Hey! I'm back! Sorry about the delay; I didn't really get a chance to post this yesterday. But, here I am, posting it now!

This chapter is a lot longer than the last. Once again, I don't HTTYD or any of its characters.

Enjoy!

Ein

Shade awoke with a start, and gasped for breath. It was a few moments before he realized where he was; in the Dragon Barracks. All around him lay the sleeping bodies of various dragons, all of different sizes, shapes, and species. Of those that were still in the room, all were asleep but one. The large Boneknapper sat by the small slit in the rock wall that was the closest thing they had to a window. He was looking outside, watching intently.

Careful not to wake any sleeping dragons, Shade slowly stood, and rustled the sleep from his limbs. He quietly walked over to the Boneknapper and sat down next to him. "Morning, Flameskull," he whispered.

"Morning, Shade," Flameskull whispered back. "Nightmares again?"

"Yeah," said Shade.

"Anything different this time?"

"No. Just the same nightmare. I'm on Berk again, watching my mother die." Shade sighed, and looked down. "Why can't I just forget that? Why do I have to keep reliving it over and over?"

"I don't know," said Flameskull. "I wish I could help you, but I can't even get rid of my own nightmares."

"You get nightmares too?"

Flameskull nodded. "Definitely," he said. "Not as often as you- but, then again, my experiences weren't quite as traumatic as yours."

They sat in silence for a moment, and then Shade said, "I've said it before, and I'll say it again… Stoick shouldn't have defied the Empire like that. Things might have turned out so much different."

"Well, that's humanity for you," said Flameskull. "Always ruining everything. Kinda like right now."

"What do you mean?" asked Shade.

"I mean the Empire is camped right across the field."

Shade stiffened, and snapped his head up at him. "What?" he asked. "Is this a joke?"

"I wish. No, they're here alright. See for yourself." Flameskull stepped aside, giving Shade access to the slit.

Shade stepped forward, squinted his eyes and peered out. Outside, down at the base of the mountain that contained them, was a large, flat valley. The treeline broke at the base of the mountain, leaving only a vast, snowy field. Far away, on the other side, he could see a large mass of soldiers and tents. They weren't Rebel troops; they could only be Imperials.

He jumped back from the window. "Dear Odin," he said. "Does my father know about this?"

"Yes," said Flameskull. "All the leaders know."

"Have we begun evacuating yet?"

"No. They're not quite sure what the Imperials are doing. They haven't made any indication that they know we're here, so they may just have been camping for the night on their way by."

Shade's heart pounded much faster than it normally did. "So, what?" he asked. "Are we just going to sit here and wait it out?"

"Pretty much," said Flameskull.

Suddenly, from behind them, Shade heard another dragon stirring. He turned around and saw his sister, Silvermoon, waking from her slumber. He walked over to greet her

"Good morning, Silver," he said. "Sleep okay?"

Silvermoon stretched her jaws apart in a yawn, and nodded. "Good morning," she said quietly. She stood up, and stepped away from the other sleeping dragons towards Flameskull.

"Hey, Silver," he said. "How are you?"

"I'm okay," she said. "You?"

"Been better," he said.

From behind them, they suddenly heard faint voices. They grew louder as the approached the entrance to the room, and as they rounded the door the three dragons saw that they belonged to Hiccup, Toothless, and Misael.

"…We don't know what they're doing here," Hiccup was saying. "That's why we can't do anything. I don't want to give away our position if they don't actually know we're here." They stopped, and turned to the dragons.

Silvermoon walked forward and nudged Misael. He grinned at her, and scratched underneath her chin. "Hey," he said. "Listen, there's something you should know… The Imperials are here."

Silvermoon's eyes widened in shock. "What…?"

"We don't know if they're here for us. They might just be passing by. But they are here."

Silvermoon didn't reply, but Shade could tell how agitated she was.

He turned to Toothless, and walked towards the older Night Fury. "Father," he greeted, pressing his snout to the dragon's neck in affection.

"Good morning, Shade," Toothless replied.

"What's going on? Have we started readying for battle yet?"

"Well, Hiccup's already started the procedures for the humans," Toothless replied. "I'm here to do the same for dragons."

"Alright," said Shade. "How can I help?"

"Start waking them all up," said Toothless, gesturing to the massive horde of sleeping dragons. Some of them were already stirring, roused by the sounds of their voice. Most of them, however, were still sound asleep.

