The Dragon King: The Eye and the Alpha

by Threni

It has been one year since the events of "The Dragon King" and life on Berk is a good as can be expected. And then one day they receive a message from a mysterious tribe ordering Hiccup to return to them something he swears he never stole. What follows is series of adventures and discoveries that will forever change their lives...and could also destroy them.

22. Chapter 22

I Own Nothing

All Rights Reserved

Chapter 22

The Dragon Eye

Naturally, the following morning everybody wanted to know what had happened the night before. Much of this curiosity confused the dragons. They did not understand why it mattered how Hiccup satisfied was with Astrid in bed or vice versa, nor did they understand why all the humans were so interested in it.

Of course, the gossip and curiosity at times got out of hand. Everybody wanted details. Several of the young men who had admired Astrid from afar eagerly asked Hiccup what she looked like naked (Snotlout made the big mistake of asking that when Astrid's mother was nearby and discovered a violent similarity between mother and daughter). And women were already asking Astrid if she was pregnant.

Between responding to all the gossip and questions, however, was the ceremony for the Morning Gifts. Here Hiccup gave his wife a gold ring with a beautiful red stone.

"That ring was one of the reasons I waited so long," he explained, "remember the time you couldn't find the ring your father gave you?"

"Yes and—wait a minute! You took it?"

"Well I didn't take it—I just had a Terror borrow it. I wanted measurements so I knew what size to make this one." He gestured to the ring he was wearing around his neck, which did not fit on his finger.

Astrid punched him in the shoulder. "Never steal any of my stuff again! Of course, I suppose you technically can't since it's your stuff too now."

"And my—'stuff' is yours too," Hiccup said, "'Stuff,' that isn't a very romantic word. Anyhow, I forged this ring at the Bog Burglar's island, and I'd finished it right before the Defenders showed up."

"Seriously though, Hiccup, couldn't you have just asked me what ring size fits my finger?"

"Um…well, now that you mention it…"

"Typical," she muttered, "How can someone like you be so smart and still be so stupid?" She looked over her new ring, "Is this a ruby?"

"Diamond,"

"I didn't know diamonds came in red,"

"That's because they usually don't,"

"Where'd you get it then?"

"In India there was one royal woman who had a dragon racing champion for a lover. They were so confident in his winning streak they offered it as a prize for anyone who could beat him. They never expected they'd have to pay up. But Night Furies aren't called the Offspring of Lightning for nothing." He grinned.

She stared at him. "Hiccup…how valuable is this?"

"Remember when I told you that Drago took my prosthetic away the last time he captured me? I got the last laugh, because he never realized what he was holding contained a King's ransom in a secret compartment,"

Astrid gasped. "A king's—I can't possibly accept this. No, Hiccup, it's too valuable, it's too much, I'm not worth—"

"Is it too valuable that I can't give it to the most priceless woman I know?" he asked, kissing her on the forehead, "I've carried it all this time intending in the back of my mind to give it to my future wife. And all that time I hardly ever imagined she would be you," he slid it back onto her finger. "You needn't go boasting about it to everyone, of course, but I can't think of any place better for it than right here on your hand."

"It's hard to argue with you when you hold me like this," she said, "But my gift to you is going to seem incredibly inferior now,"

"I'll be the judge of that,"

Her gift to him left him speechless. It was a double bladed sword that could separate into two standard swords. The blades were retractable, though unlike Inferno they did not burst into flames. Hiccup had started designing this before they had gone after the Dragon Eye. He had never imagined his design would become a reality by someone else's hands.

"I didn't build them myself, of course," Astrid said apologetically, "Gobber did. I just watched and came up with the inlaid bits." The blades had the standard Viking runes for victory and protection inscribed on them, but also had 'H' runes running along them, (for Haddock and Hofferson, Astrid explained). One hilt was painted black and the other light blue, and inlaid in both was a flower design made of rose quartz and yellow topaz.

Hiccup was really touched. Not so much about getting new and beautiful weapons, but the fact that Astrid had taken one of his designs, added her own touches, and made it into a gift for him. It was quite a novelty and he told her so.

"Test it out," she urged him. His first efforts were clumsy. The blades worked fine as swords alone, but when he tried to connect them he kept putting the two ends together incorrectly.

Astrid observed his efforts with a professional eye. "Hmm. I'd say start with them connected and only one blade out, so it looks like a sword with a gigantic hilt. Then, when the opponent is in a vulnerable position, extend the other blade and then use it the swords like a quarterstaff. Then, if needed, separate the two for a further surprise and don't bother combining them again until the fight's over."

