"We are so leaving," the young boy said to nobody as he walked into the entrance of a small cove. "We've gotta go, buddy. We can't stay on Berk any longer." The girl watched as the boy carried on a light conversation with seemingly himself. She looked around the cove, looking for whoever he was talking to. It had to be the person who helped him beat her in Dragon Training.

"They're going to make me kill the Nightmare tomorrow, and you know I just can't do that. So we'll leave and travel the world. Maybe even find some other Night Furies!" the boy continued on. "Night Furies?" Thought the girl, "Why would Hiccup want to find Night Furies?" A shadow moved in the far side of the cove, drawing her attention. A small black dragon emerged from the shadows and sauntered over to Hiccup.

Astrid sucked in a quick breath with a quiet hiss. "What in Thor's name is Hiccup doing with a dragon?" She mentally screamed. "Sorry to make you carry all of this stuff, bud," Hiccup muttered in apology, "I tried to pack as lightly as I could." The dragon grumbled lowly in acceptance. Astrid's eyes darted to the provisions Hiccup had gathered in the cove, from her view point she could see several small packs filled with supplies, among them were books, inkwells, and quills, an assortment of charts, some dried yak meat and a several wineskins, a bed roll with several furs, a single large basket of... raw fish, and inside one pack Astrid could make out the distinct shape of a hammer and a small dagger. Hiccup himself was dressed in a heavy leather tunic and trousers with a thick fur cloak draped loosely around his shoulders. He had enough provisions for a long journey. With great effort, Hiccup pushed over the basket of raw fish for his dragon to greedily devour.

As the panic of seeing Hiccup speaking with a dragon faded, Astrid's mind finally starting processing the contents of his conversation. "Hiccup is... leaving?" she thought, surprised, "Why? How?" She tried to come up with a reason why Hiccup would want to leave. He had won Dragon Training, he would have the highest honor in the village when he killed his first dragon in the ring, why would he leave now? While she debated with herself Hiccup had started to attach his packs to the dragon's saddle as he ate, and by the time Astrid had realized he was finished Hiccup had already mounted and was ready to fly. "He's... going to leave on the back of the dragon!" Astrid concluded in both fear and awe.

"Well I guess this is goodbye, bud..." Hiccup whispered sadly to his partner-of-heart-and-mind. The dragon gave a low coo as if to comfort its rider. If Astrid was going to stop Hiccup, it had to be now, but she remained hidden in the bushes as she watched Hiccup stare longingly around the cove. "Come on Astrid, get out there and talk to him," she berated herself, "it's just Hiccup and one little dragon, nothing you can't handle." A river of emotions ran through her, each fighting to dictate her actions in this one moment. With a deep sigh, Hiccup clicked the gear of his dragon's tail fin into position and they disappeared into the dusk in the blink of an eye, leaving a very confused, very distraught, Astrid staring at the setting sun.

A young man and his dragon glided blissfully through the sky, above them was a sparse grouping of clouds and below them was an ocean of titanic trees, the smallest of which, Hiccup knew from experience, took a man three hours to walk around the base. The sun beat down on them from above, basking them in its heat. Time had treated him well. When he had left his ancestral home he was little more than a child, and now he was mighty in both stature and strength. He easily stood six feet in height, and where he had once been lanky he was now muscular, but not overly or unattractively so. His body retained a litheness and dexterity that betrayed his build. His auburn hair, which used to be unkempt, was now properly groomed and grew down to his shoulders, parting around a pair of pointed ears. His eyes sparkled with greater luster and color than even the finest of emeralds could ever hope to match. His skin was ethereal and pale, alabaster even, but did not burn under the sun's ire. His skill with both sword and magic marked him as one of the most deadly of his Order, unmatched by any except the most powerful of swordsmen and spellcasters.

His dragon, who was once barely large enough to carry him, let alone their provisions, had kept up with his rider's growth. Toothless' body, as a bonded dragon who flew with a rider, was more muscular than most dragons in order to carry the extra weight of his partner and their possessions, along with any other burdens they might have. It gave him a fierce and intimidating presence, much to the pleasure of the female dragons they encountered. He was a fine specimen of draconic strength. His wingspan easily surpassed one hundred feet and from head to tail stretched some seventy feet. His hide was alluring and mesmerizing, tempting all those who gazed upon it to lose themselves in the abyss of its darkness, a deadly beauty. He had discovered the retractable fins that ran along his spine from the base of his skull to the tip of his tail a year after he and his rider left Berk. They allowed him to make impossibly quick and sharp movements through the air that appeared unnatural to even dragons. In his youth, where he could not even breathe half a dozen blasts of fire without tiring, he could now sustain a torrent of such blasts with the smallest bit of effort.

