Author's Note And General Story Information: There are three volumes in this saga, all of which are posted to the same story. Excluding opening/closing notes and quotes, volume I is approximately 250,000 words, volume II is approximately 167,000 words, and volume III is approximately 237,000 words. I posted all of volume I at the same time which means that there are very few reviews of those first 25 chapters. I am familiar with and included some aspects of the earlier animated series material but did not rely heavily on later seasons such as RTTE since I never watched those later seasons. However, I will not rule out including some RTTE content.
Rating: T with some chapters of violence, tragedy, and mild romance. There will not be any M romance. Hiccup and Toothless are brothers as should be clear from the title.
Miscellaneous: If there are any elements in this series which bear resemblance to other existing stories, I assure you that it is either the sincerest form of flattery on my part or mere coincidence. Where I know that I drew inspiration from elsewhere I will give according credit. This is a purely artistic endeavor for which I will have no pecuniary gain. I wish to thank my dear little sister for providing narrative feedback on the first volume. Every chapter will begin with a quote of particular relevance to the content of that chapter. I have made a reasonable effort to ensure that the quote is correct, but I cannot guarantee verbatim accuracy mostly because translations may differ.
I would welcome any reviews, comments, thoughts, or even messages about plot holes or problems that you find. I make an effort to reply to every signed in review or PM within 24 hours.
This story received its 100,000th view on 2/27/2019.
"Whoever saves one life saves the world entire." – Schindler's List
Sacrifice Of Angels
"Stay with me bud. Almost there!" Hiccup shouted.
The Monster was frighteningly close behind them, its growling somehow carrying over the whistling wind. They both knew that there was no chance for it to survive its dive. Blinded by its hunger and rage, it had not yet realized the extent of the damage it had received. Its wings, shot with many holes, would certainly shred when it tried to stop its dive.
Toothless growled his understanding, knowing well the weakness to strike at. While mostly fireproof on the outside, kin are still vulnerable on the inside. An unintended flaming of a kin's fire-air could be deadly or at least would greatly foul a kin's flight.
"Hold Toothless..."
All six eyes narrowed on them as the Monster began gathering the gas in the back of its throat. It gave another menacing growl, and they both heard a soft hiss begin to build behind them.
"Now!"
Toothless flipped so that his back was facing the ground, and he spread his wings to give himself stability. His blast of glowing fire flew precisely into the Monster's open maw. The resulting explosion left flames trickling from the Monster's mouth just as the Monster broke through the last cloud and saw how near it was to the ground. It flared its wings and roared in both pain and fear as its wings tore under the strain.
Toothless righted himself with a thrust of his wings and angled himself up and over the Monster's head.
The Monster heavily impacted the ground. As its body shattered under the impact, all of its flammable gas became exposed to the air and open flames. There was a flash of light, and a solid wall of fire erupted outward in every direction.
If Toothless had not lost one of his tailfins, he would have been more maneuverable. If Hiccup had thought to somehow fireproof the artificial fin, it would not have been burnt off during the battle. If the explosion and shockwave did not momentarily blind and disorient both of them, they would have seen it coming.
The Monster's spiked tail swung directly into their path. Toothless tried to roll to the side to dodge it; however, he didn't have enough time to get completely out of the way. Several of the tail's spines sliced through his wing. He howled in agony as he was flipped head over tail.
"No... No..."
Hiccup's yell abruptly cut off at the same moment as his slight weight vanished. Toothless twisted around despite his pain and looked back. Hiccup had been knocked clean off his back from the impact and was falling toward the inferno. His dear two-leg's right arm was clutched to his chest. One of the same sharp spines that had shredded his own wing had cut a deep gash from Hiccup's belly up through his shoulder. Hiccup's left arm floated uselessly at his side, and his entire front sparkled a vivid red as his life-water spilled into the sky.
Toothless tucked his wings as best as he could and dove towards the swelling fire. He had a missing tailfin, a broken wing, no reliable way to stop his dive, and Hiccup was clearly falling to his death. There was almost no hope for Hiccup; two-leg bodies were too frail and that cut was too deep. As for himself, he was not even sure that he could safely land in the sea.
It drifted into his thoughts in that instant, something his own sire and dam had once whispered to him. Something only his type of kin had, a life-will-power to make life be anew and to heal death-bringing hurts. It could only be done one time, and he knew in his liver that he had to try to save Hiccup on the chance that his life-will-power could also heal a two-leg.
His body began to glow with faint blue light as he closed the distance. Faint sparks danced between his scales, and the air around him filled with a buzzing power. Not that much could be heard over the roaring inferno beckoning them both into its maw.
Only a few life-organ beats were left before it would happen.
And he was chilled with fear.
Hiccup's shock was so great that he did not even feel any pain as he looked down at the gaping hole sliced in his chest. He fought to remain conscious even as the river of blood continued to pour out and scatter on the wind.
He was falling.
He could do nothing as the sky was falling down.
An odd clarity and calm took him as he knew that his fate was sealed. He silently thought a prayer to whichever god granted him a painless passage. At least it was a brave death in battle...
Sorry, Dad.