"It's a good starting point," Hiccup agreed, kissing her on the cheek, "Thank you, Astrid,"

She blushed. "I wanted to give you something practical for our way for life."

And Astrid was not the only person to give Hiccup a weapon for a gift that day. A while later, when Astrid was with her mother, Stoick came into Hiccup's room carrying a large box. It was evident he seemed a bit embarrassed and did not know where to start, because first he just stood around, looked at the walls and brought up largely irrelevant subjects. The last time he had ever given Hiccup a personal gift had been a helmet made from his mother's armor, and that had been nearly 10 years ago.

"We're having the wrestling matches after dinner tonight," Stoick said at length. "You and Astrid, of course, will just be spectators."

"Oh, right. Of course,"

"Yeah,"

"Yeah,"

"And Mala says she wants to see you soon. She wants to give you her wedding present. She asked to meet you at the Ingerman's house."

Hiccup nodded. He already knew this.

Stoick finally did the simple thing and handed him the box. Hiccup opened it and his eyebrows nearly rose into his hair.

Stoick shrugged apologetically. "You said your gauntlets got damaged on your journey, so I asked Gobber to make a new pair for you. Try them on. They've got a few new features, by the way." He handed Hiccup a small crossbow bolt. "The lower section is removable and there's a small crossbow mechanism inside. So you pull this spring back and push this button here to release it."

"Huh. So I have miniature crossbows on my wrists? That's pretty neat." Hiccup said, "Of course, I'll have to wait until the last minute to load it, or else I'll wear the springs out, and I probably won't be able to use them more than once in a fight but still…" he slowly dropped his analytical mindset and for a moment he felt he was once again just a kid spending a moment with his father. "Thanks Dad. Thanks a lot,"

And Stoick felt that he was once again a proud father looking at his boy. It was a feeling he had not had too much during his lifetime. "So…what are we going to do with your mother?"

"Is she going back to Greenland or staying here?"

"I don't really know. I don't think she quite knows herself." He looked at him imploringly. "Hiccup, I know you weren't too happy to meet her, and I know you think I forgave her a bit too easily, but I don't want her taken away from me again. Would you want that to happen to you and Astrid?"

"If Astrid decided to leave, for whatever reason, I would respect her decision. That being said, I wouldn't like it in the slightest." He sighed and shook his head. He got the hint that his father wanted him to talk to Valka. "So where is she now?"

He found Valka sitting on a rock in the woods. Cloudjumper was sitting in front of her, and the two were clearly having an argument.

"—is to the Bewilderbeast, not to Berk!"

"So they can't get by without us?" Valka retorted, "We're not essential to—" she realized they had company. "Oh hello, Hiccup! Cloudjumper and I were just having a little contest. No not a contest, I mean a con—con—"

"Contention?"

"Yes, that's the word." She shook her head. "I'm still having trouble with Norse here and there. So how's Astrid?"

Hiccup sat next to her. "She's fine,"

"Good, good…did you…well, 'enjoy' yourselves last night?" she smiled cheekily.

Hiccup smiled dryly. Cloudjumper shook his head. Toothless did nothing at all.

"You two looked really adorable reciting your vows yesterday," Valka went on, "it reminded me about my own wedding. Of course, we had to worry about a dragon attack in those days—yes, even in broad daylight. Nobody drank too much afterwards and everyone kept their weapons handy, as I recall." She smiled sadly. "Little did I know that within a year my life would change forever—and not just because I was carried away by a dragon," she added brightly, "Having a child for the first time is quite a life changing experience! I imagine you'll find that out yourself before next autumn!"

"So, what was your contention with Cloudjumper about?" Hiccup asked, hoping to change the subject.

Valka's face fell. "I think you can guess."

"Stay here or go back to Greenland. So, are you convinced now that what I told you about Berk was true?"

"It certainly looks fine, but how long will it last?" she asked evasively.

"As long as Toothless and I stick around," he answered firmly.

For a while, birds chirping and a faint sound of thunder in the distance were the only sounds anyone heard. At last Valka spoke again. "What would you have me do?"

Hiccup's brow furled. "It's your life. You decide what to do with it. You want to go back to Greenland, that's…all right, but if you want to stay here…our house will need some enlarging of course, but if you want to…" he trailed off, unsure of what to say next.

