To Soar into the Sunset: A Night Fury's Odd Memoir

by Fjord Mustang

HTTYD with a Robert Heinlein twist. Not AU. A skilled flying warrior is shot down on a spy mission. Trapped & unable to fly, his one hope for survival& success is to attempt communication with the alien who shot him down. Can they be allies? New text!

13. Fireday

Chapter 13: Fireday

And here is where it all comes to a resolution... another loooong chapter. I updated this, on the suggestion of the good Marmalada, that I add something to the chapter more my own. So I did- and Toothless has a dream (or is it a dream) on the way to the Dragon Island. I wanted this to be a new chapter but fanfic will not allow it, so it goes onto Chapter 13 and makes a superlong chapter. I hope it's okay with you all

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Disclaimers: The usual ones apply. I wish I was friends with a dragon, but I am not. Yet. And, the bigger they are, the harder they fall.

The poem in the chapter (translated into English) is actually by Halldór Laxnes, a 20th century Icelandic author and Nobel Literature prize winner.

"There comes a time in the life of (everyone) when he or she must decide to risk 'his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor' on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else".- R. A. Heinlein (Stranger in a Strange Land)

Once I recovered my composure and the boats were out into the open seas, I raised my head and glared at Stoick.

::Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.::

If he thought I was bad, then wait until he met the Lady. She'd make me look like a gentle dragon kitten overdosed on Sky Grass. He did not seem to give me much notice after that, just clumped to the other side of the wooden pseudo floor that these Vikings call a "deck". I discovered I hated being in a boat. The pitching of the solid-seeming wooden floor made my stomach queasy. I was only grateful it was not bad enough that I needed to vomit. Not a pleasant prospect when one is wearing a muzzle.

The worst torture was the sky seemed so close to me, yet I could only stare up at it helplessly, envying the sea mews and gannets who circled overhead.

It seems these boats were powered by the wind, using large hides that caught the breezes. The wind-hides had been painted with more of those utterly enchanting depictions of my People dying horrible deaths at the hands of Firemakers. And, if the Lady had her way, there will be many, many more of those lovely depictions to come in the near future! All over the continent, and beyond!

Various Firemakers moved around the ship, checking weapons, adjusting rigging. There was a solemn silence to their movements. It was eerie how quiet these Vikings were, but they had no idea how serious of a situation they were heading into.

Many of the Firemaker men and women would look my way. Some had fear in their eyes. Some had anger, maybe remembering the loss of a loved one at a Person's hands. Some, like Hiccup's blacksmith mentor, even had a look of fascination.

Most, to my surprise, looked at me sadly. I think they were as sick of this war as I was, but this was the only life they had known. So, here we all were, sailing off to die together! What joy!

Even the boat itself sounded like it was mourning with its low creaking sound.

The blacksmith had stationed himself near me and was looking over the ocean. The winds were strong, and we were making very good crossed his powerful arms and pretended not to notice me.

I returned the favor (though I admit it was not possible for me to cross my arms. Slight problem with biology, there.).

I lowered my head a bit to try and diminish the queasy feeling I got in my stomach from the pitching and rolling. I would seem to move up, then balance to the left or right and then plunge back down. It was a bit like what I experienced when I tried to fly out of the canyon after being shot down. But, since I was chained to a block of wood, it was not half as much "fun."

This made me think of Hiccup and how we had slowly come to trust each other and to work as partners. It had wound up being an all-too-brief partnership, but we had proved that a Person and a Firemaker could work together to accomplish something neither of us could have done alone. And, with him, I had flown higher and faster than I ever had in my life. And, better yet, I had finally gained a friend to share those experiences of flight. Well, I would never experience that again, either of flying into the sunset, or of enjoying life with my best friend- my, wonderful, poor, banished, "dead-man-walking" Rider. At least I had the comfort of knowing it would soon all be over. For , sadly for him.

Damn. I really hate myself. And I deserve it! Hiccup? I should never have used you and bonded with you. Can you ever forgive me?

We must have hit a particularly high wave, for the boat reared up at an angle that shifted my platform back until the chains groaned. Then the wave dropped with a hissing sound. The boat stayed in the air for a moment and then plunged back down, smacking against the sea with a deep bellow. My crop and stomach seemed to leap into my mouth, and I choked back a roar of shock. The rest of me smarted with pain from the impact of the crash back into the sea. Water splashed across the deck, leaving trails of sea foam and weeds.

The blacksmith did not even seem to have been phased out. His one foot and prosthetic clung to deck somehow, so he had just followed the rolling of the ship.

He even yawned, I swear, with boredom. I, the sky bound creature, was the clumsy one, and I had all my legs.

"Takes a while to get yer sea legs on ye, dragon," he told me, "Or, in my case, sea leg. Just grit those pearly whites of yours fer a bit longer. Soon we'll be there, and it'll all be over."

::Right, you are, Firemaker for Firemakers.:: I told him with venom, snorting through my heavy leather muzzle.

His clear blue eyes seemed filled with sadness as he looked towards the sea line at the horizon.

"I saw the boy when we sailed out of the harbor, " he told me." Since he was a baby, I've said more prayers to the gods than I can remember to protect him, but most of 'em were in the last few hours.

" Just a few weeks ago, I was tellin' all the kids in the dragon training, the Saga of Gísli Súrsson, the most famous Viking outlaw. That poor bloke was on the run for thirteen years in Iceland before he was killed in a feud, his wife fightin´by his side.

"Of course, Hiccup, being the nosy one, has to ask how you could survive as an outlaw. I told 'em most wound up going to Iceland and most sought out places with hot springs. In Iceland ya have a goat's bleat chance of survival- more so than the other parts of the Viking world. So, ya find a place with hot springs. There ya could boil food and stay warm. But yer new outlaw digs gotta be hot springs in the highlands, the middle of the country where no one lives except for ghosts and demons."

He snorted a laugh, "Stupid me. What'm I doin', talkin' to a dumb beast anyway, like it understands me?"

Oh, the irony. I was just thinking the same thing about you... I snarled my displeasure at his observations and shrunk my eye pupils to the Super Creepy Mode.

"Ah, stop yer growlin', ya black beast." He slouched back against the rail a bit more, "I came here ta get away from the grumblin' from the others on board. Figured it would be quieter." His blue eyes gazed levelly at me, "Don´t prove me wrong. Ya leave me alone, and I´ll leave ya alone. D´we have an understandin'?"

I just stared back at the Firemaking-Firemaker noncommittally, and growled a low rumbling growl.

"I'll take that as a 'yes','" he growled right back to me, "And, no doubt, accented with some colorful naughty words in whatever gibberish you beasties speak."

The boat plunged again. This time more rigidly than before.I let out a bark of surprised pain as the landing knocked the air from my sick to my stomach, I dropped my head and forced myself to breathe. My legs were now trembling from the impact. I felt so tired and dizzy, so out of my element….

Then a reassuing warmth as a calloused Firemaker hand touched my head, Gentle fingers scratched between my middle ear sensors, just where the memory stone is lodged in my touch was very much like what Hiccup would have done: gentle, kind, brotherly. I should have snapped at the Firemaking-Firemaker, but instead I sighed as his strong but compassionate fingers sent warmth through my exhausted body.

Against my wishes, a little sob-like moan came from my throat. After all this rough treatment for two days… this gentle head touch was like rain in a desert. He scratched me harder, reassuring me, "Svona, svona. Ya miss yer boy, don't ye? I do, too. He must really have cared somethin' special about ye, Fury, to take the risks he did. And ye cared for him, too. I saw how ye stood up for him in the Kill Ring against the Monstrous Nightmare- and how ya listened to him when he asked ya not t'hurt his father."

The smith sighed sadly drew his hand up across the top of my head, splaying fingers across my face. I found it comforting, and surprising that this fierce looking man would have such a warm soul, "I never would ha' guessed ye beasties were capable of loyalty, and even of love, among your own kind, let alone for a human child. Makes me wonder what else we might have learned about ya, if times were more peaceful," the Firemaking-Firemaker told me, lifting his hand from my head.

He let himself drop onto a barrel not far from my chained platform and gazed again out at the sea.

I felt a torpid exhaustion settle on me. I had not slept last night, and not very well the night before, when I had been protecting Hiccup from his sleep demons.

Oh, Hiccup. I miss you. I hope some small part of you listens to that warning I gave you...

Head still dropped, I closed my eyes, trying to imagine myself into thinking the pitching of the deck beneath me was really the soaring stream of the wind that I feel when I totally did not work. However, the waves had an oddly monotonous rhythm. They boomed softly against the side of the boat in a way that lulled me into relaxing more.

My head dropped a bit lower, and suddenly there was a clinking nose was now touching the base of the platform, as my neck had somehow been released from its chain bindings. The chains were now lying scattered and broken at my feet now like rust-flecked serpents.

What in the name of the Sky Lady?

I shrugged my aching, itching shoulders, and there was a crack as the wooden binding that secured my shoulders came loose. Suppressing a rather embarrassing chirrup of delight, I leapt off the barricade and shook my head hard.

The leather muzzle flew off my face and over the rail, splashing into the sea with a foamy explosion.

I only had the saddle and harness on me! And I could get away from this death trap, rescue Hiccup, free the other People and see about getting the remaining humans to hide from the Lady's wrath. Just another pleasant way to spend a fall afternoon!

Logic somewhere knocked on my brain, and I realized this just was a dream, but I decided to go with it. I had nothing better to do until we reached the island. I knew that dreams are usually a way we People try to make sense of what is going on- as if anything would make sense in this sad situation.

Well, let's dream on and see what happens.

I flung my wings up, shaking off a remaining set of chains and stretched them out, giving a quick check to make sure my real wings and the leather tailfin were all in place.

None of the Vikings seemed to notice I was escaping.

::So, long! It's been real! It's been fun! It just has not been real fu- ahhhhhhhhhhhhh! No!::

I had forgotten one essential piece of equipment. My Rider. I flipped onto my back and hit the water with a nasty smack, sinking right down into clear, cold North Atlantic sea.

Snarling in anger, I plunged both sets of wings down and pushed my way to the surface, breaking up through the water into cold, clear air. I shook my head, my sensors slapping against each other and my head and neck. Water drops flashed like diamonds against the sun. Some of it landed on my forked tongue, tasting of deep brine and dying fish.

I roared in anger ::This is a dream, scorch it! Can't I at least be able to fly normally?::

Strangely enough, no ship was in front of me. I was alone in the water.

I shook my head again to clear my sensors, and then I could pick up the sound of waves butting against a rock surface. I paddled towards the sound, my feet churning up bubbles in the water. I don't know how long I paddled, but my front claws did eventually hit land. I gripped the rocky surface and forced my body up and onto it.

As I did, I felt something/someone grab the riding harness in his/her dragon teeth, helping to pull me ashore.

Suddenly it let go of me as my knees collapsed, and I found myself lying on a beach of black lava stones. I sighed and closed my eyes in tiredness.

Somehow I had wound up on the Lady's Island, and, better, before the Vikings had gotten here to invade it.

Then I felt a warm, nicely-slimy feeling as something scraped across my face, around my neck, over my chest: something soft and warm but also a bit like sandpaper.

It was a dragon's tongue.

The scent of the saliva was familiar: cool breezes, fresh, clean-smelling fish from mountain lakes, the sulfur scent of lightning dancing in the mountains, the sweet chill and clear blue of glaciers. And, faint under it all, the scents of sandalwood and rosemary of the incense that perfumed the prayer flags placed near offerings of fish for us on granite stairs.

I looked up and- to my complete surprise- into the eyes of my mother. She was so lovely, the sun bringing out the sleek blue-grey-black of her hide and the deeper patterns of the stripes and spots, so much like my own.

