A/N: A quick reply to an Anonymous review that I must address: I am glad you are enjoying the story, but I am afraid it appears you missed the point of the last chapter. Yes, normal weather systems draw their strength from heat built up within the oceans, and all storms are typically a means of the earth regulating atmospheric energy imbalances between the equator and the poles; the processes of our weather are a fascinating thing to me and I know quite well how they work (one reason why I do find my own arguments with the source of inspiration for that chapter, despite my having used it). Thanks to my background in the sciences the theories on how ice ages occurred are also well known to me (changes in planetary axis tilt and orbital variations are the two major known causes). Both of these things I could discuss at length if I chose to do so, and are valuable if my tale was addressing imbalances in an entirely natural setting.

HOWEVER, these are not normal atmospheric conditions and the storms are not feeding off of energy within equatorially driven currents like usual (for example, normal super cell-type storms would typically not form over California's interior or head west, which would normally be going directly against the Jet stream, a huge irregularity as the stream drives storms); the big one is not a hurricane either, though it might look like one due to the Coriolis Effect. If you want an explanation as to why these things are occurring, I strongly suggest looking up The Day After Tomorrow where Malin gained his inspiration; evil, after all, does not necessarily care about how the natural world is supposed to work and in this case has no problem tweaking the laws of nature. This is a story where the characters work with supernatural forces after all.

Now, that addressed,a little note on the song lyrics at the beginning of this chapter: Fire and Fury happened to be the very first song I heard when I got back in the car after seeing HTTYD 2 in theaters for the first time. Not only did it fit, but boy, did. It. Hurt. What with the darker tone these next couple chapters might be taking, it was more than fitting when you take the song from that particular angle: sacrifice, and the pain of loss. There are multiple meanings though to the song, and many of them can probably be found reflected in what's to follow here...

Chapter 35

Fire and Fury

I will burn, I will burn for you!

With fire and fury, fire and fury!

My heart hurts, my heart hurts for you!

Your love burns within me,

With fire and fury, whoooaaa!

-Skillet, Fire and Fury

-0-

It was decided that the two Night Furies, Hiccup, Jake, Kingsley, and Embron would accompany me in my attempt; that we had been able to convince the rest to stay behind was little short of a miracle.

Zipeau had given Hiccup a long-range radio, since the telephone towers in the area had been either knocked down by the earthquake or were being interfered with by the odd weather anomalies and they would do us no good, and once it was confirmed it worked we set off. Embron set the pace, being the slowest among us, but even then in our hurried state it took little more than two hours to reach the park. I had seen it before in the splendor of a summer vacation when it was full of life, the thermal attractions an amazing sight that cannot be appreciated any way other than in person and the spread of wildlife was unmatched in North America.

Now, half the normally visible structures in the park were dead silent, and the other half running at well above a normal rate thanks to the rising magma and subsequent heat pouring through the ground. To the west of Yellowstone Lake, a single small plume of ash spouted almost lazily, a poor first sign of the full power that the earth was about to let loose.

We glided in and landed haphazardly beyond the edge of the caldera itself, snow whipping around us from the winds funneling to the northeast and mixing with ash beyond. Immediately, I turned to the others, grimly serious expression chiseled on.

"Alright look, I know what my parents said, and what you guys want," I began, my voice carrying a tone hardening the fact that I would hear no arguments, "but unless everything is clear and you can get in to me without risk of injuring yourselves, nobody, and I mean NOBODY comes in after me, got it?"

"Wait, wait, wait, now hold on," Hiccup immediately went to protest, ignoring both looks and tones, "you're trying to tell us that if things go south here and the volcano keeps blowing up, we're just supposed to leave you here if you can't get out on your own? Maybe it's just me, but that plan is not going to go over with me, sorry."

::Agreed,:: Toothless growled, nodding firmly.

"And I'd rather keep from getting more people killed here than is necessary," I shot back. "We know the risks I face here, and we know I'm the only one who's capable of making it happen, so I'm the only one who's going to be putting my neck on the block, got it? I know that I may not…I may not survive, but," I reached forward as I spoke, expression softening as I placed one hand on Hiccup's shoulder, and the other on to Amethyst's nose, "the last thing that I want is to risk all of you as well. If you can at least make it home, then take everyone you can with you back to Berk. If that happens, then at least I can go into this with a clear conscience.

"But, if you all try to go against my order here and come after me…" I continued, pausing to look at each of them with an expression to match my conflicted heart, "that's why I originally wanted to come alone, because then I could have ensured that no one else I knew was going to get hurt. I know we're all a bit hard-headed here, which is why I relented and let you come with me, but I can't live with you dying because you were here for me."

"And we couldn't live with ourselves if we let you go alone without at least trying to be there to back you up," Kingsley shot back from where he and Jake were both wrapped around Embron's spines; if snakes could cry, he would have been tearing up badly, and it almost made me start sobbing to look over to him. "Can I request that we make a compromise then? If there's at least a reasonable means of us getting you out safely, we can take it. We've been in a war, and we have a pyrokinetic Nightmare with us, after all."

I sighed; so much for no arguments. "Alright, I will relent. But, only if chances are a lot higher that you will make it out than not." I turned to look out over the park again, watching the landscape and tracking the quakes and vibrations underfoot. "In any case, any minute now our lives are never going to be the same one way or the other."

It was in fact only fifteen minutes later, when first I got word from Zipeau via the radio of happenings elsewhere: the Arctic super storm had begun sweeping south, the edges already brushing over Newfoundland and the upper states and bringing tidal surges to the cities on the coast as well as deadly winds. Thirty seconds later, the ground underneath our feet heaved violently, nearly throwing us off our feet, and immediately we all went on alert.

