"So, now what?" Fishlegs was sitting with Ruffnut and Tuffnut. They could see fairly well, as it was close to a full moon that night, and they were sitting outside. Berg, Blast, and Boom were standing nearby, and Maour and Toothless were in front of them. They were close to the Svartur family cave entrance. Maour had a few things he wanted to do before daybreak. First on the list was to explain why they had to be done by daybreak.

"There are a few things. But we all need to be asleep by sunrise. You'll have to change your sleep schedule, and the trip to Berk is much safer done nocturnally, anyway. Human activity is easier to spot when torches are the brightest thing for miles. We'll probably leave the night after tomorrow night." He considered logistics. "The trip to Berk should take about two weeks because we'll have to island-hop."

Tuffnut groaned in frustration. "Only two weeks? Where were you during our two month boat trip to from Berk to Mahelmetan? You make two weeks sound slow!" He collapsed dramatically, slumping against Blast's side. "You have no idea how many of Trader Johann's stories we know by heart now. That was all he'd do, every day. Tell stories. I still have nightmares..."

Maour laughed, remembering Trader Johann's overdramatic renditions of his various adventures. It was possible Tuffnut wasn't exaggerating by much. "We could probably make it in one if it was a trip over land. But we can't go in a straight line, because we need land to stop and rest up. So two weeks does feel slow to me."

He decided to move on before Tuffnut objected to that too. "Right now, I think you three should link with your dragons. The sooner that starts, the sooner you will start developing the side-effects. You'll be able to talk to them immediately, among other things."

"Could you tell us a bit about what it does?" Fishlegs looked at Berg nervously. "There's no crazy 'two bodies; one mind' thing involved, is there? "

'What is that even supposed to mean?' Berg asked curiously.

"Berg doesn't even know what you mean by that," Maour commented wryly, "and no. You can access his senses, like sight or hearing, and he can access yours. Using his senses will let you hear all dragons in time even with your own ears, and change a few other small things."

"That sounds great." Fishlegs looked at Toothless. "Berg will be able to see out of my eyes whenever he wants?"

"And you with his. I'm sure you two can work it out." Maour turned to the twins. "As for you guys… I figure you have no problems with gaining a new set of eyes and ears, along with being able to talk to dragons."

"Maour, you have enabled us to perform feats of insanity no mere mortal should be capable of," Ruffnut said seriously. "You have given us allies, allies with plasma blasts, speed, and devious minds. And now you ask if we want even more advantages in our work?"
"It was a stupid question, basically," Tuffnut summed up.

Maour was feeling slightly worried, now that Ruffnut had put it that way. "No destroying entire islands, no hurting people, and no doing damage you can't fix." It was too much to say not to destroy things, knowing the twins. "And by fix, I mean as good as new, quickly."

'We already follow those rules, don't worry.' Boom shrugged. 'We live on a flammable island. The twins have to play by our rules here.'

"Spoilsport," Tuffnut grumbled. "Fine."

"Okay, no objections." Maour gestured to all three of the teens. "Go for it."

"Alright!" With that Ruffnut stood. Boom stared at her. She stared back. "Uh, how does this work?"

Maour laughed. "Place your hand on her head and trust her completely." He wasn't sure if the last part was necessary, but it couldn't hurt. The three teens all went to do that with their respective Furies. Maour remembered as they moved into position what had happened immediately after when it happened to him. He decided not to say anything.

In unison, all three Furies dropped like flies, and the teens all started moaning in pain as they cradled their heads. Maour and Toothless winced in sympathy.

'Should we have told them about that part? I had forgotten completely. It only happened the first time." Toothless sounded more speculative that guilty. 'And it doesn't happen with animals.'

"Well, I guess I should be flattered my mind is more complicated than a mouse. I'm not sure what difference it would have made. But if trust is an important part of this, it probably wouldn't have helped to know it hurts like crazy for a minute or so."

