The Big Four Part I: Chapter 8

Still at sea, Merida struggled under the chains as the ship rocked back and forth. Dagur came back below deck to pay her a visit, just to taunt her even more. Merida tried to look as threatening as she could, although in reality, she was truly frightened by what might happen.

But all he did was snatch Merida's bow from her. He cut the string, rendering it useless.

"I've decided to change our course," says Dagur. "You see, I'm a little bit in a hurry to finish up this deal, so I've decided that you're going to watch your own kingdom crumble."

Merida's eyes widened, knowing that he had changed their course for DunBroch. She remained as silent as she could in order to avoid spilling any information, something he shouldn't know about their kingdom. Sure, Dagur only told her about an hour ago that she would have to watch them invade DunBroch, but this early on?

They neared Outcast Island, the wasteland gradually entering their view. Same island, same design, same everything since they escaped. Only there weren't as many catapults as there were last time. Those wild dragons sure did pack a punch, as the dome around the arena was also destroyed, completely caved in.

The rest of Dagur's armada was waiting at the docks, already prepared for departure. He knew it would be a long trip, which was why they carried so much supplies, looking so heavy.

Dagur didn't even have to set foot back on the island. Once their ship could be seen from ocean level on the island, the anchors were raised and they started south. Toward DunBroch. To the fall of one tribe. They knew that the end of one tribe was inevitable, and they were confident that they would be able to defeat DunBroch. Who cares about the fact that it's also guarded by clans Dingwall, Macintosh, and MacGuffin?

They never even bothered to throw Merida into a cell. Heck, they didn't even bother to bring Merida above deck just so she could catch some fresh air. They just left her sitting below deck, tied up. Surely, they haven't forgotten about her, as she was easily on her way to becoming Dagur's favorite prisoner.

Hiccup and Toothless flew through the night sky. After a slight argument, they finally agreed on having everyone else return to Berk before heading to Outcast Island. They knew Dagur was also headed there, so he took advantage of Toothless's speed and went ahead to drop off Rapunzel at Berk.

Now on their way to Outcast Island, Hiccup suspected that everyone would be home by now.

"Don't worry, bud. We'll find her," mutters Hiccup.

They looked down as the island slowly came into view. They were able to fly in circles over the island due to the fact that they were receiving cover from the night sky. They were nearly impossible to spot up there.

Seeing that Dagur's ship was still far off the island, they dove down into the caved–in arena. The support beams laid on the floor, badly burned from the wild dragons a few days ago. But they weren't here for wild dragons. They were here for Alvin.

They headed into the prison section of the island, completely underground. The cells that previously held the Thunderdrum and Scauldron were completely wrecked. A small bowl of fish was placed in the center of what was the Scauldron's cell.

The human cells were still filled with members of the Outcast Tribe. Most were sleeping, and the others were too tired to notice them sneaking in. The entire place was devoid of guards, but the security level in the cells was higher. Most prisoners were tied up, their arms and legs bound together. Any object or part of the environment that could be used to cut the rope were placed away from their position, on the other side of the cell. Looks like Dagur actually thought this one through.

Eventually, they came up to Alvin's cell. Everyone in an adjacent cell to his was fast asleep. Alvin, however, was fully awake. He didn't show even a single sign of tiredness. Like everyone else, he was tied up in his very own cell, like someone just threw a bola sling at him.

"What are you—,"

"Shh!" Hiccup snaps at him, cutting him off. "They're almost here. Come on. We're leaving right now."

They could hear some footsteps outside, of Berserker weapons scratching the ground. Hiccup knew that Dagur was back already, meaning he had to just grab Alvin and get off the island as soon as he possibly could.

Then, silence. Nothing. Like the whole island had been abandoned. What, did Dagur think that this island wasn't good enough, and now he's leaving all of the Outcasts to rot in their own prison?

"What's with the reduced security?" whispers Hiccup. It was clear that there were no guards.

"Invasion. Something's happening. They're making sure to keep any information away from us, but what I do know is that the tying everyone up in their own cell thing is part of their plan. Like they want to keep us in here with no chance of escaping. After that, I haven't seen one guard pass by."

Hiccup took a glance back down the tunnel just in case there might be any guard, but the island still felt completely abandoned. "Whatever," he mutters to himself, pulling on the cell door. However, the largest opening he could make between the door and its unstable frame was barely enough for even a Terrible Terror to fit through, thanks to the way the rock sloped upward.

