Dawn's light was barely creeping into my window as I awoke. I slid out of bed and ended up collapsing in a heap on the floor with a groan. My father, who was sleeping downstairs, snored audibly but didn't wake up. My thighs were in abject pain from yesterday. I hadn't realized flying on Toothless was so much work. I massaged my thighs for a few minutes and tried to stretch some of the soreness out. Stood up carefully and limped my way into the washroom, grimacing with each step. I quickly washed myself and amidst all the burning soreness inadvertently stomped down the stairs, noticing my father still hadn't awoken. Neither had the rest of Berk, which was good. I was paying attention to keeping my father asleep when my right foot hit the fifth step. A sharp pop reverberated throughout the living area, making me jump and come back down on the fifth step, where it popped again. It seemed like I was making enough noise to awaken that cantankerous old Viking way on the outskirts of the main village. I paused, trying to recall his name. I knew it wasn't What's-His-Name. It was Mil-something-or-other. I sighed, knowing this was going to bug me until I remembered. What was even more irritating was that my mind thought this was more important than getting to Toothless.

But right now, I had a nice little conundrum to deal with. I had to skip a step, because putting all of my weight on the fifth step would probably make it explode to bits after the abuse I had put it through. But if I skipped the step, I would be in sheer pain from overstretching an already sore area. I sighed in frustration as I brought my right foot back up. Leaned over the edge of the step I was on, aiming for the fourth step. My right foot crunched down on the fourth step, and I stumbled forward, grunting in pain and panic as I hit the wall in front of me. I leaned against the wall, waiting for not only my father to wake up, but the rest of Berk as well. I heard him groan audibly and turn over in his bed, but he never got up. I staggered to the door and opened it much more quietly than I had negotiated the stairs. Closed the door and started walking toward the armory.

I got to the armory and remembered. Mildew. And his dumb pet sheep, Fungus, who he never let walk. As I snagged a basket, the satisfaction I felt in remembering the most important problem of the last two minutes disappeared. A pang of dread hit me in the gut, making the climb from the armory to the great hall look like it was a stairway to infinity.

I slowly made my way to the great hall and filled it about halfway with fish. For Toothless. Every passing minute brought more worry, more uncertainty that I would be able to see him again. I felt like this might have been the last meal he would receive from me.

I slid under the shield that was still at the entrance of the cove and slipped down to the bottom level. Toothless was still asleep. He was in the middle of the cove, curled up and at peace with the world. I wasn't. My insides were churning because soon, Toothless…I couldn't finish the thought.

Toothless grunted and raised his head. Blinked a few times and looked at me. Stretched, yawned and lumbered over. I took a deep breath, hearing my breath quavering as I exhaled.

"H-hey there, buddy," I stammered to him. I placed the basket down and wrapped his neck in a hug. He just let me stay there, not moving. I didn't say anything, because there was nothing to be said. I just wanted Toothless to know that no matter what, I was going to be there for him.

Toothless licked me on the cheek. I looked up at him, seeing his expression. He might not have understood what I was going through, but he knew I was worried about him. His eyes told me that everything would be okay. That he wasn't going anywhere. He groaned softly and nuzzled against my chest. Toothless must have picked up on some of the emotion I was spilling. For all of the faults and shortcomings I had compared to a Viking, Toothless certainly saw something in me that was different. It felt like he and I were meant to be together. Like it was destiny.

"Thanks, bud," I said quietly. I smiled a little at him. He grinned back at me. We were communicating, and that was all it took to make me feel better.

I walked back to the basket and tipped it over, spilling the fish in front of Toothless. "I've gotta go," I told him. "I really hope this isn't the last meal you'll get from me." I left him in the cove with the fish and took the basket. Toothless grunted and looked at me curiously after I started walking away. He wasn't used to me bringing food and then abruptly leaving. I turned back toward him and hugged him one more time. Let him go after a few seconds and climbed out of the cove with the basket. And slowly ambled my way back to Berk.

No tricks this time. Well, no tricks that could be seen. It had to be like magic. When that dragon came out of its pen, it was going to have to be something I could do that nobody else could see. And I wasn't going to tell a soul about it.

I glanced around the rows of stone surrounding the arena, noticing that it was full of Vikings watching Astrid and me compete. Some of them were placing bets, trying to call which one of us would earn the "honor" of killing a dragon. I saw my father watching intently, not budging. The Elder, Gothi, was there too, just as emotionless as my father.

Gobber had several small walls peppered around the arena. He instructed us to hide behind a wall. As I crouched down with my legs still on fire, Astrid walked up to me and shoved my shield downward, glaring directly into my eyes. "Hiccup, just stay out of my way. I'm winning this one."

