Pre-dawn crept slowly over the Northern Market.
The sky was a dull, bruised gray, light barely strong enough to cut through the smoke that still clung low over the harbor. Fires hissed as they were beaten down or smothered beneath wet canvas. Charred ships drifted half-sunk in the water, their masts broken like snapped bones, hulls blackened and cracked.
The port smelled of ash and blood.
Along the docks near the royal and noble moorings, the survivors gathered.
Injured guards sat slumped against crates, armor discarded, hands shaking as medics worked quickly and quietly. Civilians moved like ghosts between the wreckage, some searching desperately, others kneeling beside bodies already covered with tarps. Tears streaked through soot-stained faces, names were whispered, some were screamed.
Pirates, hunters, civilians. All lay the same now.
The dragons that had torn through the market were gone, those lured by dragon root had fled long before the fires died, vanishing into the dark sky with stolen roots and prey and the Night Fury Lucian had freed…
It was nowhere to be found.
After chasing Viggo and the hunters into the night, it had simply disappeared, swallowed by smoke, distance, and something unknowable.
The gang stood together near the edge of the dock, exhaustion etched into every line of their posture.
Snotlout broke the silence.
"Soooo…" he said, hands on his hips, squinting at the ruined harbor. "How exactly are we getting back to Berk?"
Astrid glanced toward Fishlegs.
Fishlegs blinked. He lifted one finger as if a brilliant answer was about to appear then slowly lowered it. "…I have no idea."
"Fantastic," Snotlout muttered.
Nearby, Lucian leaned against the side of a sleek royal vessel, arms crossed, posture loose despite the weight of the night. Prince Eric sat on a crate beside him, boots planted on the dock, watching guards haul debris to the water.
"So," Eric said, breaking the quiet. "What's your plan now?"
Lucian tilted his head, eyes drifting briefly toward the horizon. "Lay low and head back to Berk."
A smirk tugged at his lips as he glanced at Eric. "And maybe explore the world a bit. I am exiled, after all."
Eric snorted and gestured vaguely at the burned harbor. "After all this? I'm afraid 'laying low' isn't really an option anymore."
Lucian chuckled.
Eric stood, offering his arm. Lucian grabbed it and pulled him upright with ease.
"But," Eric continued, brushing soot from his sleeve, "You're free now. No kingdom holding your leash. You get to choose what comes next."
"Yeah," Lucian said quietly.
Eric nodded toward the ship. "You're welcome to hitch a ride."
Lucian's gaze softened but then he exhaled. "I appreciate it. Really, but I still need to find Simba."
Eric looked around at the devastation, hands settling on his hips. "That might be… difficult. With everything that happened, even the smallest stalls were hit. He could be anywhere."
Before Lucian could reply—
A ripple of tension swept through the dock.
Guards stiffened, boots scraping as hands went to hilts. Steel slid free with sharp metallic whispers, blades catching the first pale hints of dawn. Someone sucked in a breath. Another muttered a curse.
From the tall grass near the edge of the harbor came a low, vibrating growl.
Two bright green eyes opened in the darkness.
They blinked once.
Then the shadows shifted, and a sleek black shape stepped forward into the torchlight.
"Night Fury," Fishlegs breathed.
The Night Fury moved with quiet confidence, claws clicking softly against the stone as it advanced just far enough to be seen.
It wasn't as large as the one from the auction
" ...kind of small," Tuffnut said.
"Yeah," Ruffnut agreed, spreading her arms wide. "The one earlier was way bigger."
In the dragon's jaws—
A tiny lion cub dangled gently by the nape, tail shimmering as bioluminescent scales caught the early light.
Lucian smiled.
"Well," he said, pushing off the boat, "looks like I won't need to find him anymore."
Hiccup stared.
Lucian stepped past him, lightly bumping his shoulder as he passed. "Careful," Lucian murmured teasingly. "You're going to wear a hole in the air staring like that."
He approached the Night Fury calmly.
The dragon lowered its head without hesitation, releasing the cub. Simba immediately scrambled into Lucian's arms, purring loudly and pressing his head beneath Lucian's chin.
Lucian laughed softly, one hand stroking Simba's mane. With the other, he reached up and rested his palm against the dragon's neck.
"Thanks, bud."
Toothless rumbled, eyes half-lidded.
Behind the group, Hiccup lingered near the back, hands moving in small, careful motions toward the treeline beyond the docks.
'Go... Hide.'
'Forest.'
The dragon tilted its head.
Its green eyes flicked to Hiccup, then to the open harbor then back to the boy.
Astrid glanced back just as Hiccup froze mid-gesture, hands snapping to his sides. He offered an innocent smile that fooled absolutely no one.
She narrowed her eyes. Then turned back.
Hiccup immediately resumed, more urgent now, pointing toward the trees and making a subtle slicing motion across his palm.
'Hide Toothless'
Toothless huffed softly, understanding clear in the tilt of its head.
It stepped backward, claws scraping lightly against stone, then turned. With a final glance at them, it lowered its body and broke into a swift, ground-eating run, muscles rippling beneath black scales as it vanished into smoke and trees alike.