'True.' They stood there for a few more moments. 'Hey, Eldurberg is waking up. So are Blast and Boom,' Toothless remarked.

They watched in amusement as the teens got up and proceeded to freak out about the various facets of the link for a while. Ruff and Tuff were busy checking out what Blast and Boom could see, and vice versa, making themselves dizzy from switching back and forth. Fishlegs and Berg were enjoying their first conversation without the encumberment of a language barrier on one end. They would all be busy for a while.

"Guys, you all seem in good hands. The Furies know this place, so just stick with them. Try to sleep as much as possible in the day, and we'll see you tomorrow night."

Maour figured he and Toothless were no longer needed, so they headed out to sea and grabbed fish for the family. It was a bit after midnight by the time they returned to find Cloey, Von, and Shadow waiting for them in the cave.

'Nice work.' Shadow was happy with the outcome of that meeting.

Cloey had a more important message. 'Now spend some time with us. You'll be gone for a month after tomorrow. I'm guessing your friends are busy right now.'

'Yup. I just hope they got the message about sleeping during the day. They'll be wiped out tomorrow night if they don't.' With that Toothless started tossing fish to everyone else. They spent the rest of the night together and went for a flight later. After the flight, when they were all together in the central part of their section of the cavern, Shadow asked Maour and Toothless something they had not been expecting.

'I was wondering... would you two mind if I came along?'

Before they could say anything, Von chimed in.

'I was going to ask that! I want to see the cove and their cave.' She looked at Shadow. 'Could we both go?'

Cloey was already shaking her head ruefully. 'I was going to suggest I come along myself. I've traveled that route with them before.' She took in Shadow and Von's expressions of disappointment. 'But it looks like we all have a reason to go. Do you two think you would mind us making this a family trip?'

Maour laughed happily. Toothless purred in acceptance. Maour spoke for both of them. "Sure! Safety in numbers, right?" He abruptly frowned. "But you'll have to be very careful around the village. We are going to get Fishlegs and the twins in, have them discreetly say goodbye, and get them out." He braced himself. "And while Blast, Boom, and Berg are doing that, Toothless and I have a note to deliver."

Cloey and Shadow nodded, while Von smiled tentatively in support. They knew what that was about.

Shadow spoke as he moved to sit next to Maour. 'We'll look after the teens and their bonds from the sky in case something goes really wrong. You two will be safer on your own, most likely. You know that village; we don't.'

With that, Toothless smiled. It was a gesture the entire Svartur family used naturally now. 'And we'd be happy for the extra backup. You all know we leave the night after tomorrow.'

After that, the conversation turned to other things. Maour and Toothless were reassured by the fact that the entire family would be going. The younger three drifted off to bed, leaving Cloey and Shadow alone in the central cavern. Shadow turned to Cloey.

'I think I know what you have planned.' He elaborated on his suspicions. Cloey purred.

'Exactly right. Do you want to join me on that little side trip when we get there?' Her voice was content but held just a hint of anger not directed at Shadow.

'Definitely. I think Maour has said enough about his past that we know where to go when we get there. It shouldn't take long.' Shadow's voice held the same hint of anger now. 'I was planning something similar myself. Now it will be twice as effective.'

The next night was mostly spent preparing for the journey. While the teens got more used to riding, Maour and the rest of the Svartur family planned the route they would take there and back. They eventually decided on which chain of islands they would land on to make the trip as safe as possible. There was only one inhabited island on that list, aside from Berk itself. It would take two weeks exactly, assuming no delays.

Other than that, the travelers spent the day mostly on their own, knowing this was the last completely free time that they would have for a month. Maour and Toothless decided to take a long run through the forest. After that, they continued their habit of Maour practicing with the scythe while Toothless watched. After a few months of daily practice, Maour was getting genuinely good with the weapon. He still had a ways to go to be able to best extremely skilled opponents, or more than one opponent at once, but Toothless was confident that, if Hiccup were attacked by a Nightmare again as he was when Toothless was captured by the queen, it would be a lot less one-sided this time around.

