Later that night, Gobber was standing outside the Haddock house. The man was waiting for the chief to come out.
After the incident in the evening, Stoick moved Hiccup into the house. The blacksmith heard conversations inside. He did not know what was being talked about, but he was told to wait outside the house until he came out.
After some time, the door flew open, revealing Stoick the Vast. The man walked out from the house and closed the door behind him. He approached the blacksmith and greeted him. "Gobber."
"How's Hiccup?"
"He's asleep." Stoick replied. The man looked around the village. Everyone was asleep in their homes. "Come. Let's go to the Great Hall. We need to prepare for war."
The chief and the blacksmith began walking down the stone path. Haddock house was close to the village square. It did not take them long to reach the stairs that led to the Great Hall. The two men began climbing up the stairs, walking up to the Great Hall.
While walking, Gobber decided to speak. "That was a Night Fury..."
"Aye." Stoick nodded.
"It was just like her..."
"Don't go telling others about it." The chief grunted. "That'd put him in danger. She'd take him away if anything ever happened."
"Have ye ever thought about trapping her?" Gobber whispered.
Stoick stopped climbing up the stairs. Gobber stopped as well. The chief was hesitant. "... how are we supposed to trap a smart dragon?" He questioned. "She knew our traps and knew when we were coming. Hiccup had been playing Maces and Talons with her. That's how smart she is."
Gobber blinked. "She could?"
"She can." Stoick corrected him. "It's been a year now."
The blacksmith was amazed. "How did she do it?"
"I don't know. Only Hiccup knows." The chief admitted. "But that's not the point. It's best not to try to capture her."
Gobber was confused. "Why not?"
"She's not the only Night Fury around." Stoick reminded him. "Remember the other one courting her. That one is far more dangerous. He'd raze the whole village to find her if we ever get a hold of her."
The blacksmith paled at that reminder. The chief hardened his expression. "You don't want a dragon hunting you for attacking their partner." He warned. "Especially a Night Fury. 'best to leave them alone and keep it a secret."
Stoick began climbing up the stairs once more. Gobber followed from behind.
"Ye know." Gobber started. "Hiccup probably got scared when he saw the elder lookin' at him."
"Looking at him?"
"Aye. He didn't like how they're lookin' at him." The blacksmith nodded. He looked thoughtful. "Now that I think about it, there's no reason why they wanted him. They wanted some of our adult Vikings before, did they?"
Stoick darkened his expression. He was angry that the elder dared to have that sort of intention for his son. The man was not stupid. Lava-Louts were known for their use of slavery to mine their gold. It would not be surprising that they also practiced paedophilia. They did pillage other villages, after all.
The two men finally reached the top. There were two torches placed on the sides, illuminating the stone gate. Just before Stoick opened the door, he suddenly paled. He was frozen. The blacksmith did not know what triggered such reaction. "Stoick, ye okay?"
"Gobber." The chief looked at the blacksmith. "Do you remember what happened to Mildew's house a year ago?"
"Aye." Gobber nodded. "Night Fury struck his house. 'burned the whole forest while at it."
"Do you remember why?"
"You said they did it because..." Gobber trailed off. He realised something. "He put Hiccup in danger."
The blacksmith stared at the pale looking chief. Gobber paled upon realising what was being implied. Stoick leaned to him. "Keep an eye for news about the Lava-Louts."
"... Aye, chief."
With that said, Stoick opened the door. The two men entered the Great Hall and closed the door behind them.
Charcoal landed at Furious' lair, Dragon Island. He looked around, before focusing on the giant, pitch black cave entrance where Furious would show himself.
The greater alpha dragon had yet told him why he was summoned into the place. He wondered why he was directly summoned. He hoped it was not about his deal with Toothless few days ago.
Suddenly, a giant, slitted eyes appeared at the pitch-black cave entrance. It was Furious. "Charcoal."
"Hi dad." Charcoal greeted. There was a hint of concern in his voice. "Is this about yesterday?"
"We have found the supplier of the new human weapons. They are Lava-Lout Tribe, located in Lava-Lout Island." Furious revealed. "This will be a two-month assignment. Your goal is to destroy them. Work with others. Make sure none of them survive."
Charcoal straightened himself. "Yes, alpha." He answered. "Have we discovered why they decided to import foreign weapons?"
"Yes." Furious gave his answer. "You."
The black dragon reared back. "Me?"
"Yes. Ever since you arrived, dragons have given themselves more leeway on how they wished to perform their dragon raid." The gigantic dragon elaborated. "They decided to take more risks. This is because they knew you would come to their rescue. Humans saw this increase in danger and reacted to this escalation."
Charcoal was outraged. "Wha-" He stopped himself, pausing to process that information. It was not possible that he was the cause of it. Almost all emergency assignments last year were extraction assignments, in which he had to bail out dragon raids that went terribly wrong.
The black dragon took a deep breath. "No."
"... no?"
"No. It's not my fault." Charcoal countered, staring at the giant yellow eye. He remembered what happened few days before. He refused to be blamed for it. "They are taking unnecessary risks because they knew I would come to help. I refuse to take this abuse."
"You are not at fault. You are the reason." Furious countered. "There has never been a bail out until your arrival. Your presence shifted our experience and expectations. You need to change."
"No. They need to change." The black dragon refused. "They are sending our dragons to die. They need to change how they organise their raids."
