Few days later, Charcoal returned to Dragon Island. He had been searching for other generals of the Red Rage for threat assessment of the new weapons their army was facing. The male Night Fury wanted to learn more about what they knew.
'Just need to look for that Monstrous Nightmare, dad's supposed second-in-command.' Charcoal thought as he flew into the main chamber of the volcano. There were plenty of dragons flying around. 'Never met him before, but he was the one that's supposed to deliver orders and share information. For average dragons, anyway.'
The black dragon thought it was strange that he was not even aware of his name. Granted, he would get direct summon by Furious whenever he was given a task or assignment. His role was rather specialised - mainly bailing out dragon raids that went wrong.
He was never introduced to anyone after becoming a general. There did not seem to be any coordination amongst generals in charge. Worst of all, other generals seem to be avoiding him. Charcoal was especially irritated by this.
He needed their assessment about the new weapons they were facing. While Charcoal knew they were lethal, his dragons had no idea how to face them. It was most likely that the generals had assessed the threat themselves.
'At least, I hope they did.' Charcoal worryingly thought. 'Because things can get complicated if they did not.'
"General Charcoal?"
The black dragon blinked. He glanced to his left and saw someone familiar. "Henry, you're here!"
It was one of Charcoal's soldier. Henry the Woolly Howl. The leader of the scouting group. "Skies with you, sir." He responded while adjusting his flight speed. "We just finished our task. We are currently on break."
The black dragon remembered asking information about mapping the island. "Good. Just remember not to forget anything..." He trailed off as he remembered something. "Wait, Henry. Who was your general before reassignment?"
"It was General Grosvenor." Henry answered. He was hesitant. "I was his second-in-command."
"General Grosvenor." Charcoal repeated the name. "Can you lead me to him?"
"I am not sure it is wise, general." The Woolly Howl advised.
"I've been searching for other generals and Furious' second-in-command for three days." The black dragon complained. There was annoyance in his voice. "I want to hear about the new Viking weapons from them, but they seem to be avoiding me. This is most unusual."
"Harr..." The brown-scaled dragon exhaled his breath. "May I gather my dragons first?"
"Yes. The more the merrier."
Few hours later, Charcoal after Henry went to collect few other dragons, they headed to the place where General Grosvenor usually dwell. The flock was flying in the night sky, away from Dragon Island. Charcoal wondered if they were heading to the home of the general.
Feeling unsure, the black dragon decided to ask. "Henry, are we heading to his private nest?"
"Yes, sir."
Charcoal was concerned. That did not sound normal. "Is that something only he does, or...?"
"He is allowed to command his army from his nest, sir." Henry glanced at him, curious by that question.
"I'm surprised Furious allowed this." The black dragon commented. "He's usually strict about his policies."
Some dragons snorted, as if holding back laugher. Charcoal was about to start when Henry responded. "His father was Furious' second-in-command when he became a general, sir."
"Ah. Nepotism." Charcoal grumbled under his breath. He adjusted his flight path. "Why did his father leave?"
"He died of old age, sir."
"Of course..."
Eventually, they reached the private nest. It was an island with massive forest mountain within. There was nothing notable about them, except for a fleet of longships not far from it.
Henry the Woolly Howl led the flock through a bright and massive cave entrance. Charcoal noted that there was a cliff there, most likely for dragons to land.
Entering the place, the black dragon reared at the smell. "By the skies, what is this smell?" He scrunched his nose. "It smells like rotten fish."
Dragons at the flock had similar opinion, but they kept their mouth shut. The group eventually arrived at the other end of the tunnel, which revealed a bright and large cave clearing. Charcoal almost gagged upon seeing the sight of the nest.
Fish. Fish everywhere. It was reminiscent of the olden tales of dragon hoard, except the hoard was smelly fish instead of gold coins. The edges of the pile were filled with rotting fish, some of which were rotten to the bones. It was a wonder how long those fishes had been there.
That was not all, however. At the top of the fish pile, there was an enormous Monstrous Nightmare. Unlike most of his kind, he was round and chubby. His neck was thick like a snake. His body was so large; Charcoal wondered how he could fly.
It was the first time he ever seen a dragon incredibly overweight.
The red dragon had been eating when the flock landed just at the edge of the pile. The Monstrous Nightmare was gobbling fishes into his maw. Gulping them down, he decided to speak. "Who are you to come to my home?"