They relaxed, enjoying the serenity of the kingdom where only they could go, leaving their troubles on the ground and out of mind. They drifted aimlessly for some time before the dragon spoke to his rider through their minds, "We should be heading back soon, Hiccup," Toothless stated with an annoyed tone. Annoyed that their time in the sky was cut short by the tasks the two-legs had appointed his rider. "True..." Hiccup drawled in reply. Toothless banked and began the journey back to their camp.

A sudden alarming tone resounded through both of their minds, like a hammer striking a bell. "What is it?" Toothless asked his rider in interest. Hiccup closed his eyes and thought deeply for a moment before snapping open his eyes wide in panic, the feeling washing over their bond alarming the dragon. "The wards around the Red Death's island! They've been triggered! Some humans have found their way through Helheim's Gate!" Hiccup mentally roared. He was about to ask Toothless to make for the World Gate but his dragon knew what he was planning to do before Hiccup knew himself. They shot off into the clouds before coming full circle and speeding off towards the horizon, their form in the sky merely a blur of midnight.

It seemed as if Ragnarok had graced Berk with its presence early. The latest dragon raid on the island was particularly harsh. Two dozen sheep and seven yaks were carried off by the flight of dragons. One man had died defending his families' livestock, two more were mortally wounded and would die sometime in the night. Others sported an array of injuries from cuts and bruisers to missing hands. It was the worst raid they had experienced in some years.

Stoick didn't know how much longer his people could survive on this gods forsaken rock they called home. Many had called for them to take what they could and flee to islands farther south, where the land was warmer and the dragon's nest many leagues away. Stoick himself had often thought of doing much the same, but after his son had been killed by the foul creatures ten years ago, he could not bring himself to leave before he had his revenge. The beasts had taken the two most important people in his life away from him, his wife and son. He could not, would not, leave the archipelago until he had his vengeance.

As the last of the fires were put out and the injured attended to, he called a meeting in the great hall. Something had to be done. Most of the village had come, those who were too injured or had other, more pressing, duties to attend to were absent. Stoick looked around the hall and gazed upon his people's faces. They were quickly growing hopeless now. The next raid would finish them, the death blow to the great and mighty Berk.

The people looked at their chief expectantly, waiting on bated breath. Stoick let out a short sigh before he began, "My people, it has been a long ten years... we have lost much and endured many hardships, but we have remained strong in the face of a foe many a lesser man would have fled from. But even the strong are not unbreakable, I know many of you have sought to flee to the southern isles when the raids became worse and I had rejected such an idea..." he tapered off.

"But now, we may have no choice. I will be honest with you when I say that I believe the next raid will be the last Berk will ever see, for we cannot last the winter if the beasts come for our stocks again. But," he spoke loudly, with a hint of emotion, "Berk has been our home for many generations, I believe I speak for all of us that if we could stay on Berk we would, but alas, with the beasts constant destruction, we cannot."

"Therefore, one last time, we shall search for the nest, before the ice sets in. If we find and destroy the nest, we stay on Berk and build a better future. If we fail, then we begin preparations to sail south once the ice clears in the spring." Stoick ended strongly. The people of Berk stood silently for a few moments before a man spoke up, "But how will we find the nest, Stoick? We lose many men and ships after each voyage but have not come any closer to finding the damnable thing since our forefathers started the search three hundred years ago!" shouted the large viking. Many whispers of agreement were heard, all respecting the wisdom of Bjorn Hofferson, one of their mightiest warriors.

"We can only hope that we find the nest during this voyage," Stoick countered, "or would you have us give up our homes without a fight? Risking life and limb is the viking way, its an occupational hazard." Whispers of agreement echoed through the people as they took heart in their chief's words. They were the mightiest of all vikings, they would not fall easily. "I'll not be having you send men to their deaths on a fools errand, Stoick!" Bjorn roared in challenge, "if we are to leave Berk, we do it now, before the ice sets in, and before we lose more people to looking for the nest."

The hall quickly devolved into a shouting contest between each man who thought they knew what was best for the village. Many remained silent, broken, ready to accept death looking for the nest or dishonor in fleeing south. "Silence!" bellowed a young woman, the hall quieting to allow her to speak. An older Astrid Hofferson stepped forward. "I have an idea, chief, I think it would allow us to find the nest-"

"Astrid!" Bjorn yelled, "you can't possibly be thinking of going again-"

"I'm not thinking of going, father, I am going! This is my home as much as it is everyone else's, and my idea is the best chance we have at finding the nest and living here in peace!" Astrid scolded her father. "My idea is this," she continued, "the dragons always seem to know where to go in the mist, they attack us suddenly and disappear again before we have the chance to strike back. We can use this against them. Take the Terrible Terror we have in the arena, muzzle it, and chain it to the bow of a ship. It's too small to pose a threat. Use it to navigate the mists around the nest and it will lead us straight home." Astrid concluded with a smirk.

