New year has gotten started, hopefully not too badly for you, but the story continues still. This book turns out to be a tiny bit longer than the other two so it also takes a bit over two years to complete.

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Comments:

Dragonrider's Fury: I have seen the Rogue one. It is best Star Wars movie since Disney bough Star Wars, maybe only good one even if not perfect. As for hope, I'd say that is only thing people need but it is needed, necessary but not sufficient. The concept makes sense. Why would anyone act if there is no hope of success. There has to always be at least some.

Lalitha: I do admit the Fishlegs has pulled lot of short straws in terms of page time. Even in this chapter I had to change several Hiccup references to Hiccup and Fishlegs references during the last check up. Still, I don't think there is going to be Fishlegs POV soon unless I choose to separate them and show simultaneous events from two povs with Fishlegs as best option for the other.

MysteryWriter175: Probably something stupid or something crazy.

erikatyusharon: Things aren't fired up until the Night Fury sings.

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Proofread by 3DPhantom


"Remember, not a word to anyone," Gerd's mom was lecturing her dad, who was putting on clothes to head to his boat. It was early and Gerd was still in bed, or back in bed, but she hadn't been able to sleep since Hiccup and the others had left. For the first time in a while there was hope, but…

She was afraid of what she had gotten herself involved with, but she was going to do it anyway. The real reason she hadn't gotten sleep was because she was mentally reviewing everyone that she knew in the village trying to make a list of people she could trust to contact about their… Rebellion was the first word that came to mind.

"Gerd," her mom broke her out of her thoughts, "stop planning for what we are going to do and go to sleep. I will not let you go out before you get more sleep. Your father needs to get up this early, you don't."

"I don't know if I can sleep either way. Even if everything goes right people are going to get hurt."

"Yes. People will get hurt. This may well end up in a war, but not today. Go to sleep." She came to Gerd's bedside and gently pulled up her blanket.

Gerd managed to fall asleep eventually, but it was hardly enough when the morning really came. She considered slamming her head in a bucket of water but ended up only splashing some on her face before getting breakfast. She had taken a single spoon of her porridge when her mother sat on the opposite side of the table with her serious face on.

"Now," she said, "we can talk about who in this place we can trust that have the guts to stand up to the Hunters. Regulars from Hiccup's dragon classes are the obvious starting point, but you spent a lot of time with him and Fishlegs. Can you think of anyone else we should consider?"

"The old blacksmith Torbjorn. If he could accept a Night Fury living under his roof… He won't be a friend of the Hunters, and he has a stockpile of weapons that no one would be suspicious about. Then there is the tavernkeeper that allowed us to dine there with Toothless and Sharpshot. I don't know him well enough to say anything for sure yet, but he let dragons in the tavern even if it was just a favour to Ivar. That still counts for something."

"We shouldn't approach him too directly, but I might get tired of cooking one of these days," mom said and winked. "There is also one other thing. We need to think who of those willing to help can fight. Fjoll isn't like some villages in the dragon attack region where everyone is a warrior."

"Lots of people have still been at the trainings like Hiccup. Hopefully some of his dragon class did too. I have to ask and hope for the best."

"So where do you think we should start?" Her mother asked.

"Hm… I think the easiest way would be to talk with the old blacksmith. He'll probably know more people that were friendly with Hiccup and Fishlegs."

"Then that is where you should start. Your father could use some new nails for ship repair anyway. I'll test my customers at the market and see what I can pry out of them. Come see me after you talk with mister Torbjorn."

"Okay."

With a soft smile she reached over the table to hold Gerd's shoulder for a moment and the smile was infectious as Gerd's lips twitched up.

"Be careful with everything, especially from now on," she said and got up. She started dressing up while Gerd finished her breakfast. She gave Gerd some money for the nails and left first, so Gerd had time alone wondering again what she had gotten herself into. At least she was prepared, even more so than her mom realized. She had already talked with many people about how far they would be ready to go to stand up to the Hunters and what it would take for people to act. With Ivar getting help they finally might take action.

