The musky smell of heat and water filled the room. The cold floor pressed against her cheek as Astrid opened her eyes lazily, and she looked around to see where she was. The room was almost completely dark, so Astrid had a hard time seeing even the wall across from her. She tried to sit up, but a searing pain shot through her head and prevented her from getting up completely, although she did managed to hoist herself up and sit against the wet, cold, stone wall. When she stared around her, she saw that it was not a room that she was in, but it was a jail cell. There were large, metal bars that were crossed along each other instead of an open wall. She could see other cells outside hers, and she assumed it was a dungeon of some sort.

Astrid clenched her jaw and closed her eyes as she tried to stand up, pain searing through her head, and she took a step towards the barred wall. Her wrists were instantly tugged back by something, and she looked down at her hands. Clamped around her wrists were metal cuffs that were attached to large, heavy chains, and they were attached to the other side of the room on my stone wall. She huffed and frowned, trying to see if anyone else was in the cells around her.

A muffled sound came from the cell across from her.

Astrid gasped, and tried to squint, looking deeper into the cell, but her chains prevented her from doing so. The muffled sound came again, but this time, it sounded like a voice.

"Astrid." The voice said, clearer this time, and Astrid sucked in a deep breath, trying to speak. Her voice was rough and gritty and dry, and her throat hurt, but she still tried to speak.

"Hiccup?" She said quickly and coarsely as she tried to tug on the chains. A face appeared from the darkness from the cell across the Hal from her, and sure enough, it was Hiccup. The light from the wet, rocky hall lit up his face, and probably hers too, so she could see his features perfectly. But she gasped.

There was a large patch of blood under his hairline on his forehead, and his hair seemed to be wet and stained with a crimson liquid. The blood ran down to his left cheek, and onto his chin. A small cut was visible on his right cheekbone, and a few drops of blood had made their way halfway down his cheek. When he reached his hand up to grasp the bars of the cell

"Oh my Gods, Hiccup! What happened?" She exclaimed through a rough tone and clenched teeth as Hiccup stared at her in shock. She shook his head and smiled.

"Don't worry, I'm fine, we'll be fine, we–" Hiccup began, but a figure came between their cells, and was facing Astrid's cell. Hiccup sucked in a breath, and stared at the person's back, his hands gripping the bars of the cell tightly. The figure stepped forward swiftly towards Astrid's cell.

"Astrid Hofferson." The figure said. The voice was extremely familiar, so familiar it made Astrid pull away from the bars of the cell, just to be away from the person. "You little bitch." The little light from the hall lit up part of the figures face, and Astrid frowned.

"Where's my daughter, Echo?" She ask fiercely but softly. Echo knelt down and grinned at Astrid through the bars, shaking his head at her. "Where is she?" Astrid said more strongly this time, dragging herself closer to the bars, close enough so that she could see his chest rising and falling. "Tell me where Aneira is! Or I swear I will rip your throat out!" She yelled at him, grabbing onto the bars of the cell with both hands, her face close to Echo's. Before she could react, Echo shot his hand through the bars and grabbed her face roughly, pulling her cheeks against the bars with a BANG.

Astrid winced and groaned as he held her there, his breath rough and hard. "You kill me, my father kills Aneira." He sneered, moving his hand digging his fingers into her throat. She winced and tried to grab his hand to pull it away, wheezing for air. "You try anything stupid, she dies. And it will be your fault." His hot breath flushed her face and she clenched her jaw, clawing at his hand with her fingernails.

"Let her go, Echo." Hiccup's voice sounded from behind Echo, and the boy turned his head around. Hiccup's face was lit with a dull light from the hall, and he was glaring at Echo with a deathly stare. Echo snickered.

"You don't scare me, Hiccup. I can make your life miserable in a second." Echo sneered to Hiccup, his hand still gripping Astrid's neck. He turned back to her, seeing that her eyelids were beginning to droop, her grip getting week. Echo smiled and shoved his hand forward, pushing Astrid to land flat on her back with a SMACK on the stone ground in the cell. Her head whipped back and slammed against the stone, and she groaned. The chains on her wrists clattered as she pushed herself to sit up, looking at Echo. Echo fiddled with the large latch and lock on the door, using a small key, and the multiple chains fell from the metal latch. He lifted the latch, and swung the door open, striding forwards to stand above Astrid. His smile was menacing, and he knelt down beside her. "You took my mother from me, and my father's wife from him. And in doing that, you took my sister. Now I will take a mother from Aneira, and a wife from Hiccup." He sneered.

