How to Train Your Dragon 11
Cressida Cowell
The Cursed Island of Tomorrow
Struck with grief and guilt after killing his son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second, Grimbeard the Ghastly hid his ten items. He cursed the Island of Tomorrow saying only a much better man than him could rule the entire Archipelago. He has it guarded by a combination of men and dragons. There are 12 days every year where the Druid Guardian comes to shore to see if a worthy hero has come to claim the throne: the 12 days of Doomsday. When UG the Uglithug comes to him and presents the lost things, the blindfolded Druid Guardian can tell they are fake. UG and his followers are carried off so quickly they have no time to react. They are take high enough to make them no more. The Druid Guardian tries to soothe the little dragon UG had ripped the teeth out of to imitate Toothless. He hopes a real hero will come soon because the humans are not winning the war against the dragon Furious.
Prologue
Hiccup looks back at his time as a boy where he was being constantly hunted and trying to save the humans as well as the dragons. He is being tested, which can either make or break a great hero.
1. Hiccup and his friends were told to stay in the hideout until Doomsday. However, the three Viking teenagers are on the back of the Deadly Shadow with the Windwalker, the Wodensfang, Toothless, and Stormfly flying with them. They hear a human calling out for help and go to find the person. The Wodenscant senses danger and points out the campfire is moving. As they get lower and closer, they see the human stopped screaming for help because the shores of the river are lined with Dragon Rebellion dragons. They catch up to the young man floating down the river on an ice raft as he fights off wolf-fang dragons. It is Snotlout.
2. Hiccup wants to save Snotlout, but the others aren’t so sure it is a good idea as Snotlout has a history of betraying them. He decides they will lower one of Camicazi’s ropes for him. Camicazi says she doesn’t agree with his decision. She tries a rope to the Deadly Shadow’s saddle and climbs down herself. She asks what side Snoutlout is on. He begs her to keep quiet so she doesn’t wake up the dragon rebellion dragons sleeping on the shores. He says he is in their side and was looking for them to take them to the witch to retrieve the lost things. The Hogfly dragon that was in the ice raft with him wakes up and starts barking because it thinks it is a dog. Hiccup tries to get it to play the Quiet Game, but it stops breathing until it pops and floats around making a lot of noise. It ends up waking up the dragon rebellion dragons. Hiccup is just able to snatch it out of the air before it is killed. The wolf-fangs leave. Snotlout and Camicazi are still in the ice raft when it hits the rapids that come just before the largest waterfall in the Archipelago. Hiccup tries to yell at them to get out of the water before then
3. The dragon rebellion dragons attack. Fishlegs jumps onto the Windwalker and they go after Camicazi and Snotlout. The Deadly Shadow tries to grab Camicazi out of the rapids, but misses. She is able to trap the rope she tied to its saddle. Snotlout goes over the falls, but his hurricane dragon finally wakes up and takes flight with Snotlout tied to the saddle. Camicazi has Hiccup drop her off onto the Hurricane so she can pull Snotlout onto his dragon. The start their getaway, but one of the dragons went to go tell Furious what was happening and Hiccup can hear his approach. They soar through mist and tall rocks until they turn a corner and come to their underground treehouse. He tells the others to get in while he and the Deadly Shadow distract the others. He waits for the dragon rebellion dragons to turn the corner and fires six arrows into the group. They get jumbled in a mess with a spiraling razorwing. This gives the others a chance to get in the hideout. The Deadly Shadow rears up to conceal Hiccup with its camouflage as they float 20 feet away from the rebellion dragons.
4. One of the witche’s vampire spy dragons floats nearly invisible by Hiccup. He sees the red eyes floating just before it bites his arm. The Deadly Shadow gets it off him and they take off for the hideout. They get inside. Furious starts torching the forest around them. Fishlegs starts to bandage Hiccup, but Hiccup is distracted by Camicazi not being there. He checks the back room of the cave, but she is gone. He insists on going back out to look for her, but Furious’ flames are too hot for them to get out. Snotlout says she was taken by one of the witch’s spy dragons.
