A/N-If you are following the Book of Dragons and haven't seen the most recent entry, or have yet to check that installment out altogether, I urge you to do so; the most recent entry ties very closely to some important information we see in this chapter.

In the meantime, onward!

Chapter 21

Havah

Stay clear, my eyes

Catch all, my ears

Feel prudently, o touch

And tell wise, my tongue

Harsh is the earth

But na'er we for it made

No, we are for another

Another nearby place

So have courage

Have Hope

"Guys, she's been hurting for this long, that's what's kept her here. She doesn't have any hope for the future," Fishlegs pleaded.

The teens had retreated from the battle for a time to hear out his thoughts, though Cami was still missing from the group, off on one ship currently causing havoc and having herself a jolly time.

"We know who she is, and we know her family," Fishlegs continued. "She doesn't, but maybe we can get her to come around if we can prove to her there's still somewhere to go."

"And how do we know she'll listen to us?" Thuggory asked. "We're the enemy to her currently, she'll think we'll say anything to get out of this, and she's already allied to Jezebel seemingly of her own will."

"Only because she thinks Jezebel still holds her family hostage," Fishlegs countered, "or was I the only one who noticed Jezebel wearing an identical replica of that emerald Hiccup blew up around her neck?"

Silence ensured for a moment, surrounded by echoing cannon fire. Finally Tuffnut broke the stalemate. "She'll still think we're trying to pull one over her," he pointed out. "Not if we make mention of the details no one could possibly know if they weren't true," Fishlegs countered again. "Hiccup has Framherja; the only ones who even know that weapon exists are us, Aslan whom they entrusted it to, Jezebel, and her family. Or, mention their names: Odin, Freyja, Thor, Loki, Volstag, Heimdall, Hogun and Fandral."

"And Fenrir, don't forget him," Tuffnut added. "Yeah, he was cool!" his sister agreed.

"Yes, yes, we're getting off track here," Fishlegs griped. "Convince her we know what we're talking about, and we may be able to get her on our side and bring down the sorceress with finality." Ember and Astrid nodded their head in agreement, and looked to Heather, who had the least experience with the situation but a great head for strategy. "That would certainly turn the tide without doubt," Astrid muttered, "but it's going to take a lot of convincing. She's been down this path for centuries after all." Another quick glance between her and Ember, and Astrid smiled. "The result would be worth it thought. Alright, let's do thi-AAAHHHH!"

The group scattered as a navy-blue Mood Dragon swerved by, a wild-eyed rider grinning at them. "Hey guys, what'd I miss?" Cami yelled, grin growing wilder.

"Geez, Cami, scare the heck out of all of us why don't you?" Fishlegs whined. "Yeah, yeah, so you're a wimp, what's next?" Camicazi drawled. "Come on, who's the woman over there with the flying rocks?"

"It's Aurianna Asgard."

It took a moment, then Camicazi's face lit up in realization. "Oh! The source of all this! And she doesn't…doesn't…oh." The rest nodded at what the heiress had just figured out, before Astrid groaned. "Okay, we don't have time to sit around and chat anymore, so let's move! Heather, got a plan of attack?"

"Form a ring around her, keep her attention split between us and no one person say everything!" the young woman answered. "If we all make mention of the same things, that bolsters the fact that what we're saying is true!" The order spurred everyone into action, and they split apart, heading toward where the ancient once-guardian had her sights set on directing the cannon fire of the ships toward the still-standing buildings in the village below.

As the riders neared they swung wide, moving to circle around Aurianna. Around them all, battles raged between Jezebel's forces and the villagers on dragon-back, and out in the harbor Astrid spotted Valka and Mogadon on their dragons leading a counter strike against the more standard vessels still left in the bay. Down below, those without dragons had mostly cleared out of the village due to the onslaught from above, but a few were still trying to get out and find cover. The teens knew though that if they pulled this plan off, all that scrabbling would become a null point.

Stormfly dove down in front of the woman first, and Cami leaned toward her, urgent eyes wide as she shouted out, "Aurianna!"

The reaction was instantaneous. The energy lines emanating from the woman to the stone ships shut down, leaving them running on automatic, and she turned with wide, shocked eyes to regard the blonde warrioress.

