Ch. 6
The Pain of Aging

Well, so much for getting help from mother, I thought grumpily as I marched along the lake, kicking a few sticks in the process. It was nearly night now, and the sun had already lowered onto the horizon, casing an orangey glow over the icy mountain we all currently resided in. Many of the older dragons had already gone to sleep, some of them sleeping on rocks next to the lake. Other younger dragons and even some hatchlings remained wide awake, flying around the lake and through the whole mountain.

I sighed as I walked up to the edge of the lake and sat down at rock that sat halfway into the water. I sat there for a moment before I reached down and slowly took off my right boot. It was much easier to do when I didn't have my whole leather flying suit on. All I had on now were my brown pants and my long-sleeved, dark green shirt. I leaned down and rolled up the pant leg of my right leg until it was to my knee, then I lowered my foot into the cold water. I shivered for a moment before relaxing. It felt nice. I tucked my prosthetic leg underneath my right knee as I kicked the water lightly. I looked up and looked around. The Alpha still remained in the lake, half submerged, and looking as though he were in a deep sleep.

I sighed as I lowered my head to stare into my lap. So far, everything has gone both up and down hill in the last 24 hours. This morning I was soaring through the air with my best friend, and now I was in a dragon safe haven with my mother; that's the upside. The downside is that Berk was still on lockdown, Drago Bludvist was out there, and it seemed that neither of my parents wanted to stop him in anyway. I sighed sadly as I closed my eyes. And to think, my life wasn't complicated enough already. Drago, becoming chief, and the stupid dragon aging process. No, I told myself. Don't think about it, thinking about it will only make it worse.

'Repressing a bad thought is unhealthy, child.'

I gasped as I snapped my head up. The Alpha was awake, and he was looking directly at me. I gulped as I tried to form words.

"A-Alpha, I thought you were asleep."

'Not quite,' he said. 'I was trying, but it is hard to sleep when there are hatchlings hovering right above your head.'

He rolled his eyes above him, and I saw a group of hatchlings literally flying right above his head, chirping and squawking like mad. I couldn't help but cover my mouth as I let out a laugh. The Alpha huffed, blowing at the younglings softly. They dispersed and flew off, still squawking. I smiled as I my eyes followed them. When I heard the water splashing I looked down to see that the Alpha was slowly walking towards me, his footsteps making surprisingly soft thumps. Despite the noise, all of the dragons that were sleeping around the lake remained still, snoring and grumbling. The Alpha stopped several feet from the rock where I sat, but thanks to his massive size he might as well have been sitting next to me, and he sat down in front of me.

'So, what brings to hear this evening?' the Alpha asked. 'I thought you would want to be with your mother after being reunited after so long.'

"She's sleeping," I said as I wiggled my toes in the water. "Says this whole days been tiring, and wanted to turn in early."

The Alpha gave a low nod. 'Yes. Forgive me, but your mother is not as young as she once was. Neither am I, now that I think about it.'

"How old are you?" I asked without thinking.

Alpha gave a deep chuckle. 'Let's just say I've been around much longer than your mother.'

"Your aging process started a while ago then, huh?"

'Centuries ago, yes,' he said. 'So, you do know about the way in which dragons age then?'

I gulped. "Yeah, I've known for about two years now," I looked up at him. "Excuse me for asking, but did you think I didn't know it or something?"

'I was curious whether or not you knew,' he answered. 'Mostly because I heard of your relationship with the Night Fury you call Toothless,' he looked down at me with a serious gaze. 'Child, you do know that your relationship has a consequence, don't you?'

I looked down at the rippling water below me. I had a feeling that this was going to happen. I did not know when or with who, but I knew that it would.

"Yeah, I knew."

'When did you discover it?'

I sighed, and slowly lifted my head to look at him.

"I found out on my eighteenth birthday."

(Flashback; 2 years ago)

"Happy birthday, Hicca!"