5. Hiccup turns to the Windwalker for confirmation that Camicazi was taken. Fishlegs becomes furious. He starts yelling that Snotlout gave Camicazi over to the witch’s dragon. He turns berserk and starts punching Snotlout. Hiccup stops him and says they have to keep giving people chances to prevent themselves from becoming like Alvin and his people. The Wodensfang looks over everyone’s wounds and determines they will not be able to leave until they have healed. Hiccup has the tooth of the vampire spy dragon stuck in his arm. It will cause numbness and paralysis until it falls out naturally. Trying to dig it out would just cause more damage that would take longer to heal. Hiccup worries about the spy dragon being able to track him with the left behind tooth. Toothless and the Hogfly try to comfort Hiccup in their own ways. No one helps Snoutlout with his wounds. He says he has been on Hiccup’s side the whole time (despite not having the Dragonmark) and wants a chance to tell his side of the story. Hiccup asks him to tell them what happened but still isn’t sure they can trust him.
6. Snotlout tells his side of the story. He didn’t get the Dragonmark because he wanted to keep Alvin and Excellinor’s trust that he was on their side. He tells them the enemies’ encampment is so well hidden, not even Valhalarama and Stoick would be able to find it if they searched for 100 years. He took the Hogfly to track Hiccup because they have the best scent tracking ability in the world. Fishlegs asks why he didn’t take the list things when he left. Snotlout says they are guarded and the throne is much too large to carry himself. He admits the Deadly Shadow will be useful in burgling the items. Hiccup and Fishlegs are still unsure if they can trust him, but they know he is the only one that can show them where Camicazi was taken, so they have to try. As Furious and the dragon rebellion rage on just outside, the Wodensfang starts talking in Norse. He has a story about how the Dragonmark became the Slavemark and he thinks Snotlout should hear it. The Wodensfang explains that sea dragons (like him) start out small, grow to enormous sizes, and the. Shrink as they get old. He made a pact with Hiccup the first. He would entrust the dragon jewel to him and Hiccup would wear the Dragonmark made from the Wodensfang blood. The secret of the dragon jewel was handed down from generation to generation. The Dragonmark would be worn by leaders and warriors. The Wodensfang was pleased with his decision. Eventually, he grew so large, he had to go live in the sea. When he had shrunk to about the size of a hunting dog, the king of the Wilderwest was just a boy, Speedfast, who was probably too young for such a responsibility. Speedfast refused to take the mark and then so did others. It became a symbol of shame and shifted into the slavemark as Speedfast made human slavery legal. The Wodensfang tried to get Speedfast to honor the ways of his ancestors, but he would not listen. He insisted on taking over the lands and building a giant city on the island of tomorrow. Speedfast changed his name to Grimbeard the Ghastly and didn’t realize the error of his ways until is son, Hiccup the Second, was dead. He hid the list things and has the island of Tomorrow guarded against anyone who tries to enter without the ten lost things. The Wodensfang points out how quickly things (and people) can change and thinks it is important for Snotlout to hear. Snotlout pretends not to care and tells them to be quiet so he can sleep. Hiccup is the last to fall asleep due to all of the problems plaguing his mind. When Snotlout wakes up, he pulls out the black star badge he earned in battle (book 2) and cries. The Deadly Shafow growls to let him know he is being watched.
7. That night, Toothless dreams of the Wodensfang and Furious talking to each other with their minds. Furious knows that the Wodensfang has seen into the future and knows that Hiccup will bring about the end of dragons. He reminds the Wodensfang how they have both loved great humans, but the evil far outweighs the good. The Wodensfang admits he will have to betray the king. He asks Furious to call off the rebellion and allow him to make Hiccup the great hero he was meant to be. Once a king is crowned, he will take the dragon jewel from the king and present him to Furious. Furious agrees to these conditions. He admits the rage has exhausted him and he looks forward to some rest. The Wodensfang points out he can also stop tracking them through Toothless. Furious calls Toothless stupud and can hardly believe he is a Sea Dragon Giganticus Maximus. The Wodensfang points out that he is still very young and will learn as he grows. Toothless is shocked and tells himself he is a Toothless Daydream and he is just having a bad nightmare. The other two dragons assure him it is just a bad dream and the Wodensfang makes sure he will forget it when he wakes up. Toothless wakes up and knows he had a nightmare, but can’t remember what it was about. Camicazi is in a dark place crying. The red eyes of the vampire spy dragon are looking for its lost tooth that is in Hiccup’s arm.
