"Good morning, Nóttreiði," Heather greeted happily as she passed him on her way out of the cavern, forcing herself to sound genuine, and ignoring the fact that it was just after sundown, not morning. Maybe-

'Go drown in a waste pit.' Nóttreiði snarled viciously, ducking out of the cavern before Einfari could retaliate on Heather's behalf… or before Heather could strike back herself.

'So we can cross 'pleasant and happy' off the list of things to try,' Einfari remarked after a moment of silence. 'What's next?'

Heather shrugged, feeling not all that disappointed. "All-out cheerful and naive?" That one wasn't likely to work either, but after a week of these attempts at breaking the ice with Nóttreiði, she was willing to try almost anything, no matter how unlikely it was to work.

'How about flat-out guilt-tripping him?' Einfari warbled an invitation for Heather hop on her back. She took off toward the forest. 'Accuse him of plotting against you, and then break down crying about how he's so mean. Get Joy on your side.'

"Are you serious?" That was a really bad idea. "He'd see right through it. I'm not the crying type."

'How would he know that? He knows nothing of humans.' Einfari set her down by the pond and immediately leaped back into the sky. The conversation continued as if she hadn't even left.

"I don't think he's stupid, and he knows I don't cry about things," Heather countered. "It's been long enough that it will seem out of character."

'You assume he cares enough to notice,' Einfari objected. 'But it's probably not a good plan anyway. I don't know what else could work.'

"So stop thinking about it." Heather sat down to wait for Einfari. "Focus on something else for a while."

'Well… we do have an assassination to plot,' Einfari mused. 'And I'm not talking about my brother. What of that?'

Dagur. How had she so easily put her status as a wanted woman out of her mind? The one behind her persecution should not be so easily forgotten.

How? This was how. She turned in a slow circle, taking in the pond, the quiet forest, and the dark silhouettes in front of the grey clouds. She was not hunted here. Here was safe… for now.

Dagur still needed to die. She began a light jog in the small open space by the pond, resolving to begin working on her stamina as soon as possible.

"I need to get into shape," she relayed to Einfari. "To get good with a weapon. Well, better. I'm not bad with an ax."

'To hone a skill is never a bad thing,' Einfari said, as if quoting someone. 'What are your strengths?'

That was a fair question. 'I'm light, quick on my feet, and can think fast.' Her stamina, reflexes, and coordination were not good enough to brag about. Life on the run did not hone those things so much as wear them down.

'So work on those,' Einfari remarked, dropping down out of the clouds in a scarily steep dive, leveling out at the last moment to circle around and drop down by Heather. 'And build up your weaknesses. What are they?'

Heather's first instinct was to be offended… but what Maour had said about weaknesses stopped her. He hadn't been exaggerating. It really didn't even occur to Einfari that asking could be considered rude or insulting.

So… "I'm not strong, I get tired quickly, and I'm small compared to the average Viking," she admitted reluctantly. "I'm only passable with an ax, and not good at all with anything else."

Running, not fighting, was the only thing that worked for her. Fighting off one group of Berserkers would end with another taking her while she was tired from doing so. Maybe, if she had Einfari back then, and was able to easily get away after fighting, to hit and run… but hitting was almost always a bad choice, and she couldn't afford to make bad choices, so it was always running, hiding, avoiding…

'Heather.' Einfari tapped her shoulder with the tip of her tail. 'Heather.'

She blinked, shaking her head to brush away those memories. What was that? She didn't remember ever zoning out like that before any of this, but that was the second time since arriving here.

'Do you need to go see Eldurhjarta?' Einfari asked worriedly.

"No, I'm fine," Heather replied hesitantly. "I'm fine." She reached out and put her hand on Einfari's wing shoulder, acting without any real reason aside from that strange feeling that wasn't totally gone.

Einfari moved closer, staring at her. 'You do not sound fine.'

She was safe, here. Nobody knew she was here, nobody knew EInfari and the rest of the Nótts were here, they were all safe. "I really am fine."

'I don't believe that,' Einfari grumbled, 'but let's pretend you are. What's your excuse for trailing off and staring at nothing for so long?'

Surely it couldn't have been that long. "I got distracted."

'Sure. If it happens again I'm taking you to Eldurhjarta and forcing you to cooperate,' Einfari declared. 'No matter how "fine" you say you are. That is not normal.'

It wasn't normal. She didn't argue, because a part of her knew Einfari was right. "If. For now, I need to get better at fighting. Dagur won't go down easily if it comes to that."

Now, how to do that? She put her mind to the problem to push aside the odd feeling that had ambushed her. People often sparred, but surely there was some benefit to just practicing attacks. She didn't have a weapon, but last time she had fought she hadn't either...

Feeling only mildly stupid, Heather began jabbing at the air, trying to replicate what she had done on the ship to kill that unlucky guard. Maybe there was something to that-

Einfari whipped her tail in front of Heather, taking her latest strike full-on. Heather winced, surprised by actually hitting something, her hand stinging. "What is it?"

'If you want to fight, wouldn't a sparring partner be better?' Einfari sounded totally serious.

Heather laughed. "Fighting you might not help, and I don't want to do anything aggressive towards any Night Fury. Not the image I'm trying to convey. Nóttreiði might see that and use it as an excuse to kill me." That wasn't even an exaggeration. Heather totally believed Nóttreiði was capable of that. He had certainly overreacted to her and Nótthljóður playing around.

