"When the curtain's call
Is the last of all
When the lights fade out
All the sinners crawl

So they dug your grave
And the masquerade
Will come calling out
At the mess you made"

- "Demons" by Imagine Dragons

Chapter 17

"JOHANN!"

My anger built up by the time I arrived at the School and landed in the center. I dismounted Bolt and dragged the crate of goods to the ground. My gaze swept the area for the trader.

"Miss Brennda?" Johann said tentatively as he neared me. He flinched at my glare. "Is there a problem? Did you find my ship?"

"Oh, I found the ship you described alright. Dagur and I even took out all the weapons. But tell, me, why does this crate have Stormheart's symbol on it?" I swept my arm over the crate and gave him another dark look.

Johan's eyes widened in shock. "Oh dear. I have unwittingly placed you in a terrible predicament! I forgot that I had sold a ship with the same figurehead to Harald a few weeks earlier. That shipment must have belonged to Stormheart. I feel like the biggest fool."

I narrowed my eyes into slits. "You 'forgot' you had two ships with the same 'rare' figurehead and sold one of them to someone we're trying to have peaceful relationships with? I'm not buying it."

"I - I'm sorry!"

"Sorry isn't good enough! Do you have any idea what you've done?" In my anger, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to me, glaring at him menacingly. He trembled in fear.

"Whoa! Brennda, calm down!" Hiccup said.

"Yes, whatever Johann did, I'm sure it was an accident," said Heather.

Their presence did help me gain control of my anger. I let go of Johann and backed off, but I still eyed him with supreme suspicion. "Either he's an incompetent fool, or he's conspiring against us."

"Alright, I think you've been hanging out with Dagur too much," Hiccup said.

"Is everything alright?" Skulder said as he approached, casting me a nervous look.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Johann here asked me to find a ship stolen from him, but after Dagur and I disarmed the ship, we found a crate of goods with Stormheart's symbol on it. Now Johann claims he forgot he sold the ship to Harald a week ago."

"Now I understand," Heather said. "You're overreacting because Harald was involved."

I frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"Sorry, Johann," Hiccup said. "Brennda gets a bit... touchy when Harald is mentioned."

"I do not!"

"Not a problem," Johann said. "I do feel terrible about it all... I hope I have not caused any problems."

I scoffed. "Fat chance of that."

"Well, maybe we'll be able to talk reasonably and avoid a confrontation," Hiccup said. "It was an accident; if we return her goods there's no harm no foul, right?"

"Hiccup, if I may interrupt," Skulder said, "give me the cargo you recovered from the ship, and I can return it to its rightful owner at Auction Island. Dragons aren't well looked upon there, and since Muddie isn't with me, I am confident that I can do this. "

Hiccup looked at him in surprise. "Are you sure, Skulder? We don't know much about Nikora Stormheart. I hope that this problem gets smoothed over quickly, but if it doesn't? This could get dangerous."

"We're dealing with pirates, remember?" I said. "You hate pirates."

But Skulder did not appear afraid. "You two have helped me in my darkest moments. It is my honor to be able to return the favor. Please give me the crate of goods, Brennda."

I nodded. "Very well." I walked to where I left Bolt and fetched the crate. I gently set it down in front of Skulder.

Skulder groaned as he lifted the crate. "My word. This is... a lot of stuff! Don't worry, my dear friend. I'll make sure that this gets into the right hands. I will prove worthy of your trust, and Hiccup's as well."

"Thank you."

"And I promise to talk to Harald and do what I can to mitigate this disaster," Johann announced.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't trust you. I'm going with you."

Johann flinched at my hard tone. "V-Very well."

"I'll also go to make sure you remain calm," Heather said. "You do not want Harald to think you're angry with him. That is not very good for diplomacy."

I gave her a weak smile. "Right. Thank you." It was also not good for my own agenda.

"That sounds like a plan," Hiccup said. "Good luck, all of you."

I had a feeling we would need it. Skulder and Johann went off to their ships. I waited for Heather to fetch Windshear, and then the two of us flew after Johann in search of Harald.

I spotted Harald's ship first and alerted the others. As we grew closer, I noticed several small boats some distance behind him. Harald spotted Johann and allowed him to sail closer. Heather and I hovered between the two ships.

"Harald," I said, "permission to come aboard?" Thankfully, the flight calmed my nerves, and there was not a single trace of anger left in my voice.

Harald's eyes flickered from me to Heather. "Granted."

I landed on his right side. Heather appeared hesitant at first, but when she received no objection, she landed Windshear on the left. As soon as I dismounted, Bolt bounded up to Harald and nuzzled him.

"Hello there," Harald said as he rubbed his head, the faintest smile on his lips.

