Title: How to Tame a Valkyrie

Word Count: 35,500 words

Characters: Hiccup, Astrid, Eret, OCs

Rating: T

Status: Complete

Author's Note: I wrote this a while back and haven't really edited it since. Please excuse any grammatical and convention errors. A total rewrite is in the works, but I wanted to publish this now since I don't know when I'll finish the rewrite. Rate and review! Thanks for reading!

It had been almost three months since Drago's attack on Berk. The village was slowly being rebuilt with the help of the dragons, which were now more numerous than ever, thanks to Valka's presence. The dragons that had been at the sanctuary of the Bewilderbeast had made their home in the mountains of Berk's island, a literal paradise for dragon researchers. Now the Book of Dragons was expanded, updated, and almost completely rewritten. No longer were there any mentions of killing dragons on sight in the book. Instead, the Book detailed things such as dragons' abilities, coloration, size, personality traits, and their compatibility with other dragons.

On the beach below Berk, Hiccup and Astrid were enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet in the late afternoon sunshine—another rare phenomenon for Berk, where it snowed nine months out of the year and hailed the other three. There were no dragon races scheduled for that afternoon, and their dragons were also resting. The reconstruction work was going well, including an expanded area for the dragons. All was well.

"It's kind of weird, seeing all of these new dragons," Astrid said, leaning back on her hands. "I never knew that this many different species existed."

"I know. And to think, Mom thinks that there's still more out there that even she's never encountered!" Hiccup sighed. "I just hope that we never see Drago again."

Astrid nodded. "I wish that we could have saved the Bewilderbeast, though."

"I think maybe he's spent too long under Drago's thumb by now. He might never really be free of Drago's influence." Suddenly, Hiccup sat up. "What's that?"

Astrid looked around, ears and eyes searching for the source of the high-pitched whine that usually only accompanied Toothless when he attacked. "There!" Low on the sea, something was approaching fast, so fast that the water was cresting from the force of the wind its path generated. "Stormfly! Toothless!"

The pair leaped onto their respective dragons and took flight, speeding towards the approaching figure. It was a dragon, black as night, and smooth, like Toothless, although it was larger and longer than the Night Fury. It was shaped differently too, with a long neck and horned head. In its claws it carried a bundle. When the strange dragon saw them approach, it roared, spitting white-blue plasma that narrowly missed the two dragons and their riders. Seeing that they were still flying, the dragon breathed a cloud of black smoke that made them effectively blind.

"Up! Up!" Hiccup urged Toothless up and out of the cloud, so that they could get their bearings. "Stop! We're friends!" he yelled in the general direction of the smoke.

The dragon roared, and this time, it sounded as if it was in pain. It skidded to a stop in the shallow waters below Berk, placing its burden on the sand and standing over it with spread wings and bared teeth.

"Woah…easy there," Hiccup breathed, approaching the dragon with an outstretched hand. "Easy…"

The bundle moaned, and Astrid leaped off of Stormfly's back. "It's a person!" she exclaimed.

The black dragon growled mournfully. It stepped aside gingerly, its violently blue eyes narrowed at the pair. Astrid wasted no time in kneeling by the bundle, which turned out to be a girl about their age, wrapped in a cloak. She had a long gash across her chest, and a cut along her cheekbone. "We have to get a healer, now!"

As Astrid leaped up on Stormfly to fetch help, Hiccup examined the strange dragon. It was like nothing he had seen before. Its head was long and wedge-shaped, almost like a Nightmare's, but it didn't have any teeth protruding, nor did it have an underbite. Two pairs of straight black horns pointed backwards at the dragon's temples, while its spine was covered with similar spikes, at the moment raised and sharp. The dragon's body was lean and covered in supple muscles; its legs were long and elegant, like its tail, which was almost the same length as the dragon itself. From its flight, Hiccup knew that its wingspan was huge as well.

"What are you?" he asked, not expecting an answer. Toothless moved aside to let several other dragons land. The strange dragon reared up, screaming, and Hiccup saw with alarm that the blue-white fire was gathering in its throat again. "No! They're here to help! It's okay!"

After much hubbub, the girl was transferred to the infirmary, although her dragon wouldn't budge from the window, its head filling the frame as it periodically pushed its head inside to check on her. It took two days for her to wake up.

Hiccup and Astrid were sitting nearby when she awoke. Immediately, she was offered water and a slice of bread. "Who…who are you?"

"I'm Hiccup, Chief of Berk. This is Astrid."

"His girlfriend." Astrid examined the newcomer. Now that she wasn't in danger of dying, Astrid had other questions. Like why the girl seemed so relieved when she heard Hiccup's name. The girl was slender, with pale skin crisscrossed with paler scars. Her long black hair was long, probably reaching down to her knees if she had been standing. And her eyes…her eyes were the same impossible shade of blue as her dragon's.

"Berk? Then Blackthorn made it," the girl sighed in relief. "Wait! Where is she?" she looked around, and made to get out of bed.

"Stop it!" Astrid pushed her back down. "Who's Blackthorn?"

"My dragon," the girl explained. The shutters slammed open, and Blackthorn thrust her head through the opening. "Blackthorn!" The dragon sniffed her rider all over, finally allowing her to hug her head.

"Okay, okay, look, who are you? And where did you get all your injuries?" Hiccup gestured to the bandages that covered the girl's torso.

"Oh!" The girl looked down. "My name is Valkyrie, daughter of Chief Thorin of Hraun. This is Blackthorn, my Nightwish."

"Nightwish?" repeated Hiccup. "I've never heard of them."

"Really?" Valkyrie looked surprised. "You've never heard of the Nightwish? They're one of the most powerful species of dragons we've ever seen, excepting the alphas, of course. But forty Nightwishes can bring down an alpha. I've seen it," she said grimly, her surprise melting away into anger, sadness, and perhaps a touch of despair. "It's what happened at Hraun."

"Okay, okay, you need to tell us your story, in order. What happened to you?" Astrid pressed.

Valkyrie sighed. "Hraun has always been a place where dragons and humans have coexisted, like Berk, only we learned much earlier on how to tame dragons and ride them. Because we live on a dormant volcano, where the ground is still hot and very fertile, dragons find our island very hospitable, and so we have a lot of dragons, wild or domesticated. We rode dragons in battle against bandits and invaders, but never against other dragons. Until Drago Bludvist came."

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged looks. Drago again?

"I see you are familiar with his name. Well, he came, and he brought his alpha, a Bewilderbeast of immense size and strength. I was only ten years old at the time, but my father and our warriors took to the skies; the women rode on Nightwishes. It is a curious fact that Nightwishes will only bear female riders, although they will carry men as long as their rider is with them. Anyway, my mother and her women led the charge, and they destroyed Drago's Bewilderbeast. Only forty of them, and they destroyed an alpha! Drago fled, but not before he cut down my mother and Stormfury, her Nightwish, and took Stormfury's skin for his cloak.

"For a time, we were safe. I was sixteen by the time we began to hear of Drago again, particularly his penchant for stealing dragons and their riders. We doubled the watches, brought in our dragons, and waited. We thought, with our Nightwishes and our other dragons, we could defeat him again. We had done it once before, and so we could do it again, right? Wrong. Drago's new Bewilderbeast was stronger than the last, and he had brought not only the alpha, but an entire army of dragons. It was chaos. Blackthorn and I…my father sent us away under the cover of nightfall, to try and seek help. We survived, but only barely. Satisfied that he had won, Drago let down his guard. He left us there, broken and battered, without our dragons, except Blackthorn, because she and I were hiding on an island far away. When I returned, my father sent me out to find our dragons. I found them, after looking for four years, but none of them were in any shape to return to Hraun.

"Drago had frozen them all with his Bewilderbeast. Another year, and I ran into Drago and his Bewilderbeast again. It only has one tusk now. Blackthorn and I barely escaped; Drago has gathered another army of dragons, although it is much smaller than before, and he has very few men compared to the colossal army he brought to Hraun. Blackie must have grabbed me and escaped from right under their noses; the last thing I remember was being cut down as they were throwing chains over her.

"So there you have it. Drago is building an army, and I came to you for help. We don't have any dragons, and I know that he is coming back for us now, because he knows that I'm still alive, and that Blackthorn and I are from Hraun. That, and something must have happened to make him dreadfully angry, because he's even worse than the last time I saw him. We need to end this, before he wreaks any more havoc."

Hiccup rubbed the back of his head. "I, ah, might know something about him being angry. And the tusk. Toothless and I did it, in our final battle with him here in Berk. I didn't think he would come back for revenge."

"You did what? I thought that you didn't have any Nightwishes!" Valkyrie gaped at him.

"We don't. Toothless is a Night Fury."

"Ah…they're rarer than Nightwishes. We've only ever seen the one," Valkyrie explained. "But their power is similar."

"We've never seen a Nightwish before, though," Astrid put in, frowning. "So how come they're so common where you came from?"

"Maybe it's the climate? Blackthorn isn't a huge fan of the cold."

Hiccup nodded. "Probably. It doesn't seem to affect the dragons here so much. The Monstrous Nightmare and the Hideous Zippleback can even light themselves on fire."

"What dragons do you have here? Have you seen any Skrills?"

Hiccup shook his head. "We know of them, but we've never seen any. I don't think anybody here has."

"Drago has one. Two, actually." The silence was palpable.

"At least he doesn't have a Screaming Death."

"Um…"

"Please tell me you're joking."

"I wish I could," Valkyrie sighed. "He's determined to make this the be-all, end-all army. He's recruiting only the fiercest, most dangerous species of dragons, although of course, none of his men can control them. Only his alpha can. If we could have taken down his alpha the last time he was at Hraun…ah, but after my mother's death, my father wasn't so good-willed towards the Nightwish riders. Our flight isn't as strong as it used to be. I'm just surprised and rather horrified that he managed to gain control of another alpha. I thought that with his first alpha dead at our hands, it would be over."

"But does he have a Nightwish?" Astrid asked, leaning in. "It sounds like they would be his first choice of dragons."

Valkyrie shook her head. "No. Almost all of the ones in Hraun are ours; there aren't many wild ones left. The only reason we have so many is because we've bred ours. They don't breed as often in the wild, probably because the young are so fragile."

"So you have that advantage, at least."

"No, we don't, because he froze them all, remember? I think that in his rage, he didn't care that they're such powerful dragons, just that they had been the cause of his humiliation."

"She's right about him." Eret, Son of Eret and rider of Skullcrusher, who had once been ridden by Stoick himself, walked into the infirmary. He looked straight at the injured girl. "Hello, Valkyrie."

"You!" Valkyrie snarled, tearing off the bed covers and leaping at Eret. She tackled him, punching him repeatedly in the face and chest as she kneeled over him. "Traitor!" she snarled, slamming a fist into his eye before Astrid and Hiccup dragged her off of him, spitting mad. Blackthorn the dragon snarled, almost crawling through the window in her eagerness to bite the ex-trapper.

"STOP!" Hiccup roared, and Valkyrie froze. She hung her head in shame.

"I'm sorry," she said weakly, the tension in her body fading away. "I didn't mean to…but he…him…" She stopped to shoot a venomous glare at Eret, who lay on the floor, a black eye already beginning to show on his handsome face. "Traitor!" she hissed, and Blackthorn rumbled in agreement.

"Ky…" Eret sat up, his face pleading as he reached a hand towards the restrained girl. "Ky, I can explain—"

"I HATE YOU!" she screamed, using the hold that Astrid and Hiccup had on her arms as leverage to kick wildly at Eret. "Nothing you say can explain your betrayal," she snapped.

"Eret. Out," Hiccup ordered, and the bruised man scrambled for the door. He paused at the door to look back at Valkyrie, but at her glare, he hurried out, shutting it behind him. With Astrid's help, Hiccup forced Valkyrie back onto the bed, where she pressed a hand to her chest wound, wincing as the adrenaline faded.

"What," Astrid demanded, "was that?"

Valkyrie swallowed, forcing down her anger. "He—Eret—was from Hraun. He was liked and looked up to, one of our best dragon trainers. At one point, he was even my betrothed," she spat the word out, like it tasted bad in her mouth. "But a year before Drago's second attack on Hraun, he betrayed us and went—willingly!—to Drago and began trapping dragons to add to Drago's army. He's the reason why Drago defeated us, the reason that so many have died and we lost all of our dragons. He is the reason that my village is dying. And THAT is why I hate him, and THAT is why he will die. Painfully. Slowly. But he will PAY for what he has done to the people of Hraun."

Hiccup and Astrid exchanged horrified glances. "He did what?"

Valkyrie looked at them grimly. "You heard me. He's the one who helped Drago to trap dragons to build his army. The army that Drago then used to attack Hraun. His own home." Her voice was tight with suppressed anger. "Now can I kill him?"

Hiccup held up a hand. "Wait. You should hear his side of the story first—"

"I don't need to," Valkyrie hissed, slamming her hand down on the bed. "He's a lying, traitorous, backstabbing, heartbreaking piece of dung, and he needs to face the fate he wrote in our blood."

"Listen. To. Me." Astrid blinked, surprised as always by Hiccup's new assertiveness. "Eret helped us, all right? I mean, sure, he trapped us and brought us to Drago to join his army, but after Stormfly protected him, he came over to our side. He helped us to escape Drago. So maybe he had a reason for leaving Hraun—"

"How do you justify betraying the village that raised you? The girl you swore you loved? The man that you called 'Father'?" Now Valkyrie's voice was thick with tears. "I don't know about you, Hiccup, but it'd have to be a damn fine explanation to make me believe it."

"Maybe you won't. But I can't just stand by and let you kill him without hearing him out, first. In fact, there won't be any killing under my watch."

"But—"

"I'm not finished. If he doesn't explain his actions satisfactorily, then you may challenge him. But it will not be a fight to the death, do you understand? There are other ways to punish him."

"You're right. Death would be too merciful," Valkyrie choked out, her voice thick with emotions. Her eyes were wet, Astrid noticed, and her knuckles were white from how tightly she was clenching her fists. "I trusted him. I trusted him, and he destroyed us. Don't let it happen to you, too!" She grabbed Hiccup by the collar. "Swear to me on your dragon's life that you won't let him destroy you. Swear it!"

"I swear it. I swear it on Toothless's head—even Astrid's or my own. This village is my home, my family, my everything. I'll die before I see it destroyed."

"Me too," Astrid said, her voice as fierce as Hiccup's. She and Hiccup had yet to get married because of their dedication to rebuilding Berk, as well as the mourning for Stoick. She didn't even mind Hiccup swearing on her head, because she knew she would swear on her own head, too.

Valkyrie released Hiccup and sank back onto the bed. "Good," she breathed, closing her eyes. "Good. I need to sleep now."

Astrid patted the other girl's foot under the covers. "Sleep. Rest. You can't beat anyone up if you're half-dead."

Hiccup and Astrid left the infirmary, discussing quietly Valkyrie's revelations about Hraun, Drago, and Eret. They agreed that they needed to hear both sides of the story before they made a verdict. Astrid, atypically, was not in favor of allowing Valkyrie to challenge Eret, if only for the fact that the loss of a valuable soldier and experienced dragon handler in the face of the renewed threat of Drago would be a shame.

"She's got fire, I'll give her that," Astrid said as they entered the Great Hall that evening. "I can see she's a strong fighter when she's not injured. And her bond with her dragon is evident."

"You believe her, too, right?" Hiccup asked. "I mean, I don't want to, but it's better to be safe than sorry."

Astrid nodded in agreement. "True. And besides, this smacks of something Drago would do."

"So what do we do, Astrid? Do we ride out and surprise him? Or wait for him to come to us?"

"I say we surprise him. If we let him come to us, he'll have the advantage of picking the time and place, and we don't know exactly what we're up against. Toothless is a great alpha, and he beat that Bewilderbeast once already, but it was a close call."

"Uh, Chief?" It was Eret, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "I'm going to get a chance to explain myself before she kills me, right?"

Hiccup sighed. "I've told you before, just call me Hiccup like everyone else does. And nobody's killing anybody."

"I get the feeling we'll need to kill Drago this time," Astrid commented as Eret flopped down on the bench in relief.

"Okay, I should probably explain some stuff to you, shouldn't I?" Eret sighed, looking down at the scarred table. He didn't look up, afraid to see what expressions Astrid and Hiccup were wearing. "I grew up in Hraun, from a poor, but respectable family. We kept a few dragons, and we made tack for the dragons on Hraun. I have two younger sisters, beautiful girls, and from day one they had a touch with dragons to rival Valka's. Me, dragons didn't like me awful much at first, but once I got to understand them, we got along like a house on fire. I'm three years older than Ky—Valkyrie—but I'd always had a soft spot for her, little spitfire she is, so when I courted her, her father didn't have any objections except for how I would provide for his baby girl, since I wasn't from a rich family. We got engaged only two months before we heard about Drago's new army. I'd seen the first battle, seen how the Nightwishes could defeat him, but Chief Thorin had let them get soft, with no-one to lead them after his wife died. When Drago was coming a second time…Ky's mother, Hild, she sacrificed herself so that the others could bring down his Bewilderbeast, the first time. I was terrified that Ky would do the same. So I offered Drago a trade—leave the island alone, and I would go with him. His very own dragon tamer. He wasn't convinced he needed me until I told him I could trap dragons for him; he didn't need to go looking for them himself. I was stupid, nineteen and still unaware of his true brutality. He lied, of course. He attacked Hraun a year after I'd come to him, and he took all of their dragons. Except for Blackthorn. I knew Thorin would have sent his daughter to safety. All I could do was draw Drago away. So I did. I told him that that was enough, that without the dragons, Hraun could never irritate him again. Besides, he might need slaves in the future. He believed me, and so he left them alone. I even convinced him that the dragons were more trouble than they were worth, and to freeze them instead of trying to use them in his army. That's how she's stayed safe for six years. And not a word did she ever hear from me," Eret groaned, resting his head in his hands. "I thought I was doing the right thing, letting her live free from Drago. Even if the other dragons were gone, at least she had Blackthorn. I mean, I knew I'd failed to keep them safe, but at least she was safe. I was too afraid of him to do anything but obey his orders. It was easier to lock up everything, all my memories of home and Ky, to pretend I really was that merciless dragon trapper I'd made myself out to be. There wasn't a way out. If I'd run away, Drago would have found me and killed me, and then there would've been nobody left to distract him from Hraun. So I did what I could. I'd almost forgotten what it was like, to be friends with a dragon. That's why when Stormfly protected me, I was totally gobsmacked. I'd done nothing but hurt and trap and sell dragons into slavery for nigh on five years, and here was a Deadly Nadder standing over me and protecting me. Maybe that was something for other people, like yourselves, but not me. Not anymore. I'd done too many wrongs to ever be worthy of a dragon's friendship ever again.

"And then I met you all, saw how well you worked together with your dragons, saw how they fought for you…and I remembered. The final step was you offering Skullcrusher to me, Chief. By all rights, he should have been yours, but you and that Night Fury of yours have something special together." Eret raised his head, and squeaked, his face draining of blood as he stared over Astrid's head.

Valkyrie stood there, her arms crossed and a stony look on her face. Her long black hair was pulled back in a low ponytail, and she wore borrowed breeches and tunic. The gash on her face was angry and red, and her eyes were red-rimmed, too. How long she had been standing there, nobody could guess.

"You absolute idiot," Valkyrie hissed, her face twisting as she tried to suppress some kind of emotion. "You thought I'd be better off thinking you'd been biding your time, waiting to turn your back on us and our dragons, that you were a heartless mercenary all along? That I wouldn't hate you for what you did? Hraun is DYING, because of you! For centuries, we've relied on our dragons, and all of a sudden, they were all gone! Did you think that we could survive without them? You even gave Drago the weapon he needed to destroy us!"

"Ky, I didn't think…I wanted—" Eret's face was tortured. It was such a difference from his usually confident and charming demeanor that Astrid stared at him.

"You wanted to be the hero. I get it. You thought you were doing us a favor by sacrificing yourself. But you weren't." Tears began to course down Valkyrie's face. "You left your family, your people, broken, with nowhere and nobody to turn to, and then you led the enemy right back to our door and gave him the strongest weapons you could find. You left me. Don't you see? A Viking fights for his—or her—village until the bitter end. That is why my mother died for us, and that is why I would have done the same to protect Hraun. More than any loyalty to Hraun, it's my duty as part of the Chief's family." She turned away, her head down as she patted Blackthorn's nose. "Are you sure that Drago's power didn't tempt you? That you didn't feel any satisfaction in a job well done, these past six years? We were so sure that you were one of our best, our most loyal. We never imagined that you would betray us. Not even to save us."

Eret sighed. "There were times that…all right, yes, there was a certain pride in being able to do what I did, but it wasn't a healthy pride. It was like…knowing that that was all I could do, day in, day out, forever. Because I was the only one he had who could. Feeling indispensable, even to him…in Hraun, there were dragon trainers far better than me. Look at Eira and Heidrun. They hadn't even started to walk before they had dragons wrapped around their little fingers. I was one of a crowd."

"So you are twisted," Valkyrie snarled, spinning to face him over Hiccup's and Astrid's heads. "The power of being indispensable went to your head, didn't it? Were you happy, knowing that you were enslaving dragons for the man who destroyed your home? With the dragons that YOU brought to him? Or was that too foreign a concept for you to remember? Home? Family?"

"Maybe this isn't the best place to continue this discussion," Hiccup ventured, remembering how public it was. "We can—"

"There's nothing else that needs to be discussed," Valkyrie said, her voice cold and dead. "I'll fly home tomorrow, tell them that all we can do is wait for Drago to come and kill us all."

