Steel rang and sparks flew as Lucian and Hook separated again, boots scraping against shattered stone. Smoke rolled low across the floor now, mixing with ash and the sharp tang of burning pitch. Overhead, dragons screamed, their shadows tearing across the walls as firelight flickered wildly from dying torches.
Elsewhere in the auction hall, the fight had fractured into pockets of violence.
Hiccup stood shoulder to shoulder with Astrid, shield raised as a Dragon Hunter lunged at them. Astrid intercepted with a brutal axe swing, forcing the man back just as Merida loosed an arrow that struck another pirate clean through the leg.
King Fergus laughed like thunder as he barreled through two attackers, sword swinging in wide, devastating arcs.
"Come on then!" he roared. "Is that all ye've got?!"
Behind him, Merida's triplet brothers darted between fallen pillars, pelting anyone who got too close with thrown knives and whatever else they could grab.
Fishlegs slammed a shield into a pirate's face, sending him sprawling. He turned just in time to see a shimmer ripple across the battlefield.
A cloak.
His eyes widened.
"Guys—" Fishlegs shouted, pointing past the chaos. "Isn't that Lucian?!"
Astrid followed his gaze.
She saw it the way the mantle blurred the air, the way the figure moved, precise and lethal, steel flashing against a familiar rapier.
Hiccup's breath caught.
"Lucian…" he muttered.
Before any of them could react further—
A sharp whirring cut through the noise.
Viggo Grimborn stood atop a fractured platform, calm amidst the inferno. His eyes tracked the Night Fury circling above, calculating angles, timing, momentum.
Then he threw.
Whoosh!!
The bola spun upward, metal weights gleaming briefly in the firelight before snapping wide—
CLANG!
The bola wrapped around the Night Fury's wings mid-turn.
The dragon screeched in fury as its wings locked awkwardly, flight turning into chaos. It spiraled downward, smashing through a hanging banner and crashing hard into the stone floor not twenty paces from where Lucian and Hook stood.
The impact shook the hall.
Dust and debris erupted outward as the Night Fury skidded across the ground, claws tearing gouges into stone as it struggled against the bindings.
Lucian's head snapped toward the sound.
"No—!"
He moved instinctively.
Hook's smile widened.
"Well now," Hook said pleasantly, raising his flintlock. "A blessing falling from the sky."
Lucian skidded to a halt just as—
BANG!
BANG!
The shots cracked through the air.
Lucian spun, mantle snapping outward as both bullets slammed into the shimmering fabric with heavy THUDS. The force staggered him back, boots scraping, but he stayed upright.
Hook lunged immediately, rapier flashing toward Lucian's chest.
Steel met steel.
CLANG!
Lucian barely parried in time, the impact jolting up his arm as Hook pressed the attack, blade darting in sharp, elegant thrusts that left no room to breathe.
"You seem distracted," Hook remarked lightly, slashing again. "That's quite dangerous."
Lucian ducked under a cut, rolled, and came up just out of reach but Hook was already there, pressing, forcing him away from the fallen dragon with relentless precision.
Across the hall—
"Cover me!" Hiccup shouted
Before anyone could argue, he broke from the line, sliding across loose stone and debris as Fergus and Astrid closed ranks to shield his path. A pirate lunged and Merida dropped him with an arrow before he could take a second step.
As Hiccup broke from the line and slid across shattered stone, Viggo saw it.
Even bleeding, even scorched, his eyes were sharp.
"Secure the dragon!" Viggo barked, raising his sword despite the blood running down his arm. "Now!"
Dragon Hunters surged forward immediately.
Nets were raised. Spears angled low. Boots thundered across stone as they closed in on the trapped Night Fury.
Hiccup skidded to a stop beside the dragon just as it thrashed again, wings jerking uselessly against the tangled bola.
Before the hunters could reach him—
"Astrid!" Hiccup shouted.
She didn't hesitate.
Astrid charged, axe flashing as she slammed into the first hunter, knocking him off balance and sending him crashing into the stone steps.
"Form up!" she barked.
The others moved on instinct.
Snotlout rushed in next, swinging his weapon wide to keep hunters back. "I cannot believe this," he snarled, blocking a spear. "Why are we even defending a dragon?!"
"We're not!" Astrid snapped. "We're defending Hiccup!"
"That's worse!" Snotlout shot back, even as he kicked a hunter away.
Fishlegs planted himself beside Hiccup, shield raised with shaking arms. "J-just hurry!"