8. The next morning, the rebellion dragons are all gone. Hiccup finds it odd that Furious would know they are in those particular mountains, but just give up. The Wodensfang convinces them they will be safe for now. Snotlout leads them back to the waterfall he and Camicazi almost plummeted over the previous night. He tells them Alvin and the witch’s war camp is hidden behind the falls. They can get in through the sides and have the Deadly Shadow hide the other two dragons under it from the city on stilts. Snotlout jumps on his Hurricane ready to lead them. Hiccup gathers the others and tells them what he has planned as a backup in case Snotlout betrays them. Fishlegs goes into the cavern first on the Deadly Shadow. Hiccup on the Windwalker and Snotlout on the Hurricane follow. They are amazed at the site of the camp.
9. They make their way under the city on stilts and the Deadly Shadow nearly fits. Snotlout leads them to a hatch with an X drawn in it and says that is where the lost things are kept. Hiccup thinks he sees a look of guilt on Snotlout’s face before his cousin goes up into the darkroom the hatch leads to. He whispers for Snotlout, but his cousin doesn’t answer. Hiccup follows him up into the room and smells the rotten egg stench that every member of the Murderous tribe has and knows he has been betrayed. He sticks his head back out of the hatch to tell Fishlegs they are moving on to Plan B. When Hiccup goes back into the room, he is seized and brought out into the light. Alvin the Treacherous is there and thanks Hiccup for coming.
10. Hiccup’s eyes adjust to the light in the room and he realizes he is in the great hall. Alvin is there in an iron mask to keep hidden his face that has broken out in warts. Excellinor is there as well. The walls are lined from floor to ceiling with captured Vikings and dragons. Camicazi is in a chained up box but insists she is doing fine. Snotlout proudly boasts of getting Hiccup there and the last Lost Thing as well. Alvin reached into Hiccup’s waistcoat and pulls out Toothless. Gobbler the Belch is in one of the prisoners and tells Snotlout he is revoking his invitation to be with the Dragonmarkers. The Viking prisoners all turn their back on him. Snotlout asks that he be the one to put Toothless with the other Lost Things, but Excellinor says they can never truest him because he is a betrayer. She sends caged Toothless with someone else. Toothless tells out for Hiccup and Hiccup tries to tell him he will rescue him and that it is all part of Plan B. Excellinor offers to let the captured Vikings switch sides, but instead they start chanting for Hiccup.
11. The witch chains up Hiccup and starts dunking him in the freezing sea to try to get him to give up the location of his mother and the other Dragonmarkers. There are small dragons called winterfleshers that as a group should have bitten him, but none of them do. Alvin begs his mother to kill Hiccup immediately because they boy has escaped them so many times. The surrounding prisoners cheer on Hiccup as he is dunked in the sea, but the winterfleshers never touch him. When he is raised out of the water for the third time, he almost gives in. When he remembers that if he isn’t King, Alivin will be, he tells that he will never stop fighting them. When Excellinor realizes this tactic isn’t working, she throws Camicazi’s box into the water. Hiccup agrees to tell them where the Dragonmarkers’ camp is. He is too exhausted to talk. Despite Alvin’s warnings, the witch has him unchained so he can point it out in the map. Hiccup uses the opportunity to climb the cages and jump down the trap door after Camicazi’s box. Alvin yells for his Alvinsmen to help him pull him back up by the chain on Hiccup’s leg. Camicazi’s box comes up first and it is nearly gone and completely empty. Suddenly, there is a great tug on Hiccup’s chain. They pull until it snaps and they all fall backwards. Excellinor tries to tell Alvin there is no way Hiccup could have survived, but Alvin screams for everyone to search for him and kill him on sight. Excellinor yells at everyone to do as Alvin instructs.
12. All but two of the Alvinsmen have left the room to hunt for Hiccup. The two that remain look down the trap door to see if Hiccup will reappear there. The captives howl their disapproval at Snotlout. Snotlout takes the keys off one of the Alvinsmen’s belt belt and pushes them through the door and into the cold sea. He opens Gobbers cage and all the captives are confused about whose side Snotlout is one. Gobber refuses help from a traitor and sits in his cage with the door open. Snotlout knows they will not trust him no matter what he says, so he tosses the keys into the nearest captive’s cage and leaves the room. Gobber and the others free themselves and then head to the armory to get whatever weapons they can find.