Hiccup sighed and pulled out Inferno, slashing through the bars. They were easy to slash through, and like that wasn't enough, the Monstrous Nightmare–powered sword left singe marks on the bars with an opening large enough for him to fit through.

Pulling out a knife, Hiccup cut the rope, freeing Alvin. He still kept a close eye out for any guards. It only takes one to alert the entire island. Or at least what was left of it.

And then silence. Nothingness. No sound but snoring and breathing. And that was it. The island felt abandoned for good.

The two quickly mounted Toothless, and he bounded down the tunnel system of the island, back into the middle of the destroyed arena. Once they were airborne, Hiccup could see that Dagur's ship was farther off the island, like it came back and left immediately.

But the ship wasn't headed for Berk. Instead, it was headed southward, as if there was another tribe or something the Berserkers wanted to pay a visit to. Their own tribe? Hiccup couldn't remember where exactly the Berserker tribe was compared to Outcast Island or Berk.

Hiccup knew Merida was still on one of those ships, still being held captive below deck. But with the whole armada there, trying to free her now would be a suicide mission, even with Alvin onboard.

Maybe the two didn't have the most pleasant past, but at least it's something they could build on. They've developed enough to the point where they could trust each other, if anything.

Toothless turned back to Berk in the night, using cloud cover just in case something might happen. One can never be too careful about things, and no one really cared about having to fly through the clouds.

They arrived at Berk awhile later, most of the village already fallen asleep. They landed near the Haddock house, making sure not to wake anyone inside.

Alvin just decided to settle in the academy. Once he was out of sight in the village, Hiccup and Toothless entered his house quietly, especially on his prosthetic leg. It made a clanking noise every time he stepped, which would definitely be enough to wake someone. He was sure no one would freak out upon seeing Alvin wandering through the village. And if someone should happen to spot him, Hiccup was sure that earning Stoick's trust also earned their trust.

Hiccup found Eugene and Rapunzel in the two beds this time, while Jack and Bunnymund were still awake. Bunnymund signaled for Hiccup to stay quiet as he crept upstairs as quietly as he could. One upstairs, he simply laid down on the floor near the rock slab, which Toothless hopped onto.

Thinking of Merida and where she was being taken, Hiccup closed his eyes.

Merida found it impossible to sleep. It didn't matter how hard she tried. If she closed her eyes and leaned in the most comfortable position she could get into, it only made it tougher to sleep. She closed her eyes, but was then overwhelmed by the endless thoughts swimming through her brain all at once. So many to the point where she wasn't getting anywhere.

What am I going to do, says one side of her mind, while the other says, I'm hoping they come. Another part of her head would say, Pull it together! You'll have to get out of here yourself.

And she couldn't go anywhere. No plan to hatch in her mind, and she felt as if there was no hope in getting out of this prison.

Taking a deep breath, she allowed her mind to go blank before retracing everything she knew so far. She knew that the Berserker tribe was headed straight for DunBroch. She knew they would probably tie her to a mast and force her to watch her kingdom fall, or worse, the Berserkers would use her as a meat shield. After all, none of the clans wants to be the one to kill the princess.

But that didn't spark any ideas in her head of how to get off this ship. Sure, she always had the option to just wait for Hiccup and friends to come, but do they even stand a chance against an entire armada? One dragon rider, and nets will be flying all over the place.

Simply struggling through the chains wouldn't work. And if she did manage to miraculously break free, her bow was with Dagur.

The only thing she could hear were loud creaking noises and incomprehensible voices from above deck. As far as she knew, no sign of land.

Okay, so we're going to DunBroch, where I am going to watch the imminent destruction of my kingdom, thinks Merida, sighing. Seems fair enough.

Let's see. By dragon, it takes about one and a half days to get from Berk to DunBroch. I've been on this boat for about thirteen hours.

"I'm packing," says Gobber as everyone continued to roll out of the Great Hall.

Hiccup stopped him before he could even reach Grump. "No, Gobber. I need you to stay here. I'm putting you in charge while I'm gone," he says, continuing to write a letter.

