Hiccup, Astrid and Stormfly are frozen from the waist down in ice and Toothless is attacking Alpine. Instantly I bound over and growl more menacingly than ever at Toothless. "What are you doing?!" I roar, the sound shaking the cavern.

He ignores me and fires at Alpine again, so I leap in the way, yelping in pain when the Plasma Blast strikes me square in the chest. My hard scales are designed to defend me from strong hits, but I can't take it forever.

"Stand down!" I roar at Toothless, desperate to keep my Alpha safe. Though thanks to the powerful blow that came from close range it comes out weak and pitiful. Not what I need right now.

Alpine looks to me worriedly, then glares at Toothless and let's out a deafening roar of his own, startling me since I've never seen him so enraged before. He's usually so calm and collected and dignified. Now he looks like he's out for blood.

Toothless roars back and fires another Plasma Blast at Alpine, but I leap in the way again, taking another blow for my Alpha. I can't help but let a whimper escape me. "Indigo, this isn't your fight!" Alpine says to me, his tone still frustrated but noticeably calmer when he addresses me. "Don't keep taking all the shots! You're not strong enough!"

"I will protect you with my life, that is my purpose!" I snap in reply, getting back onto my feet. "My purpose is to protect my pack and all other dragons until I die!"

"Then for the love of the gods, protect yourself!" He orders gruffly, firing ice at Toothless, trying to trap him. The Night Fury simply jumps out of the way, clearly not himself. Then the third Plasma Blast comes.

I take the third blast too and this time need a moment to get back up. The strong attacks are taking their toll on me and I have no clue how much longer I can keep this up for.

The fourth blast approaches Alpine but before I can react, Alpine's voice echoes in my head. Indigo, stay down.

My body freezes and my mind blanks, forcing me to simply watch the scene before me. He's commanding me. No. No.

The blast hits Alpine since I'm not able to defend him. I have no choice but to watch Toothless continue to attack, though I can't see much of it as the world is distorted and hazy.

I have no control over anything. My thoughts are locked away from my power, impossible for me to revive. It's awful. I hate it. I'm a prisoner in my own body.

It seems like an eternity before Toothless reaches his shot limit and is forced to back down to Alpine, who traps him as planned. He then growls at Toothless and his other three captives, though I can't tell what he's saying.

The next thing I know, I'm walking towards them and melting the ice around the humans using my sylvite flame. A mind-controlled Stormfly is next, then finally Toothless, who doesn't attack for once and is looking at me with a face that almost seems... apologetic? Concerned?

The dragons pluck their respective riders off of the ground and onto their backs, then start flying out. I start walking back to Alpine's side while they leave.

We stay in silence for a minute until Alpine finally releases me from his control. "They have left," he states. "Don't put yourself in danger like that again, Indigo."

"You let him hurt you," I say, taking a step back from him and morphing back into human form. "I only wanted to protect you."

"And I wanted to protect you," he replies calmly. "Those humans were discussing telling someone called 'Heathlegs' or whatever it was about the sanctuary, so I froze them here so they wouldn't because I know you don't like humans around here. That's why that Night Fury attacked."

I simply shake my head at him. "You're hurt," I whisper, my voice barely audible. He turns to where he was repeatedly shot in the side and huffs, the ice from his breath freezing over his wounds. "It will heal," he says. "It's not a serious wound."

"I let you get hurt..."

"You didn't," Alpine states, looking back to me. "You did everything in your power to defend me. You had no possible way of beating that mind control."

"I still should've in order to protect you," I say. "I couldn't protect you... I should've kept you safe... if I had, you wouldn't have gotten injured..."

"You are injured," he points out, gesturing to my chest where blood is starting to leak through my armour. "Go get yourself taken care of, Indigo," Alpine tells me.

Scared of what he'll do if I disobey again, I nod. "Yes, Alpha," I add as I scurry off, wincing slightly with every movement but not slowing until I'm safely away from him.

The same words chorus through my mind as I walk slower, the pain finally getting to me. I couldn't protect him. I couldn't do anything. His power scares me.

I've decided that another good thing about not being an Alpha Female is that I don't wield that kind of terrifying ability. It's a cruel power, to take the free will of another as though it was worth nothing. It's unthinkable.

I reach the clinic and remove my armour, along with my now ruined shirt. The wound is nasty, but I'll live. Not that I feel like I want to right now.

As I clean out and dress the wound, drops of salty tasting water drip down my cheeks and onto my knees. I just watched Alpine get hurt and I did... nothing.

My silent tears turn to quiet sobs as I pull my legs up and curl my arms around my bent knees, hugging them closer to my aching chest, my head down in shame.

I let Alpine get hurt. I broke my promise. I did nothing to protect him. I did nothing.