From the side, Merlune guards forced their way in, shields locking together as Prince Eric stepped forward, blade drawn.
"Protect the boy!" Eric commanded sharply. Steel clashed as guards and hunters collided.
An arrow hissed through the smoke and struck a hunter clean through the shoulder.
Merida stood atop a broken tier, bow already drawn again. Behind her, King Fergus thundered into the fray like a charging bull.
"If ye want the boy," Fergus roared, swinging his sword in brutal arcs, "ye go through us first!"
The Night Fury snarled violently, snapping at anything that came too close.
Hiccup froze.
Slowly, carefully, he raised both hands.
"Hey… hey, easy," he said, voice unsteady but sincere. "Don't hurt me, big guy. I'm just trying to help."
The Night Fury growled low, head snapping toward him, teeth bared.
Hiccup swallowed hard.
"…yeah, still terrifying."
He forced himself to move anyway.
Sword shaking slightly, Hiccup began cutting through the bola's bindings, careful to keep his distance from snapping jaws and thrashing wings.
One rope fell.
Then another.
The final binding snapped apart.
The Night Fury surged upright in a rush of movement, wings flaring wide as it let out a thunderous roar directly into Hiccup's face.
Hiccup yelped and fell backward onto the stone, heart hammering.
"…This is the second time," he muttered weakly, staring up at the dragon, "I've been roared at point-blank by a Night Fury."
The dragon didn't attack him. Instead, it turned.
Its gaze locked onto the clash nearby, onto Hook's crimson coat, Lucian's flashing blade and with a furious screech, the Night Fury charged.
Stone shattered under its talons as it barreled straight toward Hook, wings snapping outward in a violent sweep. Two Dragon Hunters lunging in from the side were caught mid-stride, one was slammed flat by a wing, the other lifted clean off his feet by the dragon's tail and hurled across the arena in a crunch of bone and stone.
Hook barely had time to react.
Blue-white light flared in the Night Fury's throat—
FWOOOM!
The plasma blast tore across the floor where Hook had been standing. He threw himself aside, coat snapping as he rolled hard across broken stone, heat singing what remained of the fabric.
Lucian didn't waste the opening.
He surged forward the instant Hook hit the ground, sword flashing in a ruthless arc aimed straight for the pirate's chest.
CLANG!
Hook twisted up on one knee, rapier snapping up just in time to deflect the killing blow. Sparks burst as steel screamed against steel. Hook slid backward, boots scraping, barely regaining his footing.
Before he could reset—
The Night Fury was on him.
It lunged, jaws snapping shut inches from Hook's head. He threw himself back again, barely avoiding the bite as claws tore gouges into the stone where his boots had been.
Lucian pressed in relentlessly, forcing Hook toward the dragon's reach.
Rapier and sword clashed again and again, Hook parrying desperately now, his elegant precision strained under the sheer pressure of fighting two predators at once.
A pirate rushed in from the side—
The Night Fury's tail lashed out.
CRACK.
The man folded and went down in a heap.
Another pirate fired—
Lucian vanished.
The bullet struck nothing but smoke.
Lucian reappeared behind the shooter and dropped him with a single, brutal strike to the neck.
Hook backpedaled, breath coming faster now.
The Night Fury snarled and lunged again.
This time, Hook couldn't dodge. He raised both arms on instinct, crossing them in front of his face as the dragon's jaws slammed shut—
CRUNCH.
The sound was wet... Final.
"ARRGGGHH—!"
A raw, animal sound tore from Hook's throat as the Night Fury wrenched its head back, tearing one of Hook's hand free. Blood sprayed across the stone as his severed hand hit the ground with a wet thud. He collapsed to one knee, clutching his wrist, crimson pouring between his fingers.
Lucian froze for half a heartbeat.
Then he moved.
He stepped forward, blade lifting, eyes cold and focused.
This was it.
"Die!" he muttered.
He swung but before he could strike—
"CAPTAIN!!"
The cry echoed across the hall.
Lucian's blade met steel instead of flesh.
CLANG!
A massive, mustachioed pirate crashed into him, sabre screaming as it blocked the strike. The man was built like a bull, eyes wild, teeth bared beneath a thick, grease-dark mustache.
Behind him, another large pirate dropped to Hook's side, hauling him upright.
"Stay with me, Captain!" the pirate barked, hauling him away as Hook snarled through clenched teeth, pain and fury twisting his face.
