A/N:
Thanks to VigoGrimborne for betaing, and thank you, dear reader, for tagging along. What's a performer without his audience, eh?

MysteryWriter175 – Hey, good to hear from you, thanks for dropping a line! Why, yes, I did spend 2,000 words last chapter just so Striker could drop a Dr. Banner quote. Striker, SMASH!

Dragonrider's Fury – Whew, I'm glad I managed to make you hate Grimmel, because we'll see him again as a zombie vampire werewolf who can pass through walls and drain the life out of Toothless with a bite to the neck. Count Grimmel vants to sock your blood! Don't worry, we also learn that Frost is a paladin. Oh, and love hurts, so if it excites me to hear that I jerked your heartstrings a little, it's because I love you (platonically, of course).

Deadly-Bagel – Glitter bae – LOL! Hiccup is a staunch wingman. You're spot-on about how we're gonna fix Frost, but I have to throw in my own curveball, of course. It's in the contract, section 5, subsection 2, just before the part about how Ruffnut must speak only in innuendos after she first lays eyes on Eret. Oh, and thanks to your comment, I figured out how to make the last chapter read a bit better.


Fixed

Hiccup looked at Astrid pleadingly.

Astrid looked at Tuffnut with a shrug.

Tuffnut looked at Ruffnut, who looked at Eret, who looked at Valka, who looked up from Jorunn in her arms to Spitelout, who looked at Tord, who looked at Firebrand.

Firebrand nipped at Toothless, who swatted him with a paw as he looked at Hiccup.

Hiccup looked at the two caged Deathgrippers, whose venom he needed, and only got a snarl in return.

It turned out that their venom was very fragile, destroyed by heat and cold and pressure and moisture and sunlight – and everything else in existence. Grimmel had tried to harvest and use it many times, but every attempt was proven a failure when he shot a dragon with a dart containing Deathgripper venom. He was always limited to having the Deathgrippers sting a dragon to control him.

When the two Deathgrippers on this island had learned that their venom was needed, they shared these select memories just to spite Hiccup and Toothless.

"I GOT IT!" Tuffnut and Ruffnut suddenly shouted at the same time, raising their fists in the air.

"Oh, uhh, you go first, Bro."

"Oh, no, ladies first."

"Nah, I really wanna hear what you got."

"You don't really got it, do you?" Tuffnut insinuated.

Ruffnut stuck out her chin. "Do too! I just wanna hear your idea first, but it seems you don't have one."

"Do too!"

"Not!"

Tuffnut looked at Hiccup.

Hiccup looked at the two Deathgrippers. "C'mon, guys, please?"

The Deathgrippers hissed angrily at him. They were being so… temperamental!

Astrid elbowed Hiccup. "Well, Babe, this was your idea."

Hiccup groaned. "I know, and I was so sure I could get through to them…"

"It was a very inspiring speech," Tord chimed in.

"Touching," Eret added.

Snotlout sniffled and wiped at his eye with a sleeve. His father groaned and slapped him on the back of the head. "We can officially say it made a grown man cry," he quietly grumbled.

Tofa snorted. "Well, if I was a selfish, greedy dragon with a mind-controlling venom and world domination aspirations, I would have been moved to action by your insightful words."

Hiccup smiled at that. "Thanks for the support, guys. Someone else wanna try?"

"We should try singing!" Tuffnut hollered excitedly.

The Deathgrippers threw back their heads and let out an ear-piercing screech – until Toothless and Firebrand shot a couple small fireballs at their – thankfully dragon-proof – cages.

HIccup looked at the double portcullis doors down the ramp that led to the arena, then back at the Deathgripper cages that had been hauled from the far side of the island. Honestly, they should have been feeling grateful to have such large cages. Both of them could have fit in a cage half that size with room to spare.

"Frost is your mate," Hiccup insisted to Toothless. "I'm officially delegating this to you."

Toothless groaned. {You know me, Firefly. I'm a dragon, I'm not one for inspiring compassion in others. You're the one who always comes up with silly, unworkable plans that are destined to explode in our faces and still, somehow, against all reason, work in the end.}

Astrid nodded. "Point there."

Hiccup gave her a look of mock ire. "Hey!"

Snotlout punched a fist into an open hand. "How about we interrogate them? Or maybe knock one of them out, drag him over, and shove the stinger in."

"Ohh, that has a nice ring to it," Valka said.