That was how the last day before the trip was spent. They all slept as best they could the following day, and at sunset the next night they set off. Luckily for Fishlegs and the twins, they were already equipped with cold-weather clothing, so there was no disastrous repeat of Maour's first all-night flight and ensuing fever. Although this time there was no sleep-flying, as all the Furies were adjusted to nocturnal schedules. In the light of the fading sunset, Maour made some important introductions.

"Maour, who are they?" Fishlegs was pointing to the three Furies that had risen out of the caves exits to meet them as the four bonded pairs set off. He stared as they leveled out, keeping formation with Toothless.

"Hey, they all have green eyes!" That was Tuffnut, who was slightly more awake than Ruffnut. The three teens were still adjusting to sleeping during the day.

Maour smiled and said, "Well, let's just say they decided to make this trip a family outing." He gestured to each in turn. "This one is Svarturvon, Toothless' sister. Svarturkló and Svartskuggi are their parents and, I never told you this, but they accepted me as their adopted son, and gave me the name Svarturflugmaður. I may call them by some nickname, but please use their proper names."

Ruffnut laughed. "You did say all the Svarturs had green eyes. That just so happens to include you!" She smiled. "And you have a sister? Lucky."

Tuffnut sighed dramatically. "My condolences. I share your pain." He eyed Ruffnut. "Sisters are obnoxious."

Toothless wasn't pleased with that, and neither was Maour, though he knew better than to take it too seriously. Toothless moved over to Blast and Tuffnut, and growled at Tuffnut. Maour chimed in too. "Watch it, Tuffnut."

Blast hadn't been paying attention, but when he figured out what Tuffnut had said, he slapped him with his ears.

"Ouch! Hey, what was that for?" Tuffnut was addressing Blast directly.

'You don't insult Von. You're lucky Toothless and Maour settled for a growl and a warning. I don't want to be dragged into a fight with them.' Blast was more of a subtle humor person. Direct insults weren't his preferred method. 'Besides, Von is great. And do you really think it's a good idea to be rude in front of her parents?'

Tuffnut looked back. Cloey, Shadow, and Von herself were all glaring at him. "Sorry Von." They stopped glaring. They had heard enough from Maour to not take it too personally.

Meanwhile, Fishlegs was staring at Cloey. When she noticed, she looked at him questioningly.

'Svarturkló wants to know why you are staring.' Berg had been asked to relay that message. It would be at least a few days before the teens could hear all dragons, even though they had almost immediately learned to pin the senses they needed to improve open ever so slightly. Until then, their bonds acted as translators for the other dragons.

"Oh, sorry Svarturkló. It's just I think I recognize that scar. Are you the Fury that was struck by lightning during the raid?"

Cloey nodded. The twins were watching, and they caught on to what that meant.

"Wow, that was Toothless's mother the entire time?" Tuffnut laughed. "Toothless, are you telling me your mom had to come save you from the Queen? You, the fearsome warrior?"

'Yup. I'm not embarrassed by that, either. She's just as much of a fighter as I am, and she has way more experience. So does Shadow.' The teens' bonds relayed that to them. Cloey bared her teeth in a toothy smile.

"Yikes. Not going to question that." Ruffnut showed a bit of wisdom. She quickly changed the subject. "So, you guys have any interesting stories from the time you spent searching for the other Furies?"

Maour was only too happy to oblige them. He started with the story of the two hunters and the beach. Fishlegs interrupted almost immediately.

"Wait, was the name of one of them Thorgils?" He seemed excited.

'Yes. Where did you hear about this?' Toothless growled. 'We may have a promise to keep.'