"Our duty is to our nest and the Bewilderbeast," Cloudjumper cut in impatiently, "we can stay to make certain of the fate of the Dragon Eye, but I must return home…alone, if I have to," he added. His threat made no impression so he changed tactics. "Valka, you don't belong with these people. You belong with us! If it is your family you are thinking of, bring them with us! Everlasting Ice, there is enough room in the nest for everyone!"

Valka shook her head sadly. "Stoick would never leave Berk like that, not even for me. He cares too much about his tribe,"

"His tribe was all he had when you disappeared," Hiccup remarked. He glanced at Toothless. "What would you do, Bud?"

"I'd go with you anywhere, but if you're thinking of relocating to Greenland, please know that I'm getting a little tired of changing homes," returned the dragon.

Hiccup now glanced back to his anxious and uncertain looking mother.

"I just don't know, Hiccup," she said, "My home is our nest, not Berk, but I can't help but feel there's too much here for me to just abandon again. I can't…" she looked at him helplessly.

"I know how you feel," Hiccup said, "You know about the Sanctuary, right? Well, when I was living there, I was always wondering if I should return to Berk or stay where I was."

"Living in the wilderness with dragons," Valka said, shaking her head, "just like I've been doing. You took after me more than I could ever have imagined."

"Didn't you ever get tired of having no other humans around?"

"Mostly during the early years when I couldn't talk to any dragons. Those years were the hardest ones. But as time went on, I got used to it. You can get used to anything if you exist with it long enough."

"Personally, I find once you get used to something it gets boring," he commented, "and then you have to find something new to get used to,"

"That is a ridiculous idea," Cloudjumper said contemptuously. "And would you kindly stop trying to persuade her to stay here? She does not belong on Berk any more than I do. She never did!"

"Can I have a word with you, please, in private?" Toothless growled.

"You may say what you like right here," the Stormcutter retorted.

Toothless glanced at the humans first. "All right then. Are you Valka's friend or not?"

Cloudjumper was very offended by such a question. "Of course I am!"

"Then do you know what friends do? They help their friends figure out what's best for them and support the decisions they make. And you, Cloudjumper, are failing at that. Oh yes you are! Don't look at me like that! All you want is to take her and go back to your home, regardless of what she actually wants. Her mate did something similar to Hiccup when he was younger, and he ended up running away! If you care about Valka so much, think about what's best for her instead of yourself for a change! If you'd done that in the first place, this whole mess might never have happened! And don't call my human's ideas ridiculous, either! He's got more brains than any 5 people put together!"

"That's enough, Toothless," Hiccup said quietly.

Cloudjumper turned to Valka. "Have I truly behaved…as he says I have?"

"In a few matters, perhaps," Valka said gently.

"Well…why did you never tell me so?"

"Because at such times I was thinking about what was best for you and supporting the decisions you made. You were always kind to me on every matter except for where I lived, and I knew you were always happiest when I was around. I had already left behind my husband and son and caused them a lot of pain. How could I do that to my best friend as well?"

"Love truly is a selfish thing," Hiccup whispered to himself.

Cloudjumper swallowed. He would have preferred to talk to Valka in private about this, but he doubted Toothless and Hiccup would leave. "Valka, the thing is…we have had a good life where we are. For me, it has been very good indeed. And because it is so good, I do not want to risk ruining it. After what Drago did to us at the old nest, I have hated the idea of anything else happening to my flock. So I have done my utmost to keep our flock together and safe."

"There's one problem with that, Cloudjumper," Toothless said, "When you try too hard to prevent something, you might ultimately cause what you were trying to prevent. The Red Death was like that. She terrorized us so much to keep everyone from challenging her, and in the end she went too far and that's exactly what we did. You bend a stick too far and it breaks."

Valka was lost in thought by all that she was hearing. Hiccup spoke up. "I have a suggestion for a compromise. Are you two familiar with the story of Persephone? I have a friend who liked it so much she renamed herself after it. Well, to cut a long story short, she ends up spending part of the year with her mother and the other part with her husband. Can't you do something similar here? Couldn't you spend part of the year in Greenland and the other part on Berk?"

Valka and Cloudjumper looked at each other dumbfounded. "Now why didn't we ever think of that before?"

"And once your mate retires from being Chief, he and Skullcrusher can accompany you!" Toothless added eagerly.

Cloudjumper turned to Valka. "Is this what you want?"

"It sounds like the best option we have, I think."