"Hold on! I never said that we wouldn't help you! But this…this thing you and Eret have has to either get sorted out now or you have to wait until after we deal with Drago to figure things out," Hiccup explained, standing up. "So. Can you forgive him long enough to deal with Drago?"

Valkyrie clenched and unclenched her fists, her nostrils flared and her shoulders tight. Blackthorn loomed behind her, her bright eyes fixed on Eret. "Fine," Valkyrie ground out. Then she turned and ran out of the Great Hall, the echo of something that could be taken as sobs trailing after her and her Nightwish.

"Ugh," Hiccup groaned, his head in his hands. He jumped as Valka placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You handled that well, son," she said, smiling down at him. "It's not easy, being a leader. But come, tell me about this new army of Drago's." Now her face was unsmiling, her mouth a hard line as she, like the others, recalled Drago's attack three months prior. It had cost Stoick his life, and for that Valka would never forgive him.

Hiccup sighed. "Valkyrie says that he's already rebuilding his army, and that his Bewilderbeast is still alive. He's getting some of the most powerful and dangerous dragons for his new army, with the intent of destroying Hraun and Berk, and probably everyone else, too. She hasn't told me exactly where he is, though. Have you ever heard of Nightwishes?"

Valka shook her head. "No, but from what I've seen of this girl's dragon, they're distant cousins to Night Furies. She fires plasma, too, not fire or lightning, and you've already seen her speed."

"Eret, you might want to stay low for a while. She doesn't seem like the kind of person to just forgive," Astrid counseled the ex-trapper. "For now, Hiccup, why don't you make an announcement that we need to start training for battle again? We can work out the details later, but the more prepared we are, the better off we'll be. And you'll have to get to work with Gobber to make more weapons."

Hiccup nodded. "I know. I want to free Drago's dragons, not hurt them, but we'll have to…" he gulped, "to kill him, or he'll come back again."

"Exactly." Valka put her hand on Hiccup's arm. "I know you don't like to fight, Hiccup, but now you see that sometimes, you just can't let them go anymore. Not everybody is as willing to forgive and forget. And perhaps it's more of a mercy to kill him than to let him go again, for him and for you."

Hiccup sighed and stood on the table. "ATTENTION!" he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth. The Vikings fell silent, looking up at him.

"Tomorrow, we start preparing for battle. Drago Bludvist is rebuilding his dragon army, and this time, he means to destroy us all. He has Skrills and a Screaming Death, as well as his Bewilderbeast. The sooner we are ready, the weaker he will be, and then we can destroy him for good." To his credit, Hiccup's voice didn't wobble too much as he said this.

"Guess he didn't learn his lesson last time, eh?" Gobber said loudly, to the laughter of the other Vikings.

"Guess not," Hiccup said, cracking a smile. "Get ready. And if you see the new girl—Valkyrie—and her dragon Blackthorn, please make them feel welcome!"

"Hiccup. What about Hraun's dragons?" Valka asked. "Can't they help?"

"They're locked in Bewilderbeast ice," Hiccup answered, shaking his head as he got down from the table. "I don't know how to free them."

"Remember how you and Toothless got out?" Astrid reminded him.

"But wouldn't they have done it by now?" Hiccup mulled it over.

"Maybe it's because Toothless was protecting you," Astrid suggested, petting the dragon's head as he snuck Hiccup's fish. "If we get Blackthorn and Toothless to blast it…"

"It might work," Valka said thoughtfully. "I've never seen anything break through Bewilderbeast ice before. It doesn't melt, either. We'd never tested it against plasma, though. I never even knew that such dragons existed, not until I met Toothless for the first time. It might be entirely possible to free them."

"But we might kill them in the process!" Hiccup fretted. "I don't know if I can take that risk."

"We could always fly back to the old nest to at least test the theory, first," Valka said. "If Toothless and Blackthorn can break through Bewilderbeast ice, then we should try to free them. If we don't try, it's guaranteed that they won't be able to help us."

"I suppose. Hey! Toothless," Hiccup groaned. "That was my dinner!"

"Here, you can have some of mine," Astrid offered, pushing the plate over to him.

"We'll have to talk to Valkyrie tomorrow. Hopefully she'll have calmed down by then," Hiccup sighed.

"You really shouldn't be running about like that," Phlegma was scolding Valkyrie when Hiccup visited the infirmary the next morning. "With all that excitement, you've opened up your wounds again."

Valkyrie hissed as Phlegma smeared ointment on the wounds. "I didn't have a choice."

"Of course you did. Good morning, Hiccup! What can I do for you?" Phlegma turned to the Chieftain.

Hiccup's eyes met Valkyrie's. "I have to talk to Valkyrie."

"Oh! Well then, I'll be out of your way. Make sure she drinks that tea, will you?" Phlegma added as she left.

Hiccup sat down on the chair next to Valkyrie's bed. "We've got an idea about how to free your dragons," he said.

"How? Blackthorn and I tried, but we only managed to chip a little bit off before Blackthorn got too tired."

"Exactly. Toothless shoots plasma as well, so maybe between the two of them, we can knock some of your dragons free. Then they can help us free the rest."

"Are you sure they're still alive?" Valkyrie closed her eyes. "I know Bewilderbeast ice is amazing, but after five years in there?"

"My mother says they should be. In her twenty years with the dragons, she's often found animals or dragons stuck in the ice, and when they were freed by the Bewilderbeast, they were right as rain."

Valkyrie processed that information. "Well, it's worth a shot. I mean, if we don't try, they might as well be dead anyway, right?"

"That's what my mum said." Even after three months, it was strange to be calling someone 'Mum.' "As soon as you're better, we can go try out our theory at the old nest, where my mum stayed with the Bewilderbeast."

"Your mother stayed with dragons? For twenty years?" The enormity of what he'd just said hit Valkyrie suddenly. "Isn't that…your whole life? Almost?"

Hiccup nodded. "She was like me. Never wanted to kill a dragon. She tried to stop them—the other Berkians, that is—from killing the dragons, but it didn't work. One night she almost killed one because it got close to my cradle, but she didn't, and he took her away because she was the first human to show him mercy. She thought it'd be better for her to stay away, because then she wouldn't have to face my dad and the other Vikings killing dragons again. But she left me behind."

"I'm sorry," Valkyrie said unexpectedly. "At least my mother was around while I was growing up. Well, for most of it."

"She did a brave thing." They sat in silence for a minute before Valkyrie swung her legs off the bed.

"Well, let's go try to break that ice," she said eagerly.

"Hey! No, you need to rest, and heal!" Hiccup said firmly. "Besides, Phlegma told me to make sure you drank her tea."

"It tastes disgusting." Valkyrie made a face.

"Doesn't all medicine?" After a moment, they both burst out laughing at the truth of it.

Valkyrie sighed. "I haven't laughed like that in a long time." She took the mug and downed half of it in one gulp, making a show of gagging at the taste.

"It's good to laugh. Even the warriors here like to have a good time when they're not fighting."

"So, can we go yet?"

"Go where?" Astrid strode into the infirmary, Valka right behind her.

"You're not going anywhere, young lady," Phlegma said, coming out of the storage room at the sound of the door. "Not today."

"But it's been three days!" Valkyrie protested.

"And those were deep cuts, Valkyrie," Valka admonished. "Be patient. It's better that you heal and recover, so that when it comes time to fight, you can fight with all of you."

Valkyrie scowled. "If we can free the Nightwishes, there'll be more than just me to fight."

"Do you think that you could get your people to fight Drago again?" Hiccup asked, mildly surprised. "I mean, no offense, but it sounds like he really beat you last time."

Valkyrie snarled. "All the more reason for us to destroy him," she growled, her fists clenched. "If you don't let me go, now, I'm going to do something stupid."

"Or something crazy." Everyone's eyes darted to Astrid, who held up her hands.

"Hey! That's what Hiccup said last time! All I mean is, maybe we should let her go. At least for this test. They don't have to go and free all the dragons today, but if we could just know that it's possible…"

"Exactly," Valkyrie said eagerly, glad someone was agreeing with her.

"I'm the healer here—"

"We're going." Hiccup stood up. "She's right. We can't waste any time, and this isn't going to be strenuous. We'll go test out her plan, and come back. We'll be back in time for dinner."

"At least drink the rest of your medicine, then!" Phlegma exclaimed, disgusted at being overridden about her patient's health. "And take someone else with you!"

"You're not going without me," Astrid agreed. "Or Valka."

"Don't go haring off right away, Hiccup. We'll get some supplies—food and that, just in case—and then we'll all set off in an hour, all right? Cloudjumper, Stormfly, Toothless, and Blackthorn are all ready to fly. It should only take about four hours of flying to get to the old nest."

"It'll go faster if we just take Toothless and Blackthorn," Valkyrie said, not cruelly, but thoughtfully. "Although I don't know if they can carry two people each at that speed for so long."

"It'll be fine. I'd rather not tire them out if we're going to be trying to blast through Bewilderbeast ice," Hiccup said. "All four of us can ride our own dragons."

Lunch and dinner was packed swiftly, and the four set off for Valka's old nest, with Cloudjumper in the lead. Valkyrie was bundled up warmly, with extra bandages and ointment 'just in case.' As they flew, the dragons, excepting Cloudjumper, swooped playfully up and over each other, egged on by their riders. Lunch was eaten in the saddle; after the humans had eaten, they took turns throwing fish out for the dragons to catch. Toothless proved to be the best at this considering his speed and agility, although Cloudjumper deigned to display his airborne agility occasionally as well.

When they reached the old nest, Valka guided them into the center, where the plants that had flourished under the Bewilderbeast's care of the nest were still as vibrant as ever, thanks to the springs that fed the sanctuary.

"Well, here we are," Valka said, looking around at the abandoned nest with sadness. She began gathering things that she had left behind when they had raced on the backs of baby dragons to Berk three months prior. Astrid helped her pack as Hiccup and Valkyrie examined the ice and conferred with their dragons. "Are the two of you ready?" Valka asked once she finished packing her things.

Valkyrie nodded, petting Blackthorn's neck; Hiccup nodded as well. The pair of them took off, circling around to the outside, closely followed by Stormfly and Cloudjumper. Blackthorn and Toothless drew side-by-side as they approached the thickest wall of the nest.

"One…two…three…now!" Hiccup gave the signal, and both dragons released plasma blasts that slammed into the ice with a flash bright enough that their riders were momentarily blind. "Did it work?"

Blackthorn swooped closer to the point of impact so that Valkyrie could run her fingers over the ice. "Tiny cracks, but not much. At this rate, we'd never get them out," she said, sounding disappointed and disheartened.

"You're forgetting that Toothless was…supercharged…when he broke through that ice," Astrid said, drawing near. "It's too bad we don't know how to make it happen, huh, Toothless?"

"It's probably adrenaline," Hiccup said, patting Toothless's head. "So, what now?"

Valkyrie's mouth was a hard line. "This. Get out of the way!" Blackthorn pulled away sharply, flying fast away from the nest.

"What's she doing?" Astrid asked, confused.

"I don't know, but she said to get out of the way," Hiccup said, urging Toothless away from the nest.

The whistling sound that usually accompanied a Night Fury's attacks filtered through the air, digging its way into their skulls and causing the dragons to roar with discomfort. A ball of white and blue light was speeding towards the nest, screaming with the speed of its approach.

"She's going to hit the nest!" Astrid exclaimed, her eyes wide. "She'll kill herself!"

As Astrid had predicted, the ball of plasma that was Blackthorn slammed into the nest with a deafening crash, sending chunks of ice flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, they heard screaming.

The three riders looked at each other for a brief moment before plummeting towards the nest, Toothless and Hiccup reaching the scene first. They stared in openmouthed shock at what they saw.

Blackthorn and Valkyrie were wheeling madly about the half-demolished nest, above the head of a Bewilderbeast.

It was small, yes, obviously young, but it was obviously old enough to defend itself from its attackers. New ice cloaked the debris, evidence that it had been attempting to capture the Nightwish and her rider.

Valka gasped. "He…he left a baby!"

"She's going to be an ice cube if we don't do something!" Hiccup exclaimed, urging Toothless down.

"Hiccup, wait!" Valka drew alongside her son. "Let me."

Standing on Cloudjumper's back, Valka was able to reach the Bewilderbeast's chin. Dragon and rider bowed to the young prince of dragons, momentarily distracting it from its target. The Bewilderbeast sniffed Valka, hard enough that the woman's clothes and hair drifted upwards at the inhale. Then, the great head lowered so that the Bewilderbeast could look at Valka with one giant eye. In quiet tones, Valka explained the situation to the young Bewilderbeast, while Blackthorn landed a safe distance away.

"That was terrifying," she confided to Astrid and Hiccup. She bore new cuts on her face and hands, although they weren't bleeding very heavily "We blasted through the ice—I don't know if it will do any good, because we might kill whoever is inside with the force of that attack—and then right as we were about to land, this giant head came up out of the water and I knew in that moment that we were pretty much dead. Thank Odin that your mother knows what to do, Hiccup."

It was more than they'd heard her say apart from her story and her tirade against Eret, and caught them slightly by surprise.

"Valkyrie, come and apologize to him," Valka called. Visibly nervous, Valkyrie guided Blackthorn towards the Bewilderbeast.

"I'm very sorry for disturbing you, and destroying your home. We had no idea that you were here," Valkyrie explained to the giant dragon. "Please believe me when I say I meant no harm."

The Bewilderbeast, which was white like its predecessor, growled something, and then exhaled an icy breath over Valkyrie. She flinched, awaiting the feel of ice as it entombed her, but felt nothing other than cold air. Looking up, she could have sworn the saw the ghost of a smile on the Bewilderbeast's face.

"Do you know what this means?" Valka said eagerly. "He can free your dragons, without risking their lives or yours. As a young Bewilderbeast, he must first prove himself to be worthy before he can begin his own nest. We can provide that opportunity in our upcoming struggle with Drago."

"Do you think he can defeat Drago's Bewilderbeast, though?" Valkyrie asked quietly, glancing up at the relatively small Bewilderbeast. Pinning her with one teal eye, he snorted.

"Perhaps not by himself," Valka acknowledged, "but an alpha need not stand alone; he makes friends and allies, and they support him as he supports them. Some people may think that it is cruel, for an alpha to be able to control the thoughts and actions of lesser dragons, but to be truthful, only Drago's Bewilderbeast actually wields his power in such a way. The rest of the alphas that I've met rule through wisdom and goodwill; the dragons in their nest obey not because they are coerced, but because they trust the alpha's decisions."

"Oh." Valkyrie absorbed this information for a moment. "We haven't had an alpha at Hraun for years, so I've never really understood them."

Valka smiled. "That's all right. But you see, that's one reason that Toothless was able to shake off the Bewilderbeast's influence in our final battle; he was fighting to save his friends and his home. That is a key to defeating Drago. While he is fighting for revenge, we are fighting to save our friends, families, and homes. So. Shall we go and free your dragons?"

"I…I'll have to fly back to Hraun, and bring back my people." Valkyrie's voice hardened. "I'll have to explain him."

"No need to hurry. I'm sure they'll need food and rest before they can make the journey back to Hraun," Valka soothed. "Let us go free your dragons."

Valkyrie was silent as they flew towards the island where Drago had left Hraun's dragons, apparently deep in thought. The others, picking up on her mood, left her alone, one of them periodically swooping down to skim the surface of the ocean and check on the young Bewilderbeast. Several hours later, they landed on the rocky ring that encircled a tower of greenish ice. In the ice, they could see the shadowy shapes of several dragons.

"Uh, Valkyrie? How many dragons did Hraun have?" Hiccup asked, staring at the ice.

Valkyrie stroked Blackthorn's head. "About two hundred and fifty domesticated ones, and several more wild ones. That might not be all of them, I don't know. But the Nightwishes are in there. Blackthorn can feel them."

"All right. Let's do this, then," Hiccup said. He and Toothless flew down to the tiny beach to address the young Bewilderbeast. As the pair took off, Valkyrie whispered a prayer that this would work. The young Bewilderbeast raised his head with a roar, his eyes flashing green, once, as he inhaled. The ice began to fade, swirls of magic or ice particles or what have you swirling up from the tower and floating towards the Bewilderbeast. Once he had filled his lungs, he exhaled, the rush of air roaring as it passed between his jaws. The ice began to crack, the sound echoing like a whip across the still water. It tipped, slipping as the ice cracked away. One, two, three dragons surged up from the wreckage, spreading huge black wings like Blackthorn's. Still more emerged, shaking ice from their skin as the Bewilderbeast continued to demolish the ice tower. Soon, the air was filled with dragons. Hiccup identified the fortyish Nightwishes that Valkyrie had mentioned, along with several Thunderdrums, a Hobblegrunt, and several of the little dragons known as Terrible Terrors. There were also many dragons that he didn't recognize, including a serpentine one with six wings and a dragon built more along the lines of a horse than a reptile, with hooves and scales.

"Woah," he breathed, looking at the teeming mass. The Nightwishes had converged into a swirling black mass, and as he turned to look at Valkyrie, he found that she and Blackthorn were streaking towards them. "Mum…have you ever seen these dragons?"

"A few of them," Valka said thoughtfully. "Do you see that one, clinging to the rock there?" The dragon in question was long and skinny, with six legs instead of four, and two sets of sail-like wings. "That's a Frondian Scrabbler. They might not be the fastest dragons in the air, but they can climb anything. It's how they move; they climb up high, and then glide from there. They hardly ever actually fly. And that one, with hooves? A Kirin. She's one of the rarest of dragons. She doesn't breathe fire or plasma, but instead a soothing mist that calms even the angriest Monstrous Nightmare. And this one," Valka added as a dragon with wings that were half membrane, half feathers glided past, "is a Golden Firedrake. She smelts ore in her belly, and then sprays it out as molten metal."

"Wow," Astrid breathed. There were Deadly Nadders and Monstrous Nightmares, sure, but they didn't number nearly as many as the strange other dragons that Hraun had housed. Eventually, the teeming masses settled on the rocks and on the remains of their icy prison as Valkyrie addressed them from Blackthorn's back.

As she spoke, Hiccup and Astrid looked at each other. Here was a natural leader. She knew every collared dragon by name, knew their strengths, and marshaled them in preparation for their long flight to Berk, where they would feed and recover their strength before flying back to Hraun to reunite with their riders. Even though there were more wild dragons than collared ones, she knew their breeds well. She organized them so that the strongest fliers flew below those who needed support, like the Scrabblers, providing the lift that they needed to stay aloft. The fastest flew at the fringes, cutting through the air in such a way that the weaker fliers fought less to maintain their speed. At the front edge of the wing flew the Nightwishes, black, deadly, and beautiful, each one with different colored eyes and bearing a different crest on the collars around their necks. Only two had the same crest, a crest that Hiccup had seen on Eret's shoulder. Those two dragons flew on either side of Blackthorn, and Valkyrie vaulted from dragon to dragon, embracing their necks and stroking their heads. He got the feeling that those two Nightwishes belonged to Eret's sisters.

"I bet those two are the ones that Eret's sisters ride," Astrid said, echoing Hiccup's thoughts. They watched from their higher altitude as Valkyrie began to leap between dragons, making her way to almost every dragon (who could bear her weight) and having a quick word with them. They saw her laughing, her exhilarated face as Blackthorn dove to catch her above the waves, where the Thunderdrums accompanied the Bewilderbeast in an underwater escort. "Look at her. She loves them so much."

"I guess that's why she was so furious with Eret," Hiccup sighed. "Heck, I'd be pretty pissed off too."

"Hey. No moping," Astrid ordered, smiling at Hiccup. "You're the hero of Berk, not to mention our chief. You can do anything you set your mind to."

"Even kill someone?" Hiccup's voice cracked.

"If you must." Astrid's gaze was sympathetic. "Drago will never be anything but your enemy, Hiccup."

The influx of nearly six hundred new dragons caused a bit of uproar in Berk. After a frantic scramble and re-assignment of stables, most of the domesticated dragons were able to find a place to rest, some of them in heaps of three or more because of the lack of space. The wild ones stayed in the hills, thankfully; that cut the number of new dragons in the village to only about two hundred and fifty, like Valkyrie had said. Some dragons, like the Nightwishes and the Thunderdrums, as well as some of the dragons that Valka had identified for Hiccup and Astrid, remained outside, basking in the sun, which for some odd reason had apparently decided to stay for at least a week. With so many new mouths to feed, and no humans assigned to them, the fishermen were sent out to gather as many fish as they could daily. They were assisted by the flight of Nightwish dragons and several dragons of the Tidal class; the Tidal dragons would drag the nets below a school of fish and close the nets, passing off the ropes to the Nightwishes, who hauled the catch to the nearest ship. In this way, they were able to feed the Hraunian dragons until they were strong enough to hunt for themselves.

The Bewilderbeast disappeared for long stretches of time, which, according to Valka, was normal for a young Bewilderbeast. His presence was not greatly noticed by the residents of Berk, nor their visitors, except on the memorable occasions where he left pillars of ice for their target practice.

The most significant event triggered by the dragons' arrival came when Eret emerged from his house to see dragons bearing Hraunian collars everywhere. As soon as they noticed him, the Hraunian dragons clumped together, hissing at him and many of them drawing breath for their flames. Surprisingly, it was Valkyrie who stopped them. She ran in front of him, arms spread wide to make herself the larger target.

"Stop!" The Nightwishes landed gently, three sleek black females. When Eret noticed their collars, his eyes grew wide.

"Ky…are those…?"

She looked up at him, her jaw clenched as she fought the urge to hit him again. "Eira's and Heidrun's dragons? Yes."

"They claimed Nightwishes?" Eret stared at the two dragons.

"Yes." Valkyrie's voice was clipped. She folded her arms. "I didn't come to have you stare at Hemlock and Eclipse. I came to tell you that if you plan on coming to Hraun with us, you'd better be prepared to talk fast. You're not welcome there."