"I heard this story from the other hunter. He told the guy he was talking to that Thorgils had changed occupations, and was planning on keeping his oath." Fishlegs explained quickly. He had noticed the promise of revenge conveyed by Toothless' growling and flexing claws even though his words were relayed calmly by Berg. He wanted no part of that anger.

"Good. We promised that hunter that if we heard he wasn't keeping to his oath, well..." Maour trailed off. Then he continued the story.

Tuffnut laughed once he was finished. "You like hiding dragons in plain sight, don't you Maour? First two Furies in the sand, then a Fury in a pile of sticks and leaves."

Fishlegs groaned. "That almost gave me a heart attack! And by the way, saying 'don't have a heart attack' right before a shock doesn't help!"

'Sorry. It's what we always do when Maour goes into the village there. Keeps me safely hidden so I can sleep. Or scare unsuspecting bystanders.' Toothless laughed.

The discussion turned to another incident, and another, and before they knew it they had to stop for the day. The next two weeks passed in a similar fashion. By the fifth day, the teens could hear all the dragons talking. That opened up a lot of conversational options. But all of the travelers had their own reasons to be nervous, and that made the time fly by.

"This is Berk." Maour was gesturing dramatically, as they soared over the village. His voice was full of humor. "It's twelve days north of hopeless, and a few degrees south of freezing to death. Located solidly on the meridian of misery." The twins snorted at that. The group circled overhead, hidden in the dark night.

"The village. In a word, sturdy. It's been here for over seven generations, but every single building is new." Maour nodded towards the twins. "Thanks in a large part to dragons, but also the twins. They helped."

Ruffnut looked affronted by that. "Hey, some of your inventions contributed too! We can't take all of the credit."

Maour protested that. "But that was accidental. And I don't think I destroyed any whole buildings, just parts of buildings." He cleared his throat. "Where was I? Right. Any food that grows here is tough, tasteless. The people, even more so. They have fishing and a charming view of the sunsets. Not so much hunting. The only problem used to be the... pests." Hiccup rolled his eyes at the Vikings' term for dragons. "But they're gone now." At that, his voice lost the sarcastic streak. "They might have stuck around, but apparently Astrid taught them to fear Berk."

'Not your fault.' Cloey felt the need to remind her sons of that.

"No, it isn't," Maour agreed. "But anyway, Berk. Stuck in the past, even when the war should be over. Its future leaders are either self-absorbed or insane, and the people here don't want to change."

Fishlegs nodded. "That would be why we left." He still wasn't quite ready to explain that to his parents yet. Luckily, Maour had anticipated that.

"We should wait until the middle of the night. In the meantime, we can go see the cove." Maour and Toothless peeled off, and the other Furies followed, soaring over the forest. They dropped straight into the cove after Toothless had confirmed that no one had been there since they left.

'It's just like you described.' Von seemed mesmerized by the place.

Shadow hadn't landed. He was circling a large dead tree curiously.

'What are you looking at, Shadow?' Toothless felt something poke at an old memory. Something about that tree. Maour followed his gaze and grinned a second before Shadow replied.

'Why is there a Viking shield up here?' Shadow seemed puzzled. 'Is this something you two did?'

Maour snorted. "Yeah. It was an accident. We forgot to take it down. There was a lot going on back then." He considered asking Shadow to take the shield down but decided against it. "You can leave it there. No one will ever notice."

After a few minutes they left the cove, and Maour and Toothless took the group to the cliffside ledge where a tunnel led to the cave system that served as their home after the cove was discovered. They explained what the place was, but didn't bother leading a tour of the inside. It was just a pitch black series of cylindrical tunnels. Its only beneficial properties were safety and secrecy. Maour explained that as they flew aimlessly through sea stacks.

"It was just somewhere to hide Toothless after Astrid found the cove. It doesn't really have any special memories like the cove does."

"Still cool though. Why is it you found all the cool hiding places on Berk when we could have used them?" Tuffnut was a bit put out by that.

