"There is a train for the cheats and liars
For all the hitchers looking for a ride
There is a train for the lonely drifter
Tired of walking all alone in the night

Well, I don't know which way you're going
And I don't know if you're lost or found
All that I know is you've been forgiven
I tell you this train is glory bound"

- "Glory Bound" by Matt Maher

Chapter 21

The successful day with Lumie - and the truce with Dagur - set my spirits high. Things were finally starting to look up. We still needed a plan, but I was sure we would figure it out eventually. I spent the morning with a leisurely walk with Harald, our hands entwined. I could tell he was at peace too, and that made me incredibly happy.

"Oh, hey, you two," Morvin said brightly upon meeting us in the forest. "Can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," Harald quipped. I elbowed him in the ribs. "I mean, what can we do for you, Morvin?"

Morvin scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Can you teach me how to train a dragon?"

My eyebrows rose at the request. "Why do you want to train a dragon?"

"I've just seen how close you two are with your dragons, and I want something like that too, you know?"

I smiled. "I understand."

"Well, I'm sorry," said Harald, "but we have more important things to do than help you befriend a dragon."

"Hold on a minute, Harald." My mind whirled to put the correct pieces together. "Maybe this can help us. We need a strategy Toki won't expect, right? What about pirate dragon riders?"

Morvin grinned. "Sounds great to me."

Harald frowned. "Toki already knows I am a pirate dragon rider."

"Yes, but hear me out," I said. "Toki may accept one pirate becoming a dragon rider and one dragon rider joining pirates, but we're just too individuals he can dismiss as anomalies. What if we had a whole army of pirate dragon riders?"

Morvin grinned. "We would be a force to be reckoned with."

"It would give us a distinct advantage," Harald said thoughtfully. "Do you really think you could train enough pirates in time?" He paused. "Scratch that; of course you can."

I smirked at him. "Thank you." I looked back at Morvin. "We'll do it. Just let us first ask for permission from Nikora."

Morvin smiled brightly. "Thank you so much!"

"This will be interesting," Harald mused.

Harald and I brought Morvin to Hobblegrunt Island. Hobblegrunts were sensitive, docile dragons, and I thought Morvin would work well with them. He befriended a dragon immediately and made great progress on his first day. After several more days of training, the Hobblegrunt followed us home.

Morvin proudly gazed at the dragon in the newly-built stables. "You're going to love it here," he said. "The residents are a little rough around the edges, but they're coming around."

"Oh, we'll work on them next," I said. Nikora had told me wild dragons used to live on Auction Island but were driven away by the actions of dragon hunters. She was receptive to my idea of making the island hospitable for them again. "Too bad Viggo isn't here to see this."

"He's too busy talking strategy with Nikora," Harald said. We bid Morvin farewell and started on our way.

I smirked. "Sure, that's all they're doing."

Harald raised an eyebrows. "What are you suggesting?"

"They are into each other."

Harald scoffed. "That's impossible."

"Why? They're attractive adults within the same age range, and they have a lot in common."

"Viggo would never do something so dishonorable!"

I stared at him. "Dishonorable? What kind of talk is that coming from a pirate? Anyway, I'm not implying they've done anything intimate yet. They're getting to know each other while crushing on each other."

Harald looked away. "Nikora is too mature to 'crush' on someone."

I rolled my eyes. "No one is it mature from crushes. You may revere her as a great leader and warrior, but she is still a woman. She likes Viggo."

Harald almost grimaced. "You'll have to do better than that to convince me."

"Fine. I'll prove it." Somehow.

I did not get the opportunity to prove it for some time. Viggo and Nikora were busy with strategy while Harald and I continued to train Morvin. When I did find a chance to question Viggo, he was incredibly invasive. I knew from experience he would reveal nothing until he wanted me to know.

We spent the next two days teaching Morvin how to ride the Hobblegrunt. I noticed the looks of jealousy and admiration from the other residents. After presenting our case to Nikora, she agreed to allow us to bring dragons to Auction Island and hold a class on how to train them.

Harald and I stood in front of the large crowd of pirates and dragon traders gathered in the forest. I had rounded up a variety of dragons, and they stood behind us, nervously taking in their surroundings.