Henry the Woolly Howl was about to speak until Charcoal moved forward. "General Grosvenor?" The Night Fury questioned. "Am I speaking with him?"
"I am who you speak of." The Monstrous Nightmare - now known as Grosvenor - almost snarled. "Talk. You're interrupting my dinner."
"I am Charcoal, General of the Red Rage." The Night Fury introduced himself. "I've been looking for information about the new human weapons. I assume you've assessed them?"
"Human weapons..." Grosvenor pondered for some time. He was eyeing the Night Fury, as if remembered something. "Hmm... we know nothing of these weapons you speak of."
Charcoal sensed his deception. "Can I ask your dragons what they know?"
"I said, we know nothing of these weapons you speak of!" Grosvenor let out a roar. He looked rather angry. "Leave and never come back!"
The Night Fury felt his temper rise. He had been denied the knowledge he needed. It was unacceptable. "General Grosvenor, it is unwise to hide relevant information from your allies." He almost snarled. "The life and death of the army depends on it."
"Grr..." The Monstrous Nightmare seem to snarl. He slowly crawled down from the pile, stomping his legs while doing so. "I have been a general for 40 years. No one dared to talk to me like that."
Other dragons backed off, while Charcoal and Henry remained. General Grosvenor stopped right in front of them. It was obvious that the Monstrous Nightmare was roughly ten times bigger than them. That was probably why he became a general of the dragon army.
Charcoal was undaunted. "I dare."
"Grr..." Grosvenor was angered by that. He took a deep breath, before letting out a bellowing roar.
"GROAAAAA!!!"
It was so loud, dragons scampered out from the nest. Charcoal remained there. Henry instinctively moved to hide behind the Night Fury. Grosvenor roared until he ran out of breath. The sound echoed throughout the island.
Once that finally ended, he was surprised to see the black dragon remained.
Charcoal was unimpressed. It smelled of taint and rotten fish. "General Grosvenor, I come here to speak as a general to a friendly general." He spoke as if speaking to a toddler. "I dare to speak because you are belittling me."
"You were chosen few weeks ago, leading an army to their death march." Grosvenor growled. He sounded rather condescending. "I have every right to belittle you."
The black dragon narrowed his eyes. "So, you know what my army is up against." He accused. "Yet, you let us to die."
"Gra..." The giant Monstrous Nightmare seem to chuckle, before letting out a full-blown laughter. "GRAHAHAHAHA!"
Then, Grosvenor suddenly moved right in front of Charcoal. Their snouts were almost touching. "You are meant to fail." The giant Monstrous Nightmare let out a growl. "Your army is full of filth and betrayers - those who dare to question us were sent to their death march."
Charcoal caught the giant Monstrous Nightmare flicked his eyes at Henry the Woolly Howl. It did not take long for him to realise what he meant by that. He was quick enough to hide his shock. "You never know." Charcoal challenged. "Perhaps we will succeed."
"Gra... haha..." Grosvenor seem to chuckle, before rearing back to his hindlegs, revealing his full length. He towered over the two strike class dragons. "With your army, you are challenging the impossible. Your arrogance will be your downfall."
The Night Fury was annoyed that he was underestimating them. "You think your army can crush them in one go?"
"My army is undefeated!" The Monstrous Nightmare boasted. "After your failure, we will deal with them."
Charcoal took a deep breath as he tempered his anger. That answer explained many things; from the size and condition of his army, and who his soldiers were. It was something he vaguely suspected from the start. Hearing them directly confirmed that suspicion.
The Night Fury darkened his expression. "... we're leaving."
Grosvenor merely sent him a smug look. Charcoal took off into the air, followed by Henry the Woolly Howl. They flew through the cave tunnel, heading out from the place.
The two dragons landed at the balcony outside the cave entrance. Other dragons that fled during the roar were there. The group immediately checked on them. "Henry! General Charcoal! Are you okay?"
"We're fine." Charcoal interrupted. He gave them wry expression. "We just had a bit of talk."
A young Deadly Nadder decided to ask. "Did you learn something?"
Both Charcoal and Henry glanced at each other, before looking back at them. The black dragon decided that it was best to be honest. "Yes." He responded. "There will be no help from other generals. We are on our own."
The dragons faltered. Charcoal looked away, before heading to the edge of the cliff. Others followed him behind. The Night Fury sat on his hindlegs, watching the ocean wave from afar. He was staring with forlorn look, conflicted as to what to do with the situation.
