Hiccup rushed out of the nest Toothless had been sleeping in, the black dragon not far behind him.

"Chief Alvin, what's going on?" he asked.

"Ugh, it's happening, Dragon Rider! Drago's forces are breaking through!" Alvin pointed at the far wall of the castle. Drago's forces were almost through.

"Ready your bows, don't fire until you can be certain you've got a shot!" Hiccup and Alvin were soon joined by the fiery-haired girl.

"Princess, do we have a chance?"

"A slim one, but a chance nonetheless," she replied.

"What do you need me to do?"

"First off, stop calling me princess, just Merida will do. Secondly, you are the beacon of hope they need, a rallying point. They will follow you anywhere."

"So that means . . ."

"You stay here un . . ."

"What? But . . ."

Merida shook her head, "No buts, they need you Hiccup, we need you. We are all trained warriors, we've had years of training, you have had only, what, a couple of months?" Hiccup glanced down, that was definitely true . . . especially after . . . but Hiccup shook the thought from his mind.

"But there has to be something I can do! Something we can do!" he indicated Toothless. "We can't just sit back and watch!"

"You won't." Merida sighed and placed her hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "Hiccup, you're the only one who can defeat Drago, you and Toothless, we can't risk losing you."

"Besides, there's still Viggo to consider. He's the one leading this army," pointed out Alvin.

Merida glanced at him in shock, "How do you know?"

"My scout woke up not too long ago and told us. He was wounded by Viggo's hand, but he was allowed to live, I think, in an attempt to spread fear and panic among our forces."

Hiccup glanced at Merida, "All the more reason for me to stay in the back, huh? Keep up my strength to fight him?"

Merida pursed her lips before letting out a sigh, "I guess it's inevitable. Drago might be hoping that Viggo will destroy you, as you're technically the only one who can fight him." Hiccup nodded, Merida almost died when she tried to take on Viggo. He glanced at Toothless, it was because of her that they met, and he was grateful for that.

"Chief, they're in!" The three glanced at Astrid before turning their sights towards the wall.

Alvin muttered, "So it begins."

Merida turned to Hiccup, "Stay back for now, do not engage until you see Viggo, understand?"

Hiccup nodded firmly, "Yes."

She took his hands, "Good, be safe." Then she and Alvin followed Astrid towards the battlements, barking out orders.

Hiccup turned to Toothless, "Alright, bud, you heard what she said, we're going to have to keep an eye out for Viggo." Toothless nodded, determination in his eyes as he flexed his wings. It started, the shouts and clanging of battle reaching their ears. Hiccup clenched his teeth as he tensed up, he understood why they wanted him back, but he wanted to be there, helping them. He and Toothless alone could take out half the army! But he made himself stay, he had to focus on taking out Viggo, Viggo could take out half of their army just as easily as Hiccup could take out half of Drago's. He let out a nervous breath, the screams from the battle were getting louder, and more frequent, and he couldn't tell which side was winning. He could barely make out Merida's, Astrid's, and Alvin's voices among the chaos, rallying the troops and barking out orders. A sound made him pause, his heart beating near to panic, that was Viggo's voice, loud and clear, calling for him.

"Hiccup, you coward, show yourself!" Toothless nudged Hiccup forward. Hiccup nodded, and the two walked out. "There you are, Dragon Rider, cowering while everyone fights?"

"You know exactly why they didn't want me to fight," Hiccup retorted.

Viggo smiled cruelly, "Ah yes, so you could face Drago. But . . ."

"But you're here to make sure that never happens."

"You still got it, Hiccup. Man, I like you, you know that? You're very intelligent, and I like that the most. Are you sure you don't want to join Drago's army? You could rule the world together with him."

"What about you?"

Viggo shrugged, "I actually like being the General, Drago knows my strength is strategy. I can put it to good use as the General."

"So, you're satisfied with being in second place, third place if I were to join?"

"Would you?" asked Viggo, clearly unphased by the attempt to turn him against his king.

Hiccup unsheathed his sword, "No."