Leopold took this as his cue and flew from Harald's shoulder to my arms. I laughed as I hugged the little dragon. "It's good to see you too. Watch the hair, remember?" Leopold chirped and then returned to Harald. I noticed Heather watching us with a small smile. "What?"

Her smile grew wider. "Nothing."

"Brennda, to what do I owe this pleasure?" Harald said.

My smile fell when I remembered the reason for our visit. "Uh, well, you see..."

"It's my fault, Harald," Johann said. "This was a bit of a... misunderstanding."

Harald fixed his cool gaze on him. "Oh? Tell me what happened."

I bit my tongue and let Johann tell the story. Harald's expression grew harder by the time Johann started apologizing profusely.

"This is rather unfortunate," Harald said with an unreadable expression.

"I take full responsibility, of course," Johann babbled on.

"No, it's my fault," I said, earning surprised looks from the other three. "I am the one who acted without full information. My intentions were good, but that does not change the damage that was done." I met Harald's steady gaze and tried to convey my sincerity. "I am sorry, Harald. Please tell Stormheart I meant no harm. We still want peace, and if reparations are required, that can be arranged."

Harald nodded. "Thank you, Brennda. I appreciate your honesty. I cannot promise you anything, but I will relay the message."

"I understand."

"Thank you," Heather said. "Brennda and my brother were just trying to help someone in need."

Harald turned his gaze to Heather. "Ah, you're Dagur's sister. Heather, right?"

Heather appeared surprised. "Yes. You remember me?"

"I am not have if Brennda did not tell me all about you. You must be close."

Heather smiled. "We are. And she talks to me about you all the time."

I shot her a look. "Heather!"

Harald smirked. "I am glad to hear it. How is your brother? I hear you helped reform him from his villainous ways."

"Oh yes. He's much happier now. Right, Brennda?"

I nodded. "Yep. He's as crazy and enthusiastic for danger as ever, but at least it's channeled towards something good now." I paused. "And it's nice having him around to explain how villains think. He's been very helpful."

Harald gave me an amused look. "I am sure he has."

"We should probably go," Heather said. "Thank you for your time, Harald."

He nodded. "It was a pleasure to officially meet you, Heather. If you don't mind, I would like to keep Johann here for a minute."

"A-As you wish," Johann said.

Perhaps I might have otherwise made an objection, but I was still too angry with Johann to care. "Goodbye, Harald," I said. His gaze lingered on me as I mounted Bolt. I gave him a small smile and then Heather and I were in the air.

"He likes you," Heather said in a teasing tone once we were out of earshot.

I rolled my eyes. "Thanks for exposing me. You're as bad as Eret."

Heather laughed. "We just want to help. And you were too busy being embarrassed to notice how happy he looked when I said that."

I scoffed. "You're making that up."

"No. He hides it well, but I could tell."

"If you say so."

"Anyway, how do you think that went?"

I replayed the conversation in my head. "It's hard to tell. He was too controlled for me to be able to decipher his intentions. And even if he did mean what he said, it doesn't mean he can actually influence Stormheart. If she wants a fight, she's going to get it. But at least we can say we tried."

"I suppose you're right. We just have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best."

At the moment, my hope was wearing thin.

Dagur insisted on training as soon as we woke up in the morning. He said we needed to be prepared for when Stormheart attacked. I really hoped it would not come to that, but he did have a point. Every once in awhile, he gazed out at the horizon.

"Brennda, Hiccup has one of his fancy telescopes here, right?" Dagur said.

"Sure, he does," I said.

"Go look through it and scan our horizon for our enemies."

I thought he was being paranoid, but I did a he said. As I looked through the telescope, my heart sunk. I saw the Tempest charging straight towards us. I scurried back down and reported the news to Dagur. And just after I did so, the wild Triple Stryke returned to wreck more havoc. Everyone immediately got on guard.

"Ha! I knew it," Dagur said to me. "I would have done the same thing; hey, I did this to Hiccup back in the day."

"Now is not the time, Dagur!" Astrid said. "We need to deal with this angry Triple Stryke before we can even think about Stormheart."

"And that's exactly what she wants," I muttered.

"Brennda, it's time to turn on the noise makers we installed all around Dragon's Edge. We'll free her from the Grimora. Activate each of the devices and stay clear of the Triple Stryke. Dagur and I will distract her until they're on. Go!"

I dashed around to the devices and got them working. The Deadly Nadder spines clicked together, temporarily calming the Triple Stryke.

Dagur grinned. "Whoa Astrid, it's working! You and Hiccup always blow me away; you're geniuses, really."

Fishlegs rushed up to us, carrying buckets of water. "Astrid, I've brought the buckets of salt water from the harbor like we planned. Brennda, help me splash the Triple Stryke. That should make all the Grimora flee in terror!"

