"There can be miracles
When you believe
Though hope is frail
It's hard to kill

Who knows what miracles
You can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe"

- "When You Believe" by Whitney Houston

Chapter 9

Harald and I approached Valka at the base of the hill. She had her eyes on the Green Death as she flew over the ocean. "There!" she said. "If she's gone to feed, we won't have much time to waste. Please let my son know that our window of opportunity is open. I saw him return on the opposite side of the island."

I nodded in acknowledgement. Harald and I set off and eventually reached Hiccup, Skulder, and Fishlegs, who were surrounded by Whispering Deaths.

"Hey Hiccup, I saw the Green Death leave the nest," I said. "I'm ready to go!"

Hiccup smiled at me. "Great! I saw the Green Death leave, too. Let's get started!"

Fishlegs and Skulder let the Whispering Deaths loose, and they began to burrow through the volcano walls.

"Okay," Hiccup said, "Skulder and I plotted out the paths these Whispering Deaths will need to take, but we can only keep the dragons on pace with both me and my mother wrangling them. You'll need to meet us from the other side, from inside the volcano."

"Don't worry, I can handle it," I said.

Hiccup nodded. "Meet up with Astrid and Eret to go inside the volcano. Good luck, Brennda... but I hope you won't need it!"

It was time to find the Eruptodon. I approached the large dragon and coaxed him to follow me. I walked along the coastline around the island, staying on Harald's left side. At one point, I happened to catch sight of something in the water: Harald's ship. I quickly looked away so he would not know I noticed. So much for his ship sinking. I had known it all along, but it still made me feel sick. He never intended to let us capture him. He planned on escaping... again.

"Is everything alright?" Harald asked.

"Uh, yeah," I said quickly. "Everything's fine." I was grateful when he did not press the matter. We finally reached the entrance to the volcano, where Astrid and Eret waited for us.

"Hiccup gave us the most important part of the mission," Astrid said. "I know we can do it!"

"Now that you're going into the volcano, you don't need poor old Harald to go with you," Harald said. "I've helped as much as I can!"

"Nope," said Astrid. "There's no way we're going to let you wander about without one of us by your side."

"Specifically, me," I said. "How many times do I have to tell you? Whatever we do, we're doing together. You can trust me."

"Don't waste your time on lost causes," Astrid said.

I stared at Harald's stoic expression. "No cause that is lost cannot be found if there is one person left to look."

Eret nodded in agreement. "True."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Fine. Let's just go."

Harald did not protest when I took his hand and locked our fingers together. I led the way into the volcano with him by my side. Astrid, Eret, and the Eruptodon followed behind. We stopped when we reached the center.

"You dragon riders always take me to the most interesting places," Harald said as he stared at the flowing magma.

"You're welcome," I said.

"The air above the volcano is too hot for normal dragons, but this is the Eruptodon's natural habitat," Astrid said. "It should be able to shield the heat from you. Go ahead and mount it, Brennda!"

I started to walk closer to the Eruprodon, but I was pulled back when Harald did not move. I looked at him to see him watching me carefully. I tried to let go of his hand, but it held mine tightly. I did not think this through...

"Is there a problem?" Harald asked as if he did not know the answer.

"Yes," I said through gritted teeth. "Harald, let go of my hand."

"Do you plan on doing this on your own?"

"Yes, hence why I need you to let go."

"Didn't you just say that we're to do everything together?"

Of course he would choose the most inopportune time to actually listen to me. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm myself. "I also said I will not ask you to do something if I cannot guarantee your safety."

Harald cocked his head to the side. "Tell me, would having me with you make it more dangerous?"

I frowned. I could already see where this was going. "No..."

"Then if you can't guarantee my safety, that means you can't guarantee your own."

"Oh come on," Astrid said. "Nothing's going to happen to her."

"You don't know that."

I sighed. "He's right, Astrid. There is a very small risk something could go wrong, but it's nothing I can't handle. Let me go, Harald."

"Take me with you."

"No."

"Then I cannot let you go. If it's too dangerous for me, it's too dangerous for you."

Anger rose in my chest, and I fought back a retort. I could have easily settled this by dismissing the danger and allowing him to come with me, but on principle I could not do it. And what was his game? If he did plan on escaping from us, doing this with me would not help him. He kept his expression neutral, making it impossible for me to read his intentions. "If you think you can stop us-"

His eyes darkened ever so slightly. "I have nothing against your goals. It does not matter to me whether you succeed or not."