"See?" Snotlout threw his hands wide and smirked triumphantly. "Valka approves, so you know it's genius!"

"But would that work?" Fishlegs asked. "And there could be unforeseen consequences if we do it that way. And what if they wake up in time to mess things up by giving bad orders?"

Snotlout's hands flung up in frustration with a dramatic groan. "See, this is why I never offer my ideas. Some people can never appreciate true genius."

Toothless suddenly stilled. He slowly turned his eyes to Hiccup with a toothless grin that was downright evil.

{Firefly, I accept your delegation. I have an idea. It's foolproof!}

Hiccup beamed. "Atta boy! Alright, lay it on me."

{I simply convince them to tell me everything they can about how their venom works, but you will not like it.}

"Right, right. So…"

As impossible as it seemed, the draconic grin became even more sinister. {You will absolutely hate my idea.}

The dragon edged away from Hiccup and pressed a snout to Astrid's shoulder. Her eyes widened. "Oh gods!" Her jaw dropped. "But can you really… Are you sure you can– … Yes, but then how– … Oh… Oh yes! I love it!"

A sinister grin spread over her face. All the other riders seemed to be in on Toothless' mysterious plan. All the dragons turned to him.

Hiccup walked towards his dragon with his hand outstretched, having been left out of the conversation without any contact. "Alright, guys, let me in on–"

Toothless shuffled back and Astrid held out a hand to stop Hiccup.

Firebrand nipped at Toothless.

Toothless snapped back.

Meatlug buzzed by him, spinning to whack him with her club-like tail.

Skullcrusher charged forward and scooped Toothless up on his snout, rearing up to send him tumbling down to the ground.

Two Skrills flew in, their spines alive with crackling sparks.

"Stop!" Hiccup pleaded. This was far more intense than their play fights!

Astrid pulled him into an iron-gripped hug. "Oh, Hiccup, have I ever told you how amazing your dragon is?" Hiccup tried to squirm free, but Astrid hooked an arm under his armpit, and they ended up wrestling on the ground.

Firebrand flicked a wing at the bottom of Toothless' throat, causing him to gag. Toothless responded with an enraged lunge but met only empty air.

Barf, the gas-spewing head of a Zippleback, spewed out a cloud of noxious green gas into Toothless' face. Belch, the other head, snaked down to bite his leg, causing him to gasp and choke on the gas.

Teeth almost reaching the Zippleback, Toothless was yanked away hard by Cloudjumper biting down on his scruff to haul him around and send him tumbling to the side. Toothless rolled and landed on all fours, rebounding at the offending dragon, teeth bared, claws out–

A Skrill shocked the Night Fury's tail. He whipped around.

"Guys!" Anything else Hiccup had to say was cut off when Astrid – straddling him on the ground – pressed her lips hard into his, her hand pulling on the back of his head.

Hiccup realized that Toothless was literally asking for this sort of treatment, and he had a suspicion why. Those few times the Night Fury had absorbed lightning to strike elsewhere in the blink of an eye, he was in a boiling rage…

Kingstail slapped Toothless with his tail and then sprinted away. Toothless snarled in a frenzied rage and leaped in deathly pursuit–"

A Skrill shot a steady stream of bright sparks at Toothless as he passed by, and they danced around his body. Toothless shot out an unstable fireball that exploded right in front of him–

Hiccup could think of only one place that Toothless would need to blink to, and he whipped his head around just in time to see Toothless inside one of the Deathgripper cages, the end of the tail gripped in his mouth, the stinger almost instantly thrust into his neck.

The Deathgripper tried to fight back, but with such long limbs in a confined space, Toothless had no difficulty in dodging those sword-like claws. He bit down on a wing and twisted hard to break it with a loud CRACK!

The Deathgripper tried to whirl around to impale Toothless, but a shove forward snared his claws in the bars of the cage as Toothless broke the other wing and even took the time to tear it off entirely. One long claw was worked free, but Toothless seized control of the offending limb and drove the claw hard through the dragon's torso. The other found a similar home, impaling through the back of the thigh and into the stomach – something that would have been physically impossible were it still attached to the body,

Toothless pressed himself up against the bars of the cage, and a Skrill shot more sparks at him. An instant later, in a flash of purple fire and smoke, he was in the other cage, biting the Deathgripper's tail behind the stinger and bulb to rip it off.