"Please, by all means," I replied. I was being honest with her. If she won, then I'd introduce her to Toothless. I'd show her that dragons aren't all bad and how she wouldn't have to kill a dragon. I sat down behind the wall as she strode away, thankful she had just changed my plans for the better.

I heard the bole holding a door shut ratchet upwards. The door burst open and a raspy snarl filled the arena. The Gronckle. This one should be simple. Astrid could take it down without too much trouble. I watched her dart behind a different wall, positioning herself for the shot that would spell her victory.

Do you ever get this itchy feeling for no reason in your nose? And that imminent feeling when it spreads? I felt my nose tingle as the dragon rounded a corner about fifteen feet away from me. It spread into my sinuses when I realized it would be able to see me. I let out an earth-shattering sneeze as the dragon turned its head in my direction. The Gronckle focused its eyes on me and charged. My entire plan was ruined, because the Gronckle saw me sneeze.

"This time! This time for sure!" Astrid whispered. She leapt over the first wall and stopped. The Gronckle was lying on its side with its tongue hanging out of its mouth. I had stopped the dragon before she could even get a plan together.

I made several motions at once, trying to explain to Astrid with crude body language that the dragon saw me and I couldn't send it over to her. Her eyes caught fire glaring at me. She threw her axe down and stomped on it, shouting, "NO! NO! THIS CAN'T HAPPEN!"

Before she could direct her wrath at me, I said to her and Gobber, who was heading our way, "So, are we done? Because I'm kinda late for something."

Instantaneously, Astrid materialized in front of me and grabbed my fur vest. "For what? Late for WHAT!?" she spat. She couldn't have been any less scary at this moment in time if she was an angry Night Fury ready to blow me apart with a fireball. In fact, the only time I remember being this scared was when Toothless had me under his front leg and was glaring at me.

I tried to weasel my way out of her grip when Gobber finally reached us. "Hang on, you two. You'll have plenty of time later to kill each other." I squeezed my eyes shut in irritation at Gobber's badvice. "But first, the Elder will now decide the winner."

Astrid released her grip on my vest and stood on one side of Gobber. I was on the other, the side with his prosthetic hook. Gobber raised his right hand and pointed down at Astrid. The diminutive old lady shook her head slightly, frowning. Gobber lowered his right hand and raised his hook over my head and looked at the Elder. She grinned and pointed at me. The one time I wanted to be ignored. Great, I thought. Just great.

Fishlegs and Snotlout stormed in and tackled me, apparently excited I had become a "master dragon fighter." Fishlegs lifted me on his shoulders and screamed, "You did it, Hiccup! You won!"

I raised my arms in mock-triumph, put on a fake grin and said in some kind of pseudo-excitement, "I can't believe I did it! I'm so excited!"

Fishlegs was giddy with excitement. "So, Hiccup, d'you wanna train for tomorrow? I'll help. I can do whatever you need."

"Uh, no thanks," I replied. "I just wanna go eat lunch. I'm starving."

"Okay, we can do that too." We headed to the great hall and sat down with the other teens. Snotlout and the twins were hounding me, trying to get inside my head. They wanted to know what it felt like to have the honor of killing a dragon. As a rite of passage.

I couldn't tell them a thing, because tomorrow was going to be here sooner than I could ever hope for. And I didn't want it to arrive. If I told them I was dreading it, they'd never understand. They'd say it's okay to be scared, but I could handle any dragon. They'd say I could kill any dragon after Gobber's class. They'd never understand that in a nearby cove, I had been keeping a dragon secret, helping him live.

"I'm, uh, really excited to be able to…um…kill a dragon tomorrow. I can't wait," I told them. "Just be ready for a really good show." I finished my fish while they chatted amongst themselves. Got up and took my plate and mug to the back to be cleaned. Walked past our table and noticed Astrid hadn't been here all this time. She was probably too angry with me after an hour ago.

"See you guys later," I called as I passed our table. Fishlegs and the twins waved excitedly at me. As I left the great hall, I saw no one nearby. "I am so leaving," I said under my breath.

I stopped at home. Nobody there. Good. I grabbed a satchel, resealable mug and a metal skewer wrapped in leather. I figured that was all I needed for a few days' journey. Toothless could fly me away from Berk, and we could survive on our own. At this point, I had no other solution other than to be "conveniently absent" tomorrow. I had wanted Astrid to win today, because she was the one person in Berk who even remotely understood me. I thought I had the best chance of getting through to her about Toothless. But fate had to intervene and declare me the winner.

