Author's Note - A shoutout goes to those who find the Skyrim reference(s)...

"If Hitler invaded Hell, I would make at least a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons." - Winston Churchill (attributed to)

The Enemy Of My Enemy

He flew away from Rorikfeld early the following morning. He had not been able to sleep well at all and had spent a length of time lying awake before dawn doing nothing but thinking. That thinking had led him to some frustrating conclusions.

Someone who would want to buy a dragon and keep it captive for dragon fighting would not likely be willing to listen to a dragon or even give him the time to talk. There was no telling how bad things would be if he tried to intervene in an actual fight in the ring. There were probably too many spears and bows. It was also highly unlikely that the guards would make an obvious mistake and risk such a valuable dragon escaping on its own.

Sigh.

I need help.

Halvden's offer kept ringing in his thoughts as he flew in the clouds. It was a fair and reasonable offer. The Chief had to ensure the safety of his own people.

But it was also something he himself was not willing to do. Not when he wanted dragons to be thought of as something other than monsters. It would be a betrayal of all that he believed in and worked for to take part in killing people. And that was not to mention the reality that he did not know how to fight well at all.

He flew straight on through the morning until he arrived back at the village and touched down in the square. Halvden and Bori were naturally the first to run up to him.

"Shadowwing! You came back," Bori exclaimed in obvious delight.

He lifted an eye-ridge in amusement.

Obviously

"I'll go let Aelf know that you are back," Bori said before running off.

That left only him and the Chief. A quiet moment passed between them.

"So, you found Rorikfeld I take it."

Yes, he nodded.

He is there

"And did you find a way to get him out?"

He slowly hung and shook his head.

"My men are eager and my offer still stands."

I have never killed anyone

I will not do that

Halvden almost looked disappointed at that answer.

"I never imagined that a dragon would be so… sensitive and agreeable. You must have grown up in a good place where dragons and humans are not at each other's throats."

Yes, he reluctantly nodded.

"But you are a dragon! Why do you have teeth, claws, and fire if not to use them?"

Only to defend myself

But I will not kill people

"Even if not fighting means losing everything? I would do anything for my people, for my family. If you had to choose between fighting or never seeing him again, what would you do for him?"

He had no answer for that point. It was a powerful motivation, the need to protect one's own. But he knew another time when someone did something extreme and reckless, supposedly for his family.

What about scaring them away?

"No, they do not scare easily, and they would only come back later. They need to be completely destroyed."

He growled to himself in frustration and started pacing while still deep in thought. Halvden certainly thought that talking to the raiders would not work. That belief had to involve a lot of prejudice. Maybe this was no different from how his own people had once been toward the dragons.

But the raiders had been carrying off women and children when he stopped them. It was not hard to imagine what fate would have awaited the women in that case. That behavior was worse than anything the dragons had ever done. At least the dragons had understandable and defensible reasons, mere survival, for what they had done in the past.

Where is their village?

"To the south-east near a river."

I will look at it tonight

"Good, get an idea how to strike at them. They will never expect it."

That was of course not the reason why he wanted to see the place. There may still be a chance to talk this out, or at the very least to scare them away before any fighting.

But for now he was hungry and sleepy. He turned away from Halvden and started meandering his way over to Bori's house. And of course Aelf attacked his head with a massive hug before he got there.

"It's good to see you again. I thought you flew away."

He shook his head.

"My brother told me that you are looking for your brother. I hope you find him."

The sweetness with which she said that pierced him through, and he found himself purring softly without intending to. Bori approached, which let him write to her with the young man translating as usual.

I know I will

I am sleepy now

"Ok, you should take a nap inside. Are you hungry? I can run get you some fish if you would like."

He smiled back at her and gave her a nod. Some fish sounded very nice indeed. True to her word, she returned in minutes with two filleted fish halves in hand. He did not question from where she had obtained them, gobbled them down without objection, and curled up to sleep while she happily watched over him. He did not fall asleep for a while though as his thoughts were quite troubled by the tension between what he seemed to need to do and what he was willing to do.

He used that night to investigate the target village. It took a while to find as it was hidden in the trees. Then he finally found it, landed, and started tiptoeing around.

It was quite surprising how squalid the place was. The huts were small, the paths were muddy, the meats hung out to dry looked a bit old, and the whole area had a generally malicious feeling about it. It felt nothing at all like Halvden's village, which, while maybe just as poor, felt more alive and friendlier.

