Chapter 19 – The Arena of Truth
Arriving home, Stoick found Hiccup eating. He approached and began to speak.
"I heard from Gobber about your success in training," Stoick said as he walked over and placed his hands firmly on Hiccup's shoulders. "My son, you're one of us now. A true Viking. Tonight, I will watch your fight with the dragon—along with the whole village. I'll prepare the arena for your moment of glory."
He walked out of the house, leaving Hiccup in silence.
Hiccup sat down slowly, staring at nothing. "What am I going to do?" he muttered.
Thor entered at that moment, glanced at his brother, and said calmly, "Now, you can only move forward with this. Let's go."
Hiccup followed Thor. They walked to the entrance of the arena. As they approached, Hiccup looked at the crowd—Vikings from all over the village cheering, shouting.
The arena was packed.
Gobber came up to Hiccup at the entrance and smiled. "Now get in there and show them what you're made of!"
He raised his voice. "Release the Monstrous Nightmare!"
The gates opened, and the enormous dragon roared, storming into the arena.
Hiccup's eyes widened as the beast approached. He looked toward his father and shouted, "There are other ways to deal with them!"
He reached out, trying to calm the dragon—to tame it the way he had with Toothless.
But at that exact moment, Stoick made a sudden move, startling the Nightmare.
The dragon panicked and roared, unleashing flames as it began to attack.
Hiccup ran for his life around the arena. The villagers screamed. The situation escalated rapidly.
Some Vikings rushed toward the gates, trying to intervene, but the Nightmare was faster.
Just as the dragon was about to strike the fatal blow—
Toothless appeared, leaping from above and tackling the Nightmare.
A fierce fight broke out between the two dragons. In the end, Toothless managed to drive the Nightmare away.
But no one cheered.
The villagers stared in silence. Then chaos erupted again as they began to surround Toothless.
Several Vikings jumped on him, trying to capture him.
Hiccup shouted, running toward them, "Stop! He's not dangerous! None of them are! They only steal food to avoid being killed by... that thing!"
Stoick's expression darkened.
"What thing? You went to the dragons' nest?"
"Dad... that place... you'll never be able to find it without a dragon," Hiccup said.
Stoick looked at his son, voice stern. "You stay here. You've done enough for today."
He turned and walked toward the docks, preparing to sail with the others to find the nest.
Hiccup watched from a cliff as the ships set sail, vanishing into the fog.
He stood there, hopeless.
Thor appeared beside him.
"You're not going to do anything?" Thor asked.
"What can a failure of a Viking like me do?" Hiccup replied. "If I had just killed that dragon, none of this would've happened…"
Thor looked at him seriously. "Hiccup… I want to tell you something."
"What?"
"I've never actually killed a dragon."
"What? That's not true—you're Thor, blessed by Odin. The strongest in the village!"
Thor shook his head. "I didn't say I couldn't. I said I never did. I held back my power. I only scared them off—I never killed them."
"But why?" Hiccup asked.
"Because I never wanted to hurt them. That's why I told you to be a hero in a different way. And you found your own path. Are you going to turn away from it now?"
Thor smiled faintly.
Hiccup took a deep breath. Then, with new resolve in his eyes, he turned toward the village.
"Let's go. We have to save Dad… and Toothless."
Thor nodded. "Yes."
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