Sorry for missing an update! We're catching up to the Deviantart updates, and I update Dragon Prince on Deviantart once a week. There will be a new chapter tomorrow as well.

Before we set off for the field where Alvin and his men camped, Camicazi and I made one last dragon flight. She rode on her Changewing, while I rode on Toothless. Not alone, however.

"Where are you headed?" Merida had asked. She had come out of her tent, yawning, as I saddled Toothless. Camicazi had dressed herself in black, so that she was like a sword-wielding shadow except for the splint around her right wrist. Her blade had danced as she tested my mettle, just probing, with her left hand. She wouldn't dare use her right.

"Dunbroch," I had said, saddling up Toothless. "To use the smithy."

"At this hour?" She had gestured at the night sky. "You need your rest for the next few days."

"Bog Burglars don't need sleep," Camicazi had replied. "We're more terrifying when we're tired."

"I need to get these practice swords sharpened." I had taken out the blades that Fergus had brought. "Since I don't have a proper one for the duel. And I need to make something for Toothless. Something really important."

"You're going to use a practice sword?" Merida had asked incredulously.

"The regular ones are too heavy for me, and Alvin will think I'm desperate. Which I am." My throat tightened. "It also means I have to do a lot of weapons repair when I'm done. To pay back Morgan."

She had stood for a moment, still wearing her green dress and cloak. Perhaps she hadn't undressed for the night knowing what I was going to do, or it had been chance.

"I'm going with you. Morgan is more likely to help if I'm there."

"It's not proper," I had protested. "Astrid isn't coming with us-"

"Then we'll bring the boys to make it proper."

As if by magic, three furry figures had appeared by her side. They had viewed Camicazi's black outfit with interest, and she had grinned with scorn.

"Boys. How droll."

"It seems I'm outnumbered," I had said ruefully. "Please tell me you'll leave a note with your mother, telling you where we've gone."

"She knows we're going to Dunbroch. I told her."

"You have."

"Word of honor, Hiccup. I don't want to worry her again, not after what I put her through." She had looked sincere in her green dress and cloak, ready to leave without asking what I was planning.

"We'll also need a white banner. For Camicazi's dragon," I had said.

"They won't see me coming." Camicazi had grinned. "I'm riding a Changewing!"

She had nailed a point there, and there hadn't been time to get a white banner anyway.

The weather cooperated, offering large cloud cover but very little snow. Toothless gritted his teeth against the wind but carried on. I held Hubert in my lap and protected him from the windburn; Merida had her remaining brothers on her lap. She also had her bow and her eyes, which she used to scan the ground. We were being cautious, and even Camicazi knew better than to make her dragon flip. Not that her fingers and feet weren't itching to do so; I could sense her twitching against the cold.

In time, her Changewing disappeared. It was eerie to see her floating in the air, riding nothing and holding back her Burglar war cry. Her black outfit made her stand out like a hyperactive shadow on the cloud cover.

"You may want to fix that disguise," Merida shouted by way of banter. "It's not something meant for the winter."

"It's meant for BURGLING," Camicazi shouted back. Nevertheless, she didn't grin.

When Merida spotted Dunbroch through a hole in the clouds, we observed its guard. Most of the sentinels were sleeping or huddling around small fires. Not exactly a vote of confidence, but Fergus had left the castle because he was confident of holding off Alvin's guard and keeping them confined to the coast.

"I know a secret way in," Merida whispered. "Let's land, slowly. Then they won't notice us."

I followed her directions, landing Toothless near a small opening. Still the guards didn't notice. They kept their sleepy watch by the campfires. Camicazi and her invisible dragon followed, and now she blended in better. Still, her black was conspicuous. It would have worked better on an island setting, or hiding into a building's shadows.

Merida indicated the opening. She mouthed "secret passage," and the boys nodded. The door was broken, but Merida recognized it. She ignored the torn hinges and led the way for us. We walked down a long, dark and dirty tunnel, but one that had been used recently. Mold froze on the walls, though there was faint dripping. Toothless and the invisible Changewing followed.

"Does anyone else know about this passage?" I whispered.

"Only Mum."

"Could Outcasts find out about it?"