The village stood silently, contemplating her words. Astrid looked around at her people, and slowly, their faces turned from one of despair to one of hope. Yes, yes this could work. Nobody had ever tried such an outrageous idea. It was the best hope of finding the nest they had ever had since the search began. She saw her father look at her with equal parts worry and pride, and it sparked a feeling of love for her father with it.

"Yes!" Stoick exclaimed, "that could work..." He looked around the hall, seeing his people's new found determination. "Very well, we set sail for nest using the Terror to guide us. Be prepared to depart at first light tomorrow morning." People began to file out of the hall to begin preparing for the long journey. "Astrid," Stoick called, causing her to turn around and look at her chief, "you'll be in charge of the Terror. If your plan works, your name will be sung in the sagas of Berk for all time." Astrid nodded and left the hall to begin her own preparations.

It was a cold morning with clear skies and rough seas when the warriors of Berk filed onto their longboats and set sail for the nest. Astrid, along with Stoick, Gobber, Spitelout, Bjorn, and the other young warriors of Berk were on the lead ship that had the Terror chained to the bow. Astrid prayed to every god she knew of and any that she didn't that her plan would be a success. The inspiration for using a Terror as a guide was largely inspired by what she saw in the cove ten years ago with Hiccup. She had never spoken of what she saw to any living soul, partially because no one would believe her and partially because, after much thinking, she figured out why Hiccup would betray his own kind and leave the only home he ever knew. Fifteen years of being the village laughing stock, fifteen years of abuse, fifteen years of spite from people that should have been his family and closest supporters. Hiccup had been miserable on Berk and Astrid knew it.

While a part of her resented him for leaving, a part of her respected his choice. He had left Berk to make his own way in the world and find a better life where he would be treated with the kindness he deserved, the kindness that his own people should have given him. So when she thought back to how he had flown off on his dragon, the idea was to choose the weakest dragon and convince it to lead her to its home. A simple task she thought. Oh how wrong she was.

The Terror fought tooth and nail before she, Snotlout, and Fishlegs could capture and muzzle it, leaving them with plenty of small cuts. It flailed in her arms and threatened to escape more than once as she carried it to the docks to chain to the bow of the ship. And now she was standing besides it, whispering to it in hushed tones, hoping it understood her. "Listen, dragon," Astrid began, "I know you understand me, at least a little bit." The Terror stopped its trashing and looked at her, confused. "Take us to the nest. Once we're there I'll let you go free, nobody will miss a small dragon like you once the fighting starts. No more trouble, and you go free. Got it?" The dragon looked to be considering her offer, and then coiled up and laid down to sleep. Astrid took it as a sign the dragon agreed. Hopefully they could get to the nest without incident.

After eight hours of hard sailing on harsh seas, the warriors of Berk finally laid eyes on the mists of Helheim's Gate, and the dragon's nest lay somewhere in the maze of seastacks. "Whoa..." Ruffnut and Tuffnut said in awe, at the same time. Snotlout came up to Astrid with a look on his face that told her he was about to try and win her heart, again, and quickly silenced whatever he had to say with a glare. Fishlegs stood over a table of charts, looking at the mists in wonder. It was all their first time seeing Helheim's Gate in person, except for Astrid. Whilst eerie, it was a sight to behold.

Stoick raised his fist, commanding the fleet to stop until all of their ships were present. After ten minutes every vessel was accounted for, and he signaled for Spitelout and Fishlegs to guide them in. Astrid woke the Terror up and it quickly realized it was time to uphold its end of the deal and lead the vikings to the nest. The small dragon flapped its tiny wings quickly and was soon in the air tugging the ship fruitlessly, guiding the ship in the direction to navigate the maze of seastacks.

As the ship entered the mists, Astrid and the rest of the crew began to tremble in anticipation. Today would be the day they rid themselves of the dragons once and for all. The final battle, sagas would be written of this day and told throughout the archipelago until Ragnarok. The next two hours were the most tense Astrid had ever felt in her life, they had successfully navigated the seastacks and avoided any dragons that normally would have ambushed them and turned them back to Berk. And that was when they all heard the noise.

It was low at first, barely audible over the slosh of the waves. But then it grew louder and louder, until it was like thunder rolling across the heavens. It was cross between a buzz and a chirp, as if every cricket in Midgard had descended upon them to play its song. The sound grew louder still, and through the mist, Astrid saw a beach. The sand was ashen and covered in rocks, and continued on until it met the base of a mighty mountain that stretched high into the sky. This was it. The nest. They had done it, after three hundred years, they had found it. She couldn't help but smile. Her father placed a hand on her shoulder and had a tight grin on his face. Astrid felt a spark of her own pride as she saw her father's pride in her. Stoick nodded his head in approval to Astrid.

