CHAPTER 14

The last Viking had finally drifted to sleep as the figure slunk toward the training ring, a wicker basket slung over one shoulder. There was little to guide his path; heavy clouds hid the moon and stars, and the only sources of light came from the windows of a couple of houses as their fires were banked low.

Toothless had no need for light. his eyes were a piercing green that, whenever they caught the sparse light, glinted like those of a cat's. He ghosted across the village as if he himself was cloaked in darkness and was part of the night.

He stopped at the arena's entrance and glanced around once more. seeing no one, he pushed the gate up and slipped in.

Toothless unlocked the door to the Nadder's cage. It had been the least temperamental and seemed to be the most level-headed of the five dragons. He closed the door behind him and set the basket of fish down. The cage was pitch black for a moment before his eyes adjusted.

There was a low growl from the other side of the cage.

Toothless bowed his head and shifted into his dragon form. "Peace, sister. I come only to talk."

The grow lessened a fraction and the blue Deadly Nadder stepped forward. It lowered its head to look at him, spines slowly laying flat, though not all the way. "Who are you?"

Toothless bowed his head again. "I am Taelos, the last of the Nraseri Clan. My kin call me Toothless. do as you wish."

"I am Flyer of Storms," she said, then, "Some called me Stormfly." she eyed him again, lowering her head to get a better look at him. "I recognize your scent now. You watch from above as they fight us and yet you are of dragon blood."

"I happen to be able to disguise myself as a human."

"Ah, yes. I thought so." She puffed herself up slightly, pleased. "You are the Vinr Sætta. And a Nraseri at that."

Toothless blinked. "The what?"

The dragon hummed. "The Vinr Sætta. You hold the amulet, do you not?"

"Vinr Sætta," Toothless repeated. "Is that what I am called?"

"You did not know?"

"Oh, I did. Some words don't translate well to Norse. My mentor could never tell me my real title. He always called me the Peace-Bringer. How did you know?"

"There have always been rumours. Word travels swiftly, and when a human can speak our tongue and knows our secrets, we take notice. I am more surprised that you've made your home so close to the Nest." She eyed him. I do not suppose you have come to release me."

"I'm afraid not."

She sighed. "Of course not. That would cause more trouble than it is worth. What brings you to my prison, Taelos of the Nraseri Clan?"

"I come with a gift and a request."

He nudged the basket over and spilled some of its contents. The Nadder eyed him for a moment before digging into the fish. "I am listening."

"There is a Viking in dragon training. Small, auburn hair. His name is Hiccup."

Stormfly devoured another fish. "Yes, I know of him. I suppose you taught him those tricks."

"Yes, but he uses them of his own violation. I did not expect him to. I only wanted to give him an alternative. He is not built to fight dragons."

"Curious." By this time, the Nadder had finished the fish and sat back, content. Toothless moved in, now that the dragon was full and less likely to set him alight.

"That is where my request comes in. I want to ensure his safety. He is precious to not just me, but to all dragonkin."

She bristled. "I will not hold back just because you favour him."

"I am not asking you to. Just do not kill him. That is all."

Stormfly hummed, thinking. Her tail lashed as she considered what he had said. "Before I agree to your terms, Taelos of the Nraseri Clan, I wish to hear your story and why you think this Viking child is so important. It sounds intriguing and I am bored from being stuck in this cage for weeks."

So, he told her everything. From his clan's death to arriving on Berk and meeting Hiccup years later. His voice was hoarse by the time he finished.

She stood, tucking her wings to her side. "You have my word, Taelos of the Nraseri Clan. I will…refrain from killing the humans too much. But you will have to convince my companions of the same."

Toothless breathed an inward sigh of relief. "Thank you. And please, call me Toothless."

"Very well, Toothless of the Nraseri Clan."

Just Toothless."

Stormfly smiled mischievously. "Very well, Just Toothless."

Toothless knew when to let an argument go. He shifted back to his human form and picked up the basket, noting how Stormfly cocked her head to the side as he did. "Any tips for the others?"

"I do not think you will have trouble with the rest," she said. "Save for Hooked Fang. He is temperamental, much like the rest of his kind. He is a free spirit, not one to listen to what we have to say. But he will listen to you as the Vinr Sætta and a Nraseri. Just maybe do not get too close with that human form."

Toothless nodded. "Thank you."

He eased the door shut behind him and crept toward the other cages.

The black sky had begun to turn grey in the east by the time he snuck back into the forge and collapsed on his bed, exhausted, but satisfied. another piece of the plan had fallen snuggly into place. He just hoped that the dragons upheld their promise and that no one would notice the charred remains of the wicker basket in the Monstrous Nightmare's cage, or that a basket of fish was missing at all.

He pulled the covers over his head, and closed his eyes, intent on getting a few hours of sleep in before training.

Morning came all too quickly. Hiccup groaned and pulled the blankets over his head as the sunlight streamed into his room. He'd slept fitfully, his mind filled with strange, fleeting dreams. He sighed and got up, carelessly throwing his blankets in the bed and pulling on his shoes. He paused as he passed his desk. Sketches from last night lay strewn across the table. Hiccup leafed through them.

