物的汁液和海水，但不知怎么地，他比以前任何时候都更矮小，更靠不住了。
他看起来……天哪，他看起来像什么样？
那都是很久以前的事了。
但我觉得他看起来更…
…成熟了一点。
“谢谢你。”小嗝嗝对沃尔卡说。
“你不必感谢我。”沃尔卡说，“我是你的母亲。哦，还有，小嗝嗝……”
“怎么了，妈妈？”
“别对自己太苛刻了，小嗝嗝，”沃尔卡说，她的笑容现在可能有些悲伤，“如果事情到最后没有好转的话。我从惨痛的教训中学到的是，英雄只能竭尽全力了……”

小嗝嗝爬上致命影龙。“卡米卡琪！鱼脚司！来吧！”他喊道。
“我们也要来吗？”卡米卡琪问道。
“你当然要来了，”小嗝嗝说。“我再也不能一个人做流放犯了。再说，这只致命影龙也不是我的，他是鱼脚司的。”
还有一件事要做。
小嗝嗝骑着致命影龙以最快的速度飞到阿尔文的头顶，飞啊飞，飞啊飞，穿过战场向舰队飞去。
阿尔文的肩膀上，砰、砰、砰地，他扛着两支图书管理员的切心器长杆，上面挂着两条小龙，一条是Wodensfang，另一条是无牙，他们惊恐地从网里向外张望。
致命影龙在上面盘旋，完全伪装起来。
小嗝嗝从致命影龙的背上俯下身来，割断了网，让Wodensfang和无牙自由地飞离，他们欢快地向上飞翔，无牙发出胜利般的公鸡叫。
就在这时，阿尔文抬起头来，无意识地用他的钩子勾了一下，勾住了小嗝嗝脖子上甩来甩去的宝石链。
“射他！”阿尔文向他的战士们尖叫道。伪装的致命影龙在雨点般的箭中爬升，小嗝嗝脖子上的项链断了……

无牙、Wodensfang和致命影龙升到城垛上，箭在他们身后倾泻而出……而...
“拿到了！”阿尔文尖叫着，用另一只手抓住宝石。
所以在经过了所有的搜寻，所有的戏剧性事件，所有无数次的搜寻，我们面对现实吧，宝石最终还是落在了阿尔文可怕的钩子手中。
真讨厌，嗯？就那一秒钟，英雄的一次失误，一次走神，一切都溃于一旦。
“NOOOOOO ! ! !”小嗝嗝喊道。当你看到巫婆的脸时是很可怕的，因为她看到龙之宝石温暖的金色光芒终于落入她的宝贝儿子的钩子里。
背叛者阿尔文拿到了宝石....巫婆Excellinor发出一声响亮的、欢呼雀跃的笑声，在那里，在那场死亡和毁灭的战斗中，她张开了她那蝙蝠翼般的双臂，欢呼着要征服敌人。
“我知道我的预测是不会错的！”巫婆尖叫道。“我知道我这样聪明是有原因的！谢谢你，噢，我所信赖的死亡和黑暗的力量！谢谢你，啊，最邪恶和最光荣的命运！看呐！”她尖声叫道，向天空挥舞着她瘦骨嶙峋的拳头，“看我们是怎么取胜的！”

“让我看看，阿尔文，亲爱的，给我吧。”
可怜的是，这颗美丽而脆弱的琥珀宝石，在那卑鄙邪恶的魔鬼巫婆手中，发出火焰般的光芒。
她用干燥的嘴唇吻了宝石……用恶毒的声音低声对它吟唱……最后，她把它捧在手里时，嘶嘶叫道：
“小心呐，”巫婆低声说，“小心呐，小小天真的东西在阳光下成长……小心呐，你那张开了巨大翅膀的绝美之龙…...我们可以打败你们，你认为你很强大…但我们可以把你从天空扯下来，看着你枯萎在泥地里…”
她咧嘴一笑，那笑容是真的可怕。
“小心呐，龙族，”巫婆轻声说道，“龙族的日子已经不多了……小心呐……小心呐……小心呐……”她把那珍贵的宝石交还给她那令人讨厌的儿子，背叛者阿尔文，他小心地把宝石放在他那戴着盔甲的胸袋里。
这样看来，小嗝嗝确实找到了龙之宝石，但宝石留在他身边的时间并不长。
阿尔文现在有了宝石，一步一步，一步一步，一步一步，一步一步，他急忙向东方驶去，他的母亲四肢着地在他后面蹦蹦跳跳，像一具活着的狼骨架，阿尔文的腰上那滴滴答答的小玩意儿发出一种扭曲的新曲调。

