Welcome one and all to the final part of the final battle for Berk! I'm excited to finally be here.

Announcement: I'm considering reworking Bound and adding things here and there to the chapters. A 'definitive edition' cut, if you will, to celebrate the 1-year anniversary of the story's completion. The first chapter has already received that treatment, seeing edits for cohesiveness, dialogue, and some extra details that I think help the story along. If you're interested in re-reading Bound, now's the time! I haven't made any hard commitments to doing the same things to the rest of the story, but if I do, I'll make sure that you all know about it.

With that in mind, I'll be pushing my next two updates back to a once-a-week schedule. Chapter 25 will come on June 20th, and Chapter 26 will follow on the 27th to wrap things up.

If you enjoy this chapter (or if you don't!) please think about posting a review at the bottom. I want to hear how lots of you feel about this conclusion to the final battle and about the story at large, if you have the time or passion. Everything's almost over, so now's the time!

Without further ado, read on!

24. Protects Them All

The dragons under Drago's control all leaped at once, hurtling over the warlord with a combined snarl. In a flash, a black blur blazed by Hiccup along with blue and silver bursts—Toothless and the others' dragons leaped into the air to meet their foes, crashing into one another and swinging their claws. Toothless latched onto Skullcrusher and dragged the enthralled Rumblehorn away, leading by example so that Windshear, Stormfly, and Thorönd guided their adversaries along with them, keeping the rabid dragons away from their riders and once again leaving Hiccup and his friends facing off against Drago and Griselda alone.

"Fine," Drago snarled with narrowed eyes, and without another word he and Griselda were advancing. Griselda pointed her sword at Astrid, sneering.

"That one's mine," she said, and Drago broke away from her to approach Hiccup and Eret. He saw Astrid twirl her axe in her hand, ready for the woman general.

"I've got your back, Astrid," Heather promised, stepping in beside her friend and brandishing her axe as well. Griselda grinned, perhaps at the prospect of a challenge, and the three women merged together to clash.

Drago swinging his bullhook yanked Hiccup back into focus. He lifted Inferno to meet the oncoming weapon, holding himself steady to absorb the blow. Eret spun his twin swords in his hands and surged forward, but Drago used Inferno as a launch pad to bring his bullhook around and parry the strikes. The massive man darted backwards, holding the hook away from his body and sneering.

Shouts erupted nearby. Hiccup glanced over his shoulder and spotted amassed Vikings pooling into the streets from the center of the village. Armored men bearing Drago's insignia were shoved to their knees, cowering all the way. More and more Vikings spilled in, war cries echoing up the hill.

"They're surrendering…" Eret gasped. Hiccup met his eyes with bated breath. They were winning.

"No!" Drago's roar came, visceral and inhuman. He surged forward and swung his bullhook at Hiccup, which he ducked underneath and retaliated with a stab of Inferno. Drago twisted out of the way and brought his bullhook around his back to deflect Eret's identical move, switching places with the pair so that his back was now to the Vikings appearing at the foot of the hill. "No surrender!" he howled, but if any of his men down below could hear him, they weren't keen to listen. Hundreds of hostile swords and axes tended to have an effect on people.

Above, a dragon's growl rang out—Toothless' growl. The Night Fury was beating his wings intensely, keeping himself aloft just enough to keep fighting with Skullcrusher. Stormfly and the other dragons grappled with their own foes, but the clash between Toothless and Skullcrusher was undoubtedly the most violent. Skullcrusher continued to bellow, ducking his horned head and stabbing while swinging his great paws around. Toothless twisted in and out, using the Rumblehorn's body a few times as a landing pad to launch off of.

"Toothless, keep it up! This is almost over!" Hiccup called. The Night Fury gave an answering snarl and refocused on his foe. Hiccup did the same as Drago charged again, swinging his weapon with that much more ferocity. He was like a cornered animal, knowing he was on the brink of losing and with his Alpha still unable to interfere.

On the other side of the hill, Heather and Astrid were weaving in and out around Griselda, challenging the sword-wielding woman to keep up. The general spun her sword rapidly, warding off both young women and the blades of their axes. Heather dove in and Griselda parried, immediately twisting her sword to batter Heather's weapon a second and third time in the space of a second. Heather lost her balance from the unexpected strikes, and Griselda took the opportunity to lash her sword across the young woman's arm, drawing blood.

The black-haired woman staggered several steps away before collapsing to one knee, clasping a hand around her arm to stem the bleeding. Her axe rested halfway between her and where Griselda was still clashing with Astrid, but the wound in her arm was deep enough that she couldn't reach for it and rejoin the fight.

Hiccup looked over his shoulder as he put some distance between himself and Drago, spotting the Berserker woman on the ground. "Heather!" he called out, worry rolling off of his tongue.

"I'm okay!" she promised. At the sound of her voice, Astrid bolstered the ferocity behind her attacks, hoping to outgun Griselda.

Hiccup whipped his head back around at Drago and steeled, gritting his teeth. "You're done hurting my friends," he said, and with a new resolve he advanced, faking a step to the right and dashing leftward. Drago bit, jerking his bullhook where he thought Hiccup was going to go. Hiccup struck and Drago scrambled to correct his mistake, managing a haphazard parry that knocked him off balance.

Eret came sprinting from Drago's right, leaping and swinging both weapons. Drago stumbled backwards, causing Eret to graze the sword in his left hand through a lock of his black hair and nick the warlord's chin. Drago hissed at the cut and Eret rolled past, opening another window for Hiccup to engage.

Eret whirled around and they both converged on the conqueror, swinging their swords at the same time. Drago reached his bullhook out to deflect Inferno before lifting his metal prosthesis to catch Eret's swords. The iron appendage screeched as the blades cut into it, but Drago slotted the weapons between the metal fingers of his false arm to avoid losing them.

Still, his strength was divided focusing on that effort, and Hiccup knew it. He slid Inferno along the shaft of Drago's bullhook, shifting the sword so that the curved point below it fit in between the gap in Inferno's blade. Hiccup tugged, lifting one leg to kick Drago's knee. The warlord yelled and pivoted his head, eyes wild and trembling as he tried to keep Hiccup from disarming him, but Eret yanked his swords free and distracted Drago from that end.

With a final tug, Hiccup pulled the bullhook out of Drago's grasp, forcing the warlord's arm down where his hold would be weakest. As soon as the weapon was free, he tossed it out of reach and lifted Inferno up to point it at Drago's neck. Drago moved his metal arm to protect himself from Eret's incoming swords—Eret charged into him with all of his might and, amazingly, knocked Drago over.

The "Dragon God" tumbled, falling on his back. He immediately tried to return to his feet, only for a gleaming sword to appear inches from his neck. Drago froze and what little color he had left drained from his face, violent eyes drifting upward to spy the man holding him down with the edge of a blade.

