This chapter was so difficult to write . I am never again writing a last chapter before finishing a story because my stories tend to go places I don't plan for them to go...

Oh well, here's the next to last chapter. Enjoy and don't forget to share your thoughts at the end.

It's raining

It was years since Astrid last felt this focused. It was like a tie on her mind had snapped and suddenly she could think clearly. She felt calm and relaxed in the knowledge that this was her last day alive. She was happy even for the chance to go down fighting.

At the same time she grieved Hiccup with a force that surprised her. Astrid had lived with a dull ache for so long she had almost forgotten how she felt. The lack of activity that came with being a candlestick had turned to boredom that quickly morphed into apathy until the time between events was a gaping hole in her memory. Now she was suddenly remembering the human Hiccup had been so clearly she could almost see the ghost of him before her eyes. Hiccup had never been beautiful by Berk standards, and Astrid had always been stronger than him. But it was in Hiccup's arms she had been able to relax, to be comfortable with her own femininity. Hiccup had accepted and embraced all of Astrid. Hiccup had loved the part of her that beat him in arm-wrestling and fought anyone who picked a fight as much as the part of her that was snarky all the way to the part that wanted to be a girl.

Astrid grieved now for the man she had lost years ago.

Looking around, she wasn't the only one who was feeling the losses they hadn't paid attention to before. Still, all of them were focused.

Ida suddenly spoke to Tooth Fairy. "Do you remember the yellow dress I once wore and you told me I looked ten years older in?"

The dresser looked surprised, then thought for a minute. "Was it that straight cut thing that did your figure no favours whatsoever?"

"I had a miscarriage, and kept wearing that dress that had symbolized my happiness of becoming a mother for the first time."

A tense silence followed where Tooth looked honestly horrified. "You… never said."

"You didn't let me, ploughing on the way you did about one thing or other. Just thought you deserved to know why I never liked you."

The rakes outside fell over, warning them about the approaching hunters.

"Just another thing to regret…" Tooth whispered in the hush that followed.

A light rain had just started falling when the hunters arrived to their destination. The castle was surrounded by a high wall with an iron gate that was slightly ajar. The gate wasn't as rusty as one would expect but squeaked on its hinges as the wind moved it, a common sound here that they shouldn't disrupt or risk detection. So the hunters slipped into the courtyard one by one, leaving the trackers behind as their job was done for now.

Pitch Black had never thought the day would come when he was grateful for all the years of bullying that had made him move silently and sticking to the shadows until it became second nature. Now he was slipping around with the seasoned hunters, scythe at his back, with an ease that surprised them. But Pitch was Mildew's son, slimmer than any of them just like his father, and nobody was surprised he wanted to be on the front line. Wanted to reach the dragon before the rest.

They spread out against the wall, since there was no cover on the courtyard. The gravedigger glanced behind him where people were still slipping through the gate. He had to wait until everyone was in before moving forward. It gave him time to inspect the ground in the faint light of their covered lanterns.

Everything that had grown here was gone, burnt to ashes and coal. Pitch found himself slightly surprised as he touched the ground. It was cold now, but the smell suggested the fire had happened recently. It hadn't rained in a few days so soot still dusted the walls, but there were no signs that fires were common here. There were no marks on the building itself, and not enough on the walls, as far as Pitch could tell, that suggested a dragon had lived here for a long time.

His foot caught on something, and he brought his light closer to investigate.

With tiny wings spread wide, a nano dragon made of stone was snarling towards the castle. Frowning in confusion Pitch swung his lantern around. Sure enough; there was a swarm of nano dragons, all of them looking towards the same spot.

"Something the matter?" someone whispered behind him, and Pitch smoothly moved the light to a place without tiny statues.

"I find it curious," he breathed back. "It seems the dragon has moved here recently. I can't seem to find any marks of fire older than a couple of days at most."

The other hunter made an uncomfortable face and a gesture to ward off bad luck and evil spirits.

The last hunter entered the courtyard, and they started forward. With no idea where the dragon was they stayed as a fairly tight group.

By the door to the castle, something clattered, freezing everyone to the spot. A piercing roar Pitch hadn't heard in a decade rang through the air and rattled his confidence.

"Night Fury."

True fear settled in. Everyone remembered the Night Fury, the black dragon of Stoick's son. The one dragon that had never been killed by hunters. Pitch suddenly remembered the beast with startling clarity. Catlike, swift and flexible, the dragon alpha that controlled and protected the rest.

But for several minutes after the roar, the castle and courtyard was silent.

Or was it?

Pitch tilted his head, wondering if he was going mad himself because he could swear he heard stifled laugher.

A small light filtered through a gap in the door.

"Why don't you come in?" a voice called out.

A second of baffled silence passed before Snotlout startled everyone by rushing forward, screaming a terrifying battle cry, and the doors blew open, opening outwards, to let the madman in.

