Worried, Zephyr woke up earlier than usual. A fleet was probably on the way to attack New Berk—a big fleet no doubt. She crept out of bed and trotted downstairs, surprised to find everyone up. Nuffink was slouched on a chair in the living room, looking half alive. Her parents were in the kitchen, arguing by the sound of it. They left the kitchen and entered the living room. Her dad looked exhausted.

"You can't go," her mother said.

"I need to help the warriors prepare, and I need to check the defenses, make a battle plan," her dad insisted.

"You were working all night," her mother objected. "You need your rest. I can go and check everything."

"Fine," her father assented after a long silence. He slumped upstairs.

Zephyr's mom turned to her and Nuffink. "I'm going to check our defenses. Don't bother your dad and stay inside."

Their mom left. Nuffink reclined in his chair, his head drooping.

Zephyr glanced over at a banner of Toothless, and then she ran upstairs to her room and snatched up a parchment to scrawl down all she knew about flying dragons in simple, easy-to-follow instructions. She dashed back downstairs and jostled Nuffink awake.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked sleepily. "I was…"

She shook him a second time. "Nuffink."

"Stop it!" he said.

"I need you to listen to me closely."

"Why would I listen to you at all?"

"Because you know chances are we can't win this war."

"It seems that way to you maybe."

"Did you hear how many ships we saw sailing away after the attack?"

Nuffink sighed. "No. I was wounded if you don't remember."

"Seven," Zephyr said. "Seven ships full of enemies last time. This time they might have more than double that. We can't fight that many! But, do you know what would make our victory certain?"

"What?" Nuffink asked.

"D-R-A-G-O-Ns," Zephyr whispered in his ear.

"Are you crazy?" Nuffink yelled.

"I'm not!" Zephyr said. "We don't have enough warriors to defend against a full-scale attack! We need help."

"I assume you already ran this idea by mom and dad and they said 'no.'"

"Yeah, but their last battle was eighteen years ago. You saw what happened to the village. Two dead! Three missing! And the entire village completely wrecked. We're not ready to fight like this. We aren't warriors anymore. You're going to be chief someday. Don't you care if we die? Don't you want to take care of us?"

"I do care! But mom and dad care, too, don't they?" Nuffink said. "They aren't using dragons, right?"

"Mom and dad are afraid. Dad told me himself. He's too conflicted to make this decision. Think about it. They always used dragons in the past. If they were thinking straight, they would use dragons now. But we can be brave enough. We will destroy the fleet before it even reaches New Berk and the attacks will be over. And then the dragons can go right back to The Hidden World. Everything will be fine."

Nuffink stared at her indecisively.

Zephyr met his gaze. "No one else has to get hurt like you did. We can stop what happened to you from happening to anyone else."

Nuffink stared at her for a moment longer, fingering the bandage around his neck.

"You know I'm right."

Nuffink sighed. "So, what plan do you have?"

Zephyr tried not to smile. She had him. "We're going to go to The Hidden World. I think we can get Spearhead to go with us. Maybe Fourlegs if we're lucky."

"What?" Nuffink exclaimed. "Zephyr, we can't bring them into this."

"We have to. We'll need more than two dragons. Remember mom and dad's stories of the Dragon Riders?"

"But why them?"

"They're our friends. They can keep a secret. And like we can just walk up to any random Viking in New Berk and ask them to ride some dragons."

"Well…" Nuffink said.

"They won't get hurt," Zephyr promised. "They'll just ride the dragons long enough to blow up some ships. The dragons will be doing all the work."

"Okay…" Nuffink finally agreed. "Just, let me fetch something." Nuffink rushed up the stairs and returned in a moment, his newly repaired dagger on his belt. "I'm ready."

They snuck into town and found Spearhead practicing again on a dragon statue, though most of her throws were missing it. That was unlike Spearhead.

"Hey," Zephyr called out to her.

Spearhead stopped throwing her ball. "What?"

"Want to play a game of dragon with us?" Zephyr asked.