Eret sighed. "I…I know. But…it's been so long since I've been…home."

"You don't deserve to call Hraun home," Valkyrie bit out.

"Ky—"

"And stop calling me Ky!" Valkyrie spun around and vaulted onto Blackthorn's back, the pair of them disappearing quickly into the distance.

"Feisty one, isn't she?" Snotlout leaned casually against the wall behind Eret, who glowered at the younger man. "Then again, I always did like a challenge."

"Go away, short stuff," Eret growled.

"Hey, since she hates you, she's fair game," Snotlout continued, the smirk on his face a sign that he knew he was just angering the ex-trapper. "I mean, otherwise me, Fishlegs, and Tuff need to move to Phlock or something."

"Shut up."

"'Legs can have Ruffnut if he wants, I'm going to be chasing a Nightwish rider I know. Ta-ta!" Snotlout waved mockingly at Eret, reveling in the older man's suppressed fury.

Eret sighed. He made his way to the Great Hall and helped himself to a flagon of ale, sitting in a corner by himself and nursing his wounded pride. Ruffnut found him there, and immediately latched like a limpet to him.

"Eret! Baby! What's wrong?" she purred.

"Off." He pushed her away, and she pouted at him.

"What did I do? All I wanted to know was why you're so sad," she wheedled.

"Go away." Eret took another gulp of ale, and found that his flagon was empty. He rose with a sigh and went to refill it, Ruff trailing after him like a lost puppy.

"Eret Son of Eret, you tell me what's wrong right now," she scolded, changing tactics.

"I said go away," Eret grumbled, sitting back down. Neither of them noticed Valkyrie open the door of the Great Hall, which was loud as usual with the preparations for dinner. Neither of them saw her shocked and wounded expression as she saw them sitting together, Ruffnut resting her head on his shoulder with her arm wrapped around him. She didn't see his scowl, didn't see him push Ruffnut away; her wounded pride made her turn away and dash back out into the rosy light of sunset.

Valkyrie collapsed next to Blackthorn's sleepy head, dissolving into furious tears as soon as she decided she was alone.

"I hate him," she choked out, her fingers against Blackthorn's warm scales. "I hate him, but seeing him with her—I don't know, Blackie. What's wrong with me? And why can't I let him go?" Valkyrie straightened her clenched fingers and stared down at her left hand. There, on her fourth finger, was a silver band, set with a stone that was the exact same color as her eyes. As Blackthorn's eyes. "Why did I never throw this stupid thing away, Blackie?" she whispered, curling into the dragon's scaly warmth. "Why am I such an idiot?" The dragon did nothing but cover her rider with one large wing, cocooning her in sympathetic warmth. They slept, there on the hard ground, until dawn came, and with it, the promise of battle.

Valkyrie rose to the sounds of work; Gobber hammering away in the forge, dragons taking off and sweeping in fast circles around the islands, the roar of dragonfire, and the thud of weapons practice. After wiping her face clear of any traces of her tears from the night before, she ate a quick breakfast in the Great Hall before finding Hiccup.

"I think it's time we were on our way back to Hraun," Valkyrie said once she had the chieftain's attention. "I need to reunite my people with our dragons, and prepare them for battle with Drago."

"Will you be bringing them here, so that we can train together? That would be the best, otherwise we could get in each other's way."

Valkyrie nodded. "The Nightwish flight will, of course, come, but I don't know how many others we will have. I would think anyone who can ride a dragon will want to fight, but I will likely, with my father's permission, pick only those who can fight, and fight well. I wouldn't want to overburden you with another village to feed."

"You and your people are always welcome here. Fly safe and fly fast." Hiccup and Valkyrie clasped forearms. "Do you need supplies?"

Valkyrie shook her head. "The dragons can hunt for our food. We'll be back soon."

"Are you leaving already?" Astrid stood behind Valkyrie, holding a thick cape lined with soft fur. "This is for you."

"I really couldn't…" Valkyrie held up her hands, but Astrid just shoved the cloak into her arms.

"Take it. It will be cold, and your cloak is in tatters. I would come with you if I could, but I'm needed here."

"I understand," Valkyrie said with a smile. "I will see you soon."

"Be safe," Astrid said, clapping Valkyrie on the shoulder. "We're counting on you and your Nightwishes being there for the fight."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." Valkyrie donned the cape—it was very well made—and vaulted onto Blackthorn's back. They soared aloft, and with a roar, the Hraunian dragons followed them into the air. For a minute, the full flight of nearly six hundred dragons hovered in the sky above Berk before they wheeled out to sea, shifting into position as they had on the way back to Berk four days ago. The Berkian dragons that had made friends with those now leaving roared their goodbyes, accompanied by the people of Berk, who stood outside and waved as the flight flew away.

"I said, get away from me!" There was a scuffle, and Ruffnut landed on the ground in front of Hiccup and Astrid. The crowd parted to reveal Eret, a frustrated look on his face. When he saw that he had knocked Ruffnut to the ground, however, he looked stricken.

"What is going on here?" Hiccup demanded as Astrid helped Ruff to her feet.

"She won't leave me alone," Eret announced, pointing at Ruff. "Even after I've told her for the fifty billionth time!"

"I just want to help you!" Ruff sulked.

"He's betrothed, you know," Hiccup said, seeing a way out of this for Eret. Even if it was kind of a lie.

"To who?" Ruff screeched.

"Valkyrie."

Ruffnut's face contorted in rage. "That little sneak! How dare she steal my man!"

"He's not yours, Ruffnut," Astrid said sharply, waving away the crowd. "He was betrothed to Valkyrie long before he met you."

"Then why aren't they married yet?" Ruff seethed. "She's probably just leading him on—"

"Enough! I'll hear no more on the matter, do you hear me?" Hiccup's unfamiliar assertiveness made even the angry Ruffnut wilt.

"Sorry, Chief," she snarled, pulling away and storming back to the Thorston house.

"Thanks, Chief," Eret sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Wish it were true, though."

Astrid folded her arms and stared at Eret for a moment. "She wears a ring on her left hand," she said quietly.

Eret's head shot up. "What?"

"It's silver, with a stone that's as blue as her eyes—or her dragon's."

Eret blinked. "She…she still wears it?"

Astrid nodded in confirmation. "If I know Viking women, it's that we're stubborn. She may not be ready to be your betrothed again, but she never gave up on you. So go. Don't give up on her. And if you come back without her, Eret Son of Eret, I will kick your arse."

"But—" Skullcrusher butted Eret from behind.

"Do I have to send you with a guard?" Hiccup asked, folding his arms like Astrid.

Eret shook his head. "No. But don't be surprised if I don't come back. I'll do my best to see that Skullcrusher gets back to you safe."

"That's not what we're sending you to Hraun for, Eret," Hiccup said, raising his eyebrows. "Do you really think I could send you to your death so callously? I think you'll be fine. Valkyrie protected you once already."

"You haven't met her dad. Or the Nightwish riders. My sisters will probably kill me themselves," Eret sighed, looking dejected.

"Eret Son of Eret!" Astrid barked, startling him. She put her fisted hands on her hips. "You will get on that dragon and go after her, this instant! You can't give up now!"

"I will go with him," a quiet voice said. The three older trainers turned to see sixteen year old Skorn Hunterfell standing there with a bucket of fish in her hand. If the three boys—Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut—could wait for another two or three years for her to be of an acceptable age to marry, Skorn would make a good wife. Sharp-tongued and independent, but beautiful, loyal, and a fierce fighter. She had long, silky, fire-hued locks, which she held back in a tight bun at the back of her head, with creamy skin and emerald green eyes. Freckles dusted her nose. Her parents had both been killed in dragon attacks seven years ago, but as a child of the village, there was no shortage of homes for her. She wandered where she would; the village's orphans were welcome at any hearth.

"You don't have a dragon yet," Hiccup reminded her, although he smiled inwardly at her offer. He saw as something of a little sister, since as the son of the chief, he had come into contact with her fairly regularly. She had never seen him as useless, unlike most of the other residents of Berk.

"Actually, I do," Skorn said shyly. "Her name is Periss." And she stepped aside to reveal a fully grown Skrill. Out of instinct, Astrid grabbed the younger girl and hauled her behind her, her free hand feeling for the knife she kept strapped to her waist. Not that it would do much good against a Skrill…

"No! It's okay! Periss, don't hurt them!" Skorn wrenched away from Astrid and ran to the dragon, wrapping her body around the dragon's head. The Skrill was a shade of blue that reminded Hiccup of the ocean, both light and dark, with a mouth full of razor sharp teeth and the threat of lightning bolts.

"You befriended a Skrill?" Hiccup asked in disbelief. Skorn turned to look at him and nodded.

"She was hurt. I found her up in the hills while I was looking for herbs. I'd brought fish, just in case I met any dragons, and there she was." Skorn looked up at Hiccup with wide eyes. "I thought it was a good thing!"

"Of course, but are you sure you can control her? They're almost impossible to train," Hiccup said doubtfully.

Skorn raised her chin. "I don't need to control her. She's my friend. I saved her life!"

"All right, all right. Be careful, do you understand me? If she shows any sign of wanting to hurt you, you get off of her immediately, all right?" Hiccup gripped her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "Promise?"

"Yes, Hiccup. I promise."

"Good," Hiccup said briskly. "Well, Eret? I couldn't offer you a better guard. Skorn knows the map as well as I do, and now that she has a Skrill for a dragon, you'll be safe from most attacks. She's also a match for any Viking woman," he added with a grin.

Skorn and Astrid both snorted. Bags were packed for the two travelers with food and extra clothes, as well as firestarters and healing kits, just in case. It wasn't an hour since Valkyrie had left before they were ready to leave.

"I guess we should go, then," Eret said, looking awkwardly at Skorn. "Uh…"

"I'm not a child. I can take care of myself," Skorn said indignantly, her temper flaring up again.

"Okay, okay!" Eret looked at Hiccup. "Thanks, Chief."

"Get going, idiot," Astrid urged. The pair mounted their dragons and took off into the sky, the Skrill twice as long as the Rumblehorn.

"Did we do the right thing?" Hiccup asked Astrid, worrying for the health of all those involved in the meeting at Hraun.

"I think so. It's like with the Nightwishes in the ice; if you don't take the risk, you'll fail for sure."

"I hope they let him live."

"Me too. Come on, weapons practice!"

"Astrid…" Hiccup groaned, but he let her drag him to the practice grounds.

"So…a Skrill, huh?" Eret asked casually after an hour of mostly silent flight.

Skorn flashed him a glance. "Yup."

"How did you do it?"

"You're not trapping a Skrill."

"I'm not going to. I was just wondering…like Chief said, they're almost impossible to train. They're volatile, powerful, and aggressive. So how are you still alive?"

Skorn sighed. "She had been cornered by a pack of Speed Stingers. They drove her into a stream, and then began tearing at her. I saw it happen. I managed to get the Stingers away by getting Gruff—you know, the dragon you blinded with your traps—to help me calm them down. I was lucky he was with me. Once they'd left, we approached her and I offered her some of my fish. While she was eating, I tried to wash her wounds, and although at first she wouldn't let me, she did eventually after more fish. I sewed her up, and then we sat and fished for the better part of an afternoon. I thought after that I'd seen the last of her, because she took off before sunset, but the next time I was up there, she was waiting for me."

"So you're like Chief, then. Saved a dragon's life, and it became your best friend."

"Don't dismiss it like that, Son of Eret," Skorn said sharply. "From what I've heard, you were like us once, too."

He was silent after that, and she was happy to leave the silence where it lay. They camped on an island for the night, since they had been flying slowly so as to not exhaust Skullcrusher. As they approached Hraun the next morning, Eret became visibly nervous.

"We won't let them hurt you." Skorn's voice cut across his thoughts, startling him.

"I wish that I wasn't coming back after all that I've done…I don't want to relive those memories," Eret admitted. "Wait, why are all the houses covered in black? Where is everyone?"

"There's been a death. Look." Skorn pointed to the beach, where several people held flaming torches and a ship rested in the water. As they approached, dragons flew to meet them, snarling, circling them in a semi-malevolent storm until they recognized them. While they still snarled at Eret, the Berkians were guided down to the beach, where they were ordered to dismount by a woman cloaked in black, her face shadowed by the hood she wore.

"Eret Son of Eret. Skorn, Child of Berk. Welcome to Hraun." The speaker's voice was deadened, but Eret would recognize it anywhere.

"Valkyrie…?" he whispered, as the villagers began to roar for his blood, hearing his name, recognizing his face.

"Enough." Valkyrie's quiet voice cut through the clamor, and the villagers fell silent. Her voice carried, calm and cold. "Witness this. Eret Son of Eret, although your actions can never be forgotten, nor immediately forgiven, you are now pardoned of your crimes against Hraun. Your sins are written in our blood upon your conscience. Let it be enough to remind you of your shame. We will take no satisfaction from you." Valkyrie drew back her hood, and now Eret saw with horror that on her forehead she bore the sooty black mark of a recently appointed chieftain—or chieftainess.

"Ky, your father—"

"Dead. He died last night in my arms. He clung to life long enough to see me safely returned, with our dragons. I would appreciate it if you respected my new title, Eret Son of Eret."

I've lost her, Eret thought with disbelief. The death of her father had thrown up a wall around her, and now he recognized the stony silence that had taken her after her mother's death. It had taken him a year to coax her out of it, another year to get her to truly live again. It had taken Blackthorn and his sisters, too. Now he saw them in the crowd, both of them also marked. The mark of a chief's successor.

"I'm sorry—Chieftainess."

Valkyrie turned away and walked back to the shore, where the boat stood waiting. At her order, the boat was cast off. Someone passed her a bow and a flaming arrow; she set the arrow to the string, drew the bow, and sent the arrow streaking towards the vessel. It landed in the pyre erected beneath Thorin's body, sparking the fire that would release his spirit to Odin. The other archers fired their arrows, too, all of them combined setting the ship alight. The dragons, also, gave tribute, their flames engulfing the ship in brilliant white light. And then it was done.

"Today is a day of mourning. Tomorrow, we prepare to ride to Berk, where we will meet our allies and prepare to meet Drago for the last time. Whatever the outcome, we are warriors of Hraun. I need all those fit to ride a dragon to report to me tomorrow. I cannot bring all of you. I do not wish to leave Hraun bare and empty, nor do I wish to leave behind to fend for themselves those who cannot ride a dragon. Riders of the Nightwish flight, you will all come. I want Drago and his Bewilderbeast destroyed once and for all." Valkyrie climbed onto Blackthorn's back, and the pair of them wheeled out into the mist to mourn in private.

"Well?" Skorn asked, watching as the villagers began to trek or fly back to their homes. "What now?"

"I need to talk to her." Eret vaulted back onto Skullcrusher's back, urging the Rumblehorn to take off before the villagers realized that without Valkyrie there to protect him, they could exact their revenge. Skorn watched from the beach as the pair traced the path that Blackthorn had taken.

"Well, Periss, it looks like it's just you and me," she said, sitting down in the sand and stroking the Skrill's neck.

"Excuse me—Skorn, was it?" A matronly villager stood next to her. "I would be happy to offer you a place by my hearth."

"Thank you, but I think I will wait here," Skorn said. "I wouldn't want to intrude on your sorrow."

"Very well. I will send my daughter down with some food for you and your dragon," the woman said, gathering her skirts and taking the path up to the village.

"Go away, Eret Son of Eret." Valkyrie's voice was devoid of even anger. It was dead, lifeless. She sat on the edge of a cliff, her knees hugged to her chest. Her hood was drawn up around her face. Blackthorn lay a few feet behind her, giving her rider the space she needed to mourn. "I don't want you here."

"Ky, I…I'm sorry." Eret approached her huddled form cautiously. "I really am."

"What would you know about it?" she asked, her voice thick with unshed tears. "You're the one who just walked away from everything. Did you ever really care about us?"

"You know why I did it." Eret sat down next to her, close enough for her to touch him if she wanted, but far enough away that she didn't have to.

"Do I? Do I really understand you at all?" Valkyrie pulled her knees tighter to her. "All my life, I believed that there was nothing that my father could not do. He wasn't just the chief, he was my father. He had the answers to every question I had, or knew someone else who did. And now, he's just…gone." Her voice hardened. "If I hadn't spent three years looking for our dragons, maybe I wouldn't feel so lost right now. I would have had more time with him. And you are the reason I didn't."

"You know that Drago would have destroyed Hraun completely," Eret told her quietly. He sighed. "I'm not asking your forgiveness anymore, Ky. I see now that you probably never will. I've done too much. Just…trust me long enough to fight Drago, and then you'll never hear from me again, I swear."

"Fine." She remained still as Eret stood up and walked away. He had almost passed Blackthorn's long form when she said quietly, "Eret."

The tone of her voice made him stop and turn back to her. It was the first time she had called him Eret in years. Not traitor, not Eret Son of Eret. Just Eret. "Yes, Chieftainess?"

She was still sitting there on the edge of the cliff, looking out into the fog. "How do you mourn someone who isn't dead?"

Eret pushed down the guilt and pain he felt inside. He had caused this girl to become a bitter, cynical woman. Turning away, he mounted Skullcrusher and disappeared into the fog.

Valkyrie looked down at her left hand, looked at the ring that he had slid onto her finger six years ago. Slowly, she reached for it, tugging it off and clenching it in her hand. She wanted to throw it away, wanted to forget him, but she couldn't. There was a reason she still had his ring, despite herself. With a sound of disgust, she put it back on, glaring down at the innocently shining stone as if it were mocking her.

"I take it that it didn't go well." Skorn was waiting for him on the beach. She folded her arms. "Are you stupid?"

"No." Eret glowered at her. "Since when were you an expert on love?"

"I have friends who are." Skorn raised an eyebrow. "So. What happened?"

"This is all my fault." Eret flopped down onto the sand. "She'll never forgive me. I might as well stop trying. After we deal with Drago, I plan to leave. I'll go somewhere else, find a new place to live. Maybe Chief will give me a boat."

"You're not taking Skullcrusher?"

Eret shook his head. "He belongs in Berk."

"Just like you belong in Hraun."

"No, you romantic little fool!" Eret roared, turning on the girl. "Don't you see? I've hurt them enough! They don't need me, nor do they want me!"

"Touchy touchy," Skorn smirked. "Just remember Astrid promised to kick your arse if you showed up in Berk without Valkyrie."

"Shut up."

"Maybe you just need to do something heroic, like save her life, and then maybe she'll see how much you love her." Skorn drew patterns in the rough sand.

"I love her enough to let her go, if that's what she wants," he growled. "Hey!" He was wrenched to his feet, his wrists tied behind his back, and surrounded by angry Hraunians. When he saw who it was, he sighed and stopped fighting. He did deserve this.

"Eret, you bastard." Sweet, gentle Eira snarled at him, Heidrun right behind her. Their venom hurt the most. They were his sisters, his beautiful, lovable little sisters, who needed no weapons to fight because the dragons would defend them first. "How could you?"

"And how dare you come back?" Heidrun demanded. The twins were only two of the voices that scolded him, rebuked him, threatened him. But their voices were the loudest to him, their disappointment and revulsion the strongest.

"Enough!" The villagers stopped, staring at the girl with the fire-hair that had pushed her way through the crowd to stand in front of Eret. "Aren't you ashamed of yourselves? You're convicting him without a trial. Not only that, but he is under your chieftainess's protection." She drew a knife and sliced the ropes that held Eret's hands together. "She said you'd take no satisfaction from him. That means leaving him alone!"

"How do we know you're not like him?" someone snarled, and Skorn's eyes flashed.

"Periss!" she snapped, and the Skrill reared up, fanning her great wings as she hovered above them, her wings flickering with lightning. "Do you really think I would dare ride a Skrill if I were one of Drago's trappers? She would kill me before I got within ten feet of her!"

Periss discharged her lightning, sending it flashing out over the ocean. It was a display of power, yes; she didn't mind showing off, not if it got the humans to shut up. She trusted Skorn, and if Skorn was angry at them, then she would be too.

"Now, leave us alone," Skorn ordered, her eyes glittering with fury. "And I thought I was the child here."

The villagers retreated, muttering insults and threats, but they went. Skorn turned to Eret. "I've probably just made it worse for you. Having a girl ten years younger than you protect you isn't a good thing."

"No, but it's appreciated," Eret muttered. "See what I mean? I can never come back here. I should have never come in the first place."

Skorn regarded him with her bright green eyes. "Maybe it's not my place to say it, but I believe that they can forgive you—if you show them who you really are."

"Who am I, though?" Eret asked desperately. "I don't even know anymore."

"That is something you have to answer for yourself. Who you are isn't something that I can tell you, or anybody else. You decide who you are." Skorn strode away, producing a fishing rod from somewhere on her person. Perhaps under her cloak? She settled down on a ring of rocks that protected a small pool of ocean from the tide.

Blackthorn and Valkyrie returned an hour after the sun had set, a black shape flying through black space overhead without a pause. Skorn had gathered driftwood for a fire, and caught enough fish to feed both herself and Eret. The dragons, on the other hand, had had to find their own food. Periss had disappeared, probably into the hills to prey on wild goats, while Rumblehorn waded into the shallows and ate fish as they approached him. The light of Skorn's fire must have alerted someone, because a short while later, Valkyrie came striding down the path, a glowing lantern in her hand.

She regarded them for a moment, two figures huddled around a tiny fire. The dragons had rejoined them, and lay beside their riders, providing a modicum of warmth. "You"—she struggled to get the words out—"you are welcome to stay in the village tonight."