"Echo." Hiccup's voice rung through the dripping rocky walls around them, and Echo's head turned to the side to stare at Hiccup. Hiccup was gripping the bars of his cell tightly, his eyes drilling into Echo's skull as he glared at him. "You don't need to do this. You let us go, we will never bother you again. Don't make this worse than it already is." Hiccup said calmly, but there was an edge to his voice that Astrid could hear.

Echo rolled his eyes, still looking at Hiccup, and fiercely grabbed Astrid's shirt, pulling her roughly to her feet. Astrid groaned and tried to push Echo away, but he just whipped his hand across her face, leaving a red mark on her cheek. Astrid made a small sound as she felt the stinging sensation rise in her cheek, and she looked back to Echo. He was smiling at her, and that smile sent eerie shivers down her back. Echo slowly unlocked the metal bindings on Astrid's wrists, but then, as her hands slipped from the cuffs, he pulled her hands behind her back. One hand pinned her wrists together firmly, as he was only a little bigger than her and Hiccup, and his other hand pulled a small dagger from his belt, pushing it up against her throat. He pressed his mouth to her ear and growled fiercely.

"You make any move, I slit your throat." He said roughly. Astrid could feel her eyes stinging but she willed herself not to cry anymore. Hiccup shifted in his cell and stood up quickly just as Echo was about to close Astrid's cell door once more, and he spoke.

"Stop!" He yelled harshly, making Echo turn around and face him. The daggers point was still pressed firmly against Astrid's throat. Echo's eyes flashed with laughter as he chuckled.

"What do you want, Hiccup?" He grinned as he slowly trailed the sharp end of the dagger towards Astrid's collarbone. Astrid flinched, and Echo pressed the dagger down, piercing the skin above her collarbone, and letting a small trail of dark crimson blood run down her chest. Astrid whimpered, but she stayed put. Hiccup looked at Astrid, their eyes locking for a moment before Hiccup spoke again.

"Echo, leave her alone." He said, his voice calmer now, but Astrid could still hear that edge in his tone that was threatening to crack. Echo frowned at Hiccup, and smiled down at Astrid.

"And why would I do that? How could you possibly–"

"We fight." Hiccup interrupted Echo. "If you kill me, you can choose what you would like to do." Astrid whimpered, trying to make Hiccup stop whatever he was doing. "If I kill you, I leave this place with Astrid, Aneira and any others you have taken hostage." Echo stood there, Astrid in arms, and thought for a long moment. Echo was a little bigger than Hiccup, and the boy took much after his father, so Echo just smiled.

"Stupid choice, but I'll go through with it." He spat, smiling at Hiccup, who seemed to be devastated at his wife's expression. Astrid was whimpering quietly, her lower lip trembling as she let a few tears roll down her cheek. Echo chuckled eerily and let go of Astrid, she fell to her knees, and stared at Hiccup through the bars of the cell as Echo opened the cell and unlocked Hiccup's metal cuffs. As the door swung open wider, Echo stepped back and turned around, staring at the backs of three soldiers who were standing down the hall. "Hey!" Echo said as he called them over, waving his hand. It took a few tries to get the old men's attention.

As Echo did that, Hiccup crawled forward and sat right in front of Astrid as she stared up at him. His hands moved to her cheeks and he cupped them softly, shaking his head.

"No, no, no," he said softly. "Don't cry. I'll be fine." He said as Astrid's eyes flowed with tears down her wet cheeks. Hiccup attempted to wipe away a few of the tears, but it just hot his hands wet. Astrid looked at him through her wet eyelashes and Hiccup softly pressed his lips to hers, his hands still on her wet cheeks. "Shhh, Astrid, please." He said as he pulled away slowly.