Henry moved next to him. He sat on his hindlegs. "... general." The Woolly Howl started. "If I may..."
Charcoal glanced at him. "Go on."
"We... already know this." Henry hesitantly explained. "We knew we are on a death march."
The black dragon silently exhaled his breath. He looked back to the ocean. "... how absurd do you think that is?" Charcoal wondered, as if questioning the great beyond. "What is the price of a dragon's life? To send them for a death march when they became sick and old..."
"Some of us wanted a glorifying death, sir." The Woolly Howl commented. "They knew what they signed up for."
Charcoal thought that made sense. Some dragons saw dying of old age as something to be ashamed of. It was considered the greatest shame by those who seek the thrill of a fight. The black dragon thought that was strange, but considering the culture of their species, it made sense.
They wanted to be fondly remembered.
However, that ignored the other half of dragon population. They were drafted into the war. They did not want to participate in the war. And yet, they were in the army. Charcoal did not know what to feel.
Regardless, there was no going back. They had to look forward. "Would it bring them pride if they dared the impossible?"
"Sir, we are daring the impossible."
Charcoal turned around to face his dragons. The scouting group looked pleased, as if they knew what he had been trying to do. Henry the Woolly Howl gave him wry expression. "You gave us hope; you want to try something different. That's why we tried."
The black dragon realised they had accepted their fate from the start. They knew they were on their own; Grosvenor merely confirmed that fact. While he did give them hope, they still held to that acceptance.
They accepted the fact that they were already dead. Figuratively speaking.
Other dragons noticed his shift in expression. Henry looked concerned. "General?"
"Tell me, Henry." Charcoal stared at him. "How far do you want to go to defy their expectations?"
The Woolly Howl straightened himself. "As far as I can be... sir."
The Night Fury glanced at the others. Dragons were nodding along, agreeing with that sentiment. "Good." He nodded, before turning to look at something at the beach somewhat far from them. "Because we are going to steal human weapons."
Other dragons moved to see what he was staring at. There were Viking longships docked at the beach. It had the flag of Lava-Lout crest on its sail. Henry was shocked. "Vikings? At this island? How?!"
"No dragons are stationed within five miles from here." Charcoal answered the question. "There's no one to defend this place."
"And General Grosvenor's roar scared everyone at the island." Henry realised the coincidence. "The Vikings faced no resistance. It was how they managed to dock."
"Considering they would be busy searching the source of that roar, their ships should be relatively unattended." The Night Fury commented, before glancing at the others. "Ready for snatch and grab? We can study them with everyone."
Dragons murmured in agreement. Henry the Woolly Howl voiced their sentiment. "We can do that before turning in the night."
"Go on ahead." Charcoal gestured with his wings. "I'll follow and help."
"Y- Yes, general." Henry stuttered a bit, before taking off into the sky. Others followed suit, with Charcoal flying in the middle of the flock.
At some point, one of the dragons decided to ask. "Should we inform General Grosvenor?"
"I am sure General Grosvenor can defend himself." Charcoal sounded sarcastic. "After all, his army is undefeatable. I am sure that translates to him as well."
Understanding the intention, dragons fell silent. It was just a few humans, after all.
Few weeks had passed. They were slowly entering the planning stage.
The planning area had been transformed from a plain cave clearing to something out of their imagination. At the centre of the area was a massive miniature island made of wood and rocks, which depicted Lava-Lout Island in detail.
Dragons from different groups gathered around the place, discussing their strategy.
Around the corners were human weapons. Some were on rock pedestals, while others stood on its own stand. There were all sorts of things: from javelins, bows, swords, axes and shields to trebuchets, catapults and even ballistae. There were even wooden logs with human face carved on them - dummies, they called them.
Dragons were inspecting them to exploit possible weaknesses. The scouting groups, being the most familiar with them, were the ones explaining them to the rest.
"... pulled by humans at the back, and it's ready to shoot." Charcoal was explaining how ballistae worked to Toothless, along with other watching dragons. He was helping since he knew how they operate. "All they need to do is just aim and pull the lever to fire."
"Hrr..." Toothless was inspecting the ballistae. It looked like an overgrown crossbow mounted on a cart. Given the position of the human dummy, she realised her knowledge was wrong. "The arrow comes from this end?"