Eret visibly flinched and drew into himself when he heard her voice, but Skorn looked up at the older girl with calm eyes. "No, thank you," she said. "We've already caused enough trouble for you."

"You'll freeze out here." Valkyrie eyed the fire-haired girl. "Nights here are not pleasant."

"If you could provide us with blankets, I'm sure we'll be fine," Skorn said politely. Steadfastly.

Valkyrie regarded her silently for a moment, assessing her motives. "Very well. I'll have blankets and bedrolls brought shortly."

"My lady, a word, if you please?" Skorn stood gracefully, approaching Valkyrie with loose, open hands. When they were out of earshot of Eret, Skorn placed her hands on her hips. "The villagers attacked us—him—this afternoon. I got them to back down, but you might want to consider either exiling him or telling them his story, because otherwise, he'll probably die."

"That's his prerogative. I've already pardoned him." Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

"He'll die because he won't fight anymore."

"Again, that's his choice. He's a fully grown man, Skorn, Child of Berk. I am not his keeper."

"But you are his betrothed." Skorn crossed her arms. "Whether or not you admit it, you still have feelings for him. You still wear his ring. You could have ordered him executed, but you didn't. And even now, when it is perfectly clear that you could kill him right now and he wouldn't resist, you won't take your revenge on him."

"What do you know?" Valkyrie snarled, suddenly defensive. "You're only sixteen."

"Hiccup said you were sixteen when you were betrothed."

"And look where it got me!" Valkyrie yelled, losing her cool demeanor. "I trusted him, and look what he did to us!"

"Not him. Drago. Never forget who your enemy is, Valkyrie," Skorn said quietly. "I could hate dragons for what they did to my parents, to Berk, but I have to remember that it was the Red Death that was the cause. You cannot blame the servant for his master's transgressions. Nor, I think, should you blame a man for trying to protect those he loves. Think on it, my lady. Goodnight."

As Skorn returned to the fire, Valkyrie stood there processing her words. Had she been blaming Eret for Drago's actions? Or had she been blaming Eret for his choice to betray them? And if the latter, was the reason for his betrayal enough to absolve him?

"What was that about?" Eret asked, poking at the fire with a stick. "Your talk with the chieftainess?"

"Say her name."

"No."

"Say it."

"I said no."

"Why won't you say her name? Because she told you not to call her by her name?" Skorn had produced a needle and thread from somewhere and was mending a hole in her jacket.

"No, because I don't deserve to use her name!" Eret exploded, hurling his stick into the fire. "Why do you keep pushing me like this? Nothing will change!"

"Don't you find it odd, that a sixteen year old is lecturing you on relationships?" Skorn asked coldly. "Grow up, Son of Eret. In most cases I wouldn't suggest you keep chasing a girl who's repeatedly rebuffed you, but you, she's hurting inside, and that's why she keeps pushing you away. If I know anything, it's people; how they mourn, how they love, how they cope. She's hurting, just like you are, only you're hurting for her while she's hurting for you, her father, and her people. She's even hurting for her mother. She's just had the responsibility of an entire village thrust upon her shoulders. Give her some time. But she still wears your ring, and she has forgiven you. Maybe not in as many words, but the very fact that she's stopped trying to kill you, that she pardoned you in front of her entire village, that counts for something."

"It's useless. She hates me, Skorn, even you can see that. So why should I keep pushing? I've already hurt her too much."

Skorn sighed. "I don't have an answer as to how you can fix this, but I know that you can. Plenty of relationships are past the point of no return, but not yours. You're both resisting it, probably out of pride, but that doesn't mean that it's hopeless. Do you understand?"

"I understand that you think you're some kind of love expert."

"I have friends who are," Skorn said again, standing up to receive the promised blankets and bedrolls from a village woman. "My thanks." Lighting a makeshift torch from the fire, Skorn stuck it in a cleft in the cliff face, gauging the path to the hollow in the cliff where she planned to stay the night. After tying the blankets and bedrolls up tightly, she threw them up before climbing up herself. "You're going to die of exposure if you stay down there," was all she said as she laid out the bedrolls. "Bring the firewood, will you?"

Eret kicked sand over the fire and hauled himself up to the cave. "Pushy little thing," he groused. "No wonder the boys want to move to Phlock to find themselves wives."

"They're just chickens," Skorn said serenely. "Look what Tuffnut has to live with. Of course he'd want a nice, timid little wife."

Eret stared at Skorn in the flickering light of the torch. "Was that a joke?"

"Not very bright, are you?" Skorn asked, yawning. "Put out the torch, will you?" Periss and Rumblehorn settled themselves in the sand below the cave; the elements wouldn't bother them as much.

"You're awfully calm about this. For all you know, they'll kill you too."

"Nobody's killing anyone. Except Drago. You can kill him. Now are you going to sleep or not?" Skorn demanded.

With a sigh, Eret extinguished the torch and laid down on the pallet, pulling the blankets over himself. Even with them, and all his clothes on, it was cold. He supposed that they could light a fire, but who knew what kind of predators that would attract. They would just have to make do.

After an hour of sleeplessness, Eret sighed and sat up, looking over at Skorn. She was curled up tightly, like a cat, fast asleep. Disgusted with himself, Eret crawled to the mouth of the cave and sat there, looking out at the cold water. The moon was nearly full, and the stars mocked him in their serene happiness.

"You know, if you're cold, you should say something." Skorn's quiet voice startled him. She crawled forward to sit by him, dragging her blanket with her and wrapping it around his shoulders. "You're not as heartless and cynical as you'd like everyone to believe, are you? It's all an act."

"You don't know that. You don't know what I've done."

"Maybe not entirely, but I do know that you helped Hiccup free our dragons and fight Drago. I know that Skullcrusher accepted you as his rider. I know that before you became Drago's henchman, you won Valkyrie's trust. More than that, you won her heart. So you can't be heartless. You've just forgotten how to be a real person."

"Why do you think you know so much about me?" Eret asked, aggrieved. "You aren't me."

"You're human, Eret Son of Eret. I know humans. Maybe there's a reason that I, of all people, lost my parents; because I understand people, and how to get along with them. I am a child of Berk, of a whole village. I know the grievances and joys of families who are not my own." Skorn played with a lock of her hair, which she had released from its tight bun to sleep. "When my parents died, I blamed myself. I was, oh, nine years old? I thought, if I had been bigger, older, a better fighter, they wouldn't have died. I would have protected them. I lashed out at everyone, even my best friend. Her name was Hana. We argued so much that one night, she stormed outside. That was the last I ever saw of her. The dragons came again that night. It was after her disappearance that I realized that in my fury, in my self-pity, I had actually caused someone's death. I couldn't argue that I hadn't had a role in her death; I was the one who drove her out of my house. But I couldn't wallow—her last words to me were "Grow up, Skorn. Not everything's about you!" And she was right. There were other people who had lost, other people who had suffered as much as I had. Internalizing the guilt only makes it worse. You have to let it go. You don't have to forgive yourself—I've never forgiven myself for Hana's death—but you can come to terms with it." Skorn chuckled half-heartedly. "Look at me, telling you my life story when you don't even care about anything but yourself right now. An exercise in pointlessness. I'm going back to bed. You can keep the blanket."

He heard her settle down again, heard her breath slow and deepen. After a few minutes, Eret crawled over to her and tucked her blanket back around her. She opened one bleary eye.

"I told you to keep the blanket."

"Thank you," was all he said before he pulled his blanket over himself again. After several minutes, he jumped as Skorn slid her pallet over until she lay next to him, quietly offering to share her warmth.

Skorn was the first one to awaken, mostly because Periss was hissing at her. Sometime during the night, she had curled up against Eret's side like a cat, and his arm had found its way around her. The warmth was nice, and it was reluctantly that she withdrew and faced the cold grey light of morning.

"What is it, Periss?" she asked as she attempted to comb her sleep-tangled hair with her fingers. Looking outside of the cave, she saw the dragons of Hraun circling, some with riders and some without, in what seemed like a test of their aerial capabilities. Targets had been painted onto the spires of rock that surrounded the island, most of them scorched into oblivion already. Frowning, Skorn realized that it was well past dawn. She must have been more tired than she had thought.

"Eret!" Skorn shook Eret's shoulder, rather roughly. "Wake up!"

Eret grumbled and sat up. "What time is it?" he asked as he stretched, trying to work a kink from his back.

"Probably at least three hours after dawn," Skorn answered, pulling on her boots. "We should go and see if there's anything we can do to help."

"Like what?" Eret asked grumpily, tying back his hair.

"Hunting, or mending or making tack, or training," Skorn suggested, easing herself down the cliff face. "Come on!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming," Eret muttered, rolling their things together and shoving them in a corner of their little cave. When he hit the sand of the beach, he looked up to see Hraun's skies filled with dragons. In particular, the flight of Nightwishes, who wheeled gracefully as a unit. He thought he could identify Blackthorn at the point of the flight.

"Do you want breakfast? One of the village women brought food," Skorn said, building a fire. "Bread, and cheese, and two boiled eggs."

Eret helped her to start the fire and toast the bread. They ate quickly and warmed their fingers before dousing the fire and heading up to the village proper. He still remembered the path, although it was far more worn than he recalled. Once in the village, they were joined by Periss and Skullcrusher, who had apparently been up for hours already.

"Sorry, girl," Skorn said, petting the Skrill's nose. "I promise I'll wake up earlier tomorrow. Did you eat already?" The dragon snorted an affirmation and nudged her rider. "All right, all right. I get the idea, you goof." Skorn laughed as she climbed onto Periss's back.

"You should get a saddle for her," Eret said, fastening the cinches on Skullcrusher's saddle. "Otherwise she won't be able to fire with you on her back."

"The lightning doesn't hurt me when she channels it as long as I'm not touching any metal to her." Skorn cracked her neck. "Her wings are another story, though. I can't touch them when she's all charged up. Ready? Let's go find out what we're supposed to be doing."

Eret sighed and reluctantly mounted Skullcrusher. This meant he would have to talk to Valkyrie again.

The Skrill soared ahead, having already spotted the Nightwish flight, now breaking up into pairs. It appeared that they were monitoring the other dragons in the air, because each pair landed on a spire and watched the activity. It took a few passes to locate Blackthorn, whose rider was paying more attention to the conversation with her partner than to the approaching Skrill.

"Chieftainess!" Skorn called. "What would you have us do?"

Valkyrie regarded the hovering Skrill. "How well do you ride her?" she asked, raising her voice. "Come here and land so we can talk properly!"

Once the humans were standing on solid ground, Valkyrie introduced Skorn—and by extension, Eret—to Dross Kanesdottr, a twentyish Nightwish rider with haphazardly chopped, short black hair, grey eyes, and freckles. She looked like absolute mischief.

"She's my second in command," Valkyrie explained. "We don't really have the resources to make you a saddle, Skorn, so you'll just have to make do without for now. I know you're going to be fighting with us, so there's no point in my testing you to see if you're fit to fight like my people, but I still want you to practice so that you and your dragon—Periss, was it?—develop your skills together. The better you know each other, the better you'll be able to fight. Son of Eret, you will turn your skills into building nonlethal traps for us to practice with. If anyone gets caught during our battle with Drago, I want them to be able to free themselves, or have someone else free them. Do you understand?"

"You do realize that his traps will be made out of metal, right? I don't think I have time to make proper replicas, but I can make wood and rope ones."

"Fine," Valkyrie agreed. They were interacting with calculated politeness, as acquaintances and no more. Even the cheerful Dross was glaring at Eret; she remembered him well. "Tell Nevan when you're done."

"Yes, Chieftainess."

Eret worked quickly with Skorn's help. Since none of the other villagers would help him, it was only the two of them. While she was knotting rope nets for the net cannon, he pieced together the gun itself, as well as a facsimile of the metal cages that Drago used. By soaking the wooden frame with water, he estimated that it would be able to take a couple of blasts before it went up in flames. He made three of these; there wasn't any more wood for another.

Nevan turned out to be a tall, muscular man who had once been even larger, judging by the sag of his clothes. He grunted at Eret, spoke politely to Skorn, and began ordering drills that included dodging the nets. Two or three youngsters on the backs of Gronkles hovered below the drill pass, snatching up the nets that fell and returning them to Nevan, who was operating the cannon. With that task done, Skorn joined the dragons who circled the island in a sort of obstacle course; targets were marked out, along with pickup dummies that mimicked stranded riders. Nightwishes and their riders played the enemy, diving and swooping at them, but of course, not firing their deadly blasts. There was too much of a chance for an accident.

At some point, the order came through to stop for lunch, although noon had come and gone some hours ago. The Hraunians, buoyed by their successes in training that morning, didn't notice that Eret and Skorn had been dragged along in the sea of bodies to the Great Hall, where their meager lunch was served. For the first time since he had returned to Hraun, Eret felt like he was truly home.

"I've made my choices," Valkyrie announced as everyone finished eating. "The notices are posted on the wall there. If you have been chosen, please pack and be ready to leave tomorrow morning. We have no time to lose."

The silence was heavy as the Hraunians wondered if they had been chosen or not.

"And, in the case that I should fall in our upcoming battle with Drago, I have chosen my successors. You know that Eira and Heidrun are my first choice, but in the worst case that all three of us fall, your chieftain will be Nevan Doterson." The silence turned somber. There was a very real chance that they would lose their new chief before she had the chance to continue her line, which as chief was one of her tasks. The chieftain's family was expected to uphold the village and be the voice of the village.

"Take the afternoon to pack and say your goodbyes. I expect those of you who remain to hold the village strong for our return."

"She's a natural leader," Skorn said quietly, to Eret. "This is good. Her people will not suffer because of her grief."

Eret said nothing, taking a hearty swig of the watered-down ale that their hosts had provided.

Skorn stood up, forcing Eret, who was sharing her bench, to stand as well. They were about to leave the Great Hall when someone blocked their way.

"Are you sure you won't stay with one of us tonight?" It was Dross, leaning casually against the door frame. "It gets cold out there."

"Thank you, but no. We'll be fine." Skorn gave the Nightwish rider a smile.

"All right. I'm in the house with the blue and green flag on it, if you change your mind." Dross let them go, and Skorn pushed Eret out of the hall before less friendly parties stopped them.

"So, what now?" Skorn asked, her hands on her hips. "We have a whole afternoon to waste."

"I dunno." Eret looked around, rather sadly, she thought. "Want to go hunting? We can add to their stores. From what she said, they've been suffering for food."

"Sounds like a plan. I'll need a bow, though. I have a knife. You?" Skorn checked to make sure both of her knives were there.

"I like using traps."

Skorn fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Of course. I forgot. Well, you go and get your traps together and I'll go and see if I can beg a bow from someone. I'll meet you down at the beach in half an hour."

"All right." Now that he had a purpose that didn't directly involve Valkyrie, Eret was more relaxed. He gathered the ropes that he would need for his snares, as well as some other supplies in case they met with something large, like, say, a wild pig or a moose.

Skorn, after some asking around, borrowed a crossbow from one of the teenagers that hadn't gotten their own dragons yet. Of course, everyone wanted to see the Skrill, and it was fully three quarters of an hour before Skorn managed to extract herself and Periss from the throng. When they landed at the beach, Eret glared at them.

"I thought you said you'd be here fifteen minutes ago."

"Sorry. Periss generated quite a stir." Skorn scowled. "I mean, I know Skrills are rare, but really. For all they knew she could have zapped them all."

"You've got to understand, in Hraun, dragons have been their friends for years. They've never really needed to be afraid of one. At least, most dragons. Screaming Deaths are one species that everyone fears, but even Whispering Deaths aren't as frightening if you know how to deal with them. And most people who actually ride dragons, especially the fiercer ones, are competent dragon tamers as well. You should take it as a compliment that they trusted you to keep them safe."

Skorn just huffed. "Are you ready to go?"

"Of course. Follow us." Eret guided them up into the hills of the island, into an area that would have been almost impossible to reach on foot. "This is where the best hunting is," he said as they landed. "And after so many years without hunters here, the game should be good."

It was. Skorn shot several rabbits and a goose that had apparently been separated from its flock. With Periss's help, she even managed to track down a herd of goats and grab two—one for each of Periss's feet—before meeting Eret and Skullcrusher in the skies above the village.

"Good haul?" Skorn called over the distance. Eret nodded. They spiraled down to the village, where Periss dropped the live goats into an empty sheep pen before she landed. Skorn slid from her back, her catch going straight to the cooks of the Great Hall.

"Hraun thanks you." Skorn spun around to see Valkyrie standing in the doorway to the kitchen. "Your little trip hasn't gone unnoticed. They've forgotten, some, how to live with dragons, and you've shown them how to start. I want to set up the fire extinguishers again, for one. Not only that, but you've provided us with fresh meat, something that has been scarce since the dragons were taken. We have much to do, like gathering new livestock to replace the ones that we have lost. I'm only sorry that I might not be able to see Hraun return to its former glory."

"If anyone's dying, it's me." Eret appeared behind her. "The people are depending on you, Chieftainess. You'd best put the thought of you dying out of your head."

"It's my duty," Valkyrie hissed, rounding on him. "Something that you've forgotten, perhaps?"

"Your duty is to protect the people of Hraun however you can. How can you if you're dead?" Eret's voice cracked on the last word.

"Eira and Heidrun will make fine Chieftainesses. They come from a fine, honorable family. Oh, wait, that same family produced you," she spat.

"Stop it!" Skorn yanked Valkyrie around to look at her. "You're acting like a child, not a leader! He's right, you know. You best serve your people if you're alive. Not only that, do you think it will do any good if they lose a leader twice in less than a year? Even I know that it will shake them to the very core. You're the only one who has even seen a dragon in six years, let alone lived with one. You said it yourself, they need help to get used to life with dragons again."

Valkyrie regarded fire-hair for a moment. "You."

"Excuse me?"

"You. I would like you to come and live with us, and show us again how to live with dragons."

Skorn put her hands on her hips. "I'm hardly an expert. But that's neither here nor there. After we win, we can sort out all of the details."

"You seem very sure of our fate. Are you a spy, too?" Valkyrie snarled, suddenly paranoid.

"Calm down. As if I would be a spy for Drago. Just because he's an idiot doesn't mean I am, too."

"Hey, wait a minute—" Eret spoke up, probably to protest his intelligence.

"You need to rest," Skorn informed Valkyrie, who dropped her aggressive stance.

"I'm sorry." Valkyrie sighed. "I do."

"Come on. Eret won't let anybody inside to bother you while you rest. Right, Eret?" Skorn glanced back over her shoulder at the ex-trapper.

"Of course."

"We'll get you a hot bath and some hot food and then you're going to bed," Skorn continued. "Wait, which house is yours?"

"That one." Dross appeared, taking Valkyrie's other elbow. "She's getting grumpy, isn't she?" Skorn nodded affirmation. "All right. You go get her a plate of food, I'll draw up her bath. And you,"—she was addressing Eret—"you can go and do whatever you want," she finished with a scowl.

"I'll…I'll get her food," Eret offered limply.

"Can I trust you not to poison it?" Dross snapped.

"Dross! Please! If he wanted to hurt you all, he could have done it last night, when you all were asleep!" Skorn addressed the older woman's sensible side.

"He's already hurt us all," Valkyrie said unexpectedly. "Does it really matter anymore?"

"Rest," Dross said firmly. She and Skorn drew a hot bath for Valkyrie and left a plate of food on her table. When they got outside, Skorn folded her arms.

"Look. I know that what he did to you all was terrible and probably caused lots of death and pain. But he's trying to make up for it now. That's got to count for something, right? Also, I would have thought that at least one person could see that he means well."

"Valkyrie is my best friend," Dross said quietly. "It's hard to forgive the man who broke her. Do you know how long it took to get her to act normally again?"

"Don't you think that she's still broken? I think she can be mended," Skorn answered. "But right now, everyone's resisting it, and it's only making it worse. She wears that ring—it's his, isn't it?"

Dross nodded reluctantly. "I've asked. She doesn't want to—can't—throw it away. She's tried."

"So there's still hope, then," Skorn surmised.

"It's not just that. I don't think any of us will ever trust him again," Dross sighed. "He's my cousin, did you know that? Best cousin ever, after his sisters, anyway. I could always trust him, but now? Now I feel like everything he says is a lie."

"I guess only time will tell." They parted ways, Skorn to find Eret and Dross inside, to check on Valkyrie.

The fighters set out from Hraun at dawn, wrapped snugly against the cold. All of them bore packs filled with clothes and weapons for their stay in Berk. A couple of the larger dragons in Hraun accompanied them as pack-dragons. As before, the Nightwishes were at the front of the wing, cutting through the air and working as seamlessly as they had so many years before. Eret and Skorn flew at the back of the wing in an attempt to remain unnoticed.

"Ambush!" The flight broke up as enemy dragons appeared. There were many, mostly Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, and Hideous Zipplebacks. Two Thunderdrums knocked several dragons out of the air, but those from Hraun quickly maneuvered into place to negate the sonic attacks.

"Skorn! Get above them!" Eret yelled, pointing to the storm clouds that hovered over the scene. They would provide limitless shots for Periss, especially once the storm really started.

"On it." Periss surged upwards, firing at a Hideous Zippleback that was spreading its gas around the Nightwish formation. The lightning knocked it from the sky, just before it ignited the cloud of noxious gas. With strong wingbeats, the Nightwishes blew it away and circled, splitting in half to cover more area.

Once she and Periss reached the storm layer, Skorn turned her to circle above the fray. The pack dragons, strong, powerful fliers with bone-crushing jaws and corrosive acid attacks, were holding their own, sweeping through the mess and knocking the smaller attackers from the air. The Nightwishes handled the Deadly Nadders, whose spines weren't fast enough to pin the black dragons, while the fighters of Hraun took on the other dragons. A Whispering Death was making life hard for one of the younger fighters, a fifteen year old boy who reminded Skorn of Hiccup; gangly and awkward, but an excellent strategist. Periss encircled the boy, who was riding an unfamiliar breed of dragon, with a ring of lightning, blinding the Whispering Death and allowing a Nightwish to swoop down and knock it from the air with the now-familiar white-blue blast.