"Right," said Shade. He turned to Flameskull, and caught the gaze of the large Boneknapper. The skeletal beast nodded, turned around, and began prodding at the bodies of the sleeping dragons. "Hey, wake up!" he exclaimed. "Get ready for battle!"

As the air around them filled with confused murmurings, two more newcomers entered the room. Shade turned around to see Astrid and Stormfly.

"Astrid!" said Hiccup. "How's the preparations going?"

"Good," Astrid replied. "The dining hall is up and running, and Seth's getting ready to manage weapon distribution. I'd say we'll be ready to fight in a half an hour."

"Good," said Hiccup. "We're getting the dragons ready right now, as you can see."

A good half of the dragons in the room were awake now. Those that woke up either went directly to the feeding hall or helped Flameskull in his task. One of the dragons that passed by was a friend of Shade's; a Night Fury named Rosco.

"Hey, Rosco!" Shade called. He bounded over to him, and they both stopped in their tracks. "Did someone tell you what's going on?"

Rosco shook his head. "No," he said. "Everyone's talking about something, but nobody seems to know what it is."

Shade relayed the situation to him, and he could see the young dragon's face falling with every word.

"Oh gods… this is bad," he said. "I've got to find Seth… If they attack, he'll need me."

"He's on weapons duty right now," Shade directed. "Down at the armory, probably."

"Thanks," said Rosco. "If worse comes to worse, good luck out there."

"Same to you," said Shade. The other Night Fury gave a nod and ran off.

While all this was going on, Toothless looked around the room in agitation, as if he had lost something. "What's wrong?" Stormfly asked him. "Who are you looking for?"

"Ashmore," Toothless replied. "I don't see him anywhere."

"He's probably with Samantha," said Stormfly.

"Yeah, probably… But where is she?"

"Alright Ashmore, let's do this once, and get back inside before anyone misses us," said Samantha.

The two were on top of the mountain. Over the previous night, a fresh coat of newfallen snow had covered the peak, and now it was a white expanse all around, with trees here and there breaking out of the blanket. The large Night Fury was lying in the snow, belly to the ground, his icy blue eyes staring forward. Samantha was on his back, in her riding position.

"Ready… Set… Go!"

It took three flaps for them to get going. He pushed himself through the snow with his wings, and then picked up momentum. He slid forward slowly at first, but then gradually picked up speed. Up ahead, the incline of the mountain increased dramatically. Rather than shying away from it, Ashmore aimed directly for that spot.

When they reached it, their increase in speed was sudden. One moment they were gliding, the next they were speeding through the snow. White clouds puffed up all around them, and wind blew Samantha's hair back. But she didn't care. She was having a blast.

"Alright!" she yelled.

Ahead, the path they selected twisted and turned towards the eastern side of the mountain, where the sun was beginning to poke out. They took a sharp corner, and Samantha almost fell off of her dragon, but managed to hold on.

The path continued its twists and turns, and all the while they got faster and faster. The air around them filled with a biting wind and rapid flurries of fresh snow. With every turn they took, the ground around them was covered in a new layer to add to the old.

They were having a blast. But it all changed when they rounded the face of the mountain.

Samantha awaited the bend with joy in her heart. As they took it, Samantha looked over the beautiful valley with excitement. It rolled down far beneath them, and then came back up the next mountain. The blue-green carpet of trees stopped just above the base of the mountain, and was replaced by a large plain of whiteness, shining with the reflection of the rising sun.

On the other side of the valley, a huge mass of tents and soldiers stood in wait.

"Stop!" Samantha yelled in panic. "Stop, now!"

Ashmore glanced into the valley, and growled in shock. He jerked his body to the side, and got caught in the snow, which caused him to roll over. Samantha fell beneath his body as he rolled over her just fast enough to prevent causing damage. She did, however, get a face full of snow.

Ashmore rolled a few more feet, and then managed to stop himself. He stood up and slunked over to Samantha, nudging the girl with his snout. She groaned, and pushed herself out of the snow, sitting on her backside and wiping her face clean.

"Ugh," she said to herself. "You need to lose some weight, Ashmore."

She stood up and looked over the valley again. Now that she had a steady view, she could see the camp for what it really was.

"Oh no…" she said. "They found us…"

As she looked on, she saw signs of movement in the camp. She hurried to Ashmore and unzipped the saddlebag to get her spyglass. She brought it with her everywhere in case she wanted to sight-see. She pulled it out and pointed it at the camp to get a closer look.