Ruffnut had Boom barrel roll over Tuffnut and Blast, smacking them in the process. "Idiot. What could need more secrecy than hiding a Night Fury? Maour needed both of those places, so he found them. We didn't really need a place to hide, so we never went looking." That shut the conversation down. They went fishing a little after midnight and landed on a sea stack to go over the plan one more time.

"Everyone knows what they're doing, right?" Maour needed to be sure. The members of the group all nodded. "Good. We will all meet back here once we're done. Toothless and I will be back last, to make sure everyone got out all right." He didn't notice Cloey glance slyly at Shadow. "Okay, let's go get this done with." The group took off and flew towards the village of Berk one last time.

Ruffnut and Tuffnut stood at the back door to the Thorston household. Boom and Blast were sitting on the roof. Boom was using Ruffnut's senses, and Blast was keeping watch using his own. Despite the potential dangers he wanted to watch for inside, he was still thoughtful enough to ask permission first. This was probably going to get a bit emotional, even for Thorstons.

Ruffnut glanced at Tuffnut. "Should we knock?"

Tuffnut spun around and kicked the door open, an easy task after a lifetime of practice to unhook the latch by kicking it just right. "Nah."

The twins stepped inside and proceeded to sit down at the kitchen table and make some noise with the various kitchen utensils. This was something that always got their mother to come downstairs quickly, to stop whatever madness they would have been up to. Ruffnut realized that this might be the only time they did it intentionally to inform their mother of madness they had already done.

"Hey look, ten seconds. A new record." Tuffnut was a bit nervous. Why hadn't she come down yet?

He realized that maybe they hadn't thought things through when his mother leaped into the room armed with an ax and shield. They should have considered the fact that she didn't know they were back.

"Ruff? Tuff? Back already? That was a short adventure, though honestly, I expected you back sooner." She had relaxed immediately, and sounded only pleasantly surprised.

Tuffnut had also forgotten that this was a normal thing for Thorstons, disappearing randomly. Well, that would make things easier. He did not envy Fishlegs his overprotective mother.

"Yup, we're back. But not for long. We kinda found a purpose, something that doesn't involve Berk. We came back to tell you." Ruffnut couldn't continue, so Tuffnut did.

"We came back, to tell you we aren't coming back." Tuffnut stopped. Their mother set the ax and shield down. She sighed.

"I figured as much. Like your cousin Gruffnut. Where should I send letters?" She took in their utterly confused expressions. "Come on, you didn't think I was blind, right? I always thought you'd leave once people got used to your pranks. Adventuring is in the Thorston blood; some of us adventure for our whole lives. It doesn't mean I won't miss you." She hugged Ruffnut, and then Tuffnut. "So, where do I send letters? And where should I come to visit, for that matter?" Ruffnut and Tuffnut stared at each other. They had no idea how to explain that they couldn't tell their own mother where they'd be living. But as for letters...

"Trader Johann can get letters to us, eventually. It might take a while to get them though. We'll be sure to write back and maybe visit eventually. But we can't tell you where we'll be." Ruffnut seemed to have this one covered. Then she visibly flinched, as Boom informed her that a village watchman was approaching the house, probably wondering about why candles were lit at two in the morning. Their mother lived alone in this house, though most of her time was spent with their cousins. She was rarely ever alone. But it was still odd.

"Mom, we've gotta go. The watchman is coming, and we can't be seen. Actually, best you don't tell anyone we were here. Especially Astrid." Tuffnut had also been warned by Blast.

"At least let me see you two to your boat, wherever it is." Their mother stepped out the back door and gestured for them to lead the way. "Well, where did you dock?"

Tuffnut figured this was as good a time as any for a dramatic departure. Ruffnut felt the same. They stepped outside.

"Mom, there's a reason we can't be seen here." Ruffnut sounded sad. She knew their mother wouldn't understand. Maybe they could explain the safe parts through letters later. But for now...