As I walked through the forest, I thought of different ways to figure this out. I knew for sure I wasn't going to kill a dragon tomorrow, so that alternative disappeared in a puff of smoke. Maybe I could pacify the dragon. In front of a bunch of raucous Vikings? Yeah, right. The dragon would be too spooked for anything except fighting. I could show up fashionably late with Toothless. But so many things could go wrong with that. The Vikings would probably scream bloody murder and try to kill him. And I wasn't completely sure if Toothless was tame and obedient enough to be in Berk around other people. If I were absent tomorrow, I'd get more than an earful about missing my chance to become a Viking, but I wouldn't have to deal with the dilemma of killing a dragon. At least until later. I'd be able to wait until all the hullabaloo died down, and then I could show all of Berk how amazing Toothless was.

But that was essentially procrastination. I needed to address the problem, not avoid it. I sat down on the rock I hid behind when I first found Toothless, when I realized I couldn't kill him. Thought it over. Nothing. I had to leave for a few days. I stood up and walked toward the cove.

I froze at the entrance, noticing the shield I had stuck there over a week ago was gone. Crawled through the gap in the rocks. I stood up and looked around, my heart racing. I was hoping, praying to the gods that Toothless was okay.

As I crept down to the bottom level, I saw nothing. Nobody here. Maybe somebody found the cove, but Toothless did a good job of hiding. Looked around again. No Viking, no dragon. Hopefully I was safe.

"Come on, Toothless. I think it's time we took a little vacation from here," I called. I opened my satchel to make sure everything was there when I heard it. It sounded like stone on metal. Like sharpening a blade. My eyes shot up and found Astrid sitting on a nearby rock, sharpening her axe with a smooth stone. "Astrid! What…what are you dooooing here?" I stammered as my mind froze on the word "doing."

She continued sharpening her axe nonchalantly. "I wanna know what's going on. In here," she said motioning in general around the cove. She jumped down off her rock and strode toward me. "Nobody just gets as good as you do. Especially you." She was closing in on me and I had nowhere to go. "Start talking. Have you been training in secret? Is there somebody helping you? Does it have anything to do with this?" she asked as she grabbed my flight vest.

"Uh, yeah, it does. You got me," I lied. "I've been making…um, outfits! You know, I'm really superstitious, and I think they've brought me a lot of luck. So go ahead. Take me back to Berk. Tell them everything," I said as I took a hold of her hand. She glared at me and contorted my wrist. My knees buckled from the pain. "OW! Why would you do that?"

"That's for the lies," she said as she kicked me in the ribs, making me collapse on my back. "And that's," she said as she dropped the butt end of her axe on my chest, "for everything else." She stepped on my stomach to walk further into the cove.

I was lying on the ground winded as she ambled away from me. Slowly, I stood. "Uh, Astrid," I said between breaths. "You do know there's someone else here besides us, right?" I was checking to see if she had done anything to Toothless. No response. She ignored me.

Until she saw something menacing in the far corner of the cove. Two yellow-green eyes with slits for pupils glared at her. I saw her freeze in terror and double back. "Hiccup! Get down!" she yelled as she tackled me.

The owner of those two yellow-green eyes came rushing out of the shadows. Toothless got maybe ten feet from Astrid and roared at her in anger. He was standing on his hind legs with his wings spread. His teeth were bared, and he was ready to fight to the death to protect me.

Astrid immediately stood and readied her axe. I leapt up and tackled her to prevent her throwing it at the Night Fury in front of us. She kicked me off of her, but I was too fast to her axe. I threw it away from Astrid, behind and slightly to the left of Toothless.

"HICCUP, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" she shouted at me. Toothless roared in anger again. "HE'S GOING TO KILL US!" She used every bit of her strength to shove me aside, sprinting toward her axe. Toothless jumped between her and her weapon with his teeth bared. Glaring at her. He gave a short roar, which made her slowly back away. "Hiccup, wh- what do I do?"

"Nothing, just stay there," I said panting.

"HICCUP!" she shouted. "WHAT ARE YOU…" She couldn't finish her thought because Toothless jumped toward her and roared yet again. I knew he did it because he didn't like her shouting. Astrid backed away in terror. Toothless shot a fireball about five feet to Astrid's right, making sure she understood exactly what he was telling her. She froze on the spot, her face ashen white from fear, not knowing what to do about the dragon in front of her. Astrid, like the rest of Berk, had thought the Night Fury was the stuff of legend until a few seconds ago. And she probably wished it had stayed the stuff of legend.

