The friends flew for a while before New Berk appeared on the horizon.

"What's that?" Spearhead called, pointing to a grey haze above the island.

Nuffink gasped. "They're already there. Zephyr, our home is already under attack!"

Zephyr's stomach clenched. "Then what are we waiting for? Follow me!" She zipped ahead.

Nuffink tailed her, shouting. "What's our plan?"

"Split up and destroy some stuff," Zephyr said. That sounded stupid. "Uh, divide and conquer. I'll help protect the town. Fourlegs and Spearhead can search for enemy warriors up north, and Nuffink, you go with Booboo to the harbor; he could use some experienced dragon rider help. Everybody ready?"

Booboo nodded.

"Yeah," Nuffink said.

"Ready!" Fourlegs called.

"More or less?" Spearhead said. "That's an acceptable answer, right?"

"Okay," Zephyr said. "Let's go!"

When they arrived, enemy ships had taken the harbor. Huts were on fire. Enemy and allied warriors alike ran through the streets. Zephyr's team hovered over the outskirts of the town for a moment, then everyone split up.

Zephyr soared above the town. Some didn't notice her. Others screamed. A few cheered. Most hid and stared. She hadn't thought about how she and Shadow Streak might shock people at first. Wait till they saw the four other riders with her!

Zephyr and Shadow Streak flew above the Great Hall. She caught sight of her parents. They stared at her…shocked, furious, maybe confused? They were yelling at her, certainly telling her to land. She couldn't help but feel a little stab of guilt. But she was saving everyone. If they wanted to yell at her for being right, which they wouldn't, they could. Right after she destroyed every enemy on the island.

She flew farther. As she headed swept down to land, she spotted Fourlegs and Spearhead heading to the mountains. Everything was going perfectly.


Spearhead flew down beside a cave in the mountains, amazed the enemies hadn't spotted them yet. The mountains were quiet, but they were riding dragons. Fire-breathing, eight-foot, spiked and frilled dragons.

Spearhead hopped off Slasher and crept up to the cave. Inside, enemy warriors prepared for attack. She crawled back over to where Fourlegs and Fishmeat had landed.

"It's filled with warriors," Spearhead reported.

"So," Fourlegs asked. "How does Zephyr expect us to take out an entire cave of warriors?"

"She doesn't," Spearhead said. "She expects us to take out every single one in our mountains! Let's just blast it."

"How?"

"Hmm…we could try blasting the archway of the cave. That way it will close off the enemies' entrance into town." Spearhead climbed back up onto Slasher.

"Okay…"

"Let's get up closer." She inched forward with Slasher, who ducked and peered at her when they reached the cave entrance. "Do good," Spearhead whispered. She looked at Fourlegs who had directed Fishmeat up next to Slasher. "I'll count to three."

"Okay," Fourlegs acknowledged.

Spearhead counted. "One…two…three!" The dragons bombarded the arch. When it shook and started to collapse, panicked warriors ran towards the exit as the rocks fell. They nearly fainted when they saw the dragons. None of the warriors made it through in time. The cave's entrance walled up with scorched rocks. Maybe they could actually pull this off.

"That sure worked," Fourlegs remarked, awed.

"Ready for another?" Spearhead asked eagerly. Watching dragons take out a whole cave was…exhilarating.

"Uh…yeah? We have to, right?" Fourlegs asked.

"You weren't supposed to actually respond," Spearhead chastised.

"Looks like you're back to your normal self," Fourlegs mumbled.

Spearhead grinned. They flew over to another cave entrance. As soon as she realized she was practically hugging Slasher's neck, Spearhead lessened her hold. She would never be friends with a dragon…but she wouldn't mind having one as a pet. Maybe...just for the sake of being able to brag about it, of course.


Nuffink flew beside Booboo. The ship they had just sunk was almost completely below the water. Nuffink had blasted it with plasma; Booboo's dragon had barreled into it along with its rider. As if that boy wasn't already hurt enough. Maybe taking him into a battle wasn't such a good idea.

"Six ships left," Nuffink said, panting.

Nuffink headed towards another ship. He peered over his shoulder. Booboo was zinging upwards, away from the harbor.

"You can't fly away!" Nuffink shouted. "Zephyr would kill you!"

"Not trying!" Booboo yelled.

Nuffink darted around and sped upwards. He didn't catch up until Booboo passed the village above. Booboo's dragon suddenly dropped rapidly towards the village. It wobbled right before crashing into an abandoned cart of apples. Nuffink landed and rushed over to Booboo.