"I think it's time; I'm heading up, you guys stay here and do not follow me, understood?" I ordered. They nodded, reluctantly, and I spread a pair of Night Fury wings, taking off over the park.

The lake heaved and churned as the ground around and underneath it rippled and cracked from the titanic force surging upward. Bubbles erupted across the surface as the water superheated at the bottom and rose up alongside volcanic gases escaping through the rapidly expanding volcanic vents that lined the deepest points of the lake bed. But as of yet, still nothing more severe than the original small plume had appeared. That, however, soon tapered off without warning as if it had simply been shut off.

Then, a resounding crack that I felt like a gunshot to my side echoed through the sky, following a great supersonic shockwave, and a chasm opened up straight through the western end of Yellowstone Lake. I swerved after regaining my balance and centered myself directly over it, erecting a precautionary field, and braced myself. Below me, the earth vanished from sight.

The sky filled at once with both pitch black and fiery red, deafening from the sound of the volcano itself and the thunder from the static lightning discharging within the plume; the force almost immediately sent me rocketing upward as ash and superheated rocks flew up around me, battering the force field violently. A moment later I gained my bearings again, locking into the heat, static, and physical energy that poured from the ground so I could begin converting and redirecting it.

Instantaneously, my body began to feel like it was ripping apart as the power surged through every individual cell within me, a blinding beam revealing itself as searing light when it arced up and away to what I hoped was the northeast, pouring into the storm and breaking it apart. Despite my precautions, the surge of energy was making me and the air within my field heat up, climbing slowly but steadily to the point where it would eventually override even the tolerance the most heat-loving dragons possessed. Pulse after pulse rocketed up and out, each one threatening to knock my breath from my lungs.

Then, the situation only devolved from there. I was on the verge of physical pain trying to direct what was pouring out of the one vent, the very air now glowing from pure energy fields whipping frenziedly around me, but I was barely putting even a dent into the great plume that still rose around me. In a glimpse beyond the wall of fire and ash, I saw then a second break through beyond in the park, just as powerful as the first. In order to actually shut down the volcano, let alone take out the storm at the same time, a conversion of a far, far larger magnitude was needed.

My eyes widened in a sudden, despairing realization: my effect was slight, despite all that I was doing, and my endeavor would indeed fail in the end. The world, for all our efforts, was yet about to go dark.

Unless…

…unless another input could be made that could hold this kind of power. I had long held my theory that at least part of my ability relied on connections to dark matter and energy; I knew that the amount of power it took for me to morph, as well as actually convert matter and energy between forms, far exceeded any of the power that I produced as a result. If everything that went into my gift could be channeled to this, then maybe, just maybe…this could still happen. But, there was a very, very large probability that I could not survive the attempt.

Knowing the decision that had to be made, I closed my eyes, focusing hard on a link that had long been present but never expanded upon within me. The Descendants that had become a part of our family had all noticed that they knew, to some extent, where the others were and how they were doing, something they attributed simply to an odd sixth sense, but on rare occasions it could be a little more: a direct connection to each other when close enough.

It was this I opened, gathering my thoughts to send one last message.

Tell the others I said I love you, I said, feeling in return the sudden reactions of the Descendants, Amethyst and the other three closest most strongly. Take care of each other, be there for each other, for you are what matters. Goodbye.

Zipeau figured out the connection first and immediately tried to break through back to me, and I could feel him straining his mind to do so, but I had already cut the link. Now, I turned my gaze skyward, an entirely new sensation beginning to course over me as I turned my focus both inward and to a place I couldn't see at the same time as I spoke.

"Yahweh, o Lord, please hear me now: you gave me these abilities, this gift, to help and protect, and I've tried to do so for years now, but holding on to it won't help any more. So now, please, let me give it back so that I can protect my family, and let the world live," I pleaded, tears now falling free from my eyes and vaporizing in the heat around me. The force field was beginning to break as I reached my actual physical limits, and I could feel a burning sensation begin to run through me as well as the heat of the volcano itself radiated up, pieces of rock and ash biting at my skin as they began to break through.

"I'm letting go; Yeshua, please help me finish this. As you did, trade my life for everyone I care for."

The strain was catching up; I could feel the power rushing through me like it was the fire of the earth itself, lightning and thunder racing into me as the static built into the plume.

Then, for a moment, I thought I felt the breaching of my limits. A searing, indescribable agony bloomed somewhere within me. It took a moment for me to realize where it had originated, upon my arm just below the wrist, moments before it raced through the rest of me, taking my mind and body at once in a great tidal surge of torment. I'm sure I screamed myself hoarse, but over the roar of the volcano and the intensity of the pain I did not hear it.

I felt my wings and tail suddenly vanish from me, and I was left floating in place simply from the sheer intensity around me of all the forces battling in one great calamity. The light of the energy beam that had been traveling away suddenly condensed inward, before rippling out in a great wave, so bright that for a split second I was seeing backward through my own head.

I don't know how long it lasted, but the great shockwave of power swept outward, engulfing everything around me. As it spread away and died back so too did all feeling shut off; I felt no pain, no pressure, no heat, nothing.

Light faded fully to complete darkness like I had never experienced, and I felt for a moment as if something had grabbed hold of me, pulling me away from the world to an entirely new dimension. I wasn't worried though; there wasn't anything left to be worried about, right?

Then…

A/N- I never did say who would be around for the final book...and things will get darker from here.

As always, let me hear your predictions, thoughts, etc. in your reviews!