I strode between Toothless and Astrid, facing Astrid and said, "It's okay! You just scared him." Toothless came back down to all fours and rubbed under my hands, but still glared at Astrid. He was thankful that I was okay from the beating Astrid had doled out on me. And I was thankful Astrid didn't do anything to hurt him.

"I SCARED HIM!?" she yelled. She shot a look at Toothless, who growled at her. "Who…is 'him'?"

Well, this was it. Time to introduce Toothless to the world. I stepped away from Toothless, saying, "Astrid, this is Toothless." I motioned toward Toothless for her. Glanced at Toothless, who was still glaring at Astrid. Great. This was going to be bad. "Uh, Toothless…Astrid," I said shakily. Toothless snarled at Astrid, warning her never to come close to me again.

Astrid stood there in shock. I couldn't tell if she had put two and two together to figure out that Toothless was the reason for my success in dragon training. Slowly, she said, "You. Are. So. Busted." And turned to run out of the cove.

"Oh, hooray! We're dead!" I said sardonically. Toothless grunted and loped off. I turned and said, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Just where do you think you're going?" I chased after Toothless and put my hand on his side. Underneath one of his wings. He snarled, telling me he didn't like Astrid. "I know you don't like her, but we need to stop her from telling the rest of Berk about you. So come on." I put my hands on the saddle. Toothless heaved a sigh of frustration but let me get on his back. We took off.

We flew out of the cove, looking for Astrid. She hadn't made it far because of the maze of paths I had carved out in the forest leading to the cove. Her panic was getting in the way of her sense of direction. I smiled on the inside, grateful I was inadvertently causing problems for someone. She burst into a clearing, and I whispered to Toothless, "Now, buddy!" He dove, and I clicked the tail fin into gear. Toothless snatched Astrid off the ground, grabbing her by the upper arm. He took off, away from Berk and back toward the cove. She screamed in panic, realizing Toothless was ready to kill her at any moment.

I saw a sturdy looking tree near the cove and pointed it out to Toothless. He landed about two-thirds of the way to the top and dropped Astrid on a branch about five feet below him. She reflexively grabbed onto the branch with a yelp. The tree sagged under Toothless's weight but stayed generally upright. Astrid looked down and saw the ground was too far away to drop. Toothless wanted to make sure she knew he was in control of her situation. If she got too aggravating, he could just blast her out of the tree and watch her fall thirty feet to the ground.

"HICCUP! GET ME DOWN FROM HERE!" Toothless growled at her, reminding her of her predicament. She looked up at Toothless in fear. "And get him to stop!"

"Astrid, you have to give me a chance to explain," I stated from Toothless's back.

"I AM NOT LISTENING TO ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY!"

"Okay, then I won't speak. Just let me show you." After that I was silent. I knew she wouldn't listen to another one of my words, so I just let her decide to concede defeat and let me show her why I did so well in dragon training.

"HICCUP! I SAID GET ME DOWN!"

I stayed mum, like she had wanted. Just stared at her, unflinching. Toothless continued growling at her. I said nothing using words or with body language. I was waiting for Astrid to make a decision. Either she could hang here or she could play along with my little ruse. It was her choice.

Astrid must have decided, because she slowly climbed up the branch she was hanging from. Toward Toothless. He continued glaring at her. I was tempted to tell him to stop, but I wanted Astrid to feel the fear that I went through when I first met Toothless. She needed to understand that dragons had feelings too. That they were extremely smart creatures. Especially Night Furies.

Toothless was rumbling continuously at Astrid, making sure she knew if she took one wrong step, she was history. I lowered my hand to help her onto his back, but she slapped it out of the way. Toothless quietly snarled at her. She stood on her branch and climbed up to Toothless's level. And placed her hands on the saddle. He growled at her again. Astrid looked at me. I didn't say anything using words or facial expressions. She climbed onto the saddle behind me and commanded, "Okay, now get me down."

"Okay, Toothless," I said, patting the side of his neck softly. "Down. Gently." He spread his wings. "See, Astrid? Nothing to be afraid of." Toothless rumbled in frustration and tensed. It wasn't like the other times when he took off. This time felt…different. "Astrid, just hang on," I said.

"Wha…?"

Before she could say anything else, Toothless launched into the air at top speed. Astrid was screaming, trying to keep from falling off of him and eventually wrapped her arms around my midsection.

"TOOTHLESS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? WE NEED HER TO LIKE US!" I shouted to him over the rushing wind. But he would have none of it. He continued upwards, stalled and dove back down to the ocean. Astrid was screaming and holding onto me for dear life. And it hurt. A lot. She was squeezing the breath out of me.