This statement was echoed loudly, and was soon followed by clapping. I froze halfway down the stairs to stare at the lower level beneath me. Several people were standing there, and a few of them had scales on their arms and faces. Suddenly my father stepped out of the crowd, holding his arms out to me.

"Happy birthday, darling!" he boomed, a smile on his face. "Glad you're finally awake!"

"D-dad?" I stuttered, rubbing my tired eyes as I walked down the last set of stairs. "What's going on?"

"We're here tah celebrate yer birthday," Gobber walked up next to my dad. "Surprised yah, didn't we?"

"Yeah," I let out a soft yawn. "Especially since I just woke up."

"Aww! Did we wake you up?" I heard a familiar voice ask.

I craned my neck to look passed the two large men in front of me, and saw a boy with blonde, ear length hair smirking at me, hands on his hips. It was Austen.

"No, as a matter of fact you didn't," I pointed a thumb behind me. "The big, scaly jerk living in my room woke me up."

"Hey! I resent that remark!"

I whipped my head around, and smiled. Standing there, now in his human form, was Toothless. He had his arms folded and a smirk on his face.

"You practically roared in your sleep this morning!" I accused, but my tone was playful. "I already had to get used to your snoring, but I refuse to get used to that!"

There were several laughs and chuckles, and Toothless rolled his eyes. He slowly marched down the stairs until he was on the same level as me. He then threw his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close to him as he bent his head to kiss my temple.

"Happy birthday, love."

I giggled. "Thanks, bud."

"Eck! Stop the mushiness!" I heard Tuffnut say from the back.

"Yeah! It's making me sick!" said Ruffnut.

"Shut up, you two!" Austen snapped at them.

I grinned at him before looking around the room. There were several other people there. I saw both Snotlout and Fishlegs were standing there too- Snotlout standing with his arms folded, and Fishlegs bouncing on his heels, hands behind his back. Next to them was a girl who looked no older than twenty. She was tall, about as tall as Toothless. She had long, waist length hair that was silvery blonde, and hung around her sharp, pretty face. She had a pair of beautiful, amber eyes, and a stunning smile that had grown on her face.

"Hey, Stormfly," I called to her.

"Hi, Hicca."

"Your little ones at home then?" I asked as I walked towards her.

Stormfly grinned more. At that moment there were several tiny squeals, and suddenly three small dragons came up from behind her. Three, two-year-old Deadly Nadder babies, to be exact. The second they saw me they all instantly ran up to me.

'Hicca!'

I giggled and kneeled down, holding my arms out for the blue Nadder that was running towards me. He cooed for a moment before hopping into my arms, flapping his wings excitedly. The baby dragon was Stormfly's son, Saga. And, as you might've noticed, he seems to have attached himself to me a bit more.

"Hey, Saga," I stood up, petting his smooth, scaly head. "How's my boy?"

'Good!' the hatchling chirped. 'Oh! And Hicca, guess what? I changed last night!'

I gasped with enthusiasm. The 'change' was what it was called when a dragon baby transformed into their humanoid form for the first time. Most of the time, the change doesn't happen until a hatchling is about three or four years old, but in some cases it could happen sooner. Clearly, that's what happened to Saga.

"That's amazing! You are getting so big!" I enthused, and he beamed at me.

'We're big, too!' Freya piped up.

"Yeah!" Aarao added.

I laughed as I gently set Saga down on the ground. "Yes, I know."

I petted both Freya and Aarao's heads, and they chirped happily. I stood up straight and looked at Fishlegs.

"Hey, 'Legs," I grinned. "Where's Meatlug?"

"Oh, she had to stay home and watch her own babies," he said. "She has more than five, you know."

"Yeah, I do."