What she saw disturbed her. Soldiers in full armor were mulling about the camp, and gathering at the front. They looked as if they were getting ready to attack.

"I think… I think they're here for us…" she breathed.

Suddenly, her spyglass passed over a soldier that stood out from the others. He was seated in a high watchtower holding a spyglass of his own. It could have been just her increasing paranoia, but it looked as if it were pointing directly at them.

She recoiled in panic, and rushed to Ashmore's side to put the spyglass back in his saddlebag. "They're looking at us," she said.

Ashmore nudged her in fright, and then gestured down below, to the hidden entrance they had emerged from in the first place.

"Yeah," Samantha agreed. "Let's get back."

First, however, they made sure to take the longest route, while sticking to the tree cover. If they really had been spotted, they couldn't let the location of the base entrance to be known. It took them a long time to reach the entrance, and once they did, the army was almost ready for what was increasingly likely to be a battle.

The entrance was hidden behind a coating of leaves and undergrowth so thick that it was impossible to see through. After brushing just enough aside to slip in, they patched the hole they had made back up again, and then turned around to face their new surroundings.

They were now in a cave. It was narrow, but it stretched back further than they could see into the darkness. Samantha knew what was at the end of it though. With her in the lead, the two of them walked into the blackness, to the door at the very end of the passage. Samantha slowly knocked on it, and then said, "Whispering nightmare."

She could hear hands fumbling on the other side of the door, detaching all of the locks. Then, it swung open. A fellow rebel soldier stood in wait.

"Samantha!" he exclaimed. "Where have you been? They've been looking all over for you!"

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm so sorry… Do you know where Hiccup is? I need to talk to him."

"I… I think he's in the main hall, getting ready for battle with everyone else," I say.

"Okay, I'll look there. Thanks," said Samantha.

She ran off to look for her friends and commanders. The main hall was close by; she and Ashmore bounded into it, and immediately looked for Hiccup.

He was all the way on the other side, talking to some soldiers. Toothless was right next to him. "Hiccup!" she yelled, as she ran over to him.

He stopped talking and looked back. "Samantha!" he exclaimed. He and Toothless ran over, and Ashmore bounded ahead to meet his father. As they had their reunion, Hiccup went straight for Samantha.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "We've been worried sick about you!"

"I'm sorry," she said solemnly. "We were out sledding…"

"You were doing what?" he asked.

"I'm sorry!" she repeated. "I didn't know what was going on. We just wanted to have a little fun, that's all. With all that's been happening, we needed it."

Hiccup sighed, and raised his hand to his forehead. "Did anybody see you?" he asked.

"I don't know… Maybe…"

Hiccup lowered his hand and glared at her. "What do you mean, maybe?"

"Well… I was watching them through my spyglass, and I might have seen someone looking back…"

"Oh gods… This is bad…"

"I'm sorry," said Samantha, hanging her head in shame.

"Look, just… I know you didn't mean it," said Hiccup. "But you put us in danger, and if we make it out of this alive, there'll be consequences."

"Okay…" Samantha risked a glance over at Ashmore and Toothless. She didn't know what was being spoken between them, but judging by Ashmore's flattened ears, it wasn't a friendly conversation.

"Now, I need you and Ashmore to assume your battle positions. If we've guessed right, then they're about to march, and we need to be ready for them. We've already started evacuation procedures, but we'll need a distraction if we're to finish. That's where we come in. Understand?"

Samantha nodded, her face calm but her inside roiling in tension. "Yes, sir."

"Good." A softness came over his face then, and he said, "You be careful out there, okay?"

"Yeah… You too."

She left his side and went to join Ashmore, who had finished talking to his father as well. "Come on," she said. "We've got to get moving."

Almost everyone who would be taking part in the fighting was now gathered together. They were in a huge, underground hall, with countless tunnels leading out from it. These were to be used by the dragons as they flew out to meet their opponents.

The last Misael had heard, the Imperials were about to march. It would be no time before Hiccup gave the order to go to battle.

Where are they? He thought anxiously. Four of his friends were missing. Samantha, Ashmore, Seth and Rosco. As he looked, however, he saw them enter the tunnel. Good, he thought.

He turned next to him, and saw Blackheart talking to Shade. "Hey," the other viking said to his dragon partner. "I know we haven't been able to spend much time together recently. But once we get through this, and once we get to the Sanctuary, I promise things will be different."

