Hiccup put his hand down. It was hard to see the other rider's face but it was a safe bet to assume he was staring at Hiccup as intently as Hiccup was at him. The shining metal armor he wore covered his torso, arms, and his legs. His head had a leather hood overtop of it and a mask covering his mouth. He was armed with a bow that was hung across his torso and two swords on each of his hips. The Alpha now raised it's head and turned it's attention to the rest of us. Hiccup signaled us and we dived down to land and stay with Toothless. Without warning the Alpha roared again. However it's body language denied the fact that it roared at all. After a few seconds the breath expelled from it's roar hit us. It did not smell like fish, but that was not surprising as it didn't even have a mouth to eat them. The breath had an unexpected effect on me. As I breathed it in my mind felt clearer and my mussels relaxed. Seconds later there were shouts and yells from behind us. Any lit fires around this area of the village had erupted into much larger flames.

"The beast is trying to burn us. FIRE THE CATAPULTS." Stoick commanded and a volley of rocks flew towards the Alpha. It saw the rocks and I expected it to reveal some secret defense against the mortars that would make it even more unbeatable. However, the Alpha used it's enormous wingspan to shield itself and it's rider. The rocks hit it and were generally ineffective. The Alpha roared and winced in pain at each rock that hit it but it was, overall, undamaged. After the barrage the Alpha kept itself enclosed in it's wings for some time.

During this time Stoick ordered "Reload!". The wings of the Alpha began to unravel and everyone stopped to look at the dragon in dread. It's wings fully expanded outwards to reveal it's rider now aiming his bow at Hiccup. Toothless made a sound of panic and the rider let the arrow fly out of the bow.

Even more terrifying than the Alpha's roar was Astrid's scream at the sight of the arrow hitting Hiccup in the chest. Hiccup fell to the ground motionless and his murderer advanced towards his limp body. Toothless raced across the field and stood over Hiccup before his murderer could claim his body. The Alpha roared again and in his rage Toothless shot all six of his shots at the dragon. Oddly, the shots grew to three times their normal size in the air and created a massive explosion on impact. The Alpha seemed hurt by his attack and when the explosion cleared I could see that the heat of the augmented blast had charred several of it's scales and they were glowing like hot iron. All of the Berk riders were focused on Hiccup but I only wanted one thing, revenge.

With my eyes set on the Alpha's rider retreating towards his dragon I mounted Starfire. The Alpha stood up on it's hind legs and spread it's wings, towering above the town. I took off on Starfire and charged them. The last thing I saw was the dragon, not enshrouded by it's radiating light or it's cloak of shadows. Then all there was was white and my eye's felt like they were burning. I couldn't see and I could tell Starfire couldn't see. We lost altitude and we crashed into the ground. The next few seconds I remained angry and unafraid. I could hear shouts of the town and the wings of the Alpha. Toothless, whimpering, and roaring at his rider to try to wake him.

Astrid's voice as she screamed "Come on Hiccup! Wake up! You can't leave like this.".

Then Stoick boomed "Get him inside and someone find Gothi and bring 'er to my 'ouse!". Then Starfire started whimpering.

"I'm over here girl. Just follow the sound of my voice" I stated weakly. I palmed around in a white empty void towards the whimpers. I touched a claw and was instantly pinned and licked.

"You okay?" I asked. Starfire shook her head as if she was trying to get something off of it. It occurred to me that she was blind too. I didn't know what to do now. I was scared. I always thought that I was pretty good at telling distances by the intensity of sound but now I felt like I was miles away from Berk. There were a cacophony of different voices, some panicked, some angry, some crying. I couldn't place myself and I felt like I was falling into the white void. Suddenly someone picked me up and slung me over their shoulder. I was carried off from the clearing where we crashed. Soon we stopped and I was let down and directed to sit in a seat.

"Who are you?" I asked reaching my hands out and panicking.

"It's alright lass it's Gobber" affirmed Gobber.

"What happened? Were is Hiccup?" I asked rapidly.

"Hiccup is in his house and Gothi is tending to him. I ... don't know how he is holding up. Gothi won't let anyone ... but Stoick and Toothless in. You and quite a few of the other villagers were blinded when that thing let out a flash of light. Your dragon is alright other than the fact that she was blinded too. After that, the Half son of a Troll that rides that thing and the beast flew away." Gobber answered.

I was silent. I didn't know what to say. I didn't even know what to do. There were a thousand things that I wanted to do like see how Hiccup was doing and chase and down that Alpha. However, I was powerless. I assumed that I was in the blacksmiths but I didn't know how many steps there were to the exit or which direction it was. I just sat there and closed my eyes. Minutes went by and nobody talked to me. I noticed that no one was talking at all. I was sure there were people outside the shop but not a soul spoke.

The low voice of Stoick broke the silence "Gothi examined Hiccup and she says he will pull through. There will be no visitors unless his strength recovers.". There was the sound of lot's of people letting out a sigh of relief. I eavesdropped the best I could on Stoick with no other way of getting information.

"... No Astrid you can't go in yet. Hiccup needs room to breathe. That is why I am out 'ere." Stoick said.

I sat on what I assumed was the whetstone seat and thought about what I heard. Hiccup was alive. I found solace in that fact. I sat and the more I thought the more scared I got. What would I do now? I was blind, Starfire was blind, and there was a looming threat of an Alpha coming back to destroy Berk.

Gobber sensed my uneasiness and said "What's wrong lass?".

"You remember what we talked about when I was making Starfire's saddle? I guess you get to see me humbled now because I think losing my sight would be the last thing that I would want to lose." I said, my voice faltering and breaking up.

"It's going to be alright lass. Being a blacksmith's apprentice is probably the best job a blind girl could ask for." Gobber said.

"Still haven't given up on getting a new apprentice then?" I said as I laughed.

Just then I could hear Starfire come crashing into the shop.

"Hold still you blind beast. Your going to destroy my shop." Gobber yelled at her. She came right up to me and nuzzled my leg.

"Hey girl! How did you find me so quickly?" I asked.

Gobber replied "I think she can see again.".

"What!" I exclaimed in shock and joy.

"Hold on ... yes ... she is tracking my hand with her eye's." Gobber explained. Starfire made some confused noises and nudged me.

"Sorry girl but your going to have to do the seeing for the both of us." I stated. She then was able to lick my face as I had no way of defending against her. I then got up and used Starfire to guide me to the front step of the Haddok residence.

"Where have you been Freya?" asked Astrid. Starfire stopped and I realized I must have been next to the house. I didn't answer her question because I didn't know how.

Luckily Gobber had followed me and informed Stoick "Stoick. We lost two buildings in those fires and allot of villagers were blinded from that flash. We need leadership.".

I could here the gasps and whispers from the teens as they realized that I was one of those blinded.

"Freya ... how ... you ... okay" Stoick started but I stopped him and agreed with Gobber.

"I don't need pity Chief. What I really need is direction or a purpose." I said, spurring him into action.