There was no fight to be had. The Deathgripper was curled up, shaking and trembling, terrified, no doubt begging for a quick death, which it was promptly given.

"Toothless!" Hiccup shouted as he was allowed to hastily shoot up to his feet, worried and angry and shocked and affronted and… everything! "What did you… How did… Why…"

"Don't forget who, where, and when," Tuffnut casually threw in with a grin.

Ruffnut slithered against Eret's side, "I want you to do that to me. All of it!"

Eret stared at her, his jaw bobbing as he tried to come up with some way to express his thoughts about that. He gave up and suddenly scooped her up in one arm and ran into the village to find their home.

"Like a fox to a trap, does a man act on impulsive lust," Spitelout mused as he shoved his way in to insert a key into the lock and open the cage door.

Toothless strutted out, Deathgripper tail grasped in his teeth, head held high.

{They told me everything, nothing held back. And to address one of the many questions you have, I did it this way so that you can honestly tell yourself that you had no warning or ability to stop what just happened.}

"But… but…"

{Also, Frost wanted me to make them suffer and die.}

Hiccup saw a memory shared by Toothless. Astrid was walking out of their house with her ax to train, Hiccup holding their newborn that was only two days old. "There's no arguing with a woman, Toothless, I tell you."

{See? Technically, I was only acting on your advice. Now, come, we don't have much time to spare.}

Hiccup limply trailed along, still trying to come to terms with everything he just saw. "It's a marvel I haven't pulled out all my hair with you being so… Toothless!"

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Frost paced back and forth in her stone cave, sealed off from the rest of the world, eager for what was to come. One of the main reasons why she was trapped in here was because she did not want to harm Firefly by being allowed to carry out her last command.

She would never admit to this, but she was starting to respect him. His rulership over these land-striders looked more like a position of servitude rather than a privilege. His mate and offspring naturally came first, but his dedication to Toothless, even to the end of begging him to fly off with Frost to live a fulfilling life with her no matter how much it would sting to lose him… How could one ignore that?

Firefly's plan to fix Frost was so obvious in hindsight that it seemed ridiculous that nobody thought of the idea before him. It was a talent land-striders had, as demonstrated by many memories that Toothless had shared. The critters called it many things, like "imagination" or "inspiration" or "revelation", but no matter the workings behind it, Firefly's idea simply made sense. He was already a land-strider that she could tolerate – he had demonstrated that he was more loyal to his dragon than to himself – but if his plan really worked, she might truly–.

No! That would be bad. Land-striders were evil. Except for Master– No, especially Master! She watched him die, impaled and torn apart by the long, sharp claws of the very dragons he thought he could trust, the same dragons who thought they were using him to secure themselves as alphas over all other dragons.

Even still, she knew that she was still subject to the commands he had given her, though she wished she had the land-strider talent of forgetting things. The one who commanded her to tear Firefly apart was already dead, but just smelling him or knowing that he was nearby sent her into a frenzy that drove her head into the stone wall.

Toothless had projected his senses as he dealt with those two caged sting-tail dragons. It was on her request that he was excessively brutal with them. He got what he needed to fix her… And a lot more, things she had chosen not to share with him, and not all of it was withheld because of her conditioning from the mind-altering venom.

Her time of growth was a time of hiding and fleeing, that much she had revealed. Her dam and sire would find a suitable nest for their clutch that was far removed from land-striders, but land-striders constantly spread out and hunted dragons. The leaves grew on the trees and fell several times, more hiding, and being discovered, and fleeing, and hiding.

It wasn't working, though. Her sire and dam died. Frost and her clutchmates were old enough to disperse anyway, but many stayed with her. A few left and were never seen again, save for a white-scaled head, seen from afar, mounted on a stick at the top of one of the land-strider nests.

Those who remained with Frost died, one by one, when dragons raided land-strider nests or the other way around. They were not as smart, or not as fast, or not as fortunate.

Well, one of them survived, but that was a shame. Frost did not know it initially, but he was under the effects of those sting-tail dragons. He had led her to a safe location, except it wasn't safe. He did to Frost what she would end up doing to Toothless, stepping on some land-strider mechanism that stung Frost. She was faster to react than Toothless, though, and killed her clutchmate for his betrayal before she lost consciousness.

From then on, she was a thrall to Master, that white-haired land-strider. It was the venom of a particular type of dragon that allowed him to command her, but for some reason, the commands were more effective when delivered from him than even the dragon who stung her.