Einfari growled lightly. 'No he wouldn't. I wouldn't let him. But I wasn't suggesting we spar. That would be a bit unfair. I was thinking of Maour. Maybe the twins, but I don't know if I trust them to be careful.'

Heather was skeptical of that. "Does Maour even know how to fight? He doesn't seem like the violent type." She actually liked that, as it was so different from most Vikings.

Einfari grinned. 'He hates fighting.' She nudged Heather. 'But you should just go challenge him anyway. I want to watch.'

Heather was fine with having someone to spar, even if they would likely be horrible, as anyone who hates fighting would be. Besides, she still hadn't even met the other humans yet. She had enough issues to deal with as it was, and the island was big enough that she had never run into them by chance. "Do you know where he would be?"

'We can go looking. Don't you need a weapon? All the other humans use something.'

At that, she did need something. "Yes, actually. One for practice, anyway." She didn't even want to imagine what would happen if she brought a weapon into the Nótt caves.

'I know where you can get one.' Einfari let Heather on and took flight, aiming for the Svartur side of the mountain. 'We kept all the metal stuff from the Berserker ship.'

She was fine with that, as long as she could find one without a Berserker crest.

After selecting a weapon, finding Maour was actually easy. Within ten minutes of searching, Einfari spotted Toothless standing on the beach. He was panting and grinning.

Einfari landed next to him. 'What are you doing?'

Toothless barked happily. 'I just beat Maour in a race. He should be here any second now.' He was staring smugly into the forest edge.

Heather laughed. "Was that outcome ever really in question?" Maour was a human, and Toothless a Night Fury. One of them had a massive advantage, and she was pretty sure it wasn't Maour.

Toothless surprised her by shooting her a level stare. 'Yes. We're fairly equal in speed here. But he tripped up early on, which almost never happens, so I won this time.' He was cut off by the arrival of Maour.

Heather jumped in shock. Maour had been moving silently, and she hadn't heard him coming. And he had been moving really fast, faster than she would have thought possible in the dense undergrowth.

Maour slowed, breathing hard. "You got lucky." He kept walking, circling Toothless, who was purring smugly. "You know that, right?"

Toothless laughed. 'Yup. Still counts. Want a rematch?'

Maour fell to the sand overdramatically. "We just crossed the entire island. No way am I doing that again today." He sat up. "Heather, Einfari. What brings you two here? Toothless doesn't usually like spectators, in case he loses." He tossed a handful of sand at the dragon in question. "Which is most of the time. Regardless of whatever he's been telling you."

Toothless used his tail to lift a small mound of sand threateningly. 'Tell the truth.'

Maour scrambled away. "Fine, fine. We're about even on who wins these things. Right now, anyway."

"Actually, Einfari was telling me that if I wanted a sparring partner, I should ask you." She personally thought now wasn't the greatest time, given Maour had apparently been running, but it was why they had come.

Maour squinted at her. "Really. Well, I can spar with you. Did she say anything else?" He seemed curious.

Einfari purred. 'I just told her you hate fighting, but you can.'

Toothless chuckled. 'True enough. This should be entertaining.' He backed away a few steps and sat down. Einfari sat next to him, leaving Maour and Heather most of the beach.

Maour looked at them. "Great. Thanks for the support buddy, I'll take it from here." He sounded sarcastic. He turned to Heather. "Do you even have a weapon?"

Heather brought her borrowed weapon into view, a simple, unmarked, single-bladed ax. "Do you?"

"Toothless?" He held out a hand, not even looking at his dragon.

Toothless dragged something off of his saddle, twisting awkwardly to grasp it. 'You're lucky I brought it for you.' He carefully tossed it over with his head, and Maour caught it without even looking.

Heather blinked. It was the same oddly shaped polearm she had seen the first day. The one she had been sure wasn't a-

Maour spun the pole around and abruptly stopped it. Two wicked-looking spikes detached from the far sides of the pole and snapped up, forming right angles to the actual polearm. He grinned.

Now it looked like a weapon. A very dangerous weapon, bladed and spiked at both ends, in opposite directions. She took a step back. "For someone who hates fighting, you sure have a funny way of showing it."

Maour spun the polearm idly. "I hate fighting. But I have to be as good as possible because it isn't always avoidable. I can talk, I can run, I can hide, and I can think. But if all those fail, or aren't an option, I can fight." He grinned sarcastically, speeding up the spinning circle in his hands in front of him. "And with this, I can fight like a Night Fury would. Fast, intelligent, deadly, even ruthless if needed. Minus the plasma blasts and wings, for now. I'm working on wings, and fire is next in line."

Heather really wasn't sure if he was serious. "Really?"

Toothless chuffed. 'Yup. Those wings are a deathtrap though. Totally not ready yet."

Maour nodded. "I thought that my arms were long enough. But I have a way to fix that."

Toothless groaned, slumping dramatically. 'Great, more chances to randomly plummet because your wings break. You're lucky Von likes helping out with these tests, or I wouldn't let you do them. Von as a safety net makes it just safe enough.'

Heather gestured to Maour's spinning polearm with her ax. "Well? Is that all you can do?" She stood in a ready position, ax raised in anticipation.