As his vision began to fail him, he vaguely saw Toothless diving for him. Toothless's eyes were wide with fear and pain. One of the dragon's wings seemed bent at an odd angle for a dive.
Hiccup reached out with his good arm in what he knew were their last moments together.
…cut out your heart and take it to my father!
He knew that his lungs had collapsed since he could not breathe.
I could have sworn you had…
Yes, yes I did it!
'Well Toothless, we did it...'
Yeah!
You need to see this...
'Not bad for a cripple and a hiccup...'
Something tangy and metallic seeped from his mouth.
He was protecting me!
I looked at him and I saw myself...
Darkness took him, and he focused on the one sensation that remained. He could still feel the air rushing past him.
I'm here!
It's an occupational hazard!
Thanks dad...
Was that warmth Toothless grabbing him or the flames consuming him?
'I'm sorry my friend...'
A strange shock and blue flash erupted from everywhere, and then even touch was gone.
The merciful darkness claimed him...
Nothing was left to feel or know...
Nothing else was...
Time ceased...
He was...
Not...
.
.
.
Toothless grabbed Hiccup with his maw and tucked the limp body tightly against his own chest. He closed his eyes and curled his good wing around his front to shield Hiccup as best as he could from the fire which claimed them both.
The life-will-power that was sparking around him was nearing its peak. The tongues of fire flowed over his scales. Ignoring the biting and burning pain encircling him, his thoughts went to the life-breaths of kin, assuming that there were any, flying above the sky and asked that they show mercy on this two-leg, on this good creature who had shown his true life-breath. He willed that part of his life-will-power wrap its protective wings around Hiccup, that Hiccup be saved too.
And then he allowed the final, irrevocable step to pass.
The swirling fire paused, the flames whipping around him froze in place, and all sound faded.
The unnatural bolt of energy and light erupted from his body and sundered the skies above.
His maw opened in a soundless roar of pain as he felt his body begin to melt and shatter from the release of power.
His last thoughts were of the one who had given him back his life after trying to take it, had done the impossible by restoring him to the skies where he belonged, and had helped him slay the Monster. His only regret was how short their time together had been. There were so many things that they would never get the chance to enjoy, to be, and to do.
His kin-in-other-scales.
Everything went dark.
.
.
.
Stoick watched the aerial battle with a combination of amazement, pride, fear, and shame. The Night Fury and the Monster had vanished into the clouds above with only the occasional blast of purple light revealing their locations. That the dragon which all Nords knew to fear was the reason they were still alive and that it was clearly fighting for them was unthinkable. And yet, there it was. He would not have believed it if he had not seen it with his own eyes.
That it was his son, his Hiccup, who had tamed the Night Fury now filled his heart with pride. It must have taken a special type of courage for such a weak boy to approach such a feared dragon alone, as surely he must have. The rest of the tribe, himself included, had all been wrong to think that Hiccup was useless; indeed, the fault was theirs for trying to make Hiccup into something he clearly was not meant to be. And here Hiccup was, risking his life for a tribe that did not, that could not, deserve him.
What had he done to deserve the bravest son of all?
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
If only he had listened better, how things could have been different. What if he had listened to Valka all those years ago? Hiccup had shown him that she was right about the dragons all along. They were not all monsters. What if Hiccup had considered telling him before the kill ring but had decided it would have been worthless to even try?
Things would be different from now on. He would have to find a way to change.
The Night Fury broke through the clouds, its back to the ground, with the Monster following close after it. Flames were trickling from the sides of the Monster's mouth, but it was not flaming at a target.
He gasped when he saw it spread its wings to halt its dive only for its wings to visibly tear. Hiccup and his dragon had somehow led the beast into a death plunge.
"It is going to crash!" he shouted.
The largest dragon that Nords had ever seen crashed headfirst into the base of the mountain and the rocky seashore. The ground itself, and possibly the entire island, shook with the impact.
They were treated to a very grisly sight, even for seasoned dragon killers, as the body imploded under its own weight and sent bits of scale and flesh hurdling through the air. All its remaining gas became exposed to the open flames.
The explosion which followed knocked every Nord off their feet and left most with a ringing in their ears or a blind spot in their eyes. The inferno consumed most of the torn-off hunks of flesh and left behind a fine cloud of ash floating on the wind. Fortunately, most of the people were all far enough away that they either had the time to take cover or the fire never reached them.
Those who were looking towards the uppermost reaches of the inferno saw a single bolt of purple lightning which stretched up into the clouds and was followed almost instantly by a sharp peal of thunder audible even over the roar of the fire.
A few more seconds of noise followed as the fireball rose to the heavens, burned itself out, and then…
.
Nothing.
.
Complete and utter silence.
.
No beat of wings on the air.
.
A deathly, empty silence.
.
Stoick rushed forward into the falling cloud of ash and smoke and quickly left behind the rest of his people. He held his hammer at the ready as a precaution.
"Hiccup!"
He stumbled along the beach.
"Son!"
The smoke curled behind him as he frantically searched. He firmly expected to find the Night Fury behind every major outcropping of rock. Faintly visible in every which direction were the ghostly forms of people searching the shore.