Ti-i-i-ick-to-ock ti-i-i-ick……to-o-o-ick…ti-i-i-i-i-ick…to-ii-ick…（滴答滴答）
然而无牙很高兴，他不知道巫婆和她那可怕儿子的恶意。
小龙很高兴又和主人团聚了。
“Cock-a-doodle-doo！（公鸡的叫声）”无牙鸣叫道。
“别担心，小嗝嗝！别慌！大伙，无牙在这儿呢！我是最重要的遗失之物！”
无牙，Wodensfang和影龙飞到黑心监狱的城垛上，下面的大门敞开着，人类蜂拥而出，各自逃命。
他们头顶上，在这一千年来的首次，龙族攻陷了黑心监狱。
龙族反叛军涌进了监狱的走廊。扭舌龙在院子里放火烧了长桌。他们拆毁了塔楼，把塔楼翻倒进那些龙族祖先被锁链禁锢了几个世纪的地牢里。
在龙之墓地的海湾，恶龙Furious蹲在混乱之中，他用那双发出探照灯般光芒的眼睛无情地扫视着天空，忽视着周围那些船帆着了火的在龙骨之间蹒跚穿行的维京船只，那些船只正在撤退的路上用爆炸性的武器杀出一条路。

“那个男孩……”恶龙Furious嘶嘶叫道。“那个叫小嗝嗝的男孩在哪儿？”
当然，恶龙Furious说得对；男孩就在那里，在巨龙头顶的致命影龙的背上，隐形地飞翔着。
一时间，恶龙Furious看见了他。一阵爆炸性武器的火焰一定让影龙措手不及。刹那间，他因为惊慌而变得可见，他出现了，背上载着小嗝嗝，暴露在恶龙Furious的探照灯光束中。
恶龙Furious看见了致命影龙……他确信自己看到了……他发出了一声震惊而愤怒的吼叫。
他派来杀死小嗝嗝的那条龙，那条声称自己恨人类如酸一般强烈的龙，已经背叛了他，而现在正在帮助那个小男孩！
怎么会这样？他选择这条龙尤其是因为是他对人类极其的仇恨......
他选择这条龙尤其是因为他特别像恶龙Furious自己…...
但是那个小嗝嗝，在影龙背上一个很明显的轮廓，卡米卡琪和鱼脚司在他旁边，三只小猎龙像苍蝇一样飞在旁边，天真、傲慢和耐心三个头往三个不同方向吐出闪电。

那男孩是怎么做到的？
他到底算个什么东西？
恶龙Furious张开蓝色的大翅膀，最后绝望地一跳。
刚才，龙背上的小嗝嗝男孩还在那里。接着，龙变成了暴风雨天空般的灰色。
龙、男孩和他们的同伴都消失了，隐形着的致命影龙划过天空。
巨龙Furious的巨颚没有咬住任何东西。它巨大的爪子只在空中撕扯。
他绝望地摔回了龙之墓地，没有抓到男孩。
恶龙Furious吼叫着，穿过海湾，到处扔着大石头，把他所能找到的任何活植被连根拔起，撕毁着岛上“没有男孩在里面”的草，他自己的龙族反叛军里面的扭舌龙和爆怒龙（Rageblasts）像梗犬一样发着闹骚，并尽量退到旁边去。
最后，在一阵咆哮的白热火焰中，恶龙Furious把整个海湾烧成灰烬，在失败和困惑的愤怒中彻底毁灭了它。
然后他蹲下来，喘着气，像一只蓝色大猫，躺在巨大的夜间墓地中央的龙骨间。
此刻，他那燃烧着的眼睛里充满了恐惧。
走了......

那男孩走了......
恶龙Furious的怒气渐渐平息，他似乎在你眼前退缩了。
那明亮的蓝色从他的皮肤上褪去了，变成了一种更普通的颜色。他甚至蜷成一个防御球形，像一只普通的炉边猫，把头埋在他的龙手里，仿佛他不想用自己的力量来展望未来。
一个有心肝的人也许会为这只伟大的生物感到难过，他把他那伤痕累累的可怜脑袋靠在自己制造的熊熊烈焰上，就像把它当作枕头一样。
“又失去了一个机会。”龙低声说，嘶嘶地自言自语。“我们肯定不会面临灭绝吧？”
“那肯定不会是龙族最终的命运吧？”
一只巨大的海龙，雷霆，高兴地来把消息告诉给Furious。
“胜利了，Furious！黑心沦陷了！”
这对那些龙来说是一个荣耀的时刻。
那些维京人就在刚刚，逃跑了。
逃出来的那群维京人很幸运，那天，他们都能在龙族反叛军白热愤怒的袭击中幸存下来。
只有在勇敢的战斗中，凭借高超的剑、盾和矛的使用技能，维京舰队才得以逃脱，在无数的利爪和尖牙之间穿梭，在炙热的破坏力极强的龙焰中穿行，他们不断地射击和爆炸杀出一条血路来。