Maour adopted a look of concentration. "Not even close. I'll go all out the first time, so you can get the full measure." He held the polearm at a strange angle, slanted across his body, with the top spike pointed away, and the bottom point behind him, out to the side.

Heather struck first, swinging the ax at his side. As expected, he blocked it with the haft of his weapon. She didn't expect him to stop and step away. "What are you doing?"

He frowned at her question. "You would have died if that was real. The top spike was two inches from your head, and nothing was stopping me from pushing further."

Heather replayed what had just happened. She had swung her ax... and he had twisted the pole as he moved to block, angling the top spike towards where she had moved. She shivered. He was right, that would have been the end of her in a real fight. She stepped forward. "Let's try this again..."

Six very short matches later, Heather was frustrated beyond words. Well, almost beyond words. "I hate that thing." She dropped her ax and sat down. "Are you still going all-out?" She honestly couldn't tell. He had 'killed' her every single time, usually within five or six frantic moves on her part. She was no prodigy with an ax, but she had thought she was at least decent.

This was embarrassing. She glared at Einfari. "You really set me up. 'doesn't like fighting' you said, leaving out 'really good with a foreign weapon no one else uses'."

Einfari nodded. 'I figured you could use something to test yourself again. And don't worry, I saw him take on Fishlegs, Ruffnut, and Tuffnut and win. At the same time.'

Toothless laughed. 'Five years of practice, and a weapon that favors speed and intelligence. It helps that no one knows how to defend against it. Also, those three are not the most dangerous of foes.'

Maour offered Heather his hand, like that first day on the beach. This time she took it out of gratitude, not necessity.

Maour smiled, his voice humble. "It really did take five years, and I can still be beaten, I'm sure." He gestured to Heather's ax. "Those really aren't much good against me. Too little range and no protection. The only thing worse is a hammer."

Heather smiled. "So I should bring a bow next time?" She wasn't sure what kind of weapon she would use, if not an ax. Not... "What is that thing called anyway?"

"A Scythe. It's named after the farming tool that it vaguely resembles in form."

Heather considered it. "I wouldn't want to use one of those. The spikes seem really tricky to maneuver without stabbing yourself. But the two sharp ends..."

Toothless perked up at the same time Maour did. Toothless spoke first. 'What about something new?' He sounded excited.

Maour laughed at his brother. "Thinking the same thing I am?"

Toothless deflated slightly. 'That we can make something for Heather? Yeah, but I have no idea what.'

Heather felt she had to intervene. "Guys, I'm really only comfortable with axes. One, maybe two if they're light."

Maour didn't seem deterred. "Well, what if we made you something that worked with that? You wouldn't have to use it, we'd do it for fun anyway. Always love a new project." He looked over at Toothless. "Wanna try?"

Toothless nodded. 'Definitely.'

Einfari laughed. 'Don't bother stopping them. I've seen some of Maour's flight tests recently. If those horrific catastrophes can't stop him, nothing can.' Then she took a look at Heather, who was still annoyed. 'Maybe we can do something else?'

Heather shrugged. "This isn't really much help anyway. Berserkers aren't going to be using those things." She pointed at Maour's scythe. "I assume no one else has one."

Maour frowned at that. "You realize if everything goes to plan you won't have to fight any Berserkers, right? We're going to find out why Dagur is sending his people after you, and..." He trailed off. Eventually, he continued. "Well, we'll have to wing it from there, because we don't know why."

Heather laughed darkly. "Or, I could just kill him. It doesn't matter why, that would stop him." She saw Einfari nod.

Maour stared at her. "Violence shouldn't be the first choice here."

Heather turned away, not meeting Maour's eyes. "Tell that to Dagur. But it's a bit too late."

Maour frowned. "I understand that, but..." He moved around and met her eyes again. "At least promise me you won't go at Dagur without a plan. You can't avenge your family if he kills you first."

Heather didn't say anything. Then she relented. "Fine. I promise, not without a plan." She could make a plan right now. Catch Dagur alone, and kill him. There. Plan created, promise kept.

The weeks passed, and by reasonable estimation, the Berserker ship was about three, maybe four weeks out from Berserker island. They were going to have to leave soon, though Maour had not told them exactly when yet.

'What are we doing, again?' Einfari was as confused as Heather was this time around. They were sitting, or in Einfari's case, lying on a ledge by the far wall of the main Nótt cave.

'Waiting for your father and siblings,' Skarpur replied serenely. 'This is important. We need to discuss your upcoming journey.'

'But do we really have to do this?' Einfari asked impatiently. 'Heather needs to go with Maour and Toothless, and I'm taking her.'

'Neither of you are going anywhere,' Nóttleiðtogi announced as he entered the cave, Nóttreiði and Nótthljóður trailing behind him. 'Not before proving to me you are ready for anything.'

That was new. "How are we supposed to do that?" Heather asked, making an effort to sound respectful. She was not going to insult Nóttleiðtogi again, even by accident.

'You aren't going to do anything,' Nóttreiði snarled, glaring at her as he took a spot by the exit, looking like a particularly dangerous and bored guard. The image was almost immediately spoiled by Nótthljóður curling up by his feet, purring sleepily.

Skarpur went to stand by her mate. 'Relax, son. This is to test both of them.'

'And if we want to be done any time soon, we should begin,' Nóttleiðtogi agreed. He made a strange, half-hearted jerking motion, looking distinctly uncomfortable, before lying down facing Heather.

