"Tonight your memory burns like a fire
With every one it grows higher and higher
And I can't get over it, I just can't put out this love
I just sit in these flames and pray that you'll come back
Close my eyes tightly, hold on and hope that I'm dreaming
Come wake me up"

- "Come Wake Me Up" by Rascal Flatts

Chapter 5

"Reel your eyes back into your head, Skulder," Eret said upon our arrival. Skulder appeared uneasy as he exited the boat. "You look like you've never been in a den of thieves before. Brennda, find Harald's contact and give him the note. I'll stay by our scholarly friend here and make sure he doesn't accidentally rile up these sensitive traders."

I nodded. "Good idea." The note clutched in my hand, I jogged up the stairs and to the trading center. I found the shifty storekeeper at his stall. "Hello there. This is from Harald." I handed him the note.

The storekeeper looked over the note and then glanced back at me. "I see you caught up to that scoundrel, and he's already got you running errands for him. Hah! Tell Harald that the magic Tooth of the Red Death is on display at the auction area. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes... but that Tooth really turns dragons into stone, right in their tracks! It's drawing interest from dragon hunters everywhere."

"That's very... interesting. Thanks." I turned around and saw Eret and Skulder enter the trading center. I went over to them and relayed the new information.

"A tooth that can turn a dragon into stone?" Eret said incredulously. "I've never heard of such a thing in my life! Brennda, I know the spot he means. It's nothing more than a clearing in the town that they use to showcase their wares, but these simpletons seem to draw some pride from it. You can follow the road there." He pointed to our left. "Go ahead and lead us to the auction area; I'll keep an eye on our backs."

I started off in the direction he indicated. We came across a small clearing where giant stone tablets had been set up. We stepped closer to examine them. They definitely looked like dragons, but something was off.

"Magic?" Skulder said. "Hah! This is just smoke and mirrors from that scoundrel. It's just a ruse. The dragon tooth didn't turn anything into a stone. These aren't stone dragons, they're fossils!"

I blinked. "Fossils?"

"Fossils are remains of plants or animals from thousands of years ago. After these dragons died, they were buried under the ground. Over time, water from the ground around them filled into the body and dissolved all the organic parts of the dragon and left just the minerals. These minerals still hold the shape of the dragon's bones, but it's just rock! This is called a body fossil. Let's take a closer look at these things."

We moved right up to the fossils. "These are pretty cool."

"Fossils can tell us so much about the dragon and the place it lived in thousands of years ago. We can tell from the teeth that this dragon was carnivorous, or a meat eater. The type of rock the fossil is embedded into can also tell us a lot about the lay of the land where Harald found the fossil! This limestone, for example, tells us that this fossil was once at the bottom of a lake."

"What a relief!" Eret said. "We won't have to worry about some magic totem. Looks like this shopkeeper has a collection of things on sale other than Harald's trash. I bet it's a load of snake oil medicine, all meant to swindle dragon hunters out of their money. Let's take a quick look at what he has."

I browsed through all the items, stopping at a strange looking fruit. "Isn't this a Sagefruit?" Hiccup told me about it once.

Eret's eyes went wide. "Whoa! I've only seen Sagefruit once before. My mate fed it to a dragon to keep it docile. It makes dragons calm down, even when they're riled up and fighting. He said he got it from Defender of the Wing Island... and that's not a destination any dragon trapper wants to go. We absolutely need to get that fruit away from these hunters. Talk to that shopkeeper and see if we can negotiate a deal."

I strolled up tot he storekeeper and pointed to the fruit. "Hey, what do you want for that?"

The storekeeper frowned. "You want that odd fruit? Why? You're the first one to even give it a second look. No one wants that odd looking thing, and it doesn't even taste any good. Tell you what, I'll give it to you gratis for being Harald's messenger."

I smiled sweetly at him. "Thank you very much." I snatched the sagefruit and returned triumphantly to my friends.

Skulder appeared deep in thought, "It shouldn't bother me that Harald will be fooling some evil dragon hunter with the Tooth of the Red Death... but it does. Fossils are very interesting things, and Harald is distorting them! I don't like it at all. I wish I could find a way to stop them..."

Eret slung his arm around his shoulder. "Cheer up, Skulder. That buffoon didn't know the treasure that was right under his nose. Serves him right."

"Excactly!" I said.

"It seems like this was a very succesful trip, but I think we best be on our way. Let's go back to Berk and talk to Valka."