Toothless dove briefly into the ocean and resurfaced. I had no say in what he was going to do. If I set the tail fin against what Toothless was doing, we'd drop like rocks into the ocean and never get back on land. Assuming we'd survive, of course. I had to find a way to slow him down. It was difficult, seeing as Toothless didn't seem to like Astrid a whole lot right now. I could only click the stirrup to the position that gave us flight. Flying where Toothless chose to go. Like back into the ocean for a brief second. Resurface. Toothless picked up speed, heading straight for the face of a cliff.

"TOOTHLESS, STOP!" I shouted. He kept on going.

Astrid grabbed onto me tighter, screaming. Toothless slowed down just enough to angle himself to jump off the rock wall. He climbed back into the sky at top speed. Stalled for a brief moment, allowing me to catch my breath. Astrid was still holding on tightly.

"Heh, he, uh, says he's not usually like this," I told Astrid as Toothless floated in the air. I didn't get a response from her, except for more screaming. I figured if Toothless kept this up long enough, she'd lose her voice for the rest of the day and not be able to scream in my ear.

Toothless made to bank to his left, so I prepared for it. Except he flipped upside-down in a barrel roll. He started a spinning dive, trying his hardest to throw Astrid into the ocean. He wanted her to pay for what she had done to me.

"…And now, the spinning," I said to no one in particular. "Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile!" Toothless whipped his head back, smacking me in the face with one of his ear fins as he spiraled toward the ocean. I grunted, tears coming to my eyes from the pain.

"HICCUP, I'M SORRY! WHATEVER I DID, I'M SORRY!" Astrid shouted in desperation. Toothless was doing a great job of scaring her, although he could have scared her just fine on the ground. "JUST MAKE HIM STOP! PLEASE!"

Toothless did one more barrel roll toward the ocean. He stopped spinning and spread his wings. I clicked toe-up. Toothless slowed down enough to keep Astrid on his back. But Astrid was still stuck on me like green on grass. Toothless maintained control of his flight as he rose slowly into the sky. This was what I had in mind when I had told him to get back down to earth gently.

"Um, Astrid. I think you can let go now," I said.

"No. He's gonna throw me off. Tell your dragon to land first." She slurred the word "dragon" out of irritation and fear.

I didn't say another word. I figured Astrid would eventually realize Toothless wasn't shamming and let go. I really wanted to breathe within the near future too. So I waited, following Toothless's lead. We were in sync again, flying around Berk without a care in the world. And we had a hostage as well.

"Astrid, I think there's something you want to see," I said.

"No thanks, I'm good." She was still hanging on tightly, but her arms were getting tired. I could feel it.

"Astrid, I'm not joking. Please, just open your eyes for a little bit."

"Okay, I did. Now get me down."

"How about looking anywhere except for the back of my head?" We were several hundred feet up in the air. Berk was down below. People were scurrying like ants, getting ready for supper. Most of the houses had fires going, casting a soft, dancing yellow light on the ground nearby. I could hold our entire island in my hand from up here. It was incredibly peaceful looking down on a home that I thought I knew extremely well. But I saw several cliffs that hadn't been explored. Areas of forests I had thought unreachable. And the other side of the mountain. I had never been over there.

"Wow," Astrid whispered. Her arms relaxed as she looked down, seeing the same Berk I was seeing. "I never thought I'd see Berk from the sky."

"Whatcha think?" I asked animatedly.

She took in the scenery for a short moment and said, "Okay, I admit it, Hiccup. This is pretty cool."

"Like you can hold the entire island in your hand, right?"

"It's just so…" She paused, waiting for the words to come to her. "Amazing. He's amazing," she said, referring to Toothless. Astrid reached down and patted his side gently. He grunted softly in approval.

Toothless gained altitude again, flying into the clouds. We felt the mist caressing our skin, letting the water cool us off. And above the clouds, we could see every star in the night sky. The moon was a waning gibbous, just beginning to disappear.

"Hiccup, we can run away and fly like this every night," Astrid said casually.

"I wouldn't mind. I'm not ready for anyone else to find out about Toothless, anyway."

She giggled and wrapped me in a hug from behind. "I don't want this night to end."

"Yeah. Me either. I don't want tomorrow to get here." Both of us liked this flight, how peaceful it was above the clouds. We could leave any problem below us.

"Oh yeah, the final day is tomorrow," she pointed out. "You know you're gonna have to…" She paused, realizing that she was still on Toothless's back. "Kill a dragon," she whispered in my ear.

"Please don't remind me of that," I whined.