Lucian twisted, trying to break through—
The sabre came down again, forcing him back.
The Night Fury snarled beside him, wings spreading, ready to give chase—
FWSSSH!
But a flare streaked into the sky from the harbor. A sharp green-white burst. The burning signal screamed upward through the sky. All across the island, pirates looked up.
They knew that signal.
"Fall back!" someone shouted.
"The objective's done!"
Pirates began disengaging immediately, breaking from fights, retreating toward exits and broken walls.
The mustachioed pirate slammed Lucian back with his shoulder, forcing distance.
"Captain," he growled urgently, "We need to go... Now!"
Hook, pale and shaking, looked up through sweat and blood.
His eyes locked onto Lucian.
Onto the Night Fury.
Pure, venomous hatred twisted his face.
"This…" Hook hissed through clenched teeth, clutching his ruined arm. "This will not end here."
Smoke and fire swirled as pirates closed ranks around him, dragging him backward toward the exits.
Lucian stepped forward to pursue—
The Night Fury snarled and moved with him—
But a wall of Hook's remaining crew surged in, blades raised, guns cocked, forcing them to halt.
For a moment, predator and prey stared at each other through smoke and flame.
Then Hook was gone.
The pirates vanished into the chaos, retreating toward the harbor as the flare burned out overhead.
The Night Fury growled low in its throat, wings twitching, ready to give chase.
Lucian placed a steadying hand against its neck.
"…Calm down" he said quietly.
The dragon snorted, furious but it stayed.
______
Northern Market Harbor
The docks were ablaze.
Ships burned at their moorings, flames climbing masts as smoke rolled across the water. Pirates poured onto the Jolly Roger, shouting orders, hauling loot, dragging the wounded aboard.
When Hook was carried onto the deck, the noise faltered.
Every eye went to his blood-soaked sleeve. To his missing hand.
Smee stumbled forward, eyes wide, voice shaking. "C-Captain… your— your hand—"
Hook shoved him away with his remaining hand.
"Enough," he snapped. "I'm not dead."
He drew a sharp breath, steadying himself against the railing as pain threatened to drag him under.
"Call Zarina."
Smee blinked. "Z-Zarina, sir?"
"NOW." Hook growled. "Unless you want to watch me bleed out."
Smee didn't argue. He turned and ran.
Minutes passed like hours.
Then—
A streak of golden light zipped through the smoke.
Something small flew beside Smee as he returned, wings humming softly, movements sharp and precise. The figure slowed and hovered near Hook, her glow cutting through the soot and firelight.
She landed lightly on the railing beside him.
Zarina.
Small, winged, dressed in a pirate's cut of cloth, copper-red hair tied back, eyes sharp with intelligence and amusement. She glanced once at Hook's missing arm.
"Well, well... " she said dryly, hands on her hips, "looks like your arrogance finally caught up with you, James."
Her gaze flicked up to his face, then back to his missing arm.
"Leaving your main crew behind, charging headfirst into chaos… honestly." She shook her head. "Look at you now."
"This isn't the time," he said coldly. "Can you bring it back?"
Zarina snorted softly. "Grow it back?" She shook her head. "No. That's not how this works."
Hook's jaw tightened.
She hovered closer, expression sharpening as she examined the wound.
"But," she continued, voice turning professional, "I can stop the bleeding. Seal it. Heal it fast enough that it won't rot or kill you."
Hook exhaled slowly, pain burning behind his eyes. "Then do it."
Zarina studied him for a long moment.
Then she nodded.
Zarina cracked her knuckles, fairy dust already glowing faintly around her hands.
"Hold still," she said. "And try not to scream. It's unbecoming."
As red light washed over his ruined wrist, Hook stared out across the burning harbor.
His hand was gone.
But his hatred had only just begun.
________
[A/N: Hey guys, I just want to say that I FUCKED UP the last chapter haha… As you know, Hook has a hook hand, which means he only has one hand. But in the last chapter, Hook fought Lucian using two hands—he was using both his rapier and a flintlock… ARGHHHHH!!!!! I was a little tipsy when I was writing that chapter, you know, it was New Year's Eve, there were drinks, and now the consequences are here. So I just want to inform you that I edited the previous chapters and made Hook have two hands at first, before he was bitten by the Night Fury. I didn't want to change the fight scene (I'm just lazy). So yeah, in this version, the dragon is the reason his arm was bitten off, not Peter Pan or the crocodile. That's all and thank you for reading!]