Hiccup slumped. Fell. Astrid's axe hit dirt. She held Hiccup. His head rolled. His eyes were closed. She heard dragon wings. A figure wearing a black hood and a familiar gi dropped. The hood flew off.

"Get him home!" Gyda ordered.

Toothless and Moondust rushed over. Shadowfire aided Astrid in getting Hiccup on Toothless' back. Astrid grabbed him as he slid too far one way. Jerked him back. Toothless, with Astrid on one side and Moondust on the other hurried to the chief's hut. She heard Gyda speak as they skirted the edge of the Great Hall.

"Chief! Odin's Grove. Dead Outcasts. Frost! Bag!"

Astrid heard a hard run as they reached the hut. Gyda slid between Moondust and the wall. Opened the door. Toothless bounded in. Astrid caught Hiccup before he hit wood. Gyda took him. Raced up the stairs before Astrid could speak. She followed. Toothless jumped to the rafters then the loft.

"Sit. Back to the wall. Shadowfire! Get Gothi. No one else enters!"

Roars answer the mage. Astrid spared a glance to see a harrowed expression on Gyda's face. She did not argue the woman taking over even though Stoick was still chief and she was Hiccup's betrothed. Astrid sat down. Gyda gently placed Hiccup in her lap, his back to Astrid's chest. His head rolled onto her spaulder. Toothless warbled, probably too worried to shift his pitch for the Common Tongue. Astrid found she did not need the translation. She understood Hiccup's brother was questioning the mage. Gyda did not answer.

Frost flew through the roof opening. Sharpshot, Sneaky, Iggy, and Buttercup followed. The Terrible Terrors stared at Gyda as if daring her to make them leave. Gyda ignored them. She took the satchel Frost carried in his muzzle. Opened it. Produced a clear container holding a purple liquid. Stepped to the bed. Reached for Hiccup's mouth. Astrid found her voice.

"What are you doing? What is that? We need to wait for Gothi."

"Gothi can't help him. He has to drink this. Trust me. I will explain but he will die if we do not get this in him."

Astrid froze. Gyda opened Hiccup's mouth. Slowly poured the liquid in. Hiccup coughed. Gyda's thumb rubbed his neck in a downward motion. Hiccup swallowed. Gyda set the container aside.

"Lay him down. Lay with him. Hold him. Talk to him. Let him know you are there."

Astrid frowned but shifted so Hiccup laid on his back. She curled into his side. Her insides twitched at the thought of where they were. That he did not move dropped her into ice. Her lips found his ear.

"Hiccup, I'm here," she whispered. "I'm not going anywhere. Come back to me."

Astrid heard shuffling. She lifted her head as Gothi moved up the stairs.

"Elder, please see to Astird's arm. She cannot move right now though. Yes, Moondust?"

Astrid looked at the opening, finding the female Night Fury sitting on the landing Fintan and her father put it. She felt Gothi being to poke and prod at the gash on her right arm. She ignored the woman.

[Everyone is trying to get in but Shadowfire and the dragons are keeping them out like you asked. Will Alpha be okay?]

Gyda sighed. Ran her hand through a tangle of brown hair then pinched the bridge of her nose. "Astrid, please keep talking to him. He has to know you are there. Toothless, you and Sharpshot go over there as well. Do not move him. Do not try to wake him. And please don't bump Astrid's arm."

Astrid saw the dragons move to the side of the bed away from Gothi. Saw Gyda turn to Moondust.

"His core has to stabilize. The potion will help. Having Astrid and his brothers here will help." Gyda frowned. "Get Stoick. He and Gobber needs to be here too. They are his family as well. Tell Shadowfire I said let them in. Frost, go with her."

[At once, Elder Gyda.]

[Sure, Mama.]

The two dragons left. Iggy, Buttercup, and Sneaky hopped onto the ledge, looking for all intents and purposes as if they were guarding the opening. Astrid buried her face into Hiccup's neck. She, Toothless, and Sharpshot kept speaking to him, assuring him they were there.

She heard Stoick and Gobber enter a few moments later. Gyda moved to the edge of the loft. Looked down then looked back to the loft. She sighed.

"Chief, you and Gobber please start talking about anything. Do it loudly. Hiccup has to know you are here, but it's crowded up here."

"What be goin' on? What happened to my son?"

"Talk to him!" Gyda snapped. "Please. I have to watch his core. I have to see it stabilize. Talk and I'll explain when I can. I promise."

"Chief, me thinks we should trust the lass. She never steer us wrong 'fore."

"Fine. But ye be keepin' yer promise, lass."

The two men began talking about a dragon Gobber swore was chasing him. Astrid saw Gyda breathe a sigh of relief then saw her step to the foot of the bed. The mage knelt upon the floor, her gaze steadily upon Hiccup. Astrid heard Toothless and Sharpshot gasp. Felt Gothi's hands falter upon her arm. She looked back as a glow, not unlike the one that Gyda gave off whenever she mediated, come from Hiccup's body. It pulsed wildly.

"Talk to him!"

Gyda's shout rattled her. Astrid laid her head down, mouth by Hiccup's ear. She repeated her words from earlier. Toothless and Sharpsthot crooned in the Old Tongue. Stoick and Gobber's conversation switched to improvements for the village that Hiccup was devising and had told them about. Both men complimented Hiccup and made sure to say how proud they were of him.

Long, agonizing moments later, Astrid heard Gyda shift.

"It's stable. You can stop talking to him. Astrid, stay there though. Elder Gothi, will Astrid's arm be okay?"

Astrid shifted so she could see the old woman. Gothi nodded. Gyda sighed.

"Thank you."

"What be goin' on?" Stoick demanded. "What happened to my son?"

"I didn't make the barrier Bearspit ran into," Gyda said. "I was in the trees beyond Phlegma's farm. I wasn't close enough. Barriers are a close quarters spell. That one had to have come from someone right there."

"What does that 'ave ta do with my son?" Stoick asked.

Gyda ran a hand down her face. "Hiccup made that barrier."