"Here you go, you can stay here with the other hatchlings," I tell Valkyrie as I set her down. All the baby dragons live together in one very large pen in the hatchery until they're big enough to join the older dragons, so Valkyrie should hopefully feel more comfortable with dragons her own size.

A few come over and warble a greeting, which she responds to eagerly. She seems to be getting on well here. I look over to Volcana, who's in the more secluded area of the hatchery where the mothering is truly done. She's allowed to be with her hatchlings at all times for one more day before they are sent into the hatchling pen with the others. A few days after that - or longer, depending on how well her hatchlings adjust - she'll move back into her own pen.

It's important for us to let them spend time together but the hatchlings also need to learn independence at a young age. I prefer to let them live as close to wild dragons as possible while still adopting a more domesticated feel into their lives. It's good for them to get the best of both worlds.

I'm currently riding on Mercury, my Cavern Crusher, since she's pretty low to the ground and her relatively flat back is also perfect to rest my foot on if I really need to. I know her kind tend to eat hatchlings, but when she herself hatched I noticed she seemed happy enough to be on a strictly vegetarian diet. That's how I know I can allow her near the hatchlings without having to fear for their safety. She's always been very proud to have that level of trust in her.

"Let's go back to my room, please," I tell Mercury, who rawks a little and scurries off in the correct direction. We reach my room in no time and she helps me slide my way into bed. It's been a long day today and I'm more than happy to sleep it all off. "Thanks, girl. Now you go have a little fun, it's been a long day." She nods and leaves.

I close my eyes, reflecting on everything that has happened in the last three days; Volcana's eggs hatching, being called to Berk, Toothless recognising me, Snotlout constantly trying to steal my mask, Hiccup kidnapping me, finding Valkyrie, Toothless telling all the dragons who I am, the incredible amount of gold I was forced to accept,  Harmony's breakdown, being basically immobile, talking with Valka... it's been busy recently. I'm hoping things will cool down soon and go back to normal.

I drift off to sleep thinking about what I need to do tomorrow in order to get everything sorted.

First I'll need to go to my little clinic. I've got plenty of different herbs and plants that can help me when I need to heal my dragons from some sort of wound or disease. I'm going to need to brew up some kind of lotion or something for my ankle to help take the swelling down.

Second, I need to move Volcana's hatchlings into their new pen. This'll also be a good chance to see how Valkyrie's getting on. I hope she's getting along well with the other hatchlings, though I don't doubt it.

Third, I have to refill the water tank with Vanquish, my Scauldron. There's a large drum of water near the bottom of the sanctuary that Vanquish and I refill weekly. It's basically a water storage system. We have drains leading all across the place. Since the water is already hot from Vanquish, we have to wait an hour or two between refills to use the water or it would burn us, but after that it's lovely hot water on demand.

I only got up to the third task of my day when I fell asleep and the sound of birds chirping alerted me that the night had passed. I yawned and sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

A small snuffle from the end of my bed caused me to jump slightly. "When did you get in here?" I muse quietly to Lovelei, who's fast asleep on the end of my bed. After a moment she blinks and the next thing I know she's licking at my hand excitedly.

"Okay, okay! Stop it!" I laugh. She leaps backwards, tail wagging with enthusiasm. She starts barking madly at me. She wants to play. She's supposed to be asleep right now, but of course playtime is more important to her.

I scratch her exposed belly, causing her to wriggle around under my fingertips. We laugh together for a while. She's great at cheering me up on days like this.

Eventually Mercury comes back in to help me around the place. Lovelei helps me the best she can onto Mercury's back, which I let her think was a lot more than it was. "Thank you, Lovelei, you go get some sleep," I tell her. She rawks and flutters out.

Mercury looks to me, silently asking where I need to be delivered to first. "I'm going to go to the clinic first," I tell her. She nods and starts scurrying there.

We arrive in record time and I don't waste any of it as I search the shelves for the right medicine. Since I don't know much about human medicines and therefore I don't have many it doesn't take me long to find the correct ointment, a little of which I apply to my swollen ankle.

"I think we're good to go here," I tell Mercury. "Next we need to go to the hatchery. Volcana's hatchlings are going to move into the pen today." Mercury rawks and starts scrambling to get there.

Once we're there Volcana is already pampering her hatchlings as though they were gods. I give her her moment with them. I know that it's severe to separate them at a young age, but it's not like they're a million miles apart and aren't allowed to contact each other. Volcana can visit whenever she likes, they just can't live together. This is how it would be in the wild, anyway; most dragons raise their hatchlings until they're sure they're ready to survive on their own.

"It's time," I tell Volcana sadly. She looks at me pitifully, as though hoping I'll change my mind, but nods and licks her three hatchlings. I scoop them into my arms and carry them to the hatchling pen, where I place them down.