Author's Note: When Nothing Remains is out. That is the sequel to this. You can find it on my profile, of course. But that is not the only reason this final chapter exists.

And now, for something not quite as dark. While looking over chapter nineteen, toothlessgolfer noted a different way things could have played out, given how this world worked. It doesn't fit with the sequel at all, but it was an amazing idea I'm somewhat surprised never occurred to me given that I had already written in an otherwise red herring that would be essential to it, and would be a straight-up happier end if one only considered the first book. It was so amazing, in fact, that I immediately wrote it out. So, for any of those who would like to see a happy ending to the story, or at least somewhat happy, here is a non-canon alternative ending to the story. Note that the only thing I needed to change prior to chapter nineteen for this to work is that Vithvarandi didn't even bother using the last canister she had. This breaks her character's chain of events quite a bit, but we can ignore that as this is non-canon.

Vithvarandi leaped on top of Spark, clawing into his wings and kicking at his head, scrabbling to reach his throat even as she was blocked by her overshot, tearing into his wings. It was a scene worse than any nightmare Ember could have conjured up, the twisted depths of his mind incapable of contemplating such an image. It accomplished what no amount of reason, logic, or knowledge could. He prepared to leap and dislodge Vithvarandi before she succeeded in cutting his son's throat.

Because no matter how much she looked like Flint, the image of her attacking Spark dispelled any resemblance in Ember's mind. The two could not coexist. It dispelled any reluctance he had to attack, though he knew his actions in doing so would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Ember leaped forward and struck, slashing at Vithvarandi's throat, knowing that he had to strike quickly. The feeling of his claws cutting into her was horrible, and the strangled yowl that faded as she died even more so. He barely registered her ranting in her last body, barely even noticed as Beryl struck her down. The fact that he had just killed his mate, in body if not mind, was eating away at him.

He knew he had the ability to shift to her form, to peruse her memories. That felt more wrong than he could bear, and did not tempt him at all. In an effort to stem the horrible grief, he shifted to his human body.

That did not help, but he had more important things to worry about for the moment, things he could help with. Spark.

Even as he realized that his son's wings could possibly be fixed, even as he painstakingly sewed the shreds back together, Ember mourned his mate as if he had just lost her again. He cried silently as he worked.

At one point near the end, Beryl managed to revive Jacin, who walked over, pained and burned by the boiling water. "She is dead?"

"She is." Ember managed to nod towards the corpse, which in itself was the undeniable truth. "Are you..?"

Jacin grimaced, holding up a hand. "No."

Ember faltered, seeing the terrible injury. The hand had been burned far worse than the rest of her and looked almost like cooked meat. It was also broken terribly, though he wasn't sure how that had happened.

Jacin saw the question in his eyes. "I landed on it, after the water knocked me off my feet."

"Will it..?" Ember knew the answer to that question.

"Are you kidding?!" Jacin yelled. "This is never going to heal! I'll have to get it removed!" She shook the limp, mangled and burned mess of a hand. "I don't even care!"

"What?" That was a bit odd.

"My sister is gone." Jacin sat down, her voice lowering to something dark. "We always stuck together. She was all I had. Our parents died in a fire." She looked up. "I really don't care about my hand. What's the point?"

Something struck at Ember, a terrible thought that he should have banished immediately. But it lingered, linked as it was to a foreign emotion. Hope. "You have nothing."

"Nothing," Jacin confirmed. "I wanted her to kill me," she nodded to Vithvarandi's corpse, "I think. I really don't care anymore."

"I could..." Could he really? Was this right, morally acceptable?

Yes. if he and his existence was, then this was.

"I can't give you your hand back, or your sister." He would not lie, as Vithvarandi had. "But I can give you a new life."

"I'll never be able to get her back," Jacin muttered angrily. "And you cannot replace her."

"I do not want to replace her." Gods, this felt so wrong, but it would be worth it if Jacin accepted willingly. "But I can give you a new mind, a new life entirely. You don't have to stay with this one."

Jacin looked up at him. "You make no sense."

Ember gestured to himself. "My human form also has nothing left. I lost friends, family, my home." He could not go back, and that was as good as losing them. "My dragon form has sons and a life that is not totally gone, though he also has lost much. I can stand the one because I have the other."

Jacin blinked, her face unreadable. She cradled her hand, the one that would need to be removed. "What are you saying?"

"I can give you something you need, and you can give me something I need." Ember shuddered. "You would remain yourself, but your self would expand to include another. The way you are now, if you wanted you could just let her take over, let her loves, fears, and hopes become your own." It made sense. For him, he merged. Vithvarandi dominated. Jacin, having nothing she valued in this life, could let the other personality in, and let it take over. She would truly be happier that way. "I am offering to let you become someone else."

"How?" Jacin did not sound averse to the idea. She really didn't want to live, not as she was.

"You will become like me." Ember's eyes drifted toward the ground between them. "I gave a dead dragon a new life by accident. For you, we can do it intentionally. She did not deserve to die, and is missed terribly. You do not wish to live as you are, and have no one left."

"Who?" Jacin sounded almost hopeful. "Who would I be?"