"Thank you for coming everyone!" I said in a loud voice to be heard over the chatter. "Harald and I are going to teach you how to train dragons. If we see potential in you, we may also teach some of you how to ride dragons." I paused and waited for the noise to die down. "Remember, you are here to make friends with dragons. We will not tolerate any abuse or coercion."

"If you do harm a dragon, we will not stop said dragon from burning your hair to a crisp," Harald added.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Anyway, our concern is your present treatment of dragons. I know I may have been at odds with some of you in the past, but none of that matters now. I don't care about anything you used to do or how you interacted with dragons. This is your chance to start over if you want it. Dragons could be a powerful ally for us in our fight against our enemy. We can teach you to work with them to the benefit of both sides." A grumble of appreciation ran through the crowd.

"We will start with the Gronckle." Harald gentle led the dragon to me. The Gronckle appeared excited as he looked around at all the people.

"Gronckles are an easygoing boulder class dragon," I explained. "Who wants to come up and introduce themselves to him?" At first, no one moved. Then someone pushed his way to the front. It was the shifty shopkeeper.

Harald's eyebrows rose. "Ingolf? You want to meet the Gronckle?"

Ingolf shrugged. "Dragon trading is hard with dragon riders getting in the way. If you can't beat them, join them."

"That is very sensible. Come on up."

I bet there were more reasons for his decision, but I did not push it. He stood in front of the Gronckle and looked into his eyes. "You should be able to reach out and touch him," I said. "And talk nicely to him."

Ingolf gave the Gronckle a nervous smile. "Hello there, dragon. You're not going to bite me, are you?" His hand shook sightly as he reached out, but it relaxed when it lay on the dragon's head. "That's good." The Gronckle lowered his head to allow him to pet him.

I smiled at the two of them. "Excellent. Who's next?"

"I'll give it a go," said a voice from the crowd. I recognized the pirate as the smuggler I caught when I first visited Auction Island after Nikora took over.

Harald's eyes narrowed at the man. Apparently, he remembered too. "Don't make any sudden movements," he warned.

The pirate lifted his hands in surrender. "No problem, mate. I've turned over a new leaf."

Harald looked unconvinced, but the pirate successfully touched the Gronckle. After him, several others introduced themselves to the dragon. A positive vibe slowly spread throughout the class. I had chosen the Gronckle first because I knew he would not care if some of these people were former dragon hunters as long as they were friendly to him now. I also made sure to choose dragons I knew had few negative experiences with humans in the past.

"That went remarkably well," Harald said when the class was over and the students dispersed. He slipped his arms around me from the side and kissed my cheek. "You are amazing."

I smiled at him and gave him a short hug. "Thank you." I tried to pull away, but he held me tightly. "Harald, we have to get the dragons back home."

Instead of letting me go, Harald nuzzled his face into my hair before kissing my neck. "They're dragons, love. They can fly home. And if anyone harms them here, we can just kill the perpetrators."

I rolled my eyes at this, knowing he wasn't serious. I meant to protest, but he continued to kiss my neck and then moved onto my face, which made it hard to think. He kissed everywhere but my lips, frustrating me. "Harald..." The battle lost, I pressed my body close to his and gripped his shirt.

Harald pulled back and smirked down at me. "What is it, love? What do you want?"

He was playing a familiar playful power game. Some days I gave in to please him, but today was not one of those days. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pushed his head down close to mine. "You," I whispered. Instead of kissing his lips like I desperately desired, I kissed right behind his ear and then lightly brushed my lips down his neck.

Harald let out a low growl in response. "You're coming with me." I laughed when he swept me up in his arms and started to carry me in the direction of the village.

"Hey, I can walk!"

Harald smirked. "I'm not taking that chance."

"What if someone sees us?" But at this point, I did not really care. I held onto his shoulders to steady myself. Realizing his neck was right there, I leaned in and started kissing it.

Harald groaned when I struck a sensitive spot. "I will drop you."

I merely laughed again. We both knew he wouldn't. I snuggled into his chest and sighed contentedly as I stroked his hair. "I love you."

Harald's smile warmed my heart. "Love you too."