Eret scowled, his other sword resting in his opposite arm and at his side. "Move, and you die." Hiccup knew that he absolutely meant it. Eret probably wanted to jam the blade forward and execute Drago right then and there, the confliction on his face said as much. The total completion of his vengeance was literally inches away, but he still had it in him to restrain himself.

They could worry about it later. Hiccup turned his head where Astrid was still battling Griselda, her axe singing as it smashed against Griselda's sword. "He's down!"

Griselda looked past Astrid and at Hiccup, realizing that Drago had been bested. She let out a strained howl and her movements suddenly turned erratic. She became off-balance and wild, swinging furiously and without any rhythm as she displayed only one goal: slaying the woman in front of her.

Griselda curled her sword inward and stabbed. Astrid batted the sword away, having only a second to rest before Griselda whipped her sword around again, this time aiming for Astrid's head. Astrid ducked and dove forward, reaching her axe out to catch Griselda's ankle and tug. As she whirled around to Griselda's back, she pulled on her axe and yanked the general's foot out from under her.

Griselda yelped and flailed as she fell, hitting the back of her head on the earth with a metallic clang. A weak groan escaped her, the steel of her helmet humming as it vibrated from the impact with the solid ground. Astrid directed her axe straight at the woman, holding it laterally towards her neck much like Eret was doing with Drago.

"It's all over now," she asserted, and Hiccup felt pride surge up in his chest with an intense heat. Astrid had nothing to prove to him, not by a long shot, but seeing her stand against Griselda on her own and win so easily—even if the woman general wasn't doing herself many favors—made his heart skip a beat. She was so fierce and dedicated, and she proved everyone wrong at every turn no matter the task. She could do anything.

So, when Drago chuckled despite being clearly beaten, Hiccup found himself utterly confounded, a haze in his mind that sent his mental alarm bells into overdrive, ringing a deafening toll that sent a steely shiver slithering up his spine.

"Or is it?" Drago inquired.

Hiccup instinctively looked out to sea, where the Alpha's form was still standing tall. Cloudjumper was frantically flying circles around it, the only dragon in the area. The Bewilderbeast breathed a blast of ice that snagged one of the Stormcutter's wings, and from there Cloudjumper's flight was sabotaged. The large dragon plunged downward, beating his other three wings hard enough to glide in the direction of the village and crash-land.

Hiccup paled. Their dragon force had been crippled, or at least exhausted to the point that they were out of shots. Dagur, Cami, and Thuggory had been knocked out of commission at some point in the brief time gap, and their other friends were likewise nowhere to be seen. They hadn't been able to stop Drago long enough to stop the Alpha; the beast had risen to full strength, and now there were no more dragons distracting its attention.

As Cloudjumper fell out of sight, the Alpha turned its cold gaze on Berk, and began to shuffle forward, violently kicking up waves with its small steps. Its shadow crept over the island anew, dark and strong under the morning sun.

There was another crash and Hiccup whirled around to his right. Toothless slammed into the front yard near the house, gripping Skullcrusher in his claws and driving the Rumblehorn into the dirt. The Night Fury roared furiously in the bulky dragon's face, and Skullcrusher relaxed with a pitiful whine, wearing the scratches and scrapes from their battle like badges of honor.

Something clicked in Hiccup's head, but he wasn't quite sure what. The moment of hesitation was damning, he knew that, but something was off about Toothless and it rooted him to the spot. The Night Fury's ears twitched, and he turned his head up in the direction of the Alpha, and instantly, Hiccup realized what had been bothering him.

He'd seen Toothless' ears move. Toothless' ear protection was gone.

"Toothless, your mufflers!" Hiccup shouted. The Night Fury flinched and followed his voice, but nearby, all Hel instantly broke loose.

Drago rocked his metal arm into Eret's sword with a clang, entrapping it in his immobile grip and yanking it from the sailor's hands. Eret whirled around to face Drago as the warlord kicked down low, connecting and sending a spear of pain straight into Eret's shin that saw him collapse and cry out, like someone had taken a war hammer to his leg. In an instant, Drago was rolling over and scrabbling away to snatch his discarded bullhook from the ground. He fastened his fingers around its shaft and lifted into the air, accompanying the move with a deafening shout.

"NOW!" Drago bellowed, and without hesitation, the Alpha obeyed. The colossal dragon bristled and opened its mouth, generating a massive icy breath from nothing.

"Astrid, move!" Hiccup yelled. His wife dove to the left, and he to the right as the Alpha unleashed its ice, its breath striking the ground and springing up in a line of frozen spikes jutting out every which way. The ice continued to form in a straight line, tearing its way down to a section of the bottom of the hill and into the village, scattering the assembled Vikings and cleaving through an unfortunate house that was standing in the way.

Hiccup looked up from his place on the ground, disorientated by the sudden leap. Cold air cascaded off of the frozen wall behind him, and he shivered as he looked at it. It had to be twenty feet high, all made up of jagged spikes of ice that branched out like frozen tree roots. Astrid was somewhere on the other side of the wall, separated from him. Eret was nowhere to be seen, either.

"Congratulations, Dragon Master. You've delayed the inevitable," Drago's voice rattled in Hiccup's ears. Hiccup whirled around, lifting Inferno in front of him defensively. Toothless let out a warning snarl, turning on Drago from the other side, but the warlord only chuckled again and raised his bullhook into the air, waving it in long, slow circles.

Hiccup heard wingbeats all around him and he looked up, spotting countless dragons fluttering to the ground. Many of them were wearing Drago's metal plates on their heads, but a handful of them were unmarked, and some were even still wearing the ear protection he'd invented. The Alpha had broken through and its roar had corralled them into submission, finally unfettered by the dragons under Valka's command that had been preoccupying its attention.

The entranced dragons landed one by one, forming a semicircle around them. The wall of ice the Alpha had spat closed Hiccup off from the rest of the village, locking him in a frigid cage with Toothless, a madman, and a horde of hostile fire-breathing lizards.

Hiccup returned his gaze to Drago and could feel the cracks trailing along his armor, his confidence. He was sure that Drago could see it too, because the conqueror gave him a cruel smile.

"You won't get away with this. I won't let you," Hiccup tried.

Drago shook his head lightly. "I told you before: once a dragon has been broken to the Alpha's will, it cannot resist its commands." Drago turned his head to gaze at Toothless, who was looking back and forth between the controlled dragons now surrounding him. The Night Fury seemed to realize Drago was watching him and turned, blinking his chartreuse eyes. Toothless tensed, lowering on his haunches as Drago accosted him a frightening glare.

Drago pointed his bullhook at the Alpha, eyes never leaving Toothless. "So, he who controls the Alpha…" he started, and then lowered the point of his bullhook so that it was directly trained on Toothless, "controls them all."

Toothless flinched and turned his head, freezing as he realized the Alpha's blank gaze had fallen upon him. The Night Fury's legs went slack and Toothless lowered his head, whining.

"Toothless—" Hiccup yelped and took a step forward, only for an armored Changewing to pace forward and hiss violently. Hiccup startled, but Drago lifted a hand at the dragon and silently called it off, prompting the Changewing to return to its place in the semicircle. Emboldened, Hiccup took another few steps toward Toothless, panicked.

