Thank you everyone for your sympathy once again. And also to the comment left by Sage, if you can't think of anything to say, a prayer, a smile, and emotional support is more than enough; thank you for letting me know you care.

But I also want to announce something that I hope will bring up your spirits as it did mine. I am currently planning a book that I will publish in around a year or so, and I also will be attempting to publish a short story on Kindle soon. Once everything is set then I will tell you things such as titles and other things, but until then, know that I'm hard at work with this book!

One quick note, if you ever see this - … It means that the POV is changing.

Anyway, please enjoy!

Chapter 10

Valka flew forward to inspect another burn mark, taking note of the fact that they were becoming less frequent. Her worry for both her child and his dragon was shaking her to her core. From the angle at which the soot had stained the ice and snow, it appeared that Toothless had swimming every time had fired a shot. That was bad. That meant that Hiccup wasn't with him, or they'd be flying or waiting for help on an iceberg like she had told them to do if they were ever in trouble out here. Plus, Valka still had no idea what the max stamina of a Night Fury was, and the amount of effort it must have been taking to go on for so long like this...

"Oh my poor boys, where are you?"

Hiccup nearly collapsed from shock.

A moment ago the teen had been trying to think of a convincing lie to throw the dragon trappers off their high horse, and the next he found himself staring into Toothless's angry glare.

Toothless was standing on the shore a few yards behind the crowd of Vikings, growling menacingly. His eyes were narrowed, his pupils slitted in rage. Hiccup also noticed that his dragon was soaking wet, making his pitch black scales shine in the sunlight. Did him swim after the boat?! Oh Toothless… Hiccup fretted.

Toothless was glaring at the trappers, but mainly Eret as the man crouched in front of his rider. He let loose another roar of fury before he charged.

Eret's expression turned from awe to horror in an instant as the Night Fury ran at him. He flung himself aside and started scooting backwards across the stone ground, trying to escape the wrath of the black dragon as he came at him. Toothless's mouth was open, his teeth unsheathed and his pupils narrowed at the trapper. He closed the distance between them in seconds, his paws barely touching the rock as he rushed the now terrified man as he tried vainly to get away.

Toothless prang on the trapper, pinning him to the ground. He could smell the man's fear rolling off of him in waves, and he could feel the pounding of his heart underneath where his paws were pressed on his chest. Toothless didn't think for a moment, his only instinct to protect Hiccup. He screeched in the man's face and bits of his saliva flew onto Eret's skin.

When Toothless saw the man near his weakened rider he put two and two together, and threw himself in a furious and protective tantrum to protect his friend. He would hurt this man for what he had done to Hiccup (whatever that had been). For threatening them both, for trying to take his rider away from him! He reared up slightly onto his hind legs before he shoved himself down, his razor sharp claws grazing the trapper's shoulders, causing flecks of blood to fall from the shallow wound.

…...

The dragon reared up again, and Eret cowered beneath him, shutting his eyes and awaiting for the inevitable finishing blow. After all, that's all a dragon does, kill people. But after a few moments of waiting for his death, he still felt nothing. No hot breath in his face, no flesh cutting claws ripping him apart. Eret opened his eyes in confusion and glanced about, seeing that the beast was no longer towering over him. His muddled search ended when he looked over to where their prisoner was, and his felt mouth drop open. There, standing by the shivering teenager was the dragon, roaring fiercely at some of his men who had tried to approach the boy before. That guardian, that protector... it couldn't be a dragon, dragons don't help anyone but themselves.

Right?

…...

Toothless kept giving him quick but concerned looks as he shrieked and cried out warnings to the trappers that surrounded them, all the while backing up closer to him.

Hiccup looked over to Toothless's tail and saddle, and his heart dropped to his stomach. While everything was intact, the cold waters had frozen Toothless's artificial tailfin to the base of his tail. It was covered in a thick layer of frost and ice, and it would take more strength than Hiccup had normally to pull it apart.

Dread filled Hiccup, washing into his blood and sinking into his bones. Without Toothless's tailfin they couldn't fly. And if they couldn't fly they couldn't escape. And if they couldn't escape, the trappers would kill them both like meat boars.

Toothless suddenly barreled into him and knocked him to the ground. He landed on roughly on his side with a grunt, the small flare of pain confirming that there would be yet another bruise to go along with all the others he had gained from this amazing experience. Looking up, he was about to send a snarky remark at his dragon, but froze when he heard the plasma blast go off.

Hiccup shielded his head with his arms and pressed himself back into the stone below him. He felt the extreme heat as it brushed his skin as it passed above him. The whirring of the blast ended instantly along with the sound of exploding wood and shrapnel.

Hiccup lowered his arms and turned his gaze into the direction of the odd sound. Scattered on the ground about five feet from where they were were the still-smoking splinters of what Hiccup guessed was a couple of spears.

Realization dawned on him and he once again looked up at his dragon as he stood over him, acting as a shield from the trapper's ongoing attacks. "Thanks, bud." Hiccup said gratefully from underneath the black dragon. Toothless looked down at him and warbled before focusing his attention back on the gathered men.

Looking back at the battle as well, Hiccup could already tell it was hopelessly one-sided. Toothless was more powerful than the men, there was no doubt about that, but the sheer number of trappers present could easily overwhelm the Night Fury if they managed to get close enough. The only reason they weren't already pushing their advantage was because they were still partially stuck in a state between fear and awe about the deemed offspring of death itself appearing and nearly killing their leader. Hiccup tried to look around for a means of escape, but he couldn't think of anything that wouldn't end them up dead. There was no way out, not without flying, and they couldn-

Two new roars of anger that he knew definitely hadn't come from Toothless tore him away from his whirling thoughts.

Everyone's attention was drawn up to the sky where the sounds had come from, and Hiccup nearly cried with relief when he saw a familiar X shape and a blue-painted figure standing on top of it.

His mother and Cloudjumper had found them at last.