"Charcoal, you underestimated yourself." The massive dragon patiently explained. "You are a Night Fury. You are a force multiplier. Your very presence changes dragons."
Charcoal was angry. "Just because of what I am?!" He demanded. "This is unfair! I've never had this treatment in Greater Archipelago. The problem is not with me. it's with you! You allowed this to happen!"
There was a long silence. That was when Charcoal realised his mistake. He had inadvertently challenged Furious. "Alpha-"
Furious interrupted. "So, you think you can do better than me." His voice was cold, daring Charcoal to continue. "You think I do not know what I am doing."
"That's not what I meant."
"That is exactly what you think." Furious hissed in his mind. The giant yellow slit-pupil eye narrowed. "You are questioning my competence."
The black dragon took a deep breath. There was no going back. "Yes." Charcoal responded. "You have the power to stop this, but you didn't do anything. You allowed this to happen."
They both fell silent. Charcoal could feel the anger within the giant yellow slit-pupil eye. It was rather tense waiting for a response.
He wondered if Furious would discharge him for that. Having early retirement in Hidden World did not sound that bad, especially since he had Toothless with him.
After some time, Furious made his decision. "If you think you can do better... prove them."
Charcoal blinked. "Prove?"
"Charcoal, you have been promoted to a General of the Red Rage." Furious declared. Dragon Island rumbled with that declaration. "I have assigned you over 100 dragons to command. You will be leading the Lava-Lout Island raid."
There was a pause. Charcoal was not sure what to feel about that. "How long do I have?"
"You have two months to finish this assignment." The gigantic dragon answered. He sounded provocative. "I will not accept failure in this assignment. If you fail, I will personally give you dishonourable discharge."
It was the greatest shame that dragons could have. Charcoal thought he should have known how Furious would react to that. He had similar reaction after all; any rebuttal on competence was seen as a challenge. Furious challenged him if he could do better leading an army of dragons.
The consequence of failure would be catastrophic.
"Yes, alpha." Charcoal straightened himself. "It will be done."
Toothless, to put it simply, was angry.
The dragoness was resting at her nest, glaring at the wall in front of her. It had been a few days since Hiccup was about to be enslaved by other tribes - by his own village, of all things! It was outrageous to think that they would dare to enslave her Precious Thing.
Toothless had allowed Hiccup to stay after they reached an agreement, but after some thought, the dragoness regretted that decision.
'Damn him.' Toothless cursed. 'I should've taken him away; drop him to different village. Why did I listen to him?!'
The dragoness was about to thought more when she heard someone landing outside. Charcoal was unlikely to return in few hours. Fearing intruder, the female dragon quickly stood up and moved on a stance, ready to attack in case they were hostile.
Few moments later, Charcoal walked into her nest. He was nervous. "Hey, I'm here."
Toothless relaxed herself. "Charcoal, you're early."
"Yeah, I know." The male dragon approached. "I got a promotion."
"Congratulations!" The dragoness was cheerful. Upon seeing his reaction, Toothless was confused. "You don't look happy."
"I- It's complicated." Charcoal was hesitant. "I don't know where to start."
"You can start with sharing that memory to me." Toothless suggested. That was something they could do with telepathy. "Show me your conversation with Furious."
The male dragon did as he was told. He stared at the dragoness - forest green met acidic green eyes, as he mentally connected his mind with hers. Feeling her acceptance, Charcoal pushed the relevant memory forefront in his mind, allowing her to view them. It took her some time to watch and process.
After Toothless was done, she severed the mental connection. "Over 100 dragons?" The dragoness was incredulous. "Dragon army general usually have far more than that!"
"I know."
Toothless was concerned. "Have you seen the dragon army?"
"Not yet. I was told that they were collected from different generals." Charcoal sat on his hindlegs. "They're expected to arrive in few days."
"Okay..." The dragoness pondered for some time. It was a coincidence that their target was the Lava-Lout tribe. "Have you scouted this... Lava-Lout Island?"
"I have." The male dragon nodded. "The island is a large volcano with forests at the foot. Lava-Lout tribe lives right at the volcano. They are the largest supplier of gold in Barbaric Archipelago."
"Do you think over 100 dragons are enough to cover everything?"
"No. We need at least 500 dragons." Charcoal further explained. He was rather distressed. "I'll be participating in the raid to help, but without knowing what species we have in the army, there's no telling if we can do it."
It sounded like an impossible assignment. Toothless felt like Charcoal was set up to fail. Either he scrapped the assignment in fear of slaughter or proceed and fail the assignment. She wondered if he could ask for more dragons but considering the reasons, that was unlikely to be approved.
'Dishonourable discharge meant that Charcoal could not return to Hidden World.' Toothless thought worryingly. 'I can't let that happen.'
There was that thought of joining to help - she had plenty of experience in combat. Being a Night Fury often meant facing more danger than regular dragon species. The dragoness was not sure if it was a good idea, considering that there was a chance of dragons recognising her.
Then again, failure meant that she would lose the only male Night Fury that she liked.
"I think I can help." Toothless finally decided.
"Help?" Charcoal raised his brows.
"Yeah." The dragoness nodded. "If it helps you complete this assignment, I'm willing to volunteer."
The male dragon was ecstatic. "T- That's great! We can do this!" He exclaimed, before realising something. "But... why now?"