"Sounds like a good idea to me." I felt a little better as we headed back to his ship. At least we did not need Adtrid this time. And we had more information! We were one step closer to catching Harald.

We found Valka at her hut on Berk. She listened as Eret explain our adventures - in an exaggerated, dramatic fashion, of course. She appeared deeply trouble by the end.

"You mean that Harald Forkbeard is desecrating the remains of the Red Death for money?" she said. "That despicable man! I hope that he reaps every ill fate he sows."

Skulder nodded. "That's right!"

I shifted uncomfortably. "Yeah, well..."

Valka looked at me with a frown. "I used to say that Vikings can never change, but you and the rest of Berk have convinced me that we can always set things right in the end. Things like this make me wonder if my original thought was right."

Dejected, I stared at the ground. What could I say that would not sound like I was defending the enemy? Maybe she was right. The thought made me miserable.

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to argue," said Eret, "but since you brought up a bigger principle..." I lifted my head and saw him watching me out of the corner of his eye with a concerned expression. "Vikings are quite complicated. They are neither wholly good nor wholly bad. I am sure even Harald has some redeeming qualities, right, Brennda?"

I stared at him. He was not a black and white thinker. I finally found someone else like me. Perhaps it was his own checkered past that give him a nuanced viewpoint. I suddenly felt guilty for pushing him out. It was completely understandable if he felt some empathy for Harald. And now he wanted me to back him up in front of the two people from whom I most wanted to hide my secret.

But that was selfish of me, wasn't it? Eret was right; the bigger principle did matter. Valka and Skulder looked at me expectantly. I wracked my brain for something I could share that even they would not find objectionable. "He has a dragon," I said at last. "A Terrible Terror he trained on his own. The two of them are very close. It's the reason why Hiccup and I trusted him when we first met him."

"That was a reasonable assumption," Valka said cautiously. "Even small dragons will not form strong bonds with just anyone."

"Perhaps the dragon has bad judgment?" Skulder suggested.

"No," I said. "Harald saved his life. He saved from... Vikings who were beating up on him."

Skulder eyed he skeptically. "He told you this? How do you know he didn't make it up?"

That was a fair question. I thought back to the day Harald told me the story, replaying the scene in my mind. "If he was lying, he would have used the story to bolster himself and showcase his heroism. He actually did the opposite. He tried to downplay the whole thing. Besides... It may be hard to tell when he's telling the truth when his guard is up - which is most of the time - but when it's down... I'm fairly certain he could not lie to me then." I looked at Eret, who nodded. "So, Eret's right. Vikings are complicated - Harald especially. That's what drives me crazy."

"But you're not going to give up, are you?" Eret said gently.

I met his steady gaze. He really wanted me to lay it all out, didn't he? Well, there was no going back now. "Of course not. Because that little bit of good I see - I think it's worth fighting for." And just like that, I remembered why I could not let go of Harald... and why he was worth it.

"I can see why Hiccup put you in charge of this investigation," Valka said. Instead of looking at me with condemnation, she smiled at me in understanding. "Your eyes are better than ours."

I dipped my head in gratitude. "Thank you." I dared a glance at Skulder, but he refused to look at me, appearing troubled.

"You three deserve some rest," Valka said. "We will talk with Hiccup tomorrow."

Eret nodded. "Thank you. Good night, Valka." He looked from Skulder to me. "Do you two need a ride somewhere?"

"I will stay on Berk, thanks," Skulder said. "Good night." He still did not look at me as he departed form us.

"I'll go with you back to the School," I said.

Eret glanced over his shoulder while he led the way to the docks. "Skulder really hates Harald, doesn't he?"

"Yep."

"I'm sure he'll get over it."

"Right." I took in a deep breath. I could not regret anything I said. "Thanks for what you did back there, by the way. You helped me figure something out."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. I've been muddling through my emotions and worrying about Harald's, but that's not what's really important. Regardless of how I feel, I want to help Harald for his sake. I don't want him to have to go through whatever's bothering him alone. When I think about it that way, it's easy to decide the right course of action."

Eret grinned at me. "Now you're seeing things straight. Happy to help, mate."

Renewed resolve overtook me. I could do this, no matter the challenged that came my way. I had something worth fighting for.

The next morning, Eret, Valka, and I met with Hiccup to update him on the situation. The dragon bones Harald was selling had to come from Dragon Island, where the Red Death was defeat. So, that was where we needed to go.