"But there is still a problem. The Bewilderbeast will have to know about this, and about the fate of the Dragon Eye. I must return there as soon as possible." Cloudjumper insisted.

"Couldn't you send someone else with the message?" Hiccup asked, "We don't exactly lack for dragons around here. Ask around and see if anybody will do you a favor. Or you could go alone, you know,"

Cloudjumper drew himself up, but then relaxed his posture. "I shall consider the possibility."

Valka turned to Hiccup. "Do you actually want me to stay? Or are you just saying it because it will please your father?"

Hiccup smiled faintly. "Mom, I gave up a long time ago of trying to do things to please him. I don't know how I feel about my past right now, but I think my future would be a lot better if you were in it." Before he had finished Valka was hugging him fiercely.

"And he's going to need all the help he can get if he's going to raise little hatchlings of his own!" Toothless added with a grin, "Somebody has to make certain he doesn't make them flight suits before they reach their fifth winter!"

Sometime later, Hiccup and Toothless went to the Ingerman household. As soon as they were inside Fishlegs barricaded the door with a heavy chest.

"Sorry, Hiccup, but I thought, after all that's happened it would be better if we take some precautions."

Hiccup could hardly disagree with him and said so as they moved into the eating area. The others were already there, including Queen Mala, Heather, and Windshear. Thankfully the Ingerman house had been rebuilt a while back to accommodate Meatlug's bulk otherwise they never would have fit so many people and dragons in it. Even so, it was a rather tight squeeze.

"Where's Hookfang?" Hiccup asked, for he looked around and realized the Nightmare was absent. It was just as well, for there was no room for him.

"Keeping watch from the upstairs windows," Meatlug replied, "He'll come down when it's his turn." Snotlout said the exact same thing, only in Norse.

Hiccup looked around again. It was unusually quiet. Everyone was very eager to see what the Dragon Eye was actually capable of. "All right, we're all here now. How do we do this, exactly?"

Queen Mala had them cover the windows. Only when the room was dark and full of shadows did she open the iron chest and reveal the Dragon Eye. She handed the lenses to Hiccup first. "Choose any combination you like, Dragon King."

"Put them all in,"

Queen Mala refused to let anyone but herself work the Eye. If she was giving away some secrets with this, she was going to retain others. So she turned her back to them and worked with assembling the lenses for a few minutes. She then went over to Toothless, held the Eye in front of his mouth, and asked him to breathe on it gently.

A beam of purple light emerged from the Eye and formed a large on the opposite wall. Within this, black and gold shapes materialized, some of them clearly letters, some of them images of dragons, some of them the shapes of islands or landmarks.

"Remarkable," was all Hiccup could say. Fishlegs already had some parchment out and was starting to trace what he saw.

"So is this where the Isle of Night is?" Snotlout asked. "I don't see those words anywhere. Then again, none of these letters make any sense,"

"That's because this isn't Runic," Hiccup said, "This is all Latin." That was a problem, because nobody there but Hiccup knew any Latin, though in hindsight they should have anticipated it. The Norse Language had not existed when the Dragon Eye had been made.

Toothless tried to keep breathing on the lens and focus on the map at the same time. He assumed a clump of shapes was a group of islands, and he could not help but wonder about them. Was that where his species had originated? Did a nest survive there to this very day? Or had it all been destroyed long ago? And most of all he wondered where those islands were in the world.

Fishlegs finished his tracing and they moved onto Astrid and Stormfly. They would translate the words later.

"Well," Tuffnut said during the transition period, "this stuff's more secure than we thought! Even if Old Biggo Eggo Viggo managed to use this, he still wouldn't be able to read it!"

The more intelligent members of the group exchanged glances. They knew there was a good chance Viggo knew Latin, and even if he did not he only needed to go to the Continent and find a monk to translate it for him. The larger monasteries would surely have someone who could read.

Astrid's choice of lenses resulted in what seemed to be information on a nest of Speed Stingers located in Gaul. Snotlout, much to his annoyance, got a map of a single island. Ruffnut's choices produced a very detailed picture of a Whispering Death. Tuffnut's choice was just a large group of words. Hiccup was able to translate one word that meant 'Food' and guessed it was a list of foods dragons liked. Fishlegs's choices resulted in another map with a picture of a Naga-Raja; possibly it was a map to a colony of them. Finally, Heather's turn came up, and her choice of lenses produced another group of words. Hiccup was able to translate most of the heading this time and read out loud "I'm not sure about the first word, but the rest says 'Gold on Dragon Skin.'"

