I'd never seen this large of an armada before. The cover of night made the already threatening ships nearly heart-stopping. Their jagged shadows stuck up from the dark surface of the calm waters below, nearly poking us on occasion. Hiccup's hands rested on my shoulders, his body pressed firmly against my back as we sped toward where Valka was sure Grimmel was hiding out. Yellow light flooded out from a singular window carved into the fortress in front of us, cutting through the black and blue of night. Once we got close enough, Hiccup looked to me and nodded, then stood. Shriek's flat body allowed him to step forward and jump off her back. Once he touched down on the rock below, the rest of us landed our dragons. We'd have to keep them nearby, in the event of a quick escape, but they couldn't come in with us. If we could capture Grimmel here and now, we might be able to end this and move to the Hidden World safely... once Toothless found it and came back.

The rest of the group went to patrol on the ground, in case any person or dragon found out we were here, while Hiccup and I ascended a staircase. Not far above, I could hear someone pounding their tools against a surface, seemingly unaware of our presence at the moment. Hiccup and I glanced at each other, waiting for the source of the pounding to leave. It took a few moments, but finally, footsteps creaked across the boards, fading as they left the room we were under. Once Hiccup was sure they were gone, he activated his Inferno, and we stepped into the room. While he looked around, guard refusing to lower, my eyes wandered to a table where the person had been working. Vials of bright purple liquid rested on the wood surface.

What would someone use those for?

Suddenly, out of the silence, someone yanked on a chain, and a metal net fell over any means of escape. Hiccup and I started to run back down the stairs, hoping we could find some sort of crack we could squeeze through.

"Where's your dragon when you need him?" My blood ran cold as the two of us whipped around, spotting Grimmel down at the bottom of the stairs. He held a lantern in front of his face, casting contouring shadows across his smirk. "Hmm, chief?" Hiccup lifted the visor on his helmet, brows crinkled in anger as he glared down at the hunter. "Must've forgotten all about you. First rule of the hunt, separate the prey from its pack. You just removed yourselves from the equation."

"Why are you doing this?" I demanded, leaning forward so far I danced between the line of standing and falling off.

"Really?" Grimmel's word held a condescending laugh. "I didn't think you cared. Well, unlike your husband, when I was a boy and came upon a Night Fury, I killed it where it slept. That simple act of courage made me a hero in my village. So I decided to kill every last one, bringing real peace to the people of the world." He whipped around, mocking expression replaced with anger. "Until you two came along, preaching that dragons are something other than thieves and murderers. That nonsense dies now, starting with you."

"But you have dragons of your own," Hiccup shot back. Grimmel laughed bitterly.

"These?" He rested a hand against one of the tusks of the Deathgrippers. "They're dragon killers, drugged into obedience with their own venom." I winced as Grimmel plunged one of the vials with a needle on the end into the dragon's neck. "Not even your precious alpha can control them. They serve me, and only me. Allow me to demonstrate."

Grimmel whistled once, and his whole lair suddenly went ablaze.

"Take cover."

I wrapped my arms around Hiccup's waist and pulled the two of us onto the ground as one of the Deathgrippers spat acid in our direction. It nearly missed our heads, coating the chains holding up the bottom parts of the stairs. I yanked Hiccup back up and pulled the two of us higher up, watching as Val pried open the net with her stick. I jumped out toward the wall, grabbing onto some of the metal and heaving myself up to climb toward freedom.

"Up here!" Valka extended her hand down toward me, but just as I reached up, a Deathgripper lunged for me and tried to dig the spine on its tail into my torso. I let go with one arm, swinging to the side and just barely escaping the fatal injury. With its tail stuck, I jumped down and used it to land on and jump up to Valka. "Hurry." She reached down and started to help all of us up. I took a deep breath of fresh air as I jumped onto Shriek's back. My eyes darted around, trying to spot Hiccup, but he had yet to arrive. Val waited for him, and thankfully, a moment later, the two of them emerged, and he flew toward me on the wing of Cloudjumper.