::I'm here, son. The nightmare is over. We're going home.:: her tongue cleaned the the jagged cuts I'd gotten trying to reach out to Hiccup.

I dropped my head to the shoreline in exhausted relief, my eyes stinging with salt from the ocean. I let her clean the scent of the North Atlantic from me. I started purring in relief, feeling like she was as pulling me back into sanity again.

Home. Back to where everything makes sense. Finally.

::You do know everything that's happened to you, up until now, was just all a nightmare:: my mother told me, lapping her loving tongue around my face, cleaning dried tear tracks from my face. (I now knew this had to be a dream. I had been thrown into the water. How could I still have dried tear salt on my face? )

:: All a bad dream, son. But you'll be back home, soon. You'll wake up and all will be fine. And you'll have no crippled tail fin::

I sighed in tiredness ::Yes, and, with all due respect, Mother, this is just- well- a piece of crap. You want me to believe everything I've experience up to now was just a dream- but I know this is the dream! It's too good to be true. Besides, take a look at this!::

I lifted my head and rolled onto my left side, exposing my right shoulder. There was Hiccup's bloody handprint, still as bright as ever in spite of me being thrown into the water. As a matter of fact, it was wet as if it had just been pressed in my shoulder again.

I lurched to my feet and shook myself, the harness itching me.

I heard my mother snort behind me in disgust ::Okay, point to you, son. You are in a dream. However, you're still wearing that ludicrous pack pony harness? Why don't you try and tear it off? It's quite battered and ragged looking, so shouldn't be hard. No Lightning Person should submit to wearing such a demeaning sign of slavery.::

I looked back at her and shook my head, ::No, thanks, Mom. I admit, I don't like how it feels, but someone I care about put it on me. It's the last memory I have of him. I'll keep on me for a while longer.::

My mother growled behind me, ::So melodramatic, son. It does not flatter you. Nor does that harness.::

::Deal with it, dear maternal unit.:: I was on my feet and bounding up the hill towards the main part of the Lady's Island ::I have an awfully hard head, you know. I'm sure I inherited all the stubbornness in the family. And, I believe, most of that came from your side!.::

::To my eternal irritation!:: she followed behind me. Her steps were so quiet against the jingling the leg bands and wrist straps of the harness. ::I knew when I saw you dig your little claws in and refuse to come out of the den for the first time until I made that bright light shining in the sky go away, that I was being paid back for everything I ever to did my mother. And I was the champion of stubborn of my generation.::

We walked together along the beach, sharp black stones skittering from underneath our claws, mother and son. My pace matched hers, stride for stride. It felt so right.

And so wrong.

Then a strange thought nibbled at my mind. ::I thought the North Atlantic Signalers took out my connection with our People. That includes most of my childhood memories. I can remember how you looked, but not specific day to day memories, or emotions. How is I can remember things now so well? ::I couldn't bring up a single memory of my childhood an hour ago- now, it's as though I never lost my connection!::

She laughed, a deep ironic chuckle that soothed me and filled me with love.

::Well, maybe that whole memory loss thing was just an illusion. The Signalers tell you that you are cut off from memories, and they convince you of it with their oh-so-wondrous mental powers. But, son, what if it is just the power of persuasion? They push you into believing it is gone and- -bam, insert a bright flash of light and sulfur smoke- and ooh, guess what? Your connection's gone! You were traumatized, hurt, bullied, in no state of mind to resist them. They had to put you in a weakened position where you would mentally convince yourself you were cut off. And then you physically started acting like you were cut off.::

She leaned in and swiped a loving lick up my right shoulder and neck, and the bloody handprint of my Rider disappeared ::... So, let's say it never really was sealed off. You just believed it was.::

She purred gently, ::By the Sky Lady's wings , but you've grown! You're taller than I am now!::

I touched noses with her affectionately. ::Can't help it, Mom. Growth happens. ::

Our feet crunched through bits of lava stones and burnt materials as we climbed up a hill, heading towards the volcanic cone of the Lady's Island but what awaited us at the top of the hill was not what I expected.

There was no volcanic cone and no Nest. My mother and I stood on a cliff overlooking the sea. All around us was a landscape of grey and black, covered with crumbly black wood ash that flowed softly across our paws. I picked up scents of burnt ash, oak, yew, birch. And also scents of wool, cattle, horses, dogs, cats...and Firemaker. Far back in the distance I could see the burnt out remnants of a forest, tree corpses lined against a cloudy sky. Ravens soared overhead. Strange- none of these things exist on the Lady's Island.

::Who said this was the Lady's Island?:: My mother asked me gently, as if she had read my mind, ::Look again, kiddo.::

I drew into the memory stone for reference and suddenly realized there was a pattern under this ash. The coordinates lined themselves in my mind, patterns of a ring of houses surrounding a much larger building. It was the remnants of a Viking village. Mother and I were standing on the remains of what had once been a blacksmith's forge, my paws atop a surface made of iron that had melted into a puddle and then hardened into a "carpet" of slag. Ashes were dusted across its surface

I lowered my head and snorted. The black cloud of ashes drifted upwards, but my breath had also freed a piece of vellum that has somehow not burned,

It depicted a diagram that exactly matched my artificial tail fin. The wind picked it up and sent it drifting, up and over the cliffs, blowing away over the sea.

::This. Was. Birch Island.:: I thought-sent to my mother::It all turned out as I had predicted. She did come here and destroy everything...::

My mother gently nipped my neck:: Not just here. All the Isles on the Edge of the World. Your entire Sector. It was said she rained a curtain of fire over all the islands, and People living as far as Greenland could smell the smoke and see the rim of fire on the horizon.::

I shuddered at the villages, the beaches, the forests of this beautiful chain of islands that now were a wasteland.

:: But you were right, son. :: my mother said, tossing her head, :: That's all that matters. They brought this on themselves.::

I groaned softly as we trod past ashen remains of houses, stables, and the defeated remains of the Mead Hall. True, I had been angry at how the Viking warriors had treated me and Hiccup.

But there had also been the grandmothers telling stories to scare away the trolls under the bed, and little girls wanting to be like their mother. There were little boys dreaming of the white horses who pulled the Moon's chariot. And a gentle, bread making housewife praying for her husband to come back home again from his sea voyage. And, the old man mourning the death of his childhood sweetheart who had passed on before him, after all those years together. And the young lady, knitting her love into the cloak for her lover on his first dragon hunting mission.

None of them had pinned me down in the Kill Ring , and none of them had mocked me when I was trapped there. The Lady had extinguished their life's flame as fast as she had those of the others.

::It's NOT your fault!:: my mother told me, :: The Lady did as She had to do. They just happened to be in the way.::

I took a hard look at my mother. Rough times had changed her as well. I would not have remembered her talking this way when I was younger. She had always drilled in the need to show compassion to those who were not as strong as I was.

::You're right:: Mother told me, ear sensors standing up, like she had read my mind again :: I am less willing to care about others than I used to be. But, you know, it has been hard to be a Person lately. The Firemakers hate us even more than ever. It's even rumored among them that 'dragons' are so rare now we are considered mythical beasts. It's even come into the mountains where we live. There is a law that forbids priests to leave fish for us, now. But that's how it is. Things always must change as the times change.::

She shook her head we padded over the remains of a Firemaker's game board- hnétafl, Hiccup has called it. A tiny burnt ivory carving of the god Þór and his chariot pulled by two he-goats had somehow fallen so it was galloping across the scorched game board. It seemed like the god was trying to escape a fiery fate and had not made it in time.

::Don't mourn them:: my mother said softly, as if she were selecting flowers to display in our cave, :: This had to happen. The Firemakers had to go away.::

I looked at her and snorted. Did she realize how illogical that sounded? Why was it "effective" for the Lady to completely obliterate all the life on these beautiful islands including those of the very People who fed her- just to destroy one village of Firemakers?

That brought up another question, ::Mom, what happened to my sisters?::

She looked solemnly back at me with beautiful amber eyes that complemented her blue-black hide perfectly.

::Ah, your sisters. Well, they took some wrong steps, The Sky Lady Bless them. They're flying with Her now. I had warned them to be careful, but it is so hard to always watch your step where Firemakers are concerned.

She shuddered in sad memories and dropped her head, crooning sadly, :: Your oldest sister died first, at an Armenian dragon slayer's hand- and he rode a white horse, too, damn it! Then your next oldest was lured by the flute of a Mongolian Firemaker who took her hide and head. She should have known better, but she was ever a thrall to flute music. And then your baby sister- little Fate- she died a slow death of poison when an adorable Firemaker child gave her a salmon- but one her parents laced with poison. It was the sweetest and saddest trap Firemakers could have used to kill your baby sister.::

No...! She, little F…F…Fate. My fate and my shadow.

::She was your favorite, son. I remember how she'd pounce on you, trying to nibble your tail fins. It was strange how you were the most cynical and she was the most trusting. I think it was that difference that made you two such good friends::

(Some little nagging voice made me wonder for a moment why my mother only mentioned Fate's name. Not the names of my other sisters. And, she had not used my birth name at all so far).

Little sister, how I wish I had been there to protect you. But then, again, a young Firemaker was also my downfall. The difference is, he was punished for it as much as I was.

::It's not your fault!:: my mother was quick (too quick?) to assure me of this. ::It is how things had to be. The Lady knew this, but she had to weight this out. Sometimes, in the process, we lose those we love. But death must happen for new life to continue.::

I looked back in sorrow, beginning to find this litany about the Lady somewhat odd.

My mother crooned, licking me again in loving reassurance :: Things have to change, one generation and species has to pass on the sparks of fire to another when its own flame starts to fade. Otherwise, life grows stagnant and dies. We People have dominated the world for so long. Like the dinosaurs of old, we've become too great and unwieldy to continue as we are. The world has changed around us, though we have not. Now we should step back and let a new, more vibrant People step into the light. Until their time also comes. As it does for everyone. ::

I curled my lip. And what new and vibrant People would that be? I would bet a pond full of Arctic char that it would involve creatures with six eyes, spiky tails, wolf/viper heads and a rather- maybe too- charismatic personality.

::You do know , son not everyone on this Birch Island died. One did survive. Let me show you.::

She licked me again and then grabbed my neck collar (the one where Hiccup had designed his hand hold and the wrist straps) in her teeth. Then she let go of it and spat. ::Disgusting things these overgrown monkeys make! Well, this is a dream, so anything can happen. If I need it, I will find it.::

She trotted off, and I watched her poking around the ash heaps before she grabbed something in her mouth and pulled something up from the dirt. She shook her head, releasing a cloud of ashes around her head like a weird she came trotting back, a very unwholesome looking remains of a sheep's hide- wool still attached- dangling from her jaws.

My eyes widened in disgust, ::Mother! Oh, no, you don't…::

::It's just wool and it's not been handled by a Firemaker. The sheep must have been roaming loose in the hills when the Lady attacked and did not get destroyed right away. Probably ran back here seeking shelter and got trapped among the ruins. They don't have the best minds for getting out of trouble. Sucks to be a sheep, doesn't it? Believe me- it has to taste better than that harness does. Blargh!::

::But you had to grab the harness to pull me out of the water:: I said, annoyed, as she used her muzzle and a paw to stuff in and around the neck harness, creating a mouth hold for her to grip.

::Let me assure you,child, it was not too pleasant, but it was only for a few moments. This will take longer. All right, Here we go! Hang on, son!::

And suddenly she launched in the air, dragging me with her. I bunched up my shoulder and thigh muscles and launched after her, aligning my body with hers.

We both flew over the dark waters, our wings beating in the air in a pulsing rhythm.

