Chapter 10

Early one cold morning Apollo woke up before anyone else. He got up and flew to the top of the cave where he could look out at the landscape. The sun was high in the sky, there were no clouds in the sky, and there was two feet of snow on the ground. The snow looked really inviting. Apollo flew back down and ran to his sister. He nudged her gently. She woke up and yawned.

"Let's go play in the snow," Apollo said. "It's nice and deep, and I can pick up my hunting skills."

"We're not supposed to leave the cave," said Avalon. "We could be captured again."

"Please," Apollo begged. "I'm tired of being inside all the time, and we won't be gone long." Avalon got to her feet.

"Okay," she said. "I'll just wake up Eider. We will meet you at the pool." Apollo beamed and ran down the passage to the pool. He pranced around anxious to get out on the snow. Soon he was joined by Avalon and Eider.

"You sure this is a good idea?" asked Eider, who was leaning on Avalon so he wouldn't have to walk on his bad paw.

"Don't you want to play in the snow?" Apollo asked. "Or would you rather sit around the cave doing nothing?"

"Well when you put it that way," Eider agreed. "We just have to be careful not to let the enemy know where our hideout is. And we have to be careful not to get caught again."

"That will be a piece of cod," said Apollo. "We have wings and fire, and the enemy doesn't." They went outside and looked around at the snow laid out before them. The trees were covered in snow, their branches weighed down by it. It glittered in the sunlight.

"Wow, it pretty," said Avalon.

"Yeah, this is what we've been missing," said Apollo. "Now lets go."

"What if Aunt Windwalker finds out?" asked Avalon. "She will be really mad."

"Then we better make the most of this," said Apollo. "In case she grounds us." Avalon and Eider smiled. The three dragons ran across the snow, Eider flew so his paw wouldn't hurt. They played in the snow, happy to be free to run and play after almost six months being caged. Apollo and Avalon did their snowball throwing contest and Eider was the judge. He found that snow helped with the swelling as well. After Apollo won the contest all three of them started throwing snow at each other. They laughed the whole time, Eider was laughing for the first time in months. It helped him take his mind off his paw. Apollo and Avalon both pretended that their left front paws were broken, then played tag so Eider could be included. He was very touched by this.

They played for hours then finally laid down in the snow, worn out from running. Eider's paw started to hurt again, really badly. He put it in the snow and it helped. He felt happier than he had been ever since he watched his parents die. He laid beside his friends.

"I can't remember the last time I felt so happy," he said.

"Me neither," said Apollo. "I don't think we've played like that since before we were captured. How long has it been since we saw Mama and Papa?" Avalon considered.

"I'm going to guess five months give or take," she said. Apollo laid his head down.

"Maybe they've given up looking," said Eider. "I mean if they were looking for you, they would've found us by now."

"They'll come, I know they will," said Avalon. "I have every faith in Mama and Papa."

"But what if they don't come?" Eider asked. Avalon considered.

"I'll give them two years," she said. "Then we will make our own way home. But I know they'll find us, my family never gives up." Eider let it go for now.

"What's the first thing you're going to do when you get home?" he asked.

"Go ice skating," said Avalon. "There's a huge park in Bluegreen that has a pond in it. The pond freezes every winter and young dragons go ice skating on it."

"Fun," said Eider. "I'll have to get this paw fixed before I can join you. Do you think it will be chopped off, it's been damaged for a long time."

"I don't think they cut it off," said Apollo. "Serenity has fixed bones that were broken for much longer. Did you know she saved my papa's life when he got struck by lightning?"

"Really?" said Eider. "When?"

"Back when she wasn't a fully qualified dragon healer," said Apollo. "Papa got hit by lightning when he was flying through a storm on his way home. The Healer Dragons declared him dead at the hospital. But Serenity, who was 15 at the time, found the slightest sign of life. She did everything she knew how and pretty much brought him back to life. It was so cool."

"Wow, she really did save his life," said Eider.

"He still has scars from that event," said Avalon. "Really big ones." Suddenly she saw snow clouds on the horizon.

"Well I think we should head back," said Apollo, also seeing the clouds. "It's getting late and it looks like it's going to snow." Eider slowly and painfully got to his feet. Avalon and Apollo followed suit. They were about to set off for the cave, when they heard the neigh of a horse. They froze.