"I don't think you should do it, Hiccup. I mean, what if you brought your dragon with you and showed everyone he was nice?"

"It won't work. What was your first reaction when you saw Toothless?"

Astrid thought for a brief second. Whispered, "I wanted to kill him. And bring your father to see him."

"Do you honestly think the rest of Berk will act any different?"

"Maybe. I think it's worth a shot."

"I don't. I can't risk anything happening to Toothless."

"So is that why you wanted to leave today?"

"Pretty much," I replied.

"Hiccup," she said after a short pause. "Why do you call him 'Toothless?'"

"You'd never believe me if I told you," I said.

"Lemme guess. You're being sarcastic."

"Nope. His teeth are retractable."

Astrid was about to say something when Toothless's ears perked. He grunted and sped up. Astrid yelped and grabbed onto my midsection again. "What is it, buddy?" I asked. Toothless dove slightly, passing back through the clouds toward the earth.

Toothless had never flown like this before. He was never this directed by something, at least I had never seen him like this. He had a powerful sense of urgency behind his wingbeats. I just followed along with the stirrup, clicking as he shifted directions slightly.

We burst out of the clouds into a flying herd of dragons. Toothless almost crashed into a Monstrous Nightmare. He skreeled and abruptly switched directions, nearly throwing us off his back. The Nightmare just glared at Toothless and hissed. Toothless kept his place in the formation, letting us see what was going on. There were several hundred dragons flying toward an unknown place. It was foggy, but we could see each dragon was carrying something. Some were carrying sheep. Others had large fish. Others were team-carrying large animals like yaks.

"What are they doing?" Astrid whispered.

"Looks like they're hauling in the kill."

"Um, Hiccup. What does that make us?"

"Toothless would never do that to us. I hope." Astrid clung tighter to me, hoping I was right. "Toothless, you've gotta get us out of here." I touched the side of his head gently, but he shook my hand off and grunted. He was gonna give us first-row seats to something he wanted us to see.

"I really hope you're right, Hiccup."

Toothless dove slightly, closer to the ocean. Just like yesterday, we were avoiding rocks and spires left and right. If I thought the area around Berk was challenging, I didn't have a word to describe these features. I could barely see anything, so I followed what Toothless was doing. "Astrid, get down," I whispered. She immediately did. I hunkered down in the saddle, letting Toothless guide us to what may very well have been our fates.

Toothless approached a rock face head-on. "Toothless, what are you…" I couldn't get the rest of the sentence out, because he barreled straight into a cavern with the other dragons. Astrid was hanging onto me like she was when Toothless wanted nothing to do with her. Now I was scared, just like she was. I had no idea what was on this island, but the echoes of all the dragons kept reverberating, bouncing off the walls. The cacophony of dragon grunts and roars was almost too much for me to handle. Astrid began panicking too, because I felt her arms start to shake from fear.

Out of all the crowding at the entrance, it was a minor miracle that Toothless never crashed, never met another dragon. I couldn't see his head in front of me. Too dark. I just kept trying to feel Toothless, trying to pay attention to what he was doing so I could adjust the tail fin.

We reached an opening in the cavern. I looked up. It was a volcano, if I had ever seen one from inside. The space was infinitely tall; there was no top and the bottom was a dull red-orange glow. It wasn't soft lights, like what dawn or sunset looks like. This was a dark, sinister, otherworldly glow.

Astrid and I had about two seconds to watch the proceedings before Toothless got there. Each of the dragons dropped their prey down into the red-orange glow and flew to a perch. Toothless flew over the same area, mimed dropping a prey item and landed on a stone ledge about midway up with a pillar in front.

"Well," I stated sarcastically. "It's sooooooo nice to know that all of our food has been dumped down a giant hole in a mountain."

"They're not eating any of it," Astrid observed. "What do you think is going on?"

"I have an idea, and I really hope I'm wrong about it."

Toothless hunkered down, giving us a limited view of what was going on. The pillar was to our left, maybe about six feet in diameter, obstructing our view to the entrance of the volcano.

A Gronckle was last in. Fitting, I thought. We had known Gronckles to occasionally fall asleep while flying. It only made sense that the laziest dragon here would be a Gronckle. The dragon hovered over the pit and dropped a small fish, opening its mouth and letting it slide off its tongue. The fish couldn't have been more than four inches in length. Satisfied, the Gronckle closed its mouth and scratched behind its head while hovering.