"How do you now that name?" she said, barely above a whisper. "Because we know who you are," Astrid followed up, coming up next to the woman before she, Ember and Orha moved off to safety.

"I am the alchemist! No one alive but the sorceress knows my old name; how did you discover this?!" Aurianna growled, her hands starting to glow again as the gems on her wrists lit up in matching patterns. Cami saw the threat rising and yelled out hurriedly, "Because she isn't the only one alive from that time anymore! Odin and the others have been released; you're not the last of your family anymore!"

Aurianna's response was to swing her hand around, a curtain of pebbles flying upward and sparkling with electricity. "You will not taunt me with memories of my past!" she hissed. "That life died as surely as you will!"

The stone curtain swept forward, Stormfly and Camicazi both screaming as it enveloped them, the electric veins between the rocks leaving burns and making them jerk and twitch involuntarily in pain.

Ember signaled to Orha and he dove down, his rider reaching out and carefully but quickly sweeping her fingers across the net. Immediately the electric current froze over and the rocks cracked, shattering and releasing their two prisoners again.

"It never died!" Ember yelled out, Orha flying back up to Aurianna's level. "We know what happened; the emerald you melded with Mjollnir's energy acted as a dimensional trap. But Mjollnir wasn't the only way to reverse the effect!"

"Yes it was, and there's nothing to change that!" Aurianna bit back. "Jezebel still holds the jewel, she still holds that power." Boulders went flying, scattering the teens again. One headed straight for Fishlegs, which had a result Aurianna never intended.

Fully loaded by the rock Meatlug let loose a fireball, the lava cascading over the side of the ship below and slowly melting through, hitting something rather important and shutting down the cannons across the vessel. Aurianna, distracted by the sudden loss of a weapon, turned her head and only barely managed to erect her barrier field in time to block a shot from Orhaganuz, the force of which still drove her to the deck.

"You ever stop to think there is more than one crystal that looks the same?" Astrid called out as they swept by. "The jewel Jezebel carries now is a fake! The other was broken by Hiccup, the one who rides the Night Fury!"

"It's impossible without the weapon that helped create it!" Aurianna snapped back as she brought up yet another wave of stone. "I tried, several dozen times, on similar gems, and not a one would"-

"What about Framherja?" Thuggory interrupted her, sweeping by on Silverwings and catching a rock, throwing it back to the deck.

That did it. Everything around the alchemist immediately shut down and dropped, save for the floating ships. "W-what did you say?" she stuttered.

"Framherja, the lightning-spitting bow you helped craft from your brother's weapon," Thuggory continued, slowing Silverwings in front of Aurianna so she could hear him clearly. "You gave it to Aslan, the lion protector of the land they call Narnia, for safekeeping before your run-in with Jezebel. It wields the exact same energy as the hammer."

Aurianna's face continued its melting from an expression of unbridled anger to that of pure shock. "How do you know this?" she asked quietly. "Because we went there, duh," Tuffnut blurted, before being smacked by his sister for the rude presentation. Astrid glared at him as well before nodding.

"Yes, we traveled there last year, around this same time," she explained, "and we met the guardian. Turns out Hiccup was the one he thought should wield the bow."

"And considering he can not only hold but fire it, seems Aslan was right if what we've seen as a result is any indication," Ember added. "Hiccup managed to hit the emerald dead-on with a bolt the last time Jezebel made a house-call here, releasing the rest of your family from the temporal prison they had been trapped in. They're alive, back home right now, thinking you dead as well."

There came a period of tense silence, save for the sounds of battle still surrounding them, as the alchemist stood there looking lost.

"Aurianna, this is not something we would ever lie about," Astrid began. "Family is one thing far too important to us to mess around about, and here there is too much at…"

Her words died as the woman locked eyes with her, tears of pain, hope and despair mixed as one emotion beginning to stream from her eyes.

"Even if what you said were true," Aurianna began, "too much has happened for me to reconcile what I've done, all the pain I have caused others."

"Hiccup taught me that everyone deserves another chance if they're willing to take it," Astrid replied softly. "Three hundred years of abject hatred ended in little more than a day, and a couple of years later another odd boy came along and taught us of the existence of a God who works by means we don't always understand. Perhaps your family was separated from you, and you all kept alive until now, because you yet have a purpose to be done in this time."

