I apologise profusely for my absence as of late. As it turns out, juggling a job, degree and anxiety disorder makes it very hard to write fanfiction. I've even been so ashamed of not having updated I wouldn't use my laptop, check my account or even check my emails, making my boyfriend do it for me.

However, I'm starting to get back some of my mojo and I hope to be updating more regularly than every six months or so :( Though I must warn you, over the next few months I face a very busy period at work as well as a few major assignments. So if things slow up between now and June, please be patient.

Sorry again and thank you for staying with the story. I hope I can stop disappointing people now.

Camicazi was relatively reserved for the remainder of the day. Following the events in the academy she had spoken very little and gone home earlier. Alexander didn't see her again that day.
Eret allowed him to sleep in his small fabric hut on a slightly raised mattress made of straw. It wasn't as soft as his bed in Rome, but it certainly beat the cold hard stone of the cells.
Eret gave him a pillow and a thick woven blanket for warmth. Snuggled under that, Alexander slept better than he had the previous night. His dreams were still haunted though; again he saw fire, he saw scales, he saw war. It was horrifying. He tossed and turned. He could see Camicazi. But that was where the dream changed.

She did not attack him. Her gaze softened slightly when she looked at him. All around them was war and battle. The roar of dragon and Vikings competing with the bellowing of the roman army. But she smiled at him. He tried to take a step towards her but blood began to dribble from her mouth and she spluttered slightly. He heard the terrible scream of Sparky and he yelled too. She stared at him, eyes glassed over, her mouth moved slightly and then she crumpled dead and Alexander awoke with a yell.

Someone had killed her in his dream. Someone had killed Camicazi. He hadn't seen their face, only the flash of a silver broadsword much like his own Roman one.

So great was his terror that he threw back the thick blanket and placed his feet in the boots before slipping out through the fabric doorway of the hut.

Berk was pitch dark. Alexander felt suddenly more apprehensive about being out in the village alone by night. But he needed to know. And so, tenderly, he walked through the village heart, taking note of things as he went, trying to find his way. He could hear the soft snoring of dragons, the subtle whisper of the wind, the gentle crashing of the sea upon the cliff. Alexander couldn't remember where the chief's house was.

He stared around the dark but everything looked the same. He could barely see where he was going. His heart began to race. It would not be a good idea to get caught out in the village in the middle of the night. The Vikings were still weary of him. To be found wandering the village would surely see him locked away again. And how exactly would he explain himself? Tell the chief he dreamed someone murdered his daughter and he was so worried he had to sneak to their house to check on her? That would probably see him dead.

He looked around again, now in a slight panic. What if there were dragons patrolling? What if they attacked? He couldn't even work out where he had come from. Which direction was Eret's hut in? How did he get back? He stumbled over something thick on the ground. Oh no. oh no. What if that was the tail of a sleeping dragon? He walked backwards, staring at the unmoving shape and then tripped over again, landing on his backside. This time the thing he had tripped over shifted. The tail slipped away and something stirred out of sight. Alexander scrambled backwards on his backside, frantically trying to get away, desperately trying to remember which way Eret's hut would be.

A dragon emerged from the dark, eyes practically glowing as it stared at him, approaching with a low growl. This was it. This was surely the end.
"Fanghook! Back!" A voice snapped from behind him. The dragon snarled. "Fanghook." The voice warned and the dragon slunk back to it's sleeping spot, careful to keep it's tail in this time. Alexander turned around and scrambled to his feet to see Camicazi's mother – Astrid – standing before him. She stared at him and narrowed her gaze.
"Thank you… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…" He stuttered feeling foolish. Astrid though, was used to stuttering. There had been a time every sentence Hiccup spoke to her had been stuttered.
"What are you doing out here, Alexander?" She questioned.
"I had a nightmare…" That sounded pathetically childish. "…and I, well I couldn't get back to sleep. I was worried. I thought maybe a brief walk would help… but then I couldn't remember where I was and how to get back to Eret. And I tripped over the dragon's tail…" Astrid raised her eyebrow and fixed him with an expression frighteningly similar to Camicazi's. "I shouldn't have been out alone. I'm sorry. Can you point me back to Eret's please?" He asked, hanging his head shamefully.

Astrid considered him for a moment. She knew what it was like to suffer from nightmares. For years after they lost Camicazi she had been plagued by them. Hiccup had suffered many nightmares more recently following the death of his father. Camicazi often awoke screaming.
Only Finn seemed to escape from the bane of nightmares. "You're right, it wasn't wise. But since you're awake, and I'm out here, let's walk."

Alexander felt fairly nervous at this suggestion but he complied anyway. He was almost as frightened of her as he was of her daughter.

"What nightmares plagued you then?" She asked as they walked through the village quietly. Alexander wasn't sure whether to say or not. Maybe he ought to just leave some details out.
"War." Astrid nodded slowly, considering his response.
"Have you been in war yourself Alexander?" She asked him. He shook his head by way of response. He'd practised fighting, he'd fought in smaller fights and accompanied his father on a number of occasions, but full war was something he had yet to experience. "Consider yourself lucky. War is worse than you can imagine. However bad it seems in your dreams, the reality is worse." She told him. Alexander didn't doubt that one bit.
"If you don't mind my asking, what kept you awake?" She paused and looked at him, studying him hard. Alexander wished he hadn't asked at all. She continued walking and for a moment was quiet and then she spoke.
"Much the same as you. The fear that I can't protect the people I love. A fear that war will take them from me." He could understand that. She'd clearly seen enough war in her life, she'd lost enough. He could understand her concern. Especially being a parent who lost her child once. She must constantly worry.
"You helped my Cami." Astrid said suddenly, catching Alexander off guard. "Why?"

That caught him. Truth be known, he wasn't really sure what made him decide to help. Why he didn't just leave her to her fate. Leave the dragon. What made him act against everything he knew.
"To be honest, I don't know. There was just something that told me I should. That it was the right thing to do. Something about her surprised me. She was different to anything I knew or expected. She was interesting."
"Hmmm, that's certainly one way to describe her. She seems to think you're interesting too."
"I'm different I guess. She's not met a roman before."
"Mmm, perhaps." They walked a little further in silence. Alexander wasn't really sure what to say.
"Her connection with Sparky… It's amazing." He said quietly.
"It is an incredibly strong bond. But it's not surprising really. You can't go through everything they did and not be incredibly closely bonded. We all have a bond with our dragons. They develop and grow as we do. I couldn't imagine life without Stormfly. It's impossible to describe. Our dragons are… they're like soulmates. But dragon ones. And somehow it just works." She tried to explain. Alexander couldn't imagine a bond that strong.
"I hope one day maybe I might understand how that feels." He replied. Astrid looked at him again and then walked on. She didn't speak again, and nor did he, until the stopped outside Eret's.
"I suggest you try for some sleep. And I don't recommend any night time wanderings until you're accustomed to the village and the layout. Goodnight Alexander."
"Goodnight." He replied and as she walked away, he slipped back into the hut and crawled into his bed to await the dawn.