即使在那时，仍有血淋淋的燃烧着的船只，船帆还在燃烧，其中许多人丧生。
龙印团前往了沼泽飞贼岛，巫婆和她的战士们前往东方的Uglithug族之地。
但龙族最终拿下了黑心监狱。
因此，雷霆很惊奇地发现Furious竟然还在如此可怜的痛苦中。
“Furious……怎么了？这肯定是我们最辉煌的时刻吧？”
“你不明白，”Furious咆哮道。“那个小嗝嗝男孩跑掉了。”
“不过是个人类男孩，”雷霆吃惊地说。“一个人类的小男孩，这么小，这么娇弱，没有爪子，没有火焰……一个小男孩肯定不会有这么重要吧？”
“那不是一个普通的男孩，”Furious回答道。
然后，他舒展身体，慢慢地、危险地站起来，像浴火重生般的凤凰。
他的身体又明亮了起来。
“他永远不能长大。”恶龙Furious发誓。“他绝不能到达明日岛。”
“我再也不会犯那种把他的死托付给别人的错误了。”恶龙Furious喘着气说。“这次我要亲手杀了他……”

“我会到处找他。为了找他，我会把世界都弄得四分五裂。对他来说，没有任何地方会是安全的：没有洞穴，没有悬崖，没有岩石，没有岛屿。我会把整个世界化为灰烬，去找他。”
“听听恶龙Furious誓言吧！”龙尖叫道，他气得全身都在尖叫，连他的眼球都开始冒烟，喷出火焰，然后他向后仰着头，随着尖叫声把火焰喷射上去，就像一座正在喷发的火山。
那个男孩决不能到达明日岛30. THE BATTLE OF PRISON DARKHEART No wonder they called this bay the Dragons’ Graveyard. Indescribably sinister it was, this past and present battlefield, and the wind wailing through those dead dragon skeletons seemed to carry voices of a millennium of ghosts. Now the tide had risen again and the living dragons were waking. The red sand below the sea was giving birth to live dragons, swarming in their thousands out of the scarlet sand below and bursting out of the bay, and none of them were Hiccup’s favourite species. Serpent-tongues writhed and twisted around the white dragon bones, shaking out their wet wings. Sandrazors, Hellsteethers, Darkbreathers and Tonguetwisters joining them from the Forgotten Forest and the Open Ocean. The darkest types of dragon species, the monsters, the ones that hated the humans most. They were chanting the beginning of the Red-Rage and sharpening their talons on the bones of their dead dragon brothers. They saw the little human ants and their terrible weapons of exploding fire and 

spears departing from the battlements, and they knew their time had come. Crouching in the centre of the ghastly graveyard of dragons’ hopes and dreams and lives, was the Dragon Furious. It is difficult to describe the beauty of Furious. Now that he was no longer a captive, his skin, though scarred, had returned to its former glory. It was a blue so blue that you have never seen that colour before. Deeper than the blue sky, more royal than cerise, brighter than sapphires. ‘The humans are fighting among themselves,’ whispered Furious, and his eyes blazed with triumph. And I mean, quite literally, blazed. An extraordinary feature of fully grown Sea Dragons is

that their eyes can catch fire and smoke. Little bursts of bright red flame, as sharp as lasers, darted from the pupils. ‘ATTA-A-A-A-A-A-CCCKKKKKKK!!!!!!!’ roared the Dragon Furious to his second-in-command, a great Sea Dragon called the Thunderer.
‘ATTACK!’ And so began the Battle for Prison Darkheart. For the first time in a thousand years, the dragons of the Dragon Rebellion flew over the undefended battlements, and into the prison itself. The humans fighting each other were now in disarray. They could not reach their Exploding Things.