Maybe that's just because I know what they did... do here…

He froze when nearby motion caught his eye. A man walked out from a hut and walked over to a bush in which the man started relieving himself.

Is he a bad man? Does he like what is happening here? Does he go on the raids?

He started to back away when he heard a gasp. The man had turned and was looking right in his direction. The man stared for a few moments and then someone else walked up from another tent.

"What is it?"

"I thought I heard something."

"Ya heard something? You sure about that or was it the ale?"

They listened and slowly came closer to where he hid low to the ground behind several large bushes. He held himself ready to dash away if they noticed him. Several tense moments passed.

"There is nothing here, ya lump."

"Yeah, just getting jumpy I guess."

Both of the men turned around and left. He took the opportunity to leave as quickly as possible. A couple bounds got him away from the village and into the sky a moment later.

He paused and started circling the village far above. There was no chance anyone would see him as it was another cloudy night.

Halvden wants them dead.

"What can I do?" he whispered.

Go along with those plans to attack or be refused any help in rescuing Toothless. Do a bad thing or risk letting something horrible happen because he couldn't... wouldn't act?

A very vivid and terrifying image of Toothless trapped in an underground cell for years or forced to fight and maybe die for other peoples' pleasure forced its way foremost into his mind. A faint growl rose in his throat at the thought.

That was something he knew he could not allow to happen. He would not be able to forgive himself if that happened.

I have lost too much already. I cannot lose him too.

He glanced down at the scattered huts below. It was still too painful to imagine himself down there among the fighting with his claws and teeth covered in blood. To have men jabbing at him with spears and raining arrows upon him. To spread fear of dragons in peoples' hearts was something that he would not do. He did not even know how to fight properly and would not do that even if he was able.

There has to be another way to help Halvden's cause and not shed blood myself.

He remembered how terrified the raiding party had been at the mere sight of him back on the bridge when he had foiled their escape.

The obvious solution to his dilemma came to mind. He still felt hesitant about it and it was certainly dangerous, but it was at least acceptable since he would not directly get any blood on his claws.

This just might work.

I have a plan

"What are you going to do?" Halvden asked.

I will fly over their village

Draw their guards away

You attack when they are not ready

"But you won't fight with us?"

I do not know how to fight

I cannot breathe fire anyway

"What? Of course you can. You are a dragon."

He slowly shook his head and quickly came up with an excuse.

Even if I wanted to

I am not big enough to make fire

Halvden paced back and forth with his hands behind his back. The Chief was obviously deep in thought.

"That might be good enough. You distract the guards and draw their attention away, we sneak in, and take them down. They would not expect anything so soon after a raid or have any reason to think that you would be helping us."

Halvden stopped pacing and smiled a savage smile, obviously having made a decision.

"Yes, we go tonight. I will tell my warriors."

Halvden turned away and returned to his hut to make preparations and assemble his fighters.

He seems so happy about planning war. But he thinks it will mean the end of the fighting for his tribe. He has good intentions, I guess.

He walked through the village and down toward the stream. Several of the men and women glanced at him as he passed by, but they gave no overt sign of being afraid of him. A couple women were still down at the water's edge and doing some laundry.

Would any of their sons, brothers, or husbands not come back after tonight? Would any more families be broken soon?

"Shadowwing!"

He turned around and saw Adal, Alden, and their mother slowly walking toward him. The two boys seemed far more sure of themselves than she did. But she was carrying a bucket and a basket that he could smell was filled with fish.

They stopped in front of him and stood still.

"Go on mom, say hello," Adal whispered.

"Uh, hi dragon… Shadowwing."

He slowly raised a paw and waved while happily humming to her.

"He seems very nice."

"Tell him your name, mom."

"I… I'm Hilde."

He respectfully bowed to her.

"He bowed to me..." she gasped.

"I told you he is nice," Adal laughed.

"We brought you some water and fish," she nervously continued.

She sat the bucket down before him, and the three of them each grabbed the fish from the basket.

"Here you go!"

Adal and Alden eagerly tossed their fish into his open mouth. Hilde was a bit more nervous about the idea of putting her hands anywhere near his teeth. He slowly reached out and let her drop it into his open paw.

"See mom, he is nice."

"I know. He is the nicest dragon I know."