"Hiccup, y-you'll die. He c-could kill you. H-he's bigger th-than you." She whimpered softly as he held her cheeks softly. Hiccup shook his head, and looked her straight in the eyes.

"This is the only way to possibly save you and Aneira, and I will take this chance to defeat him. If I do die, well–" Hiccup stopped as Astrid pressed her lips to his, her hands wrapping around his neck as she kissed him. Hiccup melted into the kiss and wrapped his arms around her waist as they kneeled on the ground. He pulled away for a second to stand up, helping her with him to get to her feet.

"Don't do this." She said, kissing him again as they stood up. Hiccup pulled her waist closer to him and pressed her against him. Astrid's arms tightened around his neck, and she pushed herself onto her tiptoes to deepen the kiss. She broke away for a second. "Please."

Hiccup pecked her lips and sighed. "I will fight with what I have, and I will fight for you and Aneira." He pressed back into the kiss again, more passionate than before, and he felt her sigh against his lips.

Astrid felt someone grab the back of her shirt, and she was instantly pulled away from Hiccup, breaking their kiss, and she was tossed to the ground. She landed flat on her butt, and stared up to see who had pulled her down. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw a large man reach down and pull her off the ground, planting her on her feet, and pinning her hands behind her back.

Hiccup had been pulled away as well, but he was now being dragged down the hall way. He stared at Echo, who was holding him tightly, and then looked back towards Astrid as he was pulled farther away from her. Astrid looked up and gasped.

"Hiccup!" She yelled, trying to pull away from the two men that were holding her back now, but they just held her back, slowly walking towards the exit where Hiccup was also headed. "Don't do this!" Tears were streaming down her face, and Hiccup could still feel the wet sensation of her tears on his palms, and the salty taste of her tears on his lips. He stared at her, his eyes wide, his lips parted, and he spoke.

"I love you!" He yelled down the hall as Echo pulled him out into the large room that lead to the arena. The light seemed to blind Hiccup as Echo pulled him out of the dark hall, and into the bright arena that was lit by the sunlight. Hiccup was launched forward by Echo, and he fell forward onto the gravelly ground of the hard arena he was in. Echo walked away from him, closing the large door that they had come through, and latching it shut. Just behind the door was Astrid. She was standing right behind the bars of the metal door and staring at Hiccup, her eyes wide with fear and sorrow. Hiccup had to hold everything he had in him back to not go over there and tell her everything would be alright. But he also saw that a few other of the large men were standing behind her, bringing four other people near her. Hiccup gasped when he saw who it was.

Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut and Fishlegs.

But why did he capture them too? It made no sense.

Echo came right in front of Hiccup and smiled down at him eerily. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third. You have agreed to challenge me to a duel." Hiccup glared up at Echo. Although the boy was much younger than him, he was still much larger than Hiccup. "Which I don't understand because everyone here knows I would win." He laughed and reached a hand out to Hiccup to help him up.

Hiccup shook his head to move his bangs out of his eyes. "I don't trust traitors." Hiccup said, pushing himself up with his hands and standing up. He stood straight, looking right at Echo with his deep green eyes. Echo seemed to not care that he had betrayed everyone that he had been with and lived with for a whole month. Hiccup couldn't imagine the sorrow that Flicka was feeling right now, they were so attached, they were truly like brother and sister. But he thought again, did the other teens know?

Echo's smile faded as he stared straight at Hiccup, as they were about the same height. "What are we waiting for Hiccup? Should we?" Echo sneered and raised his hand above his head, crunching it into a fist. That very second, Hiccup could hear someone yell from behind him, and he turned his head to see what was happening. There was a man standing by the other entrance to the arena, and he was untying a rope from a notch on the wall. As he untied it, the rope began to slip away, and there was a loud bang that came from above everyone's heads.

Hiccup jerked his head up and gasped. He heard a scream coming from the entrance, and he knew the voice, he knew who it came from.

Astrid.

Astrid's scream echoed through the arena as a large, wooden mast was dropped from the ceiling, and was hanging there. The pole was being held by a large chain, and with one flick of the rope, that pole would come crashing down into the arena, and smash into splinters. The problem was, Astrid was Screaming for a reason. There was a rope wrapped around the pole, and it was holding something in place against the pole so the thing wouldn't fall.