Dragon training classes continued to be a success. Viggo occasionally joined us and offered his input. Nikora even stepped by once to check out our methods. At the conclusion of the class, she departed with Viggo. Getting an idea, I grabbed Harald's arm and motioned to the two Vikings. "This is our chance," I whispered. "We should follow them."

Harald gave me an odd look. "To what purpose?"

"To the purpose of me proving I'm right about them. They're obviously going on a date."

Harald scoffed. "That's not obvious at all."

"Then let's follow them and find out."

"If we get caught-"

"The legendary pirate, Harald Forkbeard, is afraid of getting caught sneaking around?" I smirked. "You must be losing your touch."

Harald narrowed his eyes at me. "Fine, let's go."

Fortunately, Viggo and Nikora had not gone too far for us to tail. We kept a safe distance, occasionally hiding behind trees and bushes, as we followed them to the stables, where Viggo retrieved Sanna.

"Ooo... I think they're going on a romantic flight!" I said excitedly.

"If flying on a dragon together is romantic," said Harald, "then the flight you took me on when we met-"

I shot him a sharp look. "That was different. I was trying to scare you. And before you say anything, no, that's not what Viggo is doing because he doesn't want to lose his head."

"In any case, I doubt Viggo will even get her on the dragon. Riding Lumie is one thing, but flying-"

I nudged Harald and smirked. Nikora was situated on Sanna behind Viggo. A second later, the two of them were in the air. "I told you."

Harald stepped out from behind the tree and gazed at the sky. "How are we supposed to follow them now?" He caught sight of my expression and frowned. "Oh no."

I grinned wider. "Oh yes."

"You are going to make us lose our heads."

I laughed and dragged him to the stables where Bolt was all too happy to see us. We were less likely to be caught with only one dragon, so we both mounted the Skrill. It had been a long time since Harald and I flew together, and it felt very nice. Perhaps we should schedule a romantic flight of our own.

Bolt flew high above the clouds to avoid being spotted. His senses allowed him to stay a good distance away from Sanna. The female Skrill might sense Bolt, but she knew him and wouldn't think he was a danger to react to. And it helped that she couldn't speak.

"Too bad we can't see them," I said in disappointment.

"Why would you want to?" said Harald.

I chose not to respond. After awhile, Bolt descended. At my urging, he landed behind some bushes. I rubbed his head in thanks and dismounted him. Harald and I stuck out heads in the bushes and peered out at the scene.

Viggo and Nikora were standing in front of Sanna conversing. Unfortunately, they were too far away to hear. They both appeared quite at ease, however, and they were smiling. Then Viggo leaned in and kissed her on the lips. Harald tensed beside me while I grinned triumphantly. "Now do you believe me?" I whispered.

They kissed for a few more moments. They pulled away and smiled at each other. Then they looked right at the bushes where Harald and I were hiding. We quickly pulled out heads back and scrambled away.

"Did you enjoy the show?" Viggo said in a smooth voice ass he and Nikora peered down at us.

"Oh, hey," I said, chuckling nervously as I scrambled to my feet.

"Why were you spying on us?" Nikora said, her expression unreadable.

I pointed to Harald. "I just had to prove something to him. How did you know we were there?"

"I knew all along," said Viggo. "You can't get anything past me. I let it slide because this way I don't have to explain myself later."

"And I know everything," said Nikora.

"To answer your question, Brennda did enjoy it," Harald said to Viggo. I glared at him.

Nikora's eyebrows lifted. "Really? Brennda, is Harald not satisfying you that you need to find enjoyment in watching others?"

"Oh, he's satisfying me a lot," I said absentmindedly. My face heat up when I realized what I said. "I - I - I mean-" I turned away from them and accidentally ran into Harald's chest. He wrapped his arms around me and chuckled lightly.

"We will be going now," he said. He kept an arm around me while urging me forward. "Good luck on your date!" We walked in silence for several minutes before Harald spoke again. "You know what? I think they like each other."

I rolled my eyes. "What was your first clue?"

Pirates and dragon traders continued to join our dragon training class. Even with Viggo working with us full time, we needed more help. Eventually, I convinced Heather and Eret to join us on Auction Island. They had been reluctant to officially break ties with New Berk, but they also realized the risk in staying too long.