Astrid smiled softly at the reminiscent thought, before continuing. "The error of your past can be forgiven just like any other transgression. What has happened can't change but you do have control over what comes next. Help us now, and we can bring you back to those you care for again. Odin gave our friend Hawken a means to call him directly if ever needed, and we can use it as soon as we"-

A sudden, explosive crack drew their attention away, and they all turned to see a flash of light erupt from where Hiccup and Hawken had been facing off with the sorceress. A few moments later the teens and dragons winced as Hawken went tumbling off the ship, and clumsily collided with the cliff of the Great Hall. Hiccup went flying as well, but Toothless was there to catch him, and as soon as the Night Fury was gliding away to make sure his brother was alright, Jezebel's ship turned and began to bear down toward the fallen member of their team.

Astrid immediately turned toward the alchemist again. "Aurianna, Jezebel is going after Hawken now, the one who has the means to contact your family," she urged. "If she has her way with him everything ends right now. We need to know if you will be with us. There's still time, but not much."

Another silent second passed, before Aurianna looked back at Astrid again. A new look of determination appeared in her eyes drowning out the residual pain, and she spun around, raising her hands. Expecting another attack Astrid tightened her grip on her raised axe, but instead of another assault of flying rocks the automated cannon fire from the other ships ceased, and the vessels slowly turned on their pivot points and headed away from the village. Aurianna turned again and activated her hovering field a second time, rising up off the retreating ship and gliding toward Jezebel's vessel.

"If what you say is true then we may have a chance yet," she said, fiddling with the crystals on her wristbands as she raced forward, the dragons right behind her. "Jezebel will have already reached your friend and will attempt to use him as a bargaining token, but if…" she pressed down on the wristband, and a sudden piercing noise rang out, "…if on the off chance this works we might have enough on our side to get away without losing everything. 900 years of wrongs, I pray I'm not too late to start turning it on its head."

Below, Jezebel's ship slowed to a halt, and a set of steps appeared in the side of the vessel. The sorceress sauntered down them and stepped off, seemingly floating the last little bit to the ground before she walked up to the unconscious half dragon, pulling out a sword and laying it over his neck.

Aurianna reached her first, but Astrid didn't wait for Orha to land before leaping off and somersaulting forward, landing on her feet and leveling the blade of her axe at the sorceress.

"Make another move and I'll make you lose your head," she growled. Jezebel glanced at her, before bursting out laughing. "As if you could even reach me before you died!" she snorted. "And the guardian friend of yours sits under my blade. You make a move, and he loses his. Or, you move and," she gestured toward the multitudes of soldiers gathering around as they each pulled out miniaturized crossbows, leveling them at dragons and villagers alike, "all of them go down. I hear dragons don't get along too well with eels."

Painful silence ensued as the gang faced off in the stalemate with their enemies, the rest of the village closing in but none of them willing to make the first move either, even as more warriors on Berk's side landed around the gathering crowd, the fighting elsewhere dying off as things reached a head.

Even worse, Hiccup and Toothless landed only moments later, the rider immediately drawing the string back on Framherja in threat.

"A pointless move, dragon whisperer," Jezebel taunted. "Any action further and your friend dies." Toothless snarled in reply, and Jezebel looked at him, a laughing expression growing on her face again. "Oh, yes, how it burns you to be unable to do anything, doesn't it Night Fury? Just like you are unable to do anything but slowly live out your life with the pitiful knowledge that you are the last on earth."

It was a summer day, but even for Berk the air immediately felt cold, like frost was imminent. Everyone who knew Toothless had silently feared that fact, the few who already knew trying to ignore it, having never seen another Night Fury in all their years, but to have it so plainly laid out cut like a honed blade.

"Yes, the only Night Fury still to walk the earth," the sorceress mused. "The others were wiped out long ago, the last besides you with a legacy to have her skin worn by the overlord Drago Bludvist. You lonely creature, with nowhere to go."

Jezebel then smiled even more wickedly. "In fact, this works out all the better. Your village gets to have a choice."

She swung her free hand, and suddenly both Toothless and Hiccup felt the unseen field of magic slam into them, dragging them into the side of the cliff, just on the other side of the sorceress from Hawken. Jezebel looked out over the gathered Vikings and soldiers, reveling in the burning anger she saw in their eyes.