"Yeah. If you want to be proud of us, close your eyes for a few seconds and we'll be gone. If you want to know the truth, keep them open."

Their mother looked worried. She kept her eyes open.

"Suit yourself. We will write letters. Please read them instead of burning them unopened. Even for Thorstons, this will look bad." Tuffnut gave up. "Blast, we're ready." He said that idly as if speaking to thin air.

He took in her expression of shock as two Night Furies leaped from the roof, and one landed behind each of her children. She gaped as they bowed in her direction. Then the twins vaulted onto the saddles and rose into the night in a powerful leap as the Furies ascended. The last words they heard were more annoyed than anything.

"You two knuckleheads better write!"

After circling for a while, Berg and Fishlegs rose from elsewhere in the village to join them.

"So, how did that cart-wreck go?" Tuffnut sounded morbidly curious.

"Fine, actually." Fishlegs shrugged. "Dad was understanding, and mom wasn't awake."

Ruffnut snickered. "You are in so much trouble the next time you see her."

"Yeah…" Fishlegs sighed. "Still better than explaining any of this to her myself now. Dad can do that."

"Hey, should we mess with any of the villagers while we wait?" Tuffnut pointed down at the village. "I like the idea of leaving some sheep on top of a few huts…"

'No way,' Blast said immediately. 'This place is dangerous, and Toothless will get us in trouble if we mess around here.'

"Fine." Tuffnut crossed his arms. "But we're doing stunts over the ocean on the way back, right?"

'Of course!' Boom said enthusiastically. 'Berg can catch you if you mess up!'

'I don't recall agreeing to that,' Berg rumbled as they flew off to wait for Maour, Toothless, and the Svartur parents.

Maour and Toothless touched down outside the forge. Maour quickly ran inside and stuck his letter inside Gobber's hammer prosthetic, specifically inside the hidden compartment. Hopefully, Gobber would notice it soon. Maour took in the sight of the place he might miss most in the village itself, and then he left.

He and Toothless were about to take off when he saw something moving by the docks. It wasn't a watchman.

Toothless soared silently overhead to get a closer look. Maour's breath caught in his throat as he recognized the figure standing on the edge of the dock.

Her ax was in her hands. It was definitely Astrid. He and Toothless had discussed one other possible plan for the night but dismissed it as too difficult. There was no way they would be able to confront Astrid when they had no idea where she'd be. At least, that had been the reason. But now it wasn't a problem.

'Do you want to try?' Toothless knew this plan was dangerous, but he agreed there were things that needed to be tried. Maour had wanted to try.

"Yes. But if she attacks you, don't hold back in the slightest. I won't if she attacks me." Maour pulled his scythe off of his back. He had, of course, brought it on this month-long voyage. "You should stay out of sight."

'Like I didn't know that.' Toothless set down by the base of the dock and hid there, invisible in the night but ready to attack in an instant if need be. Maour stood in the middle of the base of the dock, his scythe in its deceptively harmless-looking state of folded spikes. He too was ready to defend himself in an instant. There were things that needed to be said, but he was not expecting this to end in talking if he failed.

"Astrid."

The figure with the ax at the end of the dock stiffened.

"We need to talk," Maour continued, his voice confident, though he was more than a little nervous.

She strode slowly towards him. "Hiccup." It wasn't a question, despite the dark night lit only by the half-moon at this hour. "Talk?" Her voice was cold, spiked with anger, and a hint of something else. Maour shuddered. Her madness was progressing if he could hear it in her voice now. He wondered if the villagers of Berk could hear it.

"I would like to congratulate you," he said as sincerely as he could manage. It was fake, but this was his one plan for defusing Astrid. Give her what she wanted, what she had been going for this entire time. "You really are the best dragon-killer of our generation. Probably of all of Berk, even." That wasn't true right now, but in a few years, it would be at this rate.