"I don't have fond memories of Dragon Island," Hiccup said. "You know, losing a leg tends to leave an impression on a guy. But we need to get back there right now and stop Harald! Of course, things are never easy for us... we have a slight problem."

"What kind of problem?" Eret said.

Hiccup pulled out a map and showed it to us. "That's a copy of the map I've been working on for years. I've been charting out the islands near Berk with Toothless's help. In order for maps to be helpful, they need to have everything scaled down by the same factor. This ensures that locations and distances correspond to the physical world." He proceeded to explain how the map worked. Eret seemed to understand already, but I found it helpful.

"So, we know that Dragon Island is northwest of Berk and the School," Hiccup continued, "but because of the fog, we won't be able to see far enough to know that we're going the right way. We'll need a different way to get there. My father used a landmark called Helheim's Gate to sail to Dragon Island. Toothless has been there dozens of times! Hey, maybe he'll be able to sense the way to Dragon Island, like he did when the Red Death was there. Do you mind going with him while we work on the next step?"

"No problem," I said. I had ridden Toothless a few times in the past, and we got along quite well. He appeared eager to help this time.

Toothless flew to Helheim's Gate, but upon arriving, he did not seem to be drawn to Dragon Island anymore. So, we flew around to look for other clues. We found a recent shipwreck and landed to see if anyone needed help. We found no Vikings, but I did pick up a map and a lodestone. I returned to Berk with my discoveries and handed them to Hiccup.

"Let's see... fascinating!" he said. "These look like navigational charts for the waters around Dragon Island. I have a few theories to test on this rock, and I know it's going to come in handy. It looks like your trip was a success after all!" He looked closer at the map. "These guys must have been really trying to find the source of Harald's 'magic dragon bones.' They plotted out the shipwrecks on the way to the island. It's a good start, but it won't help anyone get to Dragon Island safely.

"They were trying to solve the same problem as us: how do we get to Dragon Island? It was a good idea, but they crashed on the way. Don't worry; the fact that their solution didn't work doesn't bode ill for us. There are always multiple ways to approach a problem. We can learn the lesson from this failure and try something else."

We decided we needed to find more maps and combine them all together. I went off in search of fishermen and travelers while Hiccup worked on putting the location of the shipwrecks on his own map. I managed to obtain maps from both Mulch and Bucket. Hiccup promised to put all the maps together so we could find the location of Dragon Island. We were getting close!

The next day, Hiccup continued to work on the maps while I created a compass to help us navigate. Ruff and Tuff even gave me some good practice, boosting my confidence. We would not get lost on my watch! By the end of the day, we were all set.

The following morning, I gathered with the Vikings making the trek to Dragon Island: Hiccup, Valka, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Eret. I also brought the Singetail I rescued. I would lead the way with him, and he would signal our location to the others. I told Bolt stay with Eret on his boat in case he needed help. After donning our masks, we traveled to Helheim's Gate to discuss our plans.

"The charcoal filters are working perfectly!" Hiccup said. "Well, I never thought I'd ever say this, but... Ruffnut and Tuffnut are geniuses."

I chuckled. "They are quite helpful at times."

"According to my map, we'll need to find a cracked sea stack northwest from here. That's the first step toward Dragon Island. Use your map and compass to figure out where you need to go. Oh, and don't drop it. Losing your paper can make it really hard to fly. Trust me, I know from experience."

I smirked. "I need to hear that story sometime. Anyway, I'll be off."

"Good luck!" Eret called. Bolt roared in agreement.

The adventure began. The fog really did make it hard to navigate. Plus, the strong winds kept blowing my Singetail off course. Slowly but surely, I made progress. And then, finally, we reached out destination.

As soon as the others landed on Dragon Island, Bolt bounded over to me and nuzzled me. I laughed and hugged his neck. "We did it!"

We spent a few minutes celebrating, and then Hiccup gathered us up. "Remember, guys, we have two missions to accomplish here," he said. "We need to find out if the poison fog is coming from Dragon Island, and we also need to find Harald and stop him. If lots of dragons hunters believe his crazy claims, they might start killing more dragons to see if any of them have 'magic bones.' That would be a disaster!"

"I'll find him for sure!" I exclaimed. "Come on, Bolt!" And we were off before Hiccup could even give the orders for us to split up. Harald had to be here. I was so close to finally finding him...

I stopped by a mound near the volcano upon spotting what looked like a fresh campsite. "Hey, I think I found something!" I called.