There was no sign of either the Night Fury or Hiccup.
He could hear the voices of others, most notably Gobber and the rest of the dragon training class, as they searched the rock formations along the beach for any sign of Hiccup. Perhaps the Night Fury was hurt and had to land far away.
He stepped around a larger boulder.
And then…
He would never forget the sight that met him. In an open area of the beach and not twenty paces from the shattered and charred remains of the Monster was a smoking crater a pace across where the rock had seemingly melted. As he carefully walked toward it, he could see that black scales, some of which were themselves melted, were strewn about the ground.
There was only one dragon he knew of which had black scales like these. Something truly terrible had happened to the Night Fury and that could only mean one thing…
"No," he whispered.
He did not want to look if it would mean confirming his fears. At the same time, he could not avoid looking because something drew him on towards the place.
In the crater lay a large black object. Its surface was smooth and shiny with veins of silver wrapping along it lengthwise. Even though no Nord that he knew of had ever seen one before, he knew exactly what he was looking at.
A Night Fury egg.
A single passage from the Book of Dragons rang out in his memory like the call of fate.
The unholy offspring of lightning and death itself.
At that moment, he knew the horrible truth without needing to see a body.
He knew it with perfect certainty.
Hiccup was gone.
Dead.
The hammer fell to the ground with a clang.
"Oh, son…"
He recoiled, turned away from the place, and took several shaky steps away from the crater. Then he lost all control. He tossed aside his helmet, fell to his shaking knees, and did what no Nord is ever supposed to do.
He wept.
He wept for shame that he had been useless as a father.
He wept at his willful blindness and pride that had led him to push Hiccup away.
He wept at the wrongness of what happened since no parent should have to bury their child.
There was not even anything left to bury or give the traditional funeral reserved to a warrior who had died well in battle.
He failed his son.
He failed the promise he made to Valka.
He failed.
After a few minutes of trembling and weeping, he heard an alternating clink and footfall behind him. It was Gobber.
The blacksmith did not crack any jokes or make any comment at all. Gobber grasped the gravity of the moment when he saw the Night Fury scales strewn about the shore. He solemnly removed his own helmet and placed his remaining hand on Stoick's shoulder.
"I… I did this…" Stoick barely whispered.
Gobber thought for a moment in silence, trying hard to not betray his own grief.
"Nae, we all did this."
"Why… couldn't I have listened? Why?" Stoick moaned.
Gobber opened his mouth to begin to respond but paused, knowing that there was nothing he could say that would make a difference. He knew that Stoick needed time to grieve.
This was definitely not his place. He gave Stoick's shoulder a soft pat and left him to his thoughts. There were wounded whom he could help care for in the meantime, and the rest of the tribe had to be gathered to be told what would happen next.
Several more minutes passed before Stoick slowly pushed himself to his feet, picked up his helmet, and put it on while giving a deep sigh. His beard was thoroughly soaked, and he felt very old. For the first time in his memory, he could feel his joints creak and a general soreness throughout his body.
Grief had taken its toll.
Still, he was the Chief. Decisions had to be made for his people. At least a couple of the ships had survived, so everyone would be able to get back to Berk eventually. The wounded, at least the seriously wounded, were already being tended to, and there was nothing more that he could directly do for them. For some reason, he was certain that they were not likely to have any more problems from the dragons.
.
Dragons.
.
He stumbled back to the crater, an obvious question on his mind as he stared at the strange thing within.
Where had the egg come from? It must somehow be connected to the dragon his son had tamed. Had the Night Fury been a female? Hiccup had called it a he, but that must have been mistaken. The egg must have somehow survived the dragon's death. It did not make much sense considering the extent of the devastation, but no other explanation made any sense at all.
Or maybe there was some truth to the mythical legend about the origin of Night Furies.
His thoughts turned to the likelihood that the egg would be eaten, get swept away by the tides, or go cold if it were left here.
Wait, why should I care?
His conscience, which he imagined spoke with Valka's sweet voice, gave him his answer.
It is all that you have left of him.
Hiccup had risked his life to try to save his dragon, had thought of its safety after it was captured, and even he himself recognized that the dragon had seemed to care for his son in a way that he had not imagined possible from a beast. If Hiccup were watching from Valhalla, as he certainly would be, he would want his father to take pity on and protect this dragon egg.
So he would.
He would honor his son's memory and sacrifice by protecting that which his son would have protected. He knelt down and gently reached out with both hands to grasp the egg. It was very warm to the touch and also surprisingly heavy for an object of its size.
To think that just this morning he would have gladly smashed this egg and now he was cradling it as gently and with as much care as he would a newborn babe.
His hammer on the ground caught his eye.
He would need both of his hands to securely hold the egg.
.
He tucked the egg under his furs and held it against his chest to keep it warm as he turned away and walked down the beach. A single fresh tear streaked down his cheek before vanishing into his beard. His steps were slow and heavy.
He did not look back. It would have been too painful.
The sacrifices had been made. Now his people would have peace. Peace, the very thing he had wanted above all else for decades.
He had no idea if he would be able to enjoy it though.