What in the world had that been? It almost looked like he was-

Right. He had probably intended to sit on his hind legs, voluntarily baring his scarred underside as he was among family, but then remembered she was here and changed his mind. That made her feel guilty even though she couldn't help it.

'Daughter… and Heather,' Nóttleiðtogi said formally. 'You propose a trip. Explain.'

Hadn't they done this in the big pack meeting a while back? Maybe Nóttleiðtogi just wanted it to be clear.

'Our goals are twofold,' Einfari began, clearly trying to mimic her father's formality, with some success. 'The first goal does not involve Heather or me. Maour needs information from his informant on Berk. That is his business, not ours. The second involves us, because it involves Heather. We need to get the Berserkers to stop hunting her.'

'Why?' Nóttleiðtogi grunted, breaking his formality for a moment. 'I know why, but I want to hear how you see it. Heather, if you would answer this one?'

This really did feel like a test, and of more than her knowledge of the current situation. It was a test of tactics, really. "This island needs to remain unnoticed and unoccupied by outsiders. When the Berserker ship on which I was held prisoner returns home, Dagur will no doubt hear that I was lost on this island. We do not want him directing his attention and fleets to this area."

'And what of sinking the ship before he finds out? We did not. Why?' Skarpur asked.

What had Maour said? "If we did that, the other Berserkers would search this area anyway, for their missing ship. We don't want them here at all."

'Correct,' Nóttleiðtogi remarked. 'Now, Einfari. What is the proposed solution?'

'We will travel to Berserker island,' Einfari recounted, laying out the plan that had apparently been discussed at some point before Heather could hear all dragons, given Einfari had told her of it later. 'There, Maour will deliver a message to Dagur, telling him to meet on a certain island we pick out beforehand. We will get there before Dagur, of course, so he won't be able to set up anything in advance.''

'And what will the message say?' Nóttleiðtogi, directed at Heather. Was all of this really necessary?

Who cared? Nóttleiðtogi was being fair, asking both of them. Him including her at all was a step in the right direction. "It will tell Dagur the rumored dragon rider has me, and willing to negotiate a ransom at the specified time and place."

'And? I was there when Maour proposed this, there's one more important thing,' Skarpur warbled.

Einfari rumbled uncertainly. 'I know there is, but I don't remember…'

'Misdirection,' Nóttreiði called out. 'He'll call this place "a worthless stopover" in order to convince the other human that it was coincidence he was here.'

'Correct, son, but I was not testing you,' Nóttleiðtogi growled. 'Unless you also wish to go, let them answer.'

'Maybe I do,' Nóttreiði retorted. 'Actually, yes, I do.'

Einfari blinked, her eyes narrowing. 'Why in the world would you go? You hate Heather.'

'Exactly,' Nóttreiði snarled. 'This is a chance for her to betray you. And when she does, I'll kill her.'

'Nóttreiði!' Skarpur snapped. 'What did I tell you?'

'Keep my vileness to myself or be rid of it entirely,' Nóttreiði replied seriously. 'But this is common sense. Here, the human has no chance of succeeding in any plot. Out there, Einfari will be vulnerable. I'm going to keep her safe.'

'You act like I can't keep myself safe,' Einfari retorted angrily. 'Which of us actually knows how to fight?'

Heather winced. That felt like a line that shouldn't have been crossed.

'You know how,' Nóttreiði snarled. 'But will you, if it betrays you? You'll hesitate because you like it. That will get you hurt. I have no such weakness.'

'I would hope,' Skarpur interjected with a loud bark, 'that neither of you would kill her, given it is our standing rule that she be captured if she betrays us.' That was aimed at Nóttreiði.

'And that neither of you would hesitate to capture her and bring her back to be dealt with,' Nóttleiðtogi added, looking at Einfari. 'If she did betray you, I would expect no lenience.'

Balance. Skarpur tempered Nóttreiði's blind hatred, and Nóttleiðtogi strengthened Einfari's resolve to do whatever needed to be done. Heather did not think the latter was necessary, but by both being chastised, both were defused.

Given how manipulative everyone involved was, Heather was pretty sure they all saw it and chose to let it work rather than continue striking at each other. They consciously decided to respond as they would if they were unaware.

'I still want to go.' Nóttreiði said a bit less aggressively. 'Is there a good reason, father, that I should not?'

Nóttleiðtogi shook his head. 'There is only your hatred of humans. You will be traveling with two, and this is Maour's mission. He will be in charge.'

Nóttreiði flinched at that.

'And you know that a leader who cannot expect his followers to follow is not capable of leading,' Nóttleiðtogi continued. 'I will not sabotage Maour by sending you if you will not listen to him.'

'I will… I will listen to Toothless,' Nóttreiði argued back. 'I don't like him either, but I can follow him. He and Maour are practically joined at the wing, so that is good enough.'

'No, it's not.' Skarpur sighed sadly. 'Son, can you not put aside your hatred of humans for Maour? We know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is one of us.'

'No. They're all bad.' Nóttreiði shook his head in denial. 'He is still one of them.'

'That is a pointless argument, Nóttreiði.' Einfari growled at her brother. 'You hate without discrimination. How is that smart?'

'I still want to go. I will obey Toothless if I must. That is enough,' Nóttreiði stubbornly repeated.