"My mate, Flint, was killed by Vithvarandi." Ember could not meet Jacin's eyes as he spelled it out. "I killed Vithvarandi in that form, and now have Flint's body and memories, though that sickens me. There is one chance at this ability left in existence, and I know where it is, how to use it. It is not guaranteed that you will survive, but if you do, you can take that form from me, and become her. She has sons, a mate who mourns her passing, and a life to lead, one that was stolen from her." He felt immensely selfish... until he glanced up, and saw the hopeful expressions on Ember and Spark's faces. He was not doing this only for himself. It was best for all involved.

Jacin's face hardened. "I will become her."

"I think. Or your personalities might merge, as mine did. Either is acceptable, and better than what you have now." Ember shook his head sadly. "I knew it was a long shot, but I had to offer you this option." Of course she wouldn't want to, why did he think-

"Deal."

Ember froze. "What? Really?" He sounded immensely hopeful, and immensely nervous.

"I don't want to live like this, and you really do miss her." Jacin stood, and offered her good hand. "So, deal." Her eyes were dead, and it was clear she was doing this because she did not want to live, and had decided to give someone else a chance at happiness in passing.

That was enough.

O-O-O-O-O

First, they waited while Jacin returned to her village and had the mangled hand removed, blaming the dragons that carried her off. It was lucky Jacin needed the hand removed anyway. Ember vaguely recalled Vithvarandi citing a physically missing piece of oneself as necessary to survive the process.

Then again, with the way Jacin was now, she might have just gotten a hand removed anyway if he told her it was a part of the process. She really didn't seem to care about anything anymore. That was sad, but Ember held to the thought that they were helping her, if in a strange way. This was good for her too, though right now she really just wanted to die.

The trip to Vithvarandi's island was passed in silence. None of them really knew how to interact with the human that was going to try and bring their loved one back to life, and it almost felt wrong to hope until it was done. It was not a sure thing.

The island was still as desolate and hostile as before, but this time it was almost welcoming in its hostility. This was opposition Ember could deal with. It almost felt approving, despite the hostility, as if recognizing what he came for, and acknowledging that he was in the right. That was simple imagination run wild, but it did help.

The tunnels were just as cramped, odd, and twisted as before, but Ember moved confidently. When they reached the intersection, he paused.

Jacin, who was holding a burning branch as he had so long before, pointed to the tunnel with the word 'sacrifice' written over it. "Is that where we are going?" she did not sound at all alarmed by the idea.

"No. I do not actually know what is down there." Ember shivered. "I do not want to find out." He moved to the correct path.

They made it to the central chamber that had featured in Ember's nightmares without incident. Ember shifted his form and moved to the far wall, straining to recall exactly which part of the wall Vithvarandi had moved.

"This one." Beryl walked up and tapped a panel slightly lower than Ember had been checking. "It's hollow, you can hear." The tapping did have a different sound to it.

With some little difficulty, Ember found the hidden latch and moved it aside. There, in a dark hollow, sat a canister, just like the one that had changed him. It was filled with white liquid, almost the color of milk, though his had been blue and translucent. Hopefully that didn't mean anything.

He was hesitant to touch it. The last one had injected him without warning. "Here." He stepped back and gestured to the hole. "You pick it up and take it out."

"Then what?" Jacin was already moving across the chamber to do just that. Ember stepped aside as she passed him.

"It should just do its job when you pick it up," he said carefully. "It did for me."

Jacin reached in and grabbed the canister with her remaining hand, the arm ending in a stump by her side. She had barely gotten it clear of the hollow when she quietly gasped, going rigid. The white liquid drained away.

It had begun. Ember recalled exactly what he had gone through, and quickly moved to Jacin, catching her just as she began to fall, the canister clattering to the stone floor. She writhed in his arms, moaning. That painful disorientation would pass soon enough.

It did, though Jacin did not seem much happier. Then her hand began to glow, and she screamed. That same three-sided square appeared to have been burned into her palm.

But she only had one hand. Even as Ember made that realization, Jacin shakily removed the bandages on her stump and revealed another mark directly across it. Ouch. That had probably hurt quite a bit more than the one on her hand.

But now it was done. They waited a few minutes, just to be sure.

"Something in my head is starting to hurt," Jacin remarked shortly afterward. "Like it is pulling at me."

"That is what we were waiting for." Ember stood, and offered Jacin one of his knives. "Time to bring a person back to life."

"What do I do?" Jacin noted that Spark and Beryl had moved back.

"I will turn into a dragon with grey eyes." Ember inhaled deeply. That part would be disturbing, but it had to be done, and he could probably hold off the memories. He had been able to do so when Beryl had helped him rid himself of the other bodies he had taken in battle. "Kill her as quickly and as cleanly as you can, and do not take your hand off of the knife." They only had one chance.

"I will." Jacin hefted the weapon. "Will it hurt you?" She only sounded slightly concerned.

Ember grinned sadly. "I've died before." With that, he shifted, unable to bear the anticipation. His entire mind focused, even as the flames receded, on not living any of his mate's memories. She would be back soon, and he did not want to invade her self.

