A/N: At a certain point towards the end of writing this chapter, I started listening to the first minute of "As Long As He's Safe" from the HTTYD3 soundtrack, just because I love the films' soundtrack. I made a song req last chapter as well, in case you guys like to visualize to songs like me, and I'll probably put those in going forward for these last few chapters!

Murmurs of "What is that?" caught Valka's and Astrid's attention and they rushed to see Moon scream in panic, turning around in mid-air as she realized where she'd led Grimmel in her panic to escape. She tried to dive back into the fog to lead them another way. But just then, Darling shot from the wall of gray and collided with her mid-air, grappling with her so that they both began to fall towards the rocky beach.

"No!" Valka cried, reaching out for Cloudjumper as the other Deathgrippers airship burst forth as well.

"Ah," Grimmel shouted as they appeared. "People of Berk! There you are! Finally, Alpha, your flock can watch you die!" He vaulted to the other side of his ship, where a harpoon was loaded into its mechanism, and aimed the killing device down at Toothless—who was gone! "WHAT?!" the Warlord roared.

The Night Fury was dropping, wings extended, away from the airship to pick up speed. The trap hung limply, swinging in mid air. Toothless glanced back with a cheeky grin and Grimmel's eyes widened. His tail was whole again!

"Impossible!"

"POSSIBLE!" Hiccup's one good foot connected with his stomach as the Dragon Rider swung into him, and Grimmel was nearly thrown off the ship.

"You!" Grimmel yelled, catching himself on a cable. "You're alive!"

"Unfortunately for you?" Hiccup yelled back, bringing the harpoon up to aim at what connected one of the Deathgrippers to its ledge, "YES!"

He fired, and, with a squawk from the dragon as it suddenly snapped away from the airship, the device was torn away from the rest of the airship. The other Deathgrippers shrieked and tried to compensate for the loss of one of their supports, but the ship, unbalanced, tipped to the side. Hiccup lurched towards the center, where Grimmel found footing easily. The Dragon Rider pulled himself out of his reach, swinging one foot and then another onto a horizontal support beam as the airship spiraled.

Grimmel lunged for him but just missed, and Hiccup clambered as quickly as he could to another Deathgripper's outcrop. The dragons floundered, flapping their wings but still being dragged down. Hiccup had to use every ounce of balance he had not to fall as Grimmel climbed after him, the air swirling around the tilting and spiraling ship and pushing his hair into his face.

Some ways away, as they were battling in mid-air, Darling and Moon-guider heard the scream of Toothless's inhale and looked towards him just as he spat fire at them. The blast knocked Darling away and freed Moon, who righted herself and dove through a shot of her own to become invisible, while Toothless whirled around to get back to Hiccup, who let out a yell.

Darling chased after him.

"GET HIM!" Grimmel commanded his dragons, clambering below him to get to him.

Hiccup crouched as he got to the Deathgripper's ledge and lunged to grab hold of the cable connecting it to the dragon. Above him, with the collar around its neck, it writhed and swiped down at him, but each time it did so the ship fell a step and its pack mates roared in alarm. It sprayed fiery acid wildly, but couldn't aim it.

Toothless's fire connected with the handhold diagonal to the one the Hiccup had freed at first and the airship balanced, but still the two remaining dragons had to work ever harder to hold it up. The Night Fury swept past them, roaring at the Deathgrippers and trying to draw their attention away from Hiccup.

As Grimmel emerged above the top plane of the airship, tall and eerily lanky, and let out a sharp whistle, Hiccup clutched the cable and held his prosthetic leg carefully, mindful of how easy it would be to slip.

On his left, just out of arms-reach, Darling rose into view, glaring at him. She glanced at Grimmel for orders, and he pulled himself onto the same level as Hiccup, standing confidently atop the airship's metal beams. He said, "Well, my friend, it seems it's time for our little game to come to an end. Don't feel bad, though; you tried your best. But there's no way out of this."

He clicked his tongue, a smirk on his face, and Darling's eyes widened. Her eyes locked onto Hiccup and she opened her mouth to spray acid.

And she hesitated.

Looking at her, Hiccup saw his reflection in her eyes… just before another freed Deathgripper's scream drew his attention away and green acid slopped down at him as it dive-bombed them, just narrowly avoiding its pack mate. Hiccup threw himself backwards from the airship and unfurled his wing-suit, its extra-long wings carrying him away from the acid as it caught fire and ate through the cable.

With a creaking metallic twang, it snapped and the dragon was released.

