Song above dedicated to this story as a whole. (go follow my Spotify playlist called "Blood of a Dragon" by Olivia Dehart for more!)

The moon shone bright over the northern islands that dotted the Norwegian sea.

A soldier dressed in his usual golden armor sat atop the walls of the small outlet of a fortress called Conviction and spit into the fire pit to watch it sizzle in the flame while the others sat around, lingering as they fulfilled their duties of a night's watch.

"Black as the night sky without stars, they said. It would come here and there, making sounds like a banshee and be gone as fast as a lightning strike," Elijah was saying in an over-dramatic way, hunched over as he sat on a barrel. "It came and took men one by one like a ghost. And it's breath... nothing but a bolt of blue fire that shattered the strongest towers—"

"Shut your damn mouth already about Night Furies," Epaphras told them when he walked to where they sat. "They were always talked about like they were some great mystery of evil like a demon in the flesh... until a bloody twelve year old tamed one."

Uriah snickered.

Their accents were thick northern English as were their origins. But since they were Christian and not Catholic, they became their own Empire separate from the King of England.

"Some people call that twelve year old the Dragon Keeper. And we know for a fact that he has the most dragons in one area than anywhere else in the north," Titus added.

"It's because the Night Fury," Elijah said. "He's the new alpha. He commands even the wildest of them."

"Well that's why he should be killed. While he's alive, they'll all be in danger..." Epaphras said with meaning behind his words.

"And what about the boy?"

He turned his back to look at the sky. "Him too..." As he walked away, he failed to notice a shadow moving up the wall in the distance...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Here's the Plan" by Joseph Trapanese)

Astrid climbed the stones that made up the southern guard tower, pulling her way upwards with only the dim moonlight to aid her. Luckily she had some stealthy leather armor for this job courtesy of a certain lovable scoundrel. Stealth was never her thing. She had more of a love for brute force when it came to combat, but after realizing with a few dragon raids that that tactic wasn't the most effective, she agreed to do this the more efficient way. She got a pretty nasty scar across her abdomen to remind her of that...

When she reached the top she hopped up and found the guard there, throwing a kick to the side of his head before he could speak or attack, a clanking sound occurring when his head hit the stone barrier and knocked him out cold.

She immediately took out her crossbow when the soldier on the lower wall ahead heard this. Aiming carefully, she let her dart fly through the air and pierce the exposed neck area, the fluid in the dart making him pass out.

She then expanded her weapon and took the grapnel hook and string from her belt, attaching it to the crossbow and firing at the tower ahead. The metal head hooked between the stones of the tower barrier and was secure there, the other side hooked on her end. She then used a leather strap to hold as she leapt off the edge, sliding down the rope using the strap in both of their hands until she makes it to the western door, hopping down swiftly.

Hiccup watched quietly in the dark, covered in his leather armor, waiting for the signal. "Come on Astrid," he whispered to himself.

She peeked around the corner with her fingers holding her brown hood but the coast was clear. So she used the leather fabric she still had in hand to smother the flame of the torch by the door.

When he finally saw that signal, he quietly made his way over by gliding with his suit he had made. He landed quietly and knelt down beginning to pick the lock. "You're getting faster," he whispered to Astrid as he worked.

The new chief had taken it upon himself to start becoming stealthy. With the missions they were doing now, they needed to be. Ever since he learned about how people were starting to trap dragons, he knew he needed to do something about it. He made it his goal to always do something about it.

"Not to mention more sneaky," he added and soon successfully picked the lock. He put the tools he had used away and slowly stood. He then pushed open the door that he had just unlocked.

"I had a good teacher," she said to him with a smirk and readjusted her crossbow to dart shooting form, slipping inside.

Hiccup smiled and followed behind her putting his mask down. The stair area was dark. "Keep an eye out. Toothless is nearby just in case." He whispered as they shut the door and made their way down the spiral steps.

She nodded and whispered to him, "Be careful this time. I heard a lot of rumors surrounding this guy. Apparently he's crazy."

Hiccup had his hand on the hilt of his sword just in case as he followed her down the stone stairs. He nodded. "Yeah I've heard, they are getting bolder," he whispered.