"But mom, he is the only dragon you know."

He deeply chuckled.

Such a clever lad.

"He is laughing, how cute," she said.

He stopped laughing at that.

"I am going to go back. Bring the bucket when he is done."

He looked back at the bucket filled with clear water. The thought of drinking some boiled water, or at least not pond or stream water, was very refreshing. And it was definitely more civilized.

I bet they've never seen a dragon drink from a cup... bucket like them before.

He clasped the bucket and downed the entire bucket in seconds. There was nowhere on the ground to write on and neither of the two boys could read anyway. So he showed his appreciation by giving both of them a half-hug.

"Thanks Shadowwing, we'll be back!"

The boys both ran off to take the bucket back. As much fun as they might be able to have together, there were more important matters for him to attend to. He had been flying a lot over the last few days and needed to be ready for tonight.

Time to sleep. Maybe I can make it up to them another day.

There was no doubt why there was a large gathering of men around the Chief's tent. Halvden was sharing the plan with the warriors.

Neither Bori nor Aelf were at home when he got there. He nudged open the door and slipped inside. While the temptation was great to go straight to bed, he hadn't actually been alone in the house by himself before and had never really had a chance to look around.

I don't think they would mind much.

He tiptoed down the short hall and nudged open the doors.

Both of their rooms were very sparse. However, Bori's had several books and Aelf's room had many pictures tacked to the wall. The pictures were drawn on old paper and had an exceptional amount of detail for so young an artist. The most detailed drawings were obviously of her parents.

Something about the room felt a bit too sad to him. Almost like it reminded him of someone else who liked to draw pictures.

He took another look at the books in Bori's room. The styles on the covers were different from what he was used to and he could not recognize all the symbols. Others he knew were about hunting, medicine, dragons, the tribe's gods, and probably their myths as well.

He carefully slid one of the books that had been lying on the floor out the door and into the hallway. The room itself was too small for him to easily stand in. The same old problem presented itself to him after he opened the book's front cover.

Short digits with sharp claws did not do a good job of flipping pages without tearing them.

He spent a long time carefully turning each page and straining his eyes to make out the faint symbols. The Norse was rather different from what he was used to, but it was not so different that he couldn't make anything out. It was apparently an epic about a man named Beaowulf.

He did not have a chance to start reading before he heard Bori yelling for him.

"Shadowwing! Are you in there?"

"Yes," he mumbled in reply

The door opened and Bori entered. The young man was dressed in leather armor and had a bow and arrows slung over his back with a sword at his hip.

He was dressed for battle.

"Shadowwing, the Chief wants to see you."

He put down the book and nodded solemnly at Bori. They both knew without needing to say anything that the coming evening was going to be a hard one for everyone. Bori grinned though when he saw the book on the floor.

"That is a good story. There is a dragon in it."

He gave Bori his 'I'm impressed, do tell me more' look.

"It is not a good dragon though. I know that must be very surprising. His name is Faefnir. Maybe after this is over we can talk about it. Shall we go?"

He nodded once and prepared to follow Bori outside and into the village square, but he paused at the door. The young man had an oddly stern and distant expression that looked out of place on him.

"Oh, don't you worry about me. I know how to handle a sword."

He nodded once and stepped outside to where a strange and somewhat frightening sight awaited him. What had to be all the men from the village and even some of the sturdier women were all clad the same as Bori with leather armor and were carrying pikes, bows, and clubs. Halvden had covered his entire face in war paint.

He could not help but notice that one of the men was flying a flag on which a roaring dragon was clearly recently painted. He was not sure whether to be more ashamed or honored at being put on their flag.

"Shadowwing, we are ready. Are you?"

He took a deep breath and deliberately nodded once.

Halvden grimly nodded back.

"We will wait in hiding outside their village until we see that you have distracted them. Fly above them, roar at them, burn something if you can. Then we will strike when they are afraid of you and are unprepared for us."

Halvden turned away from him and faced his people.

"My people! Today is the day of our victory! After today, you will never fear that the beasts will come in the night and take our daughters, sisters, and wives. We will destroy them all!"

He was met with cheers all around.

"The gods have sent us a gift that not even I foresaw. Who could imagine that they would send us a dragon, a dragon who could speak with us and who would aid our cause? But they did."

He raised his arms high above the crowd.