"There you are!" shouted a rough voice. The three young dragons turned to see Sir Archibald right behind them, standing beside his horse.
"Oh no, what do we do?" asked Apollo. Eider didn't answer. He growled at the villain. Then he took off and flew over him. He shot silver fire at Archibald. The horse reared up and ran off. Archibald drew his sword. Eider dived at him and shot more silver fire. Archibald slashed his sword at the dragon but missed. He tossed his sword aside and pulled a bow from his back and an arrow from his quiver. He fitted the arrow into the bow and aimed it at Eider.

"Eider look out!" Avalon cried. Archibald tuned on her and kicked snow in her face. She roared when it got in her eyes. Then Archibald aimed his arrow at Eider. He fired it and hit Eider right in his bad paw as he was about to circle around for another attack. Eider roared in pain and crashed into the snow. Archibald picked his sword back up and advanced on the downed dragon. Avalon and Apollo finally blinked the snow out of their eyes. They saw Archibald getting closer to Eider. Avalon roared and ran at Archibald. When she was close enough she leapt forward and sank her teeth into Archibald's calf. He yelled in pain. He turned on Avalon and slashed his sword at her. She jumped out of the way and ran back to Apollo.

"Leave him alone!" she demanded.

"You're going to be so sorry you did that," Archibald hissed.
he whistled for his horse, which hadn't gone very far. He mounted his horse and charged after the two dragons, leaving Eider behind. Apollo and Avalon ran from the bad guy's horse. He chased them through the snow and towards a tall mountain. Archibald reached into his saddlebag and pulled out a lassoed rope. Avalon spread her wings and was about to take off. Archibald threw the rope at her and snagged her hind legs, preventing her form takin off. Avalon roared as she crashed onto the snow. Apollo, who was far up ahead, turned around when he heard his sister. He saw Archibald tie the other end of the rope to his saddle and dismounted his horse. He drew his sword again. Avalon struggled against her bonds as she watched Archibald get closer with his sword. She knew this was the end, Apollo was too far away to get there in time. Archibald sneered down at her. He raised his sword over her head, and was about to behead her when his sword was blocked by another. Avalon looked to see who had saved her, and saw Chris fighting Archibald. She had never been happier to see her older brother, and he wasn't alone. Re was helping Chris fight off Archibald. The villain was clearly no match for the pair of them. Re chased the horse away. It suddenly began dragging Avalon by her legs. Apollo flew after her and cut her loose. Avalon kicked the rope off and got to her feet. She and Apollo watched as Chris finally knocked Archibald unconscious. He fell onto the snow. Chris and Re turned to Apollo and Avalon. The two young dragons ran to them. Chris put his swords away just as Apollo tackled him to the ground and began licking his face. Avalon nuzzled her father.

"Thank goodness you two are okay," Re said relieved.

"I knew you'd come," Avalon cried. Then Re got Apollo off Chris, who sat up.

"Yeah good to see you too Apollo," he said laughing.

"Can I help it if I missed you?" said Apollo. At that moment Windwalker and Toothless ran up to them. They had woken up to find the tree young dragons missing and spent a good half an hour looking for them.

"Hey! Look who we found!" Avalon cried. Windwalker ran to her rider and he hugged her. Toothless sat on his haunches beaming.

"Were's Mama?" asked Avalon.

"She's coming," said Re. "She'll be here in a few minuets."

"Where's Eider?" asked Toothless, noticing he wasn't there. Avalon gasped and took off. The others scrammed to follow her. She led them to where they had left Eider. They found him laying on the snow, his bad paw was bleeding badly. Eider was unconscious, but breathing. The arrow was still stuck in his paw.

"Who's this?" Re asked.

"This is Eider," said Avalon. "He was imprisoned with us after Archibald killed his parents. His paw had been broken for months."

"Oh my goodness," said Re. Suddenly their came a roar from overhead. Everyone looked up to see the rest of the group landing next to them, followed by the other fugitives.

"Mommy!" Apollo cried, running to Aurora. She lowered her head and nuzzled Apollo, then Avalon.

"I'm so glad you're alright," she said.