My mother balanced me against her shoulder, so that I could fly alongside her. When she needed to adjust direction, she leaned, and then I leaned as well. In a way, she had become my Rider .

I don't know how much time passed, but suddenly we swooped down through a bank of clouds, heading into a broad, black sand lava plain ringed on two sides by sooty-white glaciers. There was an odd "oasis" of anemic grass growing sparsely among mossy lava stones, as well as a bed of multicolored cones of sulfur, white steam jetting from their tips.

Our claws crunched on lava stones as we padded into this strange world of fire and air was coated in a scent of sulfur, as though Viking Firemaker god Hel had hung her bed linens out to dry. I sneezed from the strange smell.

Then I shook my shoulders, letting the sheepskin stuffing my mother had used fall to the ground. White steam, gray and black glaciers, black sand and gray stones… monotones that blended into a cloudy gray sky. The only region of color was a blue-green hot natural pool formed where hot springs had trickled into a depression in the earth. Moss and algae rimmed the yellowish-gray stones around the natural hot pond.

::Hveravellir- the Plains of Steam- Outlaw Paradise:: my mother's voice sounded in my ear sensor.

True, the land had its cruel beauty, but it was a trifle too cruel for me.

My mother and I were now walking along dull, ferrous-colored earth near a steam-plumed cone- a fumerole, my sensors told me. Even though it was cold in this barren place, the warmth of the earth around here was toasty and comfortable.

And then I saw the Firemaker limping towards the hot pool that was in the middle of this was a male, obvious from the mangy, sparse beard on his face- it was the beard of a young man. He wore a patchwork collection of poorly tanned animal hides stitched and tied into the faded, shredded remains of what might once have been a green tunic. His leggings looked like something he'd taken from a larger man, just cut down to his size and tied onto his bony frame with a rope belt.

He wore no proper boots on his feet, rather a homemade affair made of wrapping large swathes of leather and cloth and fur around his feet and tying them together with leather bindings.

His loose hair, long and tangled, fell over his shoulders straggled down his back, so knotted it was hard to tell its real length. Young, though he was, his greasy, mud-colored hair was already starting to get large strands of grey in it. His experiences here were aging him past his natural years.

What was most disturbing to me, though, was that he was talking quietly to himself. His words were spoken too quietly for me to understand, and they came out in a voice very hoarse and broken as though his throat and larynx had been damaged. It was awkward and humiliating to watch this dramatic, full- blown two – or even three- sided discussion conducted by just one person. He would state a point, then contradict himself, then get in an argument with himself and then refuse to talk to himself until he finally worked things out in a satisfying compromise with himself. (He even crossed his arms and refused to talk to himself until he was ready to listen to himself). Then he would throw in colorful hand and body gestures to distinguish who was the one doing the arguing, making it more tragically absurd to watch.

Worst of all was in he used a finger to draw a schematic diagram to explain some scientific proof that he was trying to get the other parts of his personality to accept. I should be happy that they all accepted the arguments after a proper debate, but it just made me drop my head and moan in sorrow. It sounds funny to hear me describe this poor young man's madness, I know, but when you actually are witness to a homeless, mind-shattered soul being his own best friend, I can assure you- you'll find it both disturbs you and cuts you to the soul. There's nothing remotely funny about it.

Especially, as I realized, if you happened to know this crazy homeless person in happier days, when he had been sane.

The insane human balanced himself on his walking stick and stiffly knelt down, then used his walking stick to poke a boiling bladder-sack out of the hot spring.

The smell that came from it was of very inferior mutton. No flavors or scents of spice and herb- this was survival food. I curled my lip when I realized he probably had scavenged it from the carcass of a dead sheep.

He dropped the boiled meat sack on the ground and raised his face up, a wary look on it as though he were looking out for dangerous predators of the Firemaker variety. He swept his long hair from his eyes, and I could see his face for the first time.

He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, but it is hard to say, since there were already deep lines of stress around his eyes, forehead and mouth, making him look much older than he probably was. His face was bone thin (only a scarecrow could love it!) and marked with scabs of malnutrition. I also saw several old scars from what had to have been dagger fights, including an old scar that had been stitched across his throat. That's why his voice was now so hoarse.

His eyes were sunken deep in shadowed sockets, and they stared with a wildness that actually spooked me, and I am the wildest of wild creatures.

:: There you go, son. Your Rider. Or what's left of him. :: She gave me a toothless grin as I took in a gasp of something that mingled between hope and despair.

My mother's soothing thoughts stroked in my mind ::Actually, he's a clever fellow. Somehow he made it here to Iceland, and he's now living on the outlaw's field. He's been waiting there for you. Why don't you go say 'hello?' As you can see, it's been a while. He might be happy to see you.:

He was overjoyed, it turned overjoyed that, when I carefully walked to where he was crouched near the pool, and he looked at me, his eyes radiated something akin to how I feel when a bunch of fish get trapped in a tidal pool. (Just a hint: that's not a nice look if you happen to be one of the fish.)

He stood up, and I saw he had grown in height, but not as much as I would have expected for his age, mostly because he was now hunched at the shoulders and bent in the legs. A poor diet will do that to you Even though he lived near a hot spring, I could no longer smell his own natural, gently earthy smell under the heavier, very unpleasant odor of fear-sweat, dried blood (not his own, I must add) and volcanic ash. It occurred to me when you're always looking over your shoulder, even something as simple as taking a bath becomes something you're only able to do on rare occasions. And it was no surprise when my sensors picked up he was riddled with scars from flea and louse bites.

He gave me a very feral grin, and I saw the familiar prominent front teeth, though one of them had now been broken in half. He was also missing a few other teeth.

He said something quietly in his broken voice, and my sensors picked it up as "Loksins! Þú!"

Wait a minute? Wasn't I supposed to understand his language now since we bonded? But, then again, things had changed between us. His mind had changed, and changed beyond the ability of my sensors to adjust to his thoughts. He'd slid down a slippery slope into that place where the sun just don't shine.

Years of living as a fugitive, always hungry, always cold, always alone… His sensitive, gentle, beautiful, scientist's mind had been broken and bent, pushed out of whack by having to live like an animal in the wilderness, totally deprived of any contact or friendship with anyone. He'd even lost the ability to hold a conversation except for his bizarre monologues with himself. I had a suspicion what he had just croaked to me was the first time he had spoken to anyone else in a long time.

He could no longer understand, or relate, to any living creature other than to kill it before it killed him. Could you blame him for feeling that way? I know I could not.

Yes, he had survived, but he'd lost himself along the way. If you want to call this surviving.

I stopped a good distance from him and decided to keep my teeth out to their longest and sharpest. The look in his eyes contained pure madness- and I don't mean the angry kind of mad. I mean the more dangerous kind of mad.

::Hello. Firemaker. Hiccup? Do you remember me?:: I asked, cautiously. I have to admit my throat was choked up by now seeing him in this state, though logically I knew my Hiccup was no longer there anymore.

He glanced at me with his wild, angry eyes- no longer capable of tears- , balancing himself so that I saw he was putting most of his weight on his left leg. His right leg was a crooked, as if it had been broken and reset poorly sometime in the past.

The feral man nodded at me."Auðvítað! Ék man eftir þér," My now man-grown Rider said calmly in his ruined voice, placing his blistered hands on his hips, just where the edge of an animal hide vest ended. It was not bear skin but some poorly tanned horse hide, probably sliced off of a dead horse he'd found in his journeyings.

Or worse, my mind told me, What was left when he attacked a merchant on horseback crossing through this place. It doesn´t take long to turn a scientist into a bandit, given the right conditions.

"Tannlaus, er það! Andskótt! Helvítis andskótt! Ék hef aldrei gleymt þér.", he snarled to me, yellow and black teeth bared in anger, "Vegna þín er ég hér. Það er þér að kenna, dreki!"

Whatever he said, it did not sound too friendly.I could not understand the words, but I could understand the anger behind it. Somehow I had become a symbol for why he had wound up here.

Well, as my mom said, he was now so happyto see me that I suddenly heard a SNIKT and saw he had drawn a none-too-friendly (or healthy) looking sword from under his cloak. He´d somehow decided his key to personal happiness was to rid the world of me.

"Það er þér að kenna, Tannlaus! Farðu frá! Djöfull!"

He rushed at me, as much as he could on his damaged legs, sword held high over his head, ready to slash at me. Like he had told me over a campfire what seems like an eon ago, he knew he´d be good with the short sword, bow or dagger, given the chance. And he was right.

I shot up into the air just as the sword slashed across the spot where I had just been. I quickly backwinged and landed before my tailfin would throw me off balance and held my ground as he ran at me again, sword again held at the ready. This time I was prepared.

Time for some Toothless-Hiccup slash. Literally.

As he slashed down to open up a fatal wound on my neck, I brought a front paw up, claws distended, ready to slash open his own abdomen.

::HOLD!:: my mother´s voice cut into this charming morality play.

Both of us froze within seconds of striking each other, his leather bandaged bare feet and my claws throwing up showers of ash and stone.I had a funny thought that our position was now a parody of when we had first met each other. Then, we each had been given the chance to kill the other, and we each had shown mercy. Now, we both had the same choice but were equally both attacker and victim.

I wanted him so badly to stretch a hand out and look away, as he had done so long ago, but I knew it would not happen. Too much pain and anger and loneliness had removed his faith in anyone.

So we just kept in our stalemate: a mad human in scavenged leathers and clothes locking gazes with a borderline mad Lighting Person wearing a tattered harness that same human had once made for him.

A few moments became many his arms and my outstretched paw began to tremble. Someone needed to act first. And fast.

I locked my gold flecked green eyes with my rider´s green-flecked gold eyes.

I thought I´d find no answers there other than the pure hatred for me that shone from them, but they still gave me an answer I needed desperately.

Then my mother was there, fluidly moving by my side and sitting by me, eyes taking in my trembling paw. ::It´s hard for you to see what happened to him, isn´t it?::my mother asked, her eyes soft with sorrow, ::You can end this now, son. Prevent this fiture. Prevent him from going through all this agony. You have it in your power.::

I growled at her to go on, eyes still trained on my former and now insane Rider.

::: You still feel the bond from the Hiccup you know now, not this poor, mad shell of a Firemaker he will become. You´ll always have that bond till one of you dies. So, what you have to do, son, is to break that bond. Then you can go on with your life. And we´ll start it anew. Uninjured. Unbonded.

You're the only child I have left, son. Break the bond and come back with me to the Himalayas.::

::And how do I break it.?:: I asked, my paw trembling even from being held in one position.

On the other side of me my former Rider's own arms were trembling, but the gaze in his eyes held all the gentleness of a rabid lynx.

::Easy. Send a surge of mental energy forward. Just summon your strength and you can do it. It will be strong enough to break the bond, and you will be all right.::

I laced back my sensors ::"You" as in me and my Rider, I assume?::

::Well, the surge would free you by releasing energy pressure enough to give you the mental power to reject the bond.::

I flicked my eyes at her for a moment and back at my Rider, still waiting to kill me.

::And the energy release comes from my Rider? As in, the overload of sealed off energy kills him?::

My mother shrugged honestly ::Well...yes. Slightly. But, it'll be quick- like a sudden aneurism. One burst of pain and then it's all over. Can't you see you'd be doing him a kindness? He's going to grow up into... this. Would you let an injured animal die a long and slow death? Of course not. Think how much more important it is to help your friend. He truly has nothing to live for at this point. He'd do the same for you.::

::Uh, yes... I see that right now, before me.:: I said sarcastically, my eyes locked with the angry, murderous eyes of my former Rider's.