"Wow," Snotlout said eagerly. "What if that's a formula for making gold? We'll be rich!"

"We already are,"

Fishlegs said, "What if Snotlout's right and this tells us how to make gold from dragon skin? By golly, it's a good thing Viggo hasn't seen this! The poor Dragons wouldn't stand a chance anywhere!"

"Relax, Fish," Hiccup had been translating some more. "I think the first word says 'Placing.' I think these are notes on what happens when you place gold on Dragon skin. Whoever wrote this must have been experimenting."

"That's it?" Snotlout exclaimed. "That's so boring! We risked our lives, travelled thousands of leagues, faced the heat and cold and rain and snow and floods and this is what we get for it? Notes about putting gold on dragon skin? That's just pathetic!" He called for Hookfang and stormed out. The others could not help but share a bit of his disappointment. Only Hiccup, Toothless, and Fishlegs found any satisfaction from this. They wanted to go to work translating at once, but there were still wedding celebrations to take place, and Hiccup had to be at all of them.

The only map he made any headway on was his own. He had managed to translate one word, which read "Canaris," and he recognized the upper part of the map as the northern coast of Africa. If he was correct, the Isle of Night was somewhere to the west of the African Continent.

When the wrestling matches were over not all of the tribes members returned to their own ships. Several leaders gathered in secret on one of Mogadon's ships to talk.

"The fact is," said Scolder the Boulder, the new Chief of the Berserker Tribe, "We've known Berk was getting stronger, an' now that we've seen it for ourselves, I'd say they're too strong. Sooner or later they'll be walking over us!" He had a particular reason to worry. His tribe had been almost wiped out by Berk the previous year and if there were Berserkers like him who wanted revenge, there were likely Berkians who wanted to finish the job, and his tribe was hardly strong enough to stop them.

Several people nodded in agreement with Scolder, but several others shook their heads. Mogadon's son Thuggory spoke up. "Hiccup's never wanted conquest, we all know that."

"Aye, he says that, but does he really mean it?" Scolder argued.

"Oh come on, Scolder!" another retorted, "If Hiccup intended to conquer us, he would've done so already! He wouldn't have shown us how to live with dragons if he was just gonna use them to enslave us!"

"All right, maybe he means it now, but what 'bout five years from now? What 'bout the kids he'll soon prob-ly be having? What assurances do we 'ave they won't come after us?"

"So you're saying we should wipe out Berk because the next generation might be hostile to some of us?" Thuggory said scornfully. There was a lot of uncertainty on the faces of those present. But there was also envy.

"Why does Berk get the special treatment?" One Chief angrily asked, "Why should they get dragons for allies and tell us how to use them? Why should they decide how my tribe will live?" These were rhetorical questions but he had touched upon a sore spot for every Chief present: nobody liked the fact that Berk was powerful enough to tell them what to do. Granted, Stoick and Hiccup had not exercised this power much, except where Dragons were concerned, but could they expect it to always stay this way?

Of course, the Chiefs in this meeting were not all friends, by any means. Most did not care a button for what Berk did to any island unless it was their own. This division was evident as they discussed what they could do about Berk's growing power. Some suggested opened war against Berk. Some suggested alliances with Berk. A few wanted to just avoid Berk altogether and let everyone keep to themselves.

And then someone suggested "What if we got rid of Hiccup? Get rid of him and Berk's powerbase would collapse. Why, we could get rid of him tonight!"

Everyone paled at this idea and the atmosphere suddenly grew tenser.

Mogadon shook his head. "I have no liking for Hiccup or Berk, but to kill him? Kill him because we're jealous of him and afraid he might turn against us, despite all evidence to the contrary? Good Gods, Berk would turn against us if we did such a thing!"

"Aye," Someone said, "I mean, I'd kill him in battle without second thoughts, but murder…I'd end up in Hel forever, and I'd rather not have that happen,"

"So we'd all happily kill Hiccup in war," Thuggory said, though he was not speaking for himself here, "and we all know what happens when you go to war with Berk. Drago got torn to pieces, Hiccup's old flame got kicked into a volcano, and now Viggo and his people are decaying in prison,"

"If we all banded together—" but others scorned the idea. Alliances had nearly always been fickle and short lived. Even the friendship between the Bog Burglars and Berk was mostly due to the good relations between their leaders and no one else.

In the end, the standard political decision was made: everyone decided to wait for someone else to do something first and see what happened. Nobody committed themselves to anything.