I grabbed a bucket and ran to the Triple Stryke. Fishlegs and I tossed the salt water at the dragon... but this seemed to only make her more enraged. She suddenly turned on Stormheart's statue and tore it to pieces. As she did so, a strange mist prayed into the air. A second later, several wild dragons landed around the base.

Fishlegs started pacing frantically. "Ah, that didn't work, that didn't work... Why didn't that work, Hiccup?"

"I don't know either, Fishlegs," Hiccup said, "but we're going to have to figure it out later. Her statue sprayed something into the air, and it's no accident that these wild dragons landed here. She's up to something!"

"That's for sure," I said.

"Brennda, can you shoo these dragons away from here? I think Dragon's Edge is about to turn into a battlefield and we don't want these guys to get hurt."

"Got it!" I ran to the nearest dragon, a Deadly Nadder. "Come on, you've got to get out of here." I waved my arms around, but he did not move. Before I could try something else, something tiny flew through the air and latched onto the dragon. Grimora. I spun on my heels and watched as more parasites sailed from the Tempest onto the dragons. My eyes narrowed into slits. Stormheart. "I see the Triple Stryke was no accident."

"Oh no, oh no!" Astrid cried. "I think the Grimora latched on to all of the wild dragons. They're going to go berserk at any moment! "

"Let me step in here," Dagur said. "Going berserk is my specialty! If we can't free them from this Grimora venom, we need to drive them away. Axe out, Brennda - let's scare these dragons away from our base!"

"I'm with you, Dagur," I said. I withdrew my axe and stood beside him. The angry dragons circled us and then attacked. Luckily, we did not have to hurt them much to scare them off.

"Yes!" Dagur said triumphantly. "You're my favorite combat partner!"

I grinned at him. "Thanks!"

"Great job," Astrid said. "Fishlegs and the twins are chasing those dragons with buckets of salt water, and it seems to be working to free them from the Grimora. That's a relief... but why didn't it work on the Triple Stryke? We need to figure out what Stormheart did to the dragon and why her 'gift' made the dragon attack it! Can you take a closer look?"

"No problem." I cautiously approached the statue. Peering down, I noticed something odd. I pulled the pieces apart, revealing a Triple Stryke egg.

Astrid groaned. "Oh for Odin's sake! Stormheart hid a Triple Stryke egg in her 'gift'. No wonder she went crazy tearing it apart."

"That's despicable," Hiccup said. "This statue was a setup from the very beginning; I can't forgive her using these dragons without any regard to their lives. We need to stop her."

I curled my hands into fists. "She never wanted to be allies," I said darkly. "She didn't mean anything she said." And that meant Harald had been acting as well. I suspected the truth, so why did it still leave me feeling so bitter and disappointed?

"Right now we need solutions," Hiccup said. "Maybe we can find something - anything - that will help us find out how she's poisoning the Triple Stryke. Can you help me search this debris for any clues?"

I wandered over to the broken statue. I noticed the Triple Stryke's saliva, and that gave Hiccup an idea. He said it was time he and Heather tested their new invention. I made a quick trip to the School to let her know. She followed me back with the contraption.

We all met in the clubhouse to test it out. Heather said we could examine the saliva cells to see if we could spot Grimora toxin particles. And when we looked, that was exactly what we found.

"Look!" Heather said. "The vicious toxic cells are dark green. That's definitely what we're looking for... but how can they still be moving? Don't the Grimora need to be attached to the dragon to keep her poisoned?"

"Oh no!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "I have a theory, but we'll need to do some research to test my hypothesis. Brennda, take this!" He handed me small, clear item. "I took this venom sample from the skin of a dragon that was attacked by the Grimora. Don't worry, it's inactive! Could you put it under microscope and tell me what you see? "

I place the sample under the microscope, and Heather and I both had a look. "The toxin is no longer active in your sample!" Heather said. "My hypothesis is that dragon skin cells can repel the strength of the toxin and keep it put. However, if the toxin is introduced into the dragon in another way (introduced in a gaseous form, perhaps), it is able to live and thrive much longer."

"Gosh, Heather! That sounds really terrifying. If it's Grimora venom, we can still use salt to neutralize it. We'll need to figure out a way to deliver it into the blood stream and keep her still while we do it. Hiccup, do you any ideas? "

"Ah! I have just the thing," Hiccup said. He pulled out a canister from his bag. "I use the Dragon Blade primarily as a fire sword, but it's more versatile than you might think! We can load up one of the canisters with Flightmare gas and blast the Triple Stryke with it. That'll paralyze her for a few moments!"

"Oh, great idea!" I said.

"We'll need to gather some materials. Can you go to the Flightmare nest in Scuttleclaw Island and chop off some of the frozen Flightmare gas? We can melt it later to fill the canister."

"I'm on it!"

I made a quick trip to Scuttleclaw Island and returned with frozen Flighmare mist. I found Heather back at the clubhouse and handed her the ice and the Dragon Blade canister.