Shade grinned back at him, and Blackheart scratched underneath his chin.

Misael turned to his own dragon friend, Silvermoon. He opened his arms and embraced her in a hug. "Hey," he said. "We're going to get through this, okay? We're going to get to the Sanctuary, and then everything will get better. We'll be able to see each other more, and we'll be far away from the Imperials. Doesn't that sound good?"

Silvermoon nodded, and wrapped her own forearms around him. Together, they shared one last moment of peace.

But it didn't last. Slowly, a hush settled over the room. Misael turned to see Hiccup standing up on a podium, looking over them all. He was about to speak.

Meanwhile, outside, something was stirring beneath the ground.

A whispering death had been sleeping peacefully up until now. But when the disturbance reached his body, his eyes shot open, and he jolted up from his position of rest. The vibrations that traveled through the earth were familiar… Yes, they were human footsteps.

There had been a time, before the Empire, before the Soldiers of Purity, during the painfully short-lived Golden Age, when Kink would been willing to partake in peaceful interactions with humans, but that time was long gone. For his own protection, he had to assume that all humans were threats. To protect his own life, he had to assume that whoever was walking above his den was looking for him.

He looked up, and opened his mouth. As this mouth touched the rocky ceiling, his teeth ripped and tore at it, and chunks began peeling away. Soon, an entire tunnel leading to the surface was created with his mouth. He beat his wings to lift himself, and was soon digging through the rock and soil at a breakneck pace. As he rose through the earth, he could feel himself getting closer and closer to the surface.

Finally, he broke through it.

The light blinded him. He didn't like the sunlight, and he had spent most of the last few years underground, hiding from the humans; they seemed to be almost everywhere in the surface world, and now that there were so few dragons left, there were very few safe areas on the surface. All the time spent underground had affected his eyes; he had developed almost unmatched night vision, but he couldn't see nearly as well in the sunlight.

But he could smell, and hear, too. The humans screamed and yelled, and fell back into the snow. He took a deep breath through his nostrils, and located the nearest one. Striking at blinding speeds, he speared the human on his teeth, and then jerked his head back into the air, tossing the wounded human into the air and then back into his mouth, where his teeth grinded him up. He then turned back to the other humans. He located another one with his scent, and with a whip of his tail, he sliced the human's body in half and sent him flying through the air.

By this point, the human had overcome their surprise, and had begun to attack. Two of them charged from behind; Klink could only assume that they had weapons. No big deal. He twisted around and opened his mouth, letting out a stream of fire that roasted and killed them on the spot.

Now, there was only one. Klink sensed him retreating, and quickly lashed out at him, wrapping his tail around him and pulling him back. He quickly looped his serpentine body around the human's, until he was fully enclosed within the scaly folds. Then, with a clenching of his muscles, Klink squeezed as hard as he could, until he heard a sickening, squishing snap.

Once he was sure the human was dead, he let his muscles relax, and the body slowly slunk to the ground. He felt a damp warmth on his body, and rubbed himself in the snow to wash off the blood.

He didn't do anything else until his eyes adjusted. When he could finally see the bodies of his opponents, he squinted at them, and identified them by the crest on their armor; a lotus flower. Imperials. Soldiers of Purity. Good, he thought. I killed some bad guys.

He took a look around the scene, and found he was surrounded by a coat of freshly fallen snow. The otherwise undisturbed blanket was soiled by steaming red stains all around what had just been his battlefield. Pity, he thought. It's a shame to soil the beauty of nature with such foul blood.

As he studied the landscape, two new scents came to him; smoke and human. Either the soldiers were camped nearby, or they were attacking something.

Whatever it was, he would meet them head on. He was in attack mode now, and he wasn't going to run away. He was tired of running.

He turned in the direction of the smell, and burrowed his way back under the ground. The only indication that he was even there was a faint rumbling, slowly making its way towards the Imperial camp.

As all the players in the upcoming battle were getting ready, a loud horn blared up from the Imperial army. It echoed along the mountains, and when it finally faded away, it repeated itself.

The attack had begun.

So, that's it for this week. I'm sorry to leave you on a cliffhanger like that, and I'm also sorry for this next part; I don't know when I'll be able to update this story next. It might be a week, maybe two, maybe longer. I'll try to update as soon as possible, though.

Until then, farewell! Leave a review if you'd like; feedback is appreciated, just please be respectful.