Toothless writhed in place, trying to fight the Alpha's influence. A haunting rush of déjà vu overwhelmed Hiccup, recalling the first time Toothless had faced the Bewilderbeast's mind. He was ten times as desperate now—they'd brought everything that the archipelago had to offer, and still they were losing. Still, this was happening. His mother had rescued Toothless from the Alpha's control during the last battle, but now he didn't even know where she was. Cloudjumper had likely crash-landed—perhaps she was on the other side of the ice wall at his back. He didn't know what everyone else was doing, but as he looked at the sky, he saw more and more dragons flitting around, none of them appearing particularly friendly even from a distance. By now, it was a decent guess to say that all of the dragons on Berk were falling under the Alpha's sway, its godlike powers now unburdened.

"Toothless, don't listen to it! I'm here, bud! Can you hear me?"

Toothless went still, his head pointed down at the ground, and then slowly rose to his full height. The Night Fury's head tilted up, and Hiccup could see his best friend's eyes as narrow as they could be, pupils so thin they were pulsing as if trying to force themselves through an invisible wall that enclosed them.

"Toothless!" Hiccup wailed.

Drago's dark chuckle grated on his ears, a cold knife sawing painfully into the palpable tension. "He's not yours anymore. He belongs to the Alpha." Drago stamped his bullhook into the dirt, producing a short clang that caught Toothless' relative attention. The enthralled Night Fury turned his head mechanically, posture rigid and gaunt. A smile cracked across Drago's scarred face. "He belongs to me."

"You let Toothless go. Now!" Hiccup fumed, though he knew that his demands were completely useless. Drago wouldn't obey him in any of the nine realms. He was at the madman's mercy.

"You fight well, Dragon Master, I'll say that," Drago deflected, staring at him now. "But you lack true strength. Allow me to demonstrate it for you."

Drago lifted his weapon and pointed it straight at Hiccup, a cold glare overtaking his expression. Toothless' head pivoted so that he was likewise staring at Hiccup, pale green eyes void of any semblance of emotion. Hiccup staggered back a step, unfamiliar with such a gaze from his friend. Toothless had never looked upon him like this, not even when he had torn free from his bonds in the forest five years ago and made him ripe for the killing.

"Uh… what did he just tell you?"

Toothless took a large step forward, his sleek body twitching animalistically as he moved. The Night Fury was like a dragon-turned-draugr, limping forward as if by the command of some unseen strings.

Hiccup staggered back a step, holding out his hands. "Toothless—" he started, but a growl rattled out of Toothless' throat. "Come on, bud, stop. Stop!" A bolt of desperation ripped through his chest, tendrils of fear tingling all the way down to his toes. He hit an uneven patch of grass with his false foot as he was stepping backwards and stumbled, catching his footing only to find Toothless continuing to close in.

"Snap out of it, Toothless! What are you doing?"

Drago chuckled, following Toothless' advance slowly but surely. He kept his bullhook pointed at Toothless, ensuring that the Alpha's focus remained on the Night Fury. "He can't hear you anymore. He hears only the Alpha."

"No. No, I don't… I don't believe you," Hiccup's voice cracked. "Toothless… you'd never hurt me," he pleaded. He bumped his head on something cold and the sensation trailed down his body again—he'd backed up completely into the wall of ice. Toothless snarled, claws clenching in the dirt.

"Do you feel it now, Hiccup?" Drago drawled, "This is true strength: strength of will over others. The power to command and be obeyed, with no hesitation."

Hiccup felt himself go weak and he collapsed to his knees, bringing him closer to Toothless' height as the Night Fury prowled forward, teeth bared.

"Toothless…" Hiccup let out a whine, broken. "It's me, bud. It's me. You know me." His hands trembled violently as he reached for his dragon, but Toothless made no move to lean toward his touch, made no croon of happiness as Hiccup begged for some semblance of his best friend.

"Isn't it fitting? The fearless Dragon Master, cowering before death at the hands of his own dragon," Drago laughed, "He's not yours anymore, but, please, oh great Dragon Master, try and take him. Show me you're stronger than… this." The warlord gestured to all of him.

Hiccup was acutely aware of all the draconic eyes on him. The reptiles were surrounding him, nearly blocking out the sun as they lined up beside one another in the sky. Drago's taunts rang in his ears, and Toothless released a hot exhale.

He had to keep trying. Even if it killed him.

"Toothless…" he whispered, inching both hands outward. The Night Fury was so close to him now, waiting at arm's length for the kill order. A faint glow flickered at the back of the dragon's throat, visible through the gaps in his serrated teeth; the Night Fury's final shot. "This isn't you, bud. I know you're in there, fighting. I know you can hear me. Keep fighting, Toothless."

Toothless sneered, bringing tears to Hiccup's eyes. "Come back to me, bud. I know you can." His hand connected with Toothless' muzzle, and the Night Fury made no move to thrash and shake him off. His black pupils shifted, growing some before the Alpha hardened its gaze on him and shrank them back, fighting to tighten its hold. Toothless let out a pathetic snarl and averted his eyes.

"It's me. I'm here. It's just you and me," he reiterated. Somewhere, Hiccup recognized that Drago had fallen completely silent. Hiccup couldn't find it in himself to care. Right now, he and Toothless were the only two living things in the world.

Hiccup nearly collapsed, lowering his head and resting it on Toothless. The Night Fury whined at the contact, gently shaking his head. There was so much pain in the noise, the real Toothless peeking through the cracks as his body was willed against him. Hiccup couldn't even imagine the feeling.

Hiccup opened his eyes and pulled back so that he could just see Toothless' eyes. The black scratches inside his chartreuse orbs twitched more than before, growing to two rounded squares before contracting back into slivers, but only for a second. Hiccup choked on his breath. Toothless was right there.

Toothless pushed against his hand, almost affectionate. Hiccup set his free hand there, caressing the dragon's head with all of his fingers and letting the Night Fury nuzzle against him. He felt Toothless' warm tongue inch out and graze him.

"I-I won't let you go. I won't give up on you," Hiccup whispered, "I can't. You're my best friend."

"Enough," he heard Drago's voice rumble. He saw the bullhook waving in the air and heard Drago's urgent order. "Do it!"

Hiccup recognized the tone, even if he'd never heard it from the warlord before. Drago was afraid. Good.

"Hiccup!" he heard Astrid's voice. His head was starting to spin; he didn't know where she was. The Alpha grumbled lowly, giving the order. Hiccup kept his hands rested against Toothless' snout, relieved when the dragon didn't buck him off. He focused on his best friend, pleading.

"You'd never hurt me, Toothless. I know that," he said, "Because I'd never hurt you, bud. Never."

He pressed his right hand completely against Toothless' snout as heat pooled under the dragon's scales, resting his forehead against it for good measure. Please, Odin, Thor, Freya, keep Astrid safe. If you don't do anything else ever again, just please protect Astrid.