'No.' There was weight to Nóttleiðtogi's voice, now, of a verdict being laid down. 'You will join their mission only if you will agree to obey Maour until you all return, no matter what he says. Otherwise, you will not leave this island.'

'That's not fair!' Nóttreiði complained, sounding quite immature and more than a little hurt.

'And since when is anything fair, son?' Nóttleiðtogi growled in response. 'You are a danger to the success of this mission, so unless you fix that you are going nowhere.'

And he wasn't going to do that. Nóttleiðtogi had just ensured Nóttreiði wasn't coming along. Good. She wasn't particularly sorry he wouldn't be there, snarling and threatening-

'I swear.'

What?

'What?' Einfari barked, echoing Heather's mental question.

'I swear… to obey Maour's orders… for the duration of our trip,' Nóttreiði gritted out, his eyes locked on his father. 'Because apparently you trust him more than you trust me.'

Nóttleiðtogi flinched at that. 'In dealing with humans? Maour does not attack unprovoked at the very least.'

'No. In everything,' Nóttreiði corrected, standing angrily but making sure not to disturb his little sister. 'You told me to obey him in all things, not just in dealing with humans. Thank you for making it clear what you think of me. I am less deserving of your confidence than a human.'

Ouch. Heather was distinctly aware of just how personal all of this had become, how hurtful. It was no longer a group discussion. This was between father and son, and the rest of them were not to interfere, no matter how much Skarpur looked like she wanted to.

'Twist my words if you like, son,' Nóttleiðtogi sighed. 'There may even be some truth to your twisting. He has worked for years to earn what I did not have to give. You take it for granted. I wish I could trust you more than I trust him, but I cannot. Not when you hold to blind hatred.'

'I learned from you what humans are,' Nóttreiði countered. 'I know what they did.'

'And that is still all you know?' That was followed by a questioning warble. 'Does the fact that some live among us, and have for years, not bear consideration?'

'No. They are just biding their time. You wait. The one you trust will kill you in your sleep one day, and the rest of us will mourn you,' Nóttreiði snarled. 'You're supposed to be the one who keeps us safe, but you let them get closer and closer. You let one in our home!' He jerked his head in Heather's direction. 'I'm the only one left who is even trying to keep us safe! You don't trust me? I can't trust you anymore!'

A moment of silence.

'I understand.' Nóttleiðtogi stood, facing his son directly. 'You are aware dragons are just as bad as humans, right?'

'They do not hunt-'

Nóttleiðtogi cut him off almost immediately. 'Skrill.'

'What?'

'Skrill hunt us. Skrill attack on sight. They lurk in thunderstorms, moving with the weather, just waiting for one of us to get careless. One almost killed Svarturkló and drove her far enough away from here to end up in the grasp of another dragon, one even worse than any human alive. Dragons are just as bad, if not worse, than humans.'

'Those are Skrill and whatever that large one was,' Nóttreiði countered. 'You cannot say all dragons are bad…' He trailed off, growing softly.

'No.' Nóttleiðtogi moved even closer, staring into his son's eyes. 'Finish what you intended to say, as you intended it, no alteration.'

'No. I-'

'Say it,' Nóttleiðtogi snarled. 'None of my children get to hide from truth. I will not let you.'

There was such intensity to that last statement, it felt like the world was holding its breath. The cave seemed a tiny bit brighter, as if…

Odd…

It actually was slightly brighter in here. In a place where only the moss should provide any illumination. Where was that light coming from?

Nóttleiðtogi. It was coming from him, seeping out from between his scales. A faint, almost unnoticeable glow that did not even have a color, it was so weak. Did anyone else notice it? Probably not. They could see perfectly fine in here, and would not notice a minute change in lighting. Only Heather, with her imperfect, still-developing sight in the dark, could see it.

There was no chance she was going to break the power of whatever Nóttleiðtogi was doing to point it out right now. She remained silent, one of the three spectators watching and waiting for the moment to pass.

'You cannot say all dragons are bad… based on the actions of some,' Nóttreiði admitted softly. 'Our kind is not bad. Just because others are does not mean we are by association.'

Nóttleiðtogi commanded, 'Repeat that, but replace the word "dragon" with "human, and "our kind" with "our humans".'

'You cannot say all humans are bad based on the actions of some. Our humans are not bad. Just because others are does not mean they are by association.' He didn't sound like he believed it at all, a deep snarl lingering in the back of his throat as he spoke.

Nóttleiðtogi took a step back, and some of the weight in the air lifted, the glow only Heather could see gone as if it had never existed. 'Until you believe that, I cannot trust you. You know the truth and ignore it. That is not trustworthy.'

'It's not the same thing,' Nóttreiði muttered rebelliously, sounding unsettled. No surprise there. Being the subject of whatever that was would unsettle anyone.

'There is no more I can do to help you,' Nóttleiðtogi concluded. 'Hopefully, this trip will allow you to believe that truth. When you do, I will know you have earned my trust.'

'And if you are wrong?' Nóttreiði asked plaintively. 'I must believe a falsehood to be trusted?'

'I am not wrong.' Nóttleiðtogi purred reassuringly. 'Rather, I corrected a falsehood in my thinking. I cannot blame you too much for clinging to that same falsehood. It is seductively simple, and depicts us as the ones in the right no matter what, giving us a clear, defined enemy who embodies all that is bad.'