"Yes." Her voice gained a sharp edge. "But we'd know if they were using it. For starters, there'd be more footprints."

She was right. Only a few bear tracks and paw prints were left in the tunnel, and the mold had filled them. Toothless had to squeeze tightly to fit, and several times he almost got stuck. The Changewing had a better time of it despite having a larger body. It was amazing that we barely made any noise despite our entourage. Tension ran through the lot of us, even the triplets.

We reached the end of the tunnel, which had a lighted opening above us. Merida climbed onto Toothless and pulled herself out, and then she reached for her brothers. They made a chain and burst out.

Camicazi's cheeks were bursting with all the chatter she wanted to bestow on us, but she held herself together as we went to the smithy, whose steps went downward. The light was on, and we heard the sound of a hammer banging against steel.

"He's awake," I said. "He had to be awake."

"Good thing I came along," Merida snorted. "Boys, keep a guard outside. If there are Outcast spies, find them and DESTROY them. Make Mum proud."

Camicazi's eyes lit up. The boys looked too eager to carry out this order. Hubert took a position at the opening while his brothers disappeared.

Merida banged her way through. Morgan looked up from his work as we walked in.

"Oh! Are we getting weapons! I love sharp weapons. A Bog Burglar could get used to a castle with secret passages! Do you know all the passages, Princess? Could I stay here and burgle to my heart's delight, oh please please please?!"

Morgan took in Camicazi with her dirty blond hair, black outfit, and twitchy fingers. She barely came up to his waist, and she was obviously Viking. Then he looked to me.

"I need the smithy for a couple of hours," I said. "And I need to take a loan on all my credits. It's an emergency."

He turned his gaze to me. I rubbed snow out of my hair, feeling grubby and tiny. Morgan had a way of doing that. Nevertheless, I kept talking, taking out the swords I had packed onto Toothless's back.

"I need to make a new tail for Toothless and hoods for him and my friend's dragon. I also need to sharpen these practice blades. It's so we can rescue the hostages in Dingwall territory, Scottish and Viking. Afterward, I'll work day and night in your smithy until the credits are paid off, even if it takes till the summer-"

Merida raised her hand. She gave me a light slap on the back of my neck. Her hands were numb from the cold, so I didn't feel it.

She slapped me again, this time harder. I stopped talking and turned to her in outrage.

"What was that for? Only Astrid can hit me!"

"Hiccup, you're a prince now," she said. Her hand was red with frost. "You don't owe Morgan extra work. If anything, he should be working for YOU."

"Thank you, Princess. I couldn't have said it better," Morgan sighed. He ran a hand through his balding hair. "To be honest, work hasn't been the same without you, Highness. Not just because I miss having a smaller load. "

I looked at him. "Nothing has changed. I'm still the same smart-mouthed apprentice."

"No, you're not," he said flatly. "You need those blades sharpened?"

Before I could protest, he yanked all three out my hands and poured them onto his anvil.

"I have more experience with this. You Vikings are more likely to hone it to the point of breaking, and you want these blades to last for a couple of hours at the least. Go on," he indicated at Toothless. "You left your papers here."

"My . . ." I felt myself blush as I saw a corner of neatly stacked papers. "Did you read them?"

"I don't read." He attempted a grin at Merida before turning back to me. "Get to work, highness. You don't have all night."

I don't. But gods, what if the Outcasts had raided this smithy as well? They would have gotten the plans for the hood, maybe for more! Gods, I never learn!

I grabbed the papers, sifted through them to find the design for the hood. Then I stripped off my cloak and tunic, grabbed leather and metal and started to work. Toothless's hood was easier the second time around, and I only needed to take measurements.

"Do NOT let this come off," I ordered Camicazi. "It may be the one thing that saves your dragon from nip."

She looked up from where the boys had brought her stolen cakes and fruits. She giggled and took them, patting them on the head.

"Thing is that your mask is visible," she pointed out. "And my dragon is supposed to be INVISIBLE."

She had a point. I wiped my sweaty face and thought.

"Could we make it using Changewing scales?"