"That's fantastic!" she said. "It won't take long to get this canister ready."

"Excellent!" I said.

"In all my studies of venoms and toxins, I've never come across anything like what we discovered under that microscope. Now that Stormheart has weaponized the dangerous toxin, it can wreak endless havoc. We need to destroy it. Every. Last. Drop. Will you help us?"

I felt my determination rise as I nodded. "Of course. We can't let her get away with this." Stormheart needed to learn that she could not mess with us.

"Great! Let's find Astrid and Hiccup and discuss our options."

We exited the clubhouse and found our friends in the center of the base. We immediately got to work talking about our next course of action.

"We don't know how Stormheart is getting the Grimora venom into the Triple Stryke without attaching the parasites," Astrid said. "She must keep a stash of it somewhere away from her ship. We need to find it and destroy it. But how can we find it? "

"Since Nikora's just arrived at the archipelago, we just don't know enough about her," Hiccup said in frustration. "There are a lot of islands out there, and she could be hiding the stash of venom anywhere. I don't know where to start." He sighed and shook his head.

"Like a needle in a haystack," I muttered. "Great."

"I'm sure we can think of something," Heather said.

Hiccup's head snapped up and he looked at me with an expression so full of hope that it made me slightly nervous. "Wait! We do know someone who understands her: Harald."

I stared at him like he had gone crazy. Did he think I was a miracle worker? "And what on Thor's green earth makes you think he'll help us?"

Hiccup held up his hands in defense. "I know, I know. It's Harald. But - he keeps telling us we should trust him, and maybe we should."

"What part of 'don't trust pirates' do you not understand?"

"You know, that would be a lot more convincing if you actually believed it yourself," Astrid said.

"I trust him to keep me safe. That's it."

"Look," said Hiccup, "a part of me thinks that deep down he is a good person. Isn't that what you keep saying?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Maybe he'll surprise us and make the right choice. I'm sure he sees that making dragons go berserk is not good for anyone!"

I let out a heavy sigh. "It's true I think he does care about dragons. If you really think about it, he never truly put them in any real danger. Still, that does not mean he will go out of his way to help them, especially if it means risking the anger of his new boss."

"If he won't do it for the dragons, he might do it for you," Heather said. "Just use the techniques we talked about."

I shook my head. "I told you, that will only work in specific circumstances, namely when it doesn't interfere with his 'business.' Maybe he does care for me, but he won't do something for me if it goes against his interests."

"You know what?" said Astrid. "You're right. He would never do anything to risk harming himself - especially for another person. He's not capable of caring for someone other than himself."

I sent her a dark look. "That is not what I meant, Astrid."

She placed her hands on her hips and gave me a look of disbelief. "You need to figure out what you believe and stick to it."

"She's right," said Heather. "Is there any harm in asking him to help?"

"Lots of harm," I protested. "He probably knows we wouldn't go to him unless we were desperate, and he could use that against us."

"I don't see how he can make the situation much worse than it is," Astrid said.

"Or he could use it against me in the future."

Heather raised her eyebrows. "Would he do that?"

"I - I don't know. He wouldn't physically hurt me, but beyond that..." I sucked in a sharp breath. "He has near perfect control of his emotions. He won't let anything he feels for me stop him."

"That's where you're wrong, little Berserker."

I jumped when I heard Dagur's voice right behind me. I spun around and glared at him. "You have to stop doing that!"

Dagur laughed. "Not sorry. I heard everything, and it sounds like you need another lesson."

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Great."

"He actually seems to know what he's talking about," Heather said.

"Of course I do!" Dagur boomed. He grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "You've got it all wrong. Any control Harald has around you is only an illusion to deceive you into believing you have less power than you do. People who only care about one person are more vulnerable to their emotions, not less. If all their caring feelings are wrapped up into one person, it makes them more invested. Remember I told you it has to be all or nothing? If he can't destroy his feelings, they will influence him even if he thinks he's in control. Get it?"

"That does make sense," I said hesitantly. "But there's still a risk."

Dagur backed away and threw his arms in the air. "Of course there's a risk! There's always a risk, but you have to take it. That's what life's about. You want to win him over, don't you?"

"Well, yes."

"Then be the Berserker that you are and give it everything you've got! We never give up on something we want, do we?"

"No," I said with more conviction. I looked around at everyone awaiting my decision. "Alright, I'll do it. I'll go talk to Harald."

Dagur nodded in satisfaction. "Good."

"Thank you, Brennda," Hiccup said, sounding relieved.

"And what if I can't find him out at sea?" I said.

"Then go to Auction Island and look for people who could lead you to him. Be careful."

"I always am."

A/N: Hiccup should have let Brennda take care of Johann when she had the chance. Oh well. My favorite quest in the game is coming up. :)