"Yes." Charcoal nodded. "It comes from the mount point."
"I always thought it was from the other end." The dragoness pondered. "Then again, I've never seen this thing fire."
"Anything that fire arrows, small or giant, have most of their weight at the back." The male Night Fury further explained. "That's where humans hold them. You can know where they are aiming based on where they are looking, and the rear position of the ballista."
One dragon nearby decided to ask. "What if we can't see the rear?"
"There are two reasons why you might not see the rear of the ballista." Charcoal responded as he sat on his hindlegs. He rotated the ballista, showcasing its appearance. "Either it's destroyed, or it's pointing at you."
Other dragons murmured amongst themselves. Toothless decided to ask. "How can they build them so quickly?" She questioned. "I noticed that humans always have them ready on every dragon raid."
The male Night Fury lowered his paw, stopping the rotation. "Because they were improperly destroyed."
"Improperly destroyed?"
"Our scouts had observed how humans make these weapons." Charcoal elaborated, rotating the ballista to face opposite direction, revealing the rear section. "They noticed that most of the complex parts are hard to make. It would take a week for a human to make one - if they know what they were doing."
"This ballista is made of wood. It's easy to destroy. Even a Terrible Terror can take it out." The male Night Fury explained, before using his claw to point at the metallic section at the rear. "But if the complex part is intact, they can put them on new ballista in just few hours. If you want to permanently destroy them, take out the rear section."
Dragons nodded in understanding. They took mental notes on where to shoot their fire. It would be important for the upcoming raid. They needed to be as efficient as possible.
They did not want the Lava-Lout Vikings putting up too much resistance to the point of attrition. It would be disastrous for them.
"General Charcoal!"
The male Night Fury turned around. Edvard the Shovelhelm was waddling towards him. He looked rather hurried. Charcoal became concerned. "Edvard, did something happen?"
Stopping in front of Charcoal, Edvard gave his report. "General, one of the strike groups captured a human ship."
"A human ship?"
"Yes, sir." The Shovelhelm nodded. "You have to see this."
Few hours later, Toothless and Charcoal went flying to an empty forest island. Edvard the Shovelhelm was leading them through the night sky. They flew above the forest, before arriving at the clearing. There were dragons within the area. The three dragons landed close to the ship.
"It's here, General." Edvard gestured at the ship.
"Thank you." Charcoal nodded. "You can leave."
The Shovelhelm bowed, before flying away, heading back to Dragon Island. After he left, Toothless and Charcoal moved to check what the army had found.
The ship massive; it almost towered the huge trees around the forest. It was put on land - presumably to hide them from humans. The sails were cleanly cut from the base of the pole.
Dragons from boulder group were busy ensuring that the ship would remain still there, while other dragons were inspecting the place. However, that was not what Charcoal found unusual.
"This is not a Viking ship." Charcoal realised.
"We doubt they are. They come from the southeast."
Glancing to the side, the male Night Fury noticed Harald and Ronald, the Dramillion brothers from air groups were approaching him. "Harald. Ronald."
"General." Ronald straightened himself.
Charcoal decided to ask the first question. "Were there any casualties?"
"No, sir. The humans fled and jumped off ship when they realised our presence." Ronald gave his report. The Dramillion was somewhat tense. "The strike group went back after we moved the ship to land."
"Good. Let's check what's inside then." The male Night Fury responded, before leaped onto the ship. He landed just as others went to the ship as well.
There were plenty of large wooden crates around the ship deck; all of them sealed tight. There were metal grates that led to the lower deck, which was large enough for dragons to fit through if they opened them. Charcoal moved to inspect the boxes, trying to find any signs of origin.
"Hrr..." The male Night Fury hummed. It was difficult to discern the text in complete darkness. "... spices. Looks like they come from China."
Toothless approached to check. "What do you think they're doing here?"
"Most likely to trade. Spices are incredibly valuable." Charcoal hummed as he sniffed the box. It was rather airtight, most likely to avoid damage and preserve its quality. The crates were as big as a Gronckle. "This is most likely a merchant ship. Now if only I can check just one box..."
The male black dragon moved to wedge his claws at one of the edges, before pushing them in. The box creaked as the nails became undone. Charcoal pulled the one of its sides, opening the crate.
However, instead of letting it fall, the male Night Fury pushed them to the side, before looking into the crate.
There were stacks of small wooden boxes inside. They were flat and rectangular. "That's strange." Charcoal voiced his confusion.
