"Horas the Merciless? My, that name does ring a bell,"

After returning to Edon, the sun had already set.

The village was covered in an array of shimmering stars in the ink-black sky.

Hiccup and his friends were gathered around a campfire outside his home, telling Valka about their crazy encounter with Horas.

As the teens continued telling her about their adventure, Valka was left flabbergasted.

"He claims to be the best dragon hunter in the archipelago," Gunner scoffed, chewing on a piece of salmon. He ripped a piece and tossed it to his dragon, who immediately gobbled it in one go.

"He's more of a sissy than a brave, scary, intimidating dragon hunter. Did you guys see how scared he was when we were firing?"

Gunner began laughing hysterically at the memory while the others exchanged funny looks.

"I swear I can beat him in a fight. That bastard doesn't scare me. Not one little bit,"

Runa looked at him, amused, "Yeah, sure...Viking warrior,"

"So, have you heard of him, mom?" Hiccup asked, petting Toothless' head, "Horas the Merciless. He...he is after Toothless because he wants to conquer the Archipelago or something. He really hates dragons, hence why he is a dragon hunter and keeps loads of dragons in cages,"

Runa nodded, "You should have seen his ship. It was full of dragons all caged up, close to dying. Luckily, I managed to get Echo in time," she scratched Echo under the chin, "If it weren't for Hiccup's crazy plan, we wouldn't have escaped,"

Hiccup gave a sheepish look, "Oh, come on. It wasn't my best plan. I almost got you guys in danger,"

"What? Are you kidding?" Gunner exclaimed, giving the boy a rough punch, "That was the sickest plan ever! I felt so alive when I was fighting those guards. I wanted to rescue some dragons, but Horas was quick to catch u. Fighting those guards was still pretty cool,"

Gunner then stood up then swung his axe in mid-air, as if fighting off some guards. "I was like, 'I'll rip off your head if you lay a single finger on those dragons' then they were like, 'not a chance'. But Gunner does not let a couple guards trample over him like a bug. Hello? I'm Chief's Arvin's son. They'll be intimidated if they ever met my dad,"

Once he composed himself, Gunner turned to Hiccup with a smile.

"Oh, of course he was pretty awesome with his flaming sword and all. Honestly, they were so scared of his sword. So epic!"

Ingrid glanced over at Hiccup with a stunned expression.

The Viking boy gave a sheepish smile as if his fighting skills were nothing. He stared at the ground, hiding the blush rising in his cheeks.

Toothless tilt his head curiously. He glanced at his rider then at Ingrid, sensing something was going on between them.

As a dragon, he never really understood humans and their affection towards each other. He could tell his rider was interested in his female friend.

"You know," Gunner went on, "If I were Horas, I would love to get my hands on a Night Fury. I mean, it is pretty awesome,"

Fangs gave a snort of jealousy. Smoke rings blew from his nostrils.

"Hey, you're pretty cool too," Gunner declared, rubbing the Monstrous Nightmare's scaly chin.

"Wow. That sounds like you had quite an adventure," Valka remarked then she scrunched her face in thought, "Yes, I may have heard of this... Horas. I may remember confronting him some summers ago,"

Hiccup's green eyes widened, "You did? What happened?"

For a moment, Valka said nothing. Her face faltered at the mention of Horas. Like he had possibly done something to her that left her aggrieved.

Her emerald green eyes cast into the dancing flames.

Silence hung in the air as the teens intensively listened to what Valka wanted to say.

"Mom?" Valka was snapped out of her trance by Hiccup's voice.

She faced him, her face pale and alarmed.

"Sorry. I was just..." she paused, sucking in a breath, "If you must know, I have confronted him before. It was late spring. I was flying with Cloudjumper exploring this strange island we have come across. For some odd reason, something was off about this place. I could not describe it but the fact that this island was deserted seem to give me the chills,"

"Anyway, we were exploring the island, hoping to find some dragons that might need our help. Then I found a Deadly Nadder washed up on the beach, tangled in chains, severely beaten up by a man. A man with a hideous scar and a cape made out of the Zippleback skin. At that time, I had no idea he was Horas the Merciless until I confronted him,"

Valka paused as she recalled the memory, "I tried to stop him from killing that Nadder, but he was bull-headed stubborn and thirst for killing dragons for his enjoyment and profits. He was a businessman after all. But what he did was wrong,"

Ingrid's face suddenly becomes pale, "He didn't try to hurt you, did he?"