Once everyone else had departed, Mogadon went up on deck with his son.

"You should know," Thuggory said, "I think an alliance with Berk would be better for us than enmity,"

"I disagree," Mogadon said, "I refuse to crawl to those people and beg for friendship. Still, we're not ready for a war with them and probably never will be in my lifetime. Then again, anything can happen." He looked at his son fixedly. "And Thuggory, I don't think I need to remind you that your loyalty is to me and our tribe. If a war with Berk did come, I expect you to fight on our side. And if you had the chance to kill Hiccup or Stoick in battle, I would expect you to do so."

"In battle," Thuggory said sharply. "No murders."

Mogadon nodded. "Quite right. Assassination would only cause more trouble. Any Chief with any sense knows that. Dagur killed his own father and look where that's landed him. Still, if an opportunity comes up to undermine Berk's threat to us, I might take it. I say 'if' and 'might'," he added, for Thuggory looked at him appalled. "It would depend on what came up and the risks involved. You know that's how I work. Oh, and one more thing. In the next Chief meeting, keep your mouth shut."

"I'm your heir. I have every right and duty to speak up at these meetings. Those people need to learn to respect me, and they won't do that if I stay silent all day."

"And they won't respect me if they think I can't control my own son! You will do as I say or so help me you won't be attending these meetings period!"

"Stoick couldn't control his own son and that turned out pretty well." Thuggory muttered.

The idea of Valka dividing her time between two places was not what Stoick had hoped for, but he knew it was better than her leaving Berk for good, so he accepted her decision. With this and his son's marriage, Stoick was a very happy man, so happy in fact that the following day he decided to cut his prisoners a little slack and ordered each of them would have an extra ration of food and a large mug of mead for the rest of the festivities. Several prisoners, including Dagur, prayed fervently that someone else would get married soon.

There was little else to be cheerful about. Dagur sometimes started singing dreary prison songs and sobbing hysterically, much to everyone's annoyance. Eret sat in his cell thinking about how things had come to this and what he would do if he ever was released. Hognose talked of nothing except escape. Ryker joined in sometimes. His hope was in his brother, and he maintained a confident attitude, determined not to appear broken. As for Viggo, he sat in his cell looking benign, seldom speaking unless spoken to. The remaining dozen or so prisoners, the grunts of the dragon hunting world, was a mixture of these reactions. Some were rethinking their lives, some were terrified their execution was coming soon, some tried to play nice in the hopes of mercy from their captors, but all of them thought of escape. And since Hiccup had designed the cell bars, there was no chance of escaping without outside help, and the guards would not be bribed. The prisoners had made several offers without success.

That night several off-duty guards went to Mead Hall for a mug of ale and laughed to their families about their work day.

"And you know what that Viggo said? He said, and I quote," the man drew himself up and imitated Viggo's voice, "'it is such a shame, for if I was free I could easily and happily give my rescuer 2 hundred thousand pieces of gold in gratitude…and I could remove every dragon from Berk forever.' He actually thought somebody would go with that! Like we'd stoop to bribes and try to get rid of our dragons! Ha!" there was loud laughter from everyone.

"And then Dagur was screaming for his sister and a set of dice! He wanted to show her how to file them!"

There was more laughter. People began recalling the crazy stunts Dagur had pulled over the years.

"Remember how he wanted an exploding ferret for Snoggletog?"

"And poor Trader Johann—Dagur put a live monkfish in his pants!"

"That's better than getting a stupid Dragon Eye!" Snotlout shouted drunkenly, "I risked my life all for stupid charts about Speed Stingers in Gaul and dragon food and what happens when you put stupid gold on stupid dragon skin and stupidly watch what happens! How pathetic is that?"

"That's your father talking," someone remarked approvingly.

"And what's wrong with that?" Snotlout yelled. He drained his mug, threw it onto the floor, and stormed home muttering under his breath. Fishlegs came running after him.

"You shouldn't have said those things."

"I can say what I like!"

"Snotlout, that information was supposed to be kept private. Now every Viking in the whole Archipelago has a good chance of learning about it!"

"Oh boohoo! So what if someone knows about stupid gold on stupid dragon skin, who's gonna care about something that stupid? I'd tell the whole world about it!" Snotlout slurred.

Fishlegs grabbed his arm. "That is not the point! We're not supposed to go getting drunk and telling everybody within earshot about things like this!"

Snotlout threw him off. "Oh shut up, Fishy and leave me alone!"

