"Let's get this timber to the blacksmith," Iris ordered. "Come on Gem. That's a good girl!"

The red Gronkle growled eagerly and began marching forward, pulling a load of cut trees from the center of the island towards the village. The other four Gronkles growled as well as they followed after Gem. Since the fleet had left to go to war, Iris had kept herself and the rest of the village busy.

Already they had started thinning the timber on the southwest half of the island. They cleared a path from the village to the bay on that side, cleared a good chunk of trees around the bay, and began hauling the timber back to the village. The blacksmith there was also one of the few people who could mill the raw material and all his supplies were at the smithy. Iris had argued with him for an hour about taking the supplies to the bay where they planned on building another set of docks but the stubborn old man refused. She finally gave up but told him he would have to do all the lumber, even the stuff not going to the southwestern bay.

The farmers had cleared more than enough fields thanks to their three Gronkle friends. Somehow two more joined the island, each eagerly bonding with a Berserker. However Rider lessons were on hold until Dagur got back. Iris wasn't about to try and teach them only to get it wrong somehow.

Speaking of dragons, Enigma kept constant guard over the island. Several times a day she would circle the island in search of threats. When she wasn't flying she was perched on the Great Hall on alert. Iris couldn't blame her. She was on edge too. It had been two weeks since the fleet left and still no word.

"Erid, how are things going at the smithy?" Iris asked a young man when they arrived in the village.

"We enlisted more help to keep up with all the wood," the young man joked. "At this rate we'll have enough wood to rebuild the village on the other side of the island! But we are following your words and are stacking it to dry. Ol Farg isn't happy about it but he doesn't want to face Chief Dagur's wrath upon their return for being too bull headed with our chieftess."

"Good," Iris said with a grin. "I'm going to take a fly with Enigma. Check on the fishing boats. Make sure to listen to Elder Rohan and Ellie while I'm gone."

"They usually do," Ellie commented, walking up to them. "Have a safe flight. Hopefully you'll run into a Terror out there with news."

"One can only hope," she joked.

She gave a sharp whistle that a roar answered. In a minute Enigma landed before her, growling excitedly. Iris laughed as she crawled onto the wriggling dragon's back. Someone was just as excited as she was to fly.

With a whoop from Iris Enigma launched herself into the air with a roar. She coughed a ball of fire into the sky. As it burst they flew threw it which caused Iris to cough. No matter how many times they did that she always had her mouth open somehow and breathed in the smoke.

The wind felt good on her face as Enigma glided through the air. Both had been doing everything they could to keep busy. From the moment both woke up to the moment they collapsed in the living room they kept moving, kept working. Ellie had worried about Iris over it but she assured the older woman she was fine. She needed to do this. It kept her from worrying.

The fishing crew waved as they flew by. One threw a fish in the air that Enigma caught easily. They cheered, still waving as Iris waved back and they turned to fly further into the sea. Enigma swallowed the fish whole.

Her large grey and tan wings kept her gliding through the air. They were large enough that with a good wind she never had to beat her wings. The downside was she had a harder time maneuvering in the water, especially with her thick mane. It gathered water easily and added extra weight to her. Enigma could swim in ponds and shallow water no problem but Iris never tried having her dive into the ocean to see if she could handle it.

"Let's head back," Iris told Enigma. The dragon whined. "I know but we have to go back. We can't just fly out there and look for them. We'd get in the way. At least I would." Enigma growled at that but turned to fly back to Berserk.

That evening a Terrible Terror flew into her as she walked away from the Terror Rookery. It squealed, flapping anxiously in her grip, but suddenly calmed down as she scratched its chin. Her hands trembled as she took the rolled letter it held tightly.

'We were tricked,' it read. 'The Dragon Hunters abandoned Viggo and attacked the Defenders of the Wing. We were able to get to their island and counter attack but they fled. A strange dragon attacked us recently. Fishlegs called it a Shell Fire but it was using Dragon Hunter weaponry. Viggo claims they are going to attack the Edge next so we will be heading there to intercept them.'

"Get the elders and the family heads," Iris said to the young girl that was tending to the rookery. "Have them meet me in the Great Hall. We have news."

Eagerly the girl nodded and took off. Iris headed to the Great Hall, her heart pounding. It was following the story to a degree. In the story the Dragon Hunters had surprise attacked the Edge to set off the volcano there. This time though they knew and were able to counter maybe.