"This is your choice," she announced, "though seeing as how death of beloveds is involved only I win. Who dies first: the boy you look to as your pathetic future chief and his dragon the last of his kind, or the sniveling mockery of a guardian under my blade whom you all look to so dearly for help?"

Just to press the tension even further, visible spears of cutting energy erupted from the magic field to dig into Hiccup and Toothless' necks, at the same time that Hawken finally began to stir and wake.

Not a muscle moved, the stalemate clear. Jezebel's earlier warning to the dragon boy now faced the rest of the village, all of whom had grown to care deeply for everyone they knew. To be left with who to kill first, even knowing all three would die most likely, burned like hot iron in the eyes.

Hawken woke fully, only to freeze when he realized the position he was stuck in. Unable to move without beheading or stabbing himself, he laid waiting for an opportunity.

Then, the first person did finally make their play. Aurianna had been fixated by the bow in Hiccup's hands, still held even as he was pressed into the arch of the Great Hall's entrance, as she realized everything the other teens had told her was true. She turned her attention away then and ran her right hand over her left wristband and the gems on it in a new order. Suddenly all the crossbows held by the soldiers folded up and locked, useless and unable to be fired. A similar occurrence came with the men wearing the gem-studded vests, which all suddenly shut down as well, the glow of the stones fading and leaving them powerless.

"To be honest Jezebel, I never told you everything," Aurianna said boldly. "I developed the vests, weapons, and ships on a network system so that should things go south I could command the whole army to do exactly what I needed to without slip-ups, but I think here I have found a better use for the failsafe: taking your army out of the equation." She gestured to the one ship Jezebel had control over, and frowned. "The Night Fury took out your vest luckily, and granted I can't shut down your ship from a distance, but all the other ships, all the cannons and Ephesian steel machines answer to me."

Smiling sadly, Aurianna waved her hand around at the gathered crowd as a generalization. "We fight for different things Jezebel. You fed me lies for so many years, so it's only fair I returned the favor with one of mine."

"Serves you a whole lot of good to go against me when these three, the critical members of this battle, are still under my hands, alchemist," Jezebel snarled back. "This is all I need to keep everything, even you, at bay." She emphasized her point by digging the sharp edges of the black magic field into Hiccup's neck, drawing blood. The boy choked as his throat closed to escape the deadly pressure, and Hawken still strained to find a way out from under the sorceress' sword that moved with every twitch he made, the metal sharp enough to draw blood even through the Shadowracer scales coating his neck.

Jezebel snickered at seeing Aurianna falter slightly. "Go ahead traitor, find a solution that doesn't involve the death of everyone on this island, and your head rolling with them."

Aurianna glanced around her, lost for a moment, before she finally picked up on the hints that something new was about to take place. Nine hundred years of practice kept the surprise and look of realization off her face as she glared back at the sorceress.

"I don't have to do anything more," she growled, a knowing smile on her face. "You've already lost, and it's about time you had the favor returned for the races you sought to wipe from the planet and the suffering you've caused for thousands."

Jezebel barely had time to consider Aurianna's words, barely time for her eyes to widen as the alchemist placed an amber colored stone to her ear, the power of which acting like a sonic barrier and blocking out all sound (having taken the hint from the multitudes of dragons covering their ears and the group of teens holding theirs), before an ear-shattering shriek slammed into the sorceress, the pain of the sound scrambling her senses and dropping her to her knees.

::Cover your ears.::

I glanced at Toothless as best I could in my position, who nodded at me as best as he could with the prongs in his neck, as he relayed the message for the other dragons who were watching him. I saw the teens also let go of their weapons and hold their hands to their ears, knowing it best to take cues from the dragons.

I couldn't cover mine, but knowing Toothless I needed to do something; that tone meant he'd figured out a new trick and wasn't waiting long to use it either. So, I did the next best thing I could: I got rid of my hearing altogether. Jezebel was completely oblivious, focused on the crowd and Aurianna ( I'd caught enough in the conversation to figure out who the mystery woman was) and not understanding Dragonese nor paying attention to the other reptiles either. All the better.

