The words felt like stones in his mouth. “We are leaving.” Hiccup blurted them out, stumbling into the cove that housed Toothless. The dragon lifted his head from the pond, amber eyes locking onto Hiccup’s. “Yep. You heard me, bud. Getting out of here.” He moved to Toothless, securing a pack of supplies to the dragon’s flank.
“When it gets dark, you and I are flying away. Never looking back.” The words tasted like ash, a hollow exhale while he tightened the straps. Toothless’s purr was a question, a low rumble asking *why*. “Because they want me to do something… something I can’t do, bud.”
Hiccup sank to the grassy floor beside a rock, feeling the weight of it all. “Does that make me a coward?” Toothless nudged him, head brushing against his cheek in a sad, rumbling purr. Hiccup didn’t know what the dragon was saying, but he took it as reassurance.
He patted Toothless’s head. “Thanks, bud.” Toothless suddenly started licking him, a rough, joyful gesture that made Hiccup laugh, trying to push the dragon away between bursts of laughter. “Hiccup?” The voice came from near the entrance to the cove. Footsteps, rapid and close.
He tried to shove Toothless into hiding, but it was hopeless. The dragon was too focused on the sound, too curious to listen to commands. “Toothless, move! This isn’t someone you want to be seen by!” He whispered urgently. Toothless didn’t listen. Then Astrid ran into the cove… spotting them both.
“Hiccup! Get down!” She raised her axe, ready to throw it. Toothless unleashed a roar that shook the very earth, a sound that threatened to shatter the stones around them. “No!” Hiccup yelled, hand outstretched to stop her, but it was too late. The axe flew, hurtling toward Toothless. The dragon reacted instantly, unleashing a purple plasma blast that vaporized the axe into a million glittering fragments.
The blast echoed, a shockwave that could be heard at Berk, two miles away. Dust settled. Toothless stepped forward cautiously, approaching Astrid’s motionless body. She lay on the ground, still. “Astrid!” Hiccup scrambled to her side. A gash on her head bled steadily.
He pressed his fingers to her carotid artery, muscles tense with anticipation. Then, relief flooded him. A heartbeat thudded under his fingertips. “Oh thank the Gods.” A smile stretched across his face, ear to ear. “The shot came from over here!” He heard a Viking shout in the distance.
“Hurry! We must catch the beast before it flies away!” His dad’s voice. He was coming, probably with half the village, to capture—and likely kill—Toothless. Toothless nudged Hiccup with his snout, then spat out something. A shoe. He issued a series of low growls, then looked up at the darkening sky, then back at Hiccup. In his eyes, Hiccup saw a plea: *we have to go*.
Hiccup glanced at Astrid, still lying motionless. Then back at Toothless.
He knew what they’d do to his dragon. Even if Toothless had attacked Astrid on purpose, they wouldn’t show mercy. Toothless let out one last roar, a desperate plea for Hiccup to get up, to save him. Hiccup looked away from Astrid, back to Toothless.
And in a moment of crushing pressure, he picked himself up, mounting the leather saddle on Toothless’s neck. Clipping in with his foot, they launched into the darkening sky. Leaving his family, his friends, and Berk… behind.