My mother cocked her head, ::It's all in your paws, son. You have the power to end all this and set things right. To start over again. And ending this bond is the first step:: she gave me a dragon grin, ::So what is your choice?::

I lidded my eyes and tested the air with my sensors. Even in my dreams I could feel the bond betwen Hiccup and me. This part was real, and I felt a deep seated dread that I really could kill my Firemaker today if I released that bond. How weird. This is a dream, and yet some aspects of it are real, like this bond. That's strange... when is a dream not a dream?

I opened my eyes and locked them again with the feral human in front of me- gold/green meeting green/gold. I looked into his eyes and I saw... myself.

And, suddenly, I knew.

::Did you know Firemakers are born with blue eyes?:: I told my mother casually, ::Their eyes change color as they get older. My Firemaker had his adult coloration when I met him. And they are the same color as mine. I remember that absolutely::

My mother purred soothingly, ::You ever were the nerd, son. But what does this have to do with the question I asked.::

I purred soothingly back, ::Everything. You've convinced me-::

::Good...::

::- that you are a scorching, lying, deceptive... BITCH!:: I roared loudly, ::Or, should I say, Lady? In your case those terms are interchangeable!::

My human yelled in anger and launched at me. I casually slashed my paw right at him, and it cut right through the air, passing through his ruined body like the hologram he was. He spun around and looked at me with the sad, grey-green eyes I remember, a clean shaven, shaggy haired teenager again... and then this form faded into the air, leaving only his limping footprints in the sandy soil. Heh. Strangest illusion I've ever seen.

Behind me my mother laughed, but her voice had become far more sensual, seductive and alluring than anything my mother would have done.

She would have considered it way beneath her dignity.

My "mother" now faded and shimmered into something else. She now spoke with the Lady's thought voice, though she remained a very beautiful Lightning Person. She looked very innocent and cute and sexy... and much, much closer to my age. And, I was horrified to see, too beautiful for me to think of ever trying to attack.

::What you just said? That would be the wrong answer, young pet dragon to Firemakers:: she purred, walking smoothly towards me, rolling her shoulders and hips in a very lovely way.

I stepped backwards, starting to tremble from an overpowering pull that she was starting to exert over me.

(Yes, you will obey me, love. I am beautiful and kind and loving and yours to love. And I am yours for the asking- one simple price for it: you will just agree to do everything I want, okay, hero?)

:: Gah! No! No! You have no control over me yet. But I know it´s only a matter of time that you will pull me in Yes, I know- I am being set up for it. But, right now, you don´t. And, guess what?t No matter what you do to me when you pull me in, you DIDN´T MAKE ME SACRIFICE MY RIDER, DAMN IT!::

I turned my gaze away from her, still stepping backwards, keeping distance between us. I hated it, but I could myself trembling under her powerful influence. It took all my will not to fall to my knees in submission to her.

::I don't know what you're doing, Lady, but it's a work of art. It's not quite dream, not quite real. My only guess is I'm not close enough for you to work your usual 'Obey me or die enthrallment act, so you're trying to convince me to do your will by making me think I have some choice in the matter. ::

::It would have been the easier choice to have cut the bond with your Firemaker:: she said reasonably, lashing her tail quietly, ::And you do have to admit I had you going there about being your mother.::

I snorted and raised a paw, ready to strike her, ::Yes, you did. But, maybe the only good thing about losing my connection with my People is that my memories are gone. You sure did try to reconstruct my past, but you got a few of the details, wrong. And that´s why I can turn you down, so-called Lady.

::I may not remember everything about my family, but I know how they looked and what they were named and where we grew up. That's not memory- that's imprinting. No dream of your can change that. ::

She curled her lips into a draconic smile, ::Go on. I do like to know how to improve. It's not like you 'won' anything, anyway. As you´ll soon find out. You have not seen me at my most powerful.::

I snarled at her and placed a paw on the ground, striking it for each observation I had made.

:: Very well. Here goes, then, Lady... ::One- my mother is one of the few Lightning People who was Called to signal in my birth land. That meant she never changed colors. She was—is pewter with black spots and stripes. And her eyes are green-gold, not gold. Sure, you made a guess of how the 'average' Lightning Person looks, but she's not average.:: I sighed in love for her :: Actually, she is so far above average you could never imitate her.

I struck my paw again, Hiccup´s harness jingling on my shoulders and chest.

::Two- My baby sister's name is Destiny, not Fate. Good, try, though.::

The Lady in her alluring Lightning Person shrugged like she didn´t care.

I snorted at her and gave her a charming grin I did not feel- and I continued.

:: Three- you seem to not know my other sisters' names—or mine for that matter. How would a mother ever NOT know the names of her kittens?::

I felt a growl rising in me. ::Four- I grew up in a high mountain range in Asia, but it was NOT the Himalayas. I thought you knew more about Lightning People than that. We tend to grow up in the same area and then disperse across the Continent. But then again, my most Unladylike Lady, you just kill first and then ask questions.

::Five- and your last giveaway- my Rider and I have the exact same color of eyes. . He does NOT have gold eyes.::

I heard clapping and realized the Lady – disguised as a young (and getting more alluring all the time) Lightning Person queen was applauding me with slaps of her tail on the ground. ::Well done, little Lightning Person, my pet-slave in the pony harness...!. But, you're still going to die, little dragon. Really, you're the one who loses in the end.::

I ignored her obvious words:: I am one hundred percent certain I am going to die, Lady. Guess what... we all are! Including, dat-duh-duh... you! But I want to go down knowing that my Rider is safe. And, for that reason, I REFUSE to break our bond. When I die, that bond will be broken. It won't be easy for him, but at least he can live on, make a new life. He won´t be cut down by your clever idea of making me kill my own Rider.

:: And I just hope, now that he goes on living after I die, he will not become the outlaw- that's your imagination, is it not? Instead, he'll save what villagers he can and then, when you least expect it, he'll come and put you down. As much as I hate it, I hope he finds another dragon- maybe a Lightning Person like me- but one who is stronger and purer than I have proved to be. And Hiccup and that new dragon will blast you from the sky, Lady::

She was still laughing at me, ::You're just so adorable in your idealism. Go back to your den and play with your chew toys, kitten! I've had you marked for some time, little crippled pet dragon. I've known you and two others before you have been poking around the Nest, trying to discover my whereabouts. Getting rid of them was so easy, too. You, little cripple, just have been a bit harder. I hought hypnotizing the other Signalers into disconnecting your memory would kill you, but it didn't.::

I felt some pride in my thought voice and flung my head up, the metal rings around my legs and the belts on my girths ringing out sweetly in the dismal landscape. :: Of course, it didn't. I had something the other Lightning People before me did not have. It's called a Rider. And THAT'S why you wanted me to break the bond. Isn't it? Something about me having a Rider just makes you nervous to the bottom of your pretty multiclawed paws. Because, for once, you can't control a Person. You found that out when you caught sight of me, my Rider and a friend of ours a short while back when we visited that cozy little den of yours Must be frustrating, not being in control of things, eh? Poor, poor evil dragon queen::

::You're so much fun to play with, my handsome little Kitty-dragon!:: she purred sweetly and yet seductively- observors probably thought we were madly attracted to one another ::I almost regret that you'll be killed soon.::I don't usually give People in my 'little flock' the chance to make a choice. You should have been honored. It's just a pity that you did not release your bond to your Firemaker. It would have made things so much easier.::

::For you, maybe. Always looking out for Number One.::

::Of course:: she purred sensually, ::Ladies first.::

I smiled right back at her and purred just as sensually, responding to her tactics, even though I was scared deep inside. I didn't want her to know that. When you let fear in, you know you'll never win. ::Put a paw over it, my Lady:: I said casually (but trembling inside):: A true Lady doesn't gain respect by terrorizing others. You may be strong and mighty now, but, as you so well put it earlier, things change and life runs in cycles. And you find yourself just getting too great and unwieldly to continue as you are. Just like the dinosaurs of old. Suddenly the world changes, and you just can't fit into that new change. Then it's time to step back and let something else take its place::

I swear she was annoying! I really wanted her to get mad. I really did. Instead, she actually leaned over and tried to nuzzle me, loverly like. I hissed back at her.

And then she hissed back at me. ::Damn that harness! It´s... it's... painful!::

She was now backing away from me and my harness as though it had somehow stung her. I picked up the hidden implications that somehow, the longer I wore that harness, the harder it was for her to control me. And why not? The essence of my Rider was wound into that harness, so even if it was not as powerful a block as Hiccup himself would have been, the harness was still repelling the lady. That's why she was reacting to it with such disgust. As weak as the bond and that harness were, it was enough to give me a bit of protection.

And more than a bit of confidence. ::Back off, Lady! 'No' means no.::

I hissed good and loud when I said that.

::Awww, you're so cute when you're mad. So, are you saying, little crippled dragon pet, little slave to a Firemaker, that I should be scared of YOU?.::She laughed in a rich, throaty purr that would have had me quivering in desire if it had come from a more ethical creature:: Such a good sense of humor. Size does matter, and you- just like your predecessors- have no chance to defeat me.::

::Of course not, darrrrling. But you miss my point- I think the only one who can defeat you is,well, you. After all, the bigger you are, the harder you fall::

I trotted towards her and then past her, saluting her a bit with my wings, kind of like my Rider would do with his hand, ::Fair Winds and Fall Well!::

::Sure thing, cutie. It's a date! Until then...:: The Lady-disguised-as-a Lightperson suddenly blasted a fireball at me.

It hit me in the left shoulder, and it was awfully hot for a dream fireball. I was knocked to my side, screaming. I felt myself falling and then-

WHUMPF! Water spashed up around me as the Viking ship, launched by a wave, hovered in the air and crashed back down. I heard chains rattle and tighten around me. I opened my eyes to find a band of Vikings around me, staring at me like I was insane.

I gave them my Level Three Cold, Evil stare- the one I save for particularly uncomfortable occasions. I mixed that with a snarl (shaken, not growled).

"Do ya think it was dreaming, then?"

"Nah, it's just a dumb animal."

"Heh, my dog's not so smart, and sometimes I see her dreaming."

"Dragon's dumber'n a dog anyday. If it was dreamin' of anything, it was dreamin' of blowing us all up."

They moved on, leaving just the blacksmith and I to contemplate on the sea.

I shook my head, clearing it. Then I felt an itchy/painful twinge on left shoulder.

Now a scorch mark slashed its way across my shoulder, sealing off the old wounds there. The Lady had left me a little souvenir to show she was very much real.

Even if we had waged this war in the battlefield of the mind, this had been no dream. Actions that happened in that plane wound up manifesting in reality- like this fireburn on my side. Just like if I ended the bond with Hiccup in that quasi dream, he would have been killed in reality. The Lady had just used some very considerable illusions to make me try and shatter the bond with (and kill my) Firemaker. She must have sensed that he and I were some kind of threat to her.

I have to admit I thought that was kind of funny. Hiccup- little Hiccup the Useless- and me, the Crippled Code Talker? Something to be afraid of? I started laughing under my muzzle.

She knows something you don't, buddy. Don't underestimate it.

Well, then, Toothless. Let´s summarize our facts and see how things stand.

I am on a boat, and I am trapped and bringing these Firemakers to their death. The Lady will reach out her will at any time and pull me in, and I will be her thrall.

I started this voyage weeping in hopeless despair. Now I had only determination to bring her down—or die trying. If there was any way- any way for me to get out of this chain prison, I was going to fight for all I was worth. And if I could not get out, I would still go down in my chains, cursing her name in defiance.

But the best option- the one I prayed for- would be a way for my Rider and I to unite so we could fight the Lady. We might go down, but we'd go down fighting. And, best of all, we'll go down together. That's the way it should be.