Before Jacin could strike, he did receive one small impression, despite his best efforts. It was her love for him and their sons. Then he felt the knife enter his throat, and the feeling faded, replaced by the momentary panic that came with temporary death like this. He returned in his human form, to give one last set of instructions.

Jacin dropped the knife, staring at the pile of ash. "That's it?"

"Not quite. Imagine the dragon you just saw, and put that image where you felt the pulling." Ember took the knife and cleaned his mate's blood off of it as he spoke. "You will live her life in a moment. It will change you." How much remained to be seen.

"Good. I do not want to remain like this." Jacin closed her eyes. "I hope you all get what you want."

A brilliant white fire rushed out of Jacin's palm and stump, engulfing her entire body. When it receded, Flint's body slumped to the ground.

Ember felt his heart leap back into his chest, but his enthusiasm was tempered by fear. He shifted forms even as he rushed to her, nosing at her worriedly when he reached her fallen form.

She groaned, lifting her head and opening her eyes, grey pupils flecked with silver staring at him.

A moment of silence. Beryl and Spark were standing completely still. It seemed they were too shocked, despite knowing what would happen, to react.

"Ember..." Flint began.

"Flint?" He could not expect it immediately, Ember and Hiccup had taken months to merge. But she might respond to the name.

"Yes, actually." She shocked him by leaping up and tackling him, licking frantically. "I'm back!"

Ember struggled with confusion. "But..." What was happening in her head?

Flint stepped off of him, looking at the ground. "She really does not want to live. She is embracing my memories whole-heartedly, voluntarily removing her own from control. She is not gone, but she is content to ignore that part of herself and allow me my life." Flint whined. "I can only hope she never regrets that decision."

That made some little sense. "So you are..."

"Flint, in body and mind, thanks to the sacrifices of a No-scaled-not-prey. Jacin is here, but she is not here, so to speak." Flint purred, looking over at her sons. "So get over here, you two!"

Spark rushed over, and Beryl followed. The two embraced their Dam, who laughed, a sound both sad and happy at the same time.

Ember knew that feeling. "We did not get to watch them grow up."

"No, but they did anyway." Flint stepped back, so that she could look at her entire family at the same time. "And we did not miss their entire lives."

"No, we did not." Ember purred. "There is much to catch you up on."

"There probably is," Flint admitted readily. "From what I understand, you managed to cheat death, with the help of your new other half and our son."

"Luck, but yes." Ember laughed happily. "And now you have done the same." He realized something. "You will not mind, right?"

"What, that you are slightly different?" Flint's voice was teasing. "That you have a No-scaled-not-prey in your head, one that actually wants to live?"

"Dam, that's not right!" Beryl sounded offended on Ember's behalf. "Both parts of him are important!"

"I know, silly," Flint laughed, nuzzling Beryl. "I am teasing." She looked at Ember. "Both parts of you are equally welcome. I see no true difference."

Well, Spark had done the same. Ember supposed it wasn't that surprising, but he felt quite a bit of relief regardless. "Thank you."

"Says the one who somehow brought his mate back from death simply because he could," Flint retorted. "I should thank you. And Jacin, but I am her, so to speak, so that is a bit difficult."

"Maybe we should do all of this explaining somewhere else," Spark ventured. "This place is not a good one."

"Very true." Ember looked around. "We can go somewhere else, somewhere close but not here."

"Or, we can get moving now!" Flint barked authoritatively, making everyone jump. "We are late!"

"What could we possibly be late for?" Ember almost whined, he was so confused.

"We were supposed to go visit your Sire and Dam a decade ago!" Flint exclaimed. "And we were already late then!"

There was a moment of silence. Then everyone began laughing, though it was true.

As they left the chamber, Beryl leading the way, Flint nudged Ember and whispered in his ear. "And I still want a girl."

"Of course," Ember replied without thought, easily picking up where they had left off a decade ago. "But shouldn't it wait until after we visit my Sire and Dam?"

"We can compromise," Flint growled seductively. "It can wait until we get there. I am sure your parents will want to spend plenty of time with their son's children, and we do not need to be there for all of that time."

"Deal." Ember purred happily. Despite everything, it seemed he could pick up where he had left off. One old promise to keep, and a new one just made. He thought about the two books he had recently written, the ones on his human form. "I have a short side-trip to make first though. We probably won't ever come back out this way."

Author's Note: And thus chapter twenty happens, only very minorly different, and they go to visit Herb and Thorn. In this version, Ember's sister, hinted at in the epilogue, is not an issue, a happy second child of Herb and Thorn, simply because if I'm giving Ember this happy ending, I'm definitely not putting him through the events of the second book. He gets to stay happy in this version. Honestly, if I did not have the second book and its plot, which I believe is better than this ending, and if this ending did not somewhat spoil the melancholy end I wanted to have, I might have made this the canon ending. But it does not, and it doesn't fit the story tonally. So, this remains non-canon. (Also, I didn't come up with the basic idea here, toothlessgolfer did, but that doesn't mean I couldn't have made it the real end.)

Update: This final chapter was posted on January 12th, 2019. As of March 10th, 2019, this story passed 10,000 views.