She laughed mockingly, ax gripped tightly. "Hiccup the Useless telling me I'm the best dragon killer? Of course. But I'm not, thanks to you." She seemed to be shaking in rage. "You had the gall to ride a dragon to the Nest, and you managed to get me to lead the whole village there in time to watch as you and two of our greatest enemies kill the biggest dragon in existence!" She pointed her ax at him angrily. "You and those two devils stole our chance at greatness. You killed it before we could even try! The greatest dragon killer of all time is you, and you stole that title from me. But I'm going to take it back."

Maour did not like the sound of that. "And how do you plan on doing that? Killing the dragons that don't want to fight anymore? There are no more raids, and you've taught the dragons to avoid Berk." Even as he asked, he knew what she would say. Nothing had changed, really, and nothing was going to.

"You ended the most dangerous dragon. But there was only one of them. Berk is going to wipe out every dragon species we can, starting with the most dangerous." She sneered. "Night Furies. And I will lead them in that endeavor." She gestured wildly at the boats docked beside them. "The nest hunt has changed targets. Now we hunt Night Fury nests. And we will destroy any Night Fury we find. I will kill as many as I can personally. Berk doesn't fear Night Furies. Because now we've seen one. They aren't 'the dragon no one has ever seen' anymore."

Maour shook his head. Astrid might not fear Night Furies, but he was pretty sure the average Viking still did and would continue to, and there had been no Fury nests within the Queen's range. The closest nest was probably his, and that was two months away by boat. Astrid could search for years and not come close. But he would warn her anyway.

"Astrid, you need to stop. They aren't being forced to fight anymore, so this is just pointless slaughter. And I will warn you right now. If you ever attack my home, I will stop you by whatever means are necessary." He would tell her this now. Maybe it would snap her out of it to hear him challenge her directly. Make her realize what she was saying, what she was doing.

He hadn't realized exactly what those words implied. But Astrid did.

"Traitor," she sneered. "You found a Night Fury nest, didn't you. And you're living with them?! You would defend those mindless beasts from the people who raised you, who grew up with you? From your own father?"

Maour sadly acknowledged that his last plan for placating Astrid had failed. She was irrevocably fixated on killing dragons and was focusing the efforts of an entire island on hunting down and killing his friends and family. However pointless those efforts might be. But she still wasn't done.

"Here on Berk, we kill traitors. And you have betrayed us, probably more times than can be counted." With that she lunged forward, swinging her ax.

Maour blocked. The force of the blow, angled as it was against his scythe, was enough to unlock the spikes, and they snapped into place. Just as he intended.

Astrid recoiled as a spike rotated into a position three inches away from her head. She rolled backward, trying to get away from the unguarded position she found herself in. Maour let her roll away. His weapon worked much better at a distance anyway.

Astrid stood from the crouch she had ended up in. Maour began spinning his scythe in a circle around the center, creating a wall of blue rod and purple blade between them. It was a purely intimidation-oriented move, designed to get her to think twice about attacking again. But she didn't stop to think at all. She swung in a chopping motion into the circle, intending to lock his staff in place with the curve of her ax.

She succeeded in that, but Maour had anticipated it and stepped forward, taking advantage of their weapons' arrested motion to punch Astrid in the face. She stumbled back a bit, but Maour wasn't strong enough to stun her. His hand hurt from that single hit but he rotated his scythe so that one blade hooked the ax away from astrid and the other blade swung right at her face.

Astrid blinked in surprise as the tip of the blade stopped just short of contact. Maour hadn't expected it to be this easy. He had figured his near night-vision would help if it came to combat, but Astrid had completely ignored all attempt at strategy or finesse. He wasn't sure why. Maybe she was too angry to think straight right now. If she had been fighting normally, this would have been much more difficult. But he was fine with this outcome.

"Well? I won't surrender to the likes of you!" Astrid tried to jerk her ax free but yelped as the tip of the scythe pricked the bridge of her nose and she froze. Maour wouldn't need to do anything. And still, she ranted at him. "Kill me like a Viking. I'll hunt you down if you don't!"