The Empire had stayed off the radar of Berk for all of Hiccup's life but just recently they started to trap dragons. Stoick didn't deal with it as much because of other issues the Berkians were facing. And they weren't strong enough for a war with the Imperials since they began to conquer several eastern areas of the northern islands. But now the Berkians had a navy of ships and air force of dragons as well as plenty of foot soldiers. Hiccup took the risk when he became chief to rescue the trapped dragons, hoping to do so anonymously but word got out that their little reading parties were Berkians and it started an ongoing war between the Empire and his clan. It had been tough ever since. Both were powerful forces and war took time and toll on everyone. The Imperials were just as fierce of riders as Berk and their fighting was fearless thanks to their faith in some prophets that Astrid considered to be misguided and at times evil. Though both armies didn't understand each other very well, it wasn't going to be easy to end this war...

Hiccup and the gang had been able to raid some of their smaller forts and free the beasts, bringing them back to Berk instead. But it was getting to be more dangerous the more they attempted, them now expecting to be struck. They had to get sneakier as a result.

After all, they preferred to not be noticed until they had to be, keeping casualties and fighting to a minimum. They may be their enemies in war, but Hiccup cared about every human life. It didn't matter to him which side they were on. Of course, when war came, sometimes what happened had to happen.

Things just got more brutal after the Battle of Berk (the battle where Toothless became the alpha, that is). Once Hiccup became chief, he took Astrid as his wife. And began his reign over his tribe. It was difficult at first, but with his people and loved ones always supporting him, he had learned to do things pretty well, despite it only being about two months since he'd been appointed. But what was thought to start a time of peace and prosperity, turned into an ongoing feud between the Berkians and the Imperials, who were dead set on conquering most of the north and quite honestly the world after that. But gaining control of dragons was their first step... or at least that's what their strategy appeared to be...

As they walked, he heard footsteps and grabbed her arm, pulling her around a corner to hide. He saw a figure walking down a hallway.

Astrid lifted her crossbow and loaded it with another dart, her game face on.

As the man drew closer they waited, holding their breath for just the right moment to strike...

Astrid held her grip on the crossbow tighter and lifted it to ready herself.

Just then another corridor door opened and someone ran in, the guard stopping when he spoke to him, "Berk riders outside! They're wreaking havoc on our men!"

He drew his sword and the two soldiers quickly left the hallway, leaving Hiccup and Astrid alone as the ruckus could be heard from outside.

Astrid lowered her weapon with an annoyed look.

Hiccup left the shadows with a frustrated sighed. "You have got to be kidding me," he said with attitude, throwing his hands up.

Their friends could be heard shouting that they were there to save the day.

"So much for a sneak attack," Astrid said through her teeth.

"Can always count on them can't we?" Hiccup questioned sarcastically.

She shook her head in defeat but then put her weapon away. She looked down the hall to the direction they should be heading. "Come on. The dragon keep is this way," she gestured and began to jog down the corridor.

Hiccup nodded and began to follow her. "They can handle themselves for a few minutes," he said as they ran quietly.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Dragonstone" by Ramin Djawadi)

They opened up another door and went down a flight of stairs, eyeing the ground with the light from Hiccup's torch he grabbed. They couldn't help but notice the claw marks and blood that was smeared on the stone. Although they weren't sure if the blood was human or reptile...

Hiccup ran his hand along the wall as he walked. It was definitely hard to know which it was, either way it didn't sit well with him.

They began to hear rustling the deeper down they got, until they reached a dungeon. The room was pitch black but Astrid dipped her finger in a stone basin that traveled throughout the room. "Oil," she said after examining it.

Hearing that, Hiccup dipped his torch down into it, a trail of fire spreading throughout the whole thing and lighting up the room. Now they were able to see the multitudes of dragons of all kinds that were locked in various cages and chained against the walls throughout the dungeon.

"Oh my gods..." he said quietly as he lifted his helmet.

"There's so many," Astrid said when they exchanged a look.

Hiccup handed her the torch and approached a cage. The dragon inside seemed to snarl and back up. "It's okay I promise we aren't here to hurt you. We're here to free you," he told the dragon as he began to unlock it.

He and Astrid hurried and went from cage to cage, freeing the dragons.

Once they were all out and he made sure they weren't going to kill them, he glanced around. "We should get out of here, now," he said and looked at Astrid.

She searched for a way out of this room. Surely they had to get the beasts down here to begin with. She then noticed the south wall was made of wood. She took his torch and searched for a lever. Finding a mechanism on the other side of the door, she pulled a lever and began to crank the wheel, struggling to do it on her own as the loud sounds of the gears turning occurred.

Hiccup began to help to crank the wheel with her.

As the door lowered by the heavy chains like a drawbridge, dragons began to claw their way out and escape as if dying to be set free. And once the door landed to its lowest point, Astrid whistled for her dragon before looking around. "Did we get them all?"