None of the attacking dragons had riders, so who was commanding them? She didn't see Drago or his Bewilderbeast, but that didn't mean that they weren't behind this. The most likely answer was that these dragons had been sent out with their orders in place, and were acting on those orders now. Which meant that their only recourse was to kill them.

"Well." She adjusted her seat on Periss. She still didn't have a saddle, so her seating wasn't as secure as the other riders'. "Let's go, girl."

And, like the embodiment of lightning itself, Periss gathered up so much electricity that Skorn, sheltered on Periss's back, could feel her hairs standing up from the static. Because she was supercharged, Periss had, basically, limitless shots until she ran out of electricity. As she bore down on the attackers, two Nightwishes fell in on either side of her.

"Want a hand?" one of the riders called.

"Don't expend all your energy, mind," the other one called. Skorn glanced at them again. Twins, with matching crests on their upper arms. The same crest that Eret had.

"Eira and Heidrun?" she couldn't help asking.

"Pleasure to meet you!" one of them hollered. She wore her long brown hair in a single braid down her back. "I'm Heidrun!"

"This way!" Eira ordered. The trio cut across the path of a Hraunian Monstrous Nightmare and immediately cut back to slam the dragon following him with lightning and plasma. He fell from the sky, and the three dragons climbed again, circling to attack a knot of Deadly Nadders that were focusing on a cluster of the search-and-rescue dragon squad. Those dragons and their riders had been picked for their fast flying, primarily, and were going to be the ones opening up traps to free caught allies. They weren't as strong in terms of firepower, however, although a couple of them had fire-bomb capabilities rather than just regular shots. Periss's lightning cleared the air long enough for the S&R team to break free, and then the Nightwishes bore down on them like valkyries themselves.

Skorn checked the lightning that Periss wore as they continued to fire, praying that what Periss had pulled from the storm would be enough for what the dragon had planned, since the Skrill had decided that she knew best. And truth be told, she did. As the stormclouds broke and began to unload their watery contents, Periss's lightning struck the last of the attackers from the sky. As the dragon surged up to recharge in the clouds, the twins fell away to circle with Blackthorn, checking to make sure everyone was still alive.

"Nice flying," Valkyrie complimented them as they drew even with the flight again. She had drawn up her hood to keep off the worst of the rain. "I hope it storms when we fight Drago."

"Me too," Skorn called over the sound of the storm. Thunder rolled as lightning streaked from the clouds. "We'd better go. Periss will attract most of the lightning strikes if we fly above you, but probably not all of them. And I'm pretty sure most of your dragons aren't lightning-proof."

"Correct. Thank you for your concern." Valkyrie and Blackthorn wheeled, and orders filtered through to form up. Skorn realized suddenly that she hadn't even thought about the shot limits of the other dragons, friend or foe. It was something that she would have to factor into her strategies. It wouldn't do to waste shots, especially if there was no storm to be found. Normally, Periss only had four to five shots at once, depending on how much electricity she had stored.

"So you got to play the hero." Skorn found Eret and Skullcrusher flying on her left, as before. "How…how are Eira and Heidrun? Are they…happy?"

Skorn softened. "Yes. Their dragons are strong fighters, and they know exactly what they're doing. They fly like Valka does with Cloudjumper."

"I knew they would. I'm proud of them."

"I'm supposed to be flying above so that Periss can attract the lightning," Skorn said as the Skrill began to climb. "Stay away. I don't want you getting hit by accident."

It took them an hour to navigate the storm, getting drenched to the bone in the process. When they finally made it past the storm clouds, the sun was eerily bright. The wind whipped their wet clothes into freezing cocoons, and Valkyrie called a halt on an island full of trees and hills.

"Watch out for wild Timberjacks," she ordered as the company dismounted and began to disperse in search of firewood and kindling. "Stump, where are you?"

"Here." Stump turned out to be a brawny young man with unruly brown hair and heavily scarred arms. His Timberjack slid along the ground behind him.

"Make sure Kindlescar stays away from the woods. I don't want any wild Timberjacks thinking that he's trying to take their territory. You know how that turns out." Valkyrie turned to Skorn, who was treating stab wounds on one of the pack dragons. "I should probably introduce you to the different breeds that I brought. Once everyone's settled down to dry, come and find me. You can bring Eret Son of Eret with you, if you like."

"Thank you."

Skorn found a job helping Stump, whose Timberjack brought down three stag trees for firewood. Chopping the trees into proper sized pieces required more precision than the Timberjack had, since like all other Timberjacks, Kindlescar didn't need to limit his fires to human sizes. Thus after Kindlescar had sliced up the trees, Skorn and Stump went to work breaking them up into manageable logs. Several others came to help, while other groups began to gather kindling and set up fires.

A small hunting party brought back herbs, two mountain goats, and half a dozen ducks. The animals were cleaned and spitted over the roaring fires that the company huddled around. As the dragons made a barrier against the cold northern wind, Skorn sought out Eret.

"Ready?" she asked, eager to learn more about the dragons they were traveling with.

"I don't think I'm welcome," Eret said, looking at the fire where a third of the Nightwish wing sat, including Valkyrie, Dross, Eira, and Heidrun.

"She said I could bring you." That's a step in the right direction, Skorn thought. Even if the invitation had been grudging, it was still an invitation.

"All right." Eret stood with a groan, and followed Skorn to Valkyrie's fire.

As they sat, Valkyrie passed a waterskin to Skorn. "So. You've met Dross, Eira, and Heidrun. They're some of my best riders and trainers. Dross leads these girls; Tarra, Solo, Oress, Scrap, Tiff, Fae, Nyss, and Kane." Each woman nodded their acknowledgement when Valkyrie pointed them out. Tiff was the oldest, perhaps in her early forties, while the rest ranged from mid-thirties to the teenaged Solo. "There are thirty eight of us total; we're divided into squads of nine or ten," Valkyrie continued. "Eira and Heidrun lead the other two squads along with Dross and me. Now. Which dragons do you recognize, Skorn?"

Skorn identified the dragon breeds she knew, including the new Nightwishes. "You have a lot of dragons that I've never seen before."

"All right. Let's start with the pack dragons. They're Heavy Tackleshods. We've classed them as Trackers, because they have such good senses of smell. Once they identify a scent, they won't forget it, so do not make enemies of them. There are two Light Tackleshods in the S&R team. They're lighter and faster. Both breeds have extremely strong jaws and a corrosive acid attack.

"The other S&R dragons include Kamikazes and a Typhoomerang. Typhoomerangs you know; Kamikazes you don't. They're fast and fairly stealthy. They fire magnesium "bombs," which are extremely devastating and more powerful than both Night Furies and Nightwishes. However, they only get three shots at a time. What makes them unique is that once they lock onto a target, they won't give up. We have to watch them, because they can kill themselves while trying to accomplish their task.

"The Keppa—you can see ours there by Kindlescar—is a Mystery class dragon. Their venom is extremely poisonous, and there aren't any known antidotes. We have only domesticated one in our history, and she's sitting right there. Anahita is the only one allowed to approach her, understand? She abides by our rules for now, but only Anahita has any control over her. I wouldn't have brought her if it weren't for her speed and accuracy." Valkyrie took a sip of water. "Any questions so far?"

"What's the Keppa's name?"

Valkyrie smiled. "Wrath. She took a liking to Anahita twenty three years ago, when Anahita was just a baby."

"Anahita had been taken by bandits, you see," Dross put in. "Only those bandits were stupid enough—or smart enough, I suppose—to find a Keppa nest. From what we understand, Wrath destroyed the bandits because they crushed her eggs, but spared Anahita, probably because she was a baby. We lost six women to the bandits, and Wrath killed all of them but Ana. Anyway, for a solid month we thought that all of them were lost completely. Then one day a Keppa slithered into the village with a baby in its mouth! Ana's mother was one of the women taken, but as soon as he realized who the baby had to be, Ana's father ran up to the dragon and tried to snatch her away. Wrath smacked him back, laid Ana on the ground, and stood over her. It took forever to convince her that he was really Ana's father. And from that day on, she's guarded Ana like a mother hen."

Skorn whistled. "She's lucky that Wrath was a mother, or she might have died too."

"That's what we thought, too," Heidrun agreed. She was the more talkative of the twins, although she still treated Eret with the same venom as Eira did. "What about your Skrill? How'd you manage that?"

Skorn told them about finding Periss trapped and helpless, and driving off her attackers. "At first I thought that was the end of it, but she was waiting for me next time I went up into the hills."

"Sometimes the strongest bonds are made in adversity," Valkyrie noted. "Look, food's ready." The impromptu lunch was delicious, if not very filling due to the sheer number of people to be fed, but it was supplemented by tubers that someone had found and roasted. After their meal, everyone was mostly dry, so they doused the fires and mounted up.

Eret had said nothing the entire time that they had sat with the Nightwish leaders. After they were in the air and on their way again, Skorn turned to look at him.

"You know, this quiet, dejected thing is not working out so well for you."

"Yeah, well, nothing else did, so why bother?"

Skorn frowned. "You're acting like a child."

Eret didn't bother to respond, and the next two and a half hours were silent at the back of the flight. Dross peeled away from the leading edge to circle around and pull alongside Skorn and Eret.

"Valkyrie wants you two to land first," she shouted over the wind. "Tell your chief that we have one hundred dragons and their riders here, with weapons."

Skorn signaled her understanding, and Periss dropped below the company. Skullcrusher followed, and the pair of dragons landed gently in front of the Great Hall in Berk. The gang—Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut—were there, along with Gobber, Hiccup, Astrid, and a handful of other Berkians. Ruffnut surged forward to accost Eret, but Astrid blocked her way as the two travelers dismounted and approached Hiccup.

"Glad to see you guys back in on piece," Hiccup said with humor. "What news?"

Skorn looked to Eret to answer, but the older man was still wallowing. With a sigh, she said, "He's pardoned in Hraun, so they aren't allowed to touch him, but they still haven't really forgiven him. Anyway, there are a hundred dragons and riders up there. Valkyrie's brought thirty eight Nightwishes and their riders, and a search-and-rescue team of ten dragons to spring any dragons that get caught in Drago's traps. That's forty eight of her force. All of them are armed."

"We're better equipped to handle their dragons now, especially since there are fewer of them," Hiccup said. "We cleared out another floor in the stables for them. Tell them they can land, and then I want Valkyrie and any commanders she has to come and meet me at my house."

"Sure thing, Chief." Skorn got ready to fly up to the circling mass.

"And Eret, I'd like a word with you before they get down here," Hiccup said as Eret began to mount Skullcrusher.

"Ah…all right, Chief," he said nervously, watching Skorn and Periss surge up into the sky.

Hiccup, Astrid, Valkyrie, Dross, Eira, Heidrun, and several of the older, more experienced fighters sat in a corner of the Great Hall. The table was covered in plates, mugs, maps, and diagrams. Fishlegs had been recruited for his knowledge of dragons; his cards were also strewn around the table, and he was busy making more from the information the Nightwish leaders supplied about the new dragons.

"'Legs, do we have any dragons we can add to the S&R team?" Hiccup asked, taking a bite of food as he and Valkyrie labored over several diagrams that plotted flying formations for the dragons. He was currently looking at the list of S&R dragons and their riders.

Fishlegs looked up from his cards. "The Scuttleclaw babies might work, since they won't listen to Drago's Bewilderbeast," he suggested. "But then, there's a seven in ten chance that they'll be more trouble than help, since they have a record of disobeying any orders."

"What are our top fliers?"

"Typhoomerangs have a speed factor of twenty, and a firepower of 17. There are already six in Valkyrie's S&R team, but if we bring up the number from twelve to twenty dragons then the chances of freeing anyone caught in traps is raised by roughly a factor of ten," Fishlegs informed his chief.

"Any others that Valkyrie hasn't included already?" Hiccup pressed.

"Skrills have a speed factor of nineteen and a stealth factor of eighteen," Fishlegs said promptly. "Combined with her lightning abilities, Periss would also be a good choice for an S&R dragon if you didn't mind losing her fighting in the field."

Hiccup thought about it. "Valkyrie?"

She met his eyes. "Keep her in the field. She can be a secondary S&R dragon if you like, but Fishlegs is right; she will be better deployed in the field. Not only that, but if we manage to be lucky enough to catch a storm, she is unstoppable. We saw it on the way here; the storms give her, in essence, unlimited shots without any downtime."

"Right. Periss is out, then 'Legs," Hiccup informed the large man. "Anyone else?"

"Our next fastest is the Oleander," Fishlegs answered. "But if we add them to the S&R team we lose fighting dragons. After the Skrill, I would say that we don't have any other dragons suited to S&R, actually. The Oleander doesn't utilize fire, and it isn't acidic, either, which rules out using acid to disable the traps. If we can find and tame some Changewings, they could work well since their acid will eat through the traps and render them useless."

"The Tackleshods use acid, too," Dross put in, sliding a piece of paper that would be pasted into the Book of Dragons later over to Fishlegs. "The Lights are already in the S&R team, but the two Heavies could join them if you think they're fast enough."

"They're as fast as the Hideous Zippleback," Astrid commented, studying her sheet of battle tactics. "Which is pretty fast for such a huge dragon. Besides, their armor factor is—"

"Seventeen, which is a lot higher than our other suggested S&R dragons," Fishlegs finished. "What about your Keppa? Where are you putting her?"

"I want her fighting." Valkyrie's mouth was a hard line. "Wrath will do as she pleases anyway, and I can't risk her hurting the dragons she's trying to free with her venom. If your Oleander is as venomous as you say, you wouldn't put them there, either."

"Right. There's a pride of Changewings that we can probably try and make friends with on the east side," Hiccup said, noting that on a clean sheet of paper. "Search and rescue will have fourteen dragons if we include your two Heavy Tackleshods. That would be six Typhoomerangs, two Light Tackleshods, two Heavies, and four Kamikazes. Do you think that's enough?"

"Well, we have speed and power covered by the Typhoomerangs and the Kamikazes. The Tackleshods are good all-round S&R dragons," Heidrun said. "And they're well armored, which means we can use them for the more dangerous rescues. If we can add one or two Changewings to the party, then I think the S&R team will be able to handle any traps that Drago uses."

"Don't forget that if the Tackleshods take out the traps, then you won't need the S&R team as much," Eira pointed out. "You want to make sure that they have other orders in the case of a successful wipeout of Drago's traps."

"Right, so we'll go and take a look at that pride tomorrow, then," Hiccup said. "Mum?"

"I believe Eira and Heidrun are accomplished dragon tamers," Valka commented. "Perhaps the three of us could go tomorrow and leave the rest of you to work?"

Eira and Heidrun began to downplay their skills, but Valkyrie and Dross told them to stop.

"We all know that the two of you are some of our best dragon trainers," Valkyrie said. "You've always had a way with dragons. Changewings are dangerous, for all that they're small, so we need our best people to fetch them. Perhaps," she said, addressing Valka, "perhaps in addition we could send a few others as guards, in case they turn nasty?"

"That sounds like an excellent idea," Astrid commented. "Snotlout and the twins can go with you, for starters. Or would you prefer to take Gruff, Valka?"

"Gruff would be a good choice," Valka agreed. To the Hraunian girls, she explained, "By altering his colors and sending out vibrations with his crest, Gruff can affect the emotional states of the dragons around him."

As talk veered back towards the actual battle plan, Skorn appeared at the end of the table, refilling flagons and clearing away dirty plates.

"Skorn, c'mere for a sec," Hiccup request, and she went to stand at his elbow. "Have you had a chance to talk to Gobber about getting a saddle made for Periss? It will limit the risk of you getting electrocuted."

"Not yet. I've been…busy." Whatever Hiccup had talked to Eret about had made the big man antsy, and she had spent the majority of the afternoon and early evening trying to get him to calm down. They had formed a friendship of sorts, based on mutual—and on Eret's part, grudging—respect, and so when the older man had informed her he was going hunting again, she had immediately volunteered to accompany him.

Valkyrie's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, perhaps guessing at where Skorn had been all afternoon. Eret's absence had also been noticed. It wasn't jealously, she told herself. Just worry that the younger girl would get her heart broken, too. She told herself that she wanted to make sure that Eret didn't hurt anyone else. That was all.

"Shouldn't be too hard," Gobber said in his distinctive tone. "Just more angry dragons after poor ol' Gobber."

"She'll behave," Skorn promised. "And you can't make it with metal in it, it has to be all leather."

After supper, Phlegma insisted on checking Valkyrie's wounds, which she had admittedly ignored as she tried to get her people ready. After scolding her for not taking better care of them—other than rewrapping them with fresh bandages after bathing, Valkyrie had done nothing for her wounds—Phlegma gave her a jar of ointment and strict instructions to use it liberally.

The sky was dark as Skorn trudged up to Hiccup's house. The saddle had taken longer than either she or Gobber had planned, what with it needing to be made entirely out of non-conductive materials yet still as strong as regular saddles. Hiccup had invited her to stay at his house for the night—she still hadn't reclaimed her family's old home—and he opened the door after her knock, holding his charcoal pencil.

"Hey," he said, letting her in. Valka was sitting by the fire, mending clothes. "How is the saddle coming along?"

"Good," Skorn answered, dropping her bag on the floor. Because her life was so nomadic, she preferred to keep her things in one bag. When she was ready to claim her family's home, which had stood empty for seven years, she wouldn't limit her belongings to one simple bag. The memories alone would fill her whole house. All she kept with her were clothes, a few pieces of jewelry inherited from her mother, and her weapons. Anything else she needed, she found. "We're almost done. The Stike webs are good substitutes for metal or rope, by the way."

"I was hoping to use them to set traps for Drago's dragons," Hiccup admitted, offering her a cup of tea. "We have three domesticated ones."

Skorn took the tea with a word of thanks. "I think it's a good idea," Skorn said thoughtfully as she sipped the tea. "But don't you worry that our dragons will run into the webs?"

"That's why I said 'hoping,'" Hiccup agreed. He headed towards the stairs. "Did you want to come and take a look at the plans so far? I know you didn't get to hear the whole conversation earlier."

"I'm not sure…" Skorn hesitated. "I'm younger than all of you by at least three years. Some would say I don't have any battle experience, comparatively, to the others, and I don't have any solid training, either."

"So come and learn," Hiccup offered, starting up the stairs to his room in the attic. "Otherwise you never will have any experience."

"Go on," Valka urged. "And the bath's ready for you whenever you want it. Gruff will get it warm for you again; just let him know."

"Thank you." Skorn followed Hiccup up the shallow steps, emerging in his room. He'd cleaned the place since the last time she'd been here, made more shelves and a new weapons rack on one wall. He was at his desk, sifting through some papers.

"We're going to divide up into squads, like Valkyrie's gotten her troops sectioned off," Hiccup explained. "Ten dragons to a squad, including a commander. That way, we won't have everyone running around like chickens without heads."

"Sounds like a plan," Skorn offered, taking a look at the lists he had drawn up. "Where will I be?"

"You'll be in command of a strike team," Hiccup said, apparently not noticing her shock. "You'll have a Stike—I'm thinking Albern and Quicksilver—and two Monstrous Nightmares, I think. I've designed your team to be fast, but with lots of firepower. I think I'll add Karlee and Helfire to your squad, too." Helfire was a Typhoomerang.

"Hiccup!" Skorn interrupted. "I can't command a squad! They're all older than me by at least two years!"

"You've proved that you can keep your head in a fight, many times," Hiccup said to her seriously. "I know you're only sixteen, but you've already gotten a very thorough grasp of what each breed can and cannot do. That, and I want you and Periss to have as much freedom as possible to do what you do best. I heard about the scrabble with Drago's dragons on the way here; if you and Periss can do it again, I don't want you to have to petition your squad leader. I want you to be able to order a second to take command and then go about your own business. Do you understand?"

Skorn nodded grudgingly, but still opened her mouth to argue. "Can't you just order them to let me go when I need to?"

"They're not going to know a Skrill's abilities as well as you do," Hiccup reminded her. "I know it seems like a lot, but so is becoming chief of your village at the nice, tender age of twenty. Besides, your second will be Eret. He will lend you authority, I think."

"He needs a faster dragon," Skorn said through tight lips. "Skullcrusher isn't even half as fast as a Stike."

"I was going to go and find Thornado tomorrow morning," Hiccup said, rather sheepishly. "Hopefully he will agree to come back and help us."

"It's been, what, three years since he left?" Skorn questioned. "Bing, Bang, and Boom might even be able to help us by now."

"That's what I was hoping." Hiccup began to make changes to the piece of paper that listed her—her!—squad. "So. You'll have a Stike, two Monstrous Nightmares, a Typhoomerang, hopefully four Thunderdrums, and yourself, which makes nine. And Valkyrie's agreed to give you a Francesca's Legacy, which makes ten."

"I don't recognize the name," Skorn admitted with a frown. "What kind of dragon is it?"

"About seventy years ago, a woman named Francesca from Hraun saved a dragon from a Screaming Death by distracting it long enough for the dragon to get away. Of course, Francesca almost died right then and there, but she managed to get away thanks to the dragon she'd saved. She lost her dragon that day, but gained a new one. It didn't last long, though," Hiccup said sadly. "Apparently, she died from the burns the Screaming Death inflicted on her. But anyway, the reason they're called Francesca's Legacy is that that dragon, which was female, passed on her memories to the hatchlings that came from the eggs she laid right after Francesca died. And from that day on, those dragons protected Francesca's descendants fiercely. Valkyrie has seven of them in her company at the moment, all of them grandchildren, great-grandchildren, or great-great-grandchildren of Francesca."