Only one Deathgripper left struggling to keep the tower airborne, the whole thing swung away from where it had been holding steady, and the dragon wailed as it was pulled down, spinning. The airship came swinging towards Hiccup as he glided away, massive and metal.

Grimmel threw himself away from it as the momentum dragged his Deathgripper further down through the air and towards Hiccup. Darling dove with a roar to catch him.

The airship grew closer and closer, eating up Hiccup's lead on it until its spinning limbs swept his feet out from behind him, tearing his gliding wings—

"TOOTHLESS!" he yelled, just as the solo-flying Night Fury flashed past, grabbing him by the chest with his forelegs. The dragon roared triumphantly and Hiccup laughed with the adrenaline. "Hey, bud! Look who can fly on his own!" The Night Fury looked under him at his best friend and smiled.

—

"GET THE DRAGONS INTO THE MOUNTAIN!"

On the ground, Valka and Astrid on Cloudjumper and Stormfly were shouting and herding both people and dragons out of the path of the spiraling airship, or else it would collide with them in moments.

"Get out! Get out of the way!" Valka yelled from Cloudjumper, the dragon flapping its massive four wings to shoo Berkians and dragons towards the mountain.

The airship moments away, Astrid and Stormfly ducked into a partially-constructed building and she spotted a child looking around, bewildered.

"ASTRID!" Valka screamed from outside, and, eyes widening, she jumped down from Stormfly to grab the child around the waist. Stormfly shrieked and dove down to shield Astrid and the kid with her body and her wings in the same instant that the ceiling splintered and the metal airship came through it.

—

Toothless spun upside down, tossing Hiccup into the air so that when he completed the spin he'd land on his back where he was supposed to be, although without a saddle. Hiccup looked back at the wreckage of the airship and the buildings and saw Cloudjumper and his mother jump into the mangled mess, heaving metal and beams out of the way. Someone must have been caught in it.

Hiccup did not know that it was Astrid.

Berk's dragons were racing into the mountain's tunnel for safety, but one Deathgripper was still chained to the airship, and if it woke up…

"Down there!" he urged his dragon, and pulled Toothless's aim towards the grounded airship.

And then.

Grimmel, from Darling's back, let out a long, shrill whistle, calling his dragons to him and they flew to him in a flurry. Valka glanced at the one still tied to the airship as it roared desperately, trying to get to him. But for the moment, it was smothered in metal and debris and splinters.

Hiccup and Toothless watched as the Deathgrippers all turned away, and Hiccup turned to see what Grimmel was planning. Toothless flapped to dodge one who was on the fastest path to Grimmel, right in his way.

He looked back towards the gathering dragons, eyes wide. Grimmel was aiming his crossbow down at Toothless, one eye closed.

But, behind them and to their right, where he clung to Darling, a Fury inhale shriek sounded and Moon-guider flashed into visibility again, diving towards him with speed that his dragons couldn't beat. At the very last moment he turned and watched her slam into him, tearing him away from his dragons.

He scrabbled at her neck to hold on.

"YEAHAHA!" Hiccup cheered to her. "Go Moon!"

She looked over at him and roared in excitement. Toothless returned the call, and looked back at the Deathgrippers, who dove after her—

And then Moon let out a strangled half-scream—

Her pupils thinned.

Grimmel climbed onto her back with his hand-held injector stabbed into her neck. He gave Hiccup an evil grin and took hold of Moon's head, leaning her into a crash-course with Hiccup and Toothless.

"No!" Hiccup gasped, and Toothless's eyes widened in panic.

They dodged over Grimmel and Moon-guider with a roar as he learned how to control her flight. He pulled her up and she pumped her wings into the air, gaining in altitude. Without checking with Hiccup, Toothless spread his wings wide and stopped himself, changing directions to chase her.

Deathgrippers swooped in to flank Moon as they climbed into the sky, which had become a whirling, turbulent cone of thick, black and green clouds, flashing as lightning struck somewhere in their midst.

"You have been a pain and a nuisance," Grimmel growled to Moon-guider as she kept flying further and further up, the lower clouds beginning to sting his face. The mass of darker ones loomed in his vision. His Deathgrippers, one on each side, roared as they tried to keep up. "You've saved him one too many times. Shall we see if he can save you?" He looked back. Wind whipped through his hair as he watched the Alpha Night Fury chase him. With one whistle and a gesture from him, the other three Deathgrippers closed in on them.

"Almost there, almost there, bud," Hiccup urged Toothless, glancing to either side as the drugged dragons got nearer.

Moon-guider and Grimmel disappeared into the mass of clouds. Toothless roared loudly as he lost sight of her and plunged in after. Dark clouds closed in around them, thicker than the fog, and smothered their vision.