As the bow of the lead ship broke upon the beach, the noise stopped. It left a chilling silence in its wake and sent a shiver up Astrid's spine. Stoick leapt out of the ship and onto the beach, along with every other warrior of Berk as more and more ships made land. Their trembling had increased twice over now that they stood upon the nest, not in fear, but in anticipation of battle. Astrid knelt and whispered to the Terror, "Once we're done here and you've guided us back out, I'll cut your bonds and release you. I swear it." The Terror nodded in acceptance before coiling back up and going to sleep once again.

Whilst Astrid talked to the Terror, Stoick had decided on a plan of action. He would set up a defensive line and lay siege to the mountain with catapults. Once the mountain was open, the warriors of Berk would charge and slay every dragon in sight whilst a small group defended the men manning the catapults. As Astrid leapt off the ship she saw the beginnings of several catapults begin to be constructed and rushed to help the nearest one. After an hour of construction, everything was ready.

It was now late in the afternoon, and with any luck, by nightfall they would be victorious. Stoick raised his fist and every warrior prepared themselves for battle. After taking a quick look to make sure his people were ready, which they were, as expected, he flicked his arm down and signaled the catapults to fire. The catapults flung large boulders, some brought with them, some obtained from the island, at the broad side of the mountain. Many simply broke against the mountain side like water against rock, but a few found the weak points in the mountain and broke through, revealing a large tunnel visible from the shore.

Astrid, Stoick, Gobber, Bjorn, the twins, and Snotlout, along with the rest of the warriors, approached the tunnel cautiously. Fishlegs was in charge of keeping the catapults firing, they were of his design and there was nobody more suited to it than him. Spitelout was in charge of defending the catapults and keeping their escape route open in case things took a turn for the worse.

As the warriors approached the tunnel, a lone flaming boulder was launched into the tunnel. What they saw made their muscles tense and senses go into overdrive. Inside the dark tunnel was countless hundreds of dragons, it would be a battle unlike any raid they had ever fought. As the flaming boulder crashed to the ground inside the tunnel, the noise began again, and the dragons flew from the maw of the tunnel. The warriors of Berk swung their weapons and tried to cut down any dragon that passed them, but to no avail. The dragons didn't appear to be fighting but... fleeing. Worry instantly assaulted Astrid. She knew they were smart enough to know they had the advantage of both field and number, it should be a favorable battle for them. The dragons couldn't have just given up that easily, could they?

As the people of Berk stood confused, thinking they had won so easily, it was then that Astrid's worry manifested itself. Overwhelming terror gripped the hearts of every man and woman of Berk that stood on the island as a roar so thunderous and so powerful that it shook the very stone of the island boomed from inside the mountain.

They knew then, that they were doomed.

Hiccup and Toothless thundered through the sky, their haste unmatched. No dragon except another Night Fury could ever hope to catch them, not even if it was magically strengthened. Their destination was many leagues away and they had little time. How humans had figured out how to find the Red Death's island escaped Hiccup. He thought that no one except a rider would ever find the island so he had not thought to place spells that kept people away when he placed wards to alert him if anyone stumbled upon the nest. It was his fault. His negligence had caused whoever had stumbled upon the island to meet their fiery death. The great queen dragon would burn them to ash as she did all who wandered into her domain. He only hoped he could get there in time to save some of them.

Hiccup had discovered the World Gate on Midgard shortly after he discovered he could use magic, two years after leaving Berk. It was located high in the sky, far to the north of Berk, where the sun barely touched the land that was more ice and snow than earth. It was unbearably cold. Hiccup wondered what possessed its creator to place it in such an inhospitable place. After much research he could only conclude that when the gate was placed there the north wasn't so harsh. Hiccup and Toothless had explored Midgard far and wide but it could never quite satiate their thirst for adventure, so they spent a month camped in the worst conditions known to man while they both attempted to discern the workings of magic that would take them to the worlds beyond. It was one of Hiccup's proudest moments when the gate erupted to life, only ruined by the fact that it nearly killed him and Toothless in the process before casting them to a random realm.

Hiccup was drawn out of his thoughts when Toothless spoke to him, "Hiccup, we should arrive at the World Gate in a few moments. If we have to fight the Red Death, what is our plan of attack?" Hiccup considered his answers before quickly replying, "You're a Night Fury and both of us are much stronger than when we first found the island, back then it was an impossible task to slay her. Killing her now will be a fine test of strength, one I know we will both emerge victorious from." Toothless hummed in satisfaction at his partner-of-heart-and-mind's answer. He was the mightiest of all dragons and he fancied his rider the mightiest of all two-legs, their enemies should know of their power.

"We'll have the element of surprise when we attack," Hiccup continued on, "you'll hit her with a powerful fire blast, you can use my energy to empower it, then we can take advantage of whatever opening she gives us as she recovers. If that fails, we can always lure her into trying to breathe fire where we can ignite the gas she uses." A sound plan, he concluded. There was no use planning beyond that, no plan survives first contact with the enemy.