"Wow." Skorn was surprised by the story, even though she knew that Hraun had been dragon-friendly for far longer than Berk had. "That's…interesting. How do they know that they're Francesca's children?"

"Valkyrie doesn't know. She said maybe it has something to do with their scent, or merely because the dragons seem to have the memories of all the Legacies that birthed them." Hiccup put the list down. "So. What do you think of your squad?"

Skorn was proud that he obviously respected her so much as to ask for her input. She paced as she thought, noting the freshly scrubbed floors as she did so. "I have a trapper, three Stokers, all of which can turn into fiery demons from Hel, four sonic attackers, and a lightning channeler. They all have a speed of at least fourteen, making this a high-speed squad." Looking up at Hiccup. "If I weren't in charge, I would say that this is an extremely powerful squad. As it is…"

"You'll do fine," Hiccup said firmly, yawning. "All right, bedtime. Go and wash up."

"Yessir." Skorn saluted him mockingly.

After she had bathed, thanked Gruff for keeping the water warm, and changed into her nightclothes, Skorn made her way back up to the attic, where Hiccup was already half asleep on his bed. She knew and Astrid knew that there was nothing going on with Hiccup and herself; he was a big brother to her, and truth be told, she still had nightmares about her family and Hana. He had nightmares about those moments right before and after Toothless, under Drago's Bewilderbeast's compulsion, had tried to kill Hiccup. They comforted each other. That was part of the reason that she had so willingly curled up against Eret in the cave at Hraun; the warmth of another person settled the nightmares and sometimes prevented them completely. Tucking herself against his side, she stared out of the window for a long time before she was able to fall asleep.

Skorn awoke with a start, her eyes wide and her breathing labored. It was not one of her usual nightmares. With a shiver, she sat there in the scant light, drawing the blanket up to her chin.

"Are you all right?" Hiccup asked softly, opening his eyes. "You kicked me," he added with a wry smile.

"Sorry." Skorn swallowed the tears that threatened to strangle her. "I just…"

Hiccup wrapped his arm around her shoulders, lending her his warmth. "It's okay. Another nightmare?"

Skorn nodded, breathing deeply. Her dreams were always vivid, and her nightmares even more so. She had been falling from the sky, a sky filled with death. Fire and ice swallowed the Viking troops without mercy. There was no escape. And at the center of the chaos stood Drago, with Hiccup's body under his feet and Toothless trapped once again by his alpha's powers. She had seen the Nightwishes fall flaming from the sky, only to be encased in ice. She had seen Cloudjumper dashed from the sky, Valka falling from his back. She had seen Eret falling along with her, saw Periss's dead body spiraling down above her. Hopelessness filled her, even though she knew it was only a nightmare. Could they really win? Valka's new Bewilderbeast was young and weaker than Drago's. He had beaten the dragons of Hraun once; Toothless and the Berkian dragons had only driven him away, not defeated him.

"Stop it." Hiccup's voice was firm in the darkness. "You'll worry yourself sick with what ifs."

Skorn realized with a start that she had spoken her doubts out loud. "Sorry, Hiccup," she said quietly, more in command of herself again. "I trust you, I promise. I just…"

"I know." Hiccup pressed a kiss to her temple. "C'mon, little girl. It's way past your bedtime."

Skorn chuckled, and allowed him to tug her back down. "Thanks, Hiccup."

"You're welcome." He tugged the blankets back up, and they both settled down to sleep again. The remainder of the night was both dreamless and nightmareless, thankfully.

"Good morning," Valka said cheerfully as Hiccup and Skorn clattered down the stairs. As they drew water to wash their faces, Skorn thought about her haunting nightmare. She hadn't realized quite so powerfully that she would do anything to save Berk. Seeing her friends and comrades falling from the sky, she had realized as she fell in that nightmare that if she could stop it, she would. Even if it cost her her life.

"I want to go home," she whispered, and Hiccup stilled beside her.

"Are you sure?" he asked. This was the first time she had uttered those words in seven years, but the meaning was clear; she was ready to return to her family home.

Skorn nodded. "They died protecting this village. I will do the same."

"Skorn—"

"I don't plan to die, Hiccup. But I understand now why they had to fight. Why they had to leave. Why they died. It will hurt, going home, but I won't break anymore." Skorn sighed and tugged a brush through her fiery hair. Valka's cool fingers gathered Skorn's hair into a ponytail, coiling the silky mass and pinning it into place with deft movements.

"We can go after breakfast," Valka said in her calm, assured voice. She secured the bun with one final pin before releasing Skorn. "Come. Did you talk to her, Hiccup?"

Hiccup nodded, adjusting his prosthetic. "We've reached a consensus. But I'll need to find Thornado."

"I'm sure he's around here somewhere," Valka reassured her son. "And you're recruiting the triplets, too, aren't you?"

"If I can," Hiccup answered as they left the house. "But I suppose, if Thornado comes back, Bing, Bang, and Boom will too."

"I hope they've learned better manners," Skorn murmured. As they passed by her family's home, she paused.

"After breakfast," Valka said gently. Skorn allowed herself to be steered towards the Great Hall, where the village cooks had begun to set out porridge, bread, and sausages for breakfast. Valkyrie, who had decided, along with the other Nightwish squad leaders, to sleep in Astrid's family home for the night, sat down at their table nursing a large mug of strong tea.

"Good morning," Dross said, ever cheerful. She put down a plate of sausages and potatoes in front of Valkyrie, with a bowl of porridge for herself. "Don't mind her, she's a bear in the morning, especially after getting so little sleep."

The fact that Valkyrie didn't even retort told them how awake she was. As Dross and Eira began discussing weapons training, Heidrun pulled out a book, full of sketches. As she leafed through to an empty page, Hiccup caught sight of faces, dragon and human.

"You draw?" he asked eagerly.

Heidrun looked up from her porridge. "Yes," she said with a cautious smile. "I've been making a roster of sorts, our people and their dragons." She showed them a sketch of Valkyrie and Blackthorn, then of the man Skorn recognized as Stump.

Valkyrie's sudden tension signaled Eret's arrival in the Great Hall. He settled at a table with a handful of other Vikings of a similar age, although he still remained detached from them. When he made no move to approach her, she relaxed slightly.

"You know, Ruffnut has set her cap for Eret," Astrid informed Valkyrie in a quiet voice. The Thorston twins had yet to make an appearance.

"So?" Valkyrie stabbed a potato. "He's not my betrothed."

"But you wear his ring."

Valkyrie froze, and Dross gave the twins an 'I told you so' look. Their jaws were tight, and their mouths thin lines. They made no comment as Valkyrie forced out, "That doesn't mean anything."

"Until you officially release him from your betrothal, you know, he still is technically your betrothed," Astrid continued. Skorn, sitting on the end of the table next to Hiccup, rolled her eyes. Both Valkyrie and Eret were so stubborn; she didn't think this conversation would get any farther than her conversation with Eret had. Sure she wouldn't miss anything, Skorn stood up and took her food to sit by Eret.

Valkyrie's sharp gaze tracked Skorn's path to Eret, and Astrid noted this fact. "Fine. I'll release him from our betrothal," Valkyrie hissed, her eyes fixed on Skorn, who had just plunked a mug of tea down in front of Eret.

"You might as well do it here," Astrid pressed. "You have witnesses, including a chief, although I suppose your father should really be here to witness it—"

"He's dead." Valkyrie's voice cracked as Dross smacked her forehead. She'd realized too late what would happen, who Astrid still assumed was alive.

The Berkians at the table froze. Hiccup was the first to recover. "I'm sorry, Valkyrie," he said quietly. "I know what it's like to lose a father."

Dross was very concerned as she saw her best friend retreat behind the cold walls that had protected her against loss before. "Thank you," Valkyrie said formally.

Astrid and Hiccup exchanged looks. Suddenly, Valkyrie wasn't interested in anything; her food, Eret, the other Vikings, or even the Terrible Terror that was stealing a kipper from Hiccup's unguarded plate. Hiccup hadn't reacted like this to Stoick's death, even though it had been at the hands of Hiccup's best friend, Toothless. He'd lashed out, but he'd quickly become the Hiccup he had always been, albeit a little sterner and a little more commanding. Underneath, the hurt still surfaced occasionally, but he handled it well.

"Do you need to talk about it?" Astrid offered.

"No, thank you." Valkyrie pushed her plate away and stood. "If it's all the same to you, I'm going for a flight."

"Val…" Dross half-stood.

"No company today, Dross." Valkyrie left, her back ramrod straight as she passed the table where Skorn and Eret were now deep in discussion about something.

Dross flopped back down on the bench. Eira patted her shoulder sympathetically while Heidrun glared daggers at her older brother across the hall.

"That worked out great," Hiccup declared sarcastically.

"Oh, hush." Astrid elbowed him. "I saw you walk in with Skorn today."

"You know she's like a little sister to me," Hiccup protested, a panicked look in his eyes. They'd talked about this, but every time she brought it up, he was worried that she'd changed her mind.

Astrid narrowed her eyes. "It's becoming a habit of yours."

"Next time, she'll sleep by the hearth, okay?" Hiccup's eyes were wide as he fished for a way to appease Astrid.

"You mean she slept in your bed?" That was Eira, who hadn't spoken more than a handful of words to the Berkians since she'd gotten there. Heidrun was more talkative. "I thought Astrid was your betrothed!"

"I am." Astrid continued to stare at Hiccup. "Well?"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell her she can't stay at my house anymore—"

"Hiccup, you idiot!" Astrid couldn't hold her laughter in anymore. "We've talked about this!"

The three girls from Hraun stared openly at them in confusion. "Somebody want to explain what's going on?" Dross queried as Hiccup sagged with relief.

"Astrid," he groaned, his hand over his eyes. "You know that freaks me out."

"That's why I do it," she teased, kissing him on the cheek. She turned to the other girls as Hiccup blushed. "Skorn was orphaned seven years ago. I don't know how it works in Hraun, but in Berk, if you're an orphan, the whole village becomes your family. You're welcome in any home, be it to sleep, eat, play, or do work. Her family had always been close to Hiccup's, so she spent more time with Stoick and Hiccup than anyone else. She's like a little sister to him."

"And you don't…mind?" Eira questioned, still staring at them.

Astrid shrugged. "She's slept in his bed for the better part of seven years. Besides, neither she nor Hiccup are like that. This one," she punched Hiccup in the arm, "is so afraid of girls that he avoids Ruffnut like the plague. And they're both too honorable to mess around when he's betrothed. Not that he would mess around to begin with. "

"So it doesn't bother you at all that an unmarried young woman is sharing your husband-to-be's bed?" Heidrun reiterated.

"If it were anyone other than Skorn, of course I would be worried," Astrid said seriously. "But it's Skorn. She is, for all intents and purposes, part of the Haddock clan. Stoick basically adopted her."

"You have a lot of trust," Dross said slowly. "I'm not sure I could stand it."

"Hiccup knows he's all mine, don't you?" Astrid looked at Hiccup.

"Of course," Hiccup said immediately. Astrid grinned and pulled him in for a kiss. Looking at the Hraunian girls, she added, "She's a child of Berk, which means she's family to all of us."

Dross shrugged. "It's your village and your decision. I'm not judging you for it."

Astrid grinned wryly. "Thanks. It might be unconventional to you, but it's just what we do."

The topic of conversation shifted to safer things, although Dross, Eira, and Heidrun still shot suspicious glares in Eret's direction. When Skorn tugged him to his feet, Dross put down her mug. "Please tell me you've made sure she knows everything that's going on with Valkyrie and Eret. I don't want her to get hurt in the crossfire if Valkyrie snaps again."

"She knows," Hiccup confirmed. "And she's trying to figure out a way to fix it."

"I don't think it can be fixed," Dross argued. "He hurt her too deeply."

"He hurt all of us," Eira hissed venomously, although it wasn't as full of hatred as before.

Hiccup pushed his plate away and slid out of the bench. "Right. I need to go and look for Thornado, and you two and my mom need to go in search of the Changewings. Pack a lunch, and plan to stay out there for a whole day if you have to. Heck, you can stay out there overnight if you need to."

Eira and Heidrun stood as well, quickly followed by Astrid and Dross. The twins left without a word, finding Valka and disappearing into the kitchens, presumably to find food for a packed lunch.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Astrid asked as Dross also drifted away to speak with a handful of Hraunians who had approached her.

Hiccup shrugged. "If you'd like. I know you wanted to practice more weapons with the Nightwish girls."

Astrid smiled. "You need to learn too, Chief," she pointed out. "That hammer of yours is all well and good, and you can handle a bow now, but you don't really have any bladed weapons that you can use—"

"I know, Astrid," Hiccup sighed. "Later, all right? Let me find Thornado first."

Astrid softened. "I'm just looking out for you, Hiccup."

Hiccup hugged her. "I know."

Skorn and Eret were hunting once again, primarily because Eret was still in a weird, half-depressed, half-angry mood. As they paused to eat lunch, Skorn broached the subject of his betrothal.

"Hiccup and Astrid have told Valkyrie that she needs to release you from your betrothal. You know what that means, right?"

"Of course," Eret said bitterly. "I've lost her completely."

"Not that, idiot," Skorn snapped. "Ruffnut will be after you like a Nadder after shiny objects."

"Oh." Eret groaned. "Will nothing stop that woman?"

Skorn held back a giggle at his dismay. "Well she did back off after Hiccup told her you were engaged, but if Valkyrie releases you from the betrothal, then there won't be any obstacles."

"So you're trying to convince me to convince Valkyrie that I didn't screw up big time?" Eret asked, derisive. He waved a turkey leg in the air. "Because that's worked out so great for me in the past!"

"Stop it," Skorn said sharply. "You know that she still has your ring, so all isn't lost."

"Fat lot of good it does if she doesn't even acknowledge my existence!" Eret snarled back.

"She was staring at us all through breakfast," Skorn said quietly. "She's jealous."

"Of what?" Eret gaped at her.

"Me, you idiot! She thinks that I'm like Ruffnut, trying to win you away from her!"

Eret stared at her. "You're ten years younger than me," he pointed out in a bewildered voice. "How could she—"

"There have been stranger matches," Skorn informed him. "But I swear to you that that's not what I've been doing."

"You're only sixteen!"

"She was sixteen when she became betrothed to you," Skorn pointed out. He shut his mouth with an audible click. "Anyway, my point is, she is jealous. She obviously still feels something for you, or she wouldn't care who you spent time with, but since she does, she still wants to have a claim on you. If you spend time with me, or with Ruffnut, or anyone else who's single, then she might get upset enough to do something stupid. Do you understand? You have to figure something out."

Eret was silent. "She and I aren't a couple anymore," he said at last. "She's made that clear."

"But she still wears your ring, doesn't she?" Skorn demanded, eyeing him. "If I'm right, she'll see any friendly interactions as something threatening. The more threatened she feels, the more likely it is that she'll actually do something. You need to be careful with who you spend time with, and what it will look like to her."

"I don't think she cares anymore," Eret protested. "You said she agreed to break off the betrothal. Would she do that if she still cared?" His voice was pained.

"I just wanted to warn you, about the consequences of spending time with me, and also about what will happen when Ruffnut hears you're single. Make of it what you will." She got up and began to walk back to Periss.

Eret stood as well. "Skorn, wait."

She turned back. "Yes?"

He seemed to struggle with the words. "Thank you. For trying to help."

She smiled. "That's what friends are for, right?" Turning away, she mounted Periss.

Friends. It was still a rather foreign concept. The people of Berk had accepted him, to be sure, but he hadn't really become friends with anyone. For six years he'd distanced himself from relationships of any kind, focusing on his desire to keep Valkyrie safe. Now he was friends with a girl ten years younger than him, who ordered him around and forced him to think about things. It was…different.

As Eira, Heidrun, and Valka approached the pride of Changewings, they remained as quiet as they could. First they would scout out who would be a good choice to approach. Then they would make a peace offering of fish. The Nightwishes, Cloudjumper, and Gruff remained behind a copse of trees in an attempt to prevent their scent from reaching the Changewings.

Heidrun identified the pride's lead female, a dragon with broad wings and a heavily scarred body. She was, at the moment, a bright, fiery red with yellow and orange markings. The pride's lead male was large and dark blue. With the pair identified, the three women retreated to fetch the fish and formulate their plan.

Heidrun, who was a slightly better hand than her sister with dragons, would approach alone, while the dragons, Eira, and Valka would stand by ready to rescue her in case the pride turned violent. Valka had some reserves about merely strolling into the pride; she knew dragons, and even though they might not be inherently vicious, Changewings were very, very dangerous.

The twins didn't say anything to each other as Heidrun picked up the basket of fish and walked into the clearing that the pride was resting in. The dragons' heads went up as she approached, spilling the basket of fish onto the ground. As the rest of the pride was distracted, she walked right up to the lead male, her hand palm up and out. He stared at her hand, and as she twisted her fingers, he lay down and submitted to her. Seeing their leader supplicate himself before this scale-less two-legger, the rest of the pride quickly followed suit. Heidrun laid a hand on the big male's nose and began quietly explaining the situation. The fire-female, whom Eira had privately dubbed Emberstar, growled softly, and Valka surged forward. Eira caught her by the arm and shook her head.

"She's got this," she whispered. They watched as Heidrun repeated the procedure with Emberstar, and the female allowed Heidrun to place her hand on her nose. Valka was shocked. Never had she seen someone tame a dragon so quickly.

"It's a gift," Eira answered when Valka questioned her. "It's in our blood. Dragons would do anything we ask of them." There was no hint of conceit in her voice, only sadness. "Even if it means their death."

Valka understood, then. The twins had gotten one or more dragons killed before, somehow, and had learned that their sway over the great beasts was so strong that the dragon would obey them no matter what. "Does it work on all dragons?"

"Domesticated ones, yes, although if their riders' interests are opposed to our own, it is difficult. It works best with wild dragons." Eira stood. "We can approach them now."

When the pride of Changewings landed in Berk, there was momentary uproar as the Vikings goggled at the pride—nineteen dragons in all. Hiccup had not yet returned, but Astrid was there to greet them. She, too, stared at the colorful beasts before turning her gaze to the twins and Valka.

"You brought them all?" she asked in disbelief.

Heidrun shrugged. "They didn't want to be separated. They're a family unit," she added. "It's like asking you to leave Stormfly behind while you fight."

"Point taken." Astrid examined them. "Are they safe to stay with the other dragons?"

"We need to get them riders," Heidrun said, shaking her head. "That first, then we can work out the details. The faster they bond with their riders, the better off we'll be."

"I don't have nineteen warriors without dragons!" Astrid exclaimed, exasperated. "Anyone who doesn't have a dragon isn't going to come with us and fight."

Dross pushed her way through the crowd. She laid a hand against Emberstar's neck; the dragon made an odd purring noise and leaned into her touch. "You don't have to have only one dragon," she said quietly. "As long as you can give them the attention and care they need, they won't mind sharing you."

"They don't need a rider to fight, not these," Eira continued. "They already know how to fight together. We can explain to them what we want them to do; the rest is up to them."

Astrid sighed, rubbing her temples. "So what you're saying is, they just need someone to come to for orders?"

"Ideally, I would like to release them back into the wild," Heidrun explained. "Changewings don't do well in captivity, because they're expected to leave the pride, and they're small enough that you'll be hard pressed to find riders for all of them. But you don't want to have to care for twenty dragons all by yourself, so you want to have each of them to have a caretaker while they're here. Someone to clean wounds, train them, and so on. They fly as a pride, which is unlike any of the other dragons you've got. I'm not actually asking for riders, more for people who will make them comfortable while they fight with us."

"If you want, our squads can take them," Eira offered. "Then you don't have to worry about them. They will hunt on their own, anyway, so food isn't going to be a problem. And between Heidrun and I, we have nineteen people."

"That will work," Astrid agreed. "Thank you. I wish Hiccup was here."

"As the chief's wife, you'll need to get used to it," Dross teased. "Where is he? Still looking for the Thunderdrums?"

Astrid nodded. "It might take him a while, since they hunt out at sea as well as on land."

"Well, we'll go and settle this lot in, then," Heidrun said. She led the Changewings away, while Eira and Dross followed.

"Have you ever seen the like?" Valka stood by Astrid. She looked at the younger woman. "Heidrun tamed the whole pride by taming the lead male, and that wasn't even difficult for her. They have a way with dragons that even I don't have."

"They were born to it," Astrid pointed out. "From what I understand, their whole family has been dragon tamers and trainers for generations."

The boom of a Thunderdrum interrupted them. "Hiccup's back!"

Four Thunderdrums landed where the Changewings had stood previously. The triplets were fully grown now, displaying sharp, needlelike teeth as they grinned. Thornado stood calmly, and when Boom accidentally let out a sonic burst, he growled at the younger dragon.

"They're still a little bit wild, but that's to be expected," Hiccup said as he climbed down from Toothless's back. "Thornado's agreed to carry Eret in Skorn's squad, which means that Skullcrusher needs an assignment. Thornado and the triplets will be with Skorn."

"Make a heavy team with Gronkles, Hotburples, Skullcrusher, and Snafflefangs," Astrid suggested. "They're heavily armored and have strong attacks. They might not be the fastest team, but they will be hard to beat into submission."

"This is a good plan," Valka agreed. "Hiccup?"

"Where should we place Gruff?" Hiccup asked. "I don't think he'll want to stay behind, and he has an extremely high shot count, but…"

"You're worried that he could get in the way," Valka said gently. "You're right, you probably don't want him in a fighting team. But I still think we should bring him. He might not be able to counter Drago's Bewilderbeast completely, but he can at least make things a little harder for him, as can the Kirin."