---

We were getting closer and closer to our Doom.

I was still thinking of the bizarre mind experience I had just come through.

The Lady, it seemed, had taken my People's most cherished beliefs and perverted them, making it easier for her to control my People.

As you know from my various grumbling and cursing in this tale , we People believe in a trio of deities who brought The World into being. The Creator Father provided the spark of life-fire so that the sisters, Night Lady and Sky Lady, could bring forth life to the world. All life came from the trio, but we People were created in the image of the trio themselves.

Of the three deities, the Sky Lady is the one we revere the most. After all, the sky is the most important place for a Person, considering how much time we spend up there.

The Sky Lady is a nosy sort, and She has manifested herself through our history to a small but select number of People from various tribes. We don't know Her real form, but if you happen to lucky (or unlucky if you've done something really bad) enough to meet her, she'll appear as one of your own People. And She has three variants: maiden, matron and crone.

The Lady had been doing the same thing to me, I realized. I had just now seen her in two of those forms, the alluring youngling and the wise matron. And, I guess, the first time I had seen her, she had been in her natural form, she was the crone. Normally the crone is the Elder, wise and fair. The Lady as a crone- well, not so much.

Maybe that is why we all thought of her as a Lady. She was using our own beliefs to create herself as our new Lady, instead of the Sky Lady and Night Lady. She obviously had a powerful mind control, but she could conserve a lot of her energy just by using our culture against us to make it easier for us to accept her as our supreme ruler.

I gave up my musing and starting pulling against the chains again. The chains were sharp and painful on me. I had been working at them futilely after I had awakened. I wanted to do as much as I could before we came within range of the Lady's mental pull.

Within a few hours I could see the mists and sea stacks that marked the boundaries of Hellheimsgate. Somewhere within there lay that portal. My only hope against hope was that, since I had no Firemakers on my back, we would not find it.

And I knew that my harness and my now weak bond with Hiccup would not save me from the Lady's influence for much longer.

"Take us in!" I heard Stoick call.

The boat's wind hides belled out from a breeze, someone pushed a large wooden object at the back of the vessel, and it began to steer into the region, groaning with the friction.

Hiccup's father came up by the blacksmith, eyes trained on the sea stacks in front of him.

The fog boiled around us, smelling of clouds, and soon I could only see the two Viking Firemakers and the deck just in front of me. It was an eerie sensation, like we were floating in the air.

Somewhere in the back of my sensors I began to feel a tingling.

Oh no…

"Sound your positions!" Stoick called, "And stay within earshot!"

From behind our ship we heard various captains calling out the name of their boats:

"Long Serpent, here!"

"Sea Wolf, present!"

"Stallion of the Ice Home, present!"

The blacksmith was drumming the fingers of his good hand on the rail of the ship.

"Ah, Stoick..."

"Yes, Gobber?"

Gobber? I snorted with surprise. Hiccup was right. There are stupider names out there than his.

"Ah, listen, Stoick. I was listening' to the men just now, and some of them are wonderin' just what it is we're up to here?" this "Gobber" took a cautious breath, "Not me, of course- I know you're always the man with the plan. But some- not me- are wondering if, indeed, there is a plan at all? And if there is, what... might... it ...be?"

A moment of silence, then Stoick growled softly, "Find the Nest and take it."

I shook my head sadly, as far as my neck brace and the chains would allow.

It would not be brute force that brought down the evil Lady- she would always be stronger. As I knew from my dream, she needed to be outwitted. These Firemakers always believed strength saved the day. Well, today was not going to be that day.

Gobber seemed to agree with me. "Oh, of course!" he said, reminding a bit of Hiccup with his snarking, "Send 'em runnin'! The good old Viking fallback."

Suddenly a lovely melody danced through the air, winding around my sensors, an invitation to come and be comforted. I would be freed from this trap. I would find a new companion to replace my lost Firemaker. It would be she- a great honor indeed- and she was waiting for me. I just had to submit.

::Ah, scorch it and frozen hells!:: I clamped my teeth together and tried to resist, but I had no Firemaker on my back.

It became stronger and stronger, overpowering whatever resistance I had from the harness.

So, instead, my reflexes kicked in and I signaled back with my sensors, letting the Lady know I was here. I used the throatier, warbling purr we Lightning People use when we are sending coordinates.

Both Firemakers turned to face me as I succumbed to the pull of the Lady's call. I saw Stoick gesture with his hand, silencing the Firemaking-Firemaker. Other Firemakers came up to us, watching me with a grim fascination.

The Lady sent back an answer: ::Come, young one. I will heal your hurts, mend your broken heart.::

As I twitched my ears to the left and I purred a signal response, I felt the boat shift in that direction. The Firemakers were using me to find the portal.

I felt my eyes close in shame. A very small part of me that somehow seemed to have escaped the Lady's pull and was hiding in my broken heart whispered to me:

You're leading them to their doom. And your own, of course.

Our boats passed by the bleached skeletons of boats that had crashed into the jagged cliffs of Hellheimsgate. Our boat's wind hide actually brushed against the carved Person's head on one of those broken ships.

"Oh, I was wondering where that went," Gobber muttered softly.

I felt the light pressure as our boat phased through the portal, and then the mists were even thicker than ever.

"It almost feels like summer all of a sudden," A tall Firemaker with short dark hair and what seemed to be a week´s worth of new beard said, coming up behind Stoick and Gobber.

Behind him, a handsome, heavyset, blond haired woman warrior set her jaw and touched a small hammer pendant on her neck. She then kissed her hand and raised it to the sky.

The call was now very strong. I began to buck and pull against my restraints. I had the burning desire to bite my chains, scoop up all of these Firemakers and carry them to the lava pit to feed my Lady. She would thank me and be so grateful that I would get the special honor of being able to live another day.

How merciful she is!

And, at the same time, I hated myself for being pulled into this.

Now the air was filled with the purrs, trills and croons of my People, rippling like the fog as our boats drifted forward. As usual, they called their names to one another but there was no other element of conversation involved.

The lava stone shoreline and black cliffs and volcano of the Lady's Island (or Dragon Island as the Firemakers on board had been calling it that) hove into sight. I even saw the long red tail of a Self Burner dart over the lip of a cliff and into the volcano.

The belly of our boat ran up onto the shore, lava stones screeching against the wooden planks.

Nervously I started pawing a leg in the air. I felt helpless against this pull, and I was angry at being trapped.

"Stay low and ready your weapons," Stoick walked gracefully past me and then leaped over the side of the boat.

His boots crunched on lava stones as he landed heavily.

Immediately all the calling stopped. It was very foreboding.

Stoick stood up, balancing his war hammer in his massive hand, "Then, we're here. This place's good as any. Ready the war machines."

I saw the amazing efficiency of these Firemakers as they unloaded those strange "Cats-on-a-Pole" and set up barricades. They did with a speed I would never have guessed, considering the bulkiness of the equipment. But, still, the Lady would see that powerful equipment as mere toys compared to her bulk.

I myself kept trying to struggle out of my bindings, but to no avail. I knew I was going to die today. I expected it. But the thought of being trapped and cut down like a fish stranded in a tidal pool, instead, was sickening. I wanted to die fighting the Lady. As time went on, I got more and more brutal, shoving myself against the block and chain until my chest and legs were bleeding again, thanks to various small cuts from the chains, my harness and wood block splinters.

Stoick´s voice brought me back to the preparations for the Vikings' own doomed attack.

"Weapons at the ready, troops!"

The Firemakers had arranged themselves along the shoreline facing the mountain, and their chief had hopped up onto a rock outcrop to face them. Hiccup's father called out to them:

"Once we break through the mountain, all Hell will break loose." He raised his right hand with the fist closed.

I heard Gobber say something and there was laughter, but I missed what it was.

"No matter how it ends," Stoick called, "IT! ENDS! TODAY!"

::For once you are right about this whole situation.::, I thought grimly.

Stoick lowered his hand, and then the air was filled with the sound of those strange cat machines throwing stones into the volcano. The rocks crashed against one of the rock slopes, punching a hole in it.

Gritting my teeth, I went back to struggling, not really caring what the Vikings were doing. They had chosen this fate. The Viking Firemakers were chanting each time a cat machine hit the wall, deep voices pulsing along with the stone blows. I guessed it gave them some sort of motivation and helped them deal with their battle nerves.

Then all went quiet as I heard the stone slope collapse in on itself. I took a breath in, my muscles tensing. The human chanting stopped.

Suddenly the air above me was full of beating wings as hundreds of my People flew away from the mountain in a vast cloud of wings and claws. Loose scales fell down around me on the deck- some were flying so fast to escape they were fighting each other to get ahead, tearing scales from hides.

Over this, I heard their cries.

::Run! Run! We're being attacked!::

::The Lady will take vengeance on everyone! Get away!::

::You down there, Lightning Person! Come with us, or she'll kill you, too!::

::Are you kidding? He's a prisoner of The Firemakers! Leave him to his fate!::

Those were the general calls, but they were repeated by hundreds of voices in all our tribes' dialects.

I whined and felt my ears droop. I truly was trapped to face what came next.

I heard Firemakers cheering on the coastline and snarled , ::You fools!::

The rumbling of the mountain became unbearable as a massive body crashed through the broken walls of the volcano.

Gone was the elegant and caring temptress. This was a vengeful war goddess.

::Who dares to attack my home! Prepare to die!::

The Lady rose up to her full height. I found myself looking up.

And up.

And up.

And up.

Yup. We were pretty much all done for.

I doubled my efforts to free myself.

I could not see the Firemakers well from this perspective, but I knew they were now facing the truth of their foolish attack. People were yelling oaths and gasping, but they were admirably brave about it. They fought back with their weapons, turning the cats-on-a-pole to smash enormous boulders at this terrifying new monster.

It was like tickling the Lady with a feather. She just brushed off stones and spears and trampled over the barricades.

I winced seeing those weapons, which had done serious damage to my People, glance off the Lady's hide like pine needles and pebbles. The Cats-on-A-Pole crumpled under her stomping front feet as if I had been walking through slushy snow on a late winter afternoon. I curled lips back from my teeth and growled, trying to hide the sickening sounds of wood cracking and the bones of a few unfortunate Vikings.

The Lady's attitude also disgusted me. She shattered all around her with graceful, even alluring movements, and her tone had gone back to its normal sensuous yet motherly thought voice.

::So nice of you all to set this up for me. I, myself ,have never found it rude to play with my food before I eat it.::

A group of more realistic Firemakers did some quick battle strategies, estimated the odds, and then ran for the boats. I heard Stoick´s voice bellow something at them.

And then my world blew up in fire. Greasy, smoky, fire that reminded me of the tar pits I had seen in the desert on my journey to this region.

The Lady was burning the boats, cutting off the Firemakers' only escape route. She had the largest band of fire I had seen in my life. A few small puffs, and yet she produced a broad sheet of fire that neatly set all of the fleet on fire within seconds.

Including the boat I was on.

::Be nice, Firemakers. It's rude to leave dinner early.:: her rich voice purred in disappointment, ::I do insist most affectionately that you stay. We have so much more ahead of us, and dinner's just started.::

Flames licked along the sides of my boat now, and that terrible smoke was stinging my eyes.

Arrgghh... I was a dragon, and yet I was going to roast to death! Oh, the irony!

By this point my vision was completely obscured by smoke, so I had no idea what was happening on the beach. I just heard screaming, running, shouting. I could only see the Lady's enormous head over the smoke.I thought I heard Stoick yelling for the others to run for the other side of the island and, though I am not sure of this, I thought he might have said something in a quieter voice, something like, "I was a fool."