Most people know by now Night Furies possess a very keen sense of echolocation. What you might not know is that also means they have a very impressive control over their vocals, including frequency and volume. Once he saw at least most of our side had gotten the message, Toothless sucked in a breath, turned as best he could toward Jezebel, and let loose.

I couldn't hear the noise, but the very vibrations of the air were making my teeth rattle, and had I still needed glasses they would have been rendered absolutely useless.

Jezebel took the onslaught as hoped. She was prepared for weapons, fire, and various metaphysical attacks I could come up with, or even the blunt power of roars like those of a Thunderdrum. What she wasn't prepared for was a screaming dragon.

As soon as she dropped to her knees the sword came up off my throat, giving me the room needed to spin out of the way, heal the cuts that had been rendered, and race over to Hiccup and Toothless. One hit with the right energy frequency and the field came down, releasing them and allowing me to heal the cuts on both of them as Toothless continued his barrage with renewed vigor.

Jezebel wasn't one to be held for long though, and even with blood leaking between her fingers from her ears, caused by the painful sound, she eventually managed to get to her feet and let loose a set of daggers at us.

This time we were more than ready though. Toothless stopped his sonic attack and Hiccup leapt back up into the saddle, both of them dodging the blades meant for them with ease. I caught the one heading my way and flung it back, slicing through the sleeve on her arm, before two of my swords materialized in my hands again now that I was focused enough to bring them into use, and I took to the air as well.

The other teens followed our example along with Valka and Cloudjumper, soaring up alongside us as Aurianna corralled the soldiers and kept them out of the fight. Jezebel was on her own now, and we were all aiming for her and her alone. And, we were all plenty ticked.

"Anything else I should know that I've missed while I was out?" I yelled to the group as the sorceress, outnumbered greatly, took off through the ruined village below, brandishing her swords and holding us off from attacking directly with ripples of black magic rending the air.

"Well, that woman who switched to our side down there is Odin's daughter," Astrid yelled back. "Yeah, caught that already," I replied. She smirked, expecting a similar answer. "Oh, okay. Yeah, she's on our side for now at least, and mentioned something about, uh, if something she did with the minerals on her wrist worked, we'd have a chance."

"Sure that wasn't just referencing her turning off all the gems in the army?" I asked. Astrid shrugged. "Well, that occurred when she fiddled with the band on the ground, I'm talking about this odd sound she made them produce beforehand. Maybe a call for some sort of backup?"

Silence. "Yeah, great, very specific thank you," I drawled. "Sorry, she didn't exactly give the details on the whole thing. I don't think she completely trusts us yet either," Astrid quipped.

I smiled at the ridiculousness of the conversations we had in such strenuous circumstances, being still at war after all. Then I barreled downward with a spinning set of blades and a torrent of flames reaching out ahead of me. Jezebel turned and caught the swords in time with her own, and redirected the fire to instead down a nearby house which, until that point, was miraculously still standing. Now it matched the rest of the scene. I wasn't giving up though.

"There's nowhere left for you to run to, o mistress of misery," I quipped sarcastically. "Your army gone, your weapons advisor against you, and you're headed for the docks that jut out into wide open ocean."

"And if I can hold you off long enough I can still make my way out of this," she bit back. "You underestimate me again; as soon as I reach the water there is nothing you can do to hold me down."

I snorted as I struck again with my swords. "What? It's not like I can't swim, and you've used similar lines before to pitiful results." Blades flashed between us as the other riders came barreling past, hurling flames of all kind at us. I was unaffected, but even with her unnatural protection from the heat I could see beads of sweat beginning to roll down Jezebel's face both from exertion and the boiling air. However, she knew that so long as she kept in close proximity to me the rest of the gang wouldn't risk any other forms of attack. I quickly figured the same though, and backed off for a moment, just enough time for Hiccup and Ember to fire their bows.

Jezebel shielded herself from the electric bolt, prematurely detonating the energy and ignoring the effect as it rippled the air and faded harmlessly. The Mysteel arrow, however, she caught between her fingers and twirled it warningly.

"I saw what the fire girl Ur did with these," she sneered. "A single scratch and you're dead in seconds. What happens if I use it on any of you?"

I shrugged, ignoring Jezebel's use of Ember's old taunting nickname and watching her falter when I showed no worry at the arrow. "Not much, actually. Sure, it could pierce our suits and be able to hurt us for a time, but it wouldn't penetrate deep enough to do any serious damage."