When they arrived, I realized I had lived on Auction Island for an entire month. So much had changed. "Hey, guys," I greeted the couple as they dismounted their dragons at the dock. Ruffrunner bounded forward and ran around their legs.

"Hello Brennda and Harald," Eret said. "And hello there, Ruffrunner." He bent down to pet the energetic Night Light.

"Thank you for coming," Harald said.

"Thank you for having us," said Heather. "I have to admit, it's going to take some time getting used to this place."

"Perhaps not as long as you think. Will you be alright, dragon trapper?"

Eret had been looking up absentmindedly, appearing agitated. He snapped to attention at Harald's question. "Oh, I'll be fine. It's just... memories."

"Forget all that," I said. "Let go of what you think you know of this place and see it with fresh eyes. Come on, you need to see this." I gave him an encouraging smile, but he still appeared nervous.

Harald and I led the way up the hill to the main part of the island. We walked passed the trading center, where not too much had changed. We made a stop at the forest to point out the pirates engaging with their dragons. Finally, we brought them to the stables.

"Wow, this is amazing," Heather said. "I never thought this island of all places would accept dragons."

"It's remarkable," said Eret. "But I bet you knew, Brennda. You saw something the rest of us couldn't see."

I shrugged. "Well, if people can be redeemed, why not places? Besides, a long time ago, the inhabitants of this island were at peace with dragons. I'm just trying to restore that."

"You're doing a great job," said Heather. "We'll help in any way we can."

Once Skullcrusher and Windshear were situated, Harald and I introduced Eret and Heather to Nikora (who was with Viggo). Then Harald and Eret went off to spar while Heather and I took a walk around the island.

"I'm sorry we couldn't meet sooner," Heather said. "I wanted to see if you were okay after your first letter, but I feared Hiccup might not let me return."

"It's fine," I said with a smile. "I understand the situation. You were doing good work at the School. How is that going, by the way?"

Heather brightened. "Oh, it's going great! I've discovered that total solar eclipses occur in the same location about once in every 300 years."

"So, the last one probably occurred when the map was created."

Heather nodded. "Exactly. We should be do for one within the next 50 years."

I shook my head. "That's too long. Harald seems convinced it will happen this year."

Heather appeared uncertain. "Well, if I assume it will occur within a year, I may be able to make a more precise calculation."

"That would be great! Thanks, Heather. We need to plan for the worst case scenario, which is the eclipse happening sooner rather than later."

"I understand." We walked in silence for several minutes before Heather spoke again. "So, how are you and Harald doing?"

I was unsure if she was trying to get at something specific, so I stuck with a general answer. "We're excellent. Never been better."

Heather gave me a small smile. "That's good. I guess adversity does bring people closer together."

"That's for sure." I paused as I weighed my next words. "Heather, there's something I didn't tell you about my injury because I wanted to speak to you about it in person."

Her eyes flashed in concern. "What is it? Were there complications?"

"No, I'm fine. It's just-" I took a deep breath. "When Toki attacked me, I was pregnant. The trauma of the injury caused my to lose the baby."

Heather gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry, Brennda! That's terrible! Does Harald-"

"Yeah, he knows. He was pretty upset about it too."

"I didn't realize he wanted kids."

"Neither did either of us. So, I guess it's good that's out there now." I smiled slightly. "We're going to try again after everything with Toki and the map is over. If you could help me figure out the best time to try, I would appreciate it."

Heather smiled at me. "Of course. It would be my pleasure." She paused. "It's not strictly necessary though. You could just have sex every day. I bet Harald would like that."

I laughed. "I would too, actually."

Heather smirked. "You're still crazy about him, huh?"

I smiled as images of him filled my mind. "You could say that. The passion doesn't always take the same form - sometimes it's gentle and other times fierce - but it's always there. I don't think we could ever get tired of each other."

"That's great, Brennda. It's as it should be, if you ask me."

"So, how are you and Eret?"

Heather failed to hide her smile. "We're doing fine. More than fine, actually. We go together so well, and our feelings just keep getting stronger. I didn't know it could be that way."

I grinned. "That's as it should be."

This time, Heather smiled right at me. "Yes, as it should be."