"I always knew you had a thick head, but I thought you were more responsible than this!"

"I said shut up!" Snotlout shouted. He threw a punch at Fishlegs but missed and fell on his hands and knees. Nevertheless, the intention had angered Fishlegs and he left in a huff. Snotlout picked himself up and went home, shouted at Hookfang to keep quiet and slammed his fist onto the table a few times.

"That's my father talking, huh?" he muttered, "And why not? Yeah, and Hiccup gets his own father and his own mother and his own girl and his own this and that and everything! And now I can't even talk without someone telling me what to do! Well good riddance to them all! I'll say what I want and if Viggo somehow finds out, what's he gonna do about it? I'll beat him to a pulp!" he smiled at the thought. Oh yes, he would bash the man's head in if he ever caused Berk trouble again! Then everyone would see Snotlout's true might and appreciate it for a change.

Yet for some reason, when he pictured the scene in his mind he kept seeing himself beating up Hiccup instead of Viggo. He shook his head as if that would alter the image, but Hiccup kept appearing.

"Stop thinking like that," he told himself. "Stop thinking like that!"

But when you tell yourself to stop thinking about something you inevitably think about it.

The week of festivities ended and at last the visiting tribes began to pack up and sail home. Most departed cheerfully, eager to get back to their own islands before the weather turned foul, for there was preciously little time left before winter came. Before she left, Camicazi insisted Hiccup let her know the minute Astrid was pregnant, then slyly glanced at Thuggory and said "Perhaps one day I'll have kids of my own!"

As soon as she went to say goodbye to someone else Thuggory looked at Hiccup and asked urgently "Is she serious or does she just like seeing me blush?"

"I'd tell you if I knew, Thug,"

"That girl just drives me crazy! I never know what she's going to do to me next!"

Hiccup smiled and shook his head. "Poor Thuggory,"

Thuggory regained his composure. "Yes, well, as one Heir to another, I wish you the best of luck. And something else: you oughta know some tribes are starting to think you're getting too powerful,"

Hiccup raised an eyebrow. "Am I?"

"Sure! You've got the loyalty of every dragon from Norway to England! I know it's our own fault for not working out the truth about them sooner, but still…just something to keep in mind."

"Then tell your father and anyone who'll listens to just treat dragons fairly and leave Berk alone, and you have no reason to worry. That's fair enough, isn't it?"

"For some people perhaps,"

"I'm not out to establish an empire, Thuggory. This island's got enough problems to deal with," Hiccup said firmly. One of his problems now was saying goodbye to Heather.

Fishlegs was walking with her towards the docks. "Are you sure Queen Mala doesn't need a little more time to recover?"

"She's adamant about leaving now," Heather said miserably. "She doesn't want to trespass on Berks hospitality any longer,"

"But since you've got Windshear, they could leave and send for you to join them later!" Fishlegs suggested.

Heather smiled sadly. "I doubt she'd go along with that."

"Indeed I would not," Queen Mala said as she passed them. "I want the Razorwhip set free now."

Heather looked ready to argue but checked herself. Hiccup, however, was within earshot of this and said firmly, "Bonding with a dragon is a powerful thing, Queen Mala. It is not something that can be cast aside, traded, or hung up like an old sword. I for one have no notion of how to break such bonds, not that I've ever wanted to. And I don't think Windshear is going to let you break this bond either." He pointed to the Defender's ship. Windshear was sitting on the bow and refusing to budge.

Queen Mala turned to Heather. "Order the dragon to leave."

"I don't think—"

"Heather!"

Hiccup spoke up again, "Do it, Heather."

Heather felt betrayed as she told Windshear to get off the ship. But the Razorwhip still refused to move.

"Did I forget to mention that just because you've bonded with a dragon doesn't mean they're completely obedient to you?" Hiccup asked, trying not to sound smug.

Mala got the point at last. Windshear would not leave unless she was forced to and there was no way of forcing her to leave which did not betray what the Defenders were supposed to stand for.

Astrid joined them. "So, I guess this is goodbye then? For real this time, I mean,"

"Yeah, no detours to the desert this time," Heather smiled sadly.

"We still could go looking for something else," Fishlegs hinted.

Heather shook her head. "I'll write when I can. And you guys better respond!"

"Oh don't worry, we will," Astrid said, with a knowing look.

"Yeah," Fishlegs agreed, "Every day, if you want,"

As she hugged them goodbye, Heather decided she had never felt less enthusiastic to go with the Defenders.