"Dragon ball?" Spearhead asked.

"Nope. Totally different game. A better one."

"Okay… I guess…" Spearhead said.

"Uh, you forgot to mention we'll have to sail to play 'dragon,'" Nuffink said.

"Sail?" Spearhead questioned.

"Don't worry." Zephyr started walking towards the cliffside edge. "This game will be worth it. Unless you're scared."

Spearhead hesitantly followed. The sun crept out from behind the clouds. Maybe snow was a while away after all. Sure would make flying easier. They found Fourlegs standing next to a wall, reading a book as usual.

"Fourlegs?" Zephyr asked.

"Hm?" he asked looking up.

Everyone in their group knew about dragons since their parents were from Old Berk. The reason they couldn't talk about dragons was that Vikings from other tribes had joined New Berk over the years. Well, they still did "talk" about dragons, but merely as old legends. As her father said, "You can't put a price on the dragons' safety." Well, he hadn't actually ever said that, but it sounded like something he would say.

"We're going to play a game called dragon," Zephyr said. "Want to come?"

"We'll have to sail and fly and blow-up ships," Nuffink added. "The main goal of dragon is to protect New Berk."

Fourlegs seemed to get what they were implying. "Are you crazy? Zephyr, seriously. Shouldn't we let the adults handle this?"

"What are they talking about?" Spearhead asked. "Why would the adults play a game called 'dragon'?"

"They've done hardly anything!" Zephyr argued. "We're leaving no matter what. So, you can stay here and read, or come with us and help."

After he stayed silent, Zephyr started stomping off towards the cliffside.

"Fine," Fourlegs said quietly. "I'll come."

"Come on then!" Zephyr said, waving her hand. She hadn't felt so happy in a long time.

They made it to the docks which were currently empty. All the adults would be up at the Great Hall preparing for the coming fight.

Zephyr approached a boat. "Get in."

Nuffink and Fourlegs got in, but Spearhead looked confused.

"We're stealing a boat for a game?" she asked as she stepped onto the deck.

Zephyr, Nuffink, and Fourlegs stared at her. She truly didn't get what they were doing, did she?

"Your parents told you about dragons, right?" Zephyr asked as she untied the boat.

"Of course," Spearhead said. "But I didn't believe them. I mean, seriously? Fire breathing flying lizards that used to terrorize Vikings then became our pets? Who in their right mind would believe that?"

"Uhhh…" Zephyr stalled, steering with the oar as the sail Nuffink had unfurled caught the wind. She hadn't thought Spearhead would have actually dismissed dragons as old fairy tales. She looked at Nuffink. He stared back.

"Um," Zephyr said. "Maybe we should explain that…later."

Nuffink raised his eyebrows. Zephyr raised hers back. Her brother moved over to whisper in her ear.

"We have to tell her."

Zephyr slowly nodded. "Yeah, but give me time to think of how to tell her."

New Berk had faded into the distance when a sudden noise came from below deck. Everyone jumped. Zephyr hurried towards the stairs leading below, but Nuffink leaped in front of her and pulled out his dagger. He walked down first with Zephyr following. Spearhead and Fourlegs came behind.

When they reached the bottom, Zephyr peered into the darkness. Something moved next to a set of crates. Nuffink brandished his dagger. "Stand up!"

"Ah!" a small, red-headed boy shrieked, popping up. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Booboo?" Nuffink asked, lowering his dagger.

"What are you doing?" Booboo asked.

"What are you doing?" Spearhead asked.

"Checking the trading boats was on the top of my chores list," Booboo said. "My father's supposed to make sure they depart on time fully loaded."

"What are we going to do with him?" Spearhead asked. "Throw him overboard?"

"Please! I'm not trying to do anything wrong," Booboo yelled.

"I'm joking," Spearhead said. "We'd probably just tie you up. Joking again. We're stealing the boat. You can come along and play a game with us."

"Tying up is better," Zephyr quickly said.