Soon, Fishlegs and Meatlug were at my side. "Oh! Harald was recently here at this camp!" Fishlegs said. "We can't be far behind him. He should have been a bit more careful; his camp is in a dangerous position under this volcanic plug."

"A what now?"

"A volcanic plug is a hill that was once part of an active volcano! It used to be a vent that carried molten rock, or magma, just under the Earth's surface. Over time, the vent hardened and became that hill. The volcano on this island is active, so it still has magma flowing just under the surface! That's why the volcanic plug is warm to the touch. It's very dangerous because it can erupt in hot lava any time. (Oh-when magma reaches the surface, we call it lava instead. It's the same hot, dangerous material, just called something different.)"

"That does sound dangerous..."

"Don't worry, Brennda. We'll be able to tell before the volcano erupts! There are always signals before natural hazards occur that we can read. For example, our dragons would sense the incoming natural hazard and start behaving differently. We can interpret that change in behavior and evacuate the nearby islands. That way, we can avoid the dangers before it becomes a natural disaster! I'll show you what I mean. Meet me at the top of the mountain!"

Bolt and I flew up high until we reached the top of the mountain. I peered inside but saw nothing. "Uh, Fishlegs, is this normal?"

Fishlegs frowned. "Hmm... That's really odd. This is an active volcano so it should be spewing ash and volcanic gases out of the crater. There should be an ash cloud over it but there's nothing. Let's ask Hiccup." We flew down to the base of the volcano, landing near Hiccup. Fishlegs reported the news to him and asked him his thoughts.

"I'm not sure," Hiccup said. "Maybe something is wrong inside the volcano... or maybe without the Red Death, the volcano has stopped activity (or gone dormant). We should think about entering the volcano and taking a look, but let's finish our sweep of the island. Brennda, may I show you something?"

"Sure," I said. I followed him to a hole in the side of the volcano.

"When we first came here, my dad ordered the catapults to blast the side of the rock open... and the Red Death came out of its nest to confront the Vikings of Berk. I think it leads all the way inside, to the reservoir of magma inside the volcano."

"So, that's where we'll have to go."

Hiccup nodded. "There's one more place I want to check. It's not related to Harald, but... indulge me a bit, pal."

"It's no problem. Lead the way." While I was eager to find Harald, I knew this place brought up a lot of memories for Hiccup, and I did not want to be insensitive. I followed him as he searched for something. At last, we stopped at the beach in front of a shipwreck.

"My dad and I never got along when I was younger," Hiccup said. "I thought it was because he hated that I would never grow up to be strong like him. He just didn't understand me since we were so different... but here, he started to see the world through my was a great chief and an even greater father. Toothless was chained to a ship at the beginning of the battle against the Red Death. He nearly drowned when the ship sank - and so did I, when I dove down to help. My dad swam down and saved us both. My dad hated dragons for so long but he didn't hesitate when I was in danger."

"He loved you," I said softly. "It doesn't matter how much you don't see eye to eye. When someone you love is in danger, you just act."

Hiccup gave me a small smile. "You're right. I didn't realize it until then."

"Um... sorry Hiccup," Fishlegs called from the ocean. "I don't mean to interrupt your conversation, but there's something weird going on right now! Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing? Please fly up here with me and take a look!"

Hiccup and I immediately mounted our dragons and flew over to Fishlegs. I gasped when I saw the underwater eruption spewing out a thick fog. Now, that was something else!

"Whoa! Careful, girl, we don't want to get close," Fishlegs said to Meatlug. "I've never seen anything like this before and I'm pretty sure the records at Berk don't mention it."

"It's new to me too," Hiccup said, "and it doesn't look like good news. is it just me, or does that look like the fog to you? Maybe this is the source of our poisonous fog problem."

"You could be right," I said. "It makes sense."

"We're going to need an expert to make sense of this. Skulder told me that he studied geology and has excavated near volcanoes." He looked at me. "Can you find him and bring him back to the island? Skulder was going back to Auction Island to 'fix a problem.'"

"And you let him go alone?!" I said in alarm.

"He was pretty insistent... We both know that Skulder can be a bit reckless when it comes to artifacts, be careful!"

"I'm on it!" I immediately flew out over the ocean. Who knew what kind of trouble Skulder had gotten himself into? We had not talked since I defended Harald in front of him, but that did not matter right now. I had to make sure my friend was safe!

A/N: They made it to Dragon Island. Things are really going to pick up now!