Skorn and Eret brought their haul to the kitchens, like the day before. Those who saw them noted how much less rigid the ex-trapper was with the child of Berk. He ruffled her hair, which had come loose from its bun, and dodged the retaliatory slap.

"Skorn." Their playful exchange was interrupted by Hiccup. Without a word, he held up a key.

Skorn gulped. Eret saw her discomfort. "What's wrong, Skorn?" The least he could do was support her the way she had supported him in his fits of self-loathing and depression.

"I'm going home," she whispered. Hiccup wrapped an arm around her and guided her towards a large house that was out of place among the dragon-decorated buildings of Berk. It was drab and bare of ornamentation and paint. Part of the roof was newer than the rest, as was half of the upper floor. Eret followed, confused until he realized that what she meant was she was returning to her family home.

Hiccup handed the key to her, and with trembling fingers, Skorn unlocked the door. Slowly, she pushed it open. The long-unused hinges groaned in protest as human breath stirred the quiet air inside for the first time in seven years. As she stepped inside, years of dust silenced her footsteps and drifted up to give the scene an eerie feel of smoke and shadows.

Skorn let out a shaky breath, clutching at Hiccup's hand. He squeezed her hand reassuringly. Memories flooded her mind. Too much. With a ragged gasp, she turned and raced outside, collapsing to her knees just beyond the steps that led to the door.

Hiccup pushed Eret aside as he went after her. "Skorn?"

"I'll be fine," she gasped, covering her face with her hands. Telltale tears still slipped down her face. "Just…just give me a moment."

Hiccup turned to Eret. "Say nothing," he warned. "I haven't seen her break down like this in years."

Eret gave Hiccup a look that said, 'Do you really think I'm that stupid?' Hiccup turned back to Skorn, kneeling next to her and rubbing her back with soothing circles. After what seemed like an eternity, Skorn gulped down her sobs and wiped her face. With Hiccup's support, she stood shakily, turning to look again at the house. Her house. Her home.

Her eyes landed on Eret. He offered her a hand, and she took it. Holding their hands, she felt stronger. More composed now, she led the way up the stairs and back inside. Looking around, she released their hands and moved towards a window.

"We need to open the shutters," she said over her shoulder, slowly regaining her composure. Throwing open the shutters, she took a deep breath of the outside air before moving to the next one. As the men opened the other windows in the main room, a shadow blocked the door.

"Is this a private party, or can anyone join in?" It was Astrid, with Valka, Eira, Heidrun, Dross, Phlegma, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs in tow. The newcomers joined in the cleaning, opening shutters, cleaning away cobwebs, sweeping and mopping floors, and even cleaning out the chimney. When they reached the upper floor, Eret and Hiccup were right beside her as she opened the doors to her bedroom, her parents' bedroom, and her mother's workroom. Effie Hunterfell had been a sought-after seamstress prior to her death.

Skorn surveyed the rooms in silence. After a while, as Astrid came up behind her, she said though tight lips, "None of the linens or furs can be kept. I'll need to throw them out and make new ones."

"Do you think we won't help?" Phlegma asked, examining several bottles from one of the cupboards. She lowered them and turned to Skorn. "You're still a child of Berk, whether or not you have a house. You will always be welcome in my home."

"Ours, too," Hiccup added.

"The Hofferson house has always been glad to have you," Astrid said to Skorn, hugging the younger girl. "Now, let's get this place cleaned up."

The bed linens, rugs, and fabric in the workroom were taken outside to be burned or salvaged as much as possible. With the shutters to every window open, the older women of the village arrived and shooed the menfolk outside, stating that men could never clean anything anyway. Skorn was shown how to clean the house from top to bottom, every nook and cranny. Once everything was clean to the women's satisfaction, they asked Skorn what she wanted to do with all of the furniture. With only one person living in the house, did she want to keep her parents' bed? What about the crib in the attic?

Skorn kept her parents' bed. The chests were examined and their contents sorted through before being rearranged in a corner; the desk remained where it was. New pallets were brought in to replace the musty, moldy ones that had lain untouched for seven years in the two bedrooms. Her mother's workroom was left mostly intact, although Skorn intended to use it as a study rather than for sewing. Someone brought a weapons rack in and affixed it to the wall in Skorn's room while she wasn't looking.

By the time supper was laid out in the Great Hall, the Hunterfell house was in a livable condition once again. Although Astrid's mother complained that it was heartlessly bare—Skorn had burned or given away almost all of the trinkets and other belongings inside, stating that she wanted to start completely over—it was hers, and hers alone. The women brushed off her thanks as they guided her to the Great Hall, where she was given a plate of hot food and a flagon of watered-down ale. Hiccup and Astrid sat next to and across from her at her chosen table, which was on the outskirts of the babble, but still close enough that she felt a part of the atmosphere.

"How are you feeling?" Astrid asked as Eret sat down on Skorn's other side.

Skorn took a moment to examine her feelings. "I think…I think it will do me good. To be able to say I have a house again. It hurts, but…I…I'm glad. I think."

"You'll be fine." That was Eret, in a surprisingly warm voice. "You're too stubborn to be anything but."

"Hey!" Skorn couldn't help but giggle, and the four of them dissolved into laughter.

Valkyrie slammed her drink down on the table, glaring daggers across the room at the laughing quartet. Her flight with Blackthorn had done little to assuage her grief, and Dross, Eira, and Heidrun were being very careful not to upset her further. Of course, there was nothing they could do about what was making her angry now.

"Val, calm down," Dross urged, placing a hand on Valkyrie's shoulder. "I thought you were going to end the betrothal, officially."

"I can't take the damned ring off my finger, okay?" Valkyrie snapped at her second-in-command. "Every time I try, I just…can't. It's so weak!"

"Not weak." Eira rested honey-colored eyes on her leader. "Love is nothing to be ashamed of."

"I don't love him anymore!" Valkyrie seethed. "I hate him! I hate him, I hate him, I hate him!"

"And that's all right. You can hate him," Eira continued. "But you can love him at the same time. Heidrun and I still love him for who he was, but we hate him for what he did. These past few days…he is not what we thought he was. He has changed, perhaps for the better, or perhaps for the worst, but he is not as heartless as we believed." It had taken the twins a long time to begrudgingly admit that their older brother might not be so terrible as they had believed. Just that morning, they had still hated him. But the trust the people of Berk had in him, that Hiccup had in him, was evident; the fact that the dragons of Berk did not revile him was also a deciding factor in their change of heart. They had met Skullcrusher that afternoon, and understood his character. He would not allow a man who didn't care for dragons to ride him.

"How can you forget what he did to us?" Valkyrie demanded.

"We don't," Heidrun said gently. "We haven't forgotten. We will never forget. But you said it yourself; he will be punished for the rest of his life by his own conscience."

"You…you changed your minds so quickly," Valkyrie breathed. "I thought you were on my side."

"We are. You can't continue like this, Valkyrie." The twins spoke in unison, an eerie but not unusual sight.

"You will destroy yourself if you refuse to change something," Heidrun said. "Give him up completely, or make amends." Skorn's return to her house had also made them realize that one had to let go of the past and make your peace with it. It might have taken Skorn years to do so, but they had seen its effect on her. They wanted Valkyrie to heal, too, with or without Eret. But something had to be decided.

"We're not saying you have to marry him. But if you can't release your feelings for him, good or bad, then you must find a way to bear his presence again," Eira continued. "You need not even be friends with him. We won't judge you for that. All you need to do is to be able to move beyond your anger."

As they finished their meal in awkward silence, Valkyrie thought their words over. The twins, besides herself, had been the most vocal of Eret's denouncers, had hated him the most for his betrayal. Yet they had changed their minds in a matter of days. They might not be ready to take him back as family, but they had decided that perhaps what he had done was truly in the past. Had not left lingering traces of evil in him.

Her gaze snapped back to that far table as Skorn and Eret rose. She scowled as she watched them leave together, something similar to bile rising in her throat. Pushing her plate away, she stood up. "Good night," she said shortly, leaving the Great Hall. The girls let her go, afraid of pushing her too far.

"So. You can sleep in my parents' old room, from now until whenever," Skorn said briskly. "I figure it's better than imposing on other peoples' generosity." Eret had been staying with whatever families had been able to make room for him. There hadn't been time to build him a house yet, not with all the other families needing houses and repairs to be done.

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"You'll notice that Valkyrie hasn't ended your betrothal yet."

"You go for the throat, don't you?"

Skorn smiled innocently at him as she unlocked the door. "If I didn't, who would? Oh, and by the way, you'll be riding Thornado as of tomorrow, not Skullcrusher."

"Who is Thornado and why am I riding him and not Skullcrusher?" Eret queried as Skorn led the way to the bathing room.

"Because Skullcrusher won't be fast enough to keep up with the other dragons in our squad," Skorn answered, filling a pot with water from the newly repaired well and hanging it in the fireplace. "Where did my fire starter go?" A chirp from a curious Terror drew her attention. "You'll do. Light the fire, please, there's a good boy."

As the Terror fed flames into the fireplace, Skorn looked up at Eret. "Thornado is a Thunderdrum. He was Stoick's first dragon, but Stoick released him into the wild so that Thornado could raise the three hoodlums known as Bing, Bang, and Boom. You'll likely meet them tomorrow. The fact that the village is still standing means they've calmed down, at least. Right. Here's soap, towels, and you know where the water is. I'm going to go to Phlegma's and get your things. I'll leave them outside the door here. When you're done, come upstairs and let me know."

Skorn left, closing the door gently behind her, leaving Eret alone with the Terrible Terror and jumbled thoughts. Why did they think that Stoick's first dragon would accept him? Had it been explained to the Thunderdrum that Stoick was dead? Shaking his head, Eret stripped off his clothes and used the warm water to wash himself, setting another pot over the fire. As he dried himself off, he heard a thump outside of the door, and assumed that it was his things. Wrapping himself in a towel, he peeked out and saw his things in a large sack by the doorframe. Quickly, he pulled out a loincloth and a nightshirt and put them on. As he left the bathing room he saw Periss curled up in the center of the main room. She eyed him sleepily, but decided that he wasn't worth moving for and went back to sleep.

"Skorn? Your turn!" he called as he reached the top of the stairs. The door to his right opened, revealing Skorn's signature fire-colored hair.

"You can sleep in that room," she said, pointing to the door straight ahead of him. "There's candles on the table."

She disappeared downstairs, leaving him to explore his new room cautiously. The chests were empty, as was the weapons rack hanging on one wall. The shelves, too, were conspicuously bare, although a handful of books stood bravely on a shelf at eye level, including a copy of The Book of Dragons and Herb Lore. Hesitantly, he placed his meager collection of clothes and belongings in one of the chests and slid into bed.

A scream had him out of bed and groping blindly for a weapon in the middle of the night. Gathering himself, he lit a candle with a match and hurried to the door, sword in hand. Muffled sobs could be heard coming from Skorn's room. Lowering his sword, he knocked on the door. "Skorn?" he asked hesitantly. "Are you all right?" He opened the door slowly.

Skorn looked up, alarmed. "Oh. It's you," she sighed, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Is…everything all right?"

Gulping down still more sobs, Skorn nodded. "I just…had a bad dream," she whispered. "And then I woke up in an unfamiliar place…" It had been the dream with fire and ice and death, only this time, it wasn't just the people that were preparing to fight. The falling faces had included her mother, her father, Hana. She was powerless to help them, could do nothing as the dragons tore them apart and scattered their ashes with their wingbeats. She knew that they were already dead, but to see them again and not be able to save them again…

Awkwardly, Eret sat on the edge of her bed and patted her back. He had forgotten what it was like, to comfort someone. "Do you want to talk about it?" he offered limply.

Even in her choked up state, Skorn managed to bark out a laugh. "You're hopeless at offering comfort," she informed him. "Thank you, but no. It will only make it seem more real. You should go back to bed. I'll be fine."

"If you're sure," he said slowly.

"Go, idiot." Skorn raked her hands through her hair. As her door clicked shut and enveloped her in darkness again, Skorn lay back down, clutching the blanket like it was a lifeline. She wished, suddenly, that she had slept at Hiccup's house again. He had always been able to make the nightmares go away. Besides, no one else had let her use their warmth to guard against nightmares in her sleep. No one else was as close to family as Hiccup and Stoick had been. With a disgusted growl, Skorn threw off the blankets and shoved her boots on. Pulling a cloak around herself, she padded quietly downstairs, passing Periss in the main room and opening the door, which was silent on freshly oiled hinges. Taking a deep breath of the cold night air, she sat on the steps, letting the freezing rain wash away the tension from her nightmare.

After an hour or so, Skorn retreated inside, wringing out her wet clothes and starting a fire in the main room. She sat there, staring into the flames, for another two hours, afraid to fall back asleep in case the nightmare returned. Eventually, she nodded off, curled up tight in front of the dying fire. That was how Eret found her the next morning. For a panicked moment, he thought she had died or passed out or something, but when he touched her shoulder, she rocketed to her feet, her breath coming harsh and fast.

After a brief moment, she dropped her hands and sighed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"Why weren't you in your bed?" he asked, prodding the fire. It was cold; the rain and hail had returned, which would surely make the Nightwishes unhappy. He threw another log into the fireplace.

"Couldn't sleep," Skorn answered, shivering in her thin nightdress. The cloak and boots protected her a little from the cold, but sleeping on the cold floor had made her bones ache. Being wet probably hadn't helped either. Periss nudged her with her nose. "Go on out, girl," Skorn urged. She knew the dragon wanted to hunt, and bask in the electrical energy of the storm. Periss left via the recently installed 'dragon door' at the back of the house, which was, in essence, a whole wall that hinged along the top, allowing the dragon to leave the house without requiring human assistance. A mechanism on the outside allowed the dragon to crank the chains that would lift the wall up and out for the dragon to return.

Eret continued feeding the fire until Skorn stopped shivering. "You should go wash and get dressed," he said, once her muscles relaxed. "It's dawn."

Skorn looked around at the familiar yet unfamiliar surroundings. With a sigh, she headed upstairs.

Eret found the icebox and dug out several sausages, as well as a loaf of day-old bread on a shelf next to the fire. The women had evidently had a hand in setting up Skorn's new home. Skewering the sausages, he patiently cooked them as Skorn came back down the stairs, now wearing proper clothes. Her hair was still loose; she was tugging a brush through the snarled locks as she clutched the pins for her bun in her mouth. Her face was pale, and her eyes betrayed the fact that she had barely slept.

"Dat shmells good," she mumbled through her mouthful of pins. She winced as she came across a particularly tangled knot, dropping pins as she yelped. With a sigh, Eret left the sausages propped on the cooking rack and pulled the brush out of Skorn's hand.

"Start at the bottom. It hurts less." As he helped her to brush her hair, Skorn tried to turn and face him. "Stop. Stay still." He remembered helping Eira and Heidrun brush their hair. They were only four years younger than him, but even that age gap was enough that he had to help them as they fumbled with long hair and wind-whipped knots.

He didn't pin it up the way that Skorn liked; instead, he braided her hair into a long, fire-colored rope. Fumbling in a pocket, he found a spare tie and used it to secure the end. "There."

Skorn had spat out her mouthful of pins. "That's not a bun."

"No, it isn't. Don't bite me for it." Eret handed her the brush and returned to cooking the sausages. "Here, start toasting the bread."

Slowly, Skorn dropped the pins on the table and picked up the knife to slice part of the loaf. That done, she found the toasting fork and began toasting a slice of bread. "There's butter in the icebox, too," she mumbled, recalling Phlegma's directions the day before. Eat the things in the icebox before they go bad. You'll need to change the ice every three or so days if it's hot. You can wait a little longer if it's cold.

After sliding two sausages onto a plate, Eret dug in the icebox for the crock of butter. Using the butter knife he found in a basket on the same set of shelves that he had found the bread, he began buttering the slices of toast that Skorn handed to him. She seemed more fragile this morning than she ever had in his presence, more like a lost little girl than the bossy, sarcastic, it's-for-your-own-good teenager that he had come to expect from her. Especially with her hair not in a bun, like it was now. Usually it was all held back tightly, but today a few wisps had escaped her braid and framed her face.

They ate breakfast in silence, although it wasn't as awkward as previous silences had been. Eret seemed to have accepted her offer of friendship, and she was too glad to not be alone in the aftermath of her nightmares. Skorn opened the front door to peer outside, getting a face full of cold rain as a reward.

"It's wet out there," she said, closing the door. "But we'll still be training. Or maybe not. We might be building things today."

"Well, let's go out and brave the elements, then," Eret groused, banking the fire. They put on their boots and wrapped themselves in their cloaks, drawing them tight and pulling up their hoods before they stepped outside and made their way to the Great Hall, where Hiccup was holding court at the high table.

"I don't want to exhaust the dragons," he was saying. "We have to take a break."

The rumbling of the gathered Vikings was ominous.

"They can't practice well if they're tired," Hiccup pointed out. "Better that they rest, recuperate, and let us get other things done. We'll need weapons, saddles, and armor, for starters. The wind a flying dragon can generate is very painful at high speeds." Riders of the Nightwishes, Typhoomerangs, Lights, Kamikazes, and Oleanders nodded vigorously in agreement. Those from Hraun had brought their flying gear, but the people of Berk had had little reason to fly so fast, except in races, which never pushed them to their highest speeds. And the Hraunian gear was in dire need of repair after years of disuse. "Moreover, I want to build proper traps that we can practice with. Rope and wood are all good and well if we're just pretending, but when we're up against Drago, we have to know exactly what we need to do to free our dragons, which means practicing with exact replicas of his traps." Heads swiveled to look at Eret. "Eret, I'll need you and Gobber to work on making plans for the traps that Drago uses."

He named other people and assigned them jobs; fishermen and their families were to supply as much rope as Eret and Gobber would need for the net cannons; hunters were sent out to hunt for both food and hides for leather; Gronkle riders and their dragons were set to making Gronkle iron for weapons. A small division of the village women steadfastly refused to do anything but make Skorn a proper wardrobe of clothes now that she had a place to put them; Hiccup agreed, and then remembered that they would need bandages, creams, potions, and ointments for the injured. Phlegma gathered up her students and directed two teams of two out into the hills to look for the herbs she needed.

Oiled coats, pants, and cloaks were produced for those going out into the wet. Skorn, currently dragonless, went to the smithy and offered to help fit dragons who needed one for saddles. As Eret, Gobber, and Hiccup sketched diagrams and shaped metal, Skorn handled the dragons that needed fitting gently, with bribes of fish and petting. Hiccup wanted all the dragons' saddles to be readjusted or replaced to make sure they were as safe and secure as possible for dragon and rider, with hooks, straps, or cups to hold weapons and other supplies. That meant that every dragon came through the smithy at some point in the day.

Once Hiccup had showed Skorn his original designs for the saddles, which varied by breed, she made some suggestions of her own. It took them an hour or so to decide on a final design for each breed's saddle, and each saddle would be further customized to suit the dragon's role in the upcoming battle, as well as their rider's weapons. Stormfly's saddle, for example, had straps for Astrid's axe. Phlegma's team needed places to store their healing kits; large pockets at the back of the saddle did the job.

As those who prepared for battle trickled through the smithy, they forgot to treat Eret with caution. Once Gobber had gotten a good grasp of the pieces he needed for the traps, he had shooed Eret away so that he and Hiccup might work in peace, which meant that Eret spent his time helping Skorn measure, record, and calculate. Even the Hraunians came for fittings, since most of their saddles were old and in bad condition; they dealt with Skorn fairly easily, although they still treated Eret with cold anger. Once they saw how gentle he was with their dragons, though, a tiny bit of their scorn dissipated.

It was Gobber who called a halt for lunch in the smithy. The rain had abated somewhat, which made their dash to the Great Hall less wet, although they were still spattered with mud when they entered. With everyone busy doing work, the cooks had laid out bread, smoked meats, and other things that could sit for a while without spoiling or needing to be reheated. There were a handful of others present, eating quickly and hungrily.

The Nightwish riders had been recruited to fish, since the sheer number of dragons Berk currently supported consumed too many fish for the fishermen to keep up with. Live fish were hauled from the open sea into a lagoon that the young Bewilderbeast had created specifically for the purpose of holding food for the dragons. It was large, and nets placed around the wall below the surface allowed water, but not fish, to move in and out. Although the Nightwishes did not like the cold, they understood the need to feed their comrades, and did their duty, if not happily, at least thoroughly. Right now, a group of soggy Hraunian women—Dross's squad, Skorn remembered—sat by the fire, attempting to dry out.

"How goes it?" Hiccup asked them as he approached.

"Wet," Dross commented wryly. "What with the ocean and the storm, we're well and truly soaked."

Solo, the youngest Nightwish rider and Skorn's year-mate, added, "There's plenty of fish in that lagoon, but if the storm doesn't let up for a few days, it won't be enough."

"Eira's squad is out there now," Tiff, the oldest, added. "Heidrun's lot are running drills—"

"In the rain," someone else—Oress?—interjected.

"Thank you for your input, Nyss," Tiff snapped. Not Oress. "As if they could be flying drills anywhere else."

"And Valkyrie's squad?" Hiccup asked.

Dross pinched the bridge of her nose. "Looking for her."

"What?" Hiccup's voice rose in volume. "What do you mean, looking for her?" Gobber, Eret, and Skorn approached, having finished their meals and curious about what had made Hiccup so upset.

The women of Dross's squad traded grim glances. "She wasn't here this morning when we mustered," Dross growled. "At first I thought she just overslept. But she wasn't in bed, either. Her squad's been looking for her and Blackthorn for hours. Scrap came back about half an hour ago to tell us that they're still looking."