After that, we had a regular hangout at the house. We all sat around my house, chatting and having some decent fun. Dad, of course, talked to me the most. He told me that things were going to be changing, that I was eighteen now, and I was becoming an adult. My only response was a shrug and a simple, "okay." Personally, I don't think I needed to worry about the responsibilities of being a grownup. Not just yet, at least. I'll have plenty of time to do that when I need to. Like, whenever I take my dad's place as chief, for instance. In a situation like that, I would have to be a responsible adult. Wow… me as chief… sounds weird…

After a while it was revealed that everyone had actually gotten me something. Austen had gotten me this lovely dagger that he had apparently gotten from Trader Joan a few weeks ago. It was really pretty, with shining steal and a smooth, hard wooden end.

"Thanks, man," I told him.

"Don't mention it," he said, putting an arm around me to give me a one-armed hug.

"I got somethin' for yah, too!" Gobber came up with a large bag. "Some more leather for that suit yer makin'."

I gasped slightly as I took the bag from him. I opened it and looked inside. There was a bunch of black, spare leather.

"Thanks Gobber! This is just what I need to make my flying suit!"

"Yer welcome."

"Hicca," Stormfly stepped up to me as everyone around us disbursed to talk with one another. I noticed that her hands were behind her back. "The kids and I picked this out just for you."

I walked up to her as she took her hands from behind her back and out to me. In her hands was a small, brown sketchbook, similar to my old one. The old one I had was a faded dark brown and had already been filled with drawings, mostly consisting of new dragons that we had discovered. But in the last dozen pages there were images of me and Toothless, and the sketchbook was now filled. This one was a lighter brown and looked brand new, and it had a buckle to keep it closed.

"Stormfly," I said as I took the book. "This thing is amazing! Thank you."

"No problem," she said kindly. "Though, you should thank Austen. He's the one who gave me suggestions."

She smiled as she nodded behind me. I turned around and was met with a touching sight. Austen was kneeling on the floor, holding Freya in his arms. He was smiling and speaking to her, and the little hatchling was chortling happily.

"How have you two been, by the way?" I asked as I turned back around.

Stormfly, still smiling dreamily at Austen, didn't look at me as she said, airily, "What do you mean?"

"You know," I said. "You and him- together."

Stormfly finally looked at me, her dreamy expression gone, replaced with a look of shock. Her mouth opened for a moment, then it closed.

"Stormfly," I said. "You're talking to the first girl to ever fall in love with a dragon. Be honest with me."

Stormfly lowered her head to look down at the ground, hesitating. Then she glanced up at me, a small grin on her face.

"We've been together for a month now," she said lowly. "Just a month."

"Does anyone else know?"

She shook her head. "We were gonna wait a little longer before telling anyone, especially his parents."

I nodded. "And how has it been?"

Stormfly lifted her head up and suddenly gave me the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face. "It's been amazing, Hicca," she said, still keeping her voice low. "Austen is a wonderful companion! He's honest, loyal, and so sweet when we're alone. He doesn't even care that I'm a little older than he is. And what's more, my children love him! I haven't been this happy since I was with my mate, Aarao."

I smiled. I had a feeling that something was going on between the two of them, but I didn't know that it was this… well, special.

"I'm happy for you two," I told her. "But, a word of advice, you might wanna tell his parents first, and maybe soon. I'm surprised they haven't found out yet."

She nodded, smiling. "Thank you, Hicca."

I nodded. Then, I remembered something that I had been meaning to ask her about.

"Austen told me about what happened last night," I said, and this time I brought my voice to a whisper. "Stormfly, is it true? Did Freya call him 'daddy'?"

Stormfly blinked and stared at me. Then she sighed, and nodded.

"What did you do?"

"I wasn't there when it happened, Austen told me," said Stormfly. "He was just putting them to bed, I went to sleep earlier. He laid Freya in her nest and before she went to sleep she…"

She paused. I leaned in slightly, giving her a look.

"Well?"

"She said 'I love you, daddy'…"

I felt my eyes widened as I looked at her. I knew that Austen was rather close with Stormfly's hatchlings, especially Freya. She was like his own little girl, but I never would have thought that they all would actually consider him their father.