"But it matters to me. Let go!" I resisted the urge to yank my arm, knowing it would only end in my injury.

"I'll make him let go!" Astrid declared.

"No, let her handle this," Eret said. "Brennda..."

I caught his eye, and his expression somehow calmed me. I understood his silent message. I had to stop fighting Harald. I could not win in a battle of wills. I took a deep breath and faced him again. "Harald, why do you care so much?"

"Someone needs to get me off this island," Harald said as if it were the most obvious fact in the world.

And with that lie, I knew the truth. Because he didn't need me to get off the island. And if he really didn't care about my mission, that left one explanation. Part of me wanted to ignore it. I did not want to get my hopes up only to see him dash them. But I could not deny what was right in front of me.

"Harald... thank you." I noticed the surprise in his eyes and took my chance. I moved in close and embraced him. He instinctively hugged me back, and I managed to slip my hand from his. Yet I held out position for a minute longer. It felt really good... just like nothing had ever happened. That's when I knew I was doomed.

"I'm sorry, " I whispered. "I have to do this. But... I promise I'll come back. I'm not leaving you." I pulled away enough so I could look into his eyes, swimming with conflicting emotions. I gently stroked his face with one hand while I placed the other on his chest. "Please believe in me." Without waiting for a response, I pushed him as hard as I could into Eret. Then I scrambled onto the Eruptodon before he could stop me.

"Finally," Astrid said. "Brennda, Hiccup is guiding those Whispering Deaths to make tunnels that meet these areas near the magma. Fly around and look for places where the rock wall is getting weak. Use the Eruptodon's fireballs to blast open any weak spots that you find!"

"I'm on it!" I said. I did not look at Harald as I guided the Eruptodon over the magma. Indeed, he protected me from the heat. It was pretty amazing! I concentrated on finding the weak spots in the wall, and the Eruptodon expertly shot them.

"That should do it!" Astrid called. "Mission accomplished. We don't have another chance like this with the Green Death away from the volcano. Can you pick up the stolen orb before she comes back?"

Why did that sound like exactly what Harald wanted us to do? "I'll give it a try." This was no time for over-analyzing. I easily spotted the glowing blue orb and guided the Eruptodon to it. When I got close enough, I managed to snatch it in my hand.

"Good job, mate!" said Eret.

Just then, darkness fell over the inside of the volcano. I looked up to see the Green Death returning to her nest... and she looked angry.

"Uh oh," Astrid said. "I think the Green Death has had enough of us near her nest. We need to get out of here!" She looked from Eret to me, frustration evident on her face. "Harald is gone, and he took my compass! That thief was just waiting for a distraction to bolt for it!"

"What?!" I exclaimed. But I should have known. And yet, that look in his eyes before I left him...

"We're sorry, Brennda," Eret said. "We should have been watching him."

Astrid groaned. "Ugh, if I could... no, getting you to safety is priority number one. Fly up here away from the magma and bring me that orb!"

She did not have to tell me twice. I guided the Eurptodon back up to the edge and slid off his back. I handed Astrid the orb, and she looked it over.

"Wait a second," she said. "This looks like it could be a dragon egg of some sort! Just look at how the-" She stopped herself. "Sorry, I just slipped into my inner Fishlegs there. We need to get out of here, right away! This egg is shining right into my eyes, I'm going to have to be careful. Lead the way, Brennda, and stay close. Let's get out of the tunnel before the Green Death catches us!"

"We'll be fine," Eret said as we all got moving down the tunnel. "It's kind of exciting!"

"Not the kind of excitement I was looking for today," I said.

"Stay quiet," Astrid said softly, "we don't want her to hear us. Maybe she will fry Harald and let us be."

I rolled my eyes. "Very funny."

"That slime grabbed my compass. What does he expect to do with it? After all, he doesn't have a ship. Well, unless he lied, again."

"He did. I saw his ship on the way here."

"What?! And you didn't tell us?"

"I didn't think it was important."

"Of course it was - Hey, something's different ahead..." She stopped in front of something in the side of the tunnel. "Wait a second. What's this?"

"It looks like another tunnel," Eret said.

"That dirty rat had a secret exit ready all along! If we hurry maybe we can catch up to him!"

The thought of finding Harald gave me a boost of energy that propelled me through the secret passageway. When we reached daylight, Bolt and Stormfly were waiting for us. Astrid and I mounted out dragons and took to the air. I looked out at the sea and was greeted by a stunning sight: Harald attempted to sail away in his ship, but the Green Death flew in front of him, blocking his path.

