For those not following this story, take note that two chapters were posted today. So read chapter 36 before this one.

Chapter 37

The door wasn't opened so much as it exploded inward. Astrid, bristling, stood in her house's threshold, eyes darting from side to side as they sought to find the knocker. It took her a while to look down and find me.

"Hey."

"Hiccup." Astrid ran her fingers through her hair. "I wasn't expecting you to come by."

I pointed past her. Her head turned quickly, as if she expected to see a snarling bear. "Uh, yeah," she said. "You can come in."

I walked inside. Stormfly tracked me with watchful eyes. While she hadn't done anything to me yet, I was getting the impression that the Nadder was in a particularly bad mood. She was huffing and puffing her chest out, and her spines were exposed.

Astrid closed the front door. Facing away from me, she said, "This is about Snotlout, isn't it?"

More or less.

"Hiccup, he nearly killed you!" She whirled around; her foot came down so hard the plates on the nearby table rattled. "That wasn't some dumb prank. That wasn't something where he could say he didn't mean it and everything would be okay! He sold you out; he sold us out. He betrayed everyone! Why are you still protecting him?"

Her voice cracked. Through her impromptu speech, her pitch had grown higher and higher, wobbling with unsteady lilts. There were red rims around her eyes, like she had been crying earlier. The face I saw now wasn't entirely composed; the mask had cracked. Acting on suspicion, I inhaled –

Yep. The twins had been here.

I hopped onto her table top. After dipping my claw in some gravy, I began to write. Astrid walked over, mumbling, "I have ink, you know."

I understand why you did It, I wrote.

I'd bet it was the opposite of what she had heard from the twins. The mask cracked a little further. In a clear attempt to hide her slip, Astrid forced herself to take on more of that Strong Viking persona that Berk was accustomed to. Shoulders squared, her spine snapped straight, and she said, "So you get it. We're okay, then?"

Not looking at her, I shook my head.

"But I . . . what else is there? Has this been about something else the whole time?"

I wrote, Not yours to tell.

Under her breath, she repeated the words to herself. The gears of her mind grinded to a temporary stop as she struggled to understand. "What do you mean?"

My story. I tell.

"You were going to tell them," she said disbelievingly. When I hesitated, she snapped, ''No, you weren't."

My story. I put my paw in the space between those two words.

"But you weren't going to say anything! That meant it was my job to tell them."

I slammed my paw down and growled. My story.

"No, it isn't!" she shrieked. It was shrill, and Stormfly starting hissing from her corner. "That's not your call, Hiccup. You don't get to decide who is and isn't guilty!"

I stared her down. Neither do you.

Her composure splintered under my glower. "He's a traitor. He betrayed us! Why doesn't anyone understand that!"

She stomped around the room pulling at her hair, and grinding her teeth together in an attempt not to scream. Stormfly clucked, concerned. I didn't like this. It was one thing to upset Astrid like this; it was another to do it when I wasn't really in a place to comfort her or communicate properly.

She screeched to a stop by the window, standing there as she looked outside. Now that things were beginning to calm, I felt uneasy. It was easier when she was visibly upset, because then I had the 'responsibility' to keep things calm and orderly. Without that buffer, my nerves pulled tight.

"Would you be doing this if it had been Mildew?" Astrid asked quietly.

Huh? I cocked my head.

Astrid turned to face me. "Can you honestly tell me that this has nothing to do with him being your cousin?"

It was eerily similar to what the king had asked me. Just as it had then, my heart stuttered.

"Hiccup."

A beat. I looked away. But without looking at her or the table, I wrote something else:

You too.

When she saw that, her face paled. Red-rimmed eyes desperately tried to meet mine.

"Fine. It's true!" She kicked Stormfly's water bowl across the room, painting the wall with a plume of water. "I was mad. Part of it was personal; I thought he was getting what he deserved. But that's not the only reason I did it! I didn't do it just because I hated him. I did because he was a traitor. He turned on us first!"

Her mask broke. Angry tears dripped from her eyes and when she noticed, it just upset her further. "I did it because I'm loyal to Berk. Not because of some stupid feud. How can anyone think I'm that kind of person?"

I was supposed to be angry right now, or righteous. At the least, I was supposed to be listening to her as a judge would - with a cool head. But how could I? I knew for sure now what had occurred between her and the twins, and whether she had been crying earlier.

I crawled up to the other end of the table where Astrid was a mere foot away, wiping her eyes. She took a step back so she didn't have to look down at me.

"I thought I was helping," she said, mutely begging for support. "I thought it was the right thing to do. But it's like all I did was make everything worse."

"Astrid . . ." With one beat of my wings, I propelled myself into her chest. She caught me, grip unsure. Then it tightened, and I had to spread my wings a bit just to keep her arms from crushing my lungs. Stormfly nuzzled her from behind, cooing.

"Ruff and Tuff hate me." She sobbed. Salty tears dripped onto my back. "Fishlegs is avoiding me. Even your dad wouldn't look me in the eye when I told everyone the truth. And after Gothi made her judgement, he looked so disappointed . . . I don't understand what I did wrong."