Doubt suddenly settled in Pitch's stomach. From his position he could see straight into a great hall beyond the doors where faint candlelight was lighting up another couple of stone dragons snarling at them from behind chairs, tables and other pieces of furniture that had all seen better days.

Not a single real dragon in sight.

That couldn't be right. They had all heard the roar! A genuine dragon roar! This couldn't all be a joke! His future! He was supposed to kill a dragon and gain respect!

Pitch sprung forward, racing after Snotlout in a mad dash.

"Hiccup! I'm here to save you!" Snotlout screamed when nothing came out to fight him.

Pitch held his scythe at the ready, searching for a beast that wasn't made of stone.

"Holy shit! Is that Snotlout!?"

"Wow! You've grown old, man."

"Who's the other one? He looks familiar."

"He should, it's Mildew's boy. A splitting image of his old man."

"Lord Almighty, you're right."

Almost by instinct Snotlout and Pitch stood back to back, eyes trying to locate the people who were talking.

Behind them the rest of the hunters, fifteen in total, started filing in.

"BEAR OAK!" an angry woman's voice shrieked so loudly everybody jumped. "WHAT have you been doing the past decade to get so fat!?"

Another stunned moment of silence settled over the humans, Pitch's eyes searching the gloom as his mind tried to process where he knew the angered voice from.

"Ida?" Bear's voice was meek with faint hope, and he took a step forward.

A terrible thought passed through Pitch's mind. "Watch out! Those are ghost voices! Don't listen to them!"

"Yes, you probably shouldn't."

Pitch and Snotlout both spun around, weapons raised, as another familiar voice spoke right beside them.

Candles lightened all around the room, illuminating the form of a black dragon with green eyes sitting there. It was a lot smaller than the Night Fury Pitch remembered, barely bigger than a man actually.

"It's good seeing you again, Snotlout," the dragon said, its voice a distinct nasal tone, and Pitch grinned wickedly when he realized who it had once belonged to, and who this was.

"Mockingbird! This monster is imitating the voices of everyone it has consumed!" the gravedigger shouted and pointed at the dragon, loving the shocked, hurt and angered expressions of the other hunters. Pitch would live his good life, have a Night Fury's head decorating his house, and enjoy the look on Stoick's face every time he saw it. Pitch lifted his scythe to deal the first blow, but the dragon didn't move. Instead Pitch felt something grab his tool and pull him back.

Behind them the big doors slammed shut and the confused hunters stared with horror as the room around them grew brighter and came alive.

Snotlout was the first to act. He started towards the dragon, screaming like mad and banging his hammer (still dressed with a glove) against his shield, and only now did Pitch realize why he'd been doing so; metal on metal made a sound that disoriented dragons!

Swearing to himself, Pitch spun around to pull his scythe free from whatever it had caught on, only to gawk at the sight of a coat hanger trying to pull the sharp tool away. Beyond that mayhem had erupted. The hunters were screaming, chased by a hopping candlestick trying to set their pants on fire, a cart rolled around with a kettle that was pouring boiling water into a teapot that in turn sprayed the hunters' faces with the scalding liquid, a grandfather clock came running and tackled Snotlout, a dresser jumped around screaming and hitting everyone it could with its doors.

With a roar of fury Pitch pulled his scythe free and swung at the coat hanger, cutting it clean in half, and then turned for the dragon. Snotlout was still wrestling with the clock, but the dragon itself hadn't moved yet.

Hiccup had planned to watch in silence, to pay his respects to the bravery of his friends, remember them and be proud he'd known them. It didn't ease the pain though. Watching Bear Oak grab his battle axe and smash Ida to pieces hurt like he was the one who shattered. Watching Snotlout bash Gobber to the floor and keep on hammering at the remains Hiccup thought he could feel each hit against his own body. Hearing Bunny scream as he jumped from on top of Tooth just to break against the floor when the one he'd hoped to hit stepped aside, Hiccup almost had to close his eyes.

They had said their goodbyes. This shouldn't hurt so much!

He hadn't expected Pitch to come at him.

Hiccup ducked under the blade and jumped back, knowing that everything else that didn't have a human soul was already coming to join the massacre now that the master was in danger, and if they did there would be nobody left to deal the killing blow to him!

He sidestepped the scythe that came down and grabbed Pitch around the waist, used all his strength to jump into the air, over the mayhem and out the doors.

The world had hesitatingly started to light up in the past few minutes despite the rain, enough that Hiccup could hopefully be spotted moving around. He threw Pitch away from him, and noted that the swords and axes that had hung on the wall in the sitting room had come after them. But they had no life outside the castle.

Pitch was rolling in the dirt, away from Hiccup, searching the ground while his eyes stayed fixed on the dragon, making a face of frustration and fear. His hand found one of the swords that had come to exterminate the threat to the master of the house. Hiccup could see Pitch's questioning expression and growled to get his attention.