Master allowed her some freedom, commanding her to deliver a certain result but leaving her to decide how to carry it out, rightfully confident that she had no choice but compliance. Toothless was not her first victim, or her second, or third, or forth. Including the white-scaled dragons like Frost, Toothless was her tenth victim.

Except for Toothless, none of them had a loyal land-strider to help them. Master had no desire to have command over them. "They're natural alphas, with their long-range communication and explosive bursts of energy that can win them any fight if it doesn't drag out too long," he once said, looking at a black dragon. He glanced over at a sting-tail. "I assume you'd rather not have him meddling with your dominion over what will become your flock?"

The sting-tailed dragons responded by tearing the black dragon apart even while he was still unconscious.

Though Frost knew it was hopeless, whenever she laid eggs, she always held out for some hope that they would go unnoticed. That hope was burned to ashes every time.

"Really?" Master once demanded, amused. "Eggs again? I can't complain about how effective you are at bringing dragons to me, but… Excusez mon français, mademoiselle, but must you fuck every viable male you bring to death?"

He prodded one of the eggs with his toe, and a venomous stinger was jabbed into her neck. "You spawned these eggs, but they are a burden. Smash them."

There was no hesitation, only compliance.

The first time Master traveled up to the islands where dragons and land-striders learned to coexist, he had stayed far away from his enemies, edging around them and seeking any sources of resistance he could easily remove. While Frost was seeking out dragons to lure back to Master, she had come across a great sea dragon, her life fading with two gaping wounds through her torso. Frost offered what little help she could, barely enough to keep the creature from dying. Master did not tell her to do anything with great sea dragons, so helping this one seemed to be a good way to spite him. She did truly hate him even though her conditioning prevented her from harming or disobeying him.

The second time they traveled to those islands, Master felt that he was ready to directly confront his enemy. Frost was there, standing several wingspans upwind on a command to avoid picking up any land-strider scent, when Master spoke with the alpha of that very large flock of land-striders who had come for the direct assault.

"Ah, see, already, some promise," Master idly commented as he looked up. Several dragons were flying in, some acting on his commands to lure the others and aid the land-striders in capturing them.

Another land-strider whistled in admiration. "I'll admit, Grimmel, I had my doubts, but good God, just one or two more rounds, and those Bewilderbeasts will surely come to us to get them." He slapped a large, fat, ugly iron stick next to him and displayed his decayed teeth in a wide grin. "And we'll be ready!"

That wide smile spread over Master's face. "Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook?"

"Huh?"

Master shrugged as he turned around. "Nevermind. I must be off to remove chief Hiccup and his Night Fury from the picture. Already got him hooked on," he gestured to Frost, "her. Somehow even got his tailfin healing up, easier to lure the dragon alone when he doesn't need his rider to fly."

He looked down from his perch on the sting-tail's back. "Godspeed, and I pray you and your men don't get cocky when you move in to take Berk."

The other land-strider waved it off. "Bah, you jest." He gestured to the countless land-striders and dragon-killing weapons all around. "They could have ten times the numbers we're expecting and we'll still crush them!"

Master was unimpressed. "That's my concern, that you will allow them to run you through with the sword of Gideon."

"Sword of– Gid–..." He scratched his head. "Oh, with king David and the sling? I like that one."

Master didn't bother answering, already mounting up on a sting-tail dragon to seek out a good spot to have Frost stung again to give her new commands.

All of this, Frost never could share with Toothless – or anyone. She could not even tell Toothless that he was her favorite victim, and if there was one dragon she could choose to sire her hatchlings – if they could ever be allowed to hatch – with all the dangers he had overcome through sheer tenacity, it would be him.

No, that could never happen, and not for a lack of trying. Master made sure she couldn't mention anything that could introduce suspicions of Master, the sting-tails, or their control over her. He was very thorough in his preparations, so much so that it had seemed a miracle when Firefly confronted him and was allowed to jump off the sea stack – the beginning of the end of Master. No creature was perfect. "Only human," Master had sheepishly muttered as he mounted up to give chase.

All Toothless could know was what he extracted from a terrified sting-tail who was under the effect of his own venom – lessened as it was – and willing to do anything to be put out of his suffering.