Then we felt it. My idea was getting more and more correct by the second. A low roar, more felt than heard, reverberated throughout the cavern. The Gronckle looked down and panicked, giving a short bleat. Too late, I thought. From out of nowhere, a massive head rose up from the depths with its mouth open. Its jaws snapped shut around the dragon and swallowed. Just like that, it was over. A lazy Gronckle paid the price with its life for not finding enough food.

"What…is that?" Astrid asked.

"What I hoped not to happen," I replied. Astrid whimpered in fear, knowing that if the dragon saw us, we'd be next.

The gigantic dragon rumbled deeply as it dropped back down into its chasm. I watched its throat vibrate as it vocalized. I could see its beady eyes, scanning the area for any more reasons to eat something. This dragon's head was probably five times the size of an adult Zippleback. Maybe bigger. Its teeth were probably five feet long…each. The dragon had almost a slow grace to its movements.

Its head stopped in its descent, right at Toothless's level. Like a Nadder, this dragon's eyes were on the sides of its head. One of them was looking straight at us. I could tell the dragon saw us because the pupil narrowed instantly. Astrid gasped and tightened her grip on me.

No time for hiding anymore. We just had to get the heck out of here. "Toothless, you gotta get us out of here, now!" I said. I gave him a nudge with my right heel.

He didn't need to be told twice. Toothless bounded to his left behind the pillar as the massive dragon roared, deafening both me and Astrid. The other dragons became jittery, trying to figure out what was going on. She held onto me, shaking from fright. My knuckles had gone beyond turning white from holding onto the saddle so tightly. The muscles in my hands began to cramp, which I knew was probably the one thing I didn't want to have happen in this emergency.

Toothless stopped directly behind the pillar. He was waiting. I knew what he was up to. Waiting for the dragon to take the bait. Toothless's breaths were coming and going quickly. This wasn't like when we were in the cove. There was no bellows-type sound. Toothless was on the verge of panicking. He was just as scared as we were.

"Why is he stopping!?" Astrid whispered.

I saw the dragon's snout peek around the pillar when Toothless grunted and whipped around. He took off immediately, flying around the giant dragon toward the entrance. The dragon snapped its jaws shut around the pillar, collapsing it. Several Nightmares were huddled together above us as their ledge collapsed. The dragon's jaws were open, waiting for the smaller sixty-foot dragons above. Only one became a meal. The rest were able to escape.

As Toothless aimed for the entrance, all of the other dragons took off, trying to escape. I hoped Toothless would live up to his name tonight: the Night Fury. Master of stealth and speed.

Somehow, Toothless was able to avoid the chaos of rushing dragons and streaked out of the cavern. The giant dragon snapped its jaws shut a few yards behind Toothless's tail. I heard a Zippleback's double scream as it was snared by the long teeth. Bones crunched like twigs as the Zippleback, nearly cleaved in half, was dragged to its end.

Astrid gasped as the cool night air hit her face, and she tightened her grip on me. I didn't mind, because it told me we were still alive. Keep going, Toothless, I thought. We had to get back to Berk.

After what seemed like an eternity of flying, Toothless landed in the cove. No crashing, no rough landing. Front feet first, followed by his back feet a split second later. Smooth as could be. Astrid wouldn't let go for a few seconds.

"Um, Astrid," I choked. I wasn't sure if it was from fear or from her squeezing me too tight again. "I think we're back on earth."

She looked around and let me go. Slipped off of Toothless's back. And promptly collapsed in a heap as her legs wouldn't work. She groaned as she found her footing.

I peeled my hands off the metal handles on Toothless's saddle and flexed them experimentally, trying to get any semblance of motion back. I dismounted, although my legs worked at least somewhat. My knees buckled, but somehow I kept my balance. I haltingly turned to Toothless, who was panting in deep, sharp breaths. Tonight's journey really took it out of him. I stroked the side of his head with shaking hands and said, "Thanks, buddy. You did great." He just continued panting, but looked at me in understanding.

All three of us rested for a few minutes, letting the panic work its way out. Astrid sat down in the grass and immediately sprawled on her back with an exasperated groan. I paced, trying to walk off the fear. Toothless just sat in his spot, watching me and Astrid protectively. I heard Astrid slowly stand after a few minutes.

"It totally makes sense now!" she blurted out suddenly. I turned to her and stared. "It's like a beehive. They're the workers, and that gigantic…thing is their queen!"

"Yeah. So?"

"We've gotta tell your father about this." She began to turn toward the entrance of the cove.

That line was the one thing Astrid couldn't have said. I grabbed her by the arm and said, "No. No. Please, Astrid. Don't do it."

"Why?"

"They'll…" I paused, trying to gather myself. "They'll…" I trailed off. I couldn't finish the rest of the sentence.