I buried my snout in her neck. "It's not you," I croaked. "It's not you he's disappointed with. It's Snotlout. Maybe me. I shouldn't have given you that burden to begin with. Not until I knew what I wanted done with it."

I closed my eyes, and breathed in her scent. Her body shook against mine. I regretted this: everything that had happened between us since we returned. I had messed up with how I handled things, that was for sure. And if I were honest with myself, after listening to her and that private conversation with the king, I doubted myself. I still didn't agree with what had happened to Snotlout but maybe . . . maybe she hadn't been as wrong as I first thought. Maybe part of my thoughts had to do with him simply being my cousin.

I curled my tail around her arm, and waited until she cried herself out. It took a few minutes. When it was over, she took a couple more to collect herself. Her skin grew hot during that time as she blushed. Yet despite her embarrassment, she didn't seem ready to let me go.

She finally hiccupped, "Are you still mad at me?"

I wriggled out of her arms. The moment I was free, her face twisted. She feared this was more than just a breaking of physical contact. I hopped onto the table, and underlined two words I had wrote prior.

I understand.

The king only spent a night or two in Berk, mostly so he could rest. He and Dad spent quite a bit of time together, even if it was just in silence. On the other hand. Mogadon avoided him like the plague. I did spot Thuggory peeking at the great dragon a few times, however.

But eventually, it became time for us to go. Dad passed control of Berk off to Gobber and Mogadon, and then we made our goodbyes. Astrid was the most reluctant. Although I had spoken to them, things were still tense between her and the other teens. I had told her about my impending journey after those confessions at her house though, so she had been given a few days to prepare for my absence.

("Is this your way of breaking up with me?" she had asked.

I had snuggled up close, and licked her cheek. Never.)

I had offered to let the king take a sheep back with him. He declined when I couldn't say for sure if they were able to live off ferns.

It took us longer to reach the Nest with the king than it had without him. While his majesty was a fast swimmer, he wasn't faster than us. And, I was learning, the king was old. He could eat along the way and even toss Toothless and Skullcrusher some fish here and there, but he couldn't swim for a half day without needing to rest. During those times, he lingered near the water's surface. Toothless, Skullcrusher and I often landed on his back to conserve our strength.

At least a week later, we arrived. Grinning, I looked back at Dad. Nothing too impressive yet. Just a fortress constructed from ice. But Dad had dug his heels into the stirrup so that he was able to stand and see it better. Oh, boy. Just wait until we got inside.

The king disappeared below the waves. Toothless guided us inside, this time without creating his own entrance. I plunged after him, Skullcrusher following me closely.

All the icy walls still held thanks to their crystal supports, but without the king's maintenance, they had begun to melt. More light than I remembered poured through the tunnels that would take us to the Nest's core. Pools of water had spread across the rocky ground, rippling as our passage disturbed them.

"These . . . this can't be real, can it?" Dad said. "Nothing like this could occur naturally."

I grinned wider.

We were almost inside. I could taste the plants within. Toothless slowed down. Maybe he was prolonging the moment – that joker. . .

He showed teeth.

"Toothless?"

He kept going, but it his wingbeats were no longer carefree. They were purposeful. No sound came from him, but my body seemed to vibrate as if he were growling. I had no idea what was setting him off. Maybe his memories of this place weren't that great? In his eyes, they had kind of kidnapped me, after all.

No. That wasn't it. As we approached the last turn, it finally dawned on me. It was really quiet. Really, really quiet. And while I could smell dragons, the smells weren't right.

They were stale.

Something was wrong.

We burst into the main chamber. The pure greenness of life hurt our eyes until they adjusted. The same warm air, the same ferns and lichens, greeted me with a wafty hello. Waterfalls and pools sloshed. It was as rich and welcoming as I remembered.

But there were no dragons.

Toothless and I touched down on the ledge overlooking the king's pool. We didn't speak, or look at each other. We only looked at the empty Nest in horror.

Having dismounted, Dad took slow steps across the moss-covered rocks. "This is magnificent!"

No. No. It wasn't! A bubble of pressure made me want to scream at him. This wasn't at all magnificent. This was all wrong! Couldn't he tell?

Then, I smelt dragons. Dragons that were actually here. My whole body sagged. If the king had told them to play a joke on us, that had not been funny –

A baby Scuttleclaw peeked out from under a fern. Soon, we were surrounded by at least two dozen pairs of eyes.

My heart completely stopped when I realized they all belonged to baby dragons.

They rushed out, completely ignoring me and Dad, and making a beeline for the two adult dragons. They swarmed our dragons, whining and keening, licking and rubbing their snouts against the adults' necks.

Begging for food.

Toothless and Skullcrusher spat up their catch. We hadn't eaten recently though and the fish that came out were half-digested and stunk. But the babies didn't seem to mind, and they snarled and fought over it as if it was fresh from the oven.

"They're cute," Dad offered, but his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

I heard the king surfacing. I ran back over to the ledge where I could see his spines poking out of the water. I didn't wait for him to fully emerge before I demanded, Your majesty, where is everyone?