"But—,"

"But what if I don't come back? We're talking about Dagur for crying out loud! You've seen his armada from five years ago. If anything, they're bigger and stronger from before. I need someone who can run the place while I'm gone." He tied the letter to a nearby Terrible Terror's leg. It flew out of the arena, toward the village.

"What about your mother?"

"Less than a few months since she came back after twenty years in solitude. I doubt it."

"Spitelout?"

"Good luck with that. I think I'll take him just because of that."

"Eret?"

Hiccup scoffed. "And what makes you think a former dragon trapper could run the place?

"Look, Gobber. If there's anyone else here who can run this place even remotely as good as my father, it's you."

Gobber just nodded reasonably, keeping his mouth shut.

"I'll be back. Probably," says Hiccup.

He and Toothless were the last to leave the hall, off into the village. The two landed near Fishlegs's house. He was holding a sack of fish, slinging it onto Meatlug's saddle. Hiccup had Toothless stand away from their place as he alone approached Fishlegs.

"This is such a stupid idea," says Hiccup.

It was Fishlegs's turn for a fake laugh. "Then why did you even suggest it to begin with?"

"Because it's the best idea out there. Sometimes reckless is the right way to go. And we're being reckless right now. You got the root?"

"Yep." Fishlegs reached into his pouch and pulled out an ugly–looking green thing. It looked like someone had puked all over a pile of roots and glued them together. Hair–like parts stuck out of different portions of the plant.

"Dragon nip?"

Fishlegs reached into a different container and pulled some out.

"Alright. Just make sure you keep it away from anything other than Gronckles until my call."

Hiccup left him and flew down to the dock. Most of the ships weren't working at the moment, but one was still in top condition. Alvin stood on the ship along with a small fleet of Berkian Vikings, Spitelout among them. They were still hauling several things onto the ship. A catapult was rolling up a ramp while the fleet was collecting several crossbows. Several nets were also thrown onto the ship, along with fish. Lots of fish, enough to keep them all fed for at least a month. But it wasn't all theirs. Rapunzel and Bunnymund had just boarded. Eugene had opted to stay and help Gobber, Eret, and Valka with the village.

"Remember. Just get to Outcast Island, free everyone, and start heading south," says Hiccup. "I know Dagur went in that general direction. It's a bit of a long shot, but what other choice do I have?"

Hiccup turned to leave. "Alvin's in charge for now," he says, pointing at Rapunzel and Bunnymund. He and Toothless flew up to Astrid's house. She was just about ready to leave, set with her axe and a sack of fish.

"All set?" asks Astrid.

"Yep," answers Hiccup. "Fishlegs already has the dragon root and nip, and Alvin's ship is about ready to leave."

"So, I've been thinking. Dagur's been out at sea for over twelve hours now, headed straight south," says Astrid. "That's very vague."

"I know. So if we don't find them, we can regroup at DunBroch. Place is pretty warm, and the people there are… a bit like us."

"Well, I guess I won't know until I actually see it."

Hiccup buckled his prosthetic leg on Toothless's saddle while Astrid hopped onto Stormfly. They caught Fishlegs leaving the island with both the dragon root and dragon nip.

That's their cue. Hiccup and Astrid took off from their positions. Hookfang and Barf and Belch also took off with Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut respectively. Alvin's ship rolled out of Berk, steering clear of the surrounding ice.

Jack was perched on top of the Haddock House, watching as Hiccup and his friends left. He watched the dragons flying away in an 'X' formation with Fishlegs in the middle. He was ahead of the others, though.

He waited for the group to vanish above the clouds before taking off himself. He went off toward Outcast Island, after Alvin's ship.

When Jack arrived at Outcast Island, the place was completely abandoned. No guards at any posts, no simple villagers, nothing. Just wild dragons scattered around the place, though most were packed in a gorge. He instantly flew down to the arena and into the prison system of the place. The cells were still in the same condition, as were the Outcast Vikings. Tied up in their own cells, left to starve to death.

Jack only pulled at the bars, the doors flying open. They flew off their hinges and across the entire room. The bars slid across the floor with the annoying sound of metal rubbing against rock.

He piled everything that was left of the doors with what was left of the arena dome, caved in. It was packed into what was the cell that held the Scauldron.

Voices filled the cave as Jack left. Standing on the highest point on the island, he spotted Alvin's ship just reaching the island. They all hopped off, each taking nothing more than a knife. Rapunzel and Bunnymund were hauling one of the barrels, full of fish.