"Too bad, you might have liked it, I certainly admired you, but, at least now I'll have the honor of killing you myself!" With that, Viggo charged, and the two clashed again and again, their swords ringing over the clamor of battle. A few of Viggo's men joined them to help their general, but Toothless left Hiccup's side to keep them at bay, soon joined by Merida. The battle between Hiccup and Viggo intensified, both using magic to get the upper hand, but neither got the upper hand, until Viggo played a dirty trick. He psyched Hiccup into going up while he went down, and Hiccup's left leg was severed from his body. Hiccup cried out in pain, alerting Merida and Toothless to his distress, and the two charged Viggo, pressing him back. Gathering what strength he had, Hiccup rose and aimed his sword for Viggo's chest.

"Breain!" he shouted, his sword burst into flame as he charged, pinning Viggo to the wall.

"How . . ."

"I wasn't going to let you win," replied Hiccup before he pulled his sword out. Viggo slumped to the ground, dead, while Hiccup fell back, quickly losing consciousness due to lack of blood and being weakened by use of magic.

"Hiccup!" called out Merida as she and Toothless caught him. He saw their worried faces fade into black before completely losing consciousness.

"Hiccup, Hiccup, come to me, come see me in Dunbroch." Hiccup's eyes slowly opened and found himself lying under some soft blankets in Toothless' nest. He moved slowly, still waking up, when he remembered the fight between him and Viggo, and his leg. He pulled back the blankets, and found a metallic peg leg had been attached to his thigh to replace the one he lost. He let out a sigh, they did a fair job, but it was going to need some tinkering, a lot of tinkering. A low humming interrupted his chain of thoughts. He glance around, there was Toothless tucked away in one of the corners, sleeping. Hiccup smirked, more like snoring away. He slowly and carefully stretched, so as not to wake the dragon, before slowly changing. Having to take everything slow worked for him, considering he was having to get used to a new leg. Once he finished changing, he grabbed a stick and walked out slowly, leaning on it. Upon reaching the lower levels of the city, Hiccup found there was a lot of hustling and bustling. Banners were being put up, and walls were being rebuilt. A young child noticed him, revealing his presence to the rest of the people. Many crowded around him, ready to give him a helping hand. He only asked that he be shown to Chief Alvin, and what was going on.

"We're throwing a party!" exclaimed his guide, a girl of about eleven. Her brother, a lad of fourteen, nodded.

"Thanks to you, we don't have to worry about Viggo anymore, and soon, Drago!" he grinned. Hiccup chuckled, only thanked him before falling into silence and concentrating on getting to Chief Alvin quickly. The children led him straight to city hall where Alvin and Astrid were holding a meeting.

"Hiccup!" they exclaimed and just about rushed him. Gothi stepped in to keep them from running him over.

"What are you doing out of bed?" berated Astrid.

"Well, Eret's out of jail, why can't I be out of bed?" joked Hiccup.

Eret chuckled, "Except you need to heal, I've proven my trustworthiness to them."

Hiccup grinned and took Eret's hand, "So, they're treating you well?"

Eret shrugged, "Better than before. But Astrid's right, why are you out of bed?"

"It's important, isn't it?" whispered Merida.

Hiccup nodded, "I-I heard a voice in my head, telling me to go to Dunbroch, to find her."

"Who's her?" asked Alvin.

"I-I don't know, I thought that maybe Princess Merida could help me."

"Well, it is true there are still a few people who practice magic in Dunbroch who could very well know a lot about dragons and their riders. But as for who this person is, well, I don't really know, but I can help you look for her."

"Thank you, Princess," Hiccup smiled.

"But first, you need to finish healing, can't have you tripping over yourself in front of my people."

"Well, that's settled. But, before you leave, he must learn some more about my people. With everything that's been going on, he hasn't had a chance!"

Merida nodded, "Very true. Shall we begin?"

Alvin bowed, "With pleasure, if you will follow me." He led the way out, all of the outsiders getting to learn about his tribe. But Hiccup began to wonder where his fate would take him from there, though, he hoped that, one day, it would include a pair of sky blue eyes and fiery red curls.