Her dragon responded by covering itself with its wings. Camicazi went to speak to her reasonably, scratching it under the chin. The dragon went limp with a loud thump. Then she came back, and her hands were laden with scales. At least, one hand was; the one with the splint kept dropping them.

"They shed easily," she said above the clatter of crashing scales. "You just have to know where to peel."

Even with the scales, we still had to attach them together, and then we found that they only turned invisible when they were touching her dragon, if her dragon wished to turn invisible. This we learned after the Changewing- whose name was Stealth- woke up from her chin-scratching nap. Merida grabbed my plans took over the sewing, pushing me toward the bellows.

"You only have one pair of hands, and you need to use them for your dragon," she said. Toothless backed her up by getting between us.

"Hold still, bud," I said. "Don't give me that look; I need to modify your tail-fin."

He eyed my face, as if detecting a lie.

"Toothless, I'll let her design the mask for dragon nip. But you need to be able to fly without me, at least for a short while."

He lay down and let me remove the artificial tail-fin. It had suffered wear and tear from our time in Scotland, though the cloth remained intact. No one looked at the Berk skull these days, though slush had blackened the red and white fabric. It seemed so long ago that I had first made the prototype with simple leather and connecting rods.

It was a long time ago. When you first discovered that dragons weren't dangerous.

And when I was a proper Viking.

You weren't proper back then. You grew into the role, and now you've grown out of it. Because the other Vikings didn't want you.

Fortunately, examining the tail-fin and determining where to add gears left no room for pondering. I had made so many versions, so many to replace each one and to improve on them, that they were burned into my brain. I even remembered the Snoggletog gift that I had made for Toothless; the one he had smashed into the snow after realizing how much we needed each other.

I collected metal, tools and paper on which to draw. The trick was in planning, so as to save time. We only had so much time and energy before those at the camp would miss us.

Merida fitted two scales together, making the red pieces fit like a jigsaw puzzle. Once she had a length of dragon-skin, she looked at the plans I had made and followed them. For all her claims at being the best fighter in Dunbroch, she seemed to also be the best seamstress. After Camicazi tried to offer help, forgetting about her broken wrist, Merida seemed to gain confidence and sew faster.

The triplets kept their watch, bringing sweets for us. Morgan dipped the sharpened swords into the cooling barrel. Toothless's eyes were on the gears as I tested them out, demonstrated the automatic setting to him and Merida. Then he lay down so that I could reattach the tail-fin. That took more time as I demonstrated to Merida how to do that exactly.

"See, normally I'd just go out and make a new tail, but we don't have the time and material for it. Not with the gears that this one requires. But with this setting," I demonstrated, showing how the fin opened and closed with Toothless's remaining flap, "it means that you'll be able to ride him without needing to steer. You can fire your arrows from a higher altitude and gain more power behind them."

Toothless didn't like the weight; he eyed the modified contraption with suspicion, as if it would cause him to sink. Then again, he hadn't liked the automatic tail-fin either, thinking I had attached a leaden weight to his behind. His spinning made Camicazi giggle. The Changewing poked it with one wing, testing the fabric.

"Why didn't you make this a week ago, when you were last in the smithy?" she asked. "We could have found you faster when Alvin's men grabbed you."

"That's what I was wondering." Morgan presented the blades to me, having dried them on one of the aprons.

"More likely Alvin would have caught you, because I wouldn't have been able to protect Toothless from the dragon nip." I tested out each practice blade by swinging them. A bit light for my fancy, and more like to snap if the frost made them brittle, but they would do the job. I hoped.

"You could have made both the mask and these modifications."

"Not with the credits I had on me," I said. "I didn't want to leave Toothless vulnerable to dragon nip, so I chose to make the mask first."

She rolled her eyes at me. Morgan shrugged to indicate that yes, a week ago I hadn't had enough credits.

Toothless went out, testing to see how he could fly with the tail-fin. It opened up well enough, but he couldn't manage sharp twists and turns. The automatic gear would need work. I called him back, wiped off the frost that had gathered between the different metal pieces.

"You and Toothless need to practice," I told Merida. "To make sure that you can fly AND shoot well. And don't bring the boys with you; your mother will have my head on a pike if they end up in danger."

"What if I need them?" she asked innocently. "They're good at getting into and out of places, as you can tell."