Their weapons of destruction were now being blown up by the magnificent winged serpents invading from above. Valhallarama, under attack from warriors of the Wilderwest and dragons simultaneously, killed four Sandrazors that were launching themselves with sword sharp wings pointed straight at her neck, and shouted, ‘COMPANIONS OF THE DRAGONMARK! RETREAT FROM THE PRISON AND MAKE FOR THE SHIPS! OUR STRONGHOLD SHALL BE THE BOG-BURGLAR ISLANDS TO THE WEST!’ Alvin and his supporters were now fleeing to the ships as well, and the witch was organising their own retreat to the Uglithug territories in the east. Everyone had to make their choice. West for Hiccup and the Dragonmark, east for Alvin and the witch. The Wodensfang and Toothless couldn’t really choose of course, they were going with Alvin whether they liked it or not, for they were swinging in the amber-nets over Alvin’s shoulder. ‘We’re going the wrong w-w-way!’ squealed Toothless. ‘We need to go with H-H-Hiccup! This is a disaster! Toothless is the most important Lost Thing, Hiccup can’t possibly do without me!’

The Hairy Scary Librarian seemed to feel that maybe he was quits with Hiccup, and he had a new score to settle now that he had realised the emptiness of a witch’s promise. So he headed west, to the Bog- Burglar Islands. In the middle of the battle, Gobber the Belch passed Snotlout, deep in thought, looking to west and east. Snotlout couldn’t decide which way to go.
He knew what the witch and Alvin were now, and he hated them almost as much as they scared him. But taking Hiccup as his King? His despised little runt-boy cousin? His pride revolted at the thought. Hiccup had stepped in to save Snotlout, but even that was kind of irritating. ‘Snotlout!’ called Gobber. ‘You can still fight for the right side, Snotlout. You are one of the best Warriors I have ever taught. You remember the Black Star you won against Alvin at the Battle of the Lucky Thirteen? You’d be a tremendous asset to the Company of the Dragonmark. Come with us!’ Snotlout did not answer, and Gobber shrugged his shoulders, and left him there. Snotlout reached into his pocket and took out the Black Star medal, one of the highest awards for bravery the Archipelago can bestow. He turned it over and over, trying to decide. West or east? West or east? Which way would Snotlout go? And that is where we will leave him, standing undecided in the middle of the battlefield. Thinking. Valhallarama fought her way across to Hiccup. ‘DUCK!’ yelled Valhallarama. ‘What?’

‘DUCK!’ she yelled again, pushing him downwards, and firing an arrow over his head that killed a swooping Sandrazor stone dead mid-swoop. ‘OK, Hiccup,’ said Valhallarama. ‘It is too dangerous for you to stay with us. Take the Jewel and hide from both dragon and Viking. Deadly Shadow dragons know how to hide. Make your way to Tomorrow for the Crowning day, and your father, the Company of the Dragonmark and I will meet you there. In the meantime, no one must know you are alive.’ ‘But I haven’t got any of the Things!’ protested Hiccup. ‘Alvin has everything apart from the Jewel!’ ‘The Jewel is the most important Thing of all,’ said Valhallarama. ‘Be careful of it.’ Just before the Great Warrior turned away, back to the battle, Hiccup put his hand on his mother’s metal arm. Even though he was particularly bedraggled after his long and tiring day, streaked with Monster juices and ocean, he was somehow less small and unlikely than he had ever been before. He looked…

Oh dear, what did he look like? It was all such a long time ago. But I think he looked a little more… … grown-up.
‘Thank you,’ said Hiccup to Valhallarama. ‘You have nothing to thank me for,’ said Valhallarama. ‘I am your mother. Oh and Hiccup…’ ‘Yes, Mother?’ ‘Don’t be too hard on yourself, Hiccup,’ said Valhallarama, and perhaps her smile was slightly sad now, ‘if things do not turn out well in the end. I have learnt the hard way that Heroes can only do their best…

’ Hiccup climbed on to the Deadly Shadow dragon. ‘Camicazi! Fishlegs! COME ON!’ he shouted down. ‘Are we coming too?’ asked Camicazi. ‘Of course you’re coming,’ said Hiccup. ‘I can’t be an Outcast on my own again. Besides, the Deadly Shadow isn’t mine, it belongs to Fishlegs.’
There was one more thing to do. Hiccup steered the Deadly Shadow above the head of King Alvin, fleeing as fast as he could, step TAP, step TAP, step TAP, through the battlefield towards the fleet. Over Alvin’s shoulder, bump bump bump, he carried the long poles of the Librarian’s Heart-Slicers holding the two little dragons, the Wodensfang and Toothless, who were peering out, terrified, from the nets. The Deadly Shadow hovered, perfectly camouflaged, above.