Valka lowered her eyes, "He tried to harm poor Cloudjumper, but I didn't let him. Then when I revealed who I was, Horas became furious. He knew I was the one who has been rescuing dragons in the archipelago,"

Gunner waved his hands, stopping Valka, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. So you guys are enemies?"

Valka gave a dry chuckle, "Well, I try my best to get out of his way. He hates so-called 'goody' dragon riders. He hasn't found the dragon sanctuary, fortunately. But because he despises dragons so much, he plans to enslave every dragon he captures,"

Ingrid narrowed her blue eyes, "He can't do that. What have dragons done to him anyway?"

"I don't get it," Hiccup furrowed his brows, perplexed, "Why does he want to enslave dragons? And why does he specifically want Toothless? This doesn't make any sense. I mean, did you see the weird look he gave when he saw Toothless,"

Ingrid lifted a brow, "What look?"

"I don't know, but it was really uncomfortable. It was like he knew Toothless a long time ago. His look was...a look of resentment. It was like Toothless have done something to upset Horas,"

Toothless whined in confusion. He honestly wasn't sure where this conversation was heading. He had never met Horas in his entire life.

"I know, bud," Hiccup pressed a hand over Toothless' snout, "You don't know this guy until we confronted him that time on the beach. But it feels like he had a run in with Night Furies or something,"

Valka looked at Toothless gravely.

"Well, rumor has it his hatred for dragons started because of an oppressed past,"

Silence hung in the air as the teens closely listened.

"Some say he watched his family being torn apart by dragons. He vows to avenge them someday. The people in his village were a lot worse. He was born half-blind, you see. He was attacked by a dragon when he was a child. That is why he has a scar over his right eye,"

Hiccup nodded, now knowing the reason behind the man's hideous scar.

"His village treated him like an outsider because he was different because he wasn't like the others,"

Hiccup stared at the ground beneath him. He knew what it was like to live like an outcast; to be neglected by his father and the village; to be shunned because he couldn't kill a dragon or fight like a Viking.

Though, Hiccup could never wish for bad things to his people.

"Because he grew unloved," Valka went on, "Horas grew a blind desire for revenge. He knew the gods have cursed him. Hence, why he lost half his eyesight and parents because of dragons,"

"That must have been horrible to live like that," Runa scowled, "But that doesn't feel I feel sorry for him. He tried to hurt Echo. You can see the scars. See,"

Runa showed the group slashes of scars on Echo's back.

Thankfully, the cuts hadn't been too deep.

Gunner scrunched his face in disgust, "I swear he won't live to see his next birthday if he tries to lay his dirty hands on our dragons. I hope he doesn't attack Edon. I'll make sure my dad defends our village. He has the best fighters after all,"

Ingrid gave a bemused look, "So, you are saying he tortures dragons for revenge? But it just doesn't make any sense why he wants to enslave dragons if he wants to kill them,"

The group fell silent as they mulled this over.

Honestly, everything Valka said about Horas had left them frozen in shock that a man would be so evil and deranged.

Hiccup had to admit, he did feel pity for Horas, for experiencing such a loss.

Though, there was something else that troubled him. Something that haunted him ever since he and his friends escaped from Horas' ship.

Hiccup scrunched his face, deep in thought.

"I remember Horas saying he needs a trainer," he looked at his mother gravely, "He is after me because he knows I tamed a Night Fury. He wants me to tame those dragons he enslaved so he can conquer the archipelago. He also said something that troubled me ever since we left,"

Valka looked at him, intrigued, "What did he tell you, son?"

Furrowing his brows, Hiccup recalled what Horas had told him back on the ship.

His mind thought about the Deadly Nadder he found injured with a horrible slave mark.

"He said...the dragons he captures becomes his property," Hiccup replied, "When Gunner and I were at the bottom deck, we found dragons locked in cages, each of them with some kind of slave mark. That got me thinking, maybe he just doesn't want to use dragons to conquer people,"

The others exchanged baffled looks.

