Chapter 1 – The Great Battle

The Red Death was taking to the skies now; its wing span alone was breath-taking. Its roar shook the ground, nearly knocking the blonde Viking off her feet. Her eyes were locked on the sky, fearing for Hiccup and Toothless' safety. They had disappeared into the sky, far from where her eyes could see them, meshing with the clouds. They disappeared along with the Red Death. All of a sudden, the sky light up in flames. Astrid stood with her feet planted in the black dusty sand. She hadn't realized it, but she was trembling uncontrollably, fear and pain racked her body, turned her blood cold. She bite back her fear with all the might she could muster, in her weakened body. This was it! This was going to end the war between the Vikings and the dragons. For once, there could be peace. They could leave their homes without the unknowing of a dragon attack. They could live out the rest of their lives with the dragons.

The massive dragon came hurdling down, back to the island. She gasped as its body slammed into the ground, creating a powerful gust of wind that blew debris bits of debris in her direction. She turned her back to the debris and knelt down, arms over her head protectively. When she felt the world grow still again, she quickly stood back up, eyes searching for the little black dragon. "Hiccup," she let out a strangled cry, surprising herself for the outburst.

A small figure came crashing to the ground. She took off running in that direction, feet kicking up dirt and debris behind her. Stoick was knelt down on the ground, near a small, black figure. She saw the chief drop to his knees and that stopped her dead in her tracks. Toothless slowly opened his bright green eyes, glancing around with a tired look on his face. The rest of the tribe followed behind them, but stopped behind Astrid and stared at the scene before them. Stared in disbelief !

Astrid's eyes searched for Hiccup; she searched for messy, russet hair, emerald green eyes, a freckled face, or a thin form – long, lanky arms and bony legs. Anything that was him! She couldn't find him. All of a sudden, everything seemed to end, right before her very eyes. Her eyes stung and swelled, threatening to burst. Her hands came up and covered her eyes. "Hiccup," she whispered to herself, trying to fight back the tears. She bite her bleeding upper lip and choked back a sob. She promised herself she wouldn't cry not in front of anyone, ever. No matter what happened, she was a warrior and had to remain calm. But it was too late, tears ran from her ocean blue eyes even against her best tries to stop.

A gasp from the crowd brought Astrid back to reality. She removed her hands from her face and looked at Stoick. He was cradling something in his arms. As he brought it up closer to his head, she noticed it shift. She could see Hiccup's head dangling out of Stoick's massive arms.

"He's alive!" Stoick shouted. Astrid's hands gripped at her chest, trying to calm her unsteady beating heart. She smiled, feeling a tear slide down her cheek. He was alive… he was alright. The crowd cheered behind her, which only made her more excited. She began to thank each and every God she could think of as she ran over to Hiccup, desperately wanting to see him.

As she walked around Stoick, she noticed that Hiccup was unconscious; but, quickly, her eyes trailed from Hiccup to the dirt around him. Blood was pooling beneath him, near his feet. The smell of rotten, burnt flesh stung her nostrils. Hiccup's left foot was gone. What remained was bone and little flesh, burnt black and to a crisp. The wound was oozing warm blood. She had seen wounds before, but never like this.

"Stand back," Stoick instructed Astrid, but she was frozen to the spot, her eyes locked on Hiccup's oozing wound.

"We have to get him cleaned up before the wound gets infected. He needs to be seen by the healers," Gobber explained, somehow managing to stay calm. Stoick seemed to be doing pretty well at staying level headed, as well. Stoick placed Hiccup gently on the ground. Gobber bent down next to him and prepared his axe-hand next to the burnt limb. That was when Astrid realized what he was going to do.

She quickly looked away, missing the horrid sight; but, she could hear the sound of metal slicing through Hiccup's flesh and bone. It made her blood curdle, but she resisted the urge to cry out at it. She was happy, at least, that Hiccup was far too unconscious to notice. She wondered if he suffered a concussion or if it was just trauma. Toothless seemed startled by their actions, but did not attempt to stop them. He seemed to understand the severity of Hiccup's injuries as much as a dragon could understand.

"We need to hurry him back to the village," Stoick said. He hurriedly wrapped the end of Hiccup's leg in some cloth, tightly and securely, before standing back up and cradling the boy in his arms.

"I'll do it!" Astrid sputtered to the Chief. He slowly turned around to face her. She recognized his gaze as doubt. He seemed prepared to shout her down, quickly; but, Astrid responded before he could.

"My dragon is the fastest. I can get him back on Berk in less than ten minutes," she quickly explained. In reality, she knew Toothless was the fastest; but, he couldn't fly at the moment and she didn't know how to. Her Deadly Nadder was the best hope they had. She knew she could get him back as soon as possible. She knew she wouldn't trust anyone else with him. Not her Hiccup. Wait her Hiccup? He minded screamed at the thought but was pushed away as quickly as it came.

Stoick stared at her for a moment, questioning whether or not to trust her with his son. Hiccup began to stir in Stoick's arms, groaning in pain. That seemed to rush the Chief's decision. "Alright," he replied to her.

Astrid whistled loudly into the sky, beckoning her Deadly Nadder to come to her. The beast came flying over from the back of the crowd and landed beside her. Astrid quickly climbed onto the dragon's back and prepared for Stoick to hand Hiccup to her. He began to hand Astrid his son; but, then, he suddenly paused. When Astrid's eyes locked with Stoick's, she froze up in fear at the man's stern look. "Take care of my son," he said, roughly. It wasn't asking, it wasn't requesting, it was him demanding to her to save his son. It sent frightening chills down her spine; but, at the same time, it made her feel more confident than ever before. She never felt this exhilarated before. No battle or competition ever made her feel like this. It wasn't just achallengeor abet; this meant the world to her. She was going to save Hiccup.

"With my life," she replied in a loud, proud tone. He nodded to her, happiness bubbling behind what appeared like emotionless eyes. Stoick slowly handed Hiccup to Astrid, who took him gently onto her lap. She leaned his head against the space between her Chest and Shoulder while her arm wrapped around his back and gently gripped his bony shoulder, holding him securely against her. She placed her free hand on the Deadly Nadder for balance. As Stoick stepped away, Astrid instructed her Nadder to fly and they took off into the air.

She kissed Hiccup's forehead, promising him they would make it back in time. She grew insanely nervous when she felt the warmth of his blood pooling on her thigh. His wound was still widely open; she was choking back tears at the thought of it, desperate to remain as calm as possible. "Stay with me," she begged him as they whipped through the air.

"Always" Hiccup replied into her chest, startling her. She couldn't tell if he was awake or in some sort of half-conscious state and wasn't registering thoughts properly. She could hear him whimpering into her chest. His sounds were muffled, but incredibly audible to her.

Through the blistering winds over the ocean, all she could hear was his breathing, reminding her he was still alive. For Now!