Hiccup leant down from the back of the Deadly Shadow and cut the nets so that the Wodensfang and Toothless flew free, shooting joyfully upwards, Toothless trumpeting his rooster-crow of triumph. And in the very same moment, Alvin looked up, clawed automatically with his hook, and caught the chain of the Jewel, swinging from Hiccup’s neck. ‘Shoot him!’ screamed Alvin to his Warriors. The camouflaged Deadly Shadow rose up in a rain of arrows, the chain on Hiccup’s neck broke…

Toothless and the Wodensfang and the Deadly Shadow rose up to the battlements, arrows pouring upward after them… and… ‘GOT IT!’ shrieked Alvin, catching the Jewel in his other hand. So after all that searching, all that drama, all the gazillions of words of this Quest, let’s face it, the Jewel ended up in Alvin’s horrible hooky hands after all. Annoying, huh? Just one second, one false move on the part of the Hero, one lapse of concentration, that’s all it takes, for everything to fall apart. ‘NOOOOOO!!!’ shouted Hiccup. It was a scary sight to see the witch’s face, as she saw the warm golden splendour of the Dragon Jewel dropping into the hook of her darling boy at last.

The witch Excellinor let out a high, exultant cackle, and there, in the middle of the death and destruction of that battle she spread wide her bat-wing arms in jubilant conquest. ‘I knew my predictions could not be wrong!’ screamed the witch. ‘I knew I had to be this brilliant for a reason! Thank you, O powers of death and darkness in whom I put my trust! Thank you, O fortunes most foul and most glorious! See!’ she screeched, shaking her bony fist up at the heavens, ‘see how we triumph! ‘Let me see it, Alvin, my darling, let me have it.’ It was piteous to see the fragile amber beauty of that Jewel, glowing from within as if it were fire, cradled in the vile crooked hands of that fiend the witch.

She kissed it with her dry lips… crooned over it with a wicked whisper… and here is what she hissed as she held it in her hands at last: ‘Watch out,’ whispered the witch. ‘Watch out, small innocent things growing in the sunshine… Watch out you splendid dragons with your giant spreading wings… for we can bring you down now, you who think you are so mighty…
we can tear you from the sky and watch you shrivel in the mud…’ She grinned and that grin was truly terrifying. ‘Watch out, dragons,’ whispered the witch softly, ‘for the dragons’ days are numbered now… Watch out… watch out… watch out…’ She handed the precious Jewel back to her repulsive son, Alvin the Treacherous, and he put it carefully away in his armoured breast pocket. So Hiccup had found the Dragon Jewel all right, but it had not stayed with him very long. Alvin had the Jewel now and, step TAP, step TAP, step TAP, step TAP, he hurried to the east, his mother bounding after him on all fours, like a wolf-skeleton come to life, and the ticking-thing swinging from Alvin’s waist ticking out a new and twisted tune. Ti-i-i-ick-to-ock…

ti-i-i-ick… to-o-o-ick… ti-i-i-i-i-ick… to-ii-ick…
Toothless was happy though, all unknowing as he was, of the malevolent intent of the witch and her horrible son. The little dragon was just delighted to be reunited with his master once again. ‘Cock-a-doodle-doo!’ crowed Toothless. ‘Don’t worry, H-h-hiccup! Don’t p-p- panic, everybody, Toothless is here! The most important Thing of all!’ Toothless, the Wodensfang and the Shadow rose up to the battlements of Darkheart as the great doors opened and the humans poured out to make their escape below. Above their heads, for the first time in a thousand years, the dragons took Darkheart. The Dragon Rebellion poured through the corridors of the Prison. There were Tonguetwisters in the courtyard setting fire to the long tables. They tore down the towers, sending them tumbling and crashing into the dungeons where their dragon ancestors had been kept in chains for centuries. In the bay of the Dragons’ Graveyard, the Dragon Furious crouched amid the chaos, his eyes scanning the skies above relentlessly in great searchlight beams, ignoring the Viking ships with their

burning sails slaloming through the dragon skeletons all around him, sending out their Exploding Things as they shot their way out in retreat. ‘The boy…’ hissed the Dragon Furious. ‘Where is the boy called Hiccup?’ The Dragon Furious was right, of course; the boy was there, soaring invisibly above the great dragon’s head on the back of the Deadly Shadow. For one second, the Dragon Furious saw him. A burst of Exploding Thing Fire must have caught the Shadow off-guard. For one moment he turned visible with the shock, and there he was, with Hiccup on his back, right in the Dragon Furious’s searchlight eyebeams. The Dragon Furious saw the Deadly Shadow…

