"Ember!" Frankie stood up still uneasy from being knocked out cold. What she had awoken to both shocked and alarmed her. First a failed plan and now Ember had been swallowed up in front of her.

("What was she thinking?")

("What was I thinking?")

Ember pressed the arrow deep into the serpents flesh, and all at once could hear it screech in protest. Her feet were now the only thing outside the snake's mouth, and at this point it would take a miracle for her to make it out. A miracle she feared she didn't have.However she didn't see the events turning in her favor outside.

Marble and the other's were now free, and with no time to spare he was flying toward the Serpent with an angry loud roar. He had never been more determined than he was right now, and nothing would stand in his way.

Just as the snake began to lift its head to swallow Ember whole, a blast hit it square in the head. Toothless had joined the fight just in time as he raced from the thick crop of trees. Now that both Night Furies had it in their sights, there was no way the serpent would make it.

Feeling surrounded in its own prison of darkness, the beast hissed with Ember still in its mouth. With one last attempt at escape, a fire began to form in its throat. However, this effort was in vane, for the moment it had mustered up even the smallest fire ball, Marble sent several blasts smashing into the beasts throat causing it's airways to collapse. There was no escape.

Now the other dragons and their riders had joined in, and were proceeding to hit the beast from all sides. Soon the serpent's toxic blood had caught fire, and with one last blow to the head from Marble, the arrow Ember had been trying so desperately to force through the roof of its mouth, finally rammed it's self into the Beasts brain. Within moments the monster was dead and slipping over the side of the cliff toward the whirl pool.

This was not good.

"Help me get her out of here!" Hiccup jumped from his place on Astrid's saddle and ran toward the serpents head. Seeing a small bit of Embers left leg protruding from the snakes jaws, he attempted to hold on to it.

Unfortunately, the jaws were still snapped closed, and they appeared to be staying that way.

Astrid and Frankie raced up followed by Ruffnut, Tuffnut, Snotlout and Fishlegs (Not to mention Marble and Toothless). Trying to find some way to free Ember from the beats mouth, some strained as they attempted to keep the Serpent from slipping over the edge, while others tried to pry the mouth opened.

Still, it didn't budge.

Finally, the rest dragons (seeing their companions in such dire distress) decided to join in. It was still a problem to get the mouth open, but the body now stood securely.

"Ember can you hear me?" Alyssa stood hunched over attempting to peer into the serpent's mouth as much as she could. "Ember, cam you hear me? Answer me if you can hear me." Trying to keep calm was difficult under the circumstances, and at this point she feared the worse.

In all reality, Ember COULD hear Alyssa's voice. The only problem was, hat much like the rest of her world, things were growing darker and fainter.

("Everyone's ok…I can rest now.")

Rest up, because you're going to need it.

("I'm sure I will…after all hell's a nasty place.")

With that thought she could feel the world lift away. There was nothing now. Noting but darkness and peace. Having her troubles seem to fade away with her life gave Ember a feeling of peace she had never known, and for a minute she was happy.

Soon however, there came a change in this peaceful bliss. Heat. She was on fire from head to toe, still being covered with darkness.

The dark space around her began to devour her until she went under, into a sea of anguish and fear. Pain engulfed her arm and side as her heart began to race. This was hell. A fate worse than death, filled with the most vial of all creatures.

One by one figures of muck and blood rose from the depths of the dark sea and grabbed her. Hundreds of hands holding her under and pulling her down. Fear...Heat…pain…this was hell.

("Tremors?") Something seemed to shake her at that moment. It was light and very low. There was something vaguely familiar about this feeling, but she couldn't tell exactly what it was.

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Nightmare after nightmare seemed to shake Ember's body as she lay next to Marble on the floor of the hut. He crooned with a suffering voice having to watch his rider suffer such pain. If only he had stayed with her instead of leaving…if only. That was the only thing on his mind as he curled around her quaking body, and extended a wing over her for warmth.

His face was a familiar one to both Astrid and Hiccup as they sat with Toothless on the other side of the room.

"Birds of a feather, huh Hiccup." Astrid leaned against Hiccups shoulder for support, and nudged him with a smile.

"Yep, they're just like." He nudges her back with a smile on his face. "They're just about as similar as day and night."

"Well I see the similarities." Astrid cracked a wide smile. "She never left his side when he was sick, and now he won't leave hers. I think it's sweet."

Seeing Astrid's smile fade away, Hiccup found himself concerned. "You ok?"

"You know what? No. I'm not ok." Now was a better time than never to use the advice Ember had given her a while back. "I'm upset…I've been upset for a long time, but now I really know why."

Hiccup listened intently. "Astrid, what's this all about?"

"It's about us, and how you never eke me riding anymore." The tone of her voice was firm and lacking in any wavering at all.

"So that's what you're moods have been about…why didn't you just tell me that I wasn't making enough time for you?"

"I know you have a lot of responsibility now that you're occasionally taking over for your father, and I didn't want to add one more thing to your list of things to fix."

"I live to fix that problem. Astrid-" Hiccup found him-self interrupted as a startled release of air from the other side of the room got his attention.

Marble crooned in excitement, and wriggled trying not to move like he wished to. Several more croons and bellows were followed by a few soft licks to Embers face. Opening his mouth it looked as if Marble might be trying to help her come around.

It worked.

Huh? Cracking her eyes open after having yet another nightmare, Ember did her best to focus past the delirium. "M-Mable…?" Rising her hand and reaching out to touch him, she smiled upon making contact with him. Unlike how she felt in her dreams, her body felt surprisingly cool to the touch, and his scales warmed her and to the bone as she held it in place. "How are you doin?"

She would be fine now that she had woken up a little bit.

"Hello all." Alyssa walked in followed by Frankie with a smile on her face. "Well, look who finally decided to re-join the living." Walking over to Ember, she took a few vitals and shook her head. "You mind telling the class what you were thinking?"

"The s-serpent…I had to…" The words spilled out of her mouth like air and she wasn't sure what to say. "Killed it…"

"No not THAT. Though. That was stupid too." Frankie crossed her arms looking down at Ember with a joking scowl. "What she means is, what do you think you were doing sleeping with a diamond back viper?"

Now Ember was confused. The new activity caused the pain in her wrist and side to increase, and she laid still. "I-I don't know…what you're…talking about."

Reaching into a bag, Alyssa pulled out a now dead white snake with a diamond pattern on its back. "I knew you had been poisoned, and when I found this curled in your bed I knew it was trouble. You probably laid down for a nap not knowing it was there."

Thinking hard on the events of what she could only assume was just yesterday, a smile stretched across Embers face.

Sensing that she was still in much pain, this cheerful attitude surprised Marble, who watched intently for any signs of delirium.

Had she not gone home, Ember would have never taken a nap. Had she not taken the nap se would have never and the dream, and without the snake…Ember might not have reached the same conclusion she had after waking up. It seemed that the only time she could realize the danger…was when she couldn't think straight at all.

This made sense to her and despite the pain she closed her eyes. "Thank the gods for what they do." With that she went under again, but this time there were no nightmares.

All was quiet in the room, seeing as no one really had any idea what had just happened.

All was quiet that is, accept for Frankie.

"I wonder where Marble ran off too…"

-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-

Down on the small beach in the bay where the serpent had washed ashore, all that remained were bones. Among the bones sat a content Terrible Terror which sat with its head tilted as it thought. Beryl was a strange little dragon, but what no one else knew, is that he…had a love for sea serpent.