"Ah! This couldn't have happened to a more deserving pirate," Astrid said.

I glared at her and flew towards the ship.

"I don't think she thought that was funny," I heard Eret say behind me.

Bolt growled as we neared the Green Death. He wanted to defend Harald as much as I did. "Hey, ugly!" I shouted. "Stay away from him!" Bolt shot a lightning bolt at the dragon. She turned her head in our direction for a second but then returned her attention to Harald. "No!" I flew around to her other side and had Bolt shoot her again. "We're much more interesting!"

"What are you doing?" Harald shouted from his boat.

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm saving your life!" I darted back and forth, continuously shooting the Green Death. She roared in anger and flew out of the water.

"Why?"

Why? Was he that oblivious? Bolt zapped the Green Death once more before she had enough and flew to some rocks right by the shore, where my friends awaited. Relief filled my chest. Knowing I had a moment to breathe, I allowed Bolt to land on Harald's ship. "What do you mean 'why?'"

"I broke our agreement," he said, his expression cautious. "You don't have to protect me anymore."

I gave him an incredulous look. "You really think that was why I was looking out for you? I just said that on principle."

"Then why-?"

"Because if you're hurt, I'm hurt. Get it? I care about you." From his look of surprise, I knew he really didn't understand love. Maybe this would teach him something. I prepared Bolt to take off.

"Wait, are you going back there?"

I could not remember ever seeing him show fear, but this time he could not hide it. "I have to. I can't leave my friends to deal with this."

"Sure you can. Wasn't it your goal to catch me? Stay with me. Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger."

My breath caught in my throat at his words. He had to know I couldn't accept, but I still did not doubt the reason for the offer. I loved the concern I saw on his face. I loved his protectiveness. I loved that he cared. "Harald..." I took a deep breath. If I did not hold myself, I would end up giving into him. "If you want to run away while the rest of us fight, I won't stop you.. But I can't abandon my friends." Bolt flapped his wings and lifted us off the boat. "And for the record... you're the one who's leaving, not me." He said nothing as I flew to join the others on the shore.

"I've seen this behavior with the Red Death before," Hiccup was saying. "We need to fix the Green Death's attention on something or we won't be able to stop her rampage. Toothless, do you think you could try to persuade our giant friend here?"

Toothless flew right up in front of the Green Death, glowing alpha blue. He growled at her, and she seemed to respond positively.

"The alpha is the king of dragons," Valka said. "He protects his own!"

Toothless flew back down to join us.

"Good job, bud," Hiccup said. "I think that might have done the trick. We'll need to get a bit closer - carefully - to see if the Green Death is truly calm."

"I'll do it," I said. I flew Bolt up to the Green Death. She did appear quite calm, and Bolt remained relaxed. "I think Toothless did it!"

"Wait, look out!" Astrid cried.

I looked just in time to see Harald shoot something at the Green Death. The object lodged in her neck, and she gave a mighty roar. Then she flew high above the clouds and began raining fireballs down at us. Anger at Harald blurred out everything else. "That little..."

"Not good, not good," Hiccup said. "Everyone get to cover! Brennda, Toothless and I need to keep everyone safe down here. I need to rely on you to fly up to the green Death and calm her down. You can do it! Fly straight, avoid those fireballs, and bring that dragon back down!"

"I'll give it my best shot!" I said.

Bolt quickly flew up high. The air grew thin, but he had dealt with this before. Finally, I spotted the Green Death in her rage. I urged Bolt closer. Once he hovered above her, I jumped onto her back. It was like standing on a moving mountain. I was careful as I ran up her back and to her neck.

I grabbed hold of the mast to steady myself. At least the Green Death did not notice me in all her fury. Keeping one hand on the object, I pulled out my axe and began to chop. Bolt was ready for me and scooped me back up. The fireballs ceased as I flew down to my friends.

"Did it work?" said Valka. "Is it safe?"

Upon landing, I looked up to see the Green Death flying back into the volcano. It felt like a great weight had lifted off my shoulders. It was over.

"You did it!" Hiccup exclaimed. "That was amazing! I need to catch my breath. We couldn't see you because of the clouds - well, and the 'dodging fireballs for our lives' thing. What did you do up there?"

"I got rid of the problem," I said with a shrug. "I jumped on her back and chopped up that mast. She was fine after that."

"Wow. You did some quick thinking on the spot. You really stepped up when I needed you. Amazing job. Amazing! You're proving yourself a wonderful dragon trainer again and again. I know that I can rely on you to hold yourself together and excel when danger is afoot."