"I forgive you, bud."

There was a warbling noise.

Hiccup lifted his head, unsure if he'd just been hearing things. He tilted his gaze down, met with the sight of round, loving chartreuse eyes.

"Toothless!" he gasped, and joy exploded in his chest. "Atta boy, that's it!"

"No!" came Drago's roar. Hiccup looked up, eyeing the fuming conqueror. Drago's face was almost red, and a vein appeared to be endeavoring to burst from his ashen forehead. He was angrier than anything Hiccup had ever seen.

Toothless pivoted, turning to face Drago and stand beside Hiccup. Teeth bared, he let out a snarl that was oddly relieving, so undoubtedly Toothless that Hiccup knew he'd managed what his mother had told him. Their bond had been strong enough to break the Alpha's hold.

It went to his head. "You'll never take Toothless from me. Ever."

Drago sneered, his breath so scorching hot that it might as well have been smoke. "You can have him." The warlord speared his bullhook into the air, swinging it in a single arc and jabbing it at Hiccup and Toothless. "Kill them both!"

Hiccup flinched. There was a loud stomping sound and Toothless screeched, immediately shoving Hiccup away. Toothless turned to face the sea, his muscular tail accidentally sweeping under Hiccup's prosthetic and knocking him to the ground. As soon as he fell, he heard a panicked shriek come from the Night Fury.

There was a deafening roar, and then Hiccup felt the shaking, unable to look for the sound. A black shape fell over him an instant later, wrapped by a glacial ice blue. He was knocked down by something—he didn't exactly know what—and the ground beneath him knocked the wind from his lungs.

In an instant, everything was cold and dark. Hiccup coughed and felt weight on his chest, able to just make out the black shape in the faint vestige of light that was bleeding through the dome, a small world of ice large enough for just the two of them. He wheezed, desperate to pull air back into his chest.

"Toothless?" he groaned, dizzy and out of it. He counted his breaths and felt for the ground beneath his body. There was just a hint of a repeated thudding sound… his heartbeat, maybe?

Blue light materialized in his vision, softly at first but steadily growing brighter and brighter. Hiccup flinched at the spark of cobalt, mushrooming with each passing second. He squinted; his eyes were not yet adjusted to the sudden darkness.

Toothless' eyes shot open, and only then did Hiccup realize that he wasn't seeing things—the glow was coming from within Toothless. The Night Fury blinked, and the glow filled his snout, a blazing blue pulsing between two pale green eyes and branching further down the dragon's body.

Something clicked and it occurred to Hiccup that he'd seen the kind of color before. Recently, in fact. The realization snapped him out of his stupor.

And just as the light burning beneath Toothless' scales became blinding, his ears filled with the Night Fury's telltale scream.

Goosebumps struck across Astrid's back as she lunged out of the way, the air at her back igniting in a flash freeze. It was like being caught outside when an ice storm hit Berk, the temperature plummeting impossibly low in an instant as a wall of ice seemingly materialized where she'd just been standing. She caught herself on all fours and staggered away, regaining her footing and whirling around to see what she'd just avoided.

Jagged spikes of blue-green ice sprawled outward from the ground up, a great frozen barricade twenty feet high dividing the hill leading up to Stoick's house. Frigid mist danced off of the wall, melting into nothingness as it cascaded to the ground. Astrid couldn't help but drop back a step out of sheer awe. She realized that she was alone, now. Griselda hadn't been able to follow her and escape the ice. Drago had willingly forsaken her; he was getting desperate.

Groaning reached her ears and Astrid looked further down the wall, spotting a huddled shape wearing a fur vest on the ground. One arm was scrabbling against the dirt, the fallen person tugging himself away from the icy barrier and having great difficulty doing so.

Astrid bolted over to Eret, dropping to one knee beside him. He reluctantly relaxed upon recognizing her and Astrid followed his gaze down to his leg, where a long rash of black was staining the skin.

"That'll form a generous bruise," Astrid observed. Eret grunted.

"I'm fine," Eret insisted. Astrid rapped her knuckles against his leg and felt only a dash of guilt as he bit back a pained cry.

"Okay, maybe more than a bruise," she analyzed with a wince.

"As if I don't have enough to deal with," Eret allowed himself a chuckle, looking at Astrid slyly, "For the record, I blame you for all of these." He gestured along his entire body, calling attention to the injuries he'd sustained just in the last week since they'd met. His face succumbed to the gravity of the situation and he glanced at the wall of ice again. "Hiccup's stuck on the other side."

"I know. I'm going to get him. You stay—"

"Astrid!"

Astrid looked over her shoulder, spotting Ruffnut running up to her and Eret. Behind her, Vikings had packed the roads leading up to the hill. Their weapons were slathered in gore, and those that remained of Drago's forces were on their knees in front of them, swearing surrenders and begging for mercy. All that was left was Drago.

Ruffnut came skidding to a stop beside her, gaping at Eret's busted leg. Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, Ruff, perfect. Take care of Eret for me, I need to get over this thing and get to Hiccup," Astrid asserted. She returned her axe to her back and flexed her fingers, ready to grab onto the uneven ice spikes and climb over. It wouldn't be hard; she'd climbed higher surfaces before.

"Are you crazy?" Yes. "You can't go over there by yourself," Ruffnut objected.

The sound of the Alpha's roar stopped her from doing so. It was loud and ear-rending, more powerful than anything she'd heard come from a dragon besides the Red Death. Immediately, black shapes emerged from all around; some came from the port, others from the village, and others still winged into the air from the ground.

Astrid gasped. "Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no—"

She looked over her shoulder and watched as dragons flocked behind them, orbiting the horde of Vikings on the ground. There were dozens, perhaps hundreds of them, and the Vikings all raised their shields protectively as the beasts began to circle them. They didn't fire, however, allowing their haunting presence to make the Vikings go completely still with anticipation.

"The Alpha…" Eret bemoaned.

"They're doing whatever it wants…" Ruffnut said in awe. It was her first experience of the Alpha's power—everything she'd been told was finally being proven. She saw something in the distance and let out a wail, "Barf!" Astrid's heart broke. Her dragon must've fallen under the Alpha's control.

"I'll be back," Astrid promised, "Barf'll be fine, Ruff—"

"But Astrid—"

"We don't have a choice anymore," Astrid cut the Thorston girl off with a glare.

Something landed at Astrid's back and dashed her thoughts. The thud made the ground vibrate, and a short, strangled squawk found her ears, freezing her in place. Ruffnut tensed, and goosebumps flared across Astrid's back again, this time out of a different kind of horror. Even if it was distorted, she'd know that squawk anywhere.

Astrid turned around, hoping that it wasn't true. She still had it in her to gasp as her eyes showed her brilliant blue scales and a crown of proud spikes framing the head of the dragon in front of her. The Nadder's pupils were paper-thin, vibrating inside her golden irises. Astrid's heart sank, a pang of misery thrumming in her chest like a thunderclap.