"Tonight, we will prevail on the land and in the sky. No torches until we get there, we don't want them to know we are coming. We will wait until we can see that he has distracted the enemy. Then we attack. And when we vanquish our enemy we will feast and give sacrifices to the gods. Let us march now to our triumph."

A raucous cheer went up from all the gathered warriors.

Shadowwing watched as the lines of armored soldiers rushed off into the woods. The women and children remaining in the village all went inside and locked the doors, leaving him alone outside in the square. He settled down and curled up to rest outside in the remaining sunlight.

They should be there around midnight. I can't believe that I am about to do this.

It was a few hours later that he silently took to the air and flew in the direction of the raiders' village. He scanned the forest all the way, looking for Halvden and his soldiers as he flew. But they were good at hiding, especially since they were moving without any torches. The sun had long since set and the clouds covered the moon, making the night almost as dark as possible, which was rather fortunate for his purpose.

He flew onward until he found it again. The village of raiders. He flew slow circles above the village, watching for any sign of guards or of Halvden's men approaching.

Then there were shadowy figures creeping through the forest toward the encampment.

Time for me now. Time to be a monster… love it...

He tucked his wings and dove. A slight adjustment of his wings and hindquarter fins produced that gradually building scream for which Night Furies were infamous.

There was no chance that it would go unheard.

He landed in the clearing just outside the village. Where before he had tried to be as silent as possible, this time he had to make a lot of noise and draw as much attention as he could. He howled and started running between the huts.

The village, which just moments before had been completely still and silent, quickly started swarming with activity. Men were emerging from sleep, weapons already in hand, and guards came running and shouting..

"Devil!" "It's a dragon!" "Kill it!" "This'll be good!"

Gotta catch me first!

A man, sword in hand, appeared right in front of him. He hissed at the man and hopped on top of the nearby hovel. It creaked under his weight and began to collapse. One great thrust of his wings carried him through the air, over the heads of the surrounding raiders, and away from the center of the village.

Voices and indistinct yelling followed him as he bounded off into the forest. It seemed that nearly half of the village had to be on his tail. But none of them could possibly catch up to him.

Something flew through the air past him. A sharp pain erupted in his hindquarters as one of the shots found its mark.

Really? Not this again! Cannot even boast of that one...

He kept running into the darkness and left the ground behind as soon as he reached the clearing in which he had landed. It was only after he was safely above the treetops and invisible in the night sky that he relaxed at all.

His heart was racing and he was short of breath even though he had only been on the ground for a minute at most. It was not that he was tired at all. Rather, there was something about the experience of taking part in an attack and fleeing with pursuers after him that was oddly and terrifyingly exciting. Something about it made his blood boil with energy.

Such musings were silenced when the screaming started up again alongside the clash of steel upon steel.

Hesitantly, he looked down and saw a mass of people fleeing the village as a wave of torches appeared without warning. From his aerial view he could easily see the advancing force as dark figures fell in its advance. The battle itself seemed to be over as quickly as it had begun. The defenders had been split with well over half their numbers outside the village. Small fires began spreading as the village was put to the torch.

He had done his part and circled the village for several minutes until he saw a crowd of people gather in the middle of the village. The victors had gathered to celebrate. Halvden's men had unsurprisingly carried the day.

I guess I should go down there too.

He flew down and landed in the same clearing from which he had recently fled. It was the second time in a couple weeks that he found himself in a ruined village with fires burning all around him. He briefly took a moment to pull the one arrow from his flank as it had not buried deeply at all.

Then he noticed the bodies.

There were easily a dozen bodies of bearded men, most of whom had no armor since they had been awoken in the middle of the night.

He felt sick with the metallic tang of blood in the air. Try as he might, it was not possible to avoid stepping in some crimson pool, and he found that he had stepped in blood at some point and had gotten all his limbs tainted by it.

Just don't think about it… oh gods...

"There he is!" Halvden shouted.

The man had a triumphant smile that he thought was rather unfitting for someone who had just been through a battle. Especially considering the wounded among his soldiers, although there were not as many as he had feared there might be.

"We easily won. They were completely unprepared for us. You did a good job."

He glanced around at the injured men, some of whom were being carried or assisted by their companions. Some were able to move under their own power. And then there was one younger man among them whom he clearly recognized.

Bori!

He bounded over to Bori with a spike of fear in his heart. The young man was sitting on the ground and in obvious pain. He quickly looked him over to try to see what was wrong.

