... DRAGON?!

An intriguing bit of work with a very dramatic premise.
The idea of Hiccup as a disgraced knight through no fault of his own is very well-explored, as you clearly provide us with insight into how he ended up being disgraced and how he gets an unconventional chance to prove himself (even if he’s the only one unaware that it couldn’t actually work). His subsequent efforts to rescue Astrid are well planned-out, acknowledging his shortcomings while still allowing him to play to his strengths, and there’s a particularly neat turn of events when he rescues the Night Fury as an additional asset/ally in their escape.
I wasn’t certain about Astrid’s initial response to Dagur’s deception, but when faced with such a barrage of betrayals it made a grim sense that she’d have trouble trusting others even after everything she and Hiccup had been through up to that point, and you at least had her get a suitable kick to get over it before she had too long to stew over her issues. The twist with Drago was also handled well, providing a plausible reason to bring in the dragons without it appearing forced, giving Hiccup and his true allies a chance to at least briefly train their closest friends in canon and deal with a particularly significant threat to affirm their worth.
Overall, a drastic shift from canon, but with some interesting twists and a well-developed culture that puts Hiccup in a dark place that only truly exceptional circumstances could help him ‘escape’ from (without ever making those circumstances utterly impossible).

Tense to a breaking point

Always a joy to read

This was another really enjoyable read! I liked the inclusion of so many different elements of canon, and the mislead with the Bewilderbeast was great because I really thought they were screwed, hehe... I will continue to read your stories!

...Well, that was very much unexpected. Well played, sir. *impressed clapping*

Yay! Happy ending!

I knew it. I suspected Rjodr's real identity since his appearance in the ring, wonderfully done.

Mmm. Emotion. Pain. Ow. My heart...

I love Toothless. And I can't help but imagine Hiccup going into the forest with just Toothless and Astrid and accidently coming out with a small dragon army.

I cannot describe how glad I am to find you did include dragons. Or at least Toothless.

Wow. I'm kinda blown away by the quality of this story. It's phenominal! I love it already.

I loved this so much, I lost some sleep! I LOVE THIS! ️

love the way you did hiccups relationship with Gustav, never thought he could be the little brother I didn't know hiccup needed lol

i loved this story when i read it earlier and have probably though up tons of different way this could have ended based on what could happen if a small variable was changed and would love to see another story in this era