As Hiccup explained the plan to his dragon, the World Gate came into view on the horizon. After a few more moments of flight, Toothless slowed and hovered on the updrafts around the gate. The size of it never ceased to captivate to the duo, it was a titanic floating ring made from the bark of Yggdrasil itself, held thousands of feet in the air by magic long lost to the sentient races. It was designed to accommodate even the largest of dragons, even with Toothless' new impressive size, it was possible to fit some tens of his wingspan between each wall of the gate. Operating the World Gate was a complicated task, requiring much concentration and energy even for the most adept of spellcasters.

Toothless steadied his gliding and Hiccup closed his eyes, ancient words spewing from his lips as he commanded the gate to open and allow passage to Midgard. After a two minutes of chanting, the portal sparked to life. Energy of every color imaginable filled the space inside the ring, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Even the Bifrost of Asgard did not compare to the World Gate. As Hiccup completed the spell he felt his energy drain considerably. It always took a lot out of him to create the portal between worlds, he doubted even the Grand Master of the Order himself could easily power the gate.

With the spell complete, Toothless slipped forward and entered the rainbow of colors that was the World Gate. The black dragon burst forth from the other side of the portal into the skies of Midgard and was immediately assaulted by the freezing cold of the north. Not that the cold bothered him, it didn't, he was born in the north after all, but he lived for the warmth that he and Hiccup had grown accustomed to on Alfheim. Whilst the cold didn't bother Toothless, Hiccup despised it. It reminded him too much of Berk. Since he had left with haste he was dressed in clothes less than suited for the arctic climate. He had a fine green silken tunic with golden embroidery and thin brown leather trousers and boots that came up to the bottom of his knees, all of elven make and style. His only weapon was his sword that hung off of his left hip.

Hiccup had immediately began forming wards to block out the cold to keep himself warm. "You used too much energy opening the gate, Hiccup..." Toothless remarked as he felt his rider's fatigue through their bond. "I know, Toothless, but it's not like I had a choice unless I was willing to let those humans die without even trying to save them." Hiccup replied tersely. The two of them fell into a companionable silence as they thundered towards the archipelago, the anticipation of battle seeping into them the closer they got. After two minutes of flying they finally spotted the first of the islands that marked home of the vikings. A minute later they passed over Berk, high in the sky, appearing as nothing but a small bird from the ground. Toothless was going to say something to Hiccup about his home, he knew that his rider had a troubled past at his nest and it was important for every dragon to be on good terms with their nest, the two-legs were just being silly. But he thought better of it, now was not the time or the place.

A few moments later the mists of Helheim's Gate came into view. It was time.

Astrid's eyes were as wide as the dinner plates used in the great hall, "What in the name of all the gods was that?!" she thought, terrified. Nothing living could possibly have a roar like that, surely Thor himself was inside the mountain, unleashing a boom of thunder in his rage. Her hopes were dashed away a second later as the entire side of the mountain shattered and came crashing down on the warriors of Berk. Stoick roared for them to fall back and prepare to battle whatever monstrosity emerged from the mountain. And what a monstrosity it was.

The dragon glared at them through the dust of the ruined mountain with the fires of Muspelheim smoldering in its eyes. It was massive, easily half the size of the very mountain it lived in. The longest of its fangs, from what Astrid could see, were longer than the ships that had carried them to this Hel forsaken island. It had small, beady eyes but large nostrils. Its wings looked as if they could hold several islands of Berk on each one, and it had a long tail that ended with a large club covered in spikes. Astrid knew she was going to die, knew that everyone on Berk was going to die, knew that their home was doomed since the moment they settled on the island three hundred years ago. Only a god could possibly hope to slay such a creature. She accepted her fate and stood defeated, as did most of the warriors of Berk.

Stoick was stunned. This was beyond anything he or his forefathers ever imagined facing when they found the nest. His shock only lasted a second before he heard someone shout from the rear in terror, "Back to the ships!"

"No!" Stoick roared, trying desperately to get his people to remain calm and follow his orders. It had no affect. As the crowd of people rushed for the ships the giant dragon inhaled a short breath before unleashing a sea of fire upon the ships. Incinerating them and many men that were unfortunate enough to be near the blast radius. "If you want to survive, follow my commands!" Stoick yelled over the chaos, bringing his people back to their senses. Gobber grabbed a nearby log that had been sharpened at one end to use as a barrier and hurled it at the snout of the beast, drawing its ire. Stoick, seeing what his closest friend was doing, quickly commanded his people to take advantage of the situation. "Catapults aim for the head! Split into three groups, one attack from the left, one from the right, and one from underneath. Focus on cutting at its joints, make it bleed! Beware the boulders falling from above!"