Only the faint rustle of disturbed brush marked where it had gone.
Eric blinked.
"…Well," he said slowly. "That was definitely weird."
Lucian adjusted Simba in his arms, the cub curling contentedly against him.
Eric turned back to the group and clapped his hands once.
"Well then," he said. "Let's get you all home."
He gestured toward the waiting ship.
"I'll give you a ride back to Berk."
The smoke drifted higher as the sun finally began to rise.
_____
The sea was calm.
'Too calm,' Lucian thought.
The sky had just begun to pale, deep gray thinning into soft blues as the sun crept upward from the horizon. Smoke from the harbor still clung to the air behind them, a dark smear against the growing light, but the water ahead was open and quiet.
They were already far enough that the Northern Market looked like a wounded beast left behind.
Lucian sat near the bow, one knee drawn up, elbows resting loosely as he turned something heavy and unfamiliar in his hands.
Hook's gun.
It still smelled faintly of smoke, the metal warm despite the night having passed. He remembered exactly when it had fallen—when the Night Fury's jaws had snapped shut, when bone and blood had scattered across stone, when the pirate captain's scream had drowned out everything else.
The flintlock had slipped from Hook's grasp then, clattering uselessly across the arena floor.
Lucian had picked it up without thinking, more out of instinct than intention, even as chaos closed in around them. Now, in the quiet of the open sea, it felt heavier than it should have.
It looked like a flintlock at first glance, wooden grip, metal barrel, familiar shape. But Lucian knew better. He'd seen it fire again and again. No reloading nor fumbling for powder.
Which wasn't right. This world didn't cheat that way.
He thumbed the mechanism thoughtfully, eyes narrowing as he traced seams that shouldn't exist.
Behind him, a piece of bread thumped lightly against his shoulder.
"Eat," Eric said around a mouthful, leaning against a crate. "You look like you're about to interrogate that thing."
Lucian caught the bread, barely glancing at it before taking a bite. He chewed, swallowed, then lifted the gun slightly.
"Do you know where this came from?"
Eric followed his gaze, then raised an eyebrow.
"…Yeah," he said. "I've never seen one up close, but I know what it is."
Lucian looked up.
"They say it's from a city called New Thalassa," Eric said.
"New Thalassa?"
Eric nodded, shifting to lean against the railing now, one arm hooked over it as the ship cut steadily through the water.
"City on the continent of Cindervale," he said casually. "Big place, loud and smells like smoke and oil more often than salt."
Lucian's brow creased. "Cindervale?"
"An industrial continent, so they say" Eric continued, biting into his bread again. "I've never set foot there, but you don't have to. News from that continent travels fast. Too fast."
"And?" Lucian stared.
Eric exhaled through his nose, considering.
"They don't wait for magic to solve things," he said. "They take it apart, study it and mix it with other things. Call it science, then they turn it into what they like to call technology."
Lucian glanced back at the gun.
"That weapon," Eric added, nodding toward it, "is one of their early successes. Supposedly powered by refined magic crystals, ground down, stabilized, and forced to release solid energy in controlled bursts."
He shrugged. "That's the explanation I've heard. I don't pretend to understand it."
Lucian's fingers tightened slightly.
"I also heard rumors," Eric went on "that they've built chariots that don't need horses. Metal beasts that move on their own. Smoke pours out of them like a sick dragon."
"A car" Lucian muttered low. He turned the gun once more, then looked back at Eric.
"And who lets them do all this?"
Eric smiled faintly.
"Oh, there's no king," he said. "No crown, no throne."
"They're ruled by Houses," Eric explained. "Merchant Houses to be specific. Families so rich they don't need bloodlines they buy power instead."
He gestured vaguely, as if outlining something invisible.
"They call it the Conclave of Gilded Houses. Seven seats, last I heard. Shipping, weapons, banking, mama crystals, dragons. Whoever controls enough trade gets a voice. Whoever loses it… doesn't."
"So money," Lucian said flatly.
"Influence," Eric corrected. "Money is just how they measure it."
Lucian was quiet for a moment.
"And you know all this because…?" he asked.
Eric smirked faintly. "You don't stay a prince long if you don't pay attention to the world changing around you."
Then, more thoughtfully, he added, "I was actually planning to go there after the Northern Market."
Lucian looked at him. "To New Thalassa?"
"Not as a visitor. Just… to see if the rumors were true. To find something that could help Merlune prepare for what's coming." Eric admitted.
He sighed. "After tonight, though? That trip's going to have to wait."
Lucian stared out at the rising sun.
Science, technology, merchant lords. Guns that didn't reload. A world moving forward whether anyone was ready or not.
He closed his hand around the gun once more.
"A world of swords and magic… and now technology is beginning to take root," he murmured. "This just became far more interesting."
The ship sailed on, the light growing stronger with every passing moment.
_______
[A/N: Hey everyone! Does anyone know a website or an app I can use to create custom maps? I'd like to make one showing the continents and locations featured in this fic.]