'Whatever,' Nóttreiði muttered. 'I swore. So I can go?'

'Yes,' Nóttleiðtogi agreed, letting the topic shift, 'you can go, assuming Maour allows it. I will talk to him about it to ensure he does, and to also ensure he knows what you swore.'

Nóttreiði accepted that without complaint. He had known what he was agreeing to in swearing, and it was obvious Maour would have to know why he would even want to consider letting Nóttreiði come along.

'And since you are going,' Skarpur added with an overly cheery voice, 'we get to test you too!'

They weren't done with that? Then again, Nóttreiði had interrupted it.

'Fine,' Nóttreiði grumbled, sitting back down. 'Make it quick.'

'Watch your tone, son,' Skarpur shot back. 'Else I might drag this out intentionally.'

Were they really going to try to go back to how it had been before that huge argument? Heather didn't see how they could do that, Skarpur's attempts at lightening the mood notwithstanding. Were they supposed to pretend that hadn't just happened?

'Heather,' Skarpur began, her voice overly cheery, 'I am going to give you a hypothetical situation. No matter how crazy or unlikely, I want you to answer as best you can with what you think would be the best possible reaction.'

'This will be fun,' Einfari purred happily. 'We play this game every once in a while.'

What? "You guys quiz each other on strategy in made-up situations for fun?"

'Yes. Even Joy plays when she can.' Einfari eyed the fledgling in question, who was somehow still asleep. 'Probably not this time.'

Well… for this particular group of people, maybe it wasn't so strange that they would find such a thing fun. "Okay. Any other rules to this?"

'We're all allowed to follow up on what you say,' Skarpur added, 'but only once per dragon, to prevent nitpicking every detail. You have to answer those as well. Then we would vote on whether the plan is good, but this time around we're not actually playing the game for fun, so Togi and I will decide.'

"Got it. What's the situation?" She could do this, though she might not be as good as any of them. At least it had rules, which really didn't surprise her, given who usually participated.

'I'll start you off with an easy one,' Skarpur purred. 'Let us assume you, Einfari, Nóttreiði, Maour, and Toothless successfully deliver the message and reach the island with a day to spare. We will also assume that there is nothing else around, and that the island is a flat, open plain no larger than a thirty second run from one edge to the other. What is the best possible way to prepare for the meeting?'

That wasn't actually that easy… Heather spoke as she thought, letting them hear what was going through her mind. "No cover, and Dagur could bring others with ranged weapons… am I allowed to specify things beforehand?"

'Like what?' Skarpur warbled.

"I was thinking of changing what was in the letter a bit," Heather admitted. "Though that might be cheating."

'That's acceptable,' Nóttleiðtogi answered.

"Okay… then I'd specify in the letter that only Dagur is to set foot on the island," she decided. "On his honor. Viking chiefs have to hold to honor if they want to be respected. Otherwise, they end up like Alvin the Treacherous. He'd hold to that."

'Is that all you would do?' Nóttleiðtogi asked carefully.

"No way, that's just the start," Heather replied confidently, beginning to enjoy the problem. "It's a flat plain… grassy, I assume, but not so high as to conceal vision. We have a day?"

'Yes. Stop stalling,' Nóttreiði growled. Einfari growled right back at him on Heather's behalf.

"I'd have us dig holes, ones big enough to hide a Fury in," Heather decided. "We'd tear up strips of the sod in preparation. Then, one of the dragons would watch the ocean. The moment his ship shows up, all three dragons would sit in the holes, and the humans would cover them with grass. Einfari and Toothless would watch from the humans' senses as the meeting goes down. If things get hostile, all three emerge and annihilate Dagur, or take us and flee, depending on how it goes." She had gotten the idea from one of Maour's stories in which he buried Toothless and Cloey in sand. It was the only effective way to hide when there was no cover whatsoever. Except maybe flying so high they couldn't be seen, but that would be a bad idea for long lengths of time, because flying took energy. Hiding did not.

'Okay… my question is, what do you do if Dagur requests proof Maour is the dragon rider?' Skarpur warbled questioningly. 'Having one of the dragons come up to be seen would spoil the element of surprise.'

"Easy. He's wearing armor covered in Night Fury scales. All he has to do is point that out."

Nóttleiðtogi huffed. 'My question. What if they don't believe him? Black scales are not impossible to fake, and only one who has seen us would recognize them.'

That was a bit harder… but maybe it didn't matter. "The thing is, the Berserkers all recognized me on sight, somehow. I assume they have my description. I'm all the proof Maour actually needs."

'True,' Nóttleiðtogi admitted with a begrudgingly approving purr. 'Good reasoning.'

'My turn,' Einfari said eagerly. 'What do you do if Dagur steps on one of the hidden Furies and notices something is strange?'

That was really easy. "The second that happens, said Fury should leap up and tear him apart. Problem solved."

'For you, maybe, though Maour might object to that, as he does not like killing,' Skarpur supplied. 'That is not within the limits of this question, though. Unless you want to ask about that, Nóttreiði?'

'No. I have a better question.' Nóttreiði made sure to glare at Heather as he spoke. 'What will you do if Maour sells you out and joins the Berserkers?'

Heather stared at him blankly for the time it took that to sink in. Einfari, quicker on the uptake, began rumbling in amusement.