She put on her shoes and headed out to meet the blacksmith. She could hear the man was working long before arriving at the forge. The door and hatch he sold things through were both fully open and Gerd could feel the heat radiating from inside.

"Mister Torbjorn," she said audibly, but not so loud that it couldn't be covered by the clanging coming from inside. After pretending to knock on the wall she had an excuse to step inside and find the man hammering a curved piece of metal, a blade of a scythe perhaps. He raised his head and noticed Gerd.

"Oh, hello," he paused. "Sorry if I didn't notice you."

"I figured you might not without having help anymore," Gerd took a step to bring her prosthetic leg forward for him to see.

"You are that girl that Hiccup made a leg for. Seems it is still working well. I barely noticed," the man sighed and looked away from Gerd. "I don't care what other people might think about his dragons, that kid was a genius, and he could really talk to dragons. Fishlegs too had a good head on his shoulders, better than any dragon hunter that I've met."

"Was?" Gerd asked, thinking how to direct the discussion.

"Well, they are gone now, and it is not like they are going to return here with how things are. The Hunters would kill them or worse if they come back. If they try to return that Night Fury will probably take one look at the Hunter ships and carry Hiccup to the opposite end of the world."

Gerd chuckled at the man's comment. This and his comment about talking to dragons confirmed it. She lowered her voice to nearly a whisper.

"Of course you would know Hiccup after giving him work and home for months, not to mention Toothless. Not many people would allow a dragon in their home let alone a Night Fury. What made you do it?"

"Well, aren't you curious," the old man said, but slowly the look in his eyes turned more serious. "Almost as curious as Hakon's men that have harassed me several times with similar questions."

Gerd blinked a couple of times and raised her hands defensively.

"I am sorry. I didn't realise you'd feel that way. It's just…" Gerd paused, worried over how she should choose her words. "It has gotten difficult to talk with people now, especially on some things. I am getting the feeling you might understand considering, well, you started this discussion."

"That I did," the man admitted. "Truth to be told, even if Hakon did not throw me in the dragon den with the Chief, I've felt like I've been in prison. I hope I didn't offend you, but we have to be careful nowadays."

"I completely understand," Gerd responded.

"As for the Night Fury, you can surely understand that I was terrified about the mere thought of being on same island with one. Then the Chief's son, Ivar, came here and with totally serious face asked me to allow one under my roof." The old man chuckled. "Luckily he did not give up easily. The kid convinced me to come with him to the Chief's house where they treated Hiccup, and let me tell you, what I saw changed everything. I had listened to Hiccup talk about dragons many times, but seeing one of the most feared beasts that I've ever even heard about hover over the injured boy like a concerned family member. It was something else."

"Sounds like the dragon I know," Gerd said. "I'm guessing Hiccup had a lot to explain considering all of the secrets he had kept."

"For sure, but I had agreed to let him stay with the dragon. Just looking at them together I realised there weren't any options. Also, the dragon did not bite my hand of when they showed me how to greet it. I don't think Gunnar was quite as convinced though."

"Gunnar?" Gerd asked.

"One of Hakon's men," the old man waved his hand. "He tried to harass Ivar about the dragons, but the kid just invited him to visit the Chief's house. He saw the same as I did but didn't stay for long. Still made a strong impression on him though, I think."

Gerd filed that as potentially important information in her head. Next was the riskiest part, though she wasn't as concerned anymore. She dropped the verbal fishing line.

"Mister Torbjorn, what would you do if there was a fight against Hakon and the Hunters?"

The man looked her more carefully than before and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"I'd love to say that I would do all that I could, but I don't think that would work. I might not like the way things are, but I am no longer foolish enough to jump into hopeless causes."

"And if it wasn't hopeless," Gerd said, dangling the figurative hook in front of the man, praying that hope would be a sufficiently alluring bait. The blacksmith stared at her for a moment and then grabbed his forehead.

"Why do I get the feeling you are going to tell me something that is very dangerous for me to hear?"

