"Spiritually, no action is more important than surrender. Surrender is the tenderest impulse of the heart, acting out of love to give whatever the beloved wants. Surrender is being alert to exactly what is happening now, not imposing expectations from the past. Surrender is faith that the power of love can accomplish anything, even when you cannot foresee the outcome of a situation." - Deepak Chopra

Chapter 18

My heart pounded as I entered the trading center at Auction Island. This was my last chance at finding Harald, though I was more nervous about what would happen when I did find him. I had no idea what to expect, and that scared me. I reminded myself I was doing this for my friends and for dragons. And I was partly doing it for myself.

I approached the shopkeeper who seemed the most connected and willing to help me. "Hey, have you seen Harald around here?"

"Harald's been a busy man lately!" the Viking said. "Lots of action going on around him..."

My eyebrows lifted. "Really? What kind of actions?"

"Never you mind. I saw him going to his boat on the other side of the island. I bet you'll find him in the forest if you hurry. Now quit bothering me, girl!"

He did not have to tell me twice. I turned around and jogged out of there. I was running by the time I reached the forest. In the distance, I spotted Harald's back. I cupped my hands around my mouth and shouted: "HARALD!"

He stopped and turned around. I continued to run to him, but I froze when a gang of pirates fell out of the trees and surrounded me. I tensed.

"What a nice surprise to see you here, Brennda," Harald said. "I hope my friends don't make you nervous; they're just here to make sure that I have a pleasant time here on Auction Island."

Yeah right. In any case, I knew I had nothing to fear from them. But wait... Something Eret said to me the previous day flashed in my mind. "Who are they loyal to?"

Harald met my steady gaze with an unreadable expression. "They answer to me, and I answer to Stormheart. But do not be afraid to speak freely. If you don't mind my saying, you have an air of desperation around you. Please, tell me, how can I help you?"

Maybe there was no harm in speaking freely, but the presence of the other pirates meant my chances of having my request granted were dwindling by the minute. Still, I had to try. "I need you, Harald. Stormheart is hurting dragons, and I don't know how to stop her."

Harald's expression did not change. "We both know that I am an honest and loyal man, so your insinuation that I'd switch allegiance is insulting. I am faithful to Stormheart as any Viking could be!"

"That's not what I meant!" I allowed emotion to fill my voice as I gave him a pleading look. "I just want to destroy the Grimora venom. Yes, it would help us, but that's only incidental. Our concern is for the dragons. You know this. Please... I know you don't want to hurt dragons."

Harald stared at me for several moments before responding. "You are... correct. I understand Stormheart needs a way to neutralize the strength of her enemies, but I keep telling her there must be a better way than Grimora venom. I worry that my dear Leopold will cross her sights one day. He doesn't deserve that; he could be called an Adorable Terror, in my book." He glanced at the dragon on his shoulder, and I caught a hint of a smile on his face.

"Y-Yes," I said in agreement. His terminology surprised me, but I went with it. "I love Leopold. He is very adorable."

When Harald looked back at me, his expression had softened slightly. "Speaking of Leopold: I worry that he's too small and defenseless. In these trying times, he needs to be protected against the dangers of this world. Wouldn't you agree?"

Although his guard was still up, I did sense sincerity in his words. "Of course. It's natural to want to protect the ones we love."

Harald acknowledged me with a slight tilt of the head. "Please, see if you can convince Berk to make Leopold some armor. I'd be so thankful... and then we can talk."

Armor? That was it? I expected him to have some outrageous demand - kind of like when I wanted something from Snotlout. But this... this was entirely reasonable. And everything about his tone and expression told me he meant it. "I would be happy to help with that, but it's getting late and it might take some time..."

"Return here tomorrow morning. I will be waiting for you."

I nodded. "Alright. Goodbye, Harald."

"Goodbye, Brennda."

The pirates stared at me as I walked past them, but my mind was on the previous conversation. How did Harald always seem to surprise me? At least this time it was in my favor... for now. I found Bolt and returned to Dragon's Edge to report back to the others. Heather, Hiccup, and Astrid listened attentively as I explained the situation.