I watched as Hubert came to us with some cream cakes, cheeks bulging with pastry. He looked so innocent despite the cream that had rubbed into his hair. So did his brothers when they bestowed stolen trays and even small knives.

They had brought enough food to feed a garrison, if garrisons lived off cakes and pies. And they had been kind enough to bring most of it for their sister and Camicazi. I kept turning the sweets down because a pot of tea would have done better at keeping me awake and my energy was flagging.

"I'd prefer it if they caused trouble here at Dunbroch than on the battlefield," I said. "Alvin's going to be expecting Toothless to show up and the kingdom's heirs are much more valuable than a diplomat who happens to have Scottish blood."

"Why don't I see if I can convince them to not come first?" She grabbed Hubert to clean the cream off his face. "After all, I am the eldest."

He gave her a cheeky grin and squirmed in her arms.

"Not bad for boys," Camicazi remarked from where she attached the mask to her dragon. Mischievous thoughts rolled across her face.

"Toothless, don't let these boys mount you," I ordered. "And remember, you have to rescue my dad first once the hostages are free. My dad before me."

Toothless gave me another look, curving his neck around to meet my gaze.

"It's not like it was last time. I have a plan." Which feels and less certainly to succeed the closer we got to actually carrying it out. "I need you to do your part, so we don't have to worry about hostages or the automatic bola. Be the unholy offspring of lightning and death that once took out all our catapults. Trust Merida, because if things go wrong, you have to stay at Dunbroch. Merida and the boys need to be your new riders, and Morgan your new smith."

He gave me a wild, wide-eyed expression at that. Merida almost mirrored it, as did the boys. Even Camicazi looked surprised if not shocked.

"Nothing terrible will go wrong," she said. "You're the Dragon Conqueror, the one who freed the archipelago from The Red Death. Most BOYS can't claim to have done that."

"Most of that credit goes to Toothless, who blew fire at the right moments," I said. My dragon purred with pride. "But this is important, on the off-chance that the gods decide to strike us down in our moment of truth." Or if I failed to put on a good show.

I turned back to my dragon. He looked mournful and defiant. I had explained this part to him so many times, why we had to be separate for a couple of hours, but that didn't make either of us like it better.

I wrapped my arms around his neck. He gave a mournful croon and nuzzled my chest with his snout. His scales felt warm despite the winter, and I could tell he wanted to wrap me in his wings like he had for the past couple of days

"Toothless, you know why you need to stay with Merida. Like I said, you need to practice working with her, to time the arrow and fireballs precisely. And whatever you do, rescue my dad first."

He shut his eyes to the idea. I sensed he was about to pounce and pin me to the ground, to keep me from leaving.

"Promise me, bud. Then you can fire-bomb Alvin as much as you like."

He gave a grudging warble. I patted his neck, hugging him tightly.

"Thanks bud."

Merida drew in her lips as I disentangled myself from the blue and black scales. She would have hugged me, no doubt, but it was hard enough as it was. Snow started to fall again, and Camicazi mounted her dragon.

"Let's go, Hiccup. We march in the morning, and I need to pick up Tantrum."

I turned to Merida.

"Go," she said. "We have a Night Fury protecting us. Besides, this is our home. And yours."

Home. In Scottish territory. If I fail.

Instead of a hug, I took both her hands, which were still ruddy red. I held them as tightly as I could. She smiled at the gesture, and grinned when the boys tackled my legs. They obviously didn't want me to leave either. It was like having miniature bear hugs.

"See you tomorrow," I told the four of them, including the three below me. "If you can't stay away from battle, at least give the Outcasts trouble. Lots of trouble."

The boys let go, Hubert sniffling a bit. I released Merida's hands, took Camicazi's uninjured wrist and let her pull me onto the Changewing's back. It surveyed me as Toothless gave another mournful croon.

Morgan watched us. I couldn't fathom the expression in his eyes, what emotions were frothing into a terrible mixture. Definitely disgust for Camicazi and respect for the princess, but for me? It may have been pity, seeing how I rode an invisible dragon that wasn't mine.

It may have also been pride, for finally acting like a Scot.