13. When Hiccup stuck his head down the trap door and told Fishlegs they were moving in to Plan B, Fishlegs tried his best to stay calm. When they saw Hiccup being tossed into the sea at the next trap door, the Windwalker, the Wodensfang, the Hogfly, and Stormfly all dive in after him. The Windwalker helped him breathe while the others kept the winterfleshers away. He didn’t want them to free him until he was able to rescue Camicazi. When Camicazi’s box was thrown down, Fishlegs and the Deadly Shadow swoop down to get her. The Windwalker grabs Hiccup’s chain and pulls it until it breaks. Hiccup says he, the Windwalker, the Hogfly, and the Wodensfang will go after Toothless and the other Lost Things while the others create a diversion. The Deadly Shafow takes them high above the little city. Camicazi goes through her bag. She puts in her mustache and pulls out a jar of pebbles her mother got from a trip to China. She yells into Fishlegs’ helmet and sounds remarkably like Valhalarama. She tells Fishlegs they need to make the Alvinsmen think the entire Dragonmarkers army is attacking them. She waits for the right moment and then tells the Deadly Shadow to dive.
14. Camicazi’s shouting and singing in Valhalarama’s voice convinces the witch and Alvinsmen that their hideout has been discovered. Camicazi has the Deadly Shadow fire lightning bolts at the great hall while she takes six pebbles from the jar and throws them all around the village. They explode with a loud noise. Alvin and his men think they are being attacked from the air by the Dragonmarkers. The Dragonmarkers that had just been freed by Snotlout hear the call for attack and join in the battle.
15. The Windwalker swims underwater and comes up just often enough for Hiccup to get air. The Hogfly and the Wodensfang swim beside them. When they are far away from the floating city, the Windwalker gets Hiccup onto a boat and breathes hot air on him to warm him up. Hiccup gives the Hogfly Toothless’ cost to sniff and tell him to fetch. The Hogfly is relieved to be given a job Hiccup has taught it to do well. It takes off toward a boat nearest the waterfall. Hiccup sees it is the only one with people and torches on it and decides that must be where the lost things are kept. He stops the Hogfly from giving them away to the guards. He puts his hand I’ve true Hogfly’s nose to break his trail and tells him he did well and now it is time for bed. The Hogfly swells with pride and pops before going to sleep. Hiccup, the Windwalker, and the Wodensfang sneak from boat to boat until they get onto the one with two guards. They can hear Toothless singing in the hull below while the Alvinsguards complain about how much of a nuisance the small dragon is. A third Alvinsmen tells them to get the lost things ready for Excellinor to move to a new hiding place. They pull up the anchor rope and the last things are all tied to it. They get them in the hull with Toothless. Hiccup tosses one of Toothless’s treats into a nearby boat. The third Alvinsmen sends the first two to check it out. Once they are gone, Hiccup pushes the third Alvinsmen off the boat and starts rowing out of the cavern. He did not realize the third Alvinsmen was actually his mother in disguise. She realizes she needs to let him do things his own way and make his own mistakes.
16. The Vampire Spydragon returns for its tooth. Hiccup tries to hide his left arm, but the spydragon attacks Hiccup in the same spot it had bitten him 24 hours before. Hiccup tries to get it off and ends up getting its feet wound around the anchor rope. The Windwalker attacks the spydragon’s stomach and the Wodensfang its head. It locks jaws with the Windwalker just long enough for Hiccup to throw the anchor over the edge. The rope takes the spydragon down with it. Hiccup now has a second tooth lodged in his left arm that he cannot remove. He bandages it up. Snotlout appears and applauds at his effort.
17. Snotlout helps get the boat out of the cavern through the waterfall. However, once they are clear of the Alvinsmen, he insist Hiccup sword fight him. Hiccup does the best he can with his right arm, since his left (dominant) is swollen and numb from the two spydragon fangs. Snotlout ends up winning. He is furious that he has been jealous of Hiccup this whole time. He feels like he should have been the one to be king. Hiccup forgives him again and gives him another chance. Snotlout admits Hiccup was not the king they wanted, but he is probably the one they need. He pledges his loyalty and they formally now to each other and shake hands. They decide to get the ship and the lost things across Weecker’s Bat to the Coral Beach where the Dragonmarker’s hideout is.
18. Things are going well for Hiccup and Snoutlout for about five minutes. They hear a horrible sound and see birds and dragons flying in the opposite direction as fast as they can. The Winter Winds of Woden are coming.