Toothless took a deep breath. "My father has an immigration policy for soldier dragons." She explained. "If you were dishonourably discharged, you're not allowed to enter Hidden World."
Charcoal stared at her with horror. "He can do that?!"
"It has been like that for centuries." The dragoness nodded her head. "I don't want your retirement gone just like that. It's also my home - our home. I want us to move some day."
"Okay." The male dragon thought that was reasonable. He tilted his head as he sensed something in his mind. "I felt like that's not everything. You have other reason."
Toothless realised Charcoal was passively sensing emotion through telepathy. It was something that they had to sense dragons with bad intentions. She had forgotten that it could also sense uncertainty. "You're right. I have other reason, but I'm not sure how you're going to take it. Maybe someday."
Charcoal softened his expression. "It's okay if you don't want to say." He softly spoke. "What matters is that you're willing to do something about it."
The dragoness suddenly felt relief. She had been holding her breath for a response. "Thank you."
"And besides." The male dragon continued speaking. He sat on his hindlegs. "I want us together. If you must move, I will follow."
Toothless was not sure what to say. "... I want us together too." She confessed. "I just... don't want to put us in danger."
"So? That's the cost of our relationship." Charcoal countered. He was confident they could weather the storm. "We just have to deal with it."
Few days later, Charcoal and Toothless flew to Dragon Island to meet with the army. It was nighttime outside. They flew down to the top of the volcano, heading through the massive open area, before entering a large cave entrance. Entering the place, there was a large cave clearing with many different dragons around.
Making head count, there were roughly 100 dragons. Charcoal knew it was the place. The two Night Furies landed at the ledge, which was just a few metres higher from the ground. Others below paid attention to him. The male dragon stood at the edge. "Dragons!"
The chatter quieted down. Charcoal exhaled his breath. "Welcome to the Red Rage." He declared. "My name is Charcoal. I am your general."
There was no response. The male Night Fury observed the crowd. There were common dragons, such as Deadly Nadders and Monstrous Nightmares. There were some rare dragons there and there. There were Changewings - red chameleon-like dragon, Woolly Howl - quadruped dragon with fur-like scales and tailfins, and so on.
"You stand before me because you have been reassigned for one reason or another." Charcoal continued speaking. "Whatever those reasons are, you are free to keep it for yourself."
Looking around amongst the crowd, the male dragon pondered for some time. "But for whatever reason, if you want to speak your mind to me, you can do so right now." Charcoal declared. "I want to know what kind of army I just adopted."
There was silence. Dragons were unsure how to respond. Eventually, an old, male Titan Wing Changewing - larger dragon with green scales covering most of his body decided to take a step forward. Dragons gave him some space as he stared up to the newly chosen Night Fury General.
The old dragon stared at him with his tired eyes. "None of us took the path of soldier." He confessed to the black dragon above. "We were drafted from our homes. We never had a choice."
Dragons murmured in agreement. Charcoal did not look happy by that statement. "Do you wish to share why you were reassigned?"
There was no response. They did not need to wait for long, however, as another dragon came forward. It was a Woolly Howl. They moved to stand next to the Changewing. "They did not want me with them."
Another dragon came forward. It was a Gronckle, which Charcoal recognised. It was the same one he healed just a few weeks ago. The scar from ballista was still there on his belly. "I challenged my old general, sir." He gave his answer. "They put me here to die."
Dragons began muttering their own reason. Charcoal was dismayed to see the state of the soldiers.
Such thing was unlike what he went through back in Greater Archipelago. He was aware that Furious would replace dragons who died in combat. He assumed that they were simply let go to rest and retire. It was obvious that his assumption was horrifyingly wrong.
It was disheartening to know. Apparently, there were more incompetent leaders than he thought. Those who questioned or argued their strategy was reassigned different general. Given what they said, they were supposed to die in a suicidal mission.
Given how difficult the assignment was, Charcoal realised they were at the end of their line.
That did, however, gave him an idea.
"What did they promised you if you succeed this assignment?" Charcoal questioned.
The Woolly Howl was the one who answered. "They promised our freedom if we succeed with you."
Dragons nodded with agreement. It was just as what the Night Fury general suspected. He thought it was cruel for them to reassign the worst into his army.
However, it would not be the first time he had to handle such thing. He needed to turn them into actual dragon soldiers, one way or another.
Charcoal jumped down from the ledge. Dragons gave him space as he landed in front of them. "Then we will do this for your freedom." The black dragon declared. There was defiance in his voice. "Forget what your general told you. Forget the reason why they put you here. You are now my soldiers, and as your general, I want you to forget why they put you here."
Silence. Charcoal exhaled his breath. "... Yes, there is an assignment. It was no secret. They said you will die; this assignment is expected to fail." He admitted, before voicing his defiance. "I refuse to accept that."
Dragons at the back began paying attention. The black dragon continued speaking. "Are you going to listen to some nepotistic hatchling to roll over and die?!" Charcoal challenged. "Or are you going to dare to win and survive?!"
That did slightly lift their spirit. The Gronckle decided to speak. "Some of us are too old and sick, general."
"There is always a place for the old, and we can heal the sick." Charcoal responded, before raising his voice. "Healers, step forward please!"
Dragons quieted for a moment. Nobody came forward to the front. Charcoal grimaced at that. "No healers..." He muttered, before raising his voice once more. "I need all the sick to come forward. The rest of you; start fishing and bring them here."