Then she began to laugh, because the idea really was, by all she knew, ridiculous. The fact that Nóttleiðtogi of all dragons was also chuckling quietly proved that. If that sombre dragon laughed, it really was hilarious.

'You all laugh now,' Nóttreiði complained, looking a little embarrassed, 'but it might happen!'

'And Joy might grow an extra set of wings behind her ears,' Einfari warbled sarcastically, slapping her tail on the stone floor in amusement. 'Ask something less insane. And less insulting.'

'No, Einfari, he can ask that,' Skarpur interjected. 'However poor taste it may be in, it is a valid hypothetical. We do not deal in "why" in these scenarios, or how likely they are.'

'So answer it, if you can,' Nóttreiði concluded smugly, getting a bit of his pride back, as everyone was no longer laughing.

It was a challenge, too. Nóttreiði wanted to see her fail. That was clear from the way he was glaring at her.

Not happening. "Am I to assume Toothless is as shocked by this impossibility as the rest of us are?" she asked seriously.

'Sure,' Nóttreiði purred viciously.

"And I am to assume you, in this scenario, are aching for any excuse to kill humans," she continued, not phrasing it as a question. "I can work with that. At what point do we find out he has betrayed us for sure?"

'Say… he gives you to them freely, and points out somebody's hiding place, saying that they can take some Night Furies prisoner, dead or alive,' Nóttreiði specified, speaking with more than a hint of malice. Not the worst possible scenario, but bad nonetheless.

This was difficult… but not impossible. "Whichever Fury he points out must stay motionless, because all attention will be on them. The other two need to immediately attack, killing the Berserkers and capturing Maour, knocking him out as soon as possible."

'Why not kill him?' Nóttreiði asked, breaking the rules. No one stopped him.

"Toothless," Heather countered smoothly. "No matter how betrayed he might feel in the moment, he won't let Maour be killed. By knocking Maour out and not letting Toothless rebuild the link, we hinder any possible persuasion from Maour's side. Toothless will still understand him, but Maour won't hear any of the dragons talking. I'd be in charge of making sure he doesn't talk his way out of any of this on the way back to this island."

'And how did you plan to get back?' Skarpur asked, genuinely interested despite herself. 'Toothless and Maour fly as one.'

"I'd break my link with Einfari, temporarily, and establish one with Toothless. Maour uses the feeling from the link to operate the tail. A few days of practice and I'd be passable. We could get back like that, and then we would figure something out." She really didn't want to try and map out how to help Toothless if Maour was executed for treachery, which was the implied punishment. He would somehow need to be able to fly… and she didn't want to drop Einfari for him.

'That is far more than enough, Heather,' Nóttleiðtogi intervened, staring at her with something akin to respect. 'And quite a comprehensive plan for such a difficult problem, all in all. I say it is good.'

'As do I,' Skarpur agreed. 'Who wants to be next, Einfari or Nóttreiði?' She was doing her best to move it along.

'I'll go next,' Einfari volunteered. 'What's my situation?'

'Something different,' Nóttleiðtogi began. 'Let us assume that Maour and Toothless will go in to drop the letter alone, with the rest of you waiting above, watching. What if they are captured?'

'That depends,' Einfari began without hesitation, 'on the place they are caught. If it is a small, confined space, I would call for Toothless to cover Maour and blast all around them. If it was an open area with many enemies, we would wait until either it became necessary to risk intervening, or until they are locked up and left alone, or close to it. We would not let ourselves be seen unless absolutely necessary.'

'What makes this more logical than leaving them?' Nóttreiði asked, sounding much more respectful when talking to his sister.

'You would leave a fellow Night Fury to captivity or death?' Einfari asked seriously. 'To be studied, examined, our appearance and capabilities revealed? Putting aside how horrible a person I would have to be to leave them, that is a terrible blow to our species as a whole. It is best they know as little as possible.'

'A good point. But what do you do if they're prepared for an attack from the sky?' Skarpur inquired, moving things along, away from her son's pointed questions.

'Wait. As long as neither of them are going to be killed immediately, we can wait.'

'And if they are going to be killed immediately?' Nóttleiðtogi followed up.

'We risk it. Drop from the sky and let Nóttreiði act out his wildest dreams,' Einfari said sarcastically. 'I'm sure that will work out well.'

Einfari's parents let that one pass without comment.

'Risky, but there were not many options,' Skarpur decided. 'Perhaps, in that case, the best defense is to be sure it does not get to that point.'

'Agreed. Now, son.' Nóttleiðtogi spoke neutrally. 'My question for you is a bit different. Suppose you are alone, for the moment, in hostile territory. A human approaches from your right. They have no visible weapon, and are not acting hostile, moving slowly. What do you do?'

'That is a trick question,' Nóttreiði complained. 'I would kill it, but you would have me say to wait and see.'

'No,' Nóttleiðtogi abruptly snarled, 'I would have you flee. You are in enemy territory and one is clearly stalling. Why would you risk yourself?'

'Every one I kill is one less to endanger any dragon in the future,' Nóttreiði argued back, though he seemed to understand his answer wasn't a good one.

Heather had to interject, no matter how badly her words might be taken. "That's pointless. You're worth more than any random soldier ever would be."

'She's right,' Skarpur agreed, staring at her son. 'Do you really think any of us would consider your life for one random, unimportant human a fair trade? If you want to protect your family, you are not going about it very well in this scenario.'

