Epilogue

"There were dragons when I was a boy. There were great grim sky dragons that nested on the on the cliff tops like gigantic scary birds. Little brown scuddely dragons that hunted down mice and rats in well organized packs. Preposterously huge sea dragons that were twenty times as big as the big blue whale. Some say they crawled back into the sea, leaving not a bone or a fang for man to remember by. Others say they were nothing but folk tales to begin with."

King Toothless sat on a rock, on the rim of the Great Falls. The mist from the falls felt refreshing on his scales. On his right was Queen Moon, on his left was Queen Avalon and Edelweiss. Edel had grown slightly, but she's was still pretty tiny. She wore a simple light blue summer dress. Avalon was wearing her peacock feather crown. Toothless had wanted Edelweiss to work for him, and live in Draco's Nest. But she refused out of devout loyalty to her queen. So, he hired her for a very special job.

Running around the rock, were Toothless's and Moon's three dragonets. They were the size of lion cubs and just has energetic. Comet was the only white one. He had black spines, black on the tips of his ears and tail. His eyes were aqua green. Even though the tree dragonets had hatched at the same time, he acted as the oldest and bossed around his siblings. Orca was black with white paws and white tummy. She also had a white spot on her nose, and white on the tips of her ears and tail fins. She was a daddy's girl and was always following Toothless around. She loved to draw like he did, and was just as bouncy and playful as he was. Starflight was also black with white paws, white tummy, white spines, and white on the tips of his sonar flaps and tail. His eyes were apple green. He was the curious one. He loved learning and listening to stories. However, he was also cautious. He would rather listen to stories of adventures then go on an adventure himself.

Edelweiss had helped Moon while she was on the nest, just as Serenity had helped Queen Aurora. Toothless had to do his job as king, so he wasn't always able to be at Moon's side. Edelweiss kept Moon company, the whole time, until the eggs hatched. Though their parents had given them their individual names, Edelweiss gave all three of them the title of Night Light. Toothless and Moon had been so grateful for her help that they named her godmother. After getting approval from Queen Avalon, Edelweiss accepted, because she flat out adored the Night Lights. She was always willing to babysit them while their parents left to due their jobs.

The adults watched the Night Lights playing on the rock, making sure they didn't get swept over the falls. Comet ran over to Edelweiss, growling playfully. She tossed him a sardine, which he missed. He quickly snatched it off the rock before one of his siblings got it. Edelweiss scratched his ears. He purred and rolled onto his back lazily. Edelweiss tickled his tummy, making him squeal with laughter. He playfully attacked her hand, all teeth and claws. Luckily Edelweiss had skin tough enough to stand up to Comet's play biting.

"You silly thing," Edelweiss laughed. She gently pried her hand free, and scooped Comet into her lap. She scratched his ears again. Comet jumped out of her lap, and ran over to tackle his siblings.

"We should take them into the sky," Moon suggested, nuzzling Orca. "They haven't flown out here yet."

"I'd also like to take them night flying," Toothless said. "They haven't yet seen Aurora's Fire." Starflight was listening, because he always listened to his parents talk, even if they're weren't talking to him.

"What, is, Aurora's Fire?" He asked slowly.

"They're colorful dancing lights in the night sky," Moon said softly. "They're very pretty." Starflight's eyes widened. Toothless was about to explain farther, when Edelweiss tapped him on the shoulder. He looked at her and she pointed towards the horizon, which she had been watching absentmindedly. Toothless followed her gaze. The mist from the falls was a bit dense, but through it Toothless could make out the shape of a mast and sail, heading for them. He sat up in alert. Moon looked at that direction as well, the Night Lights sat up looking confused.

"Is that a human vessel?" Moon asked, worried.

"Yes," Toothless said. He looked at Avalon. "I thought your brother were supposed to be keeping ships away from the falls."

Chris and Serenity paroled the waters around the Great Falls, on their boat called Dracorex. It was a three sailed Chinese junk; with tall, red fin-shaped sails, black haul, and red trim. It had the latest in weaponry, cannons. The top deck was lined with six long-range cannons. In addition Dracorex was enchanted to sail anywhere it was told, despite wind conditions. As well as enchanted to be completely indestructible and unsinkable. Toothless had hired them to sail the waters around the Great Falls, steering foreign ships away. It prevented any humans from finding the dragons' home, and it prevented innocent travelers from being swept over the falls.

Edelweiss watched the ship come closer. It stopped and dropped anchor.