"Harald won't help us out unless we help his Terrible Terror?" Astrid said.

"That's actually kind of sweet," Heather said. "And if he's willing to help us at all, that's a major victory."

"There's no guarantee he'll actually follow through with it," I said, "but it's a start." I still found the entire situation odd. Why did he ask for something I would have done anyway? Was Dagur onto something after all?

"I don't like that he's extorting us, but we really need his knowledge," Astrid said. "Besides, I don't feel too bad about protecting his Terrible Terror; Leopold should be taken care of regardless of his slimy keeper."

"And I happen to have blueprints for Terrible Terror armor," Hiccup said. "Let's go to Berk and meet up with Gobber so we can get started."

Gobber was all too willing to help out. As he explained it, "Thor knows I want to throw Ruffnut and Tuffnut off a bridge from time to time, but that doesn't mean I adore Barf & Belch any less, that annoying double-header!" Soon, we had a stunning piece of Terrible Terror armor. By then it was late, so I decided to spend the night at the School. Heather was there was well, and we talked for a bit before drifting off to sleep.

I awoke bright and early the next morning and flew to Auction Island. I found Harald waiting for me in the forest just like he said. I could not see the other pirates anywhere, and from Harald's relaxed demeanor, I suspected they were somewhere else on the island.

"Brennda," Harald said with a small smile. "You came."

"Of course I did. And look what I brought." I pulled the Terrible Terror armor out of my bag and held it up for him to see. He immediately brightened. "Let me put it on." I stepped right up to him and smiled at Leopold. "You ready for this?" I fastened the armor on the little dragon and then stepped back to admire him. "There you go!" If it was possible, he looked even cuter than before.

Harald's whole face lit up as he looked at Leopold. "Well! You delivered and how. I'm very impressed, Brennda. Leopold looks quite dashing in his new kit! I'm glad I chose you when Stormheart asked for an intermediary to Berk; I was right all along."

I smiled at his enthusiasm. "You're welcome." I watched as he picked up Leopold and examined him all over. Then Leopold flew into the air to show off the armor. Harald continued to praise him and me. Leopold returned to his shoulder and nuzzled his neck. Before I knew it, I was laughing.

Harald immediately turned to me. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry. It's just..." Since he did not raise his guard at my reaction, I decided it was safe to be honest. "You two are absolutely adorable together. You really care about him, don't you? Seeing you this happy makes me very happy." It was great to see him so engrossed in another creature. It proved he was capable of love. And that made me love him even more.

Harald looked at me curiously. "You really mean that, don't you?" His expression turned serious as if he were thinking hard about something. He glanced left and right before speaking again: "Listen carefully. Surely you remember when I took you and Johann to meet Stormheart? She hid the venom in a cave on the ocean floor below the island. Don't worry: the cave is full of air! You'll need to figure out how to get there, but you're surely crafty enough for that tiny problem. Go now; she's off... 'negotiating'... with another village right now."

It took a moment for my brain to register his words. Had he really just told me where to find the Grimora venom? Getting over my shock, I grinned at him in gratitude. "Harald-"

He appeared pleased at my reaction. "Yes, yes: you would have never learned this without me. You're welcome. Oh - and say hello to Skulder for me. My men tell me he's here on Auction Island, and I'm just devastated that we haven't had the chance to talk."

I smirked. Right... "Okay." I turned around and took a step forward. But then I decided there was one more thing I needed to do. I ran back to Harald and flung my arms around him, careful to lean to his right side to avoid Leopold. He seemed surprise, but he hugged me back. I let myself enjoy his warmth and affection for a moment before reluctantly pulling away. "Thank you." I smiled at him and then finally left.

I did indeed find Skulder at the docks. He said Hiccup had sent him to help me find the venom. I told him everything I learned from Harald, including his parting message.

Skulder did not look impressed. "Harald said what? Ooh, that scoundrel knows exactly what I think of him. It's not something I feel comfortable repeating in front of others. This must be a trap. According to him, the venom is right under Stormheart's nose! We'll arrive and be immediately taken by her ship, no doubt. She'll probably throw us into cages and leave us to rot!"