Astrid quickly assembled a group of warriors to charge underneath the great dragon and try to cut the tendons behind its knees and heels. She and twenty two others rushed forward as the others rushed to the sides to flank the beast. Astrid came upon the right heel first, drew her battleaxe back, and swung with all her might, her adrenaline increasing her strength twofold. The blade of the axe came down and glanced off the thick scales, sparking. She drew back her axe and tried a second time, with much the same success. Around her others were having the same luck. She heard the thud of arrows striking the beach and noticed that every projectile they sent up never met flesh. This was impossible.

The Red Death looked upon the human's antics with humor. As if such puny creatures could ever harm her. She quickly grew tired of their attacks, they made her scales itch. With a quick swipe of her tail the entire group of warriors that had been attacking from the right were struck down. A large crater forming where the club of her tail had hit.

Astrid was enraged as she saw the group of warriors struck down. Her father, Bjorn, had elected to lead those men himself. Although she heard many screams of pain, many men simply lay limp on the sand, dead and broken. They would find their way to Valhalla and a place of honor would be reserved for them in the mighty halls, who could say they were slain by the mother of all dragons itself? Stoick and Gobber were trying desperately to keep the dragons attention focused on them, to buy time for their warriors to slay the beast somehow. Astrid jumped back into battle, her anger giving her the energy needed to swing her axe with the strength of ten men. She brought it down again and again, trying desperately to cleave the beasts heel and prevent it from walking. On her eighth strike, the shaft of her axe shattered near the head and left her weaponless. They simply could not kill this creature.

The Red Death took her time playing with the other humans, plucking those who wandered too far from the group with her tongue before devouring them. Stomping on groups that strayed too close to its mighty paws.

What was once an army of several hundred men and women was now down to no more than fifty. Those who survived the attacks stood accepting of their deaths. They had fought well. Even Astrid, Stoick, and Gobber seemed to realize the futility in struggling against the inevitable. The mighty dragon loomed over her, glaring at her with death and hunger in its visage. She apologized to her family she would leave behind and prayed she would find her father in Valhalla.

That was when she heard a noise she had not heard in a long, long time. It was a mighty wailing sound, a screeching that pierced the heavens. The only thing that it could belong to was a Night Fury. "A Night Fury," Astrid thought gloomily, "I haven't heard one since Hiccup left... Hiccup! It couldn't be!" Astrid tore her eyes away from the dragon looming above her to search the sky. Not a moment later a massive explosion boomed to life, shaking the island and sending the beast to the ground, landing heavily on its side. Astrid and every remaining warrior of Berk was sent flying backwards to the ground from the force of the explosion. A black shadow zipped down and another explosion struck the downed dragon before a man leapt from the black dragon and landed lightly on the shores of the nest. A god had came down to save them after all.

Hiccup and Toothless were quickly approaching the nest of the Red Death. They would be upon the island in a moment. "Toothless, start gathering energy for our first attack. I'll give you some of my own to help lessen the strain, we have to wound her while we have the element of surprise on our side." Hiccup said before channeling a portion of his remaining energy into Toothless. The black dragon would have objected but they were too close to the island and they did need to make their first attack count. They were powerful but they were not invincible. If they took the Red Death lightly they could very easily be killed. The queen dragon had an agility that was betrayed by her immense size and it would require much effort on Toothless' part to avoid her attacks. Hiccup would have to focus on blocking her mind attacks to prevent both himself and his partner-of-heart-and-mind from being controlled by the evil dragon.

On their way to the island they had refined their battle plans further. Toothless would fight from the air, trying to disable the Red Death's eyes and keep her attention off of Hiccup, firing periodic fire blasts to injure her. If she tried to breathe fire, Toothless would ignite the gas before she had a chance to incinerate either of the duo. Hiccup would fight from the ground after their first attack and disable her legs by slashing behind the knees. If they acted quick enough they could disable the evil dragon before she could recover from their initial strike and then slaying her would become much easier.

The island came into view and Toothless emitted the signature screech of his species as he sped up even faster, charging his flame blast, empowered by a large portion of his own and Hiccup's energy. When the beach of the island became visible Toothless' superior eyesight allowed him to see the crest of the humans who had found the island. "Berk," he thought ironically, "the one tribe of two-legs my rider doesn't want to see again." He watched as the Red Death toyed with its a meal, a young woman with blonde hair who seemed to accept her fate, before her head suddenly snapped to the sky. "Looks like even in the face of the Red Death the spawn of lightning and death itself is well remembered," thought Toothless smugly. Not a second after the woman turned to look for him, Toothless unleashed his attack, the affects of their combined power was devastating and the black dragon took pride in both his and his rider's strength.

The Red Death roared in pain as she was thrown to her side, her cries only served to embolden the dragon and its rider. The evil dragon would die this day. As Toothless dived low to attack the downed dragon, Hiccup leapt from his back and landed lightly on his feet.