'It would not be one,' Nóttreiði objected. 'I would win, and kill more…'

'So, how many humans are we supposed to consider a fair trade for your life?' Einfari asked. 'Twenty? Fifty? It will never be an acceptable trade for us.'

Heather really hoped she wasn't brought into this. She could see plenty of ways Nóttreiði could twist this around to be a 'him or her' question, one she was pretty sure she knew how they would all answer. She was a human who was living with them. He was family. They would pick him over her if there were no other options.

'That is your question,' Nóttreiði rumbled. 'That is all questions, by my count.'

"I get a question," Heather objected.

'I will not answer you,' Nóttreiði growled.

"Then I'll ask Nóttleiðtogi," she shot back. She had something in particular she wanted answered… "Nóttleiðtogi, what happens if, say, Einfari and Nóttreiði return, and it turns out Nóttreiði killed Maour or me unprovoked?"

'Nothing-' Nóttreiði began, but he was cut off by his father's deeply angry growl.

'An attempt was almost met with banishment,' Nóttleiðtogi remarked dangerously. 'A truly unprovoked murder? I would not be able to stop exile, and Nóttreiði would be lucky to not be punished further, especially if it was Maour. Skuggi and Svarturkló would call for his blood in retribution. Depending on just how deeply hurt they are by it, they might even hunt him down once he was exiled and out of our control.'

'You would let them-' Nóttreiði objected.

'I would be hard-pressed to stop them, son, and might just consider maintaining my friendship with them more important than trying and failing to protecting a murderer. It would be justice, nothing more.'

That had to hurt, though Heather saw the reasoning behind it.

'It would not be unprovoked,' Nóttreiði muttered after a moment. 'There. Now all the questions have been asked. I am done talking about this.'

'And I do not judge your plan at all good,' Skarpur countered. 'Why should we let you go, if you decide things like this? You would not come back.'

'I don't see why what I think matters in this case, given I will not be allowed to plan anything on this trip.'

'That is why I arranged as such, son. You can go.' Nóttleiðtogi sighed, looking old and tired. 'We are done here. Einfari and Heather have passed, and you are correct in that whether or not you pass does not matter here. I will go find Maour and speak to him now.' He nodded to Nóttreiði. 'And you will come with me. Let's go.'

The two males left the cavern, Nóttreiði sullenly trailing behind his father.

'That was awful,' Einfari remarked to no one in particular.

'Which part?' Skarpur asked sarcastically. 'The only fun part of any of that was finding out that Heather really is one of us. I had wanted this to be an enjoyable game as well as a test.'

'We tried to keep it that way,' Einfari agreed. 'But some people wanted to make their point over and over again.'

'That, I think, was a result of Togi forcing him into a corner. He needed to reassure himself.' Skarpur shook her head sadly. 'You two need to watch him on this trip. I don't know what he's going to end up doing if certain situations arise.'

That was ominous. Hopefully, such situations wouldn't be an issue.

Author's Note: A reader requested a family tree of some sort last chapter, and I decided to oblige them. They've seen it by now, but here it is for anyone else who wants to see:

FAMILY TREE:

Note: As of now, we do not know any of generation 0 (the parents of those who are parents now), aside from Myrkureyðileggingu. Each individual generation-1 dragon knows their own parents, but that information may or may not be widely known, and is generally not important (I don't even have names for all of those ancestor dragons, to make it clear how unimportant they are).

So, I will sort by family:

Eldur: Eldurfjall is the Patriarch, and Eldurský is the Matriarch (leading male and female, for any who do not know what those words mean). They have four children. Eldurvatn (M), is their oldest, and was the first egg laid to any of the families. Then came Eldurhjarta (F), and Eldurberg (M) each about four years after the previous hatched. Eldurmælikvarða (F) is the newest Eldur, hatched less than a year ago as of this chapter.

Myrkur: Of special mention are the two Myrkurs who did not descend from the Matriarch and Patriarch. Myrkureyðileggingu is the only generation-0 dragon in the pack, and seems to enjoy not being in charge, so he is not the Patriarch. His son, Myrkurheili, is also there (we have not yet heard how that is, given Myrkurheili was not with the rest of them in Togi's recounting of the past).

Myrkureyðileggingu's younger daughter, Myrkurhryðjuverk, is the Matriarch of the Myrkurs, and her mate Myrkurljós is the Patriarch. They have three children, Myrkursprenging (M), Myrkursprengja (F) and Myrkurvængur (M), all in the 'teenage' years of development.

Svartur: The Svartur family is led by Svarturskuggi and Svarturkló. Their daughter Svarturvon is as of now twenty-three, and their son Svarturkappi is twenty. Svarturflugmaður, their adopted son, is also about twenty as of this chapter, though it is unclear which of the two brothers is actually older. They are the smallest family if adopted children are not considered, and it seems bad luck is preventing that from changing.

Nótt: The Nótt family is led by Nóttskarpur, the Matriarch, and Nóttleiðtogi, the Patriarch. They have three children. Nóttreiði (M) is the oldest, followed by Nótteinfari (F) and Nótthljóður (F), who is still a fledgling under the age of twelve (she'll get her fire at around that age). It has been said that they may attempt to add to their ranks once Nótthljóður is twelve and does not need to be consistently cared for as fledglings do.

... Wow, that was longer than I thought it would be.