My enthusiasm faded at his accusation. I had not even considered it could be a trap. So, I took a moment to think it over logically. It did not take me long to come to a conclusion. "No, Skulder. It is not a trap."

Skulder gave me a sympathetic look. "Brennda, I know how you feel about him, but you must see reason. There's no way he would tell us the truth!"

"I thought that at first, but..." I remembered how happy he looked when he received the armor. "You didn't see him just now, Skulder. I can detect if he's telling the truth when his guard is down like it was. Besides... he would not set me up like that."

Skulder sighed. "It's what he does, Brennda. Don't you remember how he trapped me in a cage?"

"Exactly. He trapped you. He wouldn't do that to me. He would never willingly put me in danger."

"And if you're wrong?"

"I'm not. This is the only thing I'm certain of when it comes to him. It's all I have. And if I'm wrong about this and it is a trap... then that means everything I thought I knew about him was a lie. I promise I will give up on him because at that point there will be no hope. But if I'm right... if this isn't a trap... Skulder, I want you to admit that you were wrong. I want you to admit there is good in Harald and he does care about me."

Skulder let out a heavy sigh, his eyes full of weariness. "Very well. Even if this were a trap, I will not abandon you to deal with it on your own. We shall sail into the teeth of danger together, my friend. Let's go get the diving bell."

We boarded Skulder's boat and sailed to Berk. Once there, I helped him lift the diving bell onto the boat. Then I flew ahead and lead Skulder to Stormheart's base. I found the rocky island, and thankfully, the Tempest was nowhere in sight.

Skulder looked around cautiously. "Hmm... For once, the dastardly Harald might have told the truth. The horizon is clear... It must be some sort of trap, but I can't see through it. What could he be up to?"

"He's not up to anything," I snapped. While I understood his reasons for his doubt, my patience could only go so far. "It's not a trap."

Skulder winced. "Sorry. Well! No matter. We have a short time window where we can look for the Grimora cache. We should get to it!" He turned to the diving bell. "Phlegma taught me how to operate this device. From what I understand, the diving bell will have breathable air trapped inside. When you are swimming, remember to come back to the bell to breathe! Good luck, my good and dear friend."

"Thanks." I jumped in the water, and Skulder placed the diving bell over me. Then the bell lowered into the water. I took a deep breath and swam out from under the bell.

I swam around a bit before I spotted the cave Harald mentioned. I swam through the opening, and when I got to the other side, my head popped out of the water. I climbed onto shore and looked around for the Grimora venom.

I found a large box full of the venom. It was sealed tight, so I brought it near the water and then smashed it with my axe. I pushed all of it into the water just to be safe. The salt should destroy it all. Satisfied, I found my way out of the cave and returned to the diving bell. I pulled on the rope so Skulder pulled me up.

"You did it?" he said hopefully.

I grinned. "I did it. Stormheart's Grimora venom is gone." I climbed onto the boat and greeted Bolt.

"You did it! Amazing!"

I turned to him and raised my eyebrows expectantly. "I'm waiting."

Skulder blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

I rolled my eyes. "Would it kill you to say something nice about Harald for once?"

Skulder frowned. "Oh. Well, I suppose he did pull through for us this one time. You were right, Brennda. It does seem like he may care for you. But with how good you are with dragons, I should have known you could train a pirate as well!"

I rolled my eyes. "He's hardly trained. But... thanks."

"Anyway, I am sure Hiccup would be very happy to hear the news. Would you please go back to Dragon's Edge and let him know? I'll be right behind you."

I climbed onto Bolt and took off. Hiccup waited for me at the base, and I excitedly explained the story to him, including the part about proving Skulder wrong.

"Great job!" Hiccup said. "I don't know how she's extracting the venom from the Grimora, but I can't imagine that she can do it quickly. This means we have a window of time for us to make our move..."

"I'm ready when you are," I said.

Hiccup nodded. "If we're lucky, Nikora won't have learned that we destroyed her venom cache yet. Then we could have a reasonable conversation before she get angry. But we should be ready for anything. Can you talk to Dagur and make sure our preparations are ready? "

"No problem." I wandered around until I found Dagur watching the horizon. "Hey, Dagur. Thank you for the advice about Harald. It totally worked. He told me where to find the Grimora venom, and I destroyed it all!"