"Stormfly…" she managed to whimper. The Nadder made another garroted trill, though it was impossible to say whether the noise was in response to her name or just another hostile taunt.

Astrid took a cautious step forward. Stormfly hissed twice as hard and showed the back of her throat. An orange light manifested at the back, but only a few sparks managed to emerge. She hadn't had the time or the rest necessary to develop another shot, her flame bladder completely spent. Boldly, Astrid took another step forward.

"Astrid, what are you doing?" Ruffnut whispered harshly.

"Be careful!" Eret added.

"She won't hurt me. I know she won't."

Stormfly's tail slithered into view and the spikes running down it extended and retracted repeatedly, like she was trying to decide whether or not to use them.

"Looks to me like she wants to!" Ruff hissed.

"She won't. I'm not afraid of her. I'll never be afraid of her," Astrid hissed. It was stupid, she knew that as she crept closer to her dragon, hypnotized by the monstrous Alpha hovering over them. She had two lives to protect; her own, and her baby's. She was endangering both of them by approaching Stormfly in this state. The Nadder's razor-thin pupils shifted back and forth, rapidly expanding and shrinking. She was fighting, Astrid could see it. Stormfly was still in there, and she would get her girl out.

"Come back to me, Stormfly. I know you're in there." Stormfly hummed, blinking as her pupils flickered from round to narrow, "I know you recognize me. It's Astrid, girl."

The spines on Stormfly's tail extended again. Astrid held up two hands, showing the enthralled Nadder that she meant her no harm. "Easy, easy…" she cooed. Stormfly hummed and her tail spines lowered. "That's it." She looked over her shoulder and gestured for Ruffnut to help Eret out of the Nadder's immediate range. The Thorston girl slowly lifted Eret to his feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, holding him up as he limped along with her on one leg. Astrid kept her dragon's focus solely on her.

Astrid chanced a look at the Alpha. The enormous beast was glaring down elsewhere, not focused on Stormfly. This could be her chance to break its hold; if the Alpha wasn't reinforcing its will on Stormfly, she might have a shot. She drew closer to Stormfly, so much so that she could feel the Nadder's breath on her face. It was hot and rapid, a constant panicked wheezing that was so uncharacteristic for her girl, just another part of the monster Drago was trying to turn her into.

Astrid dared to reach up for Stormfly's neck. The Nadder hissed and pulled back, tugging her head away but doing nothing more. Her eyes were still so narrow, the Alpha's poison circulating through her, but she wasn't being outright hostile. That was progress. She tried again and though Stormfly seemed displeased, Astrid was allowed to rub the Nadder's neck.

The effect was almost instantaneous. Even in her enthralled state, Stormfly hummed. Astrid allowed herself a small smile. It seemed some tricks would always work, even on a dragon controlled by an Alpha.

She wasn't willing to push her luck, though. As soon as she found the sweet spot, she scratched and then delivered a wicked pinch. Another strangled squawk pierced Astrid's ears and Stormfly collapsed, hitting the dirt with a hollow thud. With the threat gone, Astrid whispered a brief apology and then made a beeline for the wall. She grabbed the first spike above her head and tugged herself up, grunting at both the strain and the uncomfortable sting of the cold on her hands. Astrid toughed it out—she was a Viking, Thor damn it. What was it Gobber said? Yer Vikings, everything'scold.

That was how she went, forcing herself up rung after rung and scaling the frozen wall. She drew farther and farther away from the ground, until finally she reached the top.

Astrid poked her head above the ice wall, seizing at what she saw. To her right, Toothless was dangerously close to Hiccup, much in the same state that Stormfly had been. One look at the Alpha verified that the enormous beast was staring straight at Toothless, puppeteering the Night Fury closer.

"Enough! Do it!" Astrid glanced at Drago, and it all came together. A bolt of fear zapped through her. Toothless was being ordered to kill.

She screamed.

"Hiccup!"

He kept trying to talk to Toothless—Astrid couldn't hear him. She was too focused on crawling over the edge of the wall and climbing down. It was much the same as the trip up, jagged spikes jutting out every which way. She had to go much slower than she would've liked, careful not to lose her grip and slip. Such a mistake from this height would certainly be fatal—if not for her, then for the child growing within her.

That lack of speed proved ruinous. She heard Drago scream something else along the lines of kill and both but didn't process it. She was just a few feet from the ground when she felt the Alpha stomp forward and breathe in, its mere inhalation so mighty that it came out as a rasping, throaty growl.

Then she felt the rush of cold and snapped her head up to see the blast of ice beam toward the ground, aimed straight at her husband. She screamed, but the sound was totally drowned out by the noise of the icy blast, and she managed to see Toothless dart in front of Hiccup just before the ice completely encased them.

"No!" she wailed, and she outright jumped the last few feet to the ground. Her feet complained as she hit the dirt, but she vehemently ignored them and bolted to the uneven frozen cage. The ice carved a swathe along the ground not unlike the large wall of ice behind her, albeit lower to the ground and much more concentrated. Where Toothless and Hiccup had been standing, waves of craggy ice rose up to a form a jagged sort of sphere. Light reflected off of the frozen shell but didn't penetrate it.

They were gone.

Astrid fell to her knees as she reached the block of ice, yanking her axe free from her back and swinging at it with abandon. The steel did nothing to cut into the ice—it was as hard as a rock. She stubbornly tried again, and again, and again. She heard Drago chuckle, but didn't bother to look for him or answer him with one of the tormented screams swirling through her head and drumming against her skull, begging her to just open her mouth and unleash the roiling pain inside her.

Her strikes grew weaker until she finally stopped, losing her grip on the axe and not caring when it fell lamely to the grass. Tears pricked at her eyes, and for once she let them fall. Astrid wasn't accustomed to crying, but right now, it was the only thing that felt right. She instinctively curled her left arm around her belly, the reality of her child growing up without its father sticking in her mind and pulsing like her heartbeat, reminding her again and again and again of its presence.

"No. No, no, this can't be happening," she stammered, completely losing all semblance of stoic composure. "Please, gods, don't do this, please, no…" her rambling continued, accompanied by a high-pitched keening soft enough that only she could hear it.

The hum reached her ears, but for a few seconds she didn't register it. She pleaded under her breath a few more times, begging for everything to be some horrible, long-lasting dream. Hoping she'd wake up safely wrapped in her husband's arms, ready to face another day with all memory of this terror totally forgotten.

The hum grew to a scream, and she realized with a start that she wasn't imagining it. Astrid glanced up, her vision filling with a cobalt blue glow. Instinct took over, the only thing she knew to do was to rise to her feet and back away at full speed. She took up her axe as she bolted, all manner of possibilities running through her mind in the few remaining seconds before the frozen sphere exploded.