Everyone jumped into the arena and into the prison system, where they passed by Jack. Jack flew away from the island, straight south in the same direction as Dagur.

Freeing everyone took about a full minute, with so many Vikings milling around the prison system. The snaps of rope being cut filled the entire cave. By the time were done, Rapunzel and Bunnymund had only just reached the arena. Finding that there was no time to actually head down and drop it off, they simply dropped it onto the rock. The barrel broke open upon impact, several fish pouring out.

Right away, they turned their backs and sprinted back to the ship. Once everyone was back on, Alvin signaled to leave, headed straight south, following Jack.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs grabbed the dragon root from his pouch mid–flight. Everyone was still flying behind him and Meatlug, careful to keep their distance. Gronckles were the only dragon known to be immune to the effects of dragon root, so if one of their dragons went rogue from being too close, everything could just fall apart.

As they neared Dragon Island, Fishlegs grew more and more nervous. He had the biggest, most crucial role in this plan. If he slips up, then everything they've done would be in vain.

"Fishlegs. Just remember the dragon nip if anything goes wrong," mentions Hiccup. "Deep breaths."

But Fishlegs couldn't seem to calm down. That frightened look was glued to his face. He watched the many dragons that were on the island.

"Let's see," Fishlegs mutters to himself and Meatlug. "Several Gronckles, but they're immune. Monstrous Nightmares, Nadders, Zipplebacks…"

He realized who was also on the island. "Thornado, Bing, Bam, and Boom," he says out loud.

"What's that?" asks Hiccup.

"Uh… what are supposed to do about the Thunderdrums?" asks Fishlegs. "You know, Thornado, Bing, Bam, and Boom."

Hiccup thought for a moment. In all the planning they did, not once did his father's old dragon cross his mind. "Just keep the root away from them. Let them stay on the island."

Fishlegs flew over the island, holding out the dragon root. The others forced the dragons up toward him, into the range of the dragon root's effects.

Once the first dragon began to pursue them, Meatlug began to spiral down around the island's spire, toward the other dragons. The others kept low enough that their dragons wouldn't be affected by the root.

Hiccup found four Thunderdrums grouped up in a cave. He landed there, Toothless keeping them in. He continued to watch the dragons following Fishlegs. Come on, just a bit longer, he says in his mind.

They continued on a frantic path, sometimes suddenly turning or pulling up to avoid someone or something. More dragons continued to follow them, and they were beginning to fight for it. Bursts of fire flew all over the sky.

Once they had felt they gathered enough dragons, Fishlegs started away from the island, ready to stop the dragons from killing each other.

As quickly as he could, Fishlegs switched out the dragon root for some dragon nip to try and calm them down.

Almost instantly, the dragons stopped fighting. They still followed Fishlegs. The others soon took off after Fishlegs when they saw him leaving. Hiccup hopped back onto Toothless and they took off. Thornado, Bing, Bam, and Boom followed them. He didn't want to argue, and because they needed as many dragons as they could get, four Thunderdrums would make a fine addition.

Now, the island felt devoid of dragons. There were still dragons on the island, but not nearly as many as there were before. The balance felt off—over three fourths of the dragons still on the island were Gronckles.

Fishlegs managed to get them flying toward Outcast Island, where they were expecting to pass by Alvin and Jack.

Jack landed on Alvin's ship, knowing that they were now going the right way. In the few hours spent since leaving Outcast Island, the clouds had cleared up for the most part, replaced by a bright orange sunset.

He watched as a huge group of dragons flew over the ship in the same direction as they were headed.

"That must be Hiccup," says Rapunzel.

"Then there's Dagur after this," says Jack. We only know which way he went. We don't even know where he's headed. Heck, can you name every tribe, every kingdom, and every clan located south of Outcast Island?"

"Too many to name."

They headed for a nearby island, one Jack could not name. They anchored the ship a few hundred feet from the island, but they opted to stay onboard—there was no point in leaving the ship.

Fishlegs and Toothless made sure none of the dragons left them. He kept some dragon nip to keep them together, while Toothless was just a backup in case one did happen to split off from the group. They kept them in a cave, which only helped with keeping them in a group.