"They'll what?" she prompted.

I sighed in exasperation. "They'll…kill Toothless." I couldn't hide the emotion any longer as my voice cracked on the word "kill."

"Hiccup, we just found the dragons' nest! This is the reason for all the dragon attacks. The one thing that Vikings have been looking for since they first sailed here. And you wanna keep it a secret? All for what? Your…" She paused in disbelief. "For your pet dragon?" This was too hard for her to get her mind around. "Are you serious?"

I closed my eyes for a little bit, thinking about how I was going to say it to her. But I had no other choice. I took a deep breath and looked directly into her eyes. Unwavering. "Yes." I let the moment hang, because there was no other explanation needed. Either Astrid would get it or she would go tell my father anyway and doom Toothless.

There was a short pause. "Okay," she said.

"Okay what?"

"I'm with you. I won't tell anyone about your dragon."

"Thanks, Astrid," I said. I felt completely relieved that Astrid was on board my ship called Insanity.

"But what are you going to do about it? You know the instant word about your dragon gets out, your father will want to know about the dragons' nest."

"Or do you think he'll just kill Toothless and shun me for the rest of my life?" I asked with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hiccup, you really need to tell him. He'll know what to do."

"Astrid, listen to yourself talk! We are the only people on Berk who know about this. Nobody except us knows about what's on the dragons' island. We're the only ones who know about Toothless. My father will try to kill any dragon he looks at. If he finds the nest, he'll just march right in and try to kill that massive dragon. There is no way he's going to win."

"Okay, okay. I get it." She paused, thinking. Changed the subject slightly. "What are you gonna do about the dragon tomorrow?"

I sighed in defeat. "I don't know. Just…just give me until the morning."

She stood there in quiet understanding. This problem, which had intensified itself a thousand times, was way too much for any of us to handle. A few hours ago, it was just keeping Toothless away from the rest of the Vikings. Now the problem was three-pronged: I had to keep Toothless safe, had to figure out what in the world to do about the dragon tomorrow and how to break the news about the dragons' island. It was an assault of impossibility, just me, Astrid and Toothless facing the world.

A sharp jolt snapped me out of thought. It was Astrid punching me in the arm. "That's for kidnapping me." I looked at Toothless, who was drinking out of the stream. He whipped his head slightly, telling me to hit her back. I rubbed the spot on my arm where she had hit me. That was going to be a bruise tomorrow. She slowly walked toward me. Kissed me on the cheek. Whispered, "That's for…you know…everything else." She turned and began the trek back to Berk, leaving me in stunned silence.

That was totally unexpected. Toothless crept up behind me and was looking at Astrid as she walked away. His eyes were round. I heard him breathing, sounding like the bellows in the armory. I looked up at him and said, "Wh…what are you looking at?" He looked down at me and grunted in approval. He had to be teasing me about what Astrid had just done. He just had to be.

I watched as Astrid made her way out of the cove. I wasn't going to follow. I had to stay here with Toothless. I couldn't make an unannounced entrance into my house this late after dark, especially after what the three of us had seen tonight. My father was going to be suspicious, but I couldn't think of anything else to do other than stay as far away from him as possible until tomorrow. I could give him the excuse that I wanted to prepare for the final day somewhere quiet, to collect my thoughts, to relax. But inside, I felt like tonight was the last night I was going to be alive before my execution tomorrow morning. And I wanted to spend it with Toothless.

"What do I do, Toothless?" I asked him. Toothless looked at me. Muzzled into my chest with a rumble, eyes closed. I guessed he was telling me to forget about it for tonight. For now, he was just happy that we had survived an encounter with the reason for all of the dragon raids. He was happy that I was okay, that I chose to spend the night with him. Toothless pulled his head back and looked at me with those caring round eyes. He rumbled softly, trying to get me to relax.

I couldn't get one thought out of my head, no matter how much I tried to follow Toothless's advice. The dragon tomorrow. Toothless lay down, looking at me. I shuffled over to him and propped my back up against his side, just behind his neck. And wrapped him in a hug. I let all my pent-up worry and fear spill out. "Toothless, I don't know what I'm gonna do," I told him. I felt small and helpless, knowing that no matter what happened tomorrow, I was gonna fail. I couldn't kill a dragon. Not after Toothless changed my life. But I'd be a pariah forever, holding the most important secret anyone could ever know about. And Toothless would be dead. It was an impossible ethical decision. No right answer. All of them wrong. And I had to decide tomorrow.

I hugged Toothless tightly, holding onto him like my life depended on it. And cried myself to sleep.