Frost felt around with her senses, not as capable as a black dragon but still quite perceptive, curious and terrified of how he would respond to all of this. He knew that he was just another target for her, another enemy of Master to lure to his death. She mated with him, but that was only to gain his trust, and because it was one of the few ways she could glean any satisfaction from such a life.

Earlier this morning, he was of the mind to act on a plan Firefly had to fix Frost, to free her of her thralldom to her dead Master, but why would he even bother now, after learning that she had used him, and only after he and his rider freed her from Master had she started to feel–

{Frost, I want you to know that I still plan to sire our hatchlings with you, and my feelings for you have not changed.}

That was Toothless. Frost's breath caught in her throat.

All this time, the black dragon was projecting a slow trickle of impressions for his rider to share the barest summary of what he had learned from those sting-tails, currently showing how they enjoyed watching Frost act on commands given to her to crush her own eggs. Frost started to pay close attention to those two, to the passive hum of their emotions. The grief and outrage boiling off of Firefly rivaled that which Frost had felt but was unable to act on.

He actually felt pity for her, they both did. It took Frost some time to grapple with such a concept.

As they drew close, she could feel her claws and jaw twitch, seeking Firefly's flesh and blood. She could smell him. She could hear him. Toothless projected his own sight, mindful to look away from Firefly. Firefly's mate, Zealot, ran ahead with the torn-off tail stinger in her hands. She was not Firefly, so she was safe.

The feeding hatch slid aside, and Frost wasted no time. She dove at it, flattening herself on her belly, scrabbling at the stone to press the base of her neck to the opening. She was ready to be done with this subjugation to her dead Master. Even if she ended up as a thrall to one of these land-striders, they couldn't be as bad as him.

The stinger was thrust in, and Frost could feel the venom flow in as Zealot squeezed the bulb behind the stinger. It remained longer than normal, but it was eventually pulled out, and Frost stood again, hardly noticing the small trickle of blood. It was a familiar feeling, the venom rushing through her body, making her feel light and airy… as if her mind was floating away… leaving her body behind… and…

The familiar sensation… of her thoughts… dissolving… grinding… to… a…

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Hiccup swallowed as the large, stone door was opened. Everyone stood several paces behind him, and even as much as Toothless wanted to be ready to leap into action, he was at least willing to stand just behind him.

In the yawning darkness inside the opening that his eyes could not penetrate, he knew Frost stood. He had already considered what to say, how to phrase things, having talked it over with Fishlegs and Astrid.

A garden is made to thrive against an invasion of weeds, not by adding more plants, but by removing the weeds. He knew he had only one chance to get this right.

"Light Fury, Frost, come here!" he called out, imitating how Grimmel had begun his command to Frost. Grimmel was the reigning expert on how to command a dragon to the greatest effect, so imitating his methods – short of the intent to break a dragon to his will – seemed like the best approach.

The sleek, shimmering form of Frost drew forward with impossible grace. He could tell that Toothless tensed, ready to intervene. Terrified of ruining everything if he said something wrong, Hiccup slowly waved a hand behind him to encourage Toothless to calm down.

It's go time!

He waited until Frost stood only a few paces away, staring vacantly at him through the needle slits of her pupils. If there was ever a single sight that he did not want to see from Frost, this took a close second place to that time she laid some eggs and–

No, he couldn't dwell on that. Frost was depending on him, and as a human whose words were more potent than a dragon's projections, as the best friend of Frost's mate, and as the chief of this island, it had to be him giving the commands with his lips and with his heart. Everybody else agreed to hold their peace, even the dragons would avoid projecting anything, and hatchlings were moved to the far end of the island. He did not want to take any risk of thistles being seeded in the garden of Frost's mind.

"Light Fury, Frost, hear my words and obey," he said. "You have been given many commands in the past, commands that you thought you had no choice but to follow. All of these commands are null and void. You will ignore all commands previously given to you by any other than myself."

He started to turn around to walk away. "That is all."

There were so many other things he wanted to say, like, "Choose your own path," or "Follow your heart." However, with the very specific exceptions of the restrictions and demands placed on her by Grimmel, she was already a free dragon. Besides, tampering with her mind any more, no matter how noble the intent, would make him no better than Grimmel.

He walked back a few paces, his dragon trailing him, then stopped and turned to face Frost. The effects of the venom would wear off any moment, and Frost would return to herself. She already knew the expectations and consequences on this island regarding things like theft or murder, so there was no need to make any mention of that, especially in her state. For all he knew, if he reminded her that theft would not be allowed on this island, she might become a vengeful enforcer of the law, killing anyone she caught short-changing another regardless of whether it was out of greed or a genuine misunderstanding.