They reluctantly followed the order. Healthy dragons flew up and out from the cavern, while the sick ones remained and crowded around Charcoal.
There was roughly half the crowd that remained. The male black dragon looked back to Toothless. He focused his mind to her. "I need your help."
The black dragoness had been standing at the ledge. "Okay." She responded, before jumping down and landed next to Charcoal. "Are we healing them one by one? Don't they have healer we can borrow somewhere?"
"Considering they've been throwing bodies at their problem; I doubt they have any." Charcoal darkly responded, before speaking aloud. "Everyone, line up. Female dragon goes with her. Male dragons, with me."
Dragons began lining up for individual check. They were nervous as to what was about to happen. Charcoal sat on his hindlegs as the first dragon approached him. It was a blue Deadly Nadder. "What is your medical problem?"
"I have an infection on my leg." The Deadly Nadder answered. He sounded slightly pained. "The healer said it can't be cured. I was expected to die in few weeks."
"Show me."
The Deadly Nadder did as he was told. He showed his hindlegs, revealing a section of his thigh that seemed to be rotting.
Charcoal grimaced at that - rather nasty infected wound. He sat on his hindlegs, before raising his right paw. It was shimmering blue. The male Night Fury pressed his paw onto the infected area.
The effect was immediate. The Deadly Nadder hissed as the infected wound began to close; blue scales grew in its place. It was healing by itself. At the same time, the Deadly Nadder began feeling tired. After some time, Charcoal pulled back his paw, revealing healthy sets of scales. "Done."
"Gaa..." The Deadly Nadder was inspecting them with awe. "Y- You healed them."
"This type of infection is curable. I just stimulated your circuits to heal yourself." Charcoal responded. "Go eat from the pile before exhaustion kicks in. Go help others with fishing once you're done."
The Deadly Nadder gave him a bow. "Thank you... General Charcoal." He voiced his gratitude, before flying away elsewhere.
Once that was done, Charcoal looked at the line of sick dragons. They looked surprised and hopeful. The male black dragon was exhaled his breath. "Next in line, come forward."
"And what of the ships?"
"They have been sunk. There were no casualties."
"Very well. You have done well."
"Thank you, Greater Alpha Furious."
At Furious' lair, the gigantic dragon had been listening to reports about the Vikings. It was already known that they had been equipping themselves with better equipment, such as ballista. They were getting better at hunting and killing dragons. Because of this, dragon raids were gradually failing.
'I should have known that his presence would change things.' Furious grumbled in his mind. 'This will take a while to deal with.'
He admitted that was a miscalculation on his part. Furious had hoped to alleviate dragons in need of help in their raids. Charcoal was a boon for them - Night Furies were powerful because they could do everything. He should have known that his generals would exploit their emergency reinforcement.
The fact that Charcoal was vehement about it spoke volume to that flaw.
At the front of his lair, the giant yellow eye was staring at a nervous Monstrous Nightmare. "What about Charcoal?"
"He's currently meeting with his army." The red dragon answered.
Furious was still angry at Charcoal for his defiance. He dared to challenge the method that kept them alive for so long. The greater alpha dragon thought he needed to stamp that out from his mind.
He wondered if there was a mistake when he altered him. Charcoal was supposed to be his son from before.
Regardless, it did provide him with opportunity for lesson learned the hard way. It was a classic method; assign him to handle impossible mission. After he failed, Furious would have him dishonourably discharged, which would prevent him from heading to Hidden World.
It would give him lesson about why they were doing things the way they were.
Furious also needed Charcoal to remain within Barbaric Archipelago, if he ever wanted his plans to happen. It would make Charcoal more predictable to him; he would be limited in his choices.
"Tell other generals to avoid them." Furious gave his order. "Do not interfere."
"Yes, Greater Alpha Furious."
"You are dismissed."
Toothless, Charcoal and the rest of the dragons spent the night at the large cave clearing.
The Night Furies spent their time healing dragons. At the same time, Charcoal was mentally assessing their capabilities. The male Night Fury thought the army had potential; they had plenty of powerful dragon species on their side.
However, they were hampered by pessimism and despondency.
It helped that they healed the sick, but it was not enough to ignore the fact that they were reassigned to die.
Charcoal despaired at that; they could not fight with such low morale. He refused to have them fight at that state. The thought of dragons fighting at that state was repugnant to him.
At the same time, the situation was rather unique. Raising morale would require different approach; one that would uplift dragons expected to fail and die. It was a social challenge that Charcoal must solve before everything else.
'Maybe they can be encouraged to support each other.' Charcoal pondered. 'Friendship and camaraderie need to develop if we want to go through this.'
"Charcoal, it's done."
The male Night Fury focused at Toothless. "Thanks for the help." He expressed his gratitude. "Was that the last one?"
"The last female dragon. Yes." The female Night Fury confirmed.
Charcoal looked around the cave clearing. He had ordered them to stop fishing once all the sick were nearly healed. As such, everyone remained inside. Dragons were chattering amongst themselves.
There was barely a hint of despair - the improvement on their health certainly helped their moral. The newly inducted dragon general was happy to see that.
'Unconventional problem requires unconventional solution.' Charcoal thought as he observed his own army. 'If we were to win this fight, we need to do things differently.'