Unfortunately, Pitch had never held a sword before and tried to hold it like an axe.

"Mildew never taught you swordplay?" Hiccup couldn't help but ask when he ducked the third awkward swing with relative ease. It had been harder to dodge Snotlout and Dogsbreath when they were young.

"You don't fight dragons with a sword, Hiccup," Pitch hissed back.

That gave him pause. Pitch knew? Then why…

Mildew!

He barely dodged another swing and watched Pitch stumble. Annoyance didn't even have time to grow as over his fallen body Hiccup could see into the grand hall. He watched Tooth's doors get ripped off her by two bleeding men. She was crying, but kept on fighting despite the axe in her back.

In the corner of the door someone caught Astrid and threw her at Tooth.

Pitch got back up with a grin; he had found his scythe.

Hiccup was almost too slow, and felt the sharp blade scrape his shoulder.

"Ever since you all disappeared your story and the mystery of where you went has been a cause of constant fear. I will free the village of the burden. All I need is your head."

The dragon dove under the swinging tool, and saw Tooth there through the doors of the castle. She was on fire.

Astrid stood before her, waving her arms, and a heavy hammer was coming down on her.

Hiccup howled in pain when Pitch's scythe struck him.

Ruffnut and Jack both looked up. They were keeping a steady trot and the echoes of the dragon's screams hadn't even faded when they came through a cluster of trees.

"That's the place?" Ruffnut asked, voice tense with an anxiety that had grown within her all night.

"Yes," Jack breathed through the horror and despair that filled him at the sight of the burnt forest.

He didn't need to urge the woman to speed up. Ruffnut wordlessly released her pony and kicked Philippe's sides.

The east was already brightening, the stars were already fading, the crescent moon looked like a laughing mouth. They were still so far away, but Rapunzel could feel it, the urgency, the seconds that became minutes as before her eyes, too far away for her to save them, the flashes of lives lost burned her eyes.

Pitch put a foot against the dragon's back and pulled out his scythe to deal a killing blow, but the dragon swiped him with its tail, sending him flying, knocking the wind out of him when he landed so hard he broke a rib.

"Never show pain before a dragon."

Pitch got up with his father's voice ringing in his ears.

"Find the blind spot."

Snotlout had been hitting his hammer against his shield. Metal on metal. Pitch watched the dragon send one more look towards the bright inside of the castle, fire reflecting in its eyes and teeth, before turning its focus back to Pitch with an expression that wasn't mindless rage or a hunter locked on its prey, but similar. Pitch couldn't identify the look, but his hand found a rock. It wasn't metal on metal, but his scythe had a long blade that was used for more than just cutting grass.

He took a new grip on his weapon and faced the dragon that came for him, crawling close to the ground. Pitch pretended to swipe at it, watched it dodge, and struck the curved blade with the rock in his other hand, making the metal sing.

The dragon reared back, eyes wide with surprise, ears going back and long, slender neck exposed.

Pitch dropped the stone, flipped the scythe and went to sever the dragon's head.

Not good enough. The angle was awkward and the dragon was fast. Pitch bit down on his frustration, the pain in his body and the adrenaline that was making him dizzy, and for some reason the dragon was running away.

"You've already lost, Hiccup!" Pitch hissed as he ran after the beast with a controlled breath. "Don't prolong this more than you have to. Or do you love pain? Face me like a man."

"I am."

The voice of Stoick's son was calm, but oddly strained and tense. Pitch halted, then moved forward with more care. He came around the castle, and there stood the dragon on its hind legs like a man. The faint like of the oncoming dawn shining through a crack that split the castle wall from base to top painted a silhouette that was both human and dragon.

"I'm facing you like a man with nothing left to lose. So come at me, Pitchsqueak. I have nowhere to run."

The old nickname that had belittled him since childhood caused Pitch's blood to boil. He strode forwards, took off at a sprint and swung his scythe towards the dragon's neck.

It turned like a snake, effectively ducking under the attack and jumped away, landing on its hands and turned back around, waiting.

Pitch had swung with so much force that he'd fallen over again, landing on his hurting side. A metallic taste filled his mouth. He struggled onto his knees using the long handle of his scythe as support.

"If you have nothing left to lose and nowhere to run, why does it feel like you're toying with me?"

"Because I am."

The gravedigger looked up. He remembered Hiccup well, and the look on the dragon's face didn't match his memory. Hiccup had never looked this cruel.

"I don't know the full story, other than that you're here to kill me. You figured out who I am and still painted me a monster before the others. But your story didn't add up until I realized you are Mildew's son, what that means and what you will do with my death."

"So what? You think you can return to Berk like that?"

The dragon growled and moved forward. Pitch struggled to stand and face it, but found he was shaking, trembling so badly with a fear he'd never felt before. The dragon grabbed Pitch's clothes to pull him up to eye level.