"Well, maybe they're friends," she said. "My parents would never let a ship get passed them unless they were sure it was safe." Toothless got to his feet, his whole body tense.

"Moon, you stay here with the Night Lights," he instructed sternly. "Edel, Avalon, will you cover my while I investigate?"

"Sure," said Edelweiss. She got to her feet, and mounted Avalon. They took off and circled low over the ship. They were low enough that Edelweiss could read the name of the boat; The Hopeful Puffin. She smirked in amusement. Toothless spread his wings and soared into the air. He arched over the water, and dived towards the ship. He landed with a thud, on the ship's prow. He looked at the four passengers suspiciously. There was a man and woman, as well as a little boy and girl. Toothless looked down at the man. He was tall, with broad shoulders, dark brown hair and beard. He looked up at Toothless, looking just as tense as the dragon was.

"Hey," the man said so quietly. "Hey there Bud, remember me?" Toothless stared hard at him, this man did look so familiar. He slowly crawled down onto the deck, not breaking eye contact with the man. He paid no mind to the woman and two children, not even noticing Avalon and Edelweiss coming to a stop and hovering over the boat. Toothless walked up to the man, trying to figure out where he knew him from. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath. Then the man turned his head away, and held his hand out to Toothless. The Night Fury recognized that gesture at once, and tackled his old friend with a happy roar. Hiccup laughed excitedly. It had been almost ten years since they'd seen each other. Edelweiss and Avalon laughed as well.

"It's good to see you too Bud!" Hiccup exclaimed. Toothless jumped around happily, making the boat rock. The only ones not laughing were the little boy and girl. They hid their faces in their mother's shoulder. Astrid had knelt down and hugged them close.

"He's not going to eat your father," she assured them. They watched as Toothless licked Hiccup's face, just like old times.

"How's the tail holding up?" Hiccup asked. "Could probably use some oil, and little fine-tuning." Toothless barked a laugh. He finally backed up a bit allowing Hiccup to sit up. The two of them then turned to Astrid and the two children.

Toothless smiled at the children, thrilled that his human friend had also started a family. They were beautiful children. The little girl looked like the older one. She had dark brown hair and blue eyes. The little boy had blond hair and green eyes.

Hiccup held his hand out to them, and Astrid nudged them forward. The boy and girl dragged their feet, they clearly wanted to be no where near the big, black dragon that took up half the boat. But were soon standing right in front of him.

"He won't hurt you," Hiccup told them gently. "Hold your hand out, like this." He raised their hands towards Toothless's nose, just as he had done. The two kids covered their faces with their other hand. "Let him come to you." Hiccup encouraged. The kids held perfectly still. Toothless looked down at them, for a moment. Then gently put his snout in their hands. They opened their eyes to see themselves petting the big dragon's nose. They stared, now awestruck. Toothless lowed his head to their level, looking at them with his big eyes, and gave them his gummy grin.

"Hey, he doesn't have any teeth," the girl observed.

"That's why his name is Toothless," said Hiccup.

"That's a funny name," the little boy giggled. Toothless pinned his ears back bashfully. Astrid looked up at Edelweiss and Avalon, still hovering over the boat.

"Hi Edel, hi Avalon," she said.

"Hello Astrid," said Edelweiss, smiling. "Hi Hiccup." Hiccup looked up at them as well.

"Say, do you think we can join you for an evening flight?" He asked. Avalon and Edelweiss exchanged a glance, first with Toothless, then with each other.

"Sure," said Avalon. "Edel, why don't you wait up here and talk with these guys, while I go get Stormfly." Edelweiss took a deep breath.

"All right," she said. Avalon hovered lower over the Hopeful Puffin's railing. Edelweiss jumped onto it, effortlessly. Avalon turned and headed back towards the falls. Edelweiss perched on the railing and hopped down onto the deck. She looked nervous. She took a deep breath.

"Good to see you Edelweiss," said Hiccup. He looked her up and down. Edelweiss only came up to Astrid's shoulder, but looked more womanly. Her black hair hung down to her shoulders, a portion of it was pulled back behind her head, and secured with a bejeweled dragon fly hairpin.

"Good to see you guys too," Edelweiss said, smiling. "How've you been?" Her eyes went to the two children. They were still petting Toothless.

"Yeah," said Astrid. "This is Zephyr and Nuffink." She pointed to the girl, then the boy. "Guys, this is Edelweiss." The two children looked up at Edelweiss. She smiled at them.

"Hello, Zephyr, Nuffink," she said. In her mind, she compared them to the three Night Lights

"Hi," Zephyr said shyly. "Your dress is very pretty."