Hiccup watched as the dragons began to file out of the dungeon, grateful to be free. He turned to Astrid and looked around. "I think so. Let's go get the others and get out of here," he said as he looked at the cages to make sure. "We need to head up and help the others."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Wall of Ice" by Ramin Djawadi)

That's when he spotted something in the corner of the room; a dragon he must have missed.

That's when Stormfly landed on the drawbridge door and Astrid climbed onto her.

"Hold on!" Hiccup told her and ran to set the last dragon free, but he stopped when he got a few feet away. The appearance of the beast startled and confused him. It was black and almost appeared to have skin like stone, cracked and broken apart with blue light shining through the cracks, eyes ghostly, as they were glowing blue as well but had no pupils. It was like an image of a dragon or spectral instead of organic, but it was definitely real. And the most frightening aspect of this "new species" was that it had the exact same shape and resemblance of a Deadly Nadder... as if some kind of appearance spell had transformed the dragon to look like this...

When the beast saw him it lunged at him and Hiccup took a step back. But was caught by the enormous chains that looked fit for keeping a Stormcutter down instead of this smaller species. The dragon hissed and roared at him with absolute fury, as if there was no calm bone in its body and that made Hiccup hesitate, looking down to see some things scattered about there as if the trappers had been studying him... He wanted to free it somehow but... something made him terrified.

That's when he heard the sound of soldiers running down the stairs towards them.

"What are you waiting on?!" Astrid called from where she was.

He turned to Astrid and was about to speak until a spear was thrown right in front of his face narrowly missing him. He then turned and began to fight a few guards with his flame sword. He got some of them knocked down and he ran to where Astrid was. "Toothless now would be a good time bud," he said as he backed up and blocked some of their blows. That's when the Night Fury made his high screeching sound and blasted the area that the men were in. He landed and hiccup hopped on quickly. "Let's go." He said hesitantly and looked at Astrid.

Astrid took Stormfly and leapt off the edge, arrows almost getting the dragon but they weren't quite fast enough, Hiccup following on Toothless close behind her. As soon as she was clear, she ducked around to see their companions in the center of the fort.

"Wow, took us like way longer to get caught this time," Tuffnut said in a positive way to his friends.

Hiccup clenched his jaw. "The goal was not to get caught," he muttered to himself, thinking that should be obvious...

Astrid took her dragon down as the wings curled in, sending a last fireball upon the soldiers surrounding them before Stormfly opened her wings, flying so low to the wall that she grabbed a guard and knocked the other off the edge. Her claws retracted almost immediately, dropping the man down upon the ground when the dragon took a hard left. Astrid let go of the reigns so that she could aim with her crossbow and take out another guard on the top of the north tower, banking after and speeding up.

But when she came back around a net flew right at her and caught them both in it, the beast crying out before it tumbled down and Astrid was thrown off the back, landing on the grass in front of the captives.

"Astrid!" Hiccup cried out when he saw what happened. He took Toothless to where they were and landed there, getting off to help her stand and make sure she was okay. Then he looked at the men who were keeping their friends captive and drew his sword. "You guys really are stupid, aren't you?" he said to his friends.

"Hey, in our defense, it was all Fishlegs' fault," Snotloud said.

"I'm standing right here," Fishlegs replied.

Unfortunately, their companions couldn't really make any moves because the men holding them had daggers and swords against their throats.

"I don't care who's fault it is, you guys didn't do a good job at being stealthy," Hiccup said with a sigh.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Imperfect Lock" by Hans Zimmer)

"Ah, Haddock, you're later than I thought you'd be. It's nearly dawn," a voice said before the stranger walked from the shadow. He was dressed in stealthy gear; a dark maroon tunic and leather armored trousers and boots, a hood over his head and one large shoulder piece also made of thick leather. He was tall and medium built, but what was most noticeable about him was the white full face mask he wore, two small eye holes that were perfectly round and black like the vertical lines that ran through both; a simple design.

Astrid stood up and hesitated, unsure of what to do.

Hiccup stood in front of Astrid to protect her against their foe. He watched the man walk and looked at him. He was definitely built more than himself but that didn't scare him off. "Who are you?" he questioned as he stood there with his sword out with flames surrounding it. Toothless snarled at the man as he stood to protect Astrid. Hiccup didn't know much on what to do, he needed to free Astrid and their friends

The men kept their daggers and swords around his friends and had their dragons held captive as well just like Stormfly.