"What's strange?" Toothless questioned as she peered inside.
"I was expecting powders of spices pouring out instead of this." The male Night Fury responded, before dragging one of the small crates out with his paws. It was heavy for its size. "If the spices are in these boxes, they wouldn't put them in large crates. They'd have them out in open at lower deck."
Ronald the Dramillion sniffed the smaller box. "So, this is a... smuggler ship?"
"Most likely." Charcoal answered as he searched for ways to open the small crate without damaging them. "They like to disguise themselves to transport their goods."
"But anyone can open the crate to check." Toothless pointed out.
"They can, but spices are incredibly fragile. Water can destroy them. That's why the crates are sealed." The male Night Fury responded as he attempted to open the small crate. "If the soldier inspecting them damaged the goods, they'll be answering to the place where the ship came from. Spices are well known luxury, so they wouldn't dare to open them."
Creak!
The smaller crate was finally opened. Charcoal pushed the top cover away, before leaning to check inside. "... if I were to guess, these must be incredibly valuable and illegal."
Other dragons leaned to check. There was a pile of stell metal balls on the left side of the crate, and the right side had stacks of cloth bags containing some sort of powder substance. Toothless was the one to sniff them. They smelt like saltpetre and sulphur.
Harald the Dramillion was confused. "What... is this?"
"That's what I'd like to find out." Charcoal commented, glancing at the large crate. "What makes them valuable that they went with such effort to smuggle these..."
"It smells like fire." Toothless commented.
"Hrr..." The male black dragon looked deep in thought. He pondered the purpose of those goods. They looked like chemical things, and they looked familiar. "I'm going to check the lower deck. There could be something to explain this."
"We haven't checked the lower deck." Harald pointed out. "There could be humans in there."
Charcoal was incredulous. "We stole a smuggler ship and hide them on land, but we haven't checked what's inside?"
"We did sent request to scouting party to check." Ronald the Dramillion added. "They haven't arrived yet."
"Of course they haven't arrived. They were busy telling tales about human weapons." The male Night Fury was almost sarcastic. He exhaled his breath, before started giving orders. "Ronald, make sure outside is secure. Toothless, Harald, you re coming with me. Let's check the lower deck."
The lower deck of the ship was rather dark and spacious - there were plenty of large wooden crate stacked around the place, making them look like a small maze. Some lights shined down from the metal grates above, but the place was mostly darkness.
Suddenly, one of the metal grates was opened aside. Three dragons jumped down into what seemed to be a clearing amongst the stacked crates. Toothless and Harald watched their surroundings, while Charcoal sniffed the air. It smelled thick of oil and sulphur.
Charcoal glanced at the others. He used telepathy to communicate. "Careful. Don't use fire."
Harald smelled them as well. "Oil smell in the air. Watch your steps." He responded with telepathy. "Where do we go first?"
"We need to look for the captain's quarters." The male Night Fury responded as he carefully walked down one of the hallways. Others followed him behind. "They should have information on what they are transporting."
They were careful on their steps because it could be a trap. Heading down the hall of crates, they found a double door at the end. They were closed, but Charcoal noted a small creak, implying that it was unlocked. "First door. Possible humans inside."
Dragons carefully took their stance to breach. Taking the lead, Charcoal tried to push the door. Surprisingly, it did not budge. Peeking through the cracks, he saw something propping the door. Seeing that there was no other way, he took a deep breath, before barging through the door.
BANG!
Whatever propping the door was broken by the charging Night Fury. Charcoal quickly stopped and went to fighting stance as everyone rushed in. Upon seeing the surrounding, however, he widened his eyes. "Skies above, what happened here?"
Human bodies littered everywhere; some at the tables, while most on the floor. There was no blood or anything similar, implying that their cause of death was not physical. Charcoal smelled vomit mixed with oil fumes inside, meaning that they were most likely poisoned in some way.
Toothless carefully moved closer to one of the bodies. She prodded them with her paws. "Cold. No signs of injury. Were they poisoned?"
"Not likely." Harald answered as he checked the rest of the room. There were barrels stacked everywhere. Those did not smell like human food or drink. "This is not their eating place."
"No. They were poisoned." Charcoal realised, before moving to smell the barrels. Those were filled brim with oils. "Oil fumes are poisonous to humans. One of these barrels are leaking and somehow poisoned the entire ship."
