The fire in Berk's square had burned down to embers, but the weight of Behemoth's words lingered like smoke in everyone's lungs. No one moved for a long time after the hybrid vanished into the shadows again. Only the crackling wood dared to break the silence.
Astrid broke it first. "He threatens us, then acts like he's doing us a favor. Some 'ally' he'll be." Her voice was sharp, but her eyes betrayed unease.
Hiccup stood, rubbing the back of his neck, his gaze fixed on the path where Behemoth had disappeared. "He didn't come here to kill us. He could have—but didn't. That means something."
"Yeah, it means he's playing with his food," Snotlout shot back, crossing his arms. "Big scary dragon man strolls in, flexes his abs, and now we're supposed to trust him? Sounds like a trap, Hiccup."
"Not a trap," Fishlegs said softly. His eyes glimmered with something closer to fear than hope. "A test. He's measuring us. If his story is true, then those… entities are real. And if the shield protecting the islands is breaking, we're in more danger than we realize."
Toothless growled low, ears twitching. His eyes flicked toward the forest where Behemoth had gone. It wasn't hostility—it was recognition. The Night Fury had sensed the storm inside the hybrid's chest, a familiar weight of loss and burden.
Hiccup's mind whirred. Behemoth's words about the shield, about a father who died protecting their world—it wasn't the speech of a conqueror. It was grief woven into fire.
He turned back to the group. "He's not wrong. If those things out there are real, we're not ready. Not as we are now."
Astrid frowned. "Then what? We just… take his word for it?"
"No," Hiccup said firmly. "We test it. The same way he tested us."
That night, as the villagers whispered among themselves, Hiccup and his closest circle gathered in the Great Hall. Candles cast their shadows high against the carved wood.
Snotlout was pacing. The twins were doodling what looked like Behemoth's horns stabbing sheep. Fishlegs had piles of scrolls scattered around him.
Hiccup leaned on the table. "If what he said is true, then we can't keep treating dragons as pets or even just partners. We need to go further. We need to become something more."
Astrid crossed her arms. "Meaning?"
Fishlegs perked up, unrolling a half-burned parchment. "There are legends—ancient ones. They speak of humans who were so deeply bonded with their dragons that their souls… overlapped. It wasn't just trust. It was transformation. The human shared the dragon's strength, and the dragon shared the human's will."
The room went silent.
"Wait, wait, wait," Tuffnut said, scratching his head. "You mean, like, I'll wake up with scales and a tail? Because I'm in. Ruff, we'll finally match!"
"Ugh," Ruffnut groaned, "I don't want to smell like you for eternity."
"Focus," Astrid snapped.
Fishlegs' hands trembled as he tapped the scroll. "It says the bond was marked—physically. Some kind of tattoo or sigil. A symbol burned into the skin, representing unity. They say with enough meditation, the bond would let humans understand dragon speech itself."
Hiccup's eyes widened. A way to close the gap. A way to fight beside Toothless as equals, not as separate beings.
But he also thought of Behemoth—how his eyes glowed, how his form straddled the line between man and dragon. Was this what he meant? Had he achieved it through inheritance, or by sheer will?
The thought chilled him.
Still, the seed was planted.
"We'll try it," Hiccup said. His voice was steady. "If there's even a chance this bond is real, we need it. Behemoth said strength alone wasn't enough. Maybe this is the strength he meant."
Far beyond the village square, in the cliffs overlooking the restless sea, Behemoth stood alone. His golden horns caught the faint shimmer of moonlight, his tail sweeping the stone absently as waves pounded below.
He had heard their voices. Every word.
His eyes narrowed, but not in contempt. In thought.
Fools, he muttered in his mind. Children playing at gods. Yet the memory of Toothless standing protectively before Hiccup lingered. The bond had been there, raw and bright, unrefined but promising.
And then, deeper—the scar that never healed. His father's voice, low and ragged as the shield took form.
"They will not survive if they remain divided. Find those who will stand, son. Teach them—or watch everything burn."
Behemoth's clawed hand clenched at the memory. His father's last gift had not been only the shield—it had been the burden to seek trust where trust had always betrayed him.
He exhaled smoke, violet-tinged flame licking past his teeth.
"Sympathy," he whispered bitterly. "The weakness he cursed me with."
And yet, when he closed his eyes, he saw the terror on the tamers' faces, the awe, the flicker of determination in Hiccup's eyes. He saw possibilities.
Maybe. Just maybe.
His lips curled into a humorless smile. "We'll see if they bleed for it."
Back in the hall, the group finally dispersed into the night, their minds weighed heavy with possibilities and doubts.
Hiccup lingered by the fire, Toothless at his side. He looked at his dragon, at the way their shadows merged together in the flickering light.
"Do you think we could?" he asked softly. "Really share more than this?"
Toothless blinked, nudged his hand with his snout, and rumbled something low, something that felt almost like yes.
Hiccup's lips tightened. They had no choice.
Outside, unseen by any of them, the first faint shimmer of cracks rippled across the shield above the Dragon Island. The entities stirred in the void, hungering.
And far above, in the black sky, Behemoth's eyes glowed faintly, watching, calculating, waiting.
——
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter!! I'll be taking a short break from this novels to fully focus on 11 titans of greek. New chapters will be released every Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday—so stay tuned!