She heard the unmistakable roar of a Night Fury and whirled around, staggering back one final step as she took in the sight. Shards of ice scattered along the ground; the uneven ball that had been their prison shattered completely. Hiccup was resting on his elbows, looking up from the ground with a blank, stunned expression, like he didn't know what face to make. And Toothless…

The Night Fury stood protectively over him; his black scales inundated with a bold cobalt glow shining from somewhere deep within. Toothless let out another earth-shattering roar, conveying a raw, untested power that he'd never displayed before.

"What!?" Drago's roar filled the void, but again, Astrid didn't search for him. Toothless glanced down at Hiccup, who gave an almost imperceptible nod before the Night Fury turned around and bounded away. He winged into the air, flapping furiously to generate just enough thrust to reach the top of the ice wall before letting out another deafening roar.

Astrid turned her head to face Hiccup again, who was crawling to his feet and staring at Toothless. His name spilled from her lips in a desperate cry and she raced forward.

"Astrid?" she saw him say, rather than heard. She reached him and let her axe fall again, using her newly freed hand to yank him into her. His armor clapped against her shoulder pad and she buried her face into the crook of his neck, gripping him as tight as she could to ensure that he couldn't get away. The action felt almost weak to her, but the heat radiating from him assured her that he was real and any hint of shame within her evaporated.

"I thought I lost you," she managed.

Hiccup squeezed her, and she felt his chin brush against her hair as he shook his head. "Never, milady." Another roar from Toothless and she felt him go tense. "Astrid, look!"

Astrid looked over her shoulder to see Toothless fire a pulsing plasma blast straight at the Alpha. The burst exploded upon contact with the colossal dragon's head, carrying even more strength than usual and knocking the titan back a step. Black shapes lifted up from over the wall, flapping closer and closer until the light began to reflect off of their scales.

Hiccup gasped. "He's challenging the Alpha!"

Toothless roared again, and in response, several dragons at the front of the pack unleashed torrents of fire, spurts of rebellion against the Bewilderbeast. Others followed suit, painting the Alpha's scales with their flames.

Another shape lifted over the ice wall, stopping short to fly a short circle around Toothless. The sun reflected off of the dragon's bright blue scales and Astrid's face flushed with relief. "Stormfly!" she called, though the Nadder kept flapping away to join her fellow dragons. A dozen armored dragons launched off of the hill, shaking free from the Bewilderbeast's command and answering Toothless' call.

"No, no, no!" Drago's panicked howl shattered the air. Astrid and Hiccup looked to the warlord, still standing a safe distance away but staring at his Alpha as hordes of dragons rebelled against it. He seemed to realize he was being watched and turned on his heel, spotting them and succumbing to a murderous glare.

"You."

Astrid felt her muscles tighten. Her axe was at her feet, ready to be picked up again. "Just like old times?" she asked, keeping her eyes on Drago as the warlord leveled his bullhook at them savagely.

She heard Inferno ignite, a burst of heat rolling off of its blade and bringing another rush of warmth to her skin. "Just like old times," came Hiccup's reply, and as if he'd been waiting for Hiccup to say that, Drago sprinted at them, running with a thunderous gait that Astrid hadn't thought the man capable of.

"Now!" Astrid snapped, and they both lunged in opposite directions, allowing Drago to spear his bullhook forward through thin air. Astrid spun on her heels and brought her axe hurtling around in front of her. The blade clanged against Drago's bullhook and she stepped back, giving herself some space as Drago deflected Hiccup's own attack. Drago backpedaled and they converged on him from the front, so the warlord slid his fist up to the center of the long shaft in order to defend himself against them both. He was actually rather impressive as he spun his bullhook, keeping both of them from getting either of their weapons close.

"You can't win," Drago blustered as he parried a swing of her axe and backpedaled some more. "You won't!"

"Don't you get it, yet?" Hiccup shot back. He stuck his arm out and opened his palm, gesturing to Toothless and the horde of dragons blasting at the Alpha. "This is what it is to earn a dragon's loyalty. Without trust, you'll never win." Drago sneered at him. "Surrender. And let this end."

Drago snarled, "Never!" and then charged at them again, going on the offensive. He swung his bullhook with wild abandon. Astrid raised her axe to parry and staggered back as their weapons collided. Drago peeled back and spun his weapon over his head, delivering a blistering flurry of strikes that kept Astrid and Hiccup both on their back feet, forcing them to twist their weapons back and forth to keep from being torn into.

Drago lifted his bullhook into the air again, shifting his hand down to the end of the shaft so that he could swing it in a wide arc. Astrid bent her knees and ducked, diving forward as the weapon came hurtling around at her first. She landed on her shoulder as she heard a whoosh above her, closely followed by an ear-rending screech of steel. Astrid whirled around on the ground and looked up to see that Hiccup had caught Drago's bullhook with Inferno, slotting the sharp point of the shaft in between the blade. He'd spread his feet wide, keeping his balance as Drago tried to rip his weapon free.

Her chance was as clear as day.

Astrid rose to her feet with an almost triumphant bluster, now standing directly behind Drago. With Hiccup preoccupying him in front, the warlord wasn't equipped to stop her. She took a damning step forward and reared back her axe, furiously focused as she swung it in a lethal arc. Her axe met the flesh of Drago's upper back, cleaving horizontally through his clothes and into the muscular skin underneath. She kept going, carving a brutal line through his shoulder and finally hearing a ping of steel as her axe met Drago's prosthetic arm, separating it completely from its resting place on his shoulder. The disembodied appendage plummeted to the ground, and Drago's bloodcurdling scream finally tore through her ears, a deep, deafening howl of agony.

The conqueror collapsed to his knees, blood spilling from the wound across his back and staining his clothes. The dragonskin cloak hanging from his left pauldron was in tatters, a casualty of Astrid's axe, and Drago's fist weakly relaxed to drop his bullhook into the dirt. The enormous man's fall revealed Hiccup to her now, standing with slightly bent knees and winding his right arm across his chest to protect himself, Inferno's burning blade spearing outward over it.

Drago managed several gaunt breaths as Hiccup carefully lowered his weapon. Astrid walked around from the warlord's back, digging her foot underneath the severed prosthetic arm and kicking it out of reach. She sent the bullhook skittering away as well, leaving Drago almost literally unarmed.

Toothless let out another earsplitting roar and explosions promptly erupted along the wall of ice dividing the hill. The Night Fury bounded away, clambering upon a frozen spike growing from the ground, and the barricade began to melt under a sea of fire until it was little more than a massive freezing slush, and Vikings waded through and surged up the hill as one, numbering in the hundreds and sending thunderous war cries into the air. The dragons that had lent their aid to melt the ice winged off into the sky, joining the fray of dragons battling the Alpha. The beasts nearly blocked out the sun, though far less ominously this time, rocking the Bewilderbeast's body with a seemingly endless barrage of fire that generated enormous clouds of smoke all around it.

Astrid looked over to see Valka emerging from the Viking horde. The woman saw her and Hiccup and bolted over, face creasing with relief.