19. Rave hunters start to come out of the cave to find them. Hiccup tries to come up with a plan while the Windwalker and Hurricane take to the sky to kill as may spy dragons as they can. Snotlout starts shooting them with his bow and arrows. A few make it back to the witch and they can see the bull guards and their riders starting to come out of the cave. Snotlout tells Hiccup to switch clothes and helmets with him. He is going to ride the Windwalker over to fight them while Hiccup sails the boat into the Winter Wind of Woden to escape. Hiccup doesn’t like the plan and tries to tell the Windwalker not to take Snotlout. But the Windwalker understands what is going on and is willing to take Snotlout to protect Hiccup. Snotlout says goodbye to his dragon and tells Hiccup he is only loaningbhim his star necklace and that he wants it back when they see each other again. He asks Hiccup to give him the Dragonmarkers before he rides off. Hiccup uses some ash to put it in his forehead. Snotlout flies into battle with his helmet visor down yelling that heroes live forever.
20. Hiccup steers the boat and looks over his shoulder to watch Snotlout. The Windwalker is much faster than most dragons and is able to get some of them to hit the water below when they chase him into a dive. Snotlout shoots some of the Bullguards as he taunts them. When Hiccup’s ship is almost to the Winter Winds, Snotlout and the Windwalker start to fly away towards Coral Beach. At the last second, an Alvinsmen fired an arrow and hits him in the chest. He falls off the Windwalker and I to the water. The Bullguards prevent the Windwalker from retrieving him. The witch remembers the boat and orders the army to retrieve it before it hits the Winter Winds. An Alvinsmen riding a Gorebluffer drops massive rocks in the ship and it breaks in two. The half with the Lost Things sinks and Hiccup’s half sails into the wind. He is delirious at this point and has no idea he’s lost the Lost things. The witch sends the Bullguards to dive after the lost things. Fishlegs and Camicazi see everything and are disheartened. Camicazi isn’t as convinced as the Alvinsmen that Hiccup is dead.
21. The Alvinsmen gather in the Singing Sands of the Ferryman’s Gift. Alvin sits on the throne and wears the Lost Things. When the blindfolded Guardian Druid arrives, he asks Alvin to present the things to him. The things are laid out in the sand and checked for authenticity. The Guardian Druid confirms they have all the things and asks if they have the support of the majority of the Archipelago. The witch lies and says they only have a few dissenters they have brought with them. The Dragonmarkers arrive on their boats and come into the beach. Stoical tries to explain that his son Hiccup is the true heir and found all the Lost Things. He is surprised when it is revealed to him Alvin already has all the things. Valhallarama frees herself from the box where she had been held captive. She tells Stoick her story and they both look to the witch to ask what happened to Hiccup. She tells them they killed him and presents his helmet as proof. Valhallarama wants to kill the witch, but the Guardian Druid stops a war from starting in the sacred land. He reminds Valhallarama they will need a King of the Wilderwest to defeat the dragon Furious. She agrees to let him be crowned for the good of the Archipelago, but declared she will not fight for them. The witch tries to have the Dragonmarkers sent away, but the Guardian Druid reminds them Alvin has to be crowned in front of witnesses of all tribes. He announced to the Guardian Protectors not to let anyone else enter the sacred space for the next 24 hours. The terrifying creatures fly out of the sand and into the sky. The Vikings follow the Guardian Druid in their ships across the Hero’s Gap. A Razoreing dragon watched everything and reports back to Furious. While the Razorwing is nervous about the dragon jewel, Furious is confident in the promise of the Wodensfang.
22. Watching everything from the cover of the Deadly Shadow, Fishlegs has given up hope. Camicazi is more determined than ever that Hiccup is still alive. She points out that Hiccup never stopped looking for Fishlegs in the Amber Slavelabds and they shouldn’t give up on Hiccup. They get back into the Deadly Shadow and fly over Bertha’s boat. Camicazi yells down to her mother that she is alright and leaving to find Hiccup. Bertha tries to tell for her daughter to come down to her, but Camicazi is already faded away.
23. Hiccup washed up on the shore of Hero’s End. The Wodensfang is on his chest waiting for him to wake up.
Epilogue
Seventy-six year-old Hiccup thinks back to the time he was lying in the beach looking near death and remembers this is when he was ready and became a king. He continued to wear Snotlout’s black star (Hooligan Tribe’s greatest honor) on a chain around his neck. Eventually the black rubbed off and it was gold underneath. He appreciates Snotlout’s sacrifice as he knows he couldn’t have done it without him.