Well, at least you are man enough to admit your mistakes. Just slightly too late to do anything about it, sir.

Well, here goes... now approaching the final moments of my life...

My memory stone began to record its final impressions and shut down, preserving itself so that some other Lightning Person would (maybe) find what was left of my corpse and know my fate.

As the flames began to belch out a nasty black smoke I gave one last pull on the chains, ready to go down trapped but still fighting, a final curse to the Lady on my mind.

And then my sensors and memory stone flared back into full life and I was aware of an amazing thing.

My Firemaker was here!

I smelled new bursts of fire: magnesium, kerosine, lava, gas and propane.

And a lone voice floating over the noise. My sensors picked it up.

"Fishlegs! Stay back! Ruffnut and Tuffnut, keep to the left! Everyone! Stay with me, now!"

It was Hiccup, and I had never heard him so assured and commanding.

::Oh, yes! The gods be praised! He came through! And so did my People!::

Now I could see four dragons soaring around the head of the Lady. Each one was carrying one of the younglings from the village, the Two Headed person carrying one youngling on each neck. There were also two younglings riding the Magnesium person, the rider in front a small, tattered figure pointing out flight directions to the others.

All of the People split apart, each one flying over to a different part of the Lady to distract her. I had the impression my Firemaker had been setting every Person and its rider up in a way to take advantage of their particular skills.

Thought voices reached out to me as well.

::You there, Toothless?:: a Self Burner's confident voice blazed across my sensors.

::Yes?:: I sent back with a warbling purr, my heart slowly rising in joy.

Hey, Lady! Stick a quill in it! I'll even lend you one of my own!::

::Behold, young Toothless, for we have come to render assistance in this darkest of hours. And I have a rider on my back! :: a quick pause ::Hold on, young Firemaker. You can pull the rope on my neck tighter. We are together. How can you hurt me?::

::Heh! Take that, Lady! Pffft! You can't control Us any longer. Oh, whoo! I NEVER thought We'd see the day!::

::Me neither, gas brain!::

On the lava stone shore, the smoke cleared just enough for me to see Stoick and Gobber had turned from what seemed to be an attempt to fight against the Lady one-on-one (Why try something so stupid? Could they have been doing a diversion to allow their comrades to escape?).

Stoick looked up and breathed an oath when he saw Hiccup's calm demeanor and leadership skills. Next to him Gobber nudged his shoulder and said something, an "I told you so" sort of expression on his face. Stoick just nodded in what seemed to be stunned pride.

The smoke then poured over me, and I breathed it in. Choking, I heard something go thump next to me, and suddenly the air around me was clear.

It was a green Sticky Fire Person, the little Person from the Kill Ring.

::Top of the day' to you, Toothless!:: She said, clearing away the smoke with her wings so I could breathe again.

I barked my thanks to her ::You all came! You all did it!:: I roared in amazed delight.

::A course we did, boyo. . You and that crazy Firemaker of yers have given us something to think about. ´Tis obvious you two have something good, so why not give it a try? When he and the other younglings freed us, there was no doubt in our minds we'd do this. I can't carry a Rider a course, but I do what I can, I do. Skybird sent me here to make sure you were okay until she and her riders can get here.::

Her eyes narrowed, ::And I'm knowing we might not come outta this, but we have to try.::

::Toothless, we're here! Incoming Firemaker!:: I heard the Magnesium Person call above me.

I saw her in the smoke, and then someone jumped onto the deck next me with a loud thud.

My Rider.

He was still wearing the same tattered, muddy clothes I had seen him in last time, but somehow he had managed to get his flight harness and boots back. Someone also had properly bandaged his arm. As mud spattered and bedraggled as he looked, it was so nice to see him like this, and not like that mad bandit of my visions.

::Well, hey there!:: I barked at him, joy in my heart ::Nice of you to drop in! Come and warm yourself by the fireside!::

He laughed and pulled off my muzzle, then he threw his arms around me and hugged me hard. Really hard. And yet it was not hard enough for how much I had missed his company these past few days. I dropped my head over his shoulder and purred. Some lost part of me felt like I had found my way home.

:::You, too, huh?::: I heard from my Rider.

The smoke from that fire sure was nasty, because both our eyes were watering heavily. But the smoke also meant we were trapped on a boat ready to fall apart and sink into the sea.

My Firemaker grabbed a pole to try and pry open the hooks holding my chains. I started pulling with my neck and shoulders, trying to help out on my end, ignoring how much it was hurting my already cut-up hide.

On the other side, the Sticky Fire person casually inserted a long claw in one of the locks and twisted it, springing it open. She grinned at me. I was able to lift one of my legs free now.

::My People's specialty.:: the Sticky Fire person purred.

Thoughts coming from my new allies rang across my sensors.

::We're approaching now, young Firemaker with the curly horned helmet... Ram-horned Firemaker, hang on! No, scorch it, grab on to me! Falling, no! Oh, thank the Trio you landed on that bitch's head and not the ground, curly horned One. Watch it, don't fall off her- I want to catch you but...! Oh, no, she... is ... trying...- Firemaker, sorry to leave you there. I have to flee before she takes over my mind. Again.::

::Don't worry, Firewyrm, dear Self Burner! My Firemaker's throwing your curly hornéd Firemaker his own hammer. Oh, mendacity! This hammering on the shields is surely affecting the evil Dame, but I am also being thrown off of my keel. Oh, dear. I believe I am heading to the ground. I shall have to say a dirty word! Oh... piffle. Sorry, young Firemaker. Next time you can fall on me. Is that a pact? ::

And from the Magnesium Person, Skybird:

::I guess, Double Head, it's just you and I. Well, let's keep her distracted! Toothless, come on... where are you! ::

I heard the Double Head shriek, strangely in harmony with himself, ::Skybird, watch out- the Lady- her tail it's heading right for the...::

THWACK!

::boats... Oh, no! Toothless and the little Firemaker Dragon master! They're trapped!::

::No!, why didn't I stay and help them when the little red-headed Firemaker jumped off me? Stupidstupidstupid!::

Something heavy and clubbed with spikes rammed against the boat. It was the Lady's clubbed, spiked tail. The three of us screamed, and I saw the Sticky Fire Person rise up into the sky, screeching in anger that she could not help Hiccup and I.

The Double Head shrieked in frustration from both mouths, ::Oh, why were We born with two heads on Our body instead of faster wings and the ability to breathe under water? Oh, no! Toothless!::

Then water roared around me and I was sinking into the sea. My various cuts began to sting with the salt water.

First I was going to be burned to death? Now drowning- how appropriate for a creature of fire.

::We have to keep fighting, my friend with the two heads! Come on! My rider says the Firemaker on the Lady's head needs our help! Let's go!::

The sky above me rippled through the water as my platform hit the bottom.

Then Hiccup was by me again, swimming to me, trying to pull on my chains. It was too much for him, though, and I could see his eyes start to close as he ran out of air. Like me, he was exhausted from lack of sleep and, in his case, I would guess, food for two days.

He began to pass out, drifting up from me, bubbles streaming from his mouth as he began to breathe in water.

Another whoosh of bubbles and then Stoick was there, pulling his son away by his flight harness.

I looked up in horror, knowing for sure that I was doomed. But the feeling only lasted for a moment. Like my Rider, I was now running out of air.

I felt a pressure on my lungs and then yello/w spots dancing before my eyes. I dropped my head.

At... least... you're...safe..., My...Rider.

More bubbles and splashing, and then Stoick was facing me, his red beard floating around his solemn face. I stared at him, too dizzy to react otherwise.

Then I heard a mighty crack ringing through the water and,suddenly, my bindings were being broken. Stoick tore through them with his powerful arms. I was free! The only thing on me now was my battered saddle and harness.

I felt new energy rise in me. I looked at Hiccup's father in amazement.

::I bow my wings to you, Firemaker::

Then I grabbed him in my claws and kicked upwards, taking us to the surface. The powerful kick sent me right over the surface of the water so that I could plunge my wings and coast with us to shore. I dropped Stoick next to his waterlogged son, who was still coughing up sea water.

I landed on a rock just above them and shook myself dry.

Ahead of me, the Lady continued her destruction. I saw some of my People circling her and taunting her, and there was a Firemaker on her head, beating at her many eyes with a hammer.

Then I barked at Hiccup and gestured with my muzzle.

::C'mon, Rider! Let's take her down!::

"You got it, bud!" Hiccup ran up to me. I sucked in my breath so he could tighten the girths of my now rather loose saddle. He pulled them tighter than they ever had been. This was serious business ahead.

He leapt on me and skillfully clipped his harness to mine, slipping his boots into the pedals.

As he did this, I laid back my right ear sensor for him to bind to his right hand with one of the wrist straps, strengthening our bond to its fullest. He did so, pulling it as gently as he could to his hand.

"Son..."

Stoick was in front of us, now, water running from his helmet less head. He reached out and took Hiccup's bare and bandaged arm in his enormous hand. The position my Rider was in, I could turn my head and see both him and his father clearly.

My bedraggled Rider and I looked back at Stoick with uncertainty.

"I- I´m ... sorry. I'm sorry for everything." Stoick said solemnly.

I felt my Rider's confusion, but also his love for his father, "Yeh, me too, Dad. Me, too."

Well, well, well. What a strange and wonderful day this is turning into. I could sense that both of them were feeling regrets for things they had done to each other through these years. Now, in one powerful moment, Hiccup would leave a man he had just met for the first time, and yet, he most likely never come back from this flight to see him again.

Stoick gently squeezed his son's arm. "You don't have to go up there," he said, genuine fear in his voice. I picked up his thoughts through my contact with Hiccup.

:::And we outlawed you. You have no obligation to help us after how we treated you.:::

Hiccup shook a wet lock of hair out of his eyes. He had a sad smile on his face as he said, "We´re Vikings, Dad. It's an occupational hazard."

Stoick had a startled look on his face, as if this was a statement he had made often in his life, but never around his son.

Through our connection, I could pick up as well, that this was not just a bonding moment between father and son. They were also saying goodbye forever, since we all knew the chances Hiccup would come back alive were not great at all. This was t he first- and last time- Stoick would be able to tell his son how he felt.

He put his other hand on Hiccup's arm. I could hear the love in his voice as he said, "I'm proud to call you my son."

Relief and love flooded through my Rider, "Thanks, Dad."

Stoick let go and stepped back. He saluted his son, who saluted him back. I dipped my head in my own salute to them both.

Then I felt my Rider grip the handholds and fighting straps, "All right, Toothless. Let's go! Bite the sky..."

:: ...And spit out the seeds!:: I grinned and launched myself in the air, flying straight up from a standstill. The wind dried both of us out in mere minutes.

All my tiredness was gone. My Rider was back, and I was full of energy and joy. There was a good chance- a very good chance- we were going to die, but we needed to fight this beast. It was time to lay to rest this whole terrible situation that had made both our species into such enemies.

"He's up!" I heard Ástríður call as she soared by on the Magnesium person, Skybird.

I plunged towards the Lady and the other People.

Along with Skybird, the Two Headed Person was the only one of my allies still up in the air, and he was blasting the Lady for all he was worth.

The sturdy Firemaker on the Lady's head took a flying leap and landed on the Two Head, who swiftly soared away and then wheeled back around, ready to face the Lady along with Hiccup and I. The Firemakers on his back and necks braced themselves for battle, eyes wide in fear, but jaw clenched in determination.

::Toothless! :: One of the heads roared in joy, ::Hey there, partner! You look like five miles of bad road!::

::Yeeps:: yelled the other head, :: We've been around Firemakers so much We're using their expressions. ARRGH::

"We need to get everyone out of the area," I heard Hiccup's tired voice from my back, "And you and I need to get that monster distracted."

