Zephyr's POV

"I still can't believe that you convinced me to do this." My father huffed from where we were laying flat on our stomachs, scouting the Berserker fortress from afar as several allies of the Berserkers entered the fortress for whatever big event Dagur the Deranged was hosting.

"You didn't have to agree with my plan, but here we are, dear father." I stated as I eyed the entrance through one of my father's spyglasses. "What do you think is going on in there?"

My father furrowed his brows as he kept his gaze locked on the large, stone fortress. "I have no idea, but whatever it is, it can't be good."

We laid there for a while, scouting for any openings where I could get in unseen and after what felt like an eternity of searching, a grin spread across my father's face as he threw out the hand that held his spyglass, bumping into me in the process and causing white-hot pain to spread from my wound like a web through my upper body. A hiss escaped me as I instinctively pressed a hand over my still-healing arrow wound, but my father didn't seem to notice what had happened seeing as he was too busy pointing down at something by the fortress. "Look, Zeph, over there!"

With the help of his spyglass, I followed to where his finger pointed and found the entrance he had been referring to beside the grand entrance of the fortress, which was heavily guarded by armed Berserkers. I tapped my chin as the gears in my head began to turn. "If I'm ever going to get past those guards, we're going to need a distraction."

My father furrowed his brows as he too looked to be deep in thought. "I can't use Toothless, because then Dagur would immediately know that it was me, but if I take Firestorm ..."

My father looked to me for approval and I nodded in agreement. "Do whatever you need to get me past those guards, besides, it's not like Firestorm doesn't love you anyway."

A grin lit up my father's face for the first time in over a week as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, pulling me close to him as I let out a low wince. His grip around me loosened ever so slightly. "Great! Now I suggest we go back to the cave to get Firestorm and your bow and then we can go kick this plan into action."

I slowly rose from the position I had been in for the past hour, my legs feeling like they were going to disintegrate as I assisted my father back on his feet as well. "Great idea, dad."

***

I glanced up at the cliffs towering high above the fortress, knowing that my dad was readying himself for the big distraction as I wove through the tight-packed crowd that was bustling with chatter, laughter and other playful banter. Huh, that must've been an unusual occurrence on Berserker Island.

As I neared the servants entrance of the Berserker fortress, I found myself pulling my hood even further down my face as I quietly and as discreetly as possible attempted to weave myself through the crowd and get myself to that door.

A guard stood by the door, list in hand and I instantly knew that there was no getting through there without a distraction. As if on cue, all hell seemed to break loose around us.

A grin tugged at the corners of my mouth as my gaze turned to the sky, where a pack of Deadly Nadders were spreading terror through Dagur's esteemed guests and causing destruction to Dagur's fortress. For a moment, I caught a glimpse of a very familiar Nadder with an even more familiar man on her back, who also seemed to be grinning widely. If I knew my father right, he was having the time of his life.

It didn't take long before the guards took the bait and attempted to go and chase off the nadders. Fortunately for me, the guard that had been standing beside the servants entrance had deemed getting rid of the nadders as a far greater task than that of checking if the servants were really who they said they were. I made great use of my new opportunity to slip into the fortress and soon found myself in a quiet, empty hallway lit up only by a few torches that lined its stone walls.

As I made my way further down the hallway, the already muffled sounds of the ruckus that was going on outside completely vanished, swallowed by the thick stone walls of the fortress. At the end of the hallway, I reached a door. Without thinking twice, I slowly opened it, peeking my head into the newfound room in search of anyone who could possibly recognize me as an intruder.

To my great surprise, I was the only one in the room, which I figured to be the fortress kitchens. Though, judging by the rather scrumptious-looking and still steaming hot meals that lined the table in the middle of the room, I wouldn't be alone for very long. Immediately I began searching for an escape, I started with the door furthest to the left of the room and opened it ever so slowly, only to find myself being greeted by the dimmed-light from the world outside. I peeked past the door and found all the cooks and servants gathered in the courtyard the door led out to, intently watching the attacking horde of nadders outside the fortress walls.

Feeling I was pushing my luck, I moved on and tried the next door in the room, which lead to yet another hallway, only this time a long flight of stars filled the empty space lit up by flaming torches. I tip-toed my way up said stairs, terrified of bumping into someone. But it seemed as if Odin favored me on that blessed day as I not only did not bump into anyone, but I found a large pair of double doors rather quickly — if you exclude the time I spent accidentally opening the door to a servant's sleeping quarter or a door leading to another empty, long hallway from the equation.

I pushed open the doors rather dramatically — which in retrospect I probably shouldn't have done — and found myself faced with several rows of stone benches. It didn't take me very long to realize that I was in fact on a balcony, that just so happened to be overlooking the main hall of the fortress. A lump gathered in my throat as I realized how visible I must've been on the servants balcony, which is why I quickly ducked behind the stone railing, which completely shielded me from the view of anyone who just might've happened to glance up at the balcony.