"Do they know that he's not actually their father?"

Stormfly gave a small shrug. "I don't think so. Don't worry, I'm gonna tell them about their real father when they're a bit older, of course. But, now… they're just too young, they wouldn't understand."

I nodded. "Well… whatever you do, I'm right behind you both."

Stormfly smiled. "Thank you, Hicca. You're amazing."

The rest of the day passed with ease. It wasn't until after an early dinner that everyone decided to leave. I stood by the door and gave several hugs and handshakes as everyone left. The last ones to leave were Stormfly and Austen, and the hatchlings. After receiving chirpy goodbyes and petting the little ones, I gave both of my friend's big hugs. I patted Austen's shoulder as he passed by. The group stepped down the small flight of stairs as I started to close the door. Before closing it, I snuck a peek at Austen and Stormfly, and smiled when I saw him reach out and grab her hand. I slowly shut the door and turned around.

"Well," my dad marched up towards me, placing his helmet onto his head. "I have some work I've got to do in the Great Hall. I'll be back in a few hours."

"Sure thing, dad," I said.

My dad smiled down at me as he walked up to me. "You're finally growing up, dear," he said, and I smiled at the now familiar name. "Each day, you get more and more like your mother, and she was a beauty, mind you."

I giggled. "I'll take that as a compliment."

My dad chuckled and pulled me into one of his rib-crushing hugs, and I fought back the grunt and hugged him back.

"Happy Birthday, Hicca," he said as he sat me down.

"Thanks, dad."

He gave me a small salute before turning and marching out the door. I waited until he shut the door before turning around and going up the stairs to my room. When I got up there I saw Toothless was laying sideways on my bed, his head and feet hanging off both sides. He appeared to be whipping his head from side to side, making his large, black ears flop around. I giggled, and he stopped moving.

"There you are," he said. "I was starting to get bored."

"I can see that," I said playfully.

Toothless frowned at me as he sat up. "Well, if that's how you're gonna act, then I won't give you your present."

"Aw, c'mon!"

"Nope," Toothless folded his arms and turned away from me. "You blew it, sweetheart. You're just gonna have to wait until next year."

I raised my eyebrows as I stared at him. Was he seriously doing this?

"Yes, I am," he said. "Just because you can't hear my thoughts in this form, doesn't mean I can't hear yours."

I rolled my eyes. Alright, we'll have to do this the hard way. I slowly strode over towards my bed, keeping my eyes on the back of Toothless' head. I slowly walked around the bed until I stood in front of him, but he kept his eyes closed and his nose in the air. I smirked before quickly leaping up and landing right into his lap. He opened his eyes and looked down at me in surprise. I giggled and leaned up and kiss his scaly cheek.

"Better?" I asked as I laid my head back down.

Toothless shook his head slightly as he chuckled. Then he unfolded his arms and held his right hand out above my head. He opened it up, and something small and black fell down before stopping just an inch above my nose. It took me a second to realize that the thing was being held by a string. That's when I realized that it was a necklace.

"Toothless?"

"Happy Birthday, love."

I sat up and looked at the thing Toothless was holding. Yes, it was a necklace, but it was what was hanging on the string that caught my attention. It was, undoubtedly, one Toothless' own black scales.

"Toothless," I looked over at him. "What is this?"

"It's a necklace," he answered. "With a scale I took from over my heart. So, when you wear it, a part of me will always go with you, no matter where you go."

I smiled as I reached up and held the scale in my hand. I wasn't much for jewelry, but I could definitely make an acceptation for this.

"May I put it on?" Toothless asked.

I nodded. He lifted the necklace and the scale slid out of my hand. I watched as the hands in front of me untied the string and then raised it up to my neck. I felt his fingers brush against the back of my neck as he tied the string. After a moment they moved my long, unbraided hair out of the way and over my left shoulder. His arms snacked around my waist and held me tightly and gently. I looked down at my chest and touched the scale with my fingers. It was amazing how something that costed nothing to make could suddenly feel so priceless to me.