His voice was so hoarse from tiredness and his shouting out commands earlier, I knew it would not carry.

But my thought-voice would.

::Get the Firemaker and yourselves to safety!:: I called to the Two Head.

::But, Toothless...::

I roared my Listen-to-me-now call, and my rider pat me reassuringly,::You've done your part, sir. And so have you, sir:: (I added that to be on the safe side- Double Heads can be sensitive about that sort of thing ::I can see how tired you and the Firemakers are. But you can help us by getting these other Firemakers to move back from the shoreline. I have a feeling there are going to be some serious fireworks and we don't need them in danger. Can you both help with that?::

::Of course! We're with you, Toothless!:: The gas breathing head roared, causing his blond-haired Firemaker to yell and grip harder to hang on , ::Besides, We can feel the gas is almost gone. We hate to say it, but being in those cages has really made Us out of shape. That flight here has worn Us out.:: An angry snort, ::But We don't want leave you to take the Lady on, alone! We're allies, We protect each other, head to head to head to head to...::

I grinned back to put him at ease, and I heard my Rider shifting, gesturing to the other Firemakers to stay calm, to wait for a moment

I snorted in joy, ::Sometimes you need an army of five thousand, sometimes you need an army of two. You've seen how well the first option worked with the Firemaker Vikings. Now it's time for Plan B. Go. We know what we're doing, my Rider and I::

(Well, I sure hoped so, anyway).

Hiccup made a gentle shooing motion from on my back, and I nodded to the Double Head:: Go on, friends, help move everyone. See if the Lava Person and The Sticky Fire one and the Self Burner can help. If the Firemakers see the younglings with you all, they'll trust you and follow you. Now, move it!::

The Double Head gently turned and starting flying back towards the crowd of Firemakers on the beach ::Aye, aye, Firedrake. As you wish.::

I shook my head in wonder. That's our term of respect we give the lead dragon of a flight formation. We don't call a Person that lightly.

Suddenly I heard Skybird screaming, ::Gods, I'm being sucked into this beast's maw! I can't break free!::

Ástríður yelled and tried to help her new friend by leaning forward, but it was too late.

My Rider adjusted the pedals, and then we were diving towards the Lady. I tucked my wings in and became lightning fast, the very air screaming past me. Below me, Firemakers raised their shields to protect themselves from my dive.

The fire rose in me and my banshee cry filled the air.

NIGHTFURYGETDOWN!

I shot a plasma bolt at the Lady and hit her on the side of the jaw.

She roared in anger and turned her head, releasing Skybird and Ástríður.

But Ástríður was knocked from the Magnesium Person's back. She tumbled, screaming, to the ground far below.

I quickly dove down and caught Ástríður by her ankle, gently grasping her as we flew back upwards.

"Didja get her?" Hiccup's voice floated from up on my back.

I looked down at my legs. Ástríður was hanging upside down by her ankle. She looked up at me, smiled, and saluted me.

I winked at her and gave her a toothless grin. ::Yup!::

Ástríður swung herself up to grab my legs so she was now hanging by her hands instead of her ankle. I gently set her on the shore and then flew with my Rider up against the Lady.

Behind me I heard Ástríður whisper, "Go."

I was so grateful to her that she had the courage to let Hiccup and I go. I believe in her heart she knew that, in this moment, Hiccup and I were the only ones who could beat the Lady at her own game.

Now, it was only Hiccup and I. That was part of the plan. Time for some major distracting.

::Hey grandma!:: I roared, :: We´re lonely. Wanna come play with us?::

The Lady snarled and trained all six of her pale blue, cataract-ridden eyes on me. Her many nostrils flared, pulling in our scent, filtering information to her that her eyes could no longer provide.

For a moment she said nothing, but then it registered that I had survived and had brought along a buddy of mine to her lovely dinner party.

All seduction and kitten temptress games were long over. Now she was mad. And that told me worlds that she had something to fear from Hiccup and me. (Well, of course. we know you, Lady. We know you are the only one who can defeat yourself. And we're more than happy to assist in the process!)

She hid her dread in curses ::You fool. I will break your bones to pieces one by one! And I will kill your Rider in front of you. Slowly. And, then, I will kill you. Slowly.::

::Oooh, sorry about that. Did we ruin your little dinner party? You know us men, we're just so insensitive at times. Well, you're welcome to try and kill us, but first ya gotta catch us! Buh-bye!::

She swatted at me, but I was too fast for her. I would always be too fast for her. It was the main advantage we had. That, and my Rider's intelligence. Together, as I had known from that vision, we had to outwit her, to use her strength against her. My wings and fire and my Rider's skill at calculations of wind resistance...we were a team!

::Can you read my mind? My wings are in your hands, Hiccup! Guide me, show me where to hit, and I will! We hafta use her strength against her!::

:::Sure thing... working on it, Toothless! Working on it. Heh. I should be scared, but I'm just... angry! DAMN! That creature took everything away from me, from my tribe! And from you, Toothless! WE WERE BOTH EXILED, BOTH HUMILIATED, BOTH TREATED AS GARBAGE! BECAUSE OF THAT MONSTER!:::

::Calm down, bud. You're not the only one angry, Hiccup. Don't let it control you. Instead, catch that anger and use it against her!::

I felt my Rider breathe hard and try to calm himself, fists clenched, teeth clenched, :::I'mtryingI'mtryingI'mtrying:::

::That's it, Hiccup. We take her on together. I'm with you all the way, Firemaker::

I felt his left hand caress me gently, reassuring me, but also supporting me as a friend. His breathing and heart slowed down as he got ahold of himself.

:::Thanks, bud, no- my best friend ever! I'm okay, now.::: Was he actually understanding my thoughts? Finally?

::No problem... Rider. Okay. As you so aptly say, good sir, it's go-time!::

He laughed and I barked back in reassurance. We were brothers in arms, ready to face our enemy.

Down below us the ships burned on the beach and Firemakers looked up at us. I saw my allies, too, soaring in and around the group, their riders shouting and gesturing to move back. The Firemakers were not stupid, they began to move back, giving Hiccup and I room to lead this Lady/Monster away from them. I wondered how my allies were getting the message to their riders- it seemed too quick for them to have picked up such a close bond like Hiccup and I had, but yet they seemed to understand. Perhaps the key was in my People being willing to open up and share.

Well, too late for me to consider. Hiccup and I had a date with a Red Lady. I looked at her enormous teeth and powerfully muscled frame and sharp claws and felt my heart plunge a bit. We were indeed so small and fragile compared to her bulk. One blow with those claws, and I think you'd need a sponge to pick us up.

I did not fear dying, but I feared wasting our lives so that we could not help the others escape.

My sensors picked up myriad of prayers from the Firemakers below. And I also heard five whispered

wishes for ::Fair winds and fly well.::

That gave me a sense of courage, and my Rider picked it from me. I felt him relax more on my back.

"I hope they allow nerds in Valhalla," he told me, stroking my neck.

::Well, we'll make 'em change their policy if they don't!:: I snorted back.

And we leaped into our doom.

I soared toward the Lady and then, as she ducked her head to snap at me, hared off to the right, lightning fast. I heard the flight straps zing as they were stretched out, but my Rider stayed on board. The move threw the Lady off balance, and she took a few moments to recover her balance, buying us some time.

::Come back here. Come to me, now, little pest!::

She had no influence on me with a Rider on my back.

I back-winged to a stop then some distance from her. I felt Hiccup´s head slam against my neck ridges by my sudden stop.

"Arghhh! Watch it, will ya?"

:: Sorry about that.::

" 'Sokay. I don't dink my nothe is bwoken."

I felt him shift in my saddle. I heard him wipe a hand across his face as if cleaning blood from his nose, and then he said, "Wait a minute...that thing has wings. Let´s see if it can fly!"

He leaned forward, asking me to dive.

::I'm on it!:: I tucked my wings to my side and dove at the Lady, swooping toward her, banshee scream starting up.

I blasted a plasma bolt, hitting her on the top of her wings.

::Tag! You're it!::

She was knocked off balance again and roared as she staggered to recover on the beach. Her roar was something I will not print. She may think of herself as a Lady, but she did not have the language of one.

We swooped up, wind ripping against us.

"Do ya think that did it?" Hiccup asked, his voice tight with adrenaline.

Behind me I heard the sound of two heavy, tattered wings plunge downwards with steady, rhythmic beats.

The saddle leather creaked as my Rider turned to look behind him .

"Well, it can definitely fly." I could pick up he was nervous from his thoughts.

And very, very brave.

::Well, we can fly faster!:: I roared. He pat me on the neck and laughed.

Stones and dust and sand billowed over the Firemakers below as the Lady rose up into the air behind me. They raised up hands and shields to protect their heads.

::Catch me if you can, Lady!:: I flew away from her, drawing her from the Firemakers below.

The Lady could fly, but obviously it had been a long time. She crashed into sea stacks, scattering black, jagged rocks in her path.

As we soared over the Viking Firemakers, my Rider leaning low over me to help me move faster, I heard shouts from below.

Firemakers were yelling our names, cheering us on. A couple of the younglings were making strange gestures with their hands- good luck charms, maybe?

The ruined and burning ships blurred under us and then we were over the sea, the thundering wingbeats of the Lady behind us.

::You will regret this, little pain. I WILL catch you. I always get my prey.::

::You don't know me very well, darling. Sorry to disappoint you, but there's always a first time to fail::

Even though I sounded like I was happy go lucky, I had never been angrier in my life. This creature was responsible for all the misery I had encountered here between Firemaker and my People.

I also sensed the same anger from my Rider. If anything, he was even more furious than I. The last two days of his life had been hell for him, and this creature was the catalyst for it. He was good and mad.

The mists had seemed to have floated upwards, joining with dark clouds that had marched in from the sea.

:::Hmm::: My Rider had managed to calm himself by biting on his lip and was thinking again. :::The clouds...:::

"All right, Toothless. It's time for us to disappear."

The ascender clicked in and I plunged my wings. We began to shoot up for the clouds, the wind hissing along my sides.

The Lady hesitated for but a moment, then she was following us, surprisingly graceful for a creature of her mass. I taunted her a bit with a few lunges at her nose and eyes.

::What's taking you so long, my Lady? I think I'm starting to get grass growing on my wings!:: I launched at her again, this time actually striking one of her eyes with a claw, ::And I just saw three Ice Ages pass by my eyes::

I was trying to annoy her to get her concentration off balance. I'd already seen she was a one track creature. It would be easier us to attack her if she was unfocused.

She roared at me and let loose a blast of that greasy fire. I swear I could almost feel the mold of decay in the flames!

"Here it comes!" Hiccup yelled from my back as we streaked away from her.

The smoke billowed outwards, showering us with that nasty greasy residue, covering us both in its sootiness, singeing Hiccup's clothes and both of our harnesses. And then we were way above her, slinking into the clouds.

Ugh. Lovely.

It was a weird, dark world we had entered. I could even feel the electric charges within the clouds.

We heard the wing beats below as the Lady plunged her way up to us.

My Rider shifted, leaning over me so I could see him. I looked up at him and gave him a supportive grin. And he grinned right back at me, teeth gleaming in a soot-darkened face.

Exhausted, blackened with residue from the Lady's flames, singed tunic now hanging in shreds from his thin frame, blood on his nose...none of that hid the fierce determination in his green eyes. I could almost swear he had the heart of a dragon within him.

I don't think I loved him more than at that moment.

He stroked my neck and talked quickly to me.

"Okay- we're gonna strike out at that thing from within the clouds, go for its wings. I swear you can read my thoughts, Toothless. Can you pick up from my mind where I want you to hit it?"