"And the humans never knew..." The Dramillion realised as well. "These barrels look like human drinks to hide their content. They died here because they didn't know what was leaking."
"It made sense that the humans didn't know." The male Night Fury nodded in agreement. "There's a chance for some of them to talk."
It made sense for them. The less humans knew about it, the less chance it might be discovered. The ship crews were most likely unaware that they were working on a smuggling ship. In their mind, they thought they were working for a merchant ship travelling around the world.
The Night Fury dragoness noticed something from the corner of her eyes. It was a pile of barrels. She moved to check what she saw, only to see a small puddle of oil. The smell of sulphur was incredibly strong. "I think I found the leaking oil."
Other dragons approached them. Charcoal moved the barrels to reach for the leaking one. Upon finding it, he carefully moved them out. It looked like it had been opened before and improperly closed, exposing them to the air at the ship. It was labelled as some sort of mead originated from Denmark.
"Looks like some of the humans went looking for drinks." The male Night Fury summarised, before noticing a prybar hidden amongst the barrels. He pulled it out with his paws, revealing them to everyone. "They opened the barrel and found oil instead."
"I guess that's why they abandoned ship when we arrived." Harald looked around the place. "This place is airtight; there's no air coming in or out. The toxic oil smell spread fast through the ship and killed everyone within a day."
"But what is it doing here? Where is this ship heading?" Toothless wondered. "Oil is incredibly expensive, right? They can't be smuggling this many for no reason."
"It could be heading for Greater Archipelago. I know a human faction willing to buy these things." Charcoal darkly thought. "We need to find the captain's room - where the human ship leader sleeps. They should have everything we want to know about the ship."
Harald the Dramillion sniffed the air. "... we are at the front side of the ship."
"Then we need to move to the opposite end." The male Night fury decided. "Captain's room is usually at the back."
"I will lead the way." Harald volunteered.
The captain's quarters, like many rooms before them, were rather dark and spacious. There were many different crates of all sizes, as well as all sorts of trinkets hanging on the walls.
At the centre of the room was a large table, which had plenty of papers strewn about. There was even a large chair there.
The door suddenly creaked open, revealing Harald the Dramillion peeking inside. Seeing that it was clear, he pushed the door and entered the room. Toothless and Charcoal followed behind. Observing around the place, they noted the trinkets on the walls.
"This place is beautiful." Toothless commented, staring at some of the paintings. Some of which were paintings of land nature. "I always wondered what mainland looked like."
"Maybe we can visit after the war." Charcoal suggested as he walked to the opposite end of the captain table. The male Night Fury noted the dead body slumped on the chair. It was most likely the captain, and given the position, they most likely died in their sleep. "Exploring the world sounds fun."
"Maybe for you." The Night Fury dragoness retorted. "I don't feel like getting harassed by humans."
"Nobody does." The male Night Fury responded, before moving to drag the body onto the floor. Inspecting them, he noted the bruise on its neck. Given the colour of the skin, the captain died from asphyxiation. "Even their own kind. Humans are good at killing each other."
"Sir." Harald suddenly thought, getting their attention. "The papers aren't written in Norse."
Toothless and Charcoal went to check the table. The male Night Fury focused to read the text. "You're right." He responded. "They're written in French."
"What does it say?" The dragoness asked.
Charcoal squinted his eyes. The moonlight shined just enough for him to see. "... this one is the captain's agenda." He answered as he pushed some papers aside, revealing a drawn map. "This ship has been smuggling out goods from France. These were remains of Napoleonic wars."
"Napoleonic wars?"
"It's an European war that ended 16 years ago. The French Empire against the world." Charcoal responded as he read the map. "They lost, of course, but they are left with enormous surplus of war..."
The male Night Fury trailed off as he discovered what the ship was carrying. "This ship is carrying full loads of weapons from Europe." Charcoal quickly read the rest of the papers. "They are selling them to anyone that wants them. They got cannons, muskets - all sorts of gunpowder weapons."
The two dragons simply stared at him. Toothless decided to ask. "What is gunpowder weapon?"
"Think of bomberries, except you use them to launch projectiles." The male Night Fury explained. "Musket is the most common one; they shoot small projectiles. Inaccurate; lethal to humans, but dragon scales are thick. We can protect ourselves with Body Reinforcement."
Toothless blinked in realisation. "That's what those bags were!" She exclaimed, getting their attention. "It was gunpowder! There was so many of them!"