She paced the Great Hall, rubbing the back of her neck. Were the Wings fighting with them all now? For some reason the idea of that happening made her anxious. It was foolish but she knew that in the story Dagur and the Queen of the Wings married. What if Dagur felt something for the powerful woman and decided to leave her for the queen? The thought made her stomach roll with anxiety.

"It won't happen," she muttered to herself. "He's not like that."

"Chieftess?" Rohan asked. She started and turned to face the Elders and family heads.

"Sorry everyone," she said quickly. "I just got a Terror Mail from the fleet."

She read the letter aloud to them. Their faces went from eager to solemn to concerned to proud. Rohan muttered about trusting a snake, which the others agreed.

"I don't know why the are trusting Viggo but they must have a reason," Iris said. "But at least we have news of what is going on. It is better than staying in the dark."

"There was no mention of any casualties?" one elder asked. Iris shook her head. "Hopefully that means there has been none."

"Our chief knows what he is doing," the Lat head said proudly. "He won't lose any of our people." The others agreed.

"For now we will keep doing what we have been doing," Iris said. "Continue bringing the downed trees here for Farg and his helpers to mill, keep the fields in good condition, and continue harvesting edibles to store. Wild fruits and berries should be getting ripe so we will focus on harvesting them before the wild animals and birds get them all."

"Yes Chieftess," Rohan said eagerly.

"Make sure to keep the smokers going," she added. "I want as much fish smoked as we can along with any other fresh meat. Get all new hides tanned to be stored for later processing."

That was one thing she had started when the fleet left. She had two other smokers built, the first fixed, and had shifts tending to the smokers to smoke as much meat as they could. She even showed them they could smoke cheese to help it last longer. That caused a spike in cheese making in the village so they could smoke more. It would help prepare them for winter when supplies were scarce.

"That's all," she said. "Get some rest. We are going to continue being busy. I don't want our people coming back to a neglected home. Let's greet them with full store houses and smiling faces."

At their agreement Iris watched as they all left the Great Hall. She left after them, taking her time going back to her house. Enigma walked with her after she left her perch on the Great Hall. Both dreaded returning home most evenings.

A green blur crashed into her when Iris opened the door. She yelped, which caused Enigma to growl angrily. but the green blob just screeched. It was Screechie in all his screeching glory. Iris laughed, hugging the Terror. He tolerated it before squirming away and shoving a rolled up paper in her face that she quickly took before he launched himself at the table.

'I miss you,' it started. 'It is fun to be out fighting again but now I long to be home instead. It's strange to feel that way. I blame you completely.' Iris chuckled at Dagur's words. 'For some stupid reason Hiccup is trusting Viggo. Ryker overthrew him and took over when the traitors joined the Hunters. I wanted to lop off Viggo's head but Hiccup won't let me. How did I end up with such a rude brother?'

"Oh Dagur," she chuckled.

'I met these people called the Defenders of the Wing. They worship dragons! Their queen, Mala, is a bit of a bitch. I need you here to kick her ass for me. Astrid won't do it neither will Heather.' Iris snorted at that. 'She doesn't like my way of leading our people and I told her I really don't care. She didn't like that either but shut up when Jager snarled at her. Boy has he been moody! I know he misses Enigma. Is Enigma being moody too? All he does is growl, snarl, snap, and try to kill anyone that isn't one of us. Makes me so proud I could cry.'

'I don't want to end this letter but I know I have to. We are heading to the Edge after dealing with this crazy dragon called a Shell Fire. It was crazy looking! Completely decked out in Dragon Hunter weaponry! Why didn't I think of that when I was all evil and more deranged? I felt bad for it though. That's no way to live. I hope we can do something. Maybe we can feed Viggo and Ryker to it and take everything off while its distracted. Hopefully this all ends soon so I can return home to you. I know you are taking care of everything back home and that makes me miss you even more. I want to see bossy Iris. I got to go. Stoick is looking at me funny. I love you. Dagur.'

How foolish she had been worrying about stupid things. Iris should have known better than to doubt Dagur's feelings. He wasn't someone to just stop feeling something so easily. Seeing it on paper made her feel better though.

She read the letter again and again, snuggled up to Enigma's side. Screechie was already laying on her forelegs passed out. He must have been flying like crazy to get here along with the other Terror. Tomorrow she would write a response and send Screechie back. For now though she let the small dragon sleep and read the letter yet again.