She had made a poor choice in letting him convince her to do this. They should have stayed at the nest; this was not the time of year to be out sailing or flying. No wonder dragon raids ended with the summer Valka thought as she held her bundle close with one hand and Cloudjumper's spike with the other. The cold rain was coming from every direction except above as the winds caught her dragon's wings and tossed them through the dark sky. Four wings were useful now as the first set took the brunt of the wind and the second were able to fly. But the gusts were frequent and constantly changing direction causing Cloudjumper great difficulty in maneuverability.

Early in the ride Valka had given up on speaking to either Cloudjumper or her bundle; the wind stole her voice before even she could hear it. Instead her concentration was given to the task of holding onto her dragon and her bundle. Valka held the bundle close to her body; protecting it from the wind and rain that lashed at them the best she could. Suddenly, Cloudjumper veered down. Valka pressed herself against him and tried to keep from being ripped off his back by the descent and the wind. It was hard to see through the sheets of rain in the dark, but Valka thought she could make out stable land in the tossing waves. Cloudjumper was almost to the land when a strong gust slammed into the dragon from the right sending them spiraling. Valka no longer knew which way was up in the dark; all she could feel was sheets of rain whipping around in the wind. She would have to rely solely on Cloudjumper. Suddenly she heard a crack…

Valka woke to sunshine and songbirds. She was leaning back against her dragon with her bundle still wrapped securely in her arms. The waves that had been so large and dangerous the night before gently lapped at the shore and the sky was clear and blue.

"Good morning, sweet thing." She said to her bundle before getting up to figure out where they had landed. They were on a level side of the beach, just above the rocky shore on the first bit of green grass. To the left there was a cliff rising out of the sea with the white foam of waves hitting the bottom of it. To her right were three sea-stacks. If you stood at just the right angle and squinted they blended together to make a dragon head. Stoick had pointed that out to her on their first date when they came to this island. Valka had been planning on using the position of the sun to guess where they were but there was no need. She knew this island. Stoick had taken her here many times to get away from the village; she was only a few hours from Berk. Much closer than she wanted to be right now. A sliver of sharp pain ran through her chest as she looked at the sea-stacks and remembered the last time she had been here with her husband. She had just passed her first trimester of pregnancy and they had come here to celebrate by themselves before finally announcing it to their friends. Part of her still remained in that village but she knew she could never go back. Not as long as she had Cloudjumper.

"Cloudjumper we have to go." Valka turned back to her dragon and forgot about leaving and her family. Both of the massive dragon's right wings were bent back further than they should be and he breathed heavily as if in great pain.

"Oh my dear one!" She gently felt at his shoulders and he shuddered. "I'm so sorry not to have noticed." Both wings were dislocated. She would have to push them back. There would be no flying for a while.

"Let me get this one situated, Cloudjumper, then I can see to you." Valka picked up her bundle and lifted the edge of the linin blanket to check inside. "We have some time to get you back to the nest, I think." She said, "So long as we aren't discovered first."