"I will die today, and take you with me along with Mildew's bitterness and malice."

The rain was coming down harder now, and Philippe slipped in the mud before the iron gates. Jack was off the horseback in a flash, throwing open the gate and rushing towards the open doors, only to halt only meters before he could enter.

From inside people were looking up, pointed at him, and all around them lay the pieces of his friends.

"Tooth!" Jack gasped. The dresser was still burning, but there was no mistaking her shape.

Ruffnut came up beside him, and then stepped up to face the hunters.

"What have you DONE!" yelled at them, and everyone jerked back in shock. Ruffnut hadn't raised her voice in ten years. Now she pulled through them to enter the castle.

The first thing she focused on was the stone statues of Stormfly and Meatlug.

It was them. She knew it was them even without seeing their colours. It was their stance. It was their expressions.

"Ruffnut?"

Something small moved on the floor towards her. It looked up at her with familiar blue eyes and a smile. It was a book titled "Dragon Manual".

"Hey, could you throw me on the fire? I missed out on the fight. Oh, and Dagur probably want you to pay him a visit. He's stuck where he is in the kitchen. Over there."

Ruffnut kneeled down and picked the book up, curiosity mixing in with anxiety and nausea. "You're Fishlegs?"

"Don't be fooled, Thorston! This is dark magic!" Bear Oak said behind her, but Jack was faster.

"Hiccup! Fishlegs, where is he?!"

"Who is Hiccup?" a younger hunter asked.

"It's hard to know if you don't, so Pitch attacked Hiccup and they both went outside."

Jack didn't wait. He turned right around to look for his friend.

Meanwhile Ruffnut was staring at Fishlegs with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"What is it that we don't know?" she demanded.

Fishlegs sighed and with empty eyes looked to the side. "Hey, throw me onto the fire!"

A broken cart beside Ruffnut moved, its metal vines whipping out and tearing the book out of Ruffnut's hands, throwing it onto the burning dresser.

Ruffnut's scream mixed with the sound of a Night Fury about to spit fire.

Outside Jack had only just rounded the stable when he finally spotted Hiccup. The dragon was rearing up, emitting a sound that was akin to screaming while breathing in.

Jack stopped, unsure which way Hiccup was aiming, and was blinded by the flash.

The earth shook and the teen waved his arms to keep his balance. A few seconds of stillness passed.

"You need to practice your aim, Haddock!"

Jack looked up. He saw the silhouette of Pitch rising a scythe, and then a loud crack echoed through the air, accompanied by a rumble, and the earth started to move.

Hiccup glared at Pitch, unanswered questions flickering through his mind as realization and horror bloomed on the other man's face as the earth started shaking and beneath their feet.

Had Jack made it home? Was he safe? Did he know?

Did it matter now?

"HICCUP!"

The dragon jumped and spun around. Jack. Jack was here!

He would be pulled into the abyss too!

Before Hiccup could shout out a warning, another scream sounded and searing pain almost knocked him out. Pitch had cut off one of his wings. But Hiccup couldn't care out that. He had to save Jack!

Another swing with the scythe ran through Hiccup's body, the blade entering his back and coming out through his chest.

The earth was falling away.

Hiccup looked up at Jack, at his blue, frightened eyes, and just ran to meet him. Running against the landslide, ignoring the foot against his earlier wound and that Pitch pulled his weapon out, didn't notice the gravedigger fall behind him to be pulled along with the earth into the abyss. All he saw was Jack. All he could concentrate on was saving him.

Jack ran straight into his arms, but Hiccup only had one wing. He couldn't fly to begin with. So he kept running, kept jumping, jumping, hoping he could reach the end of the cliff that was falling into the rift.

And then he did.

The ground was no longer shaking. The roar of falling rocks faded. They were safe.

He wasn't dead.

"Hiccup."

Jack's blue eyes looked up at him. Hiccup couldn't look at them, and gave up instead.

Feeling the dragon slump, Jack tried to support him, but they ended up falling over.

"Hiccup? Hiccup, you're hurt?"

The dragon was breathing heavily, keeping his eyes closed, and looked like he was despairing.

"Jack," he breathed.

"I'm here. Hiccup, I'm here, like I promised. I kept my promise. Dad doesn't hate you. Ugh…" he wiped angrily at his tears as nonsense spewed out of him. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I saw Tooth burning and, and… Hiccup…"

What was he supposed to say. Everyone was dead and Hiccup was dying. What was he supposed to do now?

"Jack," the dragon said again, a broken sob, and the teen felt a leathery wing bump into his shoulder. "It's raining."

Then the wing slipped off onto the wet ground and didn't move again.

Jack's vision blurred. Everything came to a standstill as time stopped.

In the west wing, Rapunzel stared at the last petal of the blue rose.