Ingrid lifted a perplexed brow, "So, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying Horas mistreats those dragons because he wants to conquer them too," Hiccup gave a shudder, "He wants to use those dragons as weapons to conquer both humans and dragons; to make them suffer for what they did to him, perhaps,"

Anger flashed through Valka's emerald green eyes.

"My, never have I heard someone so evil, so diabolical like Horas," she heaved a sigh, "I guess some people cannot be changed,"

Hiccup realized he was trembling at the thought of being Horas' pawn in his horrid scheme.

A pawn that will indeed help him reach his desire; to conquer all humans and dragons.

Runa gave a shudder, "What happens if he knows how to tame dragons? What happens with our dragons?" she glanced over at Echo worriedly, "Does that mean they'll go against us?"

Hiccup nodded gravely, "I'm afraid so. But I won't let that happen. I won't let him capture Toothless. I promise we'll keep our dragons safe from him,"

Gunner placed a hand on the smaller boy's shoulder.

"Brother, I won't rest until I kill that filthy bastard," he declared with determination, "I would love to rip off his head so he won't harm another living soul,"

The others exchanged strange looks at Gunner's sudden outburst.

"Anyway," Ingrid said, turning to Hiccup, "I probably wouldn't worry about Horas for now. I mean, he is long gone. Besides, you should be glad we made it out alive,"

Although she had a point, Hiccup was worried about the fate of those dragons.

He knew he had endangered his friends because he thought they could rescue those dragons Horas held captive.

Left with no dragons freed, but in Horas' evil clutches, Hiccup knew he had failed them. He felt he failed Toothless for letting his own kind get tortured by a madman.

He hadn't stopped to think of the consequences when trespassing on Horas' ship. He only pictured the outcome of his plan would be with dragons being freed from Horas' clutches.

"Guys, I'm sorry I got you into danger," Hiccup lowered his eyes, guiltily; "I almost got you guys killed because of my stupid plan. I thought we'd be able to free those dragons, but everything didn't work out how I wanted them to be,"

The others exclaimed in protest.

"Don't blame yourself, Hiccup," Runa reassured him, carving the dirt with her knife, "Horas was just too smart for us. Somehow, he could sense we were both down there, even though we were being discreet. Anyway, I was glad we could fight off those guards,"

Runa nodded, "We tried our best. I'm sorry we couldn't rescue those dragons. Maybe next time we need to be more cunning and strategic. Horas won't get away with this. He won't build his armada of dragons. He won't capture Toothless or make you his trainer, Hiccup,"

Hiccup looked at her with uncertainty, "I'm not sure how we'll do it. But we can only try,"

Guilt stabbed inside him as he kept thinking about the injured Nadder and that Thunderdrum he found on the beach weeks ago.

There was no doubt that they were killed or enslaved as Horas' 'property'; his weapons for war.

During the rest of the evening, the group conversed about the hunters.

Then their conversation was changed to a lighter topic, about some upcoming spring festival.

Hiccup didn't feel like being involved in their conversations. His mind kept pondering about the dragon hunters, and how dangerous things have become for him and Toothless.

If they wanted to explore, it was probably best to be cautious. Just in case Horas' ship would randomly show up.

Something else also kept bugging him; did something happen between him and the Night Furies?

~

After the others went home for the night, Hiccup thought he'd go for a stroll to clear his thoughts.

Toothless was at his lodge asleep.

The poor dragon was exhausted after the long day he had. So he did need to get some beauty sleep.

Valka and Cloudjumper had left to check on the dragon sanctuary. They would be back first thing in the morning.

The cool spring breeze brushed against Hiccup's face as he strolled along a familiar trail, leading to a crisp lake.

He stood next to the spot where he first encountered his mother not that long ago.

It never occurred to him that after seventeen years he would reunite with the mother he lost. He never thought she would be alive all this time, exploring foreign lands and rescuing dragons of sorts.

Though, he was glad to have finally found her.

When Hiccup reached the pristine lake, he sat on a patch of grass near the edge.

Peering over the lake's surface, he stared at his rippled reflection.

With the others gone, he can finally get some peace and quiet.

