Hello there.

In the last chapter, Percy learned that there's always a bigger fish. Or in this case, a bigger dragon. And they don't come much bigger than a Bewilderbeast.

(Just trying to diffuse the tension.)

I sense the action in the last chapter was well-received by all, so I'll try to keep this one fast-paced too.

I was asked by one of my readers about characters, so here I'll provide a list of who they are. Dragons too will have a place on the list. (There will be more to come, don't you worry!)

Demigods:

Percy Jackson (Son of Poseidon)

Annabeth Chase (Daughter of Athena)

Nico di Angelo (Son of Hades)

Piper McLean (Daughter of Aphrodite)

Leo Valdez (Son of Hephaestus)

Calypso (Daughter of Atlas)

Jason Grace (Son of Jupiter)

Reyna Ramirez-Arellano (Daughter of Bellona)

Frank Zhang (Son of Mars)

Hazel Levesque (Daughter of Pluto)

Dragon Riders and their Dragons:

Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III and the Night Fury, Toothless

Astrid Hofferson and the Deadly Nadder, Stormfly

Fishlegs Ingerman and the Gronckle, Meatlug

Snotlout Jorgenson and the Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang

Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston and the Hideous Zippleback, Barf & Belch

Eret, Son of Eret and the Rumblehorn, Skullcrusher

Valka Haddock and the Stormcutter, Cloudjumper

Gobber the Belch and the Hotburple, Grump

A Dragon's Utopia

"So, Percy, was it? How in the Nine Worlds did you and your... rabble get here?" said the armoured man, leaning forward in his high-backed wooden chair.

Percy looked back across the wide circular table, at the man and his armoured entourage, and at the dragons that loomed behind them. The gloom of the hall was thick, only dispersed by a few torches scattered about.

"Uh, can you guys move a bit closer? It's kinda hard to see you all the way over there." Percy forced a laugh, the distance swallowing the sound.

The striking blonde lady on the man's right slammed a battleaxe into the table, bellowing across at Percy. "You do not make requests here, foreigner! You will respect the Chief!"

The man hushed her, laying a soothing hand on her scaled armour. "Hush, Astrid. Respect our guests. Show them the renowned Viking hospitality." He offered an apologetic shrug towards Percy and company, rising from his high-backed wooden throne. "Come. Walk with us. Perhaps we can come to an understanding about each other."

"Sounds great," muttered Percy as he and his friends were roughly hoisted up and shoved towards the towering hall doors. With a nod to his dragon, which was almost invisible in the patches between the smoky firelight, the chief shoved the doors wide open, releasing a flood of daylight. Momentarily blinded, Percy cast about with his mind until he touched upon the great creature currently basking in the harbour. It was like an anchor for him, grounding him, stopping him from falling into madness.

"Welcome to Berk," said the chief casually, spreading his arms wide in a show of extravagance. Behind Percy, the other so-called Vikings groaned and rolled their eyes good-naturedly. "Oh, but where are my manners? I'm showing you my village and you don't even know who I am!" He strode back along the line of demigods, looking carefully at each one in turn before stopping in front of Percy. "Am I to take it that you are the leader of your group?"

"Yes," replied Percy with a straight face.

"No!" chorused the others, dissolving into giggles as they realised the hilarity of the scenario.

Percy made a face at his fellow demigods and bent a knee, bowing his head before the Viking chief. "My name is Perseus Jackson, son of Sally Jackson and the god Poseidon, Lord of the Oceans." As Percy spoke, his nine friends also dropped to their knees, showing due respect to a person who demanded it.

"With me I bring Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena," continued Percy, as Annabeth raised her head briefly to stare with stormy grey eyes at the chief's consort. "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter; Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite; Frank Zhang, son of Mars; Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto; Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus; Calypso, daughter of Atlas; Nico di Angelo, son of Hades; and Reyna Avila Ramirez-Arellano, daughter of Bellona." As he spoke each of their names, they raised their heads to meet the chief's eyes.

"We come from the United States of America. We didn't intend to end up here, nor do we exactly know where here is." Percy paused, thinking for a courteous way to end his speech. "We beseech you, enlighten us as to what we've landed on."

The chief chuckled and extended a calloused hand to Percy, hoisting him up to look him in the eyes. "Well, you know how to make a chief feel important in times like these, don't you? Relax, guys, I think we can trust them. Besides," he said, "this one has a Bewilderbeast, and we all know what one of those bad boys can do, don't we?"

The assembled Vikings followed their chief's example, pulling the kneeling demigods back to their feet.

"Well, since you lot were so kind as to grace us with your names, might as well return the favour, right, Chief?" ushered a bald Viking with an intricately braided blonde moustache. He waved a prosthetic hand in front of Percy's face, while lightly tapping his shins with a wooden leg. "Name's Gobber. I'm the blacksmith round these parts, and a damn good dragon dentist and doctor." He pointed over to a large mound of scales. "That's me dragon, Grump. Not the brightest of the bunch, but you could never ask for a better forge-hand."

The chief strode forward and pulled Percy from Gobber's meaty grasp. "That's enough Gobber. You'll be scaring our guests off at this rate. Take them down to the stables and give them an introduction to dragons. See if we get a reaction from some of the rescues." He clapped Percy on the shoulder. "Me and Percy are going to have a little chat, chief to chief."

He whistled and the black dragon came bounding over, reminding Percy considerably of Mrs O'Leary, the hellhound he kept back at Camp Half-Blood. The chief swung his leg over the back of the dragon, and for the first time Percy noticed that the chief also had a prosthetic leg. Whispering softly, the chief leaned forward, stroking a spot on his dragon's neck.

A row of spines along the dragons back split apart, and from somewhere the dragon began to emit blue light along these spines. The glow also came from its nostrils and the back of its mouth. Suddenly the dragon reared its head and let out an unholy roar, deep and commanding.

Percy stumbled back in awe, blinking. "What... what was that?"

The chief smiled serenely. "That was Toothless' Alpha mode. He is the king of all dragons after all, he needs something to show his dominance. And, before you ask, I am Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Chief of Berk, and trainer of this useless reptile."

Percy just shook his head in amazement, grinning ear to ear. "I think I'm going to enjoy my time here. I think this is it, Chief."

Sorry for being away so long guys. Work kinda overloaded me, but now I'm determined to grind some chapters out for you all.

More to follow soon.

Peace!