Windshear was not the only dragon going with the Defenders, at least for part of the voyage. Since Cloudjumper's charge was to make certain the Dragon Eye was put somewhere safe, he insisted on traveling with them. Queen Mala eventually agreed to allow him to accompany them so he could witness what she was going to do with it. Her intention was to sail to where there was no land visible and throw the chest and its contents overboard. She could see no harm in letting the Stormcutter witness this, but there were two conditions: he would have to provide his own food and Valka was not to come with him.

Neither Cloudjumper nor Valka were very pleased about being separated, but since the separation was promised to be brief, they agreed to it. Perhaps out of guilt, Cloudjumper seemed anxious to let Valka be alone with her human family for a while. Stoick did not mind in the slightest. The Haddocks discussed plans for redesigned houses over the dinner table that night. It was obvious either somebody was going to have to move out or the house would need altering if two families and at least 4 large dragons were expected to live together. It was suggested Astrid and Hiccup live with Greta Hofferson for a while, but sooner or later someone's home was going to need enlarging and Hiccup was already eagerly making new designs.

Hiccup was startled out of a dream by someone pounding on the front door. Groaning he rolled out of bed and looked out the window. It was still pitch black outside. He could hear Stoick's heavy footsteps below and heard low voices.

The pounding had woken Astrid too. "What's going on?"

He kissed her on the head. "Don't get up. I'll take a look." But before he could leave the room Stoick came charging into it.

"Are you two all right?"

"We're fine. What's going on?" Astrid asked, getting out of bed and pulling on her boots.

"The prisoners have escaped!"

"What?" Hiccup and Astrid exclaimed. Toothless abandoned any pretense of sleeping and rushed for the door.

"The guards were changing shifts as usual." Stoick explained as they all went into the night. "The one who was guarding the cells didn't show up so they went to look for him. They found him on the floor, bound, gagged, and drugged."

"Is he all right?" Astrid exclaimed.

"Gothi's looking at him right now."

"Dad, when you say the prisoners are gone, do you mean all of them?"

"All of them." Valka said grimly.

Hiccup looked around. It was a cold and cloudy night. "Right, well then, they can only be at sea or on the island somewhere. Astrid, get the Riders up and mounted, have them meet us at the Racing Arena. And bring the 'A' Team too. And we should send out all the Tracker Dragons we can locate."

Several times in the past, people had suggested they assemble a group of elite Dragon Trackers for locating lost Berkians, livestock, game, riders, and ships. After the trouble of locating the Riders in the Tabernas Desert the suggestion had come up again. While nobody was opposed to the idea, other priorities had kept pushing it to the sidelines. Hiccup now vowed he would give this problem his full attention.

As it happened, Skullcrusher was already getting them up and sniffing, so Hiccup turned away and went to the Arena. Stoick and Valka were waking up and organizing the Vikings. With so many prisoners missing and many of them proven threats to Berk, nobody was settling for any half measures.

Hiccup joined the Riders. The majority of them were shivering because they had only had time to throw a cloak on. "All right, saddle up. Everyone go to your usual search area. I don't want any ships unaccounted for. But no picking fights, do you hear me? Inform every ship you see about what has happened, ask them politely if you may search their ship, make it very clear that these prisoners might have snuck aboard without anyone else knowing about it, and let it be known if anyone is harboring them, please return them to us and we'll say no more about it. Is that clear?"

"And be sure to treat the adorable Eret gently!" Ruffnut added brightly.

"What if they refuse to let us search their ships?" Gustav asked. That was a legitimate problem and a thorny one.

"Try and persuade them as best you can."

"And note any ships that refuse." Fishlegs added sourly as he handed out sheets of parchment and charcoal. He had been working late on the Book of Dragons, in an attempt to distract himself.

To prevent any more ships from getting away, Stoick ordered some of his own vessels to sail out a ways and blockade his own harbor. No ship would be allowed to pass through until it was searched thoroughly. Nobody could really protest here, for it was his island and these were his prisoners, and he had every right to search everything and everyplace in his territory for them. No Chief would have done differently.

But at sea it would be a different matter. There it was nobody's territory, and a forced search of a ship could result in offending the ship's owners. It was a strange but traditional rule that once a ship was away from land it had no obligation to obey anyone's rules but its own. Searching ships at sea had to be done carefully and respectfully, or else illegally. And having just been warned that some people thought he was getting too powerful, Hiccup wanted to be careful not to tread on anyone's toes if it could be avoided.