He'd been drawing the Night Fury again, trying to capture the dragon's curious expression. He had dozens of sketches but, aside from the first, he couldn't remember all the details of the beast. Part of him wanted to go actively searching for it. The dragon's curious expression surfaced, and Hiccup smiled. He glanced out the window and to the forest. If he was being honest, he wouldn't need much convincing.

"Time for that later," he told himself. First, dragon training.

Nraseri met him on the way, bouncing along with a spring in his step despite the dark circles under his eyes. He had a bag slung over his shoulder.

"You seem happy," Hiccup commented.

"I had a good morning."

"Better than usual, I'm guessing."

Nraseri grinned toothily. "I'll show you tomorrow. Don't want to ruin the surprise."

"Do you need to drop that bag off at the forge?"

Nraseri shook his head quickly. "Nope. I'll take it with me."

Hiccup frowned. "But we're going that way."

Nraseri let out a nervous laugh. "Trust me."

Confused, Hiccup glanced in the direction of the forge. Just in time to see Beatrice coming back from the same direction, obviously looking for something. Or someone.

Hiccup glanced back at Nraseri, only to find that he'd hurried his pace. Amused, Hiccup jogged to catch up with him.

"She's still at it?" he asked. "It's been almost two weeks."

Nraseri sighed dramatically. "I'm pretty sure she's made me sharpen every weapon on Berk."

At least that one thing hadn't changed. Even with all the attention he'd been getting, Beatrice still wasn't interested in Hiccup at all.

"Well, at least we'll be ready for the next raid. Oh, speaking of raids, Terrors like shiny things, right?"

"Yes," Nraseri nodded, slowly. "Why?"

"Just checking."

There were already a few villagers waiting for training to start when they got there. Hiccup selected the shiniest shield he could find, one that he had polished himself the day before, and joined the others in the arena.

Nraseri had found a perch high enough that Beatrice couldn't find him and waved at Hiccup. Hiccup waved back.

"All right, ye lot," Gobber bellowed. "Come on. We don't have all day."

The teens crowded in front of the enormous oak doors on the far side of the arena, weapons clutched in their hands. Gobber was grinning like a madman, rubbings his hand over the top of his hammer prosthetic.

"Today, you will learn that size isn't everything. Even the smallest dragon can be dangerous. Behind this door," he gestured to a small flap in the bottom of the door, "is one of the most unpredictable dragons you'll face." He grabbed the lever for the barred doors. "Behold, the Terrible Terror!"

The door flapped and a streak of green darted out. The Terror stopped a foot away and stared up at them. It tilted its head and licked its eyeball.

"Hah!" Tuffnut snorted. "That thing's like the size of my—"

The Terror pounced.

Tuffnut screamed as it latched onto his nose. He fell back and landed heavily, screeching and scrambling to get the creature to let go. The Terror held fast.

"I got it!" Ruffnut swung her shield at her brother's face, missing by an inch as he flailed.

Hiccup was ready. He hefted his shield higher and angled it until it caught the sunlight. The Terror froze and let go of Tuffnut's face. It scuttled over and pounced on the little beam of light that reflected on the stone. Hiccup could barely breathe as he led the little dragon back toward the flap in the door. It scrabbled in and he wedged it shut with his foot.

Someone cheered overhead, joined by a dozen more voices. Hiccup looked up at the crowd of Vikings watching.

By the Norns. There were twice as many as before. Cheering for him.

Nraseri looked shocked. His mouth hung open slightly and his eyes were wide.

Hiccup grinned broadly.

"Hey," a too-loud voice woke him the next morning. "Hiccup. Get up."

"Whazzit?" Hiccup blinked and squinted up at the source of the interruption. "Toothless?"

Nraseri was practically buzzing with energy. He was already dressed and had a pack slung over one shoulder. "Come on, get up. We've got things to do. Places to be."

"It's barely even sunrise!" Hiccup moaned. He pulled the blanket over his head and rolled over. Some of the villagers had thrown a small party despite his objections, and he hadn't been able to sneak out until after midnight when most of them were well into their cups.

"Can't your surprise wait a few more hours?"

"Nope. I saw the Night Fury."

Hiccup shot up. "Really?"

Nraseri smirked. "Kidding."

Hiccup flopped back onto the bed. "Ugh, that's not funny."

"Aw, come on." Nraseri peered over at him, still grinning. "I do have something to show you. Meet me downstairs in five minutes."

And he darted downstairs, leaving Hiccup to idly re-evaluate their friendship as he begrudgingly pulled himself out of bed.

The sun hadn't even peeked over the horizon as Nraseri ushered him out the door. "Here." He tossed Hiccup a loaf of bread. "Eat while we walk." He pulled out a couple of burlap sacks from the pack slung over his shoulder and handed one to Hiccup. "You'll need this later."

"What are we doing?"

"You'll see." And then he was off.

Hiccup rolled his eyes and followed Nraseri through the village and into the forest.

"Watch your step," Nraseri called a few paces ahead. "The forest is different in the dark." He picked his way through the forest with ease, barely making a sound. Slowly, the sun began to filter through the trees as they walked, and the twittering of birds sounded above their heads.