"Do you know why she disappeared?" Hiccup asked.

Fae shook her head. "We have no idea."

Skorn glanced at Eret. "No idea at all?" She suddenly had the foreboding feeling that it might have something to do with the fact that Eret had stayed at her house the night before. Valkyrie had already exhibited signs of jealousy and insecurity; she obviously still felt something for Eret, and thus would be unhappy if she thought that he truly had given up on her.

Dross followed Skorn's glance, and nodded slightly. So she was right.

"Tracker dragons," Gobber said, knocking Hiccup with his flagon hand. "Get 'em together. They're more likely to find her than anyone else."

"The Tackleshods will remember her scent," Dross said, standing up. "I'd considered sending them out for her, but they were busy memorizing the other dragons and their riders. That way, if they're trapped, the Tackleshods will know."

"All right," Hiccup said. "Astrid's in the training grounds. Let's get all the Nadders we have together. Eret, find Skullcrusher, please. Dross, your Tackleshods, please. And if you can find something of Valkyrie's for the Nadders and Skullcrusher, that would be great."

The rain showed no sign of letting up, which meant that Valkyrie's trail would be hard to pick up. Riders of the Tracker class dragons suited up in oiled pants, coats, and cloaks as they packed food, water, emergency healing kits, fire starters, and weapons into saddlebags or packs. Thirty seven Nightwish riders gathered in the Great Hall, some dripping water as they discussed where Valkyrie might have gone, and why. Dross approached Skorn.

"Do you know something that I don't?" she asked the younger girl quietly, pulling her into a corner. "I know you suspect that it has something to do with Eret, but nothing I've seen would have made her take off like that."

Skorn sighed and fingered her braid. Dross realized with a start that it was the same braid that Heidrun used. The one that her brother Eret had taught her. As Skorn opened her mouth to speak, Dross cut her off.

"You…and Eret?" she asked, badly confused. Was that why Valkyrie had disappeared?

After a moment of shock and confusion, Skorn shook her head hurriedly. "No, no, no!" she said quickly. "Not like that!"

"Then enlighten me."

"I just invited him to stay at my house rather than bouncing around like an orphan," Skorn explained. "He stayed in my…my parents' room," she added, struggling with the words. "Their old room. He helped me with my hair this morning, because it was all tangled."

Dross relaxed. "Oh." Then she tensed up again, and swore. "Did anybody see you two leave together? Or go into your house together? Or leave your house this morning?"

Skorn blinked. "Does it ma—oh. Oh dear."

Dross nodded. "She would assume the worst. Not that she ought to."

"She has every right to him," Skorn countered fiercely. "She just won't admit it."

"Don't you think I know that?" Dross snapped. "But she still hasn't forgiven him, so she shouldn't claim him."

"Doesn't matter. She did, and now she's run off," Skorn growled. "We can sort this out later."

Dross nodded, her mouth grim. "You're right. You come to me as soon as she is found, all right? Better get this explained as soon as possible."

"I should tell Eret." Skorn blanched. "He's in the search party. Do you think—"

"She'll lash out at him?" Dross's grey eyes were bleak. "Yes. He's a big boy, Skorn. Let him deal with it."

"What if she kills him?!" Skorn's eyes searched for Eret in the Great Hall. He met her gaze across the room, and her panic transmitted to him through that look. Forcing his way through the crowd, he reached them just as Dross responded.

"She won't. She gave her word as chieftainess of Hraun that we would take no satisfaction from him for his crimes."

"This is something new," Skorn insisted. "His crimes against Hraun don't include me, or anything else that has happened in Berk!"

"What's going on? Are you all right?" Eret put a hand on Skorn's shoulder, and she brushed it off.

"Don't touch me. You'll make it worse."

"Make what worse?" Eret turned wide eyes to Dross. "What's going on?"

"We think that Valkyrie saw you and Skorn together, and assumed that…" Dross trailed off.

"What?" Eret's incredulity was evident.

"I told you," Skorn groused. "I warned you that this would happen."

"I didn't think she'd believe I would—!"

"Why? Because you haven't given her any reasons to doubt you—" Dross's voice was harsh.

"This is different!" Eret all but roared, drawing the eye of everyone in the Great Hall.

"This isn't the place for this discussion," Dross said. "We need to talk. In private."

"Let's go to my house," Skorn offered, drawing up her hood.

"Wait, I have to help—"

"You need to realize that she might hurt you for your supposed relationship with Skorn," Dross interrupted. "Skorn, lead the way."

After a quick word with Hiccup, Eira, and Heidrun, saying that Eret would be back to help search soon, Skorn, Dross, and Eret splashed their way to Skorn's house. Skorn lit the fire as the others hung up their cloaks. Ignoring the puddles on the floor, Dross turned to Eret.

"I'll lay it out plainly for you; Valkyrie still feels something for you. She still wears your ring. You sneaking around with Skorn—"

"We weren't sneaking around!" Eret declared, outraged and affronted. "She's ten years younger than me! No offense, Skorn."

"Nevertheless, that's what she would think. She's not in her right mind, Eret. Her father died, you came back from the dead, and you apparently aren't the bastard we all thought you were. Can you forgive her for being out of sorts and not thinking straight? I know Skorn's ten years younger than you, but there have been stranger matches, and you two are awfully chummy—"

Eret sputtered. "I—we're not—what are you talking about, Dross?"

"I don't care what your relationship with Skorn is right now. What I care about is that Valkyrie still thinks there's a chance for you and her."

"She's made it abundantly clear that she doesn't want a future with me." Eret scowled. "Why should my friendship with Skorn mean anything to her?"

"Are you sure it's just friendship?"

"Of course!" Eret and Skorn burst out at the same time.

"I even told him that this could happen if he spent time with me, or any other unattached female, for that matter," Skorn said fiercely. "And I would never touch a man who was spoken for! For Odin's sake, Dross, I sleep in Hiccup's bed without it meaning anything more than friendship. Give me the benefit of the doubt!"

"She doesn't know that," Dross reminded her. "I didn't mean to imply that you would, but I had to know. I'm afraid that she's on a self-destructive path. She was always volatile after Eret left, but this…I'm scared she'll do something she'll regret."

"So what do you propose?" Skorn queried.

Dross sighed. "I think you should stay away from Eret, for one thing."

"That's not going to solve anything," Skorn pointed out.

"It's only temporary. At least until I can explain to Val what's really going on." Dross pinched the bridged of her nose and breathed deeply. "Which means you shouldn't go with Eret like I think you're planning to."

"I'm the one that caused the problem, so I should be the one to fix it," Skorn insisted. "Besides, this big idiot would just let her hurt him if she attacked him."

"Hey!" Eret protested. "I'm not—"

"You are many things, Eret Son of Eret," Dross said grimly. "Idiot is one of them. At least, some of the time. Hades and I will come with you. That way you have a chance of escaping this with your skin intact."

After a pause, Eret said quietly, "I don't get it. Why are you protecting me? I've hurt you, your best friend. I betrayed you all."

Dross studied him, her arms folded across her chest. "Your sisters said something very interesting the other day. They said that you have changed, perhaps for the better or perhaps for the worst. But they are on the path of forgiveness. They said that you are not as bad as we had believed. They also said that if something doesn't change, we're going to lose Valkyrie. And I think they're right."

"We have to find her," Skorn insisted. "Before she does something drastic."

"You stay here," Eret turned to her. "You're not risking your skin for me!"

Skorn raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think you can stop me? That's what friends are for."

Dross watched their exchange. It was clear that there was something between the two of them, but it wasn't romance. Their conversation echoed many arguments she'd had with Valkyrie over the years. That's what friends are for.

"Let's go," she said, pulling her cloak on again. The three stepped back into the pouring rain, just in time to join the search party. Hades, although he was not happy about the weather, stood waiting for his rider, while Skullcrusher sniffed at the now damp clothes that the girls had found.

"He has the scent!" Eret said, climbing into the saddle. "Skorn—"

"Shut up and give me a hand," she growled, climbing up behind him. "Periss isn't here yet, and we don't have time to wait for her."

"But—" Eret didn't have time to protest as the Nightwishes surged into the sky, followed by the Tracker dragons. Skullcrusher made his way to the front of a party, his powerful sense of smell leading him. The Tackleshods led the other parties, making five in all. It was testimony to the Rumblehorn's uncanny sense of smell that the Tackleshods soon followed his path, leading northwest from Berk, towards an uninhabited, unforgiving island.

A screech split the air, and weapons found their way into hands. Lighting crackled, and Skorn sighed in relief.

"Periss!" She slid from Skullcrusher's back, dropping sharply through the air until she landed on a hard, scaly back. "Now we're talking!" Adjusting herself to sit astride the Skrill's neck, Skorn clutched the spines in Periss's frill as the dragon soared up to join Skullcrusher's party.

"Don't do that!" Eret scolded her.

"You can berate me later," she yelled back. Her hair crackled from the electrical energy Periss had harvested from the storm. Although every party had weapons and at least two fighters, the security of a Skrill combined with a storm gave the search party a deeper sense of security. The dragons in the area might have been released from the Red Death's presence, but that didn't mean they were all friendly.

As Skullcrusher honed in to a very specific cliff, Eret became increasingly nervous. Skorn angled Periss as close to him as possible.

"Stop fretting!" she called over the wind and the rain. "You'll be fine."

Eret's frown told her he didn't believe her, but it was too late to talk. They made out the shape of Blackthorn on the cliff, curled around something with a wing extended. Valkyrie.

"Go home," she snapped when they landed. Her eyes landed on Eret. "Especially you!"

"You're drenched, and Blackthorn's irritated," Dross informed her leader. The Nightwish riders—Dross, Scrap, and Solo—wrapped their chieftainess in an oiled cloak. "We need to go back to Berk."

"I don't need to do anything," Valkyrie snapped.

"Ky, you can't sit out here in the—"

"Don't you tell me what to do!" Valkyrie snarled, leaping to her feet. She pointed an accusatory finger at him. "You obviously don't care about me, so why should I listen to you?"

"I—"

"It's not what you think," Skorn said, moving closer.

Valkyrie's gaze was venomous. "I thought that Berk taught honor to its children."

"I didn't sleep with him!" Skorn screamed, losing her temper. She marched right up to Valkyrie and prodded the older woman's chest with her finger. "If you think that I would stoop so low as to steal your man, you thought wrong! Eret is my friend, and only my friend! If you can't see past your anger and hurt and jealousy to see that he would die for you, then you're bloody blind."

Valkyrie spluttered. "I—What am I supposed to think when he went with you to your house? When you came out this morning with that braid?"

"What does my braid have to do with anything?" Skorn asked, drawing back in confusion.

"That's the one I did for Heidrun when she was little," Eret explained, putting a hand on her shoulder. Although he flinched when Valkyrie glared at it, he didn't move it. "Valkyrie, you have to trust me a little—"

"Look where trust got me last time!" Valkyrie burst out, tears welling up in her eyes. "Trust means nothing!"

"So you don't trust Dross? Eira? Heidrun? Blackthorn? Do you trust Hiccup, Astrid, or Valka? What about yourself?" Skorn challenged, putting her hands on her hips. "If you can't even stand the thought of him having female friends, maybe you need to rethink your decision to cut him out of your life."

"I haven't, don't you see?" Valkyrie growled. She held up her hand, showing them the ring. "I can't take the cursed thing off, all right? So stupid and naïve that I still can't let him go!"

"Then don't," Dross said softly, putting a hand on her friend's arm. "Don't let him go."

Valkyrie was about to answer when a Stike nearly crash landed by them.

"Berk's under attack!"

"What?" Skorn gasped in horror.

"We're not ready!" someone else cried.

Valkyrie's face was set. "Ready or not, the enemy is upon us," she declared, her voice strong. "Let's go. They need us. Those of you in a squad, get together. The rest of you, with me!"

Skorn found herself leading a fraction of her squad—Karlee and Eret—although Skullcrusher's speed limited them.

"Go!" Eret waved his hand at her. "Go, go! I'll catch up!"

"No! I need you to lead my team!" Skorn yelled. "We have a storm! Periss and I need to make the best of it!"

"Eret Son of Eret!" Dross's Hades dropped down to fly next to the Rumblehorn. "Do you trust me?"

"Why?" Eret asked warily. He yelled out in shock as Hades seized the Rumblehorn in strong foreclaws and sped ahead, freeing Skorn and Karlee to urge their dragons to their full speed.

"This is going to hurt," Skorn mumbled, pulling her scarf up to cover her lower face and squinting into the driving rain. When she saw Eret next, he was atop Thornado, with Bing, Bang, and Boom in tow. "Fall in!"

As they reached Berk, they drove a hammer into the enemy's rear; they hadn't been expecting an attack from behind. The other search parties slammed into the left and right sides, raising a cheer from the warriors of Berk and Hraun who had been fighting since the beginning. In the midst of it all, Skorn was vaguely aware of the huge Bewilderbeast who stood with his foreclaws on the cliff of Berk, blasting his ice into the air and immobilizing several dragons before the Nightwishes freed them. The young Bewilderbeast was there too, freeing dragons from the ice and freezing enemy soldiers with his icy breath.

"Eret, you're in charge!" Skorn called as Periss climbed high into the storm, which showed no signs of breaking up. Supercharged, the dragon bore down on the Screaming Death that was using its buzzsaw teeth to grab fighters from the air. As it opened its mouth to suck them in, Periss discharged an enormous amount of lightning, straight into its waiting jaws; the Screaming Death dissolved in a pile of ashes as Periss banked, taking out an enemy Nadder before coming face-to-face with another Skrill. Two of them, actually. Skorn swore. With the storm, they posed a real threat to her and Periss.

"Incoming!" Skorn turned to see Hiccup and his squad hurtling towards her. As Toothless discharged a plasma ball, Periss veered to the side.

"We're not going to be able to do them any harm," Skorn yelled to Hiccup. "They'll just suck it up!"

"Can you try and deflect their blows?" The speaker was broad-shouldered Nevan from Hraun, astride a Francesca's Legacy, which Skorn recognized from her meeting with Shira and Crystalspire, the Francesca's Legacy pair assigned to her team. "Fen and I need a clear shot, and she's not lightning-proof."

"You got it." Periss cut across the paths of the two Skrills, clawing at their faces. One blow struck home, causing the dragon to lose control over its lightning. It blasted its partner, a dark purple Skrill, with its next blast, distracting Purple long enough for Nevan's Legacy to hit him with an explosive blast of white fire. As they circled, Periss darted in to catch Purple's and Black's attacks with her wings, redirecting the energy and feeding off of their lightning. Seeing what she was doing, the two of them bore down on her, one from each side.

"Skorn!" A concussive blast of sound knocked Purple from the air; Eret and her squad had arrived. Crystalspire, the female Legacy in her team, joined forces with Nevan to bombard the enemy Skrills with explosive blasts of hydrogen, while the four Thunderdrums continued to knock them around. Bing and Boom cornered one between them and began alternating their attacks, shattering the bones in the Skrill's body; Black dropped from the air, his body broken by the sonic attacks. Karlee and Helfire slammed into Purple, driving her straight into Toothless's waiting blast.

"All right. Let's keep moving," Skorn shouted over the roar of battle. She rejoined her team, circling above the fight on the ground. "Periss, I think our little tin cans down there could use a bit of encouragement," she told her dragon, pointing to the armored attackers. Periss gladly blasted them with lightning as the squad blew past.

"There!" Skorn followed Eret's finger to see Drago standing on a tall shard of ice, his staff swirling as he controlled the Bewilderbeast, who in turn controlled his dragon army.

"Let's go." The squad peeled away from the main battle, circling around so that they would have a clear shot at Drago. "On my signal, blast him with everything you have!" Skorn commanded. "Three! Two! One! Now!"

As they swept within firing distance of Drago, six bolts of fire and four sonic blasts struck the man and the ice surrounding him. With a roar of fury, he went down, singed and burned, but still alive. The Nightwish-skin cloak had protected him. With a roar, the Bewilderbeast turned his attention to them, his pupils mere slits as he breathed ice in their direction.

A Nightwish squad flew by, and Skorn realized that all four of them were circling the Bewilderbeast, converging into one large company with Blackthorn at the head. They were headed straight into his blast.

"No!" With a shout, Eret nudged Thornado out of line, streaking towards the Nightwishes, but he couldn't keep up with them. He didn't need to, really. The Nightwishes moved as one unit, discharging their blasts of white-blue plasma into the Bewilderbeast's gaping maw and immediately shifting aside, barely outrunning his ice as the giant dragon groaned and collapsed. There was a moment of mayhem where the Nightwishes repeated their attack, coming from all different directions like a tornado of lightning and fury and death. And then it was over. The dragons enslaved by Drago stopped fighting, confused, although some immediately began attacking again, feeling threatened by the presence of so many armed and hostile dragons.

"No!" Drago's roar was clear as he hauled himself to his feet with his staff. "No! Fight, damn you, fight!" He roared at the Bewilderbeast, but it was too late.

Thornado landed behind him, and as Drago spun around, Eret dismounted, drawing his sword. "This is the end, Drago."

"You!" Drago was still a formidable opponent, even injured as he was. He struck at Eret with his bladed staff, slicing the ex-trapper's cheek as he dodged. "Deserter! Traitor!"

"Only I get to call him that." Valkyrie's commanding voice rang out from behind Drago as she stabbed her knife into his back, her face twisted with hate. "Now you know what it's like to have your dreams crushed before your very eyes."

"I'm not beaten yet!" Drago howled in pain and fury, batting her aside with his staff and standing over her. "I remember you now. Your mother. Stupid woman. Sacrificing herself so you all could live. Faugh!"

"My mother was not stupid!" Valkyrie screamed, rolling away from him. His staff came down, blade first.

Valkyrie flinched, bracing herself for the pain, but it never came. She looked up.

"Eret!" The ex-trapper kneeled above her, holding off Drago's staff with his sword. His arms trembled with the effort.

"Go, Ky," he hissed through clenched teeth. "GO!"

"Not without you!"

"How sweet," Drago grunted, kicking Eret in the chest and sending him flying back into Valkyrie. "Your girlfriend, Eret?"

"None of your business," he huffed, trying to raise his sword, but he'd smacked his arm painfully on a sharp rock, and it was bleeding heavily. Valkyrie struggled to get up from beneath Eret.

"Is this the reason you ran off?" Drago asked, placing the tip of his blade on Eret's throat. "Weakling. Love is for fools. Then again, you always were softhearted."

"Love is the greatest gift of all," Eret managed to get out. A bead of blood appeared on his neck where Drago's blade met his skin. "If I'm a fool, it's for throwing it away."

Drago opened his mouth to say something, but looked up suddenly and barely raised his fireproof cloak in time to protect himself a white-blue blast of plasma.

"You're not taking our brother that easily." It was Eira and Heidrun, with the other Nightwishes at their backs.

"Excuse me." Drago spun at the tap on his shoulder, only to be met by a warhammer to the face. "That's for killing Valkyrie's mother," Skorn snarled. She swung the hammer back across his face. "And that," she grunted, "is for Stoick."

She drew a small, sharp knife from its sheath. It gleamed in the wet light; Gronkle iron. As Drago staggered from the force of her hammer, his face a broken and bloody ruin, she slammed the knife up to its hilt into his chest. "And that," she rasped, watching the life fade from his eyes as she lay half on his collapsed form, "is for the heartache and death you have caused."

As if to add insult to injury, as Skorn released the dagger, Periss discharged the remaining lightning she had stored into Drago's body, dissolving it to ash. The putrid smell of burnt flesh lingered in the air as the dragons and their riders landed in a growing circle around the remains of Drago.

"Sorry you didn't get your kill," Skorn said to Valkyrie and Eret, who still lay on the ground.

"That's all right." Eret stood slowly and grabbed Skorn in a one-armed hug. "Bloody idiot. You could have been killed!"

"So could you," Skorn mumbled, hugging him back. Tears mingled with the raindrops on her cheeks as she pulled away. "Let me see your arm."

"Eret." Skorn and Eret both turned to see Valkyrie standing there in the rain, looking young and nervous. "Eret…I'm…I'm so…sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for, Ky," Eret said softly, approaching her hesitantly. After a moment's hesitation, she threw herself into his arms.

"I was such an idiot," she said quietly. "I'm sorry."

Eret pulled away slightly so that he could look down into her eyes. "We're both at fault, all right? Shall we forgive each other and move on?"

"Yes." The Vikings cheered as the couple kissed on the field of battle, there on the ice-covered ground.

"All right, enough of that," Gobber declared roughly, but his eyes were laughing. "Let's get this mess cleaned up, neh?"

They had lost no one to Drago's people, the remainder of which had been corralled by Ruffnut and Tuffnut's double squad of Hideous Zipplebacks, and only a handful of people and dragons bore life-threatening injuries. Their training and strategies had been a success. As the rain continued to pour and the lightning continued to flash, the Vikings put out fires, shifted debris, and bandaged the wounded. The young Bewilderbeast, although he had not been able to fight his older counterpart, had contributed to the battle enough that Valka thought that he would be able to stake a claim as alpha on his own now. He helped to clear away the ice of Drago's Bewilderbeast, as well as drag the great body out to sea, where it sunk slowly into the depths.

The people of Hraun paid a visit to Eret, who, despite his protests that he was perfectly fine, lay in the infirmary with his arm stitched and bandaged. They forgave him for his betrayal, although he was warned to never do it again, and welcomed him as the betrothed of their chieftainess. As the rebuilding of Berk once again commenced, the Hraunians pitched in, suggesting things to help make life with dragons easier. Berk would not be whole again for some time, but this time, they had friends to help make it easier.