Ahead, Grimmel called Darling closer and lifted himself off of Moonguider's back to hers. He took a bola out of his coat, unwinding the cords so that he could throw it. Blank-eyed, Moon still flew higher until they burst again through a cloud layer into a massive cavern of clouds, a storm-cell closing around them like a great titan, glowing a green-blue with the static energy.

As Toothless and Hiccup burst through the clouds, wisps trailing after the Night Fury's wings, a Deathgripper landed one of its claws on Toothless's upper tail, slowing him just long enough to allow another to surge forward and clasp its forelegs around the shoulders of his wings.

"WATCH OUT!" Hiccup shouted as the dragon's tail spike came swinging down at him from above. He ducked and Toothless rolled to the side as best he could while it was on top of him. Moon-guider got further away and yet another Deathgripper clamped onto them. Toothless roared desperately.

Ahead of them, Grimmel and Darling soared a little away from Moon-guider, letting her free-fly straight ahead, still drugged.

"She's headed for the worst part of the storm!" Hiccup said, realizing the ugliest section of the clouds, a glowing mass, was ahead of her. Still a long way away—clouds always were—but she was moving fast.

Grimmel smiled at them, and Toothless became furious. Lightning began bouncing around his scales.

—

"Astrid!" Valka yelled, tossing debris aside. Cloudjumper joined her, roaring as loudly as he could and using his wing hooks to dig through the house. To their left, the warped wreckage of the airship creaked and shifted, splintering more wood under it, the buildings that it had crushed fighting back as best they could.

Eret, Snotlout, and Fishlegs landed nearby on their dragons and Valka yelled, "Help me—" —she grunted as she tried to heave a beam away— "Astrid's under here!"

"Astrid?" Fishlegs's eyes widened. The other two rushed to her aid, but a surge of green acid cut between them sloppily and burst into flames on contact with oxygen. The last Deathgripper stumbled into view from the wreck, its collar mangled and its eyes erratically uneven. There were still injectors spiking it, but some of the drug was leaking down its face. As the drops traveled down, it snapped up, throwing its head side to side, trying to get at whatever was touching it. Snotlout and Eret drew their swords, and Valka threw her hand out.

"No! Don't hurt it! Just get the collar off!"

Hookfang and Skullcrusher joined their side, and Valka watched from the corner of her eyes as they roared and leapt towards the drugged and frightened Deathgripper, their humans rushing in after them.

"Mind the tail!" Eret bellowed to Snotlout and Fishlegs, dodging to the left as the Deathgripper crouched and stabbed at him, extending its tusks. As it pulled back again, this time to strike at Hookfang (who had set herself on fire and lunged forward, roaring), Eret and Fishlegs tackled the tail from opposite sides and slammed into each other.

The tail still free, Hookfang and the Deathgripper reared up to meet each other in a battle. Specks of fire flecked away violently as the scorpion dragon kicked Hookfang in the chest with its heavy forelegs, and landed on Valka's hand as she lifted with all her strength. Cloudjumper stuck his head under the weight and they caught sight of Stormfly's spines. Underneath them, the Nadder shifted uncomfortably so that her eye was peering out. She squawked.

"Hold on, girls, hold on," Valka said. Cloudjumper tossed his head up and Valka stepped down to push other unstable debris back. Stormfly shifted, pushing up with her back, and opened her wings as best she could.

Astrid appeared beneath her, and held up the child to be rescued.

Just as Valka lifted her up, Hookfang let out a scream and collapsed next to them, stunned. The Deathgripper approached, but was thrown to the side by Skullcrusher's full-strength ram, and to Cloudjumper's left the dragon slammed into the house's wreck. Still with his head high, the debris beneath the dragon's feet shifted and he let out a cry of alarm. Valka leapt gracefully to safety with the child as Astrid clambered out, turning to help free Stormfly when a flash of lightning exploded from the storm cell, accompanied by cacophonous thunder.

—

Toothless's eyes narrowed in a snarl of determination, eyes locked onto Moon-guider, and the inflamed storm-cell she was dead set on getting to. The bola in Grimmel's hands. She would be electrocuted and then he would make her fall. He would not let that happen. The Deathgrippers would not stop him from saving her. He inhaled, his body, his spines, his mouth, his nostrils glowing blue with firepower, and electric sparks began to dance down his body.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Hiccup asked uncertainly, glancing back.

Toothless's green eyes locked onto Grimmel as though the man would die before they left. The Night Fury screech continued until—

Lightning jumped from the clouds towards Toothless's body, gathering around him like they had in his grief, but this time somehow harsher, angrier. The electricity clung to his wings like ropes lifting him further.