Hiccup immediately dashed forward after landing on the beach, his supernatural strength and speed made him unmatched by any human. Faster than the Red Death could sense, he darted under her before drawing his blade. Hiccup's sword was unique, even by the standards of the immortals. He had forged it personally with the assistance of both the elves and dwarves. The metal for the blade was provided by the elves as a gift, it was a large rock that had fallen to Alfheim from the heavens many millenniums ago. It was a dense and heavy metal, but lighter than what something of its strength should weigh. The sword itself, to a human, would be unwieldy and very heavy, but in the hands of his supernatural strength weighed no more than a feather and moved faster than the eye could see when swung.

It was forged in the very heart of Nidavellir, the home of the dwarves, the center of their planet, enchanting it with old magic that could no longer be remembered. It would remain eternally and perfectly sharp, and was strengthened beyond the metal's own properties to never break unless under the most impossible of natural circumstances. It could cut through any material that was not protected by magic, and many that were. Even wards that would normally block or parry a sword could not stop his blade. The sword would recognize no other as its master but Hiccup, and would refuse to be drawn from its sheath, an impossibly thin sheet of the same starmetal it was forged of, which acted like leather. If held by another, the sword would writhe in the hand until dropped and would not cut even a single sheet of parchment.

It was a long blade, it started broad from the base and become more pointed towards the tip, resembling a needle. It was made for quick slashing and stabbing attacks. The crossguard was V-shaped, extending upwards from the hilt. The hilt was bound in a metal wire forged from the same material as the blade itself. A slight fuller ran down the length of the blade, barely noticeable due to the sword's color. Hiccup had taken several scales from Toothless, and, under the extreme heat, melted them into the sword and sheath, giving them the same color of midnight his dragon possessed. Set in the pommel was a beautiful verdant teardrop-shaped emerald. He named it "All-slayer", a weapon for a rider of the Order of Dragon Knights, peerless in strength and beauty.

Toothless launched another fire blast at the Red Death, eliciting more cries of pain from the foul dragon. In one quick motion Hiccup jumped up from the ground, soaring gracefully through the air before drawing his sword of midnight and slashing it deeply behind the knee. The sword struck true, easily cleaving scale and muscle, severely wounding the evil dragon before gravity pulled him back down. Boiling blood spewed from the wound and landed on Hiccup's shoulder, staining his tunic and burning his skin, eliciting a swear of pain. The Red Death's knee that Hiccup had slashed dragged lifelessly on the ground and Toothless took full advantage of the opening, landing on the foul dragon's head and gouging at her eyes. Roaring in pain and anger, the Red Death whipped her head back and forth trying to dislodge Toothless, but the black dragon endured and continued his mauling.

Hiccup, hearing the Red Death's roars, quickly moves to the other remaining front leg and deftly slashes the knee in the same way as the last one. The evil dragon realizes a fight on the ground is not in its favor, its front legs now useless. With great effort, and with an agility that a creature of her size should not possess, the Red Death reared upon her hind legs catching Hiccup off guard. It would have been a perfect opportunity for Toothless to attack with a flame blast but the safety of his rider was more important than anything else. The black dragon quickly swooped down and Hiccup jumped back into his saddle, sheathing his sword, before shooting into the sky.

The Red Death spread her wings and flapped mightily before leaping into the air. She hovered there for a moment, a battle between gravity and flight, before her wings emerged victorious and she flew into the sky to give chase to her quarry. The moment she was soundly in the sky she focused all of her strength into a fierce mental assault on both the black dragon and its rider. She would bend them to her will and make them pay for the rest of their lives.

"Hiccup!" Toothless mentally shouted in alarm as he felt the deranged presence of the Red Death's mind begin assuming control of him. Hiccup remained silent, closed his eyes, and focused. A mental duel with such a foul creature would not be pleasant or easy. He began by masking his and Toothless' mind from the assault. The Red Death growled in frustration, it was like trying to grasp smoke. Hiccup knew it would not take the evil dragon long to figure out the trick and began constructing impenetrable walls around Toothless' mind and then his own. By the time the Red Death could fully attack again he had mostly completed his preparations and now focused on blocking or parrying the mental probes with random, benign thoughts. What he had for breakfast that morning, the girth of the titanic trees of Alfheim, images of the forge he had worked in from his childhood.

Toothless sensed that his rider was successfully keeping the Red Death at bay and focused on evading the larger dragon whilst trying to create an opening, perhaps luring her into breathing fire so he could light the gas in her throat before she was ready for it.

With the Red Death's attack stalled Hiccup decided it was time to go on the offensive. Separating his mind into a thousand nails he assaulted the foul dragons mind from every direction. "How disgusting," Hiccup cursed. The Red Death's mind was warped and twisted, leaving only evil. She couldn't even be called a dragon anymore. The foul beast faltered in its attack to focus on defense as the black dragon's rider assaulted her mind. Hiccup continued the attack for a minute before he felt that the creatures defenses were focused nowhere and everywhere at the same time. In one swift thought he withdrew his thousand nails of thought before reforging them into a single dagger and striking at the Red Death's mind again. Hiccup smirked as he felt the dagger sink through the beasts mental walls allowing him access to her mind. He began asserting his control, intending to send her into a nose dive into the island below, to her death.