"Shadow...wing, good… grr… to see you. They got my leg."

The leg did have an unnatural bend in it. But it was only a bruised and broken leg. Others had received far worse.

He let out a sigh of relief as Halvden's voice thundered out.

"Let's get the wounded on horses! Get the cattle and spoils! Let's go home!"

The warriors gave weary cheers. He could see that they were all very relieved, which made sense because they would not have to worry about raids in the night.

They would be safer now.

The few of their own dead were gathered together in a pile and burned as those able to stand paid their respects. Halvden spoke a few words to praise their bravery and the sacrifice they made for their tribe. The dead from the defending raiders were left where they fell to be food for the crows, wolves, and other scavengers.

Everyone began making their way out of town, hauling various articles of loot or tending to a wounded companion. He would have flown straight back, but he noticed that Bori was limping along painfully with a makeshift crutch because there were not enough horses. The young man was groaning in pain with every step.

Bori had taken him into his house and showed him every kindness possible under the circumstances. There was something he could do in return. Something he had never done for anyone before.

This is crazy. I can't believe I am going to do this.

He walked up next to Bori and grunted to get his attention.

"Shadow… come to join me for the… argh… journey home?"

No, he shook his head.

"What are you doing?"

He walked around in front of Bori and lay down, making himself as flat as possible. Then he looked around at Bori and gestured at his back.

Bori stared in disbelief.

"You… want me to… ride you?"

Yes, he nodded.

"But… I can manage. You are not a horse."

No, I am not a horse...

He grumble growled and gestured at his back again.

"Ok then, if you insist."

He waited as Bori limped over to him. The young man then grasped his shoulders and vaulted up onto his back. It was the first time he had ever allowed anyone to sit on him. He had not been big enough in the past to allow this even if he had wanted to. It felt quite strange with the foreign weight on him, light though Bori was in comparison to the other men. As inconvenient and slightly humbling as it was though this was something he wanted to do to help a friend.

He craned his head around to check that Bori was settled. Seeing that his passenger was ready, he quickly scratched out a message.

Tell me the Beaowulf story

Then he resumed walking to catch up with the rest of the survivors.

"Ok, it's the least I can do. I'll skip to the part that you would be most interested in. Beaowulf and Faefnir..."

He listened raptly while trying to not jostle his passenger. It wasn't as easy as he thought it would be. He had not quite appreciated how much his shoulders rolled when walking. Though maybe that was only an issue when carrying someone.

Almost all my time on Toothless had been flying instead of walking, so I didn't really know much from those experiences. I should ask him what he thought of carrying me. I don't think we ever talked much about that before.

They walked back through the night while men around them drank, ate, and celebrated as much as possible while marching.

It was finally around dawn when they arrived back in the village. He did not even feel sore from having carried Bori through the night although he knew that he would sleep very well.

The warriors were given a greeting worthy of victors. Wives and daughters ran out to embrace their loved ones. Healers went to the wounded. Those whose loved ones did not return solemnly gathered around the sacrificial pillar. Possibly to appease the gods or to honor the dead, he wasn't sure.

And Aelf ran toward them both with a furious scowl almost impossible from a young girl. She put her hands on her hips and glared in his direction.

He almost retreated even though he knew that she was not angry at him.

"Brother!"

"Aelfie."

"You get down here right now!"

He looked around at Bori, and they shared an expression of the man's impending doom. Then he lay down and stayed still while Bori dismounted. But he still let him hold onto his neck to not put any weight on the broken leg.

Aelf walked up to her brother and then punched him in the belly.

"You said you would not get hurt! You… you… you!"

She hugged her brother and refused to let go even after she started sobbing into his side.

"Oh sis, I'll be fine. It's just a broken leg. We won."

"Of course… you won. Just a leg…"

"But think about what this means. No more attacks. No more people disappearing. We will have peace."

"I like that," she whispered.

She started helping him hobble inside their home.

Well, he is certainly going to be in good hands. It might be a while before he can walk properly again, assuming that the break gets set correctly.

He crept out of the village and made his way down to the river. He did not feel like being around the celebration at the moment, plus he had some dried blood on his side and limbs to wash off. He waded out into the water, closed his eyes, and ducked underwater. The cool, crisp water flowed over him as he took a moment to lay on the river's floor.

