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❛ ᴋʜᴀʟᴇᴇsɪ​​​​​​​​​​. ❜ ° . ༄
- ͙۪۪˚   ▎❛ 𝐒𝐈𝐗 ❜   ▎˚ ͙۪۪̥◌
»»————- ꒰ᴘᴀʀᴀᴅᴇ ᴏғ ʟɪɢʜᴛs꒱


❝ YOU KNOW, ASTRID,
TRAINING DRAGONS ISN'T
THE ONLY THING I THINK
ABOUT ❞

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Aurvandil's Fire was never a time of fear or panic for the Targaryens as they lived far enough from Berk that the Flightmare didn't trouble them. They spent the time admiring the brilliant green lights that lit up the sky, usually taking to their dragons to fly underneath the dazzling show. It was an event full of awe and wonder for Dany. Unfortunately, her friends— especially Astrid— did not have the same experience.

During the time they had knowing each other, Dany and Astrid had talked about many things, including how the Hofferson name had been tarnished during the last spectacle. She knew how determined her best friend was to bring honor to her family once more. As the date of the Flightmare's arrival approached, Astrid's resolve gave way to fury and anger, which she often took out on the practice targets that the academy had acquired.

Her rage was shown in full force when Dany arrived at the arena that day; the newest batch of targets were already in smithereens and Astrid was breathing heavily from recent exertion. After she dismounted from Drogon's back, she went over to Hiccup's side where he was watching the blonde with the same concern she felt. "Again?"

"Every day this week so far," he agreed with a nod, not taking his eyes off the other girl.

"YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?" She yelled as she swung her axe towards one of the remaining targets. It lodged itself in the wood, cracking it nearly in half from the force of her hit. She yanked out her weapon and just drove it into the next target. "That's right. Who's next?"

The brunet winced at the damage and made a mental note to ask his father for even more marks. "I'm pretty sure that you— yep, I think you got them. All of them."

"Astrid's been killing inanimate objects all day," Fishlegs informed them, though this was nothing new as of the past week.

"She's really wound up about the Flightmare," Hiccup replied.

Dany didn't quite understand what all the fuss was about, having never seen the creature herself, but she felt a tug of sympathy for her best friend and the girl's ingrained desire to prove herself. "It must be really bad if even Astrid is this worked up about it."

"You have no idea," Fishlegs said with a shudder.

"Ha," Snotlout let out a snort of derisive laughter from where he leaned against the wall to casually observe them. "Too bad she's wasting her time. When the Flightmare comes, the Hoffersons freeze. Right, Astrid? I mean, you are a—" She threw her axe just to the left of him, the strength behind the fling so hard that it split the stone. The Jorgenson, who had squeezed his eyes shut at the approach of the weapon, peeked one open as the danger passed. "—Hofferson."

Astrid glared at the shorter Viking as if she desperately wanted to murder him. Although they'd probably all felt that for Snotlout at some point, Hiccup stepped forward to diffuse the tension before they actually came to blows. "Okay, okay, let's take a deep breath. Just because Aurvandil's Fire is coming, doesn't mean the Flightmare is, too."

"Sure it does. Every ten years, the sky lights up with Aurvandil's Fire, and when it does, the Flightmare appears," Fishlegs explained, more oblivious than even Dany could be to the unhelpfulness of this information. "Its spectral glow and banshee like scream are unmistakable."

"You were saying?" Astrid snapped, her hands on her hips only adding to her fierce glower.

"Thank you, Fishlegs," Hiccup sighed. "Your extensive knowledge of the Flightmare is. . . timely, if nothing else."

The blond beamed at the compliment, completely unaware of the sarcasm behind the other boy's tone (which had been so dry that, for once, the Targaryen had known not to take it to heart.) "I do fancy myself to be Berk's leading authority on the subject. Here's a few more fun facts." He opened the Book of Dragons, which he'd been holding tucked under his arm until now. Scanning the page, he read, "legend has it that the Flightmare is so terrifying, it actually freezes its prey in their tracks."

"Yeah," Snotlout chimed in tauntingly, "just ask Frozen Finn Hofferson. Right, Astrid?"

Since they could barely tolerate Snotlout's obnoxiousness on a good day, it was understandable, really, that Astrid snapped. She let out a loud yell and threw the boy bodily to the ground, smashing his face between the stone and her boot. "You think it's funny, Snotlout?" She swung her axe dangerously close to Snotlout's face. "You think it's a joke that my family name was ruined by that dragon?"

Shifting his eyes to look at the much calmer blonde (as that was the only movement he could do), Snotlout pleaded in Dany's direction, "aren't you going to help me? I thought we came to an understanding! What about the dragon statue you gave me?"

Dragon statue? Hiccup wondered, feeling a twinge of unease at the thought that Dany had given Snotlout of all people a similar gift to the one he held so dear. He made no mention of the fact since they had more important things to focus on but tucked away the feeling in the back of his mind. The blonde in question shrugged. "Nah. Astrid is still my favorite. Plus, I don't feel like an axe to the face."

The Hofferson smirked at the girl's support for her actions. Before she could unleash her wrath further on the boy underneath her boot, the twins finally made their appearance. Tuffnut wheeled a cart full of apples, Ruffnut carried an armful of fish and even their Zippleback was helping out with the haul; while none of the riders knew what they would need that much food for, all of them had learned that it was better not to ask. "Have you guys heard? The Flightmare is coming."