"We missed you Mommy," said Apollo.

"I missed you too," said Aurora. Hiccup jumped off Tenor and ran to his dragon. Toothless was so happy to see his rider. He began licking his face.

"Good to see you too bud," Hiccup said, laughing. Chris was attending to Eider's wounds with Serenity's medical bag. He pulled the arrow out then bandaged up the cut. Then he put a splint on Eider's broken wrist, luckily the poor dragon remained asleep during the whole thing. Tenor stood next to Windwalker, who was more than happy to see him.

"I thought I would never see you again," Windwalker said.

"Good to know you hadn't given up on me," Tenor said sarcastically.

"Well look at all this," said a voice behind them. Everyone turned to see Sir Archibald standing there, with his sword in hand. "These dragons will fetch me a good fortune. I'll be taking them all."

"Yeah," said Tenor. "You and what army?" Archibald sneered at them. Then there came a whole army out from behind the mountains. There were at least 100 men on horses, and some draft horses hauling what looked like giant crossbows that shot harpoons. One man on a horse came galloping up to Archibald with is horse. Archibald mounted his horse and joined his men.

"You had to open your big mouth didn't you Tenor?" said Re quietly. The riders mounted their dragons. Hiccup got back on Tenor, as Toothless had no left tail fin or saddle. The dragons took up a defensive pose with Torch behind them. The riders drew their weapons. They stood together as one unit against the massive army before them. Toothless made himself useful by rushing Eider to safety. The other dragons took off and flew over the army. Archibald ordered his men to start firing harpoons. But before they could the dragons shot fire at them. The horses whinnied and bolted. The men reined their horses in and began shooting arrows at the dragons. No arrow made a hit as the dragons were flying erratically. They set the whole valley on fire. limiting the horses' movements. The smoke from the fire filled the air, giving the dragons cover. Archibald was getting frustrated.

"Fire everything!" he roared. His men started firing harpoons, arrows, and boulders into the smoke. They heard a dragon cry out in pain, and Aurora fell out of the sky and crashed on the snow. The other dragons fired back giving Re time to go down to see if his mate was okay. He landed next to her, she had been hit by a boulder. Re nudged her and she sat up.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, just got the breath knocked out of me," said Aurora. "This armor does its job well." She got to her feet and followed Re back into the fight. The enemy had run out of ammunition and were throwing large rocks. The dragons swooped down and fired at the giant crossbows and catapults. Then they flew down and pulled soldiers off their horses. The animals ran off never to be seen again. Finally Archibald was the only one left standing. All the dragons landed in front of him. He was in checkmate and he knew it. Desperate now, he snatched Avalon by the neck and held his sword her throat.

"No one moves, or this one becomes a vest," Archibald shouted. Avalon struggled but Archibald gripped her tighter. He didn't see Apollo sneak around behind him. He was using the hunting skills Windwalker had taught him. He moved quietly and low to the ground. He didn't growl or snort. Then when he was in the man's blind spot he thrust his wings back and jumped onto Archibald's back. He fell forward on his face, releasing Avalon. She jumped to her feet and joined Apollo and helped hold him down. He struggled and yelled into the snow. He tried to get up but Avalon held his head down.

"Well I think we can call this mission accomplished," said Re.

"What do we do with this one?" asked Astrid. "Kill him?"

"No," said Re. "I have a cell in my dungeon all warmed up for him. We'll tie him up." And they did just that. The bound and gaged Archibald.

"Can we go home now?" Avalon asked her mother.

"Sure," said Aurora. "If we go now we might be in time to see Serenity's baby be born."

"What about Eider?" Avalon asked. "Can he come too?"

"Absolutely," said Aurora. Toothless returned with Eider on his back awake.

"Is everyone ready to go home?" Re asked. He was answered with a chorus of yes. They tied Archibald to the back of Scauldy. The riders got on their dragons again. Torch gave Toothless and Eider a ride, and they all flew back to where the ship waited. It took an hour to reach it and landed on the deck. Scauldy dumped his cargo on the deck and dived into the water. Archibald was put in the lower decks and shackled. Eret steered the ship back towards Berk. Scauldy offered to pull the ship the whole way. They set off homeward bound at last.