I smiled slightly. "Thanks. I just did what I had to do." I noticed he held the glowing orb in his arms. "So, that is an egg, isn't it?"

"Definitely, though it's not like any I've ever seen before."

I frowned. "What bothers me more is why Harald wanted that egg so badly... and why he was not too concerned about leaving it behind." I looked over Hiccup's shoulder. "Hey, Fishlegs!"

"Yes?" Fishlegs said as he jogged over to us.

"Dragon eggs hatch when they get enough heat, right?"

"All eggs need heat to hatch, but dragon eggs are special in that the process can be sped up or slowed down based on the amount of heat they get."

"That's why we have lava in the hatchery at the School," Hiccup said. His eyes widened. "Wait, you're not thinking-?"

I nodded. "I don't think Harald came here with his Red Death scam as his main purpose. I think he came here because of the volcano. He wasn't hiding it; he was trying to hatch it."

A troubled expression crossed Fishlegs' face. "In order to get enough heat, he would have had to drop it in the volcano on purpose."

"And then he used us to retrieve it for him," Hiccup said.

"That would explain why he wanted us to catch him," I said. "But why leave without the egg?"

"Maybe he plans on stealing it later?"

"Maybe..." But I had a feeling there was something bigger going on here. I needed to figure out what he was up to!

"We don't need to worry about that now. Go ahead and check up on the others. I'll keep an eye on the egg."

I nodded. "Right. Thanks." I wandered around until I found Eret and Valka talking together. They smiled when I approached.

"Excellent work today, Brennda," Valka said. "The Green Death is not a ravenous beast like the Red Death... but in its presence, I felt the terrible majesty and impossible power within. It amazes me that there are many legendary dragons like the Bewilderbeast, hiding in corners of the world. I long to bask in their presence of these nobles dragons!"

"It is quite amazing when you think about it," I said. "Maybe I'll reflect on it after I get over the rush from the life-threatening situation."

"Are you going to be alright?" Eret asked in concern.

"I'll be fine. It's not the Green Death situation that's bothering me now. She was only acting in a way that's natural. We almost calmed her the first time, but... What did Harald think he could accomplish by shooting her? Did he want to get us all killed?" I clenched my fists as my anger returned.

Eret hesitated. "That's doubtful. If you want my opinion, it looked to me like he was trying to help you."

I stared at him dumbly. "What?"

"Think about it. From his perspective, he couldn't see that Toothless calmed the Green Death. I doubt he even knows he's the alpha and has that power. All he saw was you fly up to a dragon he last saw very angry. He probably thought you were in danger and acted to protect you."

As his words sunk in, I heard the truth in them. Still, my emotions ran high as did my need to protect myself. "He was running away. Why try to help at the last second? Why concern himself with me?" Despite my earlier confidence that he cared, his departure left me wounded, and denial seemed the only way to dull the pain.

"Really, Brennda? He cares about you."

I looked away. "He pretends to care. He wants me on his side so he can use me." I did not believe what I said, but I could feel the pain of his absence coming over me again. I had to get out ahead of it before it overwhelmed me.

"Brennda, even I can see he cares a great deal about you," Valka said. "Perhaps more than he is ready to handle."

Tears pricked my eyes that I refused to let them see. What were they doing? They were supposed to warn me against him. "It doesn't matter. If it's true, it only makes this harder."

"You just entered the middle of a volcano and then dared to get close to a giant dragon, and you're talking about this being hard?" Eret said incredulously.

"Yes!" I shouted. "I can brave all the physical dangers in the world if they're for a good cause, but loving someone I can never be with? That's almost too much to bear." I rubbed my eyes with my sleeve in an attempt to stop the tears from falling.

"It's a little too soon to give up, don't you think?"

I abandoned my attempts at concealing my wet eyes and sent Eret sharp look. "He's a pirate, Eret. A bad guy. We're on two different paths that should not intersect unless we're fighting each other."

Eret crossed his arms and looked at me in dismay. "That sounds like something he would say, not you."

"Yeah, well, he did say it once." And I vowed to prove him wrong...

"You've let him change your thinking into his. If you ask me, that's the real tragedy here."

I glared at him. "No one asked you. I'm done talking about this." As I spun around, I caught Valka's eye. I expected condemnation after my confession of love, but I saw... empathy. My heart twisted. She finally saw the connection between us. I could not deal with this right now.

I ran from them, not knowing where I was going. I did not care.

A/N: We're almost done here. I hope you enjoyed my small changes. :)