Hiccup thought they were going in the direction of the Cove, but Nraseri veered off to the left at the last moment and led him further into the forest. After about a half-hour, the trees thinned, and the terrain turned rocky.

Nraseri bounded on ahead. "We're almost there, I promise."

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief when they finally stopped on an outcropping of rocks. Nraseri hopped onto the nearest boulder and scanned the clearing.

"What are we doing?" Hiccup asked.

"We're watching the sunrise."

"I don't think we need empty bags to do that."

"Oh, the bags? You're collecting rocks."

"Rocks."

"Rocks. Specifically, limestone, sandstone, and iron ore."

Hiccup stared at him. "Why?"

"Consider it training. Now get to it. We don't have all morning!"

From the top of the boulder, Toothless watched as Hiccup moved through the clearing, picking out fist-sized rocks and dropping them in the bag. Once filled, he lugged it back to where Toothless was sitting.

"Are you going to tell me what these rocks are for?"

Toothless flashed a smile. "Gronckle Iron."

The change was instantaneous. "Really?" Hiccup practically shouted. "You're going to show me how to make Gronckle Iron?"

"I thought we could experiment with it in the forge. Oh, and you're going to want to keep it down or you'll scare away our guest."

Hiccup frowned. Then, his eyes widened. "A Gronckle."

"Now you're getting it." he hopped down from the boulder and hoisted one of the sacks up. "Follow me. Quietly."

On the far side of the rocks was a lumbering shape that Toothless had spotted the day before. A female Gronckle that was peaceable enough to allow a human to approach it. Her reddish scales helped her blend with the sandstone rocks, making this clearing a perfect place to look for fuel for her lava. She narrowed her eyes when they came closer.

Hiccup's pace slowed when he saw her. "You brought dragon nip, right?" he asked.

"Nope."

"What?" he said, his voice cracking slightly.

"We can't use dragon nip if we want to get the iron," Toothless explained. "It compromises the strength of the metal." He rummaged through one of the sacks and fished out a lump of sandstone."

"Are you sure this is safe? Because I really don't want to get trampled."

"Well considering this is a wild animal, no, it's not safe. There's a reason I'm doing this part and you're standing over there."

Toothless extended his hand out to the Gronckle, sandstone flat in his palm. "Hello there,sister," he murmured. The Gronckle started.

Now that he had its attention, he switched to Norse and spoke louder so that Hiccup could hear him. "Easy. We're not here to hurt you. We just need your help for a bit."

The dragon sniffed his hand warily, her large nostrils flaring as she took in his scent. She scooped up the sandstone and ate it. Then, she eyed his hand again and, after a moment, pressed her head into his hand. Toothless gave her a little scratch under her chin. The dragon let out a rumble of pleasure.

He'd spent the better half of the night in deep conversation with the Gronckle in the training ring, trading stories back and forth. She'd seemed relaxed, given her predicament, and had been even more intrigued than the Nadder about the humans. She'd happily agreed to let Hiccup in on the secret.

He turned to Hiccup. "You can come closer. Put your hand on her snout where mine is."

Hiccup hesitated. He reached out and hovered his hand over the dragon's snout. Toothless moved his own hand. The Gronckle eyed Hiccup for a moment, her pupils narrowing slightly before dilating, and she pressed her snout into his hand.

Hiccup let out a laugh of disbelief. "This…this is amazing! Does this work on all dragons?"

"Most of them, yes," Toothless said. "You have to gain their trust. For a Gronckle, it's through their stomach."

Hiccup turned back to the dragon. "Hey, girl," he said, fondness colouring his tone. He copied what Toothless had done and scratched her jawline. "Nice to meet you."

The Gronckle rumbled happily and rolled over on her side so that Hiccup could scratch her stomach.

Toothless watched them both and nodded to himself. "Now that that's taken care of, we can make the Iron. Gronckle Iron is made from sandstone, iron ore, and limestone. Feed those to a Gronckle and have them spew lava. Once it cools, you have the metal."

"So, it's dragon vomit."

"You're in a good mood."

But Hiccup was shaking his head. "No, I mean that the Gronckle actually produces the metal. I've never heard of anything like this."

"Neither had I until I fed the wrong thing to one. I spent a week trying to figure out exactly what I'd given it before I found the right combination. Something about the makeup of the Gronckle purifies the iron, apparently. I came across something similar in the south, but the Roman's purified iron wasn't as strong or as light. Anyway," Toothless waved his hand, "enough talking. Grab the rocks, no particular order and go ahead."

Hiccup handed the Gronckle a few rocks at a time. The dragon scarfed them down happily.

"This part is a bit trickier. You can use a feather to tickle the dragon's belly to get them to spew the lava up, but you can also use the scratching technique. Just behind the foreleg like this." Toothless reached down and tickled the dragon behind its foreleg. It snorted and belched out a pool of lava. He gave her a scratch under the chin.

"And there you go. Wait for it to cool and you have Gronckle Iron."

Hiccup was staring in awe. "That's amazing."

"So, Hiccup, what do you want to make?"

Hiccup thought for a moment. "I've got a few ideas…."