A/N: Okay. It's been a while. Please don't throw bricks at my head. I'm sorry if this isn't the longest chapter, but at least it's something to let you guys know I'm still updating this story. So. Where did we leave off? I'll do a quick recap:

Dracona Fuego, the volcano on the Dragon's Island, is erupting because a Fire Diamond has formed in its core. Stoick turned the entire situation into a quest for Hiccup and his friends, but they're competing against each other. Ruffnut and Tuffnut had to drop out of the competition because Ruffnut pushed Tuffnut into a poison ivy bush. Camicazi can't go because Stormfly got sick. Snotlout cheated and left early. Hiccup added claws to his Night Fury gloves. Right after Hiccup and Fishlegs left to go on their quest, Hiccup saw a strange figure in the forest and someone with blue eyes got kidnapped by that same mysterious figure who everyone knows the identity of already. Hiccup and Fishlegs arrived at the volcano in time to save Snotlout from a group of Fyremytes, but the fight causes the tunnel they were in to collapse, sealing Drift on the outside and them on the inside. They went down the tunnel they were in, made it past some Piffleworms, and found a cave with hatched Fyremyte eggs inside. Then they went down another steep tunnel, they all slid, Hiccup messed up his left leg, and they all almost fell into lava. Toothless got them out of the lava chamber and deeper into the volcano with the help from his independent fireproof tail fin. They find two tunnels and go down the one some Fyremytes came from, knowing that they must be guarding the Fire Diamond. That's where we left off. So, without further ado, after nearly 10 months of hiatus... on we go!

Volcano Quest

Hiccup, Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Toothless continued walking down the sloping tunnel. They had been walking in silence for at least half an hour, and they had yet to come across any Fyremytes. However, they could occasionally hear distant echoes of Fyremytes screaming...

"How much longer is this tunnel...?" muttered Snotlout uncomfortably, peering ahead into the darkness of the lava tube.

"Hopefully not that much further," said Hiccup, taking note of how extremely hot the air had been getting and how low on water they were. Hiccup also noticed that, over the last half hour, his leg stopped hurting, and he was able to walk on his own again without leaning on Toothless for support.

They continued walking for another few minutes. Finally, as they rounded another corner, they saw a red glow coming from the end of the tunnel.

"That's it!" exclaimed Snotlout excitedly. "That's gotta be-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence. A deafening roar echoed down the tunnel. It was so powerful that the ground shook and dirt rained down from the ceiling of the tunnel. Finally, after a solid minute, the roar stopped.

"What... the hell... was that...?" squeaked Snotlout.

Hiccup only shook his head, his eyes wide. He looked over at Fishlegs. "Are you sure the Fyremytes are the only things guarding the Fire Diamond?"

Fishlegs was already flipping through his book. "I-it doesn't s-s-say anything other than Fyremytes..." he muttered hurriedly.

Hiccup sighed in frustration and looked over at Toothless.

Toothless only shook his head, his glowing eyes wide. "No idea..." he said under his breath.

"Great..." muttered Hiccup. He then slowly started moving forwards, towards the red glow at the end of the tunnel. The others followed close behind him.

As they moved closer and closer to the red glow at the end of the tunnel, they could hear the bubbling of magma and the screeching of Fyremytes. They could also hear the occasional deep growl of something else... something much larger than the Fyremytes.

Finally, they came to the ending of the tunnel. Hiccup held up his hand, signaling for the others to stay back. He then got down on his hands and knees and crawled to the end of the tunnel. What he saw shocked him.

The lava tube they were in ended about twenty feet above the floor of the massive lava chamber. Below the tunnel exit were small masses of rocks probably caused by a rock slide that would provide a way to the bottom of the chamber. The outer ring of the chamber floor was made of rock along with large spokes of rocky floor moving inwards towards the center of the chamber. The rest of the floor was completely covered in magma. Hiccup could also see that the pool of magma in the center of the chamber was separate from the rest of the magma. And sitting in the center of the pool of magma was a glowing white object that Hiccup knew was the Fire Diamond.

There was only one problem.