. . . I don't know. My tendrils flared as the king sent out a mental pulse. And another. But the only living things that answered him was the horde of babies that poured out of their hiding places.

Stop, the king ordered, I cannot hear all of you at once.

I couldn't hear the conversations going on between him and the children. I intended to wait until he saw it fit to inform me, but Toothless came crawling up. His back was hunched; his chin dripped so low it almost grazed his paws, which were positioned next to each other so that they touched. His eyes were big and wide. This was his Something Very Bad Has Happened face.

"What is it?" I asked him.

Toothless led me to a tunnel that took us out of the main chamber. We ran across Skullcrusher before long, who was snorting and pacing. Nearby, was an alcove in the crystal walls. Inside, there was a large, horned shadow – Dad. He was on his knees, cradling something that even in this low light, I could tell he handled as gently as he could. The thing he held had reached out in turn, and laid a hand upon his cheek –

"MOM!"

Sharp crystals dug into my paws. I pounded my way into the alcove, and skidded to a stop. Dad glanced at me, tears in his eyes, and squeezed the small hand in his tighter. There was no response from Valka who continued to stare at him, her breathing shallow. I propped myself up on her hip with one paw, gaping. I . . . what was happening? I touched her, just to prove this was real.

"Wh-what happened? Dad, what happened?!"

"Hiccup . . . you came, too." Valka smiled, but her mouth opened too wide. Like she lacked the strength to keep it closed. "This must be my last happy dream."

"Stop. Stop!" She needed to stop talking. Didn't she know how much energy that took? I tried to bunch up her clothes. They crackled with dried blood. I grabbed Dad's cape instead and pulled it over her. She needed to stay warm. Gobber always said that. Keep them warm in case of shock. Then go look for the medical supplies –

Stupid! There wasn't any. This wasn't Berk. Maybe if I scavenged. . . she must have kept something around. There must have been something.

"Don't leave me." Her whimper froze my paws to the ground. "Don't leave me again."

"I'm not going anywhere," Dad said, his own voice warped and high.

She sobbed. "He took them. He took all of them, Stoick!"

"Who?"

"Drago Bludvist." She wailed, choking out another sob at the end. "It's my fault! The king was right. I should have been the one to go. It's my fault the Nest was unprotected. I let him take them all. I've lost everyone!"

"Shh. No you haven't. You still have us." Dad stroked her cheek. He rubbed their noses together. "Hiccup and I are here now."

He waved me over. No. No, no, no. I couldn't do that. I couldn't get closer. I . . . I had to get help. I had to find the supplies.

"Hiccup . . ."

I backed away. It was too crowded in here. There wasn't enough air. I needed to breathe. I couldn't breathe in here.

"Hiccup, don't."

I stopped. I waddled forward. My legs jerked and trembled. Dad radiated strength and courage. In my mind's eye, he was like a sun. I needed that. Maybe the warmth would make me stop feeling so numb.

"Hiccup . . ." Valka touched my cheek. Her fingers sparked. "I'm sorry I was such a coward."

Dad said something to her, but I didn't listen. I brushed her with my claws. I sniffed her. I pushed my head into her hand. She was still warm. She was still alive.

I crawled onto her chest. Despite the circumstances in which we had last seen each other, she was delighted to see me. It felt like someone had reached inside, and pulled out all my organs so that I was hollow. She was so happy to see me. How could she be so happy when she was bleeding on the ground like this? I know, I know. I hadn't been the most grateful when we had found each other again, but . . . she was my mother. And I had just met her again.

"Don't do this," I murmured. "I've barely even known you . . . please don't do this to me now."

I'd hardly gotten out that last word before the entire Nest shook.

Crystals rattled, and ice shards fell and scattered on the floor. Dad hunched over Mom and me protectively, swirling his cape to cover us both. Toothless and Skullcrusher cringed, pressing themselves flat against the crystal walls in fear.

I squirmed out from under the cape. The king was bellowing. It was violent and ferocious and made my blood roar in my ears. Was he in trouble? Was he challenging something?

Had he found the one who did this?

I ignored Dad's cries as I hurdled toward the main chamber. Toothless screeched and charged after me. I ignored him, too. He . . . she . . . Drago Bludvist. He needed to be taken down.

I burst into the main chamber. Your majesty! What -?

He screamed. The king swung his head around . . . and rammed his tusks straight into the Nest's wall. The entire island shook. The king pitched forward, slamming his tusks again and again into the wall until it gave way. He tore at the hole, flinging Nightmare-sized chunks into the pools around him, until too much of his weight lay upon the wall and an entire section gave way. The king fell through, landing on his feet, and he screamed again in pain and grief.

It deafened the world. There was no more sound. None except the king's breathing as he panted for breath. His heaving chest swelled and contracted, so extreme in the latter stages that I could count his ribs.

Food, the old king's voice said. They need food.

I shivered. Even taking that one step forward felt like I was getting too close to him. We could help –

NO!

I leapt backward, burrowing into Toothless's side. He curled around me, ears flat against his head.

The king took a few deep breaths. No. Stay. Protect the children.

He trudged out of the Nest, and slipped into the water.