"That's what they are." Charcoal nodded.
The female Night Fury pondered. "But where is this ship heading?"
"It was the first shipment ordered by the Northern Alliance, under the name of Drago Bludvist."
"And who is Drago Bludvist?"
"A cruel human leader who wished to enslave dragons for world domination." Charcoal darkly thought. He pondered on what to do in that situation. "It was just as I suspected. The situation in Greater Archipelago is affecting regions around them."
"But our problem came from Lava-Lout tribe." Harald the Dramillion pointed out. "We never saw any of these weapons here."
"A single tribe selling high quality swords and axes to Vikings are nothing compared to the army of Northern Alliance." The male Night Fury shuddered his breath. "In fact, I think they were inspired. You've never seen cruelty until you see humans skinning a Gronckle to make stronger iron."
The two dragons were horrified at that description. Charcoal glanced at them. "That is something they do on daily basis."
"I heard Greater Alpha Merciless have them handled." Harald responded, hopeful about the situation. "Couple human army shouldn't be a problem for them."
"They are not just human army." The male Night Fury hardened his expression. "They have dragon army as well."
Toothless was horrified. "What?"
"Drago Bludvist owns a Bewilderbeast. That dragon is a rogue greater alpha. They ruled over Northern Alliance dragon army." Charcoal explained the context. "Merciless and his army aren't just fighting humans. They are fighting dragons. Last time I checked, they've reached the point of attrition. These weapons are most likely Drago's attempt for breakthrough."
"How did we not know anything about this?" Harald wondered.
"Censorship. The information is kept tight. We don't need dragons thinking that this war is a lost cause." The male Night Fury answered that question. "As much as I agree with that, if we don't keep fighting, we could end up as human slaves."
They fell silent. Charcoal gathered the papers. "We need to get these boxes back to Dragon Island. They have information about the import." The male Night Fury ordered as he moved to open one of the crates, revealing stacks of papers. "Harald, help me move the stuff. We need to get them into one larger crate."
"Y- Yes, sir!" Harald straightened himself, before moving to help.
Meanwhile, Toothless was still in shock. She had heard rumours of humans enslaving dragons, but it was nothing more than tales from surface dragons.
The dragoness was concerned about what she had learned. She felt like she needed to update her knowledge on what was going on at the surface, which was something she severely lacked.
That was expected; she lived in Hidden World most of her life.
"Hey, what about..." Toothless started, before pausing a bit. "... Arch Alpha Wodensfang?"
Charcoal and Harald paused at that question. They were busy moving stacks of papers from different crates into the largest one. The male black dragon decided to respond. "What about him?"
"Does he know about this?" The dragoness questioned.
"I think he knows. He's most likely the reason for the lack of gunpowder weapons in the region." Charcoal answered as he continued moving the papers. "Merciless is one of the greater alpha dragons that reports to him about it. We never know what he did to help solving the problem, but I remember Merciless assuring me."
"Assuring you?" Harald was incredulous. "Who were you before?"
"I was Merciless' second in command for two years." The male Night Fury answered. "Quite possibly the most intense position I've ever held in my life. I had enough after some time and decided to move here."
Harald stayed silent as Charcoal stacked the papers. The Dramillion paused for a moment, processing that information. His general was a former second-in-command of the famous greater alpha dragon. "... Awesome."
The dragons outside had been watching the area when they heard something heavy scraping at the deck. Charcoal had been pushing a large chest that stored every document they had found.
It was as large as him and looked incredibly heavy. The chest had four metal handles on each side, implying that moving them was meant to be a four to eight human work.
After moving them to a more open area, Charcoal sighed in relief. "Skies above, this is heavier than I thought." He commented. "Flying this out might be difficult."
"I can help carry them, sir." Harald the Dramillion offered.
"It's fine. I can handle this. You need to get others to move the other crates." Charcoal gave his orders, before jumping on top of the crate. His paws were holding onto the metal handles. "I will be moving this to Dragon Island."
"Yes, sir." Harald nodded, before taking off to call the others.
The male Night Fury braced himself, before taking off from the ground while holding onto the chest. He furiously flapped his wings as he tried to take off. Unfortunately, the chest was too heavy. Charcoal descended and almost crashed at the edge of the clearing. "Whoa!"