A bit of solitude never hurt anyone, right?

The brunet heaved a sigh. He grabbed a random twig and absentmindedly scratched it over a patch of dirt.

Apart from today's turn of events, there was also one other thing that troubled him. For a long time, actually.

"Hey, I thought I'd find you here,"

Startled, Hiccup dropped his twig. He spun around to find Ingrid standing there, the moonlight bouncing off her face.

The breeze swept past her, caressing through her soft chestnut brown hair.

Beneath the moonlight, Hiccup had to admit, she did look beautiful.

He felt his cheeks burn up as he stared at Ingrid for a moment. He quickly stared at the ground, hiding his blush.

Ever since that sparring session with Ingrid, Hiccup couldn't stop thinking about Ingrid. She had given him a kiss on the cheek, which was something he would never forget that day.

They both never talked about it afterward and brushed it off as nothing.

Though, Hiccup thought that kiss meant something.

"I...thought I needed time alone," Hiccup sighed, staring up at the night sky, "Besides, it's a nice night to be out,"

Ingrid sat beside him. She stared up at the glistening moon, and let out a content sigh.

"Yeah, it's a beautiful night," she turned to Hiccup raising a brow, "Mind if I ask why you're really out here?"

Sighing, Hiccup knew there was no point keeping anything from Ingrid.

After all, she was the first ever friend he ever met on Edon. He really did trust her with anything that troubled him.

Besides, Ingrid was good at detecting people's emotions. She often knew when somebody was lying or was troubled about something. She would keep pressing them until they tell her what was on their mind.

Sometimes, Hiccup thought that was her being nosey. But maybe Ingrid was just looking out for the people she cared about.

"Many things," Hiccup lowered his eyes as he gathered his thoughts, "First the hunters. Second..." he scrunched his face in confusion, "why does he want to capture Toothless so badly?"

Ingrid shrugged, "Maybe because he is the unholy offspring of lightning and death. He knows Night Furies are dangerous and if he could ride one, then that means he could gain ultimate control,"

Hiccup nodded. He knew Ingrid had a point.

"I feel there is something more to that," Hiccup murmured aloud, "I mean, he had this look of resentment. Could it be possible that Horas and Toothless met before? I..." he shook his head in disbelief, "No, it can't be. He would never..."

"Hurt a human?" Ingrid prompted, "Hiccup, I know he would never hurt anyone. Even if he did...well, I'm sure he wouldn't do it on purpose,"

"Yeah," Hiccup hung his words for a moment, "But something tells me Horas might be responsible for Night Furies. I don't know how but something tells me he has some kind of grudge,"

Ingrid lifted a perplexed brow, "A grudge? What could have they done to him?"

Hiccup placed a finger on his chin, thinking about it.

"I...I have no idea," he said with a shrug, "But do you know how Megadon claimed Toothless is part of some black curse? Well, something tells me he had a bad run-in with some night furies too. Just like Horas. Think about it. He hates Toothless with a passion, and maybe it's because something had happened to him. I wouldn't be surprised if he and Horas knew each other. Though, you'd probably have a traitor,"

Ingrid had to admit that really left her mind bogged up. The fact that there may be a traitor in their midst did make her question about Megadon's intentions for claiming Toothless was part of some made-up claim.

"You don't think he works for Horas, don't you?" she asked, furrowing her brows, "If he does, then maybe he might also be behind Horas' plans,"

Hiccup's green eyes widened with realization. But maybe they were jumping to conclusions.

Still, what are the chances of them colluding together?

"I'm not sure," Hiccup shrugged, "I don't really want to find out. Even if Megadon is working with Horas, what would Horas even offer him?"

Silence hung in the air as the two teens pondered this over.

"Anyway, that's enough talk about hunters," Hiccup said with a shudder, "That's enough excitement for one day,"

Ingrid gave a small chuckle. She lightly punched the brunet's shoulder.

"You were great out there fighting those hunters. And your crazy plan was the only thing that saved all of you,"

Hiccup blushed when he felt Ingrid's hand on his lap.

"So, why are you even out here?" It was Hiccup's turn to ask, "I thought you'd be at home. Gunner and Runa went home for the night. Mom went to check on the dragon sanctuary,"