Chapter 26

In the few months following Keir's nightmare, Hiccup had finally started to breathe a little easier. And if I was being honest, I was starting to worry that all this would have turned out like it did Hiccup's battles with Viggo Grimborn. Of course he wasn't someone anyone around here knew they should not mention lightly, especially around her. But after seeing how much Drago Bludvist had messed with my mate's head with everything that happened, I was sure that at this point, she would have preferred Viggo. Not that I would ask her if she did. As far as I was concerned, it was best to not talk about him at all.

On this day however, Hiccup had her mind occupied on other things, namely setting up our kids' surprise party. She had asked me to keep Keir and Keena busy while she and the rest of the village got everything ready. The whole day I was with my children, I couldn't help but think back to all the birthdays I had helped surprise her with when she and I first got together. It almost brought tears to my eyes thinking about it.

While I was playing Hunter with the, Keir got the drop on me and Keena got me from behind. After we wrestled around for a little bit, Keir and Keena needed to catch their breath.

"Daddy, how did you and Mommy meet?" Keir asked as he and his sister curled next to me.

"Well Keir, it's a long story."

"Please, tell us." Keena pleaded staring up at me with those irresistibly adorable toxic green eyes of hers.

"Okay, okay." I said giving in. "When your mother was younger, I think she would have been 14 almost 15 at the time, she was different."

"Different how?" Keir asked.

"You may find this hard to believe, but your mother and all the people at home, they didn't always love dragons. In fact your mother growing up, she was being raised to kill dragons. But she, unlike the rest of the village, was incapable of killing dragons. One night, however, she got a lucky shot at me and shot me out of the sky. When she came looking for me a short time later, I cursed and turned her into a Night Fury.

"When we met up again afterwards, I had thought of killing her but seeing her the way she was, broken and confused, I wasn't sure what to do. Finally, we both realized we couldn't stay, not with the others in the village possibly coming to look for us. I taught her to fly and we were hoping to leave soon after. Unfortunately, fate seemed to have other plans since we were captured by her father and imprisoned in their training arena.

"We managed to break out along with the other dragons trapped there, and we came up with the plan to show the rest of the village that dragons were not what they had always believed them to be. By destroying the Red Death, we were able to finally end the war and bring our people together. In that fight, your mother risked her life to save mine and in doing so softened the curse I had cast on her. That's why she can change into a dragon at will, and that's where you two get your abilities to transform."

"Wow." They both breathed.

"Yeah, your mother is pretty amazing isn't she." I said remembering all the times Hiccup had exceeded not only my expectations but also those of everyone she ever met.

She was always saying that I was no ordinary dragon, well she was no ordinary human. Apart from her ability to use magic and transform, she started out different and she has always proven how much better she gets each time she was pushed to her limits.

The kids and I continued to play out in the forest until I saw the sun start to set and knew it was almost time for me to take the kids to their birthday party.

"Alright kids, time to go home." I said getting up.

"But Daddy," Keena whined.

"Come on, Mommy has something special planned tonight." I said leading them back to the village. "Do you two know what today is?" I asked as we started up for the Great Hall.

They shook their heads. "Today is both your birthdays." I said nudging the door open.

The pillars were wrapped with boas of flowers and beautiful cloth and strung across the ceiling. Keir and Keena were both really surprised by the party Hiccup had put together for them, but they had a lot of fun celebrating with their friends. The good news for us was that the party and playing with their friends wore them out so we didn't have trouble getting them to bed that night. While Hiccup helped every put things back, I decided to patrol the island for a while to make sure that no one was coming. While I was out, Skullcrusher caught up with me just as I passed Raven Point.

"You doing alright?" he asked as we leisurely flew back toward the village.

"Yeah, just taking a break from the kids. I tell you, it's not easy keeping young Dark Ones under control. But the good news is that they're approaching the age where they should start settling down."

"That'll be a bit of a relief. How's your mate been holding up?" He asked as we made it to the village.

"I think she's getting better, but sometimes she still has nightmares about her father and what happened with Drago and the dark alpha." I answered still feeling a little upset that I had let happen.

"Hey, I know you're probably getting tired of hearing this, but it wasn't your fault, and I know she forgives you and I know my previous rider would have done it again without a second thought. That's just what fathers do." He said as we approached our house. "I miss Stoick, but I know he wouldn't want you blaming yourself for something you couldn't change. And I know he wouldn't blame you, you didn't want to hurt your mate or kill him and you saved our home and now you're the dragon among dragons, you are the Alpha. No dragon can stand against you now."

"I know all that, I know it in my head, but in my heart, I can't help but blame myself. And I'm not sure how I can make it go away." I said as we stood out and talked for a little bit.

"Your mate's friend asked Stoick the same question, and do you know what he told her?" Skullcrusher asked. "He said you can't make it go away, you own it and you do whatever you can so that you never have that feeling again. Trust me I know. If anything, I should have been there to help protect your mates father, he was my rider and I didn't protect him. Now I have a new rider and I know that I am not going to make the same mistake with Eret that I made with Stoick."

I nodded gratefully to older male and thanked him for the advice. He was definitely Stoick's dragon. He made his way home and I went inside my house and found my mate already sleep in bed. She must have had a lot to do with setting up our kids' party. I settled down next to her and dozed off thinking about what Skullcrusher had told me. He was right, I couldn't make the feeling go away, instead I should just use it to remind myself why I fight for those I love. Which was what I had planned to do.