Hiccup's Point of View
The silence that followed the fall of my cloak was almost sacred.
No roar. No whisper. No motion.
Just staring.
And I let them.
My new armor shimmered beneath the sun's dim glow, each scaled plate absorbing the light like a living shadow. It clung to me like a second skin—sleek, curved, sharp at the edges. The obsidian black scales patterned like a Night Fury's hide, dark and gleaming with faint, ghostly etchings across my forearms and chest.
For many of berks warriors , it was the first time they'd seen me like this.
As more than the boy with a limp and a clever mind.
As something... else.
Even Astrid—who had marched beside me from the cove to the arena—stared like she hadn't seen me at all until now. Her lips parted slightly, cheeks tinged red, eyes flicking down my chest, then back up in record time.
She squirmed in her seat beside Luna, who merely smirked with smug satisfaction.
I could feel her thoughts even without the link.
"Mine."
I chuckled softly to myself.
Gods, I was starting to enjoy this.
My eyes shifted back toward the creature before me.
The Monstrous Nightmare.
He was larger than I remembered—taller at the shoulders than most huts, his hide scarred with battles, his fire trailing smoke from his jaw like an angry forge. His wings flared wide across the arena wall, and for a heartbeat, he was still.
Then his head snapped down.
And he locked eyes with me.
A ripple of anticipation passed between us.
He roared.
Not at me.
To the heavens.
A scream of fury, hunger, and something else—
Excitement.
I let my thoughts slip forward, reaching out through the bond, quiet and unseen by human ears.
"Seems like you've been waiting to battle me since I entered this pit the first time... when I fought the Gronckle, weeks ago."
The Nightmare's voice slid into my mind like rolling thunder.
"You felt different from the others. I smelled the fire in you. The strength. I hoped you'd come back."
I tilted my head, amused. "You wanted to fight the Alpha?"
"No. I wanted to test the Alpha."
There was no hostility in his tone. Just challenge. Raw. Pure. Earned.
"You fought Stormfly well," he rumbled. "Is that what you call her?"
"Yes," I replied. "Her name is Stormfly now."
He shifted, wings scraping the arena walls as his heat rolled over the sand like a wave.
"I only bow to strength. You want me? Prove it. Take it."
I smiled.
"Gladly."
Then, just before I broke the link—
"When this fight is over, you and the others—Stormfly, Barf and Belch, all of them—you'll be free of this place. This prison ends today."
The Nightmare went still.
Then, quietly...
"If you keep your word, and defeat me... I will bow."
My heart beat faster.
Not from fear.
From anticipation.
Because dragons don't kneel to weakness.
They kneel to power.
And if I wanted to unite them... I had to earn it in their language.
Not through words.
Through battle.
I took one step forward.
The arena didn't breathe.
Then another.
The Nightmare dropped from the wall and landed on the ground like a meteor—his fire igniting instantly, licking up his legs and curling around his horns.
I didn't summon flames.
Not yet.
I just smiled.
Let him feel it.
The storm that was about to hit him.
The Alpha.
Astrid's Point of View
They circled each other like wolves sizing up a worthy kill.
Hiccup and the Monstrous Nightmare—two monsters in their own right, forged by pain and fire. No words passed. No threats. Just raw tension that made even the air feel heavier, like the world itself held its breath.
And yet... I could still think clearly.
Especially when I looked at the fools around me.
The villagers thought they'd trapped us. Surrounded Luna, Freya, and me with men in plain clothing, poorly disguised weapons, and shaky hands. They thought they were clever.
Pathetic.
Their fear was leaking through their every move. They clutched their weapons like children clutching sticks, praying it would be enough when the tide finally turned.
I almost pitied them.
Almost.
No one would save them when their throats were crushed. When claws and flame carved screams into the sky.
I couldn't wait to hear it.
The other teens weren't even pretending to relax. Snotlout, Fishlegs, the twins... they were all tense. Eyes darting. Hands twitching. They knew. Stoick must have told them something, fed them enough lies to justify this stunt. But deep down?
They were terrified of what came next.
Good.
They should be.
My gaze drifted higher.
To him.
Stoick.
Standing there on the ledge like some glorious martyr, believing he held the leash that could control dragons.
The bile rose in my throat. He dared to try and humiliate Hiccup. Dared to play games with Luna. To endanger Freya.
To defy my Alpha.
He was going to learn the cost of that mistake.
We all belonged to him.
And if I had to bathe in blood to prove it?
So be it.
⸻
Luna's Point of View
The air smelled wrong.
It wasn't the tension between Hiccup and the Nightmare.
It was her.
Astrid.
She was practically vibrating beside me—shoulders tense, jaw clenched, bloodlust leaking into the very air around us like smoke from a dying fire.
She wanted to kill.
Good.
But not yet.
I reached out, gently threading my fingers through her hair before pulling her head down into my lap. Her surprised breath caught in her throat.
I leaned in close, brushing my lips against the shell of her ear.
"You need to relax, my little mate," I whispered.
She stiffened—then blushed deeply.
"Now that you're with us," I continued softly, "you and Hiccup are mine. And as you've already figured out... I'm quite possessive."
My fingers stroked her scalp gently. "Just like you belong to him... you belong to me."
Her cheeks were blazing now. "I-I know my place," she mumbled, eyes averting.
I smirked.
"You say that," I said, "but maybe it's time I made it clear."
And before she could reply—
I leaned down and kissed her.
Right there.
In front of all of Berk.
Her lips were soft, surprised—but she didn't pull away.
Gasps erupted across the stands.
Even Hiccup paused, blinking mid-circle.
Then—he chuckled.
"I was going to take her first kiss, my love," he called, loud enough for us to hear. "She's mine too, after all."
I looked back at him with a smirk of my own. "She's also mine, so I acted accordingly."
He laughed again, wicked and warm. "Fine. I guess I'll just kiss her after the fight, then."
Shock echoed from the crowd like a silent wave. Faces frozen. Mouths open.
Even the teens looked like they didn't know whether to scream or faint.
And then—
"Wait!" Freya piped up, her little voice cutting through the silence. "Does this mean I have two mamas now?"
I froze.
Hiccup didn't.
He grinned wide and pointed at me.
"Ask your mother," he said, smug as sin.
I twitched.
A visible vein pulsed on my temple.
I slowly looked down at Astrid.
"Mama..." she whispered faintly.
Then—
She fainted.
Right in my lap.
"Mama...?" she mumbled again, unconscious, her face still red as a boiled crab.
I twitched again.
Harder.
The arena erupted with whispering and stunned gasps.
But I didn't care.
I glared at Hiccup.
His grin only grew.
Oh... he was going to pay for that.
After this fight?
He was mine.