Everyone stayed at the beach, while those on the ship slept on the boards. Jack opted to stay awake for the night in case something happened. Once Fishlegs and Toothless fell asleep, Jack kept a constant eye on the other dragons to hold them inside.

The next morning, Hiccup woke up early to check on the wild dragons. Man, is this risky, he thinks to himself. We just cleared out all of Dragon Island except for Gronckles.

He glanced at the ship anchored out in the ocean. They weren't expecting them alone to do too much to their Armada—that job was left to the wild dragons. They can surely put a dent into entire armies.

Jack Frost was still awake, although he did look quite bored watching over the wild dragons in the cave. He knew Hiccup was awake but decided not to say anything.

"You've been at that post all night," says Hiccup. "And you don't even look remotely tired. You don't want to… you know, just catch about half an hour of sleep while we're still here or something?"

Jack shook his head. "I'll be fine."

Hiccup shrugged and took his sack of fish, dumping the contents onto the ground. Toothless jumped into the pile and started devouring the mix of salmon and cod one by one.

They waited a few minutes for everyone to wake up. They saw activity on the ship, meaning the others were also beginning to rise. Rapunzel waved at them, causing Snotlout to wave back.

Once everyone was awake, they all knew what to do. Fishlegs held up the dragon nip to lure the wild dragons to him before taking off. Alvin lifted the anchor on his ship the second he saw Fishlegs leaving. After waiting about a minute, everyone else on the island took off, continuing south.

Their flight southward continued. It was boring, especially for Jack, who had to call out exactly where Alvin should go. It was a pain, waiting for them to play catch–up every thirty seconds. He just looked like he was about to collapse under such boredom.

They did pass by several islands, none of which contained any sign of Merida or Dagur. Only wild dragons inhabited those islands, and some even seemed to split off. Fishlegs noticed that the trail of wild dragons grew the longer they flew, along with a larger variety. To name a couple, the trail included a few Snaptrappers and Hobblegrunts. But the original dragons were still there—Nadders and Monstrous Nightmares for the most part.

Most riders trailed off mid–flight as they continued south. Only Fishlegs stayed focused in keeping the distance between him and the pack the same. On a Gronckle, which isn't very fast compared to most others, that wasn't very easy to pull off.

Eventually, after a few more painful hours, they were over a larger island, completely devoid of dragons. On this island, on the face of a cliff overlooking a huge lake, stood a large stone castle. Hiccup just noticed that the number of dragons on each island has been decreasing for the duration of the flight, less and less eggs and wings per island.

But from what Hiccup remembered, he saw no dragons for a whole day before he reached this place. What, has Dagur's overhunting of dragons pushed them all the way here, where they're safer?

"Pull over. Let's land in the forest," says Hiccup, pointing down.

Alvin's ship was still a long way out, but those onboard were still able to see what was going on with the dragons. "We're landing on this island," says Rapunzel.

Bunnymund opened a tunnel and jumped into it. Rapunzel followed after him, jumping into the circular hole in the wood.

They emerged on the island, directly under the dragons. They were spiraling downward smoothly, headed for a stream.

Hiccup knew where they were. It was all too familiar for him. The overhead view of the castle, the stream they landed next to, everything he remembered. It hasn't even been a week since he left, and now he's back. One and a half days' worth of flying straight south from Outcast Island.

With Alvin's ship still approaching the island, Hiccup took a step into the dark forest. "Stay there. I'll take care of this," he says, leaving everyone. He even left Toothless, knowing what there was to offer in the kingdom. He passed by several of Merida's targets in the woods, several arrows lodged in each one. There wasn't one target without its arrow. Man. How many arrows does Merida have?

Hiccup continued to navigate through the forest, climbing over a felled tree along the way. He didn't know the shortest path through this forest.

In enough time, however, Hiccup emerged from the tree line, facing the castle of DunBroch. Security was at its highest level—he could see countless guards patrolling the walls. Hiccup hesitated, but he decided to take the risk anyway and crossed the stone bridge.

The front guards allowed him in, recognizing him from the few days he's been in DunBroch beforehand. Martin, as usual, was still dozing off on the job, leaned up against the castle wall.

Hiccup reached the Great Hall, where he could easily hear the voices of the royal family, or at least what was left of it. Meaning only Fergus and Elinor.

He peeked through the door, creating a loud creaking noise as it opened up. "Hello? Fergus?" he says, voice ringing through the entire hall.