"Mom!" Hiccup gushed. They embraced, Valka tucking her son's head into her shoulder and combing a few fingers through his long hair. Her expression was one of raw pride—and it seemingly shed years from the woman's life, making her appear young and vibrant.

"The color, Hiccup…" she whispered, "It's the same as the stone in the mountain."

Hiccup nodded quickly. "I know. He must be channeling its power somehow. The last Alpha that lived there must've left it behind."

"And Toothless unlocked it," Valka asserted.

Drago's incensed roar interrupted them, but he wasn't shouting at them. "Fight back! Do something!" he hollered, but if the Alpha heard his voice, it made no move to obey. It was too busy being battered by the very dragons it had just been lording over.

The barrage subsided and the Alpha shook its enormous body, banishing much of the blinding smoke that surrounded it, and mustered a roar. The sound was weaker than before, strangled, and the giant dragon was noticeably exhausted, tendrils of scorching vapor dancing off of its body.

Toothless stood in the center of it all holding onto a spike of ice that protruded out from the ground towards the Alpha, grounded yet stronger than ever. The Night Fury answered with a roar of his own, far louder as azure light flared underneath his scales. The hordes of dragons circling them both sent up a chorus of answering roars in one combined rejection. Something flashed across the Alpha's face—shock, maybe? —as it looked around, disregarded by the dragons it had once dominated.

Toothless barked and two Monstrous Nightmares flapped in close to the Bewilderbeast. The colossal dragon flinched back (and how odd was that? The Alpha was many times their size, but its newfound inability to control them had it shaking with fear), but the Nightmares instead focused on the giant manacles adorning the Alpha's great tusks. They reared up and unleashed their gel-like flames on the steel, breathing and breathing until the steel turned a bright orange and flaked apart, plummeting in pieces to the sea below.

The Bewilderbeast gaped as it watched the ruined fetters fall away, its attention regained only by Toothless' resulting snarl. The Night Fury gnashed his teeth together in a series of commanding sneers directed at the enormous dragon.

The sentiment was clear. Leave, and never return. Destroying the Alpha's shackles had been a final act of kindness, but it hadn't come without a price. The fearsome gray-scaled beast let out a pitiful whimper and, without any further resistance, turned its back and catapulted into the sea, generating a tremendous splash that climbed from the water's surface over the edge of the island, the resulting spray of salt fizzing in the air.

The dragons screeched, a triumphant ululating as the Bewilderbeast departed Berk. A great cheer stirred up in the horde of Vikings around them, axes and swords and hammers raising into the air to be shook with vigorous exhilaration. Astrid knew the sound well; there would be a tremendous feast tonight.

She looked at Hiccup and a smile cracked her face. She felt all the tension and desperation instantly melt away, and her knees wobbled as she started to fall. Hiccup caught her easily, holding her against his chest. He chuckled; a dry baritone laugh that signaled all the weight rising off his troubled shoulders.

"It's over now," he said, and squeezed her. "It's all over."

The raspy rattle of Drago Bludvist's voice made Astrid freeze. A steely chill skulked up her spine as she listened, the conqueror descending into a fit of incoherent madness.

Astrid turned, still leaning against Hiccup. Drago was still sitting there on his knees, one-armed and pathetic, but all the malice and fury that seemingly always governed his face was still there. He was quietly seething, the terrible lines cracking his face smoldering with a toxic revulsion as he glowered at them both.

And then he moved.

The motion was awkward and unbalanced, but no less terrifying. Drago curled his one remaining arm around his waist and surged to his feet, leaning forward a hair and bellowing. He brought his hand back into view, clenching a fist around the handle of a small but visibly sharp knife.

"I won't lose!"

Astrid tried to surge forward, intending to acquaint Drago's face with the blade of her axe and put him down for good. She would've kept going, if not for Hiccup reaching out to keep her from moving forward. She barely registered him speaking to her, for it was more of a panicked, involuntary shout than anything.

"Astrid, move!"

And then her world spun as he pushed her out of harm's way. Astrid stumbled and hit the ground on her rear as she heard Toothless' roar, a terrified noise that she wasn't used to. She could already see the Night Fury sprinting from his kingly perch, but there was no way he could make it from that far and intercept Drago.

She screamed. Again.

"HICCUP!"

But he was already meeting Drago in her place. He spun Inferno with all the grace of a god, its flames arcing behind the blade like a thousand blazing tongues. Drago zeroed in on him and raised his knife high, teeth bared in a terrible snarl. He was without mercy, and in the face of defeat, it seemed the man had suddenly and irreparably snapped.

Hiccup's sword went up to meet Drago's knife, a matchup that would've felt truly pathetic were Drago not so terrifying just on his own. With incredible dexterity, Hiccup snared Drago's knife with Inferno and yanked it free, twisting his weapon down to cast the knife aside. And in another fluid motion, he twisted the sword back around and thrusted, not even a fraction of a second offered so he could consider the action.

Hiccup seemed to realize it too, just before Drago crashed into him, running himself through on Hiccup's sword. Hiccup's face contorted in pain as Drago tackled him, both men tumbling to the ground in a heap.

Astrid was already running, all the tension she'd just released piling back on like a barrage of hailstones. Valka mirrored her, sprinting from the other side to the heap that was her son and Drago Bludvist. Astrid just barely got there first and dropped to her knees, Valka sliding in from his other side.

"Hiccup!"

"Son!"

Their cries were almost identical, the panic and concern evident in both of their tones. Astrid looked up to meet Valka's eyes, and an unspoken understanding passed between them. Toothless skidded into their vicinity with a rueful bay, nosing past Valka and whimpering. Astrid reached out to stroke Toothless' snout. The cobalt glow that the Night Fury had generated was gone now, but there was an undeniable aura around the black dragon that something had clearly changed.

"Toothless, help us?" Astrid asked, and she braced herself as Toothless glanced at the body on top of his rider and understood. He positioned himself beside Valka and pushed, helping to drag Drago's body off of Hiccup. Inferno still stuck out of his back, and Hiccup must've lost his grip on the weapon, because it remained in Drago's chest as they pulled him away. Astrid pulled, and once she could reach the hilt, she fastened her fingers around it. Eager to get her hands off of the corpse, she used her foot to shove Drago's body off the blade and away from herself, resolutely ignoring the wet thud that it hit the dirt with.

Astrid whipped her head back around to find the sun falling on Hiccup's face, and she instantly broke, looking into his very much alive green eyes. Conflict swirled in his emerald irises, the weight of what he'd just done trickling down from them across his face and making him shake.

Astrid dropped the sword and practically laid on top of Hiccup as she hugged him, on the verge of tears as she tangled her fingers in his air as if to make sure he was real and not giving one damn who thought what upon seeing her. She didn't need to explain herself to anyone.

Hiccup's pained groan sent her reeling back, struck with the sudden thought that she could be hurting him in her elation. He was holding his wrist with one hand, which was in turn clutching a part of his torso.

"My boy," Valka nearly whispered, her voice hoarse and scratching, "What hurts?"