Everyone here will be better off now, at least there is that.

There were a couple things about the outcome of the battle that especially did not seem right to him. One was that Halvden and his fighters had not taken any prisoners. The other was that there had not been any former tribesmen or tribeswomen of Halvden's formerly taken prisoner to rescue. What did the raiders do with the prisoners they had taken?

It can't be good, whatever it is.

He emerged from the river feeling much cleaner and took a nap right there by the riverbank. Once he woke back up later in the afternoon, he made his way back to the village where a feast was already being prepared. A cow, a spoil taken after the battle, was sacrificed on the altar in front of the entire village and a bonfire was prepared.

There was no chance that this could compare to the grand Blott feasts back on Berk. Even so, the relief among all the inhabitants was palpable, and the promise of meat was enough to liven even the dourest of spirits. Even those who had just lost someone seemed tough and willing to accept what had happened.

He lounged off to the side of the ceremony and listened as people happily recounted their heroic deeds, most of which were rather embellished. Halvden stood up before everyone and gave a triumphant speech to which he paid little attention. It was sufficient that he had time to rest. Boys and girls ran every which way carrying pitchers, mugs, and plates of meats and bread. With a distinct warmth in his heart, he noticed Adal and Fenrir sitting together at a table, the man looking far more timid or at least calm than he had been in the past.

"But it would not have been possible without him!"

Everyone turned and looked at him. He suddenly felt rather nervous being the center of attention.

"The dragon helped us win. I'll not hear any more complaining about him. Shadowwing has been with us for weeks now, and he has never done anything to hurt anyone here. He showed us that he can be better than us even. He helped us win the battle without us losing many of our own. Shadowwing, come join us."

Halvden beckoned him forward, and he could hardly resist in such a festive setting. Especially when dozens of people began clapping and cheering for him. A couple he passed by were even brave enough to reach out and pat him on the shoulder.

Joining the leader of the tribe at the head of a ceremony was very bittersweet because of the memories it brought back. Good, but painful memories.

"Greta, bring up the haunch for him. I'd say he's earned it!"

That got his attention. A large woman approached holding a speared hunk of meat practically dripping with fat. Just the sight of it made his mouth water and his stomach rumble.

That looks wonderful! Skirmishing and hauling loads all through the night are hard work after all.

Then he smelled the meat. It had been cooked over the open fire and then prepared with several herbs, one of which was dragonsbane. While it smelled and looked truly wondrous, he could not help but wonder if it was safe for him to eat.

He remembered rather vaguely the effect that dragonsbane had on him. It was easy to remember Toothless blissfully rolling around on his back, tongue lolling out, and then struggling to stand up and walk afterwards. That was not terribly unlike how Nords could get on a festive occasion after too many drinks. All he could remember from his own limited experience with it though was feeling perfectly happy, having no desire to do anything at all, and the sensation of floating on a warm wind over the sea. And that was just from rolling in it. Who knew what effect actually eating it could have?

Greta held aloft the haunch for him to take.

To refuse would be an insult on this night of celebration and it would probably take too long to explain his reservation to them. Plus, they had just won a battle, and he could afford to be a bit... daring. Resigned to whatever might happen, he let her hand him the mouthful and dug into it.

Maybe there isn't enough to actually do anything bad. I hope...

Aside from his lingering concern about the unknown effect the dragonsbane may have on him, the haunch was as juicy and as tender and as dripping with fat as he imagined it would be. This was the proper way to eat, not tearing apart a freshly caught animal with no preparation. There not being much blood was somewhat of a letdown though.

A very faint pall gradually descended over everything around him. Voices became more indistinct and slurred. Several shapes ran over to him with helpings of meats to offer him, which he gladly accepted. It became a very, very good and pleasant evening.

Admittedly though he began feeling rather sleepy and wasn't quite sure what was going on around him as the roaring bonfire billowed higher and all voices molded into one constant drone of laughter, conversation, dancing, tales of combat and battle-deeds, songs of praise to the gods…

Blink...

The smell of roasting meats was the most pleasant smell he could ever remember being drowned in as the ringing voices filled his ears...

It was hard to keep his heavy eyes open...

.

He opened his eyes and realized that he was completely splayed out on the ground. The party had long since ended, and it was well after nightfall. He gave a faint growl at the throb in his head and noticed that there was a faint pool of drool where his head had been resting.