Then, I felt soft lips start to kiss my neck, and goosebumps erupted all over me. I glanced over and saw Toothless nuzzling my neck, his eyes closed.

"I love you, Hicca," he whispered, his breath warm on my neck, giving me even more goosebumps. "Forever and always, until the day I die."

I smiled as I reached my hand up and buried my fingers in his thick, black, untidy hair. My fingers scratched behind his hear and I heard him purr against me.

"I love you too, bud, until the day I die," I whispered. "Hopefully that won't be for a while."

"Of course not," he said. "We have many years to come."

"Yeah," I said. "Many years. Hey, how long can dragons live for anyway?"

"Mmm… It's different for every dragon," he said lowly, his face still buried in my neck. "Like… Gronkles live for about 6, Nadders live for 7, and Nightmares can live for about 7 to 8, I believe."

I turned my head slightly to stare at him, eyebrow raised. What was with all the numbers? What was he talking about?

"What do you mean Gronkles live for 6?" I asked. "Like, 60 years?"

Toothless snorted. "No, 600."

It felt as though my stomach had just turned to lead and then plummeted down a hole. I stared at Toothless for a good 5 seconds before I spoke.

"600…?"

"Of course," Toothless looked up at me. "You didn't know that? I assumed you did. It's not in any of your books?"

I slowly slipped out of his grasp and stood up, slowly backing away. This could not be happening, it just cannot be happening.

"Hicca?" Toothless stood up. "What's wrong?"

"Toothless," I said, and I was surprised as how calm I sounded. Too calm. "How long do Night Furies live for?"

"About 800 years," he answered. "Love, what's going on?"

What was left of my legs began to feel weak as I started trembling. This was real, this was happening. But, I did not want it to happen.

"Toothless," I said, and this time my voice cracked. "Humans don't live for 800 years. Hell, they're lucky if they live to a hundred."

Toothless didn't say anything. He stared at me, his dragon-like eyes wide and his pupils smaller. He suddenly looked scared- no, not scared, terrified.

"Toothless?"

Toothless lowered his head and I saw his hands tighten into fists. Now I was starting to get scared. What would he do now?

"Hicca," Toothless spoke lowly. "How… how long can humans live for?"

I gulped. "I don't know… 80 years, maybe 90. But usually no more than that."

Toothless didn't look up, but his knuckles had gone white.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he whispered.

"Toothless-"

"Why didn't you tell me?!" he said, and he nearly shouted it that time. "Why didn't you say you don't age the same why I do?"

"Why didn't you?!" I snapped back. "Toothless, this is something you should've told me years ago!"

"How was I supposed to know that humans don't age the same as us?!"

"Didn't your parents tell you or something?"

"MY PARENTS WERE KILLED WHEN I WAS 7!"

I jumped back several feet, my hands reaching up to clutch at my chest. Toothless had never yelled like that. Not to me. The anger was gone as soon as it had come. Toothless instantly calmed down, and suddenly looked ashamed of himself.

"They died when I was a hatchling," he said. "They were killed by the Red Death when I was 7 years-old, you know that. I told you that."

"I know," I said, my voice shaking. "But, no one ever told you about humans?"

"When you grow up as a slave for a monster like the Red Death, you don't have much interest in human life."

I nodded. Know that I had a moment to think about it, it made sense that Toothless wouldn't know how humans age. With his situation it would make sense. But, as I thought about it, one thing didn't make sense.

"But, if you can live to 800, why do you age the same why I do?" I asked. "You've aged up just like me in the past few years."

"It's the aging process," he answered. "A dragon will age normally for a certain amount of years before his aging process starts. It's different for all dragons, but when I turn 21, the process will begin for me. I will appear to be in my 20s for several decades before I age up physically. The year the process starts is also when we can start having children."