That would be a disaster!

Eventually, that horrible, empty look washed away. She looked normal. Hiccup wanted to cheer and jump with joy and pump a fist in the air, but he didn't dare move or say anything, nor did anybody else, afraid of ruining the moment and accidentally tampering with her mind before she was entirely "back".

Frost stood there, looking at Hiccup, then at Toothless. Her eyes scanned the crowd behind him, then drifted upwards. Hiccup grinned from ear to ear as she lifted her wings and coiled her haunches to–

She lunged forward, claws out, teeth out. She bit down on her own paw that was shooting forward, sending her stumbling to the ground. She lay there a moment, breathing heavily, before she scrambled up, spun about, and took off into the sky with a shrieking roar.

Everybody looked at Hiccup.

"So, success?" he asked.

"I wouldn't turn my back," Astrid said, voice tight with worry.

"She did stop herself," Hiccup pointed out. "Maybe she just needs some time with the clouds and her thoughts. She was in there for a whole week, mind you, and you know how antsy a couple days can make any dragon."

He turned to Toothless. "You're not going after her?"

Toothless shook his head. {She knows where I am.}

"There might still be some Deathgrippers out there."

"He raises a good point," Astrid added. "Don't worry, we'll be fine. Go get her."

{What if she comes back for you? Or what if some other danger arises?}

Hiccup waved him off. "Don't worry!" Dart flitted to his shoulder to puff out his chest and fan his wings.

Toothless gave a very unimpressed look.

"You worry too much, and she needs you. At least keep an eye on her for a bit?"

Toothless eventually conceded. He gave a lick to his rider and Astrid, then turned around and shot up into the sky.

Valka gave Cloudjumper a light whack with her staff and gestured skyward. The dragon grumbled, then gave her a lick and took off to keep an eye on Toothless.

"Think we'll see her again?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup shrugged. "For her sake, a part of me wants to say yes, and another part wants to say no."

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Frost narrowed her eyes as Toothless flared his wings to land. He trotted up to a few wingspans away, sensor lobes raised with a friendly croon.

Frost dug her claws into the sandy beach, body tense. Toothless looked down at what held her attention and growled.

They both leaped at the same time, biting down and snarling through clenched teeth.

Frost pulled back, willing Toothless to burst into flames. {Mine!}

Toothless resisted, standing his ground. {Not anymore!}

She pulled harder. {I was used!}

{So was I!}

Frost whined, her grip slackened, but Toothless crooned reassuringly as he projected an image of the sting-tail dragons and a certain white-haired land-strider. He blamed them for everything.

Feeling more confident, a white wingtip shot forward to whack the black dragon's head. {It was worse for me!}

Toothless weathered the blows without even a flinch. {Don't think that you alone have suffered!}

{I was betrayed by my own clutchmate!}

{And I was betrayed by my mate!}

{I was forced to crush my own eggs!}

Toothless' jaw dropped and he flopped to his back, writhing in the sand and howling in sympathy. Without any resistance, Frost stumbled back and tumbled head-over-tail, her prize still clutched in her mouth.

She let it fall to the ground and stared at it thoughtfully. Those sting-tailed dragons had been brief in killing it, and even before she and Toothless fought over it, it was difficult to recognize with how it had decayed.

Toothless walked up and nuzzled her, purring reassuringly. {Your past is behind you. It has defined what you are, but it does not have to define what you will become.} She stared at him, contemplating that deep, insightful bit of wisdom. {Firefly told me that, once.}

Her sensor lobes and her posture drooped.

Toothless gave her a gummy grin. {There has never been a time in your life when you were as safe as you are now. My nest is objectively the safest place you can fly to and lay your eggs with my rider and myself as alphas over every living thing that isn't food. You do realize this, yes?}

Frost stared at the chewed, torn-up thing in front of her. It was her master, the one that the land-striders called "Grimmel".

She flicked a glance at Toothless. {Yes.}

She built up a large fireball as she took a step back, then let it go. It violently exploded, showering them with sand and blood.

She licked some of it off Toothless' snout, and his eyes fluttered. They suddenly leaped and clashed, growling, crawling over each other, relentlessly nibbling and licking each other clean.

They would both be walking funny the next day.