The Red Death, sensing herself losing control of her mind rapidly, panicked. The black rider was obviously very skilled in mental warfare, she had underestimated them. She could not repel him now, so she focused on defending the core of her being, retaining control of her body so she could stay in flight and continue to fight. The rider could go through all the memories he wanted to and gouge at her mind as he wished, but both the rider and the dragon would burn.

Toothless felt immense pride blossom in his chest as his rider bested the evil queen in her own game. Hiccup was truly the greatest rider in his opinion, but maybe he was a little biased. Suddenly the Red Death inhaled a great breath of air and he felt Hiccup's panic spark through their bond. The foul creature had given up most of its mind focusing only on keeping its body its own, she intended to incinerate them. "And now you have sealed your fate, creature," thought Hiccup and Toothless at the same time. Hiccup continued his mental assault, trying to cause the evil dragon as much mental pain as he could. Toothless dived towards the island and the Red Death followed closely behind as she prepared to breathe a sea of flames upon their backs.

Toothless waited until the last possible moment as they neared the island before flipping over to stare at the Red Death. Hiccup withdrew his mind from the foul dragon's but not before mentally alluding to its doom. The evil dragon's eyes widened as she realized her folly and then Toothless released a powerful flame blast of his own into the maw where the gas was building up. The resulting explosion was deafening and the Red Death whimpered in pain before going silent and still. Toothless pulled up from his dive just before the slain dragon crashed into the ground, causing a cloud of fire, ash, and smoke to erupt around them. Toothless immediately headed for clear skies, intending to get his rider away from the explosion below them. In his haste combined with the lack of visibility from the smoke, Toothless didn't see the giant club of the Red Death come down upon them. His fear instantly sparked over to Hiccup. They were too fast, too close, to avoid the tail. They were going to be hit.

Hiccup felt the rush of emotions flooding through his bond with Toothless and instantly realized their situation. He was exhausted from opening the World Gate, empowering Toothless' fire with his own energy, and fighting a grueling mental battle with the Red Death. He didn't have the energy nor the time to form a complicated spell to protect himself and Toothless. Toothless performed a quick aerial maneuver, plucking his rider from his back and holding him close to his chest enclosed within his wings. Hiccup's instincts made the choice for him, before the club of the tail struck the pair, he yelled "Shield!" in a language long forgotten to those of Midgard. Instantly Hiccup felt a massive drain on his energy and prayed that he had the strength to power the spell long enough to save them before it started draining his life.

Then, everything went black.

A/N:

Hey guys, this is my first story ever! I'd really appreciate it if you could leave a constructive review on what you liked about the this chapter, what you disliked, and any suggestions for the future. If you catch any spelling or grammar errors, feel free to point them out. I'm normally quite good at both but sometimes things slip through.

In regards to chapter length, what would be ideal? Was this chapter too long or too short? It was approximately 8.5k words.

Some tidbits:

- This story is an AU set ten years after Hiccup leaves Berk and discovers the world is bigger than he first thought it was. It will follow Hiccup as he explores Midgard and the other realms a member of the Order of Dragon Knights and how he helps those he meets.

- This story will be HxA and their relationship will be expanded upon as the story progresses.

- The bond between dragon and rider is slightly different than in canon, which will be explained sometime in the next few chapters, as will a number of other things, such as Hiccup's strange strength and speed, and the workings of magic.

- The next few chapters will be focused on Berk and how they deal with Hiccup's sudden and shocking reappearance. After the post-battle arc, Berk and its citizens will fade into the background. I am fairly set on not incorporating Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, or Tuffnut as major characters in the story unless I am dissuaded otherwise. Some of the younger generation of Berk, however, may have a more prominent role in the story. In particular, the extended family of some of the characters we are already familiar with.

- Hiccup's sword, Allr-Bani, is a portmanteau of "Allr," meaning all in old Norse, and "Bani," meaning death, cause of death, or slayer. If anyone has a more concrete translation, or a more accurate Norse dictionary, feel free to point me in the right direction.

- Valka will be part of the story. How, I am not yet certain of. Suggestions are welcome.

- Updates will most likely occur weekly or whenever I finish them, whichever is sooner. I am a university student and as such, sometimes I may be late with an upload. Some chapters are going to be shorter than others, as well as written in a different format. I intend for these to be journals or field reports written by certain characters in the universe as a means of explaining a past event or a difficult concept. One such journal entry, written by Hiccup, covers how magic and mental warfare works, as well as a short story about the consequences of using too much magic. I expect this journal to be published sometime within the next 3-5 chapters.

Thanks for reading!

- Musica