Hiccup told the villagers what they were going to do. They needed a plan for the battle with the dragon, but first of all they had to get to know the dragons. And most importantly, they could not kill the dragons, they had to learn to trust them. Hiccup knew that it would not be easy. And though several men, and some women also, had said "Aye", there were still some objections to working with the dragons.

Just like the people from Berk, they had been fighting dragons for hundreds of years. It was all they knew. Dragons were monsters, killers. They could breathe fire and they would eat you. They were just not something you would have as a pet.

What made everything worse, was that the island was attacked by dragons that night. They hadn`t been attacked for several weeks now, and now that they had something else to worry about, they were not really prepared.

Eyla was no longer afraid of dragons, but with the attack her old fears came back, and even if she wanted to be outside and help the others defend themselves and make sure that the dragons were not killed, she was too afraid. It made her feel bad, but she couldn`t help it.

Hiccup and his friends on the other hand, tried their best to stop the villagers from killing the dragons, and the dragons from killing the villagers. They were all very busy trying to keep everyone somewhat calm so that the disaster would be a minimum.

This was really not helping with making the villagers more positive to dragons, and where they saw enemies and monsters, Hiccup saw more help defeating the seadragon.

Hiccup saw Gunnar aim at a dragon and ran over there just in time to stop him from throwing the spear.

"No killing!" Hiccup said firmly. "I will not stand here and watch you kill them. We need them, they will help us."

"And how can I be sure that they won`t kill us?" Gunnar asked and glared at him. "They kill us, they always have."

"You just have to trust me on that."

"But that`s the thing, little boy. I don`t know if I do".

Gunnar glared at him and then walked away. Hiccup watched him as he left, and then turned around and ran to a Monstrous Nightmare that was standing in front of a man, to talk them both out of killing each other.

Eyla couldn`t stand it anymore. She hadn`t been inside that long, but she had to go out there and see what was happening, even if she was still a bit afraid. She was worried about Storm and the other dragons. She knew she should worry about her people, and even if she did, somehow she was more worried about the dragons.

She knew that her new friend`s dragons wouldn`t hurt or kill anyone, but she wasn`t sure about the people. And the wild dragons were… unpredictably unpredictable.

When she came outside, she saw Hiccup talk with a dragon and a man, trying to convince them to not hurt or kill each other. It looked like it worked. She saw Hiccup walk away, but turned around and looked at them. Both dragon and man looked at him before they walked away in opposite directions. She saw him sigh before he walked towards her.

"It`s not going to work, is it?" she asked him.

"It´s going to work", he said and sighed. "We`ll make it work. I just wish this didn`t happen right now. It`s not helping. But we can get more dragons to help in the battle. I already have two."

"But to get more people on the back of dragons. How are we supposed to do that? How did you get your friends to ride dragons?"

"They didn't really have a choice. It was the fastest way to the nest."

Eyla looked around and saw that it wasn`t as bad as she had thought it would be. A house was burning, a fisherman had broken his arm and another one had broken his leg. But no people were dead and no dragons were dead. And they all seemed to calm down. Well, at least some of them

Hiccup had left her to finds his friends, and she was standing there alone when Ben, Tork, Gunnar and some other men came towards her. Weapons in hand and looking very angry.

"How can you say we should work with dragons? They are trying to kill us, like they always do!"

"Dragons are monsters, that will never change!"

They said more things to her, and with their weapons in hand, she felt very uncomfortable. But then Storm came roaring and stopped, standing almost between them. He breathed fire, but the flame wasn`t that big.

"And now what`" Ben asked. "He`s going to kill us?"

"No, he`s defending me from you", Eyla said.

They lowered their weapons and stared at her, taken aback by her comment.

"But… but…."

"What were you going to do to me if he hadn`t come? Hurt me?" Eyla looked at them.

When they didn`t reply, she jumped up on Storm`s back and let him take her away from there. He looked at them one last time and snorted.

Eyla did not have much hope the next day when she woke up. They were supposed to… train her people and try to make them positive towards dragons for a start. But from last night, she thought it was probably useless. It definitely did not help with the situation.

Everyone that was going to be in the battle with the seadragon gathered in a meadow in the woods. Eyla and the dragon riders on one side, and her people on the other side. None of them seemed particularly pleased. Eyla sighed.

"Okay, so Hiccup has already said what we are going to do", Eyla began.

"You can`t expect us to do this after last night!" Tork said.

"Dragons only want to kill us", someone said.

"We need them", Eyla said, but no one was listening.

"I´m not riding on a beast!"

"Why do we need dragons anyway? They only destroy our village!"

"We can´t defeat a giant on our own", Eyla said.

"Are you even sure that thing is still out there?"

"What if the dragons kill us?"

Eyla tried to talk, but they didn`t listen. At first Eyla just wanted to leave and let them do this the best they could, but she couldn`t. And she had had it. She threw her arms up and clenched her hands as she let them fall.

"CAN YOU FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE JUST LISTEN TO ME!"

Everyone got quiet and just stared at her. It worked. Everyone was quiet for a few seconds before Astrid took a few steps forward and threw her axe towards the villagers. Everyone flinched as it landed just a couple of inched from them. The ones closest to the axe took a few steps back.

"Now", Astrid said, "you listen, and you listen good. This is not a test, this is not a game. This is not just to mess with you. This is real. That dragon is real. And your only chance is to work with us!"

"You all have to listen to them", Eyla said. "They have done this before, they know what they`re talking about. And for this to go well you have to do exactly like they tell you. You have to work together, man and dragon."

She heard them mumble and talk among themselves, but no one protested.

"Okay then", Eyla said. "We`ll take a short break, only a few minutes, and then the real work starts."

She sighed and watched her people walk away. They didn`t go far. They just spread out on the meadow and among the trees.

"You did good", Hiccup said.

"Now I just hope they listen, do what they are told, and just try", Eyla said.

"If they don`t, I will beat them until they do", Astrid said.

Eyla looked at Astrid with a little smile.

"Where were you when I was little? You could have beaten Ben before he made it his hobby to mess with my life."

Astrid smiled.

The chief came walking towards them and the dragon riders left Eyla so she could talk to her father alone. At first none of them said anything.

"You were the first to say 'Aye', why?" Eyla asked.

"You are my daughter", Brand said and looked at her. "And I saw it."

"You what?! But he told you to stay away!"

"He did. But I didn`t go there. I was in the woods. I was at the coast, but I didn`t go to the north coast. But I saw it. I saw the head. And I understood."

"Then why can`t you talk to them, make them understand?"

"Some things you have to figure out on your own. I don`t like that we have to work with the dragons that we fought for hundreds of years. I still think they are monsters. But if that is our only chance…"

He looked at her and then put his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it. That was the first time in years that Eyla felt like her father believed in her, that he was proud of her.

He walked away and she just stood here watching him leave.