Maour knew that if he let her live, nothing in her warped mind would change, except he had defeated her in combat. It wouldn't drive her any crazier than she already was. By that same logic, killing her wasn't going to change much either. There were still others who would hunt Night Furies and dragons in general, and her plans stood no chance of succeeding.

Hiccup twisted his scythe around to shove Astrid's ax back toward her, causing her to stumble backward to catch her balance. He jumped back. "Toothless, fire."

'On it.' A small plasma blast lit the deck between them, letting Astrid get a good look at Maour's face for the first time in the whole encounter, and blocking her from approaching him. She got to her feet and stared angrily, unwilling to majorly burn herself in getting to him. She was stuck on the now isolated section of dock. The fire could be bypassed by going into the water below and to both sides, but she couldn't stop him from leaving if she did that. She settled for glaring at him and yelling. "You've betrayed your people, your home, the Viking way of life, and everything our parents stood for!"

He smiled at that, a grim expression. "I have betrayed the Viking way. However, I have not betrayed my home or my family. Because I have a real home now and it isn't Berk. And I have a real family now and they aren't Vikings. The only thing I have betrayed is the old, broken Viking way and I'm happy with that. Hiccup the Useless is gone. I've abandoned that name and been given new ones. I am Svarturflugmaður. If you attack my home or my people, we'll destroy you. But I don't kill in cold blood. I'm not like you."

With that, Toothless stepped out of the flickering shadows and stood by Maour's side. in one fluid motion, Mour sheathed his scythe on his back and leaped On Toothless. They left without another word. They were done with Berk.

Stoick woke at the insistent thumping at his door. It was the middle of the night; what could be going on? He knew Astrid was at the docks. She had taken a personal interest in her proposal that the nest hunts be retooled, and she seemed to be guarding the boats most nights. A bit obsessive, but useful.

He really should have had Snotlout get the door. As a part of declaring Snotlout his new heir, he had had the boy relocate to the chief's house. It was tradition, and Spitelout was happy to have Snotlout out of his hair and in a position of power. Stoick had cleared out Hiccup's old room for Snotlout. He was doing his best to forget his traitor of a son, as tradition decreed he should. He moved to answer the door, hammer in hand, and opened it.

Outside, waiting patiently, stood two Night Furies. He didn't freeze in shock, but he couldn't make himself attack at that moment either. The dragons as one snarled at him. They seemed ready to kill him. Then their faces abruptly cleared and they leaped up, out of sight.

He had recognized the lightning scar on the back of one, but the other had been unknown to him. He stepped outside, confused. They were definitely gone.

He would after a few moments rouse the village. They would discover the moderate damage to one dock. They would search the island and find nothing. Astrid would be absolutely livid, but tell no one the real reason. And the parents of the twins and Fishlegs would be silent and thoughtful.

Cloey and Shadow knew none of that as they flew off to meet the others at the sea stack, to regroup and head back to the pack and their home. They only discussed what they had done that night this once, and never told anyone else.

'You know he didn't hear us, right?' Shadow was thoughtful. He was still glad he had done that, despite this fact.

'True, but it felt great to say.' Cloey was content.

Shadow had said, in that moment of growling, 'You failed miserably as a parent, and never listened to your own son.'

And Cloey had said, 'But we'll do better. It won't be hard.'

Author's Note: The epilogue will be up tomorrow. This is not the end of the book, not quite, and definitely not the end of the overall story. This entire book was just the setup, the opening act, so to speak.

As to the multiple responses with the point that the Furies seem to be, as a whole, unusually lax about letting the teens come here at all… it must be kept in mind that their most paranoid and cunning members have given the teens a clean bill of trustworthiness through secret observation and scent leads. They trust their skeptics. Not to mention, they are in the end a bit more relaxed than Vikings by nature, at least in general.