Dagur grinned at me. "That's great, Brennda! I knew it would work. But do not be surprised if he tries to explain it away the next time he sees you. He may try to overcompensate for his moment of 'weakness.' But that's a good sign. If he were trying to manipulate you, he would have no reason to push you away."

I nodded. "That makes sense. What should I do if he does try to distance himself?"

"Don't let him! Push back harder! If you let him get away with it, it will only strengthen his defenses."

"I'll keep that in mind. For now, we have to deal with Stormheart..."

Dagur's expression darkened. "Get ready for a scrape, Brennda. If I were her, I'd be sailing back to Dragon's Edge right about now. She's going to be steaming mad when we come to her doorstep, and we can't afford to underestimate our enemies. I have too many scars as it is."

A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I felt stupid for not thinking about it before. "Wait a second... If she realizes we destroyed her stash, won't she figure out it had to be Harald who told us where it was?" There was no way it could be chalked up to chance. Besides, Harald's men heard us talking...

Dagur shook his head. "If you are worried about getting him into trouble, you should have thought about that before." He walked past me and approached the others who had gathered at the middle of the base. "Hiccup! To the edge of the world, brother; we'll take the fight to her together. To Stormheart's base!"

We all took off on our dragons. I led the way since I was the only one who knew the location of Stormheart's base. It turned out we met her halfway. The Tempest was sailing right at us. The weapons were pointed at us, and Stormheart looked angry!

"Oh, she definitely knows we destroyed her stuff!" Dagur said as he hovered beside me. "We're going to be in for a good old-fashioned ruckus..."

I sighed. "I suppose it was inevitable."

"Well, it's too late to turn back now! Let's send her reeling with the first punch, then we can flatten her with the one-two. Destroy the crossbows on the ship, and avoid hitting the captive dragons!"

Dagur and I flew straight at the battleship. Bolt shot a crossbow, shattering it into pieces. We dodged out of the way of the blasts while we continued to attack. I looked around and some riders attacking the ships while others fought off pirates and automatons.

When I had a momentary pause, Hiccup flew beside me and said, "We need to talk to Nikora and stop this chaos."

I gave him an incredulous look. "Do you really think she's going to listen? She doesn't want peace!"

"We have to try! What are you so afraid of? I was right about Harald, wasn't I?"

I had no idea what I was afraid of, but he was right. Out of all people, I was the one who should have believed in Harald. I took a deep breath and nodded. We flew down to the Tempest and landed in the center.

Stormheart approached us with an enraged expression. "It's a pity it had to come down to this, Brennda, Hiccup. We could have been allies. But now... Now I will leave you shattered like flotsam in my wake."

I scoffed. "Don't talk as if you didn't have this planned the entire time."

Stormheart fixed her steely gaze on me. "Do you realize what you've done? You need to learn to think before acting or someone could get hurt..."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "What are you talking about?"

Instead of responding, she stepped back and let her automatons appear... and and of them was well over eight feet tall! The dragon riders had all landed at this point and stood gaping at the contraption.

"What in Odin's name is that?" Hiccup exclaimed. "It's huge... Well, riders, we know what to do. Charge!"

Bolt immediately ran forward. I leapt off his back and drew my axe. Together, we beat back a bunch of the dummies. And then came the big one. Dagur, Hiccup, Heather, and I worked together to take this one down. We were all breathing heavily by the time we finished.

"Amazing job everyone," Hiccup said. "Wait, Dagur! Look out!"

I looked up just in time to see the wild Triple Stryke flying right at Dagur. She picked him up in her talons and carried him over the ocean.

I gasped. "Dagur!"

"Stormheart must have given the Triple Stryke too much Grimora venom," Hiccup said. "The dragon's gone crazy!"

"I'm going after him." I mounted Bolt and got ready to take off.

"Wait! Brennda, take these." He handed me a saline syringe, the Dragon Blade, and a canister. "This might be the only way to stop the Triple Stryke without anyone getting hurt. You've been able to get closer to the Triple Stryke than any of us, so you should wield the Dragon Blade this time, not me. I know you can do it."