"Thank you," said Edelweiss. She leaned casually on the ship's railing, and tapped her bronze talons on the wood. "So, what do you guys think of old Toothless?"

"He's kind of scary," said Nuffink.

"True," Edelweiss said. "But he's harmless. He loves kids, both human and dragon. Which is why he has three of his own." Toothless beamed, his eyes shinning.

"So it wasn't a trick of the mist," said Astrid. "Toothless does have his own little ones."

"Yes," Edelweiss confirmed. "Night Lights I call them."

"Did you come up with that name?" Hiccup asked.

"Yeah," Edelweiss said. "I wanted to call them something that makes sense, and didn't make them sound like monsters. I've looked through your Book of Dragons and there seems to be six dragon species with the word death in their name." She rolled her eyes.

"So what else have you guys been up to, over there in Draconia?" Astrid asked.

"Well," said Edelweiss. "Black Widow and Apollo have made things official. Eclipse travels all over the world, and only visits once in a while. Avalon has turned the great hall into an indoor forest glade. Complete with trees, grassy hills, wild flowers, and a lake. And that apple you gave us, from my mother's tree, Avalon regrew the tree from its seed and it has now become her throne. She's acquired two adult peacocks and keeps them in the great hall too."

"Did you say a lake?" Hiccup asked.

"Yup," said Edelweiss. "Draconia's very own Lake of Avalon. She enchanted it to show her what's going on in the human world, and what's going on in the dragon kingdoms."

"What about you?" Astrid asked. Edelweiss looked down

"Well," she said. "I don't have a partner like everyone else. So I've created a quiet life for myself. I visit this place often. My grandmother created three passageways that link Draco's Nest and Draconia. One entrance is located under the castle where the vaults and dungeons are. It goes right to the Sunstone Chamber. One is located behind Dragon Falls, and comes leads to this waterfall." She gestured to the Great Falls behind her. "The third one is located in my parents house, and leads right onto their boat no matter where it is." She thought a second. "Oh and you remember the Deathgrippers?" Hiccup and Astrid both nodded, grimacing. "Well, turns out they survived that last battle. They washed up on Draconia's shore. I've rehabilitated them, and they're my friends now."

"All six of them?" Astrid asked.

"Yup, all six of them," said Edelweiss. "They've been drugged for a long time, they forgot their own names. So I renamed them; Sting, Wasp, Arachnid, Scuttle, Beatle, and Lizard."

"So you trained them," said Hiccup.

"No, I didn't train them," said Edelweiss. "I rehabilitated them, there's a difference. I don't make them do what I say, I just help them. They're very sweet, more like overgrown sheepdogs." She chuckled. Just then they heard two dragons flying towards them. They looked up to see Avalon returning with Stormfly behind her. Astrid's face lit up when she saw her Nadder. Avalon created a landing platform out of seaweed, and they both landed on it. Stormfly squawked happily. Astrid hugged her nose horn.

"Stormfly!" She exclaimed. Stormfly nuzzled her. Edelweiss mounted Avalon.

"We'll meet you guys up there," said Avalon. "I've already told Moon, and she'll come up with the Night Lights." Toothless nodded and they took off.

"Legend says, that when the ground quakes, or lava spews from the Earth. It's the dragons, letting us know that they're still here. Waiting for us to figure out how to get along."

They flew high over the sea, through the clouds. They were shortly joined by Toothless and Stormfly, with their riders. Hiccup and Astrid had a child riding with them. They all looked so free, and so happy. The three dragons raced through the clouds, their riders whooping with excitement. Toothless flew up and down. He would fly as high as he could, then stall and drop back down towards the other two. Every time he did, Hiccup would toss Nuffink into the air, and catch him. Edelweiss smiled, remembering when her father would do that while flying on Windwalker. They met up with Moon and her Night Lights. The little dragons flew in a line on their mother's tail. They spotted the humans and flew over to fly around their father. Comet, who was the bravest of the three, flew closer. Nuffink looked at him curiously. He reached out to pet the dragonet. But Comet pawed his hand away, playfully. He then flew back over to his siblings.

"Yes, the world believes the dragons are gone, if they ever existed at all. But we Berkians, we know otherwise. And we'll guard the secret. Until the time comes when dragons can return in peace."

The family of dragons and humans flew over the sea, keeping the Great Falls in their sight. Once they spotted Dracorex sailing below, its vivid red sails stood out against the blue water. They circled over it once, then flew back up into the clouds.

The End