Fergus's head shot up to face Hiccup. He decided to step into the Great Hall. "Oh! Hiccup! Why are you here, I thought you were back at Berk already!"

"I was." Hiccup pulled a chair up to the table and sat. "I flew back here."

"Okay. Boys, you are excused."

The triplets ran off in the castle to continue their mischief. "What is it you need to talk with me for, lad? I see your dragon's not here right now."

"Oh, well, onto the point if you want. I know one of the guys leading those invaders."

"And who might that be?"

"Dagur the Deranged. Chief of the Berserker tribe. I thought he was dead for five years after a Screaming Death on an island back in our archipelago, but nope."

"So what happened? If this uh… Dagur has been lurking around your archipelago, then what does this have to do with us? If we're a day and a half away from you guys, how does Dagur relate to us?"

Hiccup gave him a blank stare. "He has your daughter," he says, expressionless.

Elinor instantly excused herself and left the table, leaving the Chief and the King alone in the hall. Fergus just stared at him, shocked by what Hiccup just said. "So what are you here for?"

"Dagur left one of the islands in the archipelago straight south two days ago with Merida onboard, along with an entire armada. We left about one and a half days ago. In the forest we have a bunch of wild dragons and dragon riders, but that's not the point. What we know is that DunBroch is directly south of Outcast Island, taking that day and a half to get here by dragon."

"And…"

"Actually, I just thought of this now. If Dagur has Merida, he's probably planning on paying DunBroch a visit. We've got Berkians here on the island, set with a dragon army."

"Looks like I'm going to have to inform the lords about this. Oh, I can't believe I'm forming an alliance with Vikings."

Hiccup nodded and left the Great Hall without saying another word. He caught a few stares from several residents who recognized the dragon rider's face.

He reached the stables, finding Maximus, Angus, and Pascal all relaxing. Pascal and Max both came to attention when they saw Hiccup in the stables. The two were sharing a stall, Pascal resting on Max's head.

Hiccup went over and took Maximus out of his stall, dragging Pascal along. "Rapunzel's on this island," he tells them.

Oh, I never thought I'd ever have to do this, Hiccup thinks to himself as he mounted Maximus. They took off out of the castle, over the bridge, and into the woods. He hurdled over a felled tree, their path angled downward. It felt completely different from riding a dragon, though it did have its similarities.

They reached the stream where everyone was now resting. The wild dragons were under Toothless's control.

"Max! Pascal!" Rapunzel sprinted over to the two as Hiccup dismounted. Pascal reclaimed his rightful spot on Rapunzel's shoulder.

"Come on. We're headed up, and I would stay on foot if I were you," says Hiccup. He turned and started his way back to where he just came from. Everyone followed him, and although it did take some time to get the wild dragons through, they managed to navigate with only one felled tree.

They neared the castle, hearing lots of commotion from the Great Hall. So Fergus called a gathering. The noises inside suddenly went silent. Outside the castle, several guards were still patrolling the grounds. They paid no attention to the Berkians and dragon riders entering the castle, probably under the king's orders.

"Where's this 'army' you speak of?" shouts lord Macintosh from the Great Hall, mocking Fergus.

"Oh, please," says Fergus. "Why must a Macintosh be so full of himself?"

The large doors to the Great Hall opened, and in came the Berkians along with their group of wild dragons, under Toothless.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," shouts Lord MacGuffin. "You never told us we'd be fighting alongside Vikings and dragons!"

"Deal with it, MacGuffin," says Fergus sharply. "We'll accept your declaration for war tomorrow, if that's what you want. But I'll warn you that we're already at war with someone else."

MacGuffin moved his hands around as if to say something, but only a few voice cracks could be heard. He then gave in to losing the argument and groaned in frustration.

Dagur cut the chains restraining Merida on his ship. Two other Berserkers went on to tie her hands behind her back. She was led above deck, into the bright orange sunset. Ahead was the kingdom of DunBroch, quiet and peaceful.

"Oh, look at your beautiful little kingdom," says Dagur. "I'd hate to see it go, but it's for the best. It's for the good of all of us."

He was trying to get Merida to speak up, trying to fire her up. He's taunting me, she thinks. Stay calm.

"Welcome home, princess." Dagur let a maniacal laugh as the ships continued to close in on DunBroch.