I nodded. "You can count on me."

"Now let's go - follow the Triple Stryke!"

Bolt took off after the Triple Stryke, and Hiccup flew behind. When I got close enough, I could hear Dagur call out:

"Don't worry about me, Brennda. Do what you need to do. I'm more than ready to die for the cause!"

I rolled my eyes. "Muttonhead!"

"No one is dying today, Dagur!" Hiccup said.

The Triple Stryke landed on a large rock on a small island. Hiccup and I landed a good distance away. "What now?" I said.

"We just need to hold that dragon in place before it does something reckless," Hiccup said. "Brennda, get close to the Triple Stryke and fire up the Dragon Blade. We need that Flightmare gas right now!"

I held my breath as I climbed off Bolt and neared the Triple Stryke. She held Dagur underneath her and growled when I approached. I held the Dragon Blade out to her and ignited it. Mist emerged from the blade, temporarily stunning her.

"It worked!" Hiccup said. "Wee only have a few moments before she can start moving again. Inject her with the saline solution. That should get rid of the Grimora toxin in her system!"

I pulled out the syringe, my heart hammering. I could scarcely breathe as got close enough to the wild dragon to push the syringe into her skin. I made sure to empty it before stepping back again.

The Triple Stryke shook herself once she could move. Then the anger died from her eyes, and she moved away from Dagur. I immediately ran to his side. "Dagur! Are you alright?"

"Yes, thank you," he said. "My life was flashing before my eyes. There were a shocking amount of axes! Seems to me that I've been doing things right."

I laughed and hugged him. "Good."

"Is everything alright now?" Heather asked, having just arrived with the other riders.

"Almost," Hiccup said. He was eyeing the Triple Stryke, who appeared agitated about something. "It's going to be okay, girl. Everything is going to be okay. Brennda, can you slowly reach your hand out and touch her head? Maybe that will calm her down."

"I'll give it a try," I said. I slowly approached the wild dragon again. I reached up and rubbed her head. This did indeed seem to soothe her.

Hiccup smiled. "Good, good. You were just lashing out, huh girl? You just wanted to save your egg. That's all you wanted, even when your mind was being tainted by the Grimora venom. Well, I promise you that you'll always have our support, old girl. Quick, everyone: back to Dragon's Edge! Let's reunite this dragon with her egg."

I grinned. Now, that sounded like a plan. The Triple Stryke flew behind us as we headed back to our base. When we arrived, I found the egg still in the broken statue. I carefully made my way over to it and carefully lifted it. But when I tried to offer the egg to the Triple Stryke, she shook her head and nudged the egg closer to me with her nose.

"You want me to keep it?" I said in surprise.

Hiccup nodded in confirmation. "I knew that you were making a deep connection with the Triple Stryke. She's made a great choice in confiding you and entrusting you with her egg."

"Wow. That's really something." I looked the Triple Stryke in the eyes and bowed to her. "Thank you. I will not let you down." When I turned around, I saw Dagur looking at me in awe.

"Wow, she offered you her own child?" he said. "No one, Viking or dragon, could ever bestow a greater honor. I must speak to you in private, Brennda."

"Alright." I followed him to a secluded area. He did not speak at first, appearing deep in thought. "What's on your mind?"

"You must prove yourself worthy of that Triple Stryke. Do you understand?"

The intensity of his eyes surprised me. "Worthy?"

"You have a great burden on your shoulders, one that will rest heavily on you for the rest of this dragon's life. Don't worry: Berserkers never abandon our own. You'll have all the help you need."

I smiled at him. "Thanks, Dagur. I appreciate it." I looked down at the egg in my arms. I had a feeling I was in for quite an adventure with this one.

A/N: Okay! There's a little bit to wrap up for this expansion in the next chapter. The rest of this part two will take place during Race to the Edge season 6. I will not include everything from the season, but I will tweak some stuff to make it all fit. After Johann's involvement in this expansion, I had to involve Stormheart and Harald in the final plot. I hope you enjoy. ;)