"I saw some Snow Wraiths, a Woolly Howl, and some Changewings." Charcoal informed his female Night Fury. "I forgot to count them - Gronckles, Nadders and Nightmares - there are 30 of them in total."
"Two Dramillions and a Shovelhelm." Toothless reported her own count. "I didn't count the rest since there are many of them."
Charcoal internally sighed. "That's okay. At least we know the species." He assured. "We didn't include the healthy, so we have to recount them anyway."
Toothless tilted her head. "So, what do we do next?"
"Stay here." The male Night Fury took off into the air. He flew around the cave clearing as he counted the dragons, along with their species. Charcoal thought he was lucky; some of those dragons were not native from Barbaric Archipelago. He wondered what made them join the war.
After some time, he landed at the centre of the cave clearing. "Alright, everyone. Give me some space!" He barked as dragons moved away from him. Once it was clear, Charcoal continued speaking. "Now that the sick had been healed, we can continue."
That did sour the dragons. They had been so distracted that they forgot about the situation. Charcoal ignored this. "This assignment is simple; we must destroy Lava-Lout Island and kill everyone inside." He gave his briefing. "They are the ones responsible for supplying advanced weapons throughout Barbaric Archipelago. We have 2 months to prepare."
Dragons began murmuring amongst themselves. Charcoal raised his voice. "I know most of you despaired by this!" He called out, quieting them down. "But remember what you are fighting for. If you want to earn your freedom, we must succeed this assignment. Which is why we will take this slow and careful."
The male Night Fury looked around. "I am going to split you in groups." He declared. "Those who have experience with listening and watching humans, come forward."
Some dragons moved to the centre. Most of them were Changewings, but there was a Woolly Howl. The rest remained where they were. Charcoal turned to face the group. "You are now our scouting group. Your task is to study the Lava-Lout tribe for us to plan our raid. I want every detail you can get, including their patrol. Converse with others and pick the leader of your group."
"Yes, general." The newly created scouting group chorused.
Charcoal looked at the others. "Those who like to attack from the air, come forward."
Meanwhile, Toothless was watching with great interest. Dragon raids were usually straightforward; they attack human villages to cull their population, usually by stealing their food or destroying their structure.
Wiping out a village was much simpler - they just need to kill them all. It was the usual method and strategy, at least from what she observed.
Such strategy would require overwhelming strength on their side. Dragons were fortunate enough to be born stronger than humans.
However, the assignment given to them was different. The humans had weapons that could potentially equal dragons. She had seen large ballista killing a dragon in one shot. Apparently, Lava-Louts were the ones supplying those.
There was also the fact that there were far more humans than dragons.
Toothless and Charcoal had briefly scouted the island - over 2,000 humans lived there, possibly more. Quarter of them were slaves, while the other half were soldiers. Based on what she knew, they were also preparing for war.
It meant that conventional strategy would not work. Toothless thought Charcoal was aware of this, which was why he was doing things differently. After all, the idea of grouping and separating dragons was rather unusual. She wondered what his plan was.
"Is everyone in a group?" Charcoal suddenly called out.
Toothless took a step forward. "What about me?"
"You don't need a group. You and I will be the medic." The male Night Fury answered the question. He was staring at her. "None of them knows how to heal beyond simple wounds. It would take too long to teach them spells for that."
Another dragon decided to spoke up. "General, we are still unclear about to who to report." The chosen leader of scouting group questioned. "We don't have raid organiser."
"We don't need to." Charcoal answered. He was firm on his decision. "We report to each other and plan this raid together."
There was confusion amongst the dragons. The male Night Fury raised his voice. "Each and every one of you are put in groups because you know better about yourself!" He declared, quietening them down. "I have given you trust and responsibility to plan together with your group. The leaders then report to me. I will ensure that your plans work together with other groups."
The crowd of dragons were quiet. It was obvious that they were unsure about that plan, if there was any to begin with. Charcoal continued speaking. "You are responsible for our success and survival in this assignment." He explained. "Including those in your group. Do your best on what you know best. If you fail, someone here could get hurt, or worse."
It was a rather significant responsibility. Dragons were uncomfortable. Charcoal exhaled his breath. "Group leaders, stay behind." He ordered. "The rest of you, dismissed."
It took some time for dragons to disperse themselves. Each group flew out together as a flock. Toothless had gone back to the nest, while Charcoal remained at the cave clearing. The group leaders also stayed behind.
Once the place was cleared out, Charcoal sat on his hindlegs. "Come."
The dragons approached the black dragon. Charcoal pondered as he counted - there were 10 group leaders. Two scouting group, two aerial group, five strike group and one boulder group. It seemed enough for his unconventional plan to tackle the problem.
"We'll start with introduction." Charcoal began. "Scouting group?"
An old Titan-Wing Changewing and a young, chocolate-scaled Woolly Howl stepped forward. The first one introduced himself. "My name is Mengu. Leader of Scouting Group A." He slightly bowed. "Former alpha of Changewing Island."
"My name is Henry. Leader of Scouting Group B." The young Woolly Howl introduced himself. "I was a dragon messenger when I was drafted."
Charcoal nodded, before turning to look at the others. "Air group?"
Two dragons stepped forward. They were Dramillions - purple dragons with spiky head, small forelimbs and finned tail. They looked like brothers. "My name is Harald. This is..."
"Ronald." The second Dramillion finished the sentence.