No.

Not something.

Someone.

Aneira.

"Dad!" Aneira's voice screeched through the arena as she struggled to try and free herself of the ropes. Hiccup instantly jerked away from Echo and looked up at his daughter who was being hung by a pole from thousands of feet. He could see the fear in his daughters eyes and he knew that she was in terrible danger. His eyes averted from his daughter as he heard Astrid scream once more. Astrid was on her knees, grabbing the metal bars of the door and shaking them rapidly.

"NO!" Astrid screamed. Hiccup could see that Ruffnut was beside her, trying to comfort her friend, but she too had tears in her eyes. Ruffnut seemed to be trying to pull Astrid away from the bars, so that she wouldn't hurt herself. Hiccup wanted to thank the girl, but he couldn't. He had to say something else. He had something else to do. "You monster!" Astrid's voice shot straight towards Echo, who seemed to be smirking up at the crying Aneira as she hung above the arena.

Hiccup turned and ran straight towards the up expecting Echo, and tackled him to the ground. Hiccup's one hand held the younger boy's wrists above his head, and his other hand was on Echo's shoulder, his forearm on Echo's neck. Echo wheezed as he tried to breathe, but he still stared up at Hiccup, evil seeming to overcome his eyes. Hiccup was breathing hard and fast as he pushed down on Echo's neck, just enough to limit his oxygen, but not enough to kill him.

"You really—" Echo managed. "Think you can kill me..." He wheezed through short breaths as Hiccup sneered down at him. Hiccup let his hair fall in his face as he kept Echo pinned to the ground, and spoke through clenched teeth.

"I know I can kill you, and I will." Hiccup said, his jaw set. He carefully moved his arm to pull his dagger from the slot in his armour, and began to pull it out.

Echo slammed his head upwards and whacked his forehead into Hiccup's forehead. Hiccup was not expecting that, he thought he had him restrained. But then again, there were always flaws. In that split second that Hiccup was disoriented, Echo grabbed the dagger from Hiccup's arm and brought his knee up to slam it into Hiccup's side. Hiccup grunted loudly and fell roughly to the side, landing on his shoulder. He stared up at Echo as the boy placed the dagger right at Hiccup's throat, and grinned.

"I didn't expect it to be this easy." Echo sneered as he chuckled darkly, driving the dagger right at Hiccup's throat. But right before he could pierce Hiccup's skin with the dagger, Hiccup lifted his prosthetic foot up and slammed his knee into Echo's back. Echo gasped and fell forward onto Hiccup, the dagger falling from his grasp and sprawling across the stone floor, away from either of their grasp.

Echo struggled to stand up, and pushed himself to his feet. But it wasn't soon enough, because Hiccup swung his fist right at his face, knocking Echo backwards. Echo looked up at Hiccup once he gained his stability, and wiped his bloody nose on the back of his hand. Blood poured down from his nose and into his mouth, and he spat it at the ground at Hiccup's feet. Hiccup raised an eyebrow and smiled at Echo, looking at his knuckles.

They were splattered with the younger boy's blood.

Hiccup looked back up to Echo, to see him turning away. Hiccup frowned as Echo began to walk away towards one of the doors to the arena where Echo's father stood.

"What are you doing?" Hiccup said firmly, breathing heavily as Echo took something from his father. As a Echo turned around, Hiccup saw what was in the smiling boy's grasp.

A long, freshly sharpened sword.

"What am I doing?" Echo repeated. "I am finishing this off quickly, so no one had to watch this for too long." Echo slowly made his way towards Hiccup, readying his sword in his hand and spinning it around in front of him. Hiccup frowned and stepped back from Echo, his eyes narrowed as he heard the quiet sobs of his wife, and the voice of his daughter from above him. "Aww," Echo tilted his head and grinned an evil smile. "Trying to find a way to save your daughter?" He jerked forward, and stabbed the sword right towards Hiccup's left arm. Hiccup quickly jumped out of the way just in time for the sword to only scrape his armour and do no harm to pierce his skin. "Well that's not gonna happen." Echo swung the sword right across the air before Hiccup, but Hiccup, once again, jumped back and the sword missed him by only centimetres.