The entire lava chamber was completely filled with Fyremytes. They were flying around, crawling all over the walls, and hanging on the ceiling. But those didn't matter to Hiccup. What mattered was the enormous dragon sitting in the center of the lava chamber with magma pool with the Fire Diamond between it's front legs. The massive dragon took up most of the lava chamber. It was nearly covered in magma that seemed to ooze out from between it's burnt black scales. The giant dragon would occasionally dip his head down into the magma as if it were bathing itself. It's eyes were glowing bright orange, and it always had several Fyremytes hovering around it's head.

After staring at the dragon for another minute, Hiccup slowly waved his hand to let the others know that it was safe to come forward and look. He heard them come up behind him, and he also heard them gasp.

"What... is... that...?" muttered Snotlout.

"No idea..." Hiccup and Fishlegs whispered at the same time.

"I've only heard rumors..." mumbled Toothless.

Hiccup risked a glance at Toothless, who was crouched to his right. "What do you mean?"

"When I was little, I would always hear stories about giant dragons whose only purpose in life is to guard a treasure..." muttered Toothless.

"What's it called?" asked Hiccup.

"It's called a Guarder Dragon," said Toothless.

Hiccup nodded and turned to Fishlegs. "Ever heard of a Guarder Dragon?"

Fishlegs nodded. "They're the evil dragons in all the stories about people stealing treasure. They're the dragons that are always guarding it, which is how they got their name. From what I can see, it doesn't have wings, and it has small eyes and large nostrils, so it probably relies on sound, seeing as everything in here smells like sulfur."

Hiccup nodded, a plan forming in his mind. "I think I have an idea," he said.

"Do we really need a plan?" asked Snotlout, his impatience and fear showing. "It looks big and slow. I bet we could take it..."

"Sure, Snotlout," said Hiccup sarcastically. "What are you going to do? Chop off it's arms and legs with your face?"

Snotlout didn't grace that question with an answer.

"What's the plan, Hiccup?" asked Fishlegs.

Hiccup was quiet for a minute before speaking. "The Fyremytes."

Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Toothless slowly looked at Hiccup. "What...?" they all asked at the same time.

"Just look at the Fyremytes," said Hiccup, leaning out of the lava tube just a bit. He spotted a Fyremyte clinging to the wall about twenty feet away from him. "They all have their eyes closed."

"Except for those few around the Guarder Dragon's head," pointed out Fishlegs.

"Yeah, but I think we can deal with those," said Hiccup.

"How?" asked Snotlout. "They'll melt your sword if you try and hit them."

"They're supposed to be really hard to kill," Fishlegs added. However, he stopped as he remembered something. "Hiccup, how did you kill that Fyremyte back in the tunnel?"

"I killed it when it was about to flame on me," said Hiccup. "All the fire went into its mouth."

"That makes sense," said Fishlegs. "So we just have to... kill them when they're about to shoot fire at us..."

"No big deal..." said Hiccup, smiling weakly.

Suddenly, a violent tremor shook the volcano. The air grew hotter, and Hiccup could see the Fire Diamond glow a bit brighter.

"We better hurry," said Hiccup. "If you guys can keep the Fyremytes and the Guarder Dragon distracted long enough, I can run in and get the Fire Diamond."

"How?" asked Toothless. "It's surrounded by lava, a giant dragon, more lava, and even more dragons. And last time I checked, you're not fireproof."

Hiccup couldn't help but wince at that comment, and right at that moment his leg started hurting with a bit of phantom pain from his missing left foot.

"I may not be fireproof," said Hiccup in Dragonese, "but these are." He held up his hands with his Night Fury scale gloves.

Slowly, Toothless nodded.

"Okay," said Hiccup, turning to face Fishlegs and Snotlout. "Let's go stop a volcano from erupting."

The others nodded, and they all quickly left the tunnel.

A/N: Short chapter, I know. But next chapter... oh man... there's gonna be a BATTLE! And with all that magma, someone's gonna get burnt. MUAHAHAHA!

Again, thank you to everyone who waited this story out. And for those reviewers who don't have an account but who were wondering about my story... thanks for your concern. I think it was you guys who got me to update. So... enjoy the story! Next chapter's gonna be up soon!

Merry Christmas!