Hiccup stepped between them and Astrid quickly in case the blonde decided to attack the siblings instead. He held his hands up in a 'proceed with caution' gesture, which they ignored. "Uh, guys, we're really trying not to talk about that."

Ruffnut didn't get the hint and said loudly, "hate to break it to you, but that's the only thing anyone's talking about."

Her brother nodded, adding on, "well, that and Astrid's uncle."

Still under the Hofferson's boot, Snotlout's voice came out muffled as he protested, "hey! Have a little sensitivity here! Can I get up now?"

The last part was aimed at the blonde who continued to hold him hostage. She let out an annoyed grunt, removing her foot as she rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Whatever."

Astrid stomped over to her dragon and mounted Stormfly in a swift leapt, taking off before they could stop her. Hiccup turned back to pin the twins with a displeased look. "So thanks a lot, guys."

They, like Fishlegs, took the comment at face value. "No problem. If you don't need us anymore, we have to get ready for the end of the world, so, see ya!"

Content with their part in the chaos they'd caused, the twins carted off their goods, headed for the cell that had once contained Hookfang back when they'd been training to kill dragons. Hiccup made a move towards Toothless, presumably to follow after Astrid and calm her down, but he was stopped by warm, slender fingers wrapping around his wrist. He glanced behind him at the unexpected contact, only a little surprised (and mostly pleased) to see that it was Dany who had reached out to halt him. She shook her head. "Don't worry, I've got this."

His brows furrowed in concern as he thought of the girl facing an angry Astrid— not that she hadn't before, but this was deeper, more personal. "Are you sure?"

The blonde smiled at him reassuringly, even giving his arm a slight squeeze in the hopes of instilling him with confidence (which actually did help quite a bit.) "I'm sure. Revenge is the basis of girl talk."

As he watched her scale her dragon's leg to get onto his back, Hiccup thought about all the times he'd wondered what Dany and Astrid had talked about during their sleepovers. Now, he wasn't so sure if he wanted to know.

🏹🏹🏹

After giving Astrid a bit of time to (hopefully) cool off, Dany found her saddling Stormfly in preparation to hunt down the Flightmare. The Hofferson didn't turn around at the sound of approaching footsteps, instead dismissing the presence she assumed to be the chief's son by saying, "I don't want to hear it, Hiccup. I've waited my entire life for a chance to clear my family's name and you're not going to stop me."

"Would it help if I said I wasn't Hiccup?" Daenerys asked lightly.

The blonde whipped around, surprise momentarily overtaking her features before they hardened into annoyance again. "Don't you try to stop me, too."

"Who said anything about stopping you?" At Astrid's disbelieving look, Dany's teasing tone became more earnest. She approached the other girl to get her to stop using Stormfly as a distraction, standing directly in her way to meet her eyes— a gesture so rare for her that the Hofferson sighed and stilled to listen. "Look, I'm serious. Don't you think that I can understand better than anyone what it's like to have your family name tarnished by something you couldn't help?"

At this point, Astrid softened slightly, loosing some of her anger— but only a little; her features were still hardened with determination, clearly unwilling to be moved despite Daenerys' attempt at sentimentality. "So you're gonna let me go then, right?"

The Targaryen nodded. "With three stipulations."

"And what might those be?" the other girl questioned her, arching a brow skeptically.

Dany held up her hand as she ticked off her list on her fingers. "First— promise me that when you find it, you won't kill the Flightmare. You can scare it, hurt it— not irreparably— fight it, but killing dragons isn't what Berk does anymore, no matter what past wrongs they may have caused us." There was a pause as Astrid considered her request, then offered a reluctant nod. "Second— I'm coming with you."

"What— no—!" the Hofferson protested. "This is my fight—"

"And I won't get in the way of that," Daenerys promised her. "I'll just be running backup."

"Oh, is that it?" Astrid countered. "It's not because you've been dreaming about the Flightmare: going after it, learning about it— training it, is it?"

Dany gave her an affronted look. "You know, Astrid, training dragons isn't the only thing I think about."

"Are you actually saying that to me with a straight face?"

The blonde gave a haughty sniff. "I also happen to think about flying them, which brings me to my third point— we're taking Drogon."

"What's wrong with Stormfly?"

"Nothing. In some ways, Stormfly might be better— she's smaller and can fly faster. But I don't know how big this thing is so I'd rather have a larger dragon on our side. Plus, Drogon's scale pattern is darker and will help us blend in better," she reasoned.

Before Astrid could find a way to argue with her logic, a shout caught the girls' attention as Fishlegs came trotting up to them, waving a piece of rolled-up parchment in his hand. "Dany! I did the research you asked for. I have the path of the Flightmare right here on this map. For generations, it's gone through the northern swamp on the way to the village— same route every time. If I could only figure out why, we might be able to stop it."

"Great! Thanks, Fishlegs," Dany said gratefully, taking the map from him.

As she turned back around to face her best friend, she was met with Astrid's grudgingly impressed look. "Wow, you work fast. You just assumed I'd agree to your terms, then?"

"I didn't have to assume— I knew you would. It wouldn't be