"I'll find a way to save Aneira, even if it means I have to lose another limb to send to straight to Helheim." Hiccup sneered, shaking his messy russet locks out of his eyes as Echo stepped nearer to him. Echo pointed the sword straight towards Hiccup and lightly touched his chin, lifting it up. Hiccup stepped back and let the sword slip from his shin, leaving only a small scratch. He moved his hand to his chin to run his finger over the scratch, and frowned. But Echo was already ahead of him, and he dropped the sword to the side and leaned onto it.

"You can't beat me." He grimaced. "Wait. No. You won't beat me." He smiled at Hiccup, who was truly confused. Hiccup needed to beat Echo, or he would never see his daughter or wife or friends or family again. "If you kill me," Echo pointed to the large mast where Aneira was hanging on for dear life as the rope tightened around her. "My dad drops her." Echo said dryly, grabbing the sword again and pointing it at Hiccup, who was entirely shocked. "So what'll it be, oh great dragon master?" Echo smiled. "Will you give up your life to save your family's?" Echo's hand pulled the sword back and swung it forward twice, swiping the blade across Hiccup's ribs and cheek. His armour had done well and protected him from that deathly blow to his ribs, but it still cut straight through and left a long, painful cut. Hiccup could feel the warm blood running down his cheek. "Or will you be the selfish little bastard you are and let Aneira die because of you." Echo pulled the sword back and held it softly by the blade, pushing the hilt of the sword against Hiccup's chest armour. Hiccup stood there in silence for a few seconds, as blood dripped down his cheek and seeped through his armour, differing wether he should kill Echo and find someway to save Aneira, or let Aneira live and let Echo take her father's life to save her.

Hiccup didn't move, his breathing was soft and slow, his hands clenched at his sides, his eyes flittered to look at Astrid. Astrid was staring at him, her eyes wide, her hands gripping the bars of the door tightly. The look on her face seemed to tell Hiccup something, but he couldn't place what it was. While Hiccup still kept his gaze on Astrid, he grabbed the handle of the sword.

"What?" Hiccup could hear Astrid's faint voice as he pulled the sword softly from Echo's grasp. He turned back to Echo, who seemed tense. His eyes were wider than usual, his lips parted. Echo swallowed, then nodded his head and smiled.

"So you are going to kill me." Echo looked up at Aneira. "How sweet, you'll let your own daughter–" he stopped short and grunted in surprise. "Gah!" He stumbled back a step as the handle of the sword slammed into his stomach, and he wrapped his fingers around the handle. Echo looked up at Hiccup and frowned. "Ah," he grinned. "So I was wrong. You would let me kill you to save your daughter. I guess your tribe will have to find a new family to heir to the throne, or break the rules and let your daughter or wife do it." Echo stepped back and swung the sword through the air, seeming to slice through it, making a whipping sound as it cut through it.

Hiccup swallowed and stood still, taking a deep breath before he stared right at Echo. "A chief protects his own." Hiccup muttered. Echo cocked his head and frowned.

"Let's get this over with." Echo rolled his eyes and smiled towards Astrid, then back to Hiccup. "Say goodbye." Echo said as he stepped one foot back, readying the sword in his hand. He held the sword firmly and grinned towards Hiccup.

Hiccup sucked in a breath and closed his eyes, readying himself for what was to come, but at he did, he heard something.

Footsteps.

Stomping footsteps.

And a bellowing yell.

Hiccup opened his eyes.

The footsteps had stopped.

The yell was no more.

No sword had pierced his skin.

But there was something in front of him.

Not something.

Someone.

Someone had their back facing him.

The sharp, bloody side of the sword was protruding from their back.

Stoick the Vast.

"Dad!" Hiccup yelled and ran to the other side of his father, wincing as pain seared through his side. He gasped when he saw the handle of the sword was almost touching his father's armour it was so deep. Stoick fell to his knees, his hands moving towards the hilt of the sword, his breath rough.

The sword had nearly pierced his heart, but it was still a deathly blow.