Gods, that stuff is strong. I slept through the whole party.

He struggled to his feet and started for Bori's hut when he heard a voice.

"Well, you are finally awake again."

Halvden strolled over to meet him. The Chief had a pipe in his mouth and was smoking a strange herb.

"I wanted to wait for you to wake up. Did you get enough to eat?"

He nodded, slightly grimacing at the pain in his belly.

"You nodded off in the middle of the feasting, just lay down by the fire and went out. We tried to get you up, but you sleep deeper than old Stonehead."

I was very sleepy, and... did you know that dragonsbane is powerful stuff...

"Shall we go to my place to talk?"

He followed Halvden over to his hut and carefully wiggled inside. If anything, it reminded him of the Elder's hut back on Berk, with its glass bottles filled with dried leaves, strange artifacts, and a few ragged books. It was different though in the swords and pikes that Halvden had stored by the door. The Chief tossed a few feeder logs on the fire, and then sat down with a gesture at the only bare patch of dirt.

"I know you didn't want to fight today, but you did help us. You helped us destroy our enemy, and we owe you much. I owe you much."

Halvden paused for a moment.

"We have a deal, and you did your part. You want to get into Rorikfeld and help your brother escape if you can, right?"

Yes.

"None of us know what it is like in the arena between the fights. All we know is that every moon or so there is a dragon fight held at Rorikfeld. Dragons fight humans or other dragons, sometimes to the death. People gather to watch the fights and they bet on each fight for fun and for entertainment. I don't know if they would have your brother fight now. Dragons like you are very rare, and they might not want to risk harm to their prize."

I hope not.

"So you want to get in there. Here is how I think we can do it as I mentioned to you before. They always need dragons to fight. I could have my men take you there as if we caught you and want to have you fight. You can pretend to be trained for battle or something. They will definitely want to let you in then. That will give you the chance to find him and do something."

It again sounded like a good plan, at least the best plan that either of them had come up with, except for one important detail.

Will I need to fight?

Halvden nodded without hesitation.

"You might need to. If you do, the human or dragon you have to fight will try to kill you."

He hung his head in obvious dismay.

So I have to fight back…

"You can't avoid that. Fighting is necessary if you want to protect your own. I know this. That is why I did what I did last night. Yes, I did hate those monsters, and I was happy to be able to fight and kill them. But only because of the bad things they did to my tribe and my people."

"I said that I would need a few men to seem to control you. You will need to let us put ropes on you so that it looks like we are leading you."

He nodded in resignation, as distasteful as the notion was. Though he suspected that it would not be the last time he would need to do something disagreeable in this mission.

"We will need a few weeks to prepare. I will send some people to Rorikfeld to see if they are interested in this deal, and I will let you know when we hear back from them."

I understand

Halvden grimly nodded as well.

"Have you thought about what will happen later? After you find him and get him out I mean?"

Not really, I haven't thought that far ahead.

He shook his head.

"Well, we enjoy you being here. I think we would all welcome you and your brother here if you wanted to stay. I certainly would. It certainly helps us to have a dragon on our side."

He felt a distinct warmth at the offer. Being accepted as part of a people was very comforting and gave a feeling of place in the world. There were certainly good people in this small tribe whom he had come to know and care for.

But none of that could replace the memories of his real home and friends. And then there were also Toothless' unknown wishes. What would he want to do?

I do not know

"You have plenty of time to think about it."

He carefully backed out of Halvden's hut and walked back outside into the village square. He could see a few fires lit inside the dwellings, but there was no sign that anyone was stirring. Everything was peaceful and everyone was resting after the fighting and feasting.

He paused in front of Bori's house, and eventually turned away to walk down toward the river. Something felt better about being outside and under the open skies at the moment. The birds and owls sang their respective songs in the trees and bushes all around as he followed the worn trail and lay down by the water's edge.

The gently flowing water's babble was very helpful at calming his nerves.

What have I gotten myself into? Get taken as a prisoner into a city that makes dragons fight humans and other dragons just to find a way to maybe get Toothless out? Is this stupid or crazy or both?"

Sigh.

But he has been there for months now. He has been through far worse than I will. And at least we will be together soon.

He glanced up at the stars one more time before he covered himself with a wing. He shivered slightly at the chill in the air, knowing full well that it was only a taste of the approaching winter.