"Charcoal!" Toothless quickly went to check him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. I just need to prepare to lift this thing." Charcoal grunted as he adjusted his grip on the chest handles. "Never thought something this small can be so heavy."
"It has boxes worth of papers." The dragoness pointed out.
"Very important papers." The male Night Fury emphasized. He was happy despite the struggle. "You have no idea how lucky we are - how valuable that ship is. If it ever reached Greater Archipelago, Merciless would've faced a whole new threat!"
"I don't know..." Toothless was unsure. She glanced back at the ship, which had dragons struggling to move the crates. "I can't read French, and you haven't told me in detail what those weapons are."
"Oh, they'll be presented at our planning area." Charcoal assured her, patting the crate under him. "Everyone needs to know the future threat that we could face. We can even get some favours from Merciless!"
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
Huge explosion rang out throughout the island. Charcoal was suddenly knocked away, before collapsing behind the chest. Toothless ducked behind the chest just in time to avoid something flying over her.
The two dragons quickly moved and huddled themselves behind the chest, having realised the explosion originated from the ship.
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!
The second explosion was much bigger, Charcoal was thankful that the chest was reinforced. He covered Toothless with his wings and body as the ground literally shook from the explosion.
Parts of the hulls went flying all over the place. The explosion was so massive, it could be seen from neighbouring islands.
After some time, the explosion died down. Toothless and Charcoal peeked over from the chest.
What was once a massive ship had been reduced to pile of wood. Dragons were scrambling around the place, dragging their injured friends for recovery. Most looked relatively unharmed as they crawled their way out from the burning pile.
Charcoal was utterly shocked. The whole ship had detonated in a giant ball of fire.
"General!"
Charcoal looked up to see a familiar Woolly Howl landing next to him. "Henry, you're finally here."
"We saw the explosion from afar." Henry stated, concerned about his wellbeing. "What happened?"
"It was a ship full of oil and gunpowder." The male Night Fury slowly relaxed himself. He was dismayed at its destruction. "Of course, we should've waited for your group."
The Woolly Howl was confused. "Gunpowder?"
"An explosive powdery substance. One of human's latest weapons of war." Charcoal gave his summary. "One of the strike groups found this ship and hid them here. The crews were all dead from oil poisoning. It was heading to Greater Archipelago when they got them."
Two dragons landed close to them. Those were Ronald and Harald, the Dramillion brothers. "General!"
Charcoal noted that they looked guilty. "Did one of your dragons used fire while under the deck?"
Harald took a step forward. "It was mine, sir."
The male black dragon sensed something through telepathy. "Be honest, Harald." Charcoal responded. "Which group did it?"
There was a long pause. After some time, Ronald took a step forward. "I- It was mine." He admitted. "My dragons went in first and I forgot to tell them."
"Harr..." Charcoal exhaled his breath. Looking at the burning rubble, he pondered the solution to the problem. Given that everything quite literally burned to the ground, there was nothing they could do. The plume of smoke most likely attracted humans on neighbouring island.
After some time, the Night Fury general finally decided. "Ronald."
The youngest Dramillion straightened himself. "Yes, sir."
"I want you and your group to look around and salvage whatever was left." Charcoal gave his order. "I noticed some of the boxes flying over. Grab them and move them to Dragon Island. Do this quick before humans decide to check them out."
"Yes, sir." Ronald nodded, before flying away.
"Henry." Charcoal looked at the Woolly Howl. "Help him."
Henry straightened himself. "Yes, sir." He replied, before flying away.
"And Harald."
"Yes, sir."
"I know you care for your brother, but you should know by now that I don't punish failure like that." Charcoal was stern in his voice. "Your group will be on cleaning duty. Alone. I want our meeting area cleaned before next week."
It was usually cleaned up by the whole army. The Dramillion lowered his head. "Yes, sir."
"Now go help them."
Harald quickly flew away from the area. After he was gone, Charcoal went to inspect the other side of the chest.
It was surprisingly intact, if only slightly dented and a bit burnt. There was a bent metal ball there. Charcoal owed his life to that chest, considering the ball would have hit them, had they not taken cover behind it.
"I owe you one, human made chest." Charcoal expressed his gratitude, before jumping onto the chest. His paws were holding the handles. "Toothless, it's time to go. Let's hope for safe travel while I carry this thing."
"I'll protect you." Toothless was cautious. "Just be careful carrying it."
"I'll make sure not to drop it."