"But… You're almost 21…"

"I know…"

I felt myself shaking where I stood as I turned around, not baring to look at him as I spoke.

"Don't you realize what this means?" I breathed shakily.

"What is it, love?"

"Toothless, you're, like, immortal compared to me! I'm gonna keep aging and you're gonna stay young for years- centuries! I'm gonna die hundreds of years before you even get so much as a wrinkle! Our relationship was pointless from the start!"

I let out a chocked sob before burying my face into my hands. This just couldn't be real, it had to be a nightmare. The gods couldn't be as cruel as to do this to me. A 3-year-long relationship shattered by this one little thing.

I heard footsteps from behind me, but I didn't move nor look up. Then I felt arms wrap around me and bring me into a big embrace. I looked up, and I felt by the chill air around me that there was something wet on my face. Had I been crying? I hadn't noticed.

I turned my head slightly and looked up to see Toothless hunched over me, his eyes closed.

"Don't say that," he breathed. "Don't ever say that. Our relationship isn't pointless. I love you and I'm happy to be with you."

"But, you shouldn't be," I whimpered. "I'm not good enough for you, I can't even age the same as you. You… you deserve a good, beautiful dragon who can live as long as you can, who can be by your side your whole life. I… I probably can't even give you children. I can't even give you a family!"

Toothless' hand came up, grabbed my chin, and forced my face up even more. I held my breath as I stared at him. He was less than an inch away from my face and he was gazing down at me with those piercing, electric green eyes that I had come to love so much.

"How can you be sure of that?" he said lowly. "How can you be so sure that everything is gonna fall apart?"

"I-I…"

"I know you Hicca, and I know you don't believe that."

I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath. I opened my mouth to speak but nothing came out but a sort of soft chocking noise. Toothless leaned forward and pressed his lips against hard mine. I sat frozen for a moment before I slowly started to kiss him back. I could never resist to kiss him, even during stuff like this.

Toothless kissed me for a solid 3 minutes before breaking away. I just realized that needed to breathe and gasped for air.

"I don't care what happens," he breathed. "And I never want to hear you say that I deserve better, do you understand? You're my companion, and I love you. And I plan on being with you for as long as I can."

I stared up at him for a moment before I turned around and buried my face into his chest, wrapping my hands around his neck. He tightened his arms around me and started running his fingers through my hair.

"We'll figure something out, Hicca," he whispered. "I promise."

I fiddled with my hands as I lowered my head. I splashed the water lightly with my right foot, mostly because I didn't know what else to do or say.

'Toothless said earlier that he was 22 years-old, didn't he?' Alpha asked.

"Yes."

'So, his aging process has already started?'

I nodded.

'I'm curious,' he said. 'Have you two found a solution to your problem?'

I let out halfhearted laugh. "If we had, I wouldn't still be worried about it," I looked up at him, into his massive eyes. "I, uh… I don't suppose you know anything that might help, do yah?"

Of course, I was only making conversation. I did not honestly think that the Alpha knew of anyway to help me and Toothless with our problem, even if he was extremely wise. I fully expected the Alpha to shake his head and say that there was nothing to be done. What he did instead was look down at me, completely silent.

'The fascinating thing about being the Alpha,' he said. 'Is that you are opened to amazing possibilities that you would not have if you were a normal dragon. You are given an ample amount of knowledge you never had before, and with that knowledge comes certain abilities.'

I straightened up, staring up at him.

"Are you… um…" I stopped for a second and took a deep breath. "Are you saying that there's a way for us to fix this?

'You see, a long time ago, back when the dragons used to live in harmony among humans, some of them made the decision that they did not want to live the full life of a dragon. They had lived among the humans and had gained many friends, and they knew that it would be hard to say goodbye to so many if they lived out their very long lives. One day, the gods told the dragons at the time of a spell that could change the way that any being aged. But, they did not want every dragon to have such power. Magic and abilities such as these should be given only to dragons who deserve it, who can be trusted with it.