"Are you okay?" Nuffink asked.

"I think so," Booboo said. "Just bruised. How's everyone else doing?"

Nuffink glanced at the mountains, sighting a sudden plume of dragon fire. Zephyr and Shadow Streak flew by overhead. "Good, I think," Nuffink answered. "You know. Maybe Zephyr was right. Like, actually right! With the dragons, we're demolishing ships in no time." It was true. They were destroying every enemy at the docks. But Nuffink couldn't imagine what his parents were going to do to him and Zephyr. They'd never given out truly harsh punishment, just being grounded or forced to study extra or train extra. Their consequences were mentally excruciating. But what they were doing now…this was rebelling. He hoped the battle went really well.

Nuffink helped Booboo up. Then they remounted and flew back down to the harbor.


Zephyr flew above a crowd of warriors. She shot a good blast of plasma. It missed. Again. She couldn't blame her aim on Shadow Streak. Zephyr was shaking, so excited to be in a battle that she couldn't focus!

Zephyr decided to give up shooting long range. She swooped in close to the warriors then let out multiple blasts. The warriors were flung back in a burst of purple radiance. Shadow Streak was amazing. All dragons were of course, but she had to be the fastest and so precise with her attacks too.

Zephyr flew high up to scan the battlefield. She spotted Nuffink appearing out of nowhere and attacking ships way below in the harbor. Good. He was putting Claw's invisibility skill to good use. Claw was slower and less accurate than Shadow Streak, but he could easily disappear and reappear whenever he wanted.

Booboo, or at least she thought it was Booboo, was flying at an alarming speed towards the cliff. Zephyr laughed. Babies didn't listen to anyone. She couldn't see Spearhead or Fourlegs. Zephyr looked up at the sky.

"Come on, Shadow Streak," Zephyr said, pulling on Shadow Streak's neck a little. She knew now wasn't the time, but she had always wanted to try this. They flew high into the air and through the lowest clouds. The damp soaked Zephyr and also Shadow Streak. She'd always wanted to feel the clouds. Her parents said she'd felt them the first time she flew with them on Toothless and Stormfly, but she didn't really remember that now. They really were like how her parents described them.

Zephyr pushed gently on Shadow Streak's neck and started slowly flying downwards. Back to the battle. A ship by the docks looked vulnerable. That would be their nex—.

Wait. She spotted Slasher flying over the harbor. Why was Spearhead there? She and Fourlegs were supposed to be taking out anyone in the mountains. Zephyr's confusion was broken by Spearhead's yell.

"Watch out, Fourlegs! You're going to—"

Zephyr's breath quickened, her heart pounding. Zephyr didn't see Fourlegs. She told herself everything was fine. Fourlegs was fine. Probably. She wanted to urge Shadow Streak towards Spearhead to ask what was happening, but she couldn't make herself move. Her fingers were frozen to her saddle.

Something collided with Shadow Streak. Zephyr slipped off her saddle and plummeted towards the ground. Shadow Streak was falling frantically a good fifteen feet away. A boulder launched from a catapult on a cliff had hit them.

Shadow Streak readjusted midair and dashed towards Zephyr. Zephyr's hand slid across Shadow Streak's neck. The ground was almost right below them. Shadow Streak could fly, but Zephyr… She tried to grab Shadow Streak's neck and hold on.

But then Shadow Streak was suddenly shot out of the sky and away from Zephyr by another boulder. Zephyr saw her skid across the ground and pitch over the cliff above the docks. Zephyr continued to free fall for a few seconds, though the timing felt longer than it should have. She expected Shadow Streak to come save her, but she heard a desperate rawr instead.

Zephyr struck the ground. Everything burst in pain. Her head swam. Her vision went fuzzy, and she suddenly felt very sleepy.

"Zephyr!" she heard someone yell. It might have been her mom. She couldn't tell. She couldn't tell anything.

Zephyr could make out a fuzzy shape at the edge of the cliffside, clawing to hold on. Something slammed into it and the shape let go, rawring in pain.

"Shadow…Streak." Zephyr tried to pull herself up. She buckled, collapsing back to the ground. Black crept over her vision. The sight of her dragon falling, the smell of fire, the sound of yelling, the pain in every one of her joints, the taste of blood in her mouth, all faded. Faded into deep sleep, and then an unpleasant dream.