"I'm the Arbiter to the Prophets of the Empire, of course, you already know enough about us, since you have good enough reason to rage war against our people," he said with sarcasm, the man creating a powerful and dangerous presence when he spoke. "And here you come, yet again, to steal our dragons. What reason do you have for that? I'm curious..." he stopped a few feet from Hiccup and almost tilted his head to the side a little when he asked.

Hiccup looked at him as he listened.

"Uh... so who are you?" Ruffnut questioned in an annoyed and not interested tone. One of the guards held the dagger closer to her throat.

"Stop, stop, Ruff just for once be quiet." Hiccup said and turned back to the man. "That isn't exactly a name." He then said to him, "We are freeing these dragons. They don't belong to you, nor should they be held captive," he stated in a strong tone.

"And yet you keep them yourself and use them in battle." He gestured to Toothless.

The Night Fury snarled at him.

Hiccup looked at Toothless then back at him. "We don't keep them for battle. They are friends who fight alongside us," he stated, glaring.

"Ah yes, well, what about the friends you put in danger by rescuing these creatures? Or is a human soul worth just as much as a dragon's life to you?" he questioned, trying to figure out what Hiccup's logic and morals were exactly, for he had heard about the boy, but never got to see him or speak with him face to face.

Astrid was caught off guard by these questions a bit, used to their enemies just whirling swords at them or making threats. He seemed to be more of a philosopher. But maybe if he stalled a bit she could come up with a plan of escape.

Hiccup grit his teeth. "Both are equal to me. Both humans and dragons lives matter," he said.

"Just let us go! Why would you want prisoners anyway?" Tuffnut asked.

"Oh well, I don't. In fact..." the masked man snapped his fingers and the guards on all surrounding walls aimed their bows at the companions, "I propose a trade," he continued, pacing idly. "You came and stole my dragons so give us yours and you can have your men back alive. It's your decision, heretic." He stopped and gestured to his men. "But I wouldn't try anything heroic. Not with your men only an inch away from being killed. Of course—this shouldn't matter to you because you don't kill anyway. Tell me, Haddock, how is it that you wish to lead your tribe past a war, without killing?"

Toothless snarled at the bows and hiccup put his hand in front of him to keep him from trying anything. "I don't agree with your trade. Just let them go, and you and I can speak. Just between us. This doesn't need to involve them." He said to him as he put his sword away.

Toothless was confused. Why was Hiccup even trying to negotiate?

"You don't need to kill to bring about peace. Vikings need to learn that." Hiccup then added, "So do you take my deal? You let them go alive, along with our dragons and I'll stay here and we can talk?" he questioned.

Astrid's eyes widened in utter fear. And without thinking she said, "Hiccup, no!" In a scolding whisper. Was he about to sacrifice himself and leave his tribe with no leader? Would she and his mother lose him just for the sake of one raid?! She knew this guy wouldn't let him go. Hiccup was the chief after all. And if he captured or killed him, the Empire would win the war. She couldn't let that happen but more importantly, she wouldn't ever lose him, not while she could stop it.

Hiccup heard Astrid and closed his eyes for a brief moment. He knew what he was doing, or rather he knew the risk. He knew that if he was captured and held, this empire or whatever would win. But he wasn't going to risk his friends, both species lives. He knew he couldn't just abandon Astrid or even his mother but he was willing to do whatever.

"You say... dragons and humans are equals? Interesting. Where do you get that belief?" the Arbiter asked before he turned and walked slowly down the line of captives, taking out two pieces of a weapon and forming them together to make a double sided halberd.

While he spoke, Astrid got an idea... she slowly reached for the spherical object that was hooked to her belt and watched them continue to talk.

Hiccup watched the man. "Where do I get the belief? What kind of question is that?" He questioned him as he watched him carefully.

Toothless watched him as well and noticed Astrid moving. He scooted closer to her hoping no one noticed, wanting to help if he could.

She gave him a look as if trying to telepathically tell him his target was the archers on the walls...

"It's a simple question... but honestly you come across to me as a naive child. You don't know what you're doing, do you?" He said with a sigh, as if disappointed and not really wanting to kill such an innocent kid. But war called for his actions. After all, the Great Cleansing was more important than a few casualties. He took the neck of Snotlout and forced him to his knees before his halberd tip was pressed against the spine of the dark haired Viking, Hiccup shouting, "No, wait!" to the man before he did anything further.

"Tell me, boy!" the Arbiter said strongly, "...is it right to trade a human soul for an animal's freedom?"