"The poison would still do its job." "Venom, and no. I'm the one who produces it, which means I also have the mechanism to create an antidote. By now the rest of the village does too." I laughed as I whipped my tail out, blades along its length erecting and forcing Jezebel to go on the defensive again. "You honestly think we didn't work through that detail already? Nine hundred years really didn't do much for the old hag, did it?"

Jezebel scowled, before throwing the arrow outward, the blade flying in the direction of the twins. I leapt up and grabbed it, turning to stall the witch again, but she'd already taken off, running down the path again and deflecting fire from Windshear and Stormfly.

As she rounded the corner toward the steps to the dock, though, something leapt out from behind a lonely storehouse and rammed into her, a long decorated staff tearing her shirtsleeve with a sharp edge at the tip and the collision sending a cloud of dust everywhere. As it cleared, the figure standing over Jezebel and waling at her with the staff revealed itself to be…

"MILDEW?!"

The old man turned and whacked Jezebel over the head with his staff again, the sorceress too stunned by who her attacker was to react for a moment. It gave enough time for Fishlegs to yell out, "Mildew, what on earth are you doing?!"

"What I now realize I should have done a very long time ago!" he yelled back, standing up straight and whacking Jezebel again like he was wielding a golf club. "What are you all waiting for, take her down! And apologies for taking so long to get my wits together, but between the dragons and the witch here I pick the lesser of two evils!"

Stepping away to allow a clearer shot for the rest of us, Mildew would up to take another swing. Just as quickly however, Jezebel rolled out of the way of a Shadowracer fireball and leapt up, grabbing Mildew's staff and pulling him toward her, pinning the makeshift weapon up against his neck and securing his arms in one deft move. Then, dragging Mildew along with her, she raced toward the docks once more.

Jezebel reached the harbor quickly and relatively unhindered due to her having a hostage, and she whirled at the end of one of the docks to face the rest of us as we landed at the other end.

"Let him go, Jezebel," I hissed warningly, wings hooding on instinct. "You've already lost, so there's no gain to this"-

"I know that we've all figured this ends here," Jezebel cut in, her hand twirling behind her and reappearing with one of her smaller blades, pressing it against Mildew's throat just above his own staff. "If this is truly the end for me, then I'm taking at least one more person with me. I swear I will get at least that much from all this."

"Forget about me!" Mildew rasped. "Finish her off or we'll never see-urk!" He choked as Jezebel pressed the blade in tighter.

"Jezebel, you have nowhere left to go. Let him be," a new voice joined in. I turned slightly to see Aurianna glide down in her hovering field to land in front of all of us. "Not even your black magic and demons holds match against the number of gifted individuals standing before you, and you know well the outcome of prolonging this fight further." Just then, her gaze swung past Jezebel, out to sea, and her expression grew immensely brighter. "And, that number has just risen one more."

As it turned out, Mildew's stall had given just enough time for someone else to cut off Jezebel's last chance for escape. We all turned to see what on earth the alchemist could have been referring to, and watched as out beyond the harbor, the ocean surged with something immense racing beneath the surface.

As the wave reached the bay it rose and crested, spilling out over the ships and the outer docks before draining away. In its place, towering over all of us, was a sea serpent like none I'd ever seen. It had a head that alone was a size to match the Red Death's skull, scales colored like the deepening blue sky dotted with rows of blunt raised projections, and two piercing eyes colored of a silver-lined aquamarine that were etched with images spanning a millennium of existence.

Jezebel stumbled backward at the sight of the colossal creature in front of us, nearly losing hold of Mildew as she gawked up at the serpent. "No," she gasped, "no, that can't be! You-you're dead!"

"I took a gamble as I previously believed that like everyone else in my life he might have been gone, especially after your attempted poisoning last I saw him," Aurianna said accusingly. "And there was no guarantee he'd be anywhere near here. But I know where my family frequented, and my luck does pay off occasionally."

Her gaze swung back up toward the sky-hued reptile, and she smiled wider than I'd yet seen. "Glad to see one more thing I was wrong about after all these years, brother."