he was sure he saw it… and gave a cry of astonished rage.
The dragon that he had sent to kill Hiccup, the dragon who claimed he hated humans as strong as acid, had turned his allegiance and was now helping the boy! How could this be? He had chosen this dragon most particularly for his hatred of human beings… He had chosen this dragon particularly because he was so like the Dragon Furious himself… But there was Hiccup, clearly outlined on the back of the Shadow, Camicazi and Fishlegs beside him, three little hunting-dragons hovering above like flies, and the three heads of Innocence, Arrogance and Patience sending out lightning bolts in three different directions. How did the boy do it? What was it about him?

The Dragon Furious spread wide his great blue wings, and made a final despairing leap. One second the Hiccup-boy on the back of the dragon was there. The next the dragon turned the exact stormy grey of the sky. Dragon, boy and companions simply disappeared, as the now-invisible Deadly Shadow streaked across the sky. Dragon Furious’s great jaws closed on nothing. His gigantic claws tore only on the air. He crashed back down into the Dragons’ Graveyard, boy-less, and in despair. The Dragon Furious howled, and plunged through the bay, flinging great boulders around, uprooting any living vegetation he could find, tearing up the airy grasses on the islands that contained no boy, his own Tonguetwisters and Rageblasts of the Rebellion whimpering like terriers, and trying to stay out of the way. Finally, in one screaming blast of white-hot fire, the Dragon Furious incinerated the whole bay, annihilated it in the blaze of his defeated and baffled fury.

And then crouched down, panting, in the middle of the blaze like a great blue cat, lying in the centre of the great night-time graveyard of his fellow dragons’ bones. Fear was in the blazing eyes now. Gone… The boy was gone. As the Dragon Furious’s rage died down, he seemed to shrink in front of your eyes. That brilliant blue faded from his skin, and became a more ordinary shade. He even curled up into a defensive ball, like an ordinary fireside cat, hiding his head in his dragon hands, as if he did

not want to use his own power of looking into the Future. A human with a heart might have felt sorry for the great creature, leaning his poor scarred head on the blazing fire of his own making like it were a pillow. ‘One more chance gone,’ the dragon whispered, hissing to himself. ‘Surely we cannot be facing extinction? ‘Surely that cannot be the dragons’ fate at last?’ A great Sea Dragon, a Thunderer, came joyfully to tell the news to Furious. ‘The day is won, Furious! Darkheart is fallen!’ It was a glorious moment for the dragons. The Vikings had escaped – just.

The Vikings were lucky that any of them made it through the white hot fury of the Dragon Rebellion assault that day. Only by valiant fighting, with the utmost skill of sword and shield and spear did the Viking fleets escape, shooting and blasting their way through the numberless talons and teeth, the scorching devastation of the dragons’ flames. Even then, it was with bloodied burning boats, sails on fire, and many of their numbers lost. The Company of the Dragonmark made their way to the Bog-Burglar Islands, and the witch and her Warriors to the Uglithug lands in the east. But the dragons had Darkheart at last. So the Thunderer was surprised to find Furious in such abject misery. ‘Furious…

What is wrong? Surely this is our finest hour?’ ‘You do not understand,’ growled Furious. ‘The boy Hiccup has escaped.’ ‘But one human boy,’ said the Thunderer in surprise. ‘Surely one little human boy, so small, so pink, no talons, no fire… Surely one little boy cannot matter so very much?’
‘This is no ordinary boy,’ replied Furious. And then, he uncurled himself and rose up, slowly, dangerously, like a phoenix from the ashes. His body began to burn bright again. ‘He must never grow up,’ vowed the Dragon Furious. ‘He must never reach the island of Tomorrow. ‘Never again shall I make the mistake of entrusting his killing to someone else,’ panted the Dragon Furious. ‘This time I will kill him myself…

I shall seek him everywhere. I shall tear the world apart looking for him. Nowhere shall be safe for him: no cave, no cliff, no rock, no island. I shall turn this whole world to ashes, looking for him. ‘Hear the pledge of the Dragon Furious!’ screamed the dragon, his whole body screeching with fury, so much so that even his eyeballs began to smoke and pour out flame, and then he bent his head backwards, sending fire upwards with the scream, like an erupting volcano.