"Wait! I promise I'll stay down here and leave you alone. You can do whatever you want. Just leave me out of this," Booboo pleaded.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Zephyr interrogated him.

"I try to avoid the outside world as much as I can," he answered. "I didn't ask my parents to give me all these chores!"

"Fine," Zephyr said. "As long as you kept your promise. Don't come up on deck or we really will throw you overboard."

Everyone headed back up the stairs except Booboo, who was left alone with his father's trading supplies.

The little boat was quiet as could be. Nuffink was constantly checking to make sure they weren't being followed. Zephyr had tried to tell him their parents had no idea what they were up to. Nuffink said he wasn't looking for them; he was looking for their enemy. Zephyr responded that it was highly unlikely they'd just happen upon their attackers, though really, she was annoyed. Obviously, Nuffink was more on top of things than her. She hadn't even considered the possibility of meeting their enemy.

Spearhead was trying to look brave, but Zephyr could tell she was still confused and a little afraid. She just didn't want to show it. Zephyr enjoyed feeling more fearless than Spearhead for once. Booboo hadn't emerged, which was good, because if everything was going to go according to her plan, he needed to stay out of it.

Fourlegs was absently looking down at his hands, though now and then he peered out at the ocean and sky. For a while he had paced back and forth. Zephyr thought he glanced at her a few times, in an unusual sort of way. But, after all, she was the one that had dragged him into this. All of them into this.

Zephyr reviewed her notes: flying techniques, battle strategies, dragon information. She perked her ears up for the roar of the waterfalls. Her heartbeat kicked up as she anticipated the wind in her hair as she flew Shadow Streak. Finally, she'd prove that she was right once and for all to defend New Berk with dragons.

Suddenly she heard a sound like rushing waves, but much louder. Zephyr directed the boat beside the little plank with the rope that descended into the darkness.

Everyone disembarked.

Zephyr lifted the end of the rope which had been tied into a handhold. "This is a pulley system just like at the cliffside docks. Hold onto this, don't let go, and you'll be fine."

"And," Nuffink added, "keep your legs up and go one at a time."

Zephyr rolled her eyes. "Yeah, but the main rule is don't let go."

"Uh…You want us to jump into a giant hole in the middle of the ocean?" Spearhead asked.

"It's okay, Spearhead," Nuffink assured. "I've done this before."

Zephyr treaded to the edge of the small dock, pausing to stare into the pit of waters. With as much flair as she could muster, she grabbed the rope's handhold and descended until she landed on the familiar rocks of the Gateway. She couldn't wait to see Spearhead's reaction. As they'd sailed, she'd tried to explain that dragons were real, but Spearhead hadn't listened. Now she'd see. Zephyr loved being right.

Spearhead landed next. After her came Nuffink, then Fourlegs.

"Okay, let's go," Zephyr said looking behind her.

Spearhead had paled and was staring all around her at the cavern. Fourlegs sheepishly looked down at his feet.

"Where are we?" Spearhead asked.

"The Gateway," Zephyr replied confidently.

"We are currently at the entrance to The Hidden World," Nuffink explained as he crossed a bridge in the direction of the Moss Columns. Spearhead had heard the legend of The Hidden World but her expression revealed she obviously didn't believe him.

"That's a long way down," Spearhead said, shivering as she peered over the side of the bridge.

Zephyr sprinted to get ahead of Nuffink. Shortly, they came to the Moss Columns. Spearhead's and Fourlegs's eyes widened in awe to Zephyr's delight. Nuffink noticed Zephyr's smirk of glee and shook his head, tromping forward to walk in front of her. Unfortunately, The Hidden World was disappointingly empty at the moment, like the day she'd come here by herself.

"So," Spearhead said. "How can there be giant waterfalls in the ground?"

Zephyr shrugged.

The group hiked into a cave after passing over several bridges. If Spearhead was questioning waterfalls, how was she going to handle dragons? They entered into the blinding light that came from the Fury Grove. Four dragon shadows appeared, silhouetted by the radiant yellow light.