"No, no, no." Hiccup dropped to his knees as Stoick fell to his side. "Dad, why would you do this." Shock was the first thing that over came Hiccup's emotions when his father fell to the ground, but tears quickly welled up in his eyes as his father opened his eyes to look at his son. Stoick lifted one hand and placed it on Hiccup's cheek.

"For you," Stoick breathed roughly as he spoke. "Save your daughter." Stoick's voice was soft but strong. "His father is," he wheezed. "Dead."

Hiccup knew what this meant. It meant that if he killed Echo, Aneira wouldn't die. "Dad. Why would you save me?" Hiccup asked, frantically looking around for something to help his father. Stoick Stopped his son by turning his face back down to look at him.

"A chief," Stoick paused. "Protects." His hand went slightly limp and it dropped to Hiccup's shoulder. "His own." He managed a weak smile. "I'm proud of you, son. Your mother is too." Stoick's eyes fluttered shut and the sound of rough breathing stopped entirely.

Hiccup let out an exasperated gasp as his father's hand went limp against his shoulder.

"Dad." Hiccup shook his father's shoulder. "Dad, wake up." Hiccup's voice was soft but strong, like his father's. The tears had not fallen, and had almost completely disappeared. Soon enough, Hiccup accepted what had happened. He knew he could do nothing about his father's death. But he knew he could do something about the person who killed him.

Echo would pay for this.

Hiccup stood up and turned around stiffly. Echo was staring at him, the boy's hands clenched into fists at his sides. But there was something odd about the way he was smiling.

"You're gonna kill me, aren't you?" Echo said with a sneer, staring at Hiccup. "Because I killed your father."

Hiccup grinned. "Yes." That make Echo frown. As Hiccup stepped towards the boy, Echo's stepped back.

"But your daughter." He said with a shaky voice. And that's when it hit Hiccup. This whole time, Echo had expected for him to be the one to kill Hiccup, and he would have killed Astrid and Aneira anyways. Even if he had said that they would be safe.

"My daughter will be safe if I kill you, she would die if I didn't." Hiccup said in a deep, soft voice. Echo sucked in a breath as Hiccup reached out quickly and grabbed him. Hiccup threw the boy against the stone ground and slammed his prosthetic foot into his neck. Echo struggled for a few seconds as Hiccup pressed harder, cutting off the oxygen and blood circulation. But after that, Echo went limp, and Hiccup removed his foot only a bit, only to bring it back down against Echo's temple.

A blood curdling CRUNCH was heard throughout the arena, and. Hiccup could swear he heard the sound of a rattling chain. As he turned towards the gate door to see his friends and wife, he gasped. Astrid was screaming as she stared above Hiccup. He turned and looked above him.

The chain that was holding his daughter from the fall to her death was being unhooked by a few men that had climbed to the top of the two, gigantic metal bars that crossed each other over the arena. He could hear Aneira screaming, along with Astrid, and in the midst of all of this, he heard himself yell. Hiccup ran forward towards the place where the pole would fall if it did. Everything happened within a matter of seconds.

The loud cackle of the men.

The clatter of the chain as it unhooked from the metal bars.

The screams of his daughter and his wife.

The rattling of the chains as the pole hurdled towards the ground.

But the anticipating crash of the pole shattering to the ground never came.

Another sound came, though. One they had never heard before.

But it was the unmistakable bellowing roar of a dragon.

Hiccup looked up and saw a large dragon swoop into the arena. The dragon was one they had never seen before, it was a rusty orange colour. The wing span was amazing and extremely large. The dragon had grabbed the wooden pole just enough to slice through the rope with its claws. But, as the pole clattered to the ground, the dragon kept the ropes in its grasp. The only problem was, the ropes were what was wrapped around Aneira. Hiccup stared in shock as the dragon disappeared into the sky, the screams of his daughter dulling as the clouds engulfed the dragon and his daughter entirely.

Hiccup needed to think quickly, so he turned to look around at the people who watched intently around the arena. Many of those men were those who had worked for Echo or his father. Hiccup was breathing hard as he stared at the men who were standing behind Astrid and his friends.