The first Dramillion - now known as Harald, nodded. "We are the leaders of air group, A and B respectively. We were drafted when migrating to Hidden World."
"Are you two brothers?" Charcoal questioned.
"We are." Ronald the younger Dramillion answered the question.
"Remember to take care of each other." The black dragon gave them reminder, before moving on to the next one. "Boulder group?"
A dragon with light-blue scale stepped forward. This one had pointed chin, head frill, stubby arms and paddle-shaped tail. He was recognised as a Shovelhelm. "The name's Edvard." He introduced himself. "Leader of boulder group. I used to dig mountainside for dragons to nest."
"Alright." Charcoal nodded, before turning to look at the rest. "Strike group?"
They were Deadly Nadders and Monstrous Nightmares. The first one - a male Deadly Nadder - spoke up. "Andries."
"Agatha." The other one - a female Deadly Nadder - continued.
"Hartman." A male Monstrous Nightmare grunted.
"Marie." A female Monstrous Nightmare softly introduced herself.
"I'm Paula." The last one, which was a female Monstrous Nightmare, introduced herself.
Charcoal was satisfied. "As you probably already know, my name is Charcoal. I'm your general." He exhaled his breath. "... to make things simpler, I'll start with this: how your group perform will affect how other groups perform."
The dragons fell silent. The newly inducted general stood from the ground. "The scouting group is responsible for scouting our enemy, as well as spying them for possible opportunity to exploit." Charcoal began walking around in circle. "The information will then be used to plan this raid by all groups involved. Our chance of success depends on what we know."
Dragons began glancing at the scouting group leaders. The male Night Fury stopped at the centre. "The strike groups are the horn of this raid." He explained. "They are the dragons fighting on the ground. Before the raid, they will support other groups as much as they can."
One of the strike group leaders decided to ask. "How can we support them?"
"They will come to you when they need something." Charcoal answered the question. "It can range from being messenger dragon, or carrying goods that scouting party stole for us to study."
Dragons nodded in unison. That made sense to them; the less time they needed to do those errands, the more they could squeeze on their time budget. It was then they realised that everyone had their role to play for overall success.
The black dragon exhaled his breath. "For the next one... air groups are agile fighters. They can fly the highest and the fastest amongst most of us. They will be the one to control the air." He continued speaking. "They are there to make sure that dragons on the ground are not caught by surprise. Before the raid, they will help scouting party gather information."
"How can we help them?" Ronald the Dramillion asked.
"That is something you must discuss with the scouting group." Charcoal answered the question. "If I may suggest, you can have your group observe Lava-Lout Island from very high above. It would greatly help them in case something was amiss."
"Yes, general."
"And lastly, the boulder group." The male Night Fury turned to face the Shovelhelm. "Your group is responsible to build and demolish structures that will help everyone survive the raid."
That seem to confuse everyone. Edvard the Shovelhelm decided to ask. "How can we help?"
"Many things. For example, you can make hidden tunnels from the outskirts of the village to the island cliffside." Charcoal answered, staring at him. "Humans sometimes gather around to hunt one or two specific dragons during a raid. Those dragons can run through the tunnel and fly out from the cliffside. It makes them easier to escape, and thus, saving their lives."
Dragons nodded in understanding. That sounded like a lifesaver. The male Night Fury continued speaking. "Boulder group will be helping other group prepare themselves." Charcoal explained. "Their knowledge in rocks and irons will help you know if something can be destroyed or not, and how many shots to do it. This will be important during the raid."
The Shovelhelm straightened himself. "I will do my best to help."
Charcoal nodded approvingly. "The survival of each group is important for everyone. I don't want to see you mindlessly throwing bodies at problems." His expression was serious. "You and your group are irreplaceable. Do not take unnecessary risk on your task, especially before the raid even happen. Understand?"
"Yes, general." The dragons chorused.
"Good. We will start with gathering information about Lava-Louts and their equipment. The rest of the group will practice fight amongst your group. It will keep them in shape." Charcoal informed them, before looking around the place. "This place will be our gathering place. We will start planning our raid once we have enough information."
"Yes, general."
After the meeting was done, Charcoal stayed back to clean up the area. There were some rocky thorns at the ceiling that could hurt dragons on the ground if they were not careful.
Getting rid of them was easy enough, since the place was rather empty. The difficult part was moving away the rocky thorns.
"Hrrk!" Charcoal grunted as he pushed the last rocks at the far corner of the area. Once that was done, he moved back to see the pile of rocks. "There we go. That should be everything."
Seeing that was done, Charcoal took flight and headed out from the meeting area through large tunnel. Just as he passed a three-way tunnel, he saw something around the corner. Flying back, he saw Edvard standing close at a lava pool. Curious, the Night Fury flew to check.
Entering the place, Charcoal noted the place. It was a large clearing with lava pool on one side, and water pool at the other. The water was also clean; they were rainwater that came through the soil from surface. The Night Fury was surprised to find such place.
However, what caught his attention were large blueish berry bushes around the corner. Charcoal recognised the plant; it was the Bomberry bush. Bomberry itself was a spiky chocolate-coloured hard-shell berry the size of dragon head. The giant berries were on the ground, attached to the bush.
The plant itself was apparent and distinctive, mostly since they grew on red volcanic soil. This made them easy to notice. It was rather common around Dragon Island. The plant was considered native within the island, since there was no other similar plant anywhere around the region.