"Everything," Hiccup coughed out, a ghost of a smile materializing on his lips. He glanced down, surely eyeing Drago's lifeless body nearby, and that smile melted into a horrified frown. "I… I-I h-had to," he croaked, "I didn't even think about it, I just did it. I didn't even care—"

"Hey, hey." Astrid snatched his free hand and squeezed, getting Hiccup's focus solely on her. She was not going to let him beat himself up over this. "He made you do it. He'll never hurt anyone ever again, human or dragon, because of you." She watched his Adam's apple bob as he gulped, considering her for a moment and then slowly nodding. Astrid had a feeling he wasn't totally convinced yet; she'd have to reinforce her words. He was stubborn like that.

"Astrid's right, Hiccup," Valka said. Astrid sent her a quick, grateful smile. "Now, can you walk?"

Hiccup nodded, swallowing once before answering her. "Yeah. Help me up." Astrid clasped his free hand and Hiccup drew his legs in so he could power himself up. He groaned as he stood, though Astrid couldn't be sure if it was his wrist, his torso, or something else. A cheer stirred up in the crowd as people saw the heir rising to his feet, growing into a full-on raucous howl of triumph as Astrid and Valka helped him turn so that he could face everyone.

"Somebody get a healer!" Astrid shouted, but she saw Hiccup shake his head out of the corner of her eye.

"No. I can manage for now. Make sure our wounded get treatment first," he said, and Astrid nodded in agreement. He tightened his hold around her shoulder and bit back a groan of pain as he held his side. From the looks of it, Astrid guessed that he might have a broken rib.

"Hey, look! It's the Chief!"

Astrid turned her head to look over her shoulder, feeling Hiccup tense as he did the same. Sure enough, Stoick the Vast was cresting over the hill, his two massive arms curled around the shoulders of two burly Vikings so he could hobble along as gingerly as possible. His full red beard was unkempt and there were streaks of grime now visible in various places along his face resulting from days of imprisonment. Movement appeared noticeably difficult for him, but Stoick was hard-faced and determined to continue on.

Vikings erupted at the sight of the Chief of Berk, deafening cheers of triumph exploding from every corner of the mob. Hoark and Ack surged from the crowd to relieve the men that had been carrying Stoick along, and they helped him hobble closer.

Stoick, Astrid noticed, appeared to be focusing on everything other than the obvious scene of victory before him. His green eyes were darting around almost wildly, like he was searching for something. He glanced over in Hiccup and Astrid's direction, and then past them, and he froze, disbelief striking across his hardened features and banishing the wrinkles of effort that had creased beneath his eyes.

"Stop, stop. Wait," he mumbled, Astrid reading his lips to discern his words. Hoark and Ack nearly skidded to a stop, having been triumphantly sauntering along with the Chief on their arms, and Stoick's emerald gaze blazed past Astrid, his body like a frozen statue except for the staggered rise and fall of his chest.

In the back of her mind, Astrid knew what he was looking at. It clicked and made perfect sense, but still she looked over her other shoulder to confirm her suspicion. She saw the woman staring with identical surprise, emotions roiling through her in a riptide of pain. Still, even though she was not surprised, Astrid's breath hitched hard, frowning as she felt a geyser of empathy for her mother-in-law rush up from somewhere within her.

Astrid had been in the prisons with Hiccup when he revealed Valka's survival to Stoick. He'd had time to stew over the news as he was escorted to safety. But the truth was, he could've waited another twenty years, and all that time to process the knowledge would've done nothing to soften the blow of actually seeing his long-lost wife in the flesh.

"Val?" Stoick asked, his voice soft and scratchy.

Valka, somehow, looked even more shaken than the Chief. "Hello, Stoick," she managed, and it seemed as if adding anything more would bring her physical pain, because she sealed her lips shut in order to fight back any tears. Cloudjumper landed behind her, casting his great shadow over the woman.

Stoick reluctantly averted his eyes from her, eyeing the Stormcutter with a mix of different emotions before his gaze apparently fell on Drago's bleeding corpse. He squared his shoulders and tightened his features. "Fill me in," he said.

"It's over. The Alpha is gone, and what's left of Drago's army has surrendered, Chief," Hoark reported.

"But he didn't," Hiccup interjected, gesturing to Drago's body on the ground as he leaned on Astrid. Stoick's green eyes flashed with concern as he noticed the way Hiccup was clutching different parts of his body.

"You're hurt," growled Stoick.

"Others are in worse condition," Hiccup said, "they need treatment."

"Where's Gothi?"

"At the Steppingstones with a few extra healers. We have enough trained in battlefield medicine, but we'll need her for everything else."

Stoick nodded firmly. "Send a rider."

It was Valka, though, that answered. "Already on it," she said, drawing the attention back to her. She was standing atop Cloudjumper and had pulled her mask down to hide her face. Cloudjumper immediately spread his gigantic wings and lifted off, the downdraft of his wingbeats kicking up a powerful gust that forced many of the Vikings below them to shield their faces.

As soon as he could manage, Stoick was shouting after her. "Valka, wait!"

"Mom!" Hiccup added, but it was immediately clear that she wasn't going to heed their calls. Her shape rapidly shrank as Cloudjumper flew off. Astrid glanced over her shoulder at Stoick, staring at the sky with a heartbroken look on his face. She felt for him. Valka had made it sound like she would return, but she had still taken off in the first place. Stoick had likely been entertaining some sort of grand reunion in his head upon seeing her, and she had fled before he could even speak to her. That had to hurt.

The Chief's eyes flashed with anger, his fiery-red beard seemingly burning. "Throw the invaders in the prisons," he said coldly, and without question several Vikings swarmed around the men of Drago's army. "We'll deal with them later. Until then, we have their mess to clean up."

Hoark and Ack guided Stoick along, the wounded Chief bellowing orders and doing what he could to distract himself from his fleeing wife. Hiccup continued to watch the sky, staring at Cloudjumper's receding silhouette.

"Hey," Astrid said, reaching up to gently grab his chin and tugging his face in her direction. He tried to smile, but the emotion didn't quite reach his eyes. "She'll be back. For now, let's get you some rest. Can't have you hurting yourself even worse."

Hiccup squeezed her hand. "Yeah," he said, pausing to take a deep breath, "Yeah, okay. I'd like that."

Astrid reaffixed her arm around his shoulder, supporting him, and helped him start to walk in the direction of Stoick's house. Hiccup limped up the hill, but there was a respite to his gait that hadn't been there before. He looked more relaxed, more at peace, than she'd seen him in far too long.

And though there was still much more to resolve in the coming hours alone, Astrid found that it was good enough for her.

Once again, if you enjoyed this chapter (or hated it) please consider sending me a review. Any and all feedback is welcome, whether you want to praise me or trash me.

That wraps up the Battle of Berk arc! We've got one more main story chapter to get through followed by an epilogue that I hope will leave everyone satisfied. I quite like it, after all. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all on June 20th.