::Kitten games!:: I thought back with a laugh ::Of course!::.

"If we can get the wings damaged in the right places, the wind and the gravity will take care of the rest."

I purred evilly. This was going to be the best Target Practice ever!

"Now, Toothless! Go invisible." He straightened back up in the saddle.

I let myself sink behind some roiling clouds, barely noticing when electric sparks danced a bit along my smoke blackened hide and, now very tattered, harness.

And along came the Lady, plunging into the clouds, furious.

::Where are you, little cripple? Little slave?::

She rumbled a threatening growl, and I got the images from her of my bones being ground in her teeth.

We rose up silently above her, two ghosts circling around her head.

"Now!"

I picked up the location from Hiccup and launched out. Banshee scream and plasma blast, and a hole appeared on the Lady's right wing.

:::Perfect, Toothless!:::

We did this several times, swooping down to punch hole after hole in the Lady's wings and then disappear like phantoms into the night. I actually saw the Lady start to dip a bit as the wings began to unravel in the centers. She caught onto it, too. Roaring in rage, she struck out with her foul fire.

::That! Does! It! Scorch it!::

"WATCH OUT!" Hiccup yelled.

Ribbons of filthy red flames twisted around us, and we had to do some serious wing maneuvers and foot pedal shifting to keep out of the way. It was almost eerie how well we anticipated each other.

Then I felt a spark snap on the artificial tail fin. Heat spread up my tail spine as leather caught on fire.

I already began to feel heavier in the air, listing more to the left.

Hiccup twisted in the saddle and I heard him hiss between his teeth, "Helvítis!" and then "Okay... o-okay. Time's up. Let's see if this works."

I picked up that memory from him of us on the beach after our test flight, and about how I had shot that annoying little Sticky Fire Person with my plasma blast. What if we could do that to this creature?

She might not be one of my People, but she was still a fire breather, so the principle had to be the same.

First, though, we needed to get her good and distracted.

I launched at her, dancing around her head, ::You want me, I'm right here!::

She snapped at me. At this point, she was so angry, her thought voice was just jumbled patterns of fire and fury.

"C'mon! Is that the best you can do?" Hiccup yelled at her.

::Come and git it!::

I dove away from her, trying not to notice it was much easier to dive than I would have liked. We did not have much time.

Hiccup directed me to descend even more steeply, so I plunged into a sheer, vertical dive. Gravity pulled me down, and the wind smacked against us stronger and stronger.

The Lady roared and followed us, her cataract-ridden eyes narrowed in concentration.

We both raced towards the ground, she positioned right over me. It was terrifying since all she basically had to do now was open her mouth and snap it shut over both of us.

I could smell the hot gases in her as she was building up more fire to strike us. And the scent of old blood on her teeth. And the smell of my burning tail-fin!

I started to list more than I would have liked.

I heard the left pedal click and I righted again, but I could feel the fin was almost ready to fall apart.

I growled a warning to Hiccup.

"Stay with me, buddy!" he yelled, and I think he closed his eyes, willing himself to stay calm.

The wind screamed louder and louder. I felt my banshee cry start as the gas rose up in my belly. I was ready to strike when he was.

"We're good. We're good. Just a bit longer."

I hissed to myself. We really did not have much time left.

My muscles bunched up, anticipating Hiccup's command

"Hold, Toothless."

I held. And held. And held. I could sense the fire building in her... building higher.

"NOW!" Hiccup shouted.

I somersaulted in the air, flipping until I was facing the Lady's open mouth. I could hear the straps thrum as they held Hiccup in place.

I shot a blast of plasma- my last blast left- into her mouth.

She let out a wordless roar of rage as the plasma exploded with the gas already inside her. She began to explode from the inside out.

Hot air currents from the blast helped me to shoot up and over her, my wings working furiously.

Below I saw she was going too fast now to be able to pull out of the dive. The holes we had punched in her wings now began to crack wider and wider until her wings shredded to pathetic memories.

Then she impacted with the beach below.

Rocks, sand, fire, and, most gruesome, parts of the Lady's corpse were thrown up into the air.

My Rider had to work the pedals like a maniac while I balanced with both sets of my wings, and we dodged in and out of this maze of horrors.

I kept spinning off balance and it was getting harder to control my direction.

I just prayed I could use the hot air from the blast as thermals to coast on, bringing Hiccup and I back to the ground. It was going to be a nasty enough landing as it was.

Then there was a high pitched twanging sound as the high tension ropes on the tail fin system snapped. The tail fin had completely burned off me.

I felt my Rider's left leg pulled violently back and then released back on itself with the snapping ropes. No human bone could take that kind of brutal tension.

I heard him yelp in pain and then his lower left leg was dangling in a very unnatural way in the pedals. His breath came in agonized pants.

::Hang on!:: I roared, realizing he no longer would be able to cling to my back with that leg. ::I'll get us down!::

The Lady had the last laugh.

We both saw the dismembered spiked, club-like tail come flying at us. I screamed, realizing I could no longer control my direction to get us out of the path.

"No! No!" Hiccup screamed. He flattened himself on my back, but it was not flat enough.

There was a terrible thwacking blow as the tail crunched brutally against Hiccup's lower left leg and then along my ribs. I heard bones in both of us crack. The blow knocked Hiccup out of the saddle; all the flight straps were ripped off of the saddle frame.

My right ear burned as the wrist strap was torn from it.

And then we were both falling, thrown in opposite directions from each other.

I could see my Firemaker falling on his back into the burning firewall beneath us, the unattached wrist straps still wrapped around his hands. He was horrifically still.

I screamed and leaped after him.

The next few moments happened so fast that I only had impressions. I remember catching Hiccup in the air, using both teeth and claws, catching him by one of his legs as gently as I could.

Then I had him wrapped in my claws and I dropped my wings around him, protecting him from the wall of fire. I closed my eye lids to protect my eyes. Even if I had a pretty fire resistant hide, this fire was some of the nastiest I had ever encountered. I could feel the pain of it against my scales.

Then we plunged through the firewall into clean, fresh, cold air. I wanted to open my wings but was terrified they would break in the pressure of our fall. Better to keep Hiccup sheltered in them.

I opened my eyes a crack. The ground spun around and around as I careened towards it.

I shut my eyes again and tried to angle my body to make the least impact, but there would be no easy way to do this. At least my body could take more punishment than Hiccup's could.

WHUMPF!

I felt light flash behind my eyelids as we made impact. Then I was up in the air again for a moment, only to crash back down again.

The momentum kept dragging me along the beach. My right side screamed in pain as I slid over glass-sharp lava rocks. I heard the snap as one of the girths on my saddle broke.

And then, amazingly...

...silence.

My breath streamed from my nostrils. I felt needles of pain digging into my body, flaring along my ribs, my wings, my raw right side.

The sharp iron smell of blood surrounded both my Rider and I.

I'm still alive.

I think.

I became aware of Hiccup, then, shuddering in my legs. He was in horrible pain and semi conscious. His heartbeat against my chest was so dangerously faint, so fragile...

I curled as best as I could around him and adjusted him so he lay with his face and chest towards me so I could keep him warm. I folded my wings (one of them now injured and very twisted by the fall) around him, protecting him as best as I could against dangers that might come. No matter how weak I was, I would protect him with what strength was left in me. He had been there for for me when my People had abandoned me. Even more, he had given up his tribe and his honor to protect other Tribes of the People, too, to avoid hurting one of them them in the Kill Ring. I owed no less to him.

The heat had probably sealed off our wounds, but I could still smell blood on my hide and on the horribly mangled mess of skin, muscle and shattered bone fragments that was my Rider's lower left leg.

I picked up a faint thought from my semi conscious rider.

::: So... tired. Leg hurts. I think I want to go to sleep now. Wanna sleep... forever.:::

::No!:: I nudged Hiccup with my muzzle, remembering the time he had sung me back to sanity. ::Stay with me now. Stay with me, now.::

:::Let me go, will ya? I´m tired.:::

::Stay with me, friend. Stay with me,::

I kept thinking that to him, crooning to him as I felt him start to relax and slide into total unconsciousness.

It became my litany. Stay with me now. Stay with me now.

My own awareness faded in and out, but I just concentrated on my Firemaker, urging him to hang on, to stay with me.

I felt warm bits of ash dropping on me, covering me in a weirdly snow-like blanket. The ash was warm, but the air surrounding me was very chilly.

I vaguely remembered a song my Rider had sung to me a few times, the words chasing through my memory.

Have you seen that the red rain

Has run into the white seas?

On the broad road, the empty road,

The wind sleeps in peace.

There's something you give to no one

But yet you gave it to me.

In return they bring you my broken body,

Laying it at your feet.

My next fully aware moment was hearing Stoick's voice, blurred and ringing from my sore sensors. He was calling Hiccup's name and panting in horror and fear.

I heard his steps crunch through lava stones and then his body slump down next to mine.

I fought back against my lethargy, my body protesting in pain. I could not help moaning.

I forced my burning eyelids open. The world in front of me was blurry, but then swam into focus.

A smoke stained and battered Stoick was kneeling in front of me, his head lowered in deep sorrow.

Behind him the other Firemakers were ranged, some already lowering their heads in mourning. I realized Stoick, and the others, believed Hiccup was dead, his body burned away by that beast's flame. In my dizzy pain, I caught the irony of this strange day, that these people had gathered together to mourn the passing of someone they had previously considered a useless, annoying failure. That "useless failure" had just saved all their lives, paying the price with his own.

I could also see the five People who had joined me in the fight against that monster. They also had lowered their heads.

I heard Stoick say, "Ék gerði þetta", he gasped sadly, "Oh, Hiccup."

I did this.

I remembered those same words uttered by a Viking boy above my trapped body in a forest, what seemed to be one million years ago. Now things seemed to be repeating as the father said those same words above my body.

I willed my body to move, but it was so hard. There was something I wanted to show Stoick.

Tears were now gathering in Stoick's eyes, and his voice was choked with sorrow.

I picked up from him that he was sorry for everything he had done to Hiccup in his life. He had taken his boy for granted. He now realized how special his son had been and it was too late. Too damn late.

"I'm so sorry", he gasped, "I´m so s-sorry, Hiccup."

Those words gave me the strength to move my wings. I looked up poignantly at Stoick.

::R-Remember what y-you just s-said.:: I gave him a reassuring purr and opened my aching wings, showing him where I had cradled Hiccup during our crash landing.

I pulled my legs apart, the joints cracking, as Stoick lifted his son's battered, sooty and blood-stained body from my side.

Stoick brushed some of Hiccup' smoke blackened hair out the boy's closed eyes. The Viking Chieftain threw off his helmet. He anxiously tore off what was left of Hiccup's ragged tunic that was not covered by the riding harness and placed his head on the boy's burnt, bare chest, ear close to his heart.

"He's alive! Oh, he's alive!" his voice was thick with tears, "You brought him b-back alive!"

He cradled his son's unconscious, broken body against his great chest, love shining in his eyes. Hiccup looked so tiny and frail in his father's powerful, protective arms.

"I will never take you for granted again. I vow this," I heard Stoick whisper.

There were shouts of joy and relief from the other Firemakers. My allies also roared in gratitude that the boy they admired had survived.

I sighed wearily and let my heavy head drop back to the ground.

My eyes became blurry again. I felt Stoick's massive hand tenderly touch me on the face. It was so huge it almost covered my entire head.

"Thank you," Stoick said softly to me, "Thank you for bringing my son back to me."

I let my eyes close, and the last thing I heard before I sank into darkness was Gobber's voice, heavy with sadness, "Well, most of him anyway."