"If any of you," he said to the crowd of men and woman who had been under Echo and his father's control. "Want to end up like the two people you worked for." He frowned, looking back to the men behind Astrid and the others at the metal gated door. "I would let every single one of us go and release our dragons!" He said loudly as he glared at the men. They seemed to look at each other before one of them ran away down one of the corridors. Many agonizing seconds later, a loud groaning sound was heard and the door that separated Hiccup from Astrid and everyone else was opened slowly. The door wasn't even fully opened yet when Astrid squeezed through the gap and began running at full speed towards Hiccup. He could see the tears in her eyes as she reached his, throwing her arms around his neck and nuzzling her cheek against his shoulder. She shuddered as she cried in his grasp as he wrapped his arms around her, wincing as he felt her push pressure against the cut on his ribs.

"Shhh, no, don't cry, I'm here." Hiccup tried to calm her down as she pulled back, wiping the tears from her eyes. "We'll all be fine."

"But–" Astrid drew in a ragged breath and shuddered. "Aneira, she's–" Hiccup stopped her, though.

"She'll be fine. I'll get her back, I'll save her." He whispered.

At that second, a loud groan of metal was heard, followed by the roaring of five dragons. There was a loud screeching sound that seemed to build up, ending with a large purple blast that emerged from one of the side doors and hit the other wall. Toothless burst through the doors, followed by the other four dragons, and pounced from one wall, to the ground, to the other wall. He landed right in front of Hiccup, and growled deeply, his eyes filled with something Hiccup did not want to see released onto anyone.

"I'll be back, stay here." Hiccup looked down at Astrid and lifted her chin so she was looking at him. He softly kissed her cheek where the tears were, kissing them away, then he pressed his lips to hers. Astrid sighed against his lips and they pulled away, Hiccup smiling down at her and turning to Toothless. He grabbed Toothless' saddle and pulled himself up, hopping onto saddle and clipping his prosthetic foot into the stirrup he had made. He looked down at Astrid, smiled, then patted Toothless' head, readying himself and leaning down forward. His hands gripped the saddle handles and he shook his hair out of his eyes, but it just fell back against his face. He sighed. "Come on, bud." He said to Toothless.

Toothless roared loudly, spreading his wigs and readying his tail fin, Hiccup clicking his prosthetic foot backwards, flicking the prosthetic tail into take off position. Toothless pounded off of the ground and flapped his wings strongly, shooting him and Hiccup into the air as they flew forcefully to follow the dragon that had taken Aneira.

Astrid stood in the centre of the arena, staring up at the sky as Hiccup and Toothless disappeared into the clouds after the large dragon. She was breathing heavily and shuddering as she collapsed onto the ground, falling to her knees and shoving her face into her hands as she tried to calm herself down. The rest of the group came to her side, Ruff placed her hand on Astrid's back as she knelt beside her. Tuff stood with Fishlegs and Snotlout, staring at the sky.

"Dad!" There was a yell from above their heads as they watched a swarm of multiple dragons come down and land beside them. Snotlout smiled as he saw his daughter come toward him. "Dad!" Flicka cried as she jumped off of her dragon and ran straight towards her dad. She ran into his arms, just as Jemini ran to Fishlegs, Mayka ran to Tuffnut and Franka ran to her mother's side with Astrid.

"Mom, where's Aneira and the chief?" Franka said softly as looked at her mother and Astrid. Astrid was still cuddled into herself on the ground. Ruffnut looked at her daughter then placed a hand on Franka's head. She smiled and then looked to the sky.

"Hiccup will find her." She said. Astrid pulled from Ruffnut's hand and stood up, Ruffnut and Franka standing with her. Astrid turned and glared at the crumpled figure of Echo, the boy who betrayed her family and Berk. A muffled cry came from Flicka as she turned and saw Echo. Snotlout had known that his daughter had strong feelings for the boy, but he didn't protest when he knew what Hiccup had to do.

Astrid sniffed and walked slowly to Stoick's limp figure, kneeling beside him and sighing. A loud THUMP was heard as Gobber landed Grump near the group, struggling to run towards his fallen friend. Gobber kneeled beside Astrid and place a hand on Stoick's unmoving shoulder.

"You've done well, my friend." Gobber said.