"As am I," the serpent spoke back, shocking us further with a deep and powerful voice of near-melodic quality, filled with the hidden tone of great relief. "Had I known you still survived I would have come many years sooner to your aid." His silver-etched eyes then fixated on the trembling woman almost directly beneath him.

"I'm not surprised the first call I get in nearly nine hundred years is to deal with you again, Jezebel," he growled, drawing closer and bearing ten-foot fangs. "Release your hostage and I might leave you now with at least enough strength to float away on a broken raft. I've learned a great deal since you last faced me, and how to use that knowledge."

With Jezebel's attention entirely elsewhere at that moment I morphed Shadow and crept forward along the dock, hoping to reach them and pull Mildew away before she noticed I'd vanished from sight. But Jezebel wasn't stupid, for all her other faults. She knew after everything she had no chance of leaving Berk alive.

In a flash, Jezebel's dagger left Mildew's neck, and she spun it once in her hand before driving the point inward and upward, twisting it as she did so.

"MILDEW! NOOO!"

Someone screamed aloud. It might have been me; it might have been all of us. But, either way it was done. Mildew's eyes widened, and he slowly looked down at the blade tip protruding out through the left side of his chest, before Jezebel removed the dagger with a sickening noise and he slid limply to the dock.

The first one who reacted was the sea serpent, the tip of his tail whipping out of the water and slamming Jezebel to the dock as well, a ripple of visible power traveling through him and over her. Immediately, the rest of us caught wind of what that meant: our chance to finish this had come.

I rematerialized above Jezebel as Ember drew her nocked arrow and fired, Aurianna whipping out her hand to make the metallic shaft of the projectile and the toxic point straighten under her influence for a perfect shot. From Hiccup came the last gift, an electric charge that I caught and merged with the passing Mysteel arrow a split second before it hit, supercharging the already fatal venom as it drove home, splitting the center of Jezebel's chest armor and sinking deep.

The sorceress gasped both from the pain of the mortal wound and the fiery burn I'd given the charged venom now racing through her system, before her pupils dilated wide and she slackened across the planks she lay on, a final breath escaping her lips as quietly as the world around us had become.

It was over. However, nearby still lay Mildew, his ragged breaths drawing my attention immediately to him again. My head snapped up and I raced to him, demorphing. As I approached though, the others quickly running up behind me, Mildew only smiled weakly and shook his head.

"It's over, boy," he whispered as I knelt next to him and lifted my hand to his chest. "My life has been lived through; better to end it on a better note now than stick around to make the same mistakes everyone still knows me for."

I shook my head in denial and focused instead on the wound, building the power in my hands to bind it together again and halt the flow of red washing over the planks beneath us. "Mildew, you're still here and you're still going to stay around to fight with us you hear me?" I stated firmly.

Mildew waved his hand weakly in response. "Eighty-four years, I've seen enough around me. At least I've done something worth recognizing now; I'm ready to go."

I still tried nevertheless, the surge of ethereal light running from my hands and over the wound, the air glowing around us like it always did.

But it never fully took hold. The edges of the gash seemed to bind and hold slightly, but Jezebel had done her dirty work effectively. Too many things were damaged within, and the restoring power never reached its full strength, held back by something I couldn't see. I had removed some of the pain, but the wound stayed open, and Mildew's life continued to pour out before us.

I hated it when it had happened to Ember, even more so when it was Stoick, but they both had a chance to live without it. Mildew…it would have been like bringing a soul back from the dead, and for all he had put everyone through he was still a life, one sacrificed for everyone else, and I didn't have the means to keep him around.

Mildew slowly looked down at my hands, and the healing power failing to save him. "See?" he said quietly. "Your God even says it's time." He smiled again, weakly, and with what little strength he had left he grasped mine, pulling it away from the hole in his heart. "I've learned, Hawken. I know where we're all going now, and I don't fear the prospect. Just…promise me two things."

I nodded, blinking away the water threatening to build in my eyes and leaning closer. "Make sure I'm-I'm remembered for this, not for…for all the heartache I caused before," he pleaded. "And Fungus," he began, before a wretched cough cut him off, wracking him in pain again. I smiled slightly despite everything; even at his deathbed the old man still cared deeply for the wellbeing of his beloved sheep.