The moment he touched down onto Shriek's back, I crossed my arms. I felt anger taking over me, reflecting back on everything that had gone wrong there-- dwelling on all the ways it could have gone worse. Everyone else chatted nervously, exclaiming about how we nearly escaped with our lives, and of course, Hiccup noticed how uncharacteristically quiet I had been.

"Reign?" I refused to turn around. "Reign, what's going on?"

"We could've died in there, Hiccup, that's what's going on." I didn't have to turn around to know his brows crinkled as he looked over me, confused. "I told you we can't just run around and do reckless rescues and missions anymore, yet here we are."

"We made it out alive, Reign. That's what should matter now." His tone was stern. But that never phased me before, and I wasn't about to let it now.

"And what if we hadn't, hmm? Or even one of us hadn't?" I released my hands and rested them on Shriek's back, locking my elbows. "I know I told you I'm glad being a dad hasn't changed you, but we can't just be as reckless as we were. You need to think about these things, Hiccup."

"Are you kidding me?" I jumped slightly. He'd never raised his voice at me specifically before. "Reign, of course I care about being there for our daughters and not getting killed, but I can't just leave Toothless out there, you know that."

"Clearly, Toothless is fine! Okay? Wherever the Light Fury took him-- probably the Hidden World-- Grimmel hasn't found him yet. And if he hasn't been found at this point, he's probably safe."

"We can't base this on 'probably' and 'if', Reign." He took a deep breath, as though trying to let the anger out. "I know being safe is important. I want to be there for our girls, too. But I have to help Toothless."

I shook my head, opting to not say anything more. The sun had begun to rise by the time we reached the new island, a havy fog coating the ground. Everyone waited for us, clearly expecting Grimmel to be tied up and slung over one of our shoulders. But we hadn't had that sort of luck. Gobber sighed as he watched us land without our foe.

"Thor almighty! Guess we won't be needing this, then?" He gestured to a cage he'd constructed.

"I led us right into his trap," Hiccup lamented, removing his helmet. I gently slid off Shriek and removed my own, still angry from our earlier altercation.

"Yeah, nice work, chief," Tuff scoffed. "Right, Ruff?" Oddly, no one responded. I looked over to spot only one of the two riders of Barf and Belch.

"Wait... where is Ruffnut?"

"We... we left her behind?"

"How could you not notice she was missing? You ride a two-headed dragon," Astrid pointed out.

"Oh, yeah. I feel like how Ruffnut is every day: dumb."

"Odin be spanked!" Gobber exclaimed. "This just gets better and better."

"I try to avoid looking at her. It gives me acid reflux."

"Okay, guys, just keep your helmets on," Hiccup ordered. "Toothless and I will find her."

"Toothless has the Light Fury now!" someone shouted from the crowd. "He's probably not even coming back."

"What?"

"You gave him his freedom, Hiccup," I reminded him. "What were you expecting?"

"I never thought he'd stay away for good! I... I..." He shook his head and sighed, throwing his hands down. "Look, I'll figure it out. I just need more time."

As he walked away, my heart dropped, the anger of the moments before settling somewhere else where it could be addressed later. I hated seeing him like this, thinking there was nothing left in the world for him to do.

"He thinks he has to lead alone." Valka's eyes seemed distant, but I knew her words were purposeful. "Because his father had to. He doesn't realize the strength you have together. Do you still believe in him?"

"Of course." I answered without thinking, bringing my true thoughts to light. "I wish he did. But he thinks he's nothing without Toothless."

"Then help him realize the truth."

There was only one thing I could think to do. It was dumb, risky, and could end in the complete opposite direction of how I wanted it to, but I knew Hiccup needed closure. After a brief glance at the others, I raced over to Shriek and jumped up on her back. We followed Hiccup, landing in front of him to cut him off and startling him slightly.

"Get on."

"What?" He appeared caught off-guard by my sudden shift in attitude.

"We're going to find him." I extended a hand to him, and with a smile, he took it. I yanked him up onto Shriek, and we flew off.