Charcoal carefully landed. Knowing what it was, he steered clear from the plant and its berry. It was known by dragons that bomberry would spontaneously combust and explode for no reason. That was how the plant spread their seeds around the place, and it had unfortunately injured inattentive dragons in the past.
Keeping that in mind, the Night Fury turned to face the Shovelhelm. He was at the water pool, facing down at something there. "Edvard?"
Edvard the Shovelhelm turned around, revealing an opened bomberry. "General Charcoal!" He exclaimed, happy to see him there.
Charcoal gaped for a moment. "What..." He paused as he thought about what to say. "Edvard, what are you doing?"
"I'm having dinner, General Charcoal!" The Shovelhelm happy responded, before eating the innards of the berry. Charcoal was reminded of a human drinking soup from a bowl. Once that was done, Edvard exhaled his breath, before noticing that Charcoal was still there. "Want one?"
Charcoal had never seen anyone getting close to a bomberry, let alone cracking them open and eating one. That made him incredibly curious. "Sure." He responded as he moved closer. "I've never eaten bomberry before."
"Oh, you need to taste it!" Edvard threw the empty shells aside, before moving to grab something from the water. It was a bomberry - interesting enough, the spikes were all dull and rounded. The Shovelhelm jabbed his claws into it, cracking them open. "Here."
The Night Fury stared at the fruit presented to him. The innards of a bomberry were simply a cluster of small red seeds. They were roughly the size and shape of giant acorns. Charcoal sat on his hindlegs, before accepting the fruit with his paws. Placing them on the ground, he was fascinated by its appearance.
Charcoal prodded the acorn-look-a-like. They were surprisingly wet and squishy, almost jelly-like. "Are these... bomberry seeds?"
"Yes!" Edvard eagerly nodded. "It's safe to eat. I had four."
Taking the leap of faith, the Night Fury grabbed the first half and took a sip.
Charcoal widened his eyes. It tasted sweet, tart and bitter at the same time. The combination made them quite delicious in his tongue. They were fresh and hydrating. After tasting them the first time, he went and gulped down the rest of the fruit.
After that was out, Charcoal dropped the shell and moved to eat the other half. The Shovelhelm was happy that Charcoal was enjoying them. While he was busy eating, Edvard went to the bush to grab more fruit.
Charcoal had just finished another shell when he noticed Edvard approaching the explosive plant. The Night Fury simply watched; he wanted to know how he did it.
The Shovelhelm carefully grabbed one of the bomberries, before cutting the branch connecting it with the plant. He then rushed to the water pool and dumped the bomberry into it.
The fruit hissed like heated stone dumped into cold water. Charcoal leaned down to see what was happening to the fruit. It slowly sank to the ground, emitting bubbles through its shell skin. It looked like the fruit was being moisturised under the water. That was most likely how he disarmed them.
The Night Fury was fascinated - they never thought about dumping them into water before, mainly because getting rid of them usually involve detonating the fruit and burning the plant. They never thought about eating them, mainly because of how dangerous they were.
After some time, Charcoal decided to ask. "How did you find out about this?"
"Ah, General Charcoal-"
"Just Charcoal, please." The Night Fury interrupted. "At least when I'm not on duty."
"Yes. Err... Charcoal. I'm not used to stay too long at places like this. There are not many things to eat." Edvard looked rather embarrassed. "I lived in western side of Barbaric Archipelago when I was drafted. It's much easier to find food there."
Charcoal tilted his head. "So, you're always hungry."
"Not... always. I never had the time to fish because they're always too far." The Shovelhelm admitted. "I can't compete and fight with Gronckles for fish all the time. I decided to take human approach and experimented with fruits!"
The Night Fury thought that was ingenious. Dragons were often too prideful to take human approach. It was comforting to know someone was open minded. "That's very smart."
Edvard was happy to hear that praise. "Thank you!"
The two decided to put more bomberries into the pond. While waiting for the fruits to finish, Charcoal went outside to fish for the Shovelhelm.
It was his way to express gratitude after being taught about the fruit. At the end of the night, Edvard was eating fish from small pile, while Charcoal was collecting the bomberry from water.
Edward noticed this and panicked. "Wait, no!" He stopped the Night Fury. "Leave them in the water."
Charcoal hesitantly put them back into the pond. "Why? Did they become explosive after too long?"
"Yes. They can dry and become explosive." The Shovelhelm nodded his head. He was serious. "They make bigger boom if you let it dry overnight."
The Night Fury nodded in understanding. He was happy to have that knowledge. "Thanks for everything, Edvard." Charcoal expressed his gratitude, before realising something. "Where are your group?"
"Ah, Ge- Charcoal." Edvard looked a bit down. "Dragons in my group are too busy with their lives. Some went to visit parents; some went to check their mate; you gave us free time after so long."
"Hrr..." Charcoal softened his expression. He never thought that his dragons were overworked before. That was not a good look for an army. "What about you?"
The Shovelhelm seemed to smile. "I eat, sleep, train and fight."
The Night Fury was about to comment, before realising he had the same routine before meeting Toothless. "Fair." Charcoal admitted, before grabbing some of the bomberry from the pond. "Do you mind if I take some of them home?"
"Yes, but do not leave them uneaten overnight." Edvard warned.
"Okay. Thanks, Edvard. I appreciate it."