Gerd glanced at the open hatch on the other side of the room and spoke even quieter than before.

"Ivar is back, and he brought Hiccup and Fishlegs with the dragons, along with some extra help. It is not enough to reliably beat the Hunters in a straight attack, but…"

The man stared at her for a moment while processing the information.

"Better if I don't ask for details," he paused. "With their help there would be hope if enough villagers rose up," the old blacksmith finished her sentence. "They really are back with the Chief's son?"

"Would you help if that was the case?" Gerd asked.

The man sighed and rubbed his head again.

"I am too old for this," he paused. "I will help, but you have to gather the people. I am already watched too closely. I should stockpile some more weapons in the meanwhile."

"We were hoping you would."

"Then I will. Do you need anything else?"

"No… Oh wait, I was supposed to get nails for dad, so people don't wonder why I came here."

"Of course."

The old man turned to a nearby shelve and picked up a small box full of nails. Gerd quickly paid for them. Just before turning to leave she whispered one more thing.

"If you need to talk to us, or send a message to Hiccup and Fishlegs, come buy some fish.

The old blacksmith nodded in understanding and Gerd left. Not long after she heard hammer hitting metal behind her again. That was one down and many left, hopefully. She headed to the market carrying the box of nails visibly in her hands. She stopped at the edge of the opening. There was a group of young warriors loitering near her mother's stall. Remembering the blacksmith's words Gerd suddenly recognized one of the young warriors as Gunnar. So, this guy was willing to enter the same room as a Night Fury. That could be a good sign, or sign that he was more dangerous than Gerd would have thought.

Eventually she couldn't wait longer without risking getting attention and walked to her mother with a neutral expression on her face. Gerd handed her the nails and sat down to read her notebook, reviewing what she knew about dragons in Hiccup's flock. After spending many winter days with him and Fishlegs, her notes were more detailed than she ever thought possible. Hiccup had even given her some drawings.

Eventually the warriors moved forward as Gerd kept a close eye on Gunnar. He didn't seem to act any different from the other warriors. She waited a bit longer as her mom sold a few fishes to a random passer-by. Gerd dug her memory but did not remember anything about the person that would have made her someone to approach. Once they were alone her mom turned to her.

"How did it go?"

"Well," Gerd answered. "He will help as long as there is a real hope of winning. He spent more time around Hiccup and Toothless than either of us after all. Apparently Toothless managed to make a good first impression early on."

"That is good. He is a respected man and can help with supplies. One person from Hiccup's class bought fish while you were there. I didn't yet tell him what is going on but he seems to really appreciate what he learned. You should probably talk with him somewhere more private."

"He also told something else I didn't know about," Gerd said, looking in the direction the warriors had gone. She described the blacksmith's story involving Gunnar.

"Even stubborn people can eventually see reality when it slaps them in the face, but I don't think we can turn him to our side," mom responded. "Better to focus on people who we can trust already. Best we can risk is hoping that he picks a different side when the fighting starts."

"Well, hope is most of what we have," Gerd said. "I'll go talk with some more people so our first message to Hiccup and the others can have good news."

Days later, Fiske steered his small boat through a narrow gap between some rocks, though those words could have been used to describe all of the so-called island. At least he wasn't visible to passing ships. With the rocks around his boat acting as breakwaters the water surface was perfectly calm, allowing him to navigate safely despite limited space. He brought his boat to a stand-still in the water and picked up a small bag with a few rolled up papers in it. There seemed to be no one around. Why had he agreed to this?

A grunt made him jump and turn around to face the source. A dragon, a Changewing, was standing on the nearest rock that he could have sworn had been empty. Not saying a word Fiske held up the little bag and put it on top of a box where he kept his nets. He backed up to the other end of the boat, hoping the dragon wouldn't tip it over. Instead, the dragon reached out its tail and picked up the bag with a precision Fiske could never have imagined from a dragon. It grabbed on the bag with its mouth, looked Fiske straight in the eyes until he turned his head away and took flight, quickly blending in with the clear blue sky.