'They selected a small group of dragons, each of a different species, who were chosen to possess the power needed to help them and their kind. They were known as the Alpha's, and they were trusted as the leaders of their dragons. They separated and went to find their own colonies, and were able to use the spell on the few who wanted it dearly.'

The Alpha finally stopped talking and looked calmly down at me. I was speechless.

"Does that mean that…?" I gulped. "Toothless could change the way he ages if he wants to?"

'Precisely, child.'

I inhaled sharply, my whole body going numb. Was this true? Could this really be happening? Every logical voice in my head was saying it was impossible, but my heart was telling me it must be true. But…

I sighed lowly as I hung my head, and I shook it lightly.

"No… I can't," I said. "I couldn't… I could never ask Toothless to do that. He's got such a long life ahead of him, so much he can do, I could never take that away from him."

As sad as it was, it was the truth. I really wanted to be with Toothless as long as I could possibly manage, but not at the cost of his own life. I slowly lifted my head to look up at the Alpha, and was surprised to see him smiling.

'That is precisely what I hoped to hear.'

I raised an eyebrow. Before I could as he suddenly stood up onto his ginormous feet and raised his head upward to the sky and started rumbling loudly in what I realized was Dragonese.

"Hear me now, great gods above. Know I speak not of hate, but only of love. A wish I ask for you to grant, on this great night. Give me a spell that will give one mortal, the span of a dragon's life."

He let out a loud roar before opening his large jaws and expelling a huge cloud of frost, just as he did before. But, it did not look like frost. This time, instead of snow white, the stuff was a bright icy blue. It began to swirl around as it started to lower down towards me.

I reacted quickly and started searching my pockets and shirt for something to contain the stuff. I pulled a small, empty pouch from my belt and opened it up. I raised the pouch up above me just as the blue frost met me. For a few seconds my hands were hidden by the frost, then it faded away.

I lowered my hands and looked inside the small pouch. What was inside did not appear to be solid nor liquid. It looked as though I had shining, icy blue air inside the pouch.

'This should help you with your problem,' the Alpha said in a surprisingly soft voice.

I shook my head slightly and turned my gaze away from the now contained magic to look up at the giant dragon in front of me.

"But… But, I said I couldn't make Toothless-"

'Luckily,' the Alpha said. 'There is more than one way to take this.'

"What?"

'If you use this spell one way, it will change the way a dragon ages. But if you make it another way it will affect the way a human ages.'

I blinked. "Wha…?"

'If you truly cannot ask Toothless to change for you, then you can change your age if you so wish.'

I inhaled sharply. Was it true? Could I simply change my age to match Toothless'? Did I really want to? Could I really do something like this to myself?

These were questions that I could figure out later. I pulled on the strings on the pouch, which closed up. I tied the string around the edge for good measure before putting the pouch back on my belt. I looked up at the Alpha.

"What do I have to do?"

'Take this essence, and bring it to the purest of waters of your home. Mix the essence into a cup of water, then pluck the scale from the dragon whose lifespan you wish to have and drop it in there. The scale will dissolve, the drink will change color, and you must drink the whole cup. When you wake the next morning, your new lifespan will begin.'

I nodded. I understood what I had to do, I just had to figure out what I was actually going to do.

'It is late, child,' he said. 'We should all be resting now. Tomorrow is a bright, new day, we must prepare for it.'

"I agree," I stood up from the rock and grabbed my boot. "Goodnight."

'Goodnight, Hicca.'

I shook the excess water off my foot before slipping my boot back on. I had started to walk away when the Alpha spoke again.

'And one more thing,' he added, and I turned around. 'The process must be done under the full moon. If it is done any other way, the spell will not work.'

I nodded. "I understand," I said. "And… Thank you so much."

It was kind of hard to tell, mostly because he was so massive, but I knew that I could see him smiling down at me.

'You're very welcome, child. Now please, get some rest.'