After a moment, I granted myself a quick peek over the edge of the railing and quickly found the Berserker Chief standing on an elevated stone platform. The Chief's face was a flattering shade of tomato red as he scolded his guards for doing a 'lousy' job on 'such an important day'. Important day, huh? I suppose that explained why the Berserker Chief was dressed in what I assumed to be his finest robes.

Then, all of a sudden, the commotion outside seemed to die down as the crowd from earlier began to file in to the large main hall, chattering loudly as they sat down on the wooden benches that looked to have been set up just for the occasion. I furrowed my brows. What was Dagur trying to do?

As Dagur's guests settled in, the Berserker Chief quickly dismissed his guards, who immediately rushed off to their assigned posts as the Berserker Chief moved to the middle of the platform, where he was soon joined by a hunched-over older man with a beard that dragged across the stone floor. That must've been the village elder.

The pieces of the puzzle were finally coming together inside my mind and a rage unlike any other I had felt before coursed through my veins as I grabbed my bow and pulled a razor sharp arrow from its quiver, steeling myself as I patiently awaited my moment.

The axe might've been my primary weapon, but I was wicked good with a bow and arrow. When I had first picked up the weapon, I could never imagine myself ending a life with it, bows and arrows were merely a fun pass-time — especially when your arrows lacked arrowheads — but regardless, there I was, ready to assassinate the Berserker Chief.

Had I informed my father of this part of my plan? No, I had not. Was he going to be mad at me when he found out? Hell yes.

Suddenly, the whole room stood from their benches, right before the large double doors at the other end of the hall opened, revealing a beautiful, blue-eyed blonde in a long, tight-fitting white, lace dress as two guards followed closely behind her. She kept her head held high, perhaps to avoid Dagur's gaze or to show that she would not cower beneath his iron fist ... or both.

I felt the grip around my bow tighten so much that my knuckles turned white as pure rage flowed through me. How dare this pig of a man even think that he could marry my mother without her consent?

It was as I placed my arrow on the string of my bow and drew it back that I realized how much we had actually fucked up, or rather, how much I had fucked up. When I had come up with my plan, I had no idea there was going to be a wedding. I had also conveniently forgotten to plan an escape route for myself, which coincidentally landed me in a bit of a pickle.

In my head, my mother was in the dungeons, not up in the fortress partying with Dagur's allies, which is why I immediately realized how done I would be the second my father started blasting the dungeons in search of mom and guards would swarm the fortress.

I sank down beneath the railing, carefully removing the arrow from my bow before I held my head in my hands, the realization that I had completely failed my mother finally dawning on me. Gods, I was so stupid.

Suddenly, a muffled whistle rang through my ears and I found my eyes wandering curiously around the window-less main hall as I searched for the source of said sound. At what I now knew as the altar, the bearded village elder was busy speaking some rubbish about eternal love and faithfulness as Dagur's malicious eyes were glued onto my mother, whose face revealed no emotion as she stared blankly back at the Chief.

Then, another whistle and this time, a spark of hope ignited in my chest, though I did not know why. Suddenly, the wall behind the village elder exploded, sending the old man flying across the hall along with some debris as the dust settled and a large hole was revealed in the stone wall, which had been veiled by a thin wall of smoke.

Chaos erupted through the main hall as the wedding guests frantically searched for an escape, along with some of the guards — who seemed to have had enough of dragons for one day. Once again, Dagur was beet-red and when two familiar figures emerged from the wall of smoke, I was almost certain that Dagur would spontaneously combust.

"YOU!" Dagur snarled as he clenched his fists so hard his veins bulged out like earthworms on his skin. "We had a deal!"

My father shrugged as he lazily eyed his enemy of many years. "I changed my mind. Zephyr, NOW!"

Faster than I could ever remember doing before, I loaded my bow and rapidly released an arrow, which buried itself deep in Dagur's side. The Berserker Chief roared in pain at his new injury, but before he even had the chance to glance down at the arrow in his side, I fired a new one, which went straight through his heart, splattering blood all over my mother's white dress and the guards that had been rushing to get to their Chief. A well-aimed plasma blast at the guards' feet kept them a safe distance away from my parents which was soon followed by a menacing growl from Toothless, who had protectively wrapped his tail around my parents as he stood in a defensive position.

Once again, a whistle sounded through the hall, only this time it came from my father. As dad helped my slightly shaken mother up on Toothless, a crimson Nadder flew in through the newly created exit of the Berserker fortress.

My heart leapt with joy at the sight of my dragon, who let out a delighted squawk in return as she laid eyes on me. The dragon flew up to me and without a moment of hesitation I hopped onto her back and we immediately headed for the hole in the wall she had recently come in through.

When we were a safe distance away from the fortress, I wrapped my arms around my dragon as I rested my head against the back of her neck. "Gods, you really are the best dragon ever, Firestorm!"

Another delighted squawk escaped the Nadder as we caught up to Toothless and my parents, who had escaped the fortress moments before we had. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I watched my mother wrap her arms around my father's waist and rest her head against his back. Once again I had reunited them, I had reunited my family.