"Toothless, I'm home!"
The Night Fury dragoness was busy gulping down a fish when Charcoal arrived. She had gone fishing herself since Charcoal took a while to return. "Harr..."
The male dragon entered the nest, carrying something on his paws. The nest was dimly lit by purple flame at the corner. Charcoal approached the dragoness, before dropping the disarmed bomberries right in front of her.
It took some time for Toothless to process what those were. She quickly leaped away. "KRAAA!"
"Wait, Toothless-"
"Charcoal, are you insane?!" Toothless roared. She was confused and angry; Charcoal brought bomberries into their nest. "Those things are dangerous!"
"Toothless, I know they are dangerous." Charcoal patiently explained as he sat on his hindlegs. "But these things are delicious."
That baffled the dragoness. "What are you talking about?" Toothless demanded, before realising something. "Wait, how did it not explode when you carried them here?"
"A dragon in the army found out how to disarm them." The male dragon moved to grab one of the bomberries. He jabbed his claws and began cracking open the shell. "At least for the night. They'll become explosive again in the morning."
Toothless became intrigued. She moved closer to look. "How did they do that?"
"They just put them into water." Charcoal answered, before offering her the opened bomberry. "Here."
The dragoness was wary, expecting the fruit to explode at any moment. The red and watery acorn-like seeds did look appetising.
Wanting to give them a try, Toothless sat on her hindlegs and sipped from the shell. Eyes wide, she quickly gulped down the rest. Once that was done, she dropped the shell and licked her own lips.
Charcoal was happy to see her enjoying them. "What do you think?"
"The most refreshing thing I've drank for a long time." Toothless answered, before grabbing the other half of the fruit. "Perfect fruit after finishing your fish."
"I might bring more later when I have the time." The male dragon exhaled his breath. He was exhausted. "... skies above, I wish I hadn't challenged my dad over his methods."
The dragoness finished gulping down the fruit, before responding. "No. You did the right thing." Toothless assured him. "Your father tried to punish you for doing your job. You're just defending yourself."
"But still..." Charcoal hesitated. "All of this wouldn't happen if I didn't do that."
Toothless grabbed the next bomberry on the ground. "You can't always look up to your father, Charcoal." She advised as she worked to open the shell. "Trust me, I've been there. My dad is the best at his job, but sometimes... I tend to forget that he's just a dragon."
The male dragon noted her hesitance. "Just a dragon?"
"My dad is not perfect or flawless. He's just a dragon that knows what he's doing." The dragoness cracked open the shell with her claws, before continuing her response. "But sometimes, the way they did things are outdated. It's common for dragons with long lifespan. That's not really a good thing when everything around you keeps on changing, especially in war."
Charcoal thought that made sense. "It's hard to adapt when you get older."
"Exactly." Toothless paused to drink the fruit from its shell. After finishing them, she continued speaking. "We need to hash out our training. Are you stuck in your studies?"
The male dragon was deep in thought. His studies on Life-Force were surprisingly quick - it was attributed to his quick learning nature. Regardless, it was no excuse to slack off on his training.
Body Reinforcement was a common spell to harden their scales. Each blow could be deflected, as long they have the reserve. The larger and stronger the impact, the more mana it would cost. Charcoal was getting used to enduring catapult shot blow; it was part of his training.
That wasted half of his mana reserve for each blow. It was painful, but at least he was alive.
His Psychic-Force study with Furious was going well, albeit slower than his Life-Force study. He had just started learning about telekinesis. That was expected. The latter was known to be easy to learn.
Charcoal could see why dragons never bothered learning anything other than Life-Force. From recharging shots to extending its range - its spells empowered existing abilities. Only half the dragon population learned telepathy, and most of them only knew thought sharing.
"I think I'm good, for now." Charcoal decided, before remembering something. "You still haven't told me your family secret."
"Oh?" Toothless grabbed the next bomberry, before working on cracking the shell. "Is that what we call them now?"
"I told you about Psychic-Force. My mom invented it in secret." The male dragon pointed out. "I think it's fair if you shared yours."
"That's fair." The dragoness commented, before drinking bomberry seeds from its shell. She licked her lips after she was done. "... right. Family secret. I can't really say much; my dad never taught me, and he didn't want anyone to know. My secret techniques are usually variations of existing ones."
Charcoal tilted his head. "Variations?"
"Body Reinforcement can be altered to enhance our senses and reflex." Toothless gave her answer. She pushed the empty shell away. "I can react faster than I would normally but maintaining that requires concentration. That's how I won many fights."
"Hraa..." The male dragon was impressed. Spells that require concentration, like telekinesis, could be broken by distraction, like pain or surprise. She must have been good at maintaining concentration. "You made them yourself?"
"Yup!" The dragoness simply smiled. "So! What are you planning to do next to finish this assignment?"
"I'm thinking about asking other dragon generals for information and advice." Charcoal answered the question. He was deep in thought. "They have more knowledge on what we're about to face."
"You don't want to ask for help?"
"Maybe. I don't know if they can." The male dragon admitted. "They're currently dealing with better equipped humans; I don't think they have any resource to spare. Having knowledge alone is useful for us, and we can ask for help after we know what we're about to face."
"You're the general." Toothless shrugged her wings. "Just make sure not to push yourself. We don't need to make our situation worse before we even start."
"I'll try my best."