We will NOT lose her!

Toothless screamed.

And then the discharge.

An electric explosion threw the Deathgrippers from his body with a shower of golden sparks and they toppled away from him, the storm wind catching their wings and flinging them away. One of them tried to catch themselves but disappeared from his sight before it could. Now, they could save Moon! Rain whipping his face, Toothless roared in triumph, heart swelling, and he propelled himself forward… and…

Hiccup didn't.

Then, with a mad cackle as he saw Toothless emerge from the explosion of electric sparks alone, Grimmel threw the bola. The heavy metal balls on the ends of it circled each other as it flew through the air—and hit the Light Fury, the ropes wrapping around her neck and encircling her wings, tangling her together. The syringe was knocked away from her neck and spun away into the storm.

Her blue eyes cleared and her body flipped head over tail. She could no longer fly. Her upward arc came to an end. A roar of fear, and then she was falling. Her eyes locked onto Toothless as she spun, still too far from him to be caught, and her eyes flew around to find Hiccup.

Where is he, where is he?

She screamed out, and Toothless replied, but she saw him.

Wide-eyed as she fell, Moon-guider watched the human falling too, limply, buffeted by the wind and the rain and the clouds. She screamed at him instead. Wake up! Wake up human, and unfurl your wings!

Time seemed to slow. Craning her head back to keep her eyes on him, she saw Toothless's roar of confusion, and then realization, and then panic. He turned around. His green eyes widened and his pupils thinned as he threw his wings out to stop himself, and Moon fell further and further below him. His head darted around and found Hiccup.

And Toothless dove towards him.

Above him, watching from Darling's back, Grimmel let out a wicked laugh. He whistled for the other free-flying Deathgripper. "Bring him to me!"

Hiccup was unconscious and limp, smoking as he fell, about to be swallowed up by the dark clouds they'd burst from. His wing suit was not unfurled. Moon let out a powerless call to try and wake him.

He didn't hear.

Toothless screamed to Moon-guider. This was no choice. Maybe if he reached him in time, he'd be able to get Moon, too.

They were both about to disappear into the clouds. When they swallowed them up, he wouldn't be able to find them until they were below the cloud layer, and then… the mountain would catch them.

Moon-guider writhed in her trap, struggling to free her wings. One wing. Anything. But the device held tight and she screamed from frustration, toppling head over tail through the air.

Toothless was going towards Hiccup, but he pulled towards her, wanting to save both.

What are you doing? Go towards him! Catch him!

But the guilt had hold of Toothless's heart, even while Moon-guider urged him away from her.

Looking still at Hiccup, and then spinning to see Toothless's frantic face, Moon turned her head away, twisting herself in the air until she was falling headfirst down.

A moment passed.

She screwed up her face, inhaling—

—and she spat fire out in front of her. With one final glance at the Night Fury, closed her eyes and fell through the explosion.

Toothless needed Hiccup more. And he didn't need to see this. He shouldn't have to make this decision.

A roar came from the Night Fury more pained than ever as she disappeared into thin air. The last glimpse of the still-visible bola wrapped around her was swallowed into the billowing clouds and she was gone. Still, in a moment that seemed to last ages, Toothless's eyes still searched for her where she had been.

And then he wheeled around with total certainty, angling his wings and allowing the storm to take him closer to Hiccup moments before his human was also enveloped in the dark clouds. A Deathgripper fell past him as Toothless plunged in to save Hiccup.

The clouds of the storm were almost solid now, the wind more powerful than he had ever experienced. Toothless cut through them the way he was born to, his wings powering him down, hopefully faster than Hiccup's gravity. He called out, praying his friend would wake up.

And finally, he burst through the bottom of the cloud layer, seeing Berk coming alive and flying up to meet them, although they were too far away.

Hiccup still fell, mere meters in front of Toothless and headed straight for the rocks of the mountain. The Deathgrippers dropped along with him, although not as streamlined as Hiccup's thin figure.

Watching from Cloudjumper's back, too far away to reach him, Valka's heart nearly stopped in its place.

Toothless's arms closed around Hiccup, and he unfurled his wings, nearly tearing them from their sockets as he tried to slow himself down, eyes searching frantically in the direction that Moon had disappeared. She was still missing. He screamed out for her. There was still time. He could still save both! But the mountain was coming close, and Hiccup was dead weight in his arms.

And another shriek sounded from the storm clouds.

The piercing, shrill, bone-chilling crescendo of the inhale of another Night Fury.