"Fungus," Mildew started again when the coughing halted, taking a deep breath. "Take care of him. He's all I really had…left. Make…sure he's…he's…"

Mildew never finished his sentence. He didn't need to, as I knew what he wanted, but he never finished all the same. The hand that grasped mine slowly lost its hold and went limp, and the lingering shine in the old man's eyes faded away. Slowly, I reached up and closed them, before bowing my head. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to see Hiccup standing there next to me, tears welling in his eyes as well. That's what finally broke it, seeing the rest of them starting to mourn. We all began sobbing, a group embrace crying for a man everyone had hated up until then, who'd now gone against all expectations and given everything for us in return. No words were going to fix that hole, so we just stood there together, letting the pain flow.

Some time later we slowly began to recompose ourselves, as our attention was drawn by the sea serpent lifting Jezebel's body away from the dock. "I'll take care of the sorceress," he said, turning away. "I shall return presently." He moved away from us slowly and disappeared into the waves, taking with him the last shell of an evil that the world had known too long. The rest of us simply stood there, looking lost for a time.

"Jezebel feared the giants of this world," Aurianna spoke up, startling us and drawing our attention as she stared solemnly out to the sea. "Bewilderbeasts, Oceanguards, and the dragons you now call the Red Deaths, along with powerful species like the Stormcutters, Alagaesians and Night Furies. They were creatures with enough willpower that she could never quite gain full control of them like others whom she possessed with her demons. Those she could she won over, getting them to follow her either through loyalty or fear, and the others she sought to kill. The Red Deaths were an entire race she influenced, and modified to her own intent; Bewilderbeasts were secluded enough in their habits that she never succeeded with them. Drago's is another story, but that was an exception."

She looked at us momentarily, before her gaze returned to the sea. "The Oceanguards she nearly won over completely, twisting their appearance and their hearts to make them the feared sea serpents of common legend, but there was one we got to before she did. He stuck with my family for the most part, up until they were entrapped by my own hands. Since then we have both believed the other was dead, him because he likely thought I was trapped like the others, me because I believed Jezebel had succeeded in poisoning him."

Aurianna sighed and looked around, her gaze lingering on Mildew's body. "All this because I was too weak to stand against her so long ago, and because I ignored the obvious. I –I guess the best I can do now is to offer my services to help you rebuild." She looked up at each of us, a thin smile appearing. "You saved me, so I am in debt to each of you for that and for all the trouble I have helped cause."

Aurianna's gaze fixed on me, and then onto Hiccup when my own eyes looked to him. The chief-to-be scratched the back of his neck skittishly and shrugged. "I…I guess I can't really say no," he replied, before looking around at the swaths of rubble and ruin above us on the hillsides and wincing. "A-and we could really use the help. Tonight is going to be hard for everyone."

A moment later the ocean moved and the serp-excuse me, Oceanguard going by what Aurianna had said- the Oceanguard reappeared, glancing between us and Aurianna.

"So, uh…I'm guessing you're the one the legends of Jormungandr really came from then?" I queried out of the blue. The reptile grimaced in response. "Unfortunately, yes. I stopped trying to convince the Norse people long ago," he said, "that the name was not mine but the twisted image Jezebel introduced to wipe my existence fully from history. I am Jordan, named for the river, so it would greatly please me if you call me as such."

I nodded in assurance, smirking, and Jordan turned his gaze to Aurianna again. "We have a great deal of catching up to do, Aurianna," he chuckled. "Nine hundred hears is a long time without hellos even if I expected none previously."

Aurianna laughed at that lighthearted statement. "Yes, yes it is. But first, I must help those who have helped me, and I must see my family again. This young man I was told can contact them directly, and I don't have the necessary materials with me to do so."

Jordan's eyes widened upon that exclamation, and he looked at me. "They were released?" he queried cautiously. I smiled. "Indeed. We have many broken bonds to mend, but I think there's hope yet now that this is over."

A/N-And, it's over. The sorceress Jezebel has been fully defeated, and now we look to rebuilding the village, and broken bonds. We're almost done, just a chapter and epilogue to cover before Book 5 is over. Let me know what you think, and though it might be a little early, what do you imagine Book 6 will entail? I like to hear your theories. Lastly: new word challenge, what does the title of this chapter mean? I left plenty of hints!

Don't forget to review!