Astrid held tighter to the sphere and unclipped it.

"If those dragons remain free while this plague is loose, you're putting your own lives and all else's at risk!" he continued, talking about something Hiccup furrowed his brows in confusion of...

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Marathon" by Junkie XL)

Astrid clicked the mechanism active and tossed the ball Hiccup had made, watching it ignite and immediately cover the area in a thick layer of Zippleback gas. This gave their companions just enough of a window to take out those holding them, the archers unable to fire for fear of them hitting their own men, unable to see into the cloud.

Ruffnut stabbed the trapper who held her in the wrist with a built in dart she called the kiss of death, another invention courtesy of Hiccup.

Snotlout yanked the arm of the soldier holding him and slammed the body onto the ground.

"Nice one Astrid," Hiccup said to her before she sprung into action and leapt forward, throwing a kick to the guard Fishlegs struggled to fight and knocked him out, landing to trip the one Tuffnut was quarreling with before the kid slammed a hammer against his helmet after he was on the ground.

The Arbiter didn't hesitate whatsoever and he dashed through the fog right to Hiccup, coming down on him with his weapon.

Hiccup staggered back and managed to block his attack when he pulled out a shortsword from his back, his eyes wide. He couldn't use Inferno because of the Zippleback gas. It would blow them all to Hel.

Hiccup grit his teeth as he kept blades locked with the man. "You can't continue living the way you live. The way we live is what is best."

The man shoved his sword away and swung again, clashing blades with Hiccup once more, his arm strong but also fast. He didn't seem to be fatigued at all and fought with swift movements.

Despite the man's skill, Hiccup was determined to fight for what was right. To him, what was right was protecting humans and dragons both.

The Arbiter had a small opportunity to hit Hiccup in the head with his elbow and he did so, knocking him back for just a moment and forcing his eyes to shut briefly, but when Hiccup opened them the man was lost in the fog around them... "Every man thinks his own way is best, but the wisest recognize the limitations on their own minds," he spoke like a ghost, the voice coming from no particular direction as Hiccup stumbled a little and searched around him fearfully, trying to be prepared for any direction.

"There aren't any limitations," he said as he looked around. "The only limitations are what you put on your own mind," he added as his eyes darted through the gas cloud. It wasn't going away yet, it was thick. And it seemed to hinder himself just as much as the enemy at this moment.

"Ha! You truly think human minds are capable of possessing all earthly and divine knowledge?" he asked in shock as Hiccup looked around for him. But then suddenly a foot hit his back and he fell against the ground. The Arbiter stood over him. "Well how then can I not call you naive?" he said plainly.

Hiccup hit the grass and cringed, pulling himself up on his hands. He glared at the masked stranger above him. "We can never possess all the knowledge around us. But we can learn. I'm not naive. I'm just willing to keep an open mind," he said as he started to push up off the ground.

He could have ended the chief's life there if he struck fast enough and Hiccup was aware of this, confused as to the reason he didn't kill him. But instead he walked around him as he said, "Then get up and fight me!" refusing to kill a man that lay on the ground.

Hiccup stood up holding his sword and clenched his jaw angrily. He then lunged at him to begin fighting again. He didn't necessarily want to fight but at the same time he would do anything to save his friends. That what a chief did, was put others first. He wanted to prove that peace could be brought, he wanted to live to do that. He swung his sword and each time it made a clank, meaning it had made contact only with the Arbiter's weapon. He continued to fight as the gas stayed thick around them like a cloud.

Arbiter struck back with ferocity and skill, as if trained from birth to fight like a demon. He blocked the chief's blows quickly and sent his own back, neither one getting anywhere. But when they clashed blades again, Hiccup was able to slide his weapon off and spin to the man's backside, getting a cut in the attacker's arm before the Arbiter grit his teeth and came back at him, the two continuing to quarrel.

Hiccup could tell his skill was better, way better than his own. Granted he hadn't ever been all that good at combat. It was sort of only until recently that he had picked it up. Unlike most in the village who had done it for years by fighting dragons. But he was determined not to lose. He felt rather accomplished when he managed to cut his side but knew that it wouldn't stop the fight.

He turned again and continued to try and attack him but at the same time keep from getting hurt. He cringed when he felt part of his blade cut his side, he needed to ignore it and fight. So he did.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Second Regression" by Jed Kurzel)

Toothless was taking out the archers on the walls, flying at lighting speed as he took bombing runs, the high pitched screeching sending the men with fear as he came down, practically invisible against the black night sky, sudden shots of his breath piercing them and creating shockwaves that almost shattered the stone towers they stood by. Each one killed two at a time and his last run he grabbed one of them by his feet and flung him to the ground, banking and heading right back into the fray to protect his companions. Thanks to Hiccup's new tail he made for him, Toothless was able to fly solo. He was a bit out of practice of it but he managed. However he preferred his rider on him at all times, not liking going anywhere without him.

Astrid struggled to hold a sword from her throat, but she suddenly dropped down to instead sweep the soldier's leg, forcing him onto his back against the grass. She took his sword and sliced off his foot with it, grabbing a war-hammer that was on the ground and chucking it ahead of her with accuracy, it hitting the head of an unsuspecting guard and knocking him to the ground. "Hiccup!" She called out but she couldn't see him. So she instead whistled for Toothless to come to her.

Toothless immediately perked up at the sound and ran to where he heard it, meeting two guards on the way so he shot one through the stomach with a bolt of blue fire and forced his wing out to hit the other, making him fly and hit his back against the stone wall, the dragon not slowing down until he reached Astrid.

"Toothless," she said when he came to her. "Find Hiccup. We have to get out of here," she told him, knowing that he'd be able to smell him and get him out.

The Night Fury looked at Astrid and nodded. He began to sniff around, throwing guards everywhere at the same time.

Hiccup was still fighting the masked man, feeling like his life was on the line. His eyes were wide as he fought, giving grunts and swinging his sword. He narrowly missed the blade but it did cut his side. He wasn't too good at dodging when he wasn't able to really see. As he went for another swing, the arbiter ducked and kicked him in the head, making him fall back against the ground.

Hiccup's head hurt and his sword was thrown from his grasp on impact. He felt the warm sensation of blood at the back of his hair and he cringed, trying to prop himself on his elbow before looking back up.

The man stood above him as he spoke. He was calm. And this was yet another opportunity to end the boy's life. But he didn't. Instead he spoke slowly to him. "Remember, dragon rider... ...we are not the true enemy," he uttered in a strange way as he stared down at him. There was a pause as Hiccup took in those words, his brows pulled together slightly, but before anything else could happen, Toothless sped up and shot by, grabbing his rider and whisking him to safety. Hiccup grabbed onto the straps on the side and leapt onto the saddle.

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(track: "Blood of My Blood" by Ramin Djawadi)

Hiccup gripped onto Toothless as they flew up out of the gas. He wanted to continue fighting but he was losing, his cuts and headache proof of that.

Astrid leapt onto a soldier Ruffnut was about to be killed by and wrapped her legs around his torso, throwing his body to the ground before the other girl turned and hit his head with her spear, it denting the metal helm.

Astrid got up quickly and saw her husband on Toothless above them. "Let's go!" She said and darted to her Deadly Nadder just as Snotlout ran through on his dragon of whom picked up a guard in his mouth and flung him.

She then climbed onto her beast's saddle and shouted, "Yah!" Before she leapt into the air.

The other riders jumped onto their dragons and headed from the fort with speed, arrows whizzing past them and one of them finding its mark on Belch. But it wasn't a fatal shot and they still made it out in time.

Hiccup was relieved his friends were relatively unharmed and they escaped with their dragons and the new additions, as well as not having a single Berkian casualty. He wished to get out of there without killing anyone but that failed. This was war. In a war people die. That notion set in him more and more each day he lived.

As they flew from the fort, Astrid looked back at Snotlout. "Light it up," she said.

He smirked and grabbed an arrow, loading it into his own crossbow as he lit the head on fire using the nostrils of his dragon, and shot it back to the fort.

The arrow whistled through the air, traveling a good distance as it shot through the wind and landed on the grass inside the walls.

The gas left there exploded into flames briefly as the smoke was eaten up by fire. When Hiccup looked back to see that, he spotted the man he fought with standing on the southern guard tower that was high above the gas, clothing blowing in the wind as the white mask reflected the moonlight, standing there watching the chief escape from their clutches...

Hiccup watched him with a puzzled look... Who was he and why was he doing this? All Hiccup wanted to do was bring peace to the world with dragons.

Toothless continued to fly off as he was leading the others back to Berk. Hiccup cringed slightly but covered up his wounds, he didn't want anyone to see he was hurt.

The dragons that they had freed had waited since Hiccup had said he was going to lead them to freedom. "Do it buddy, " he said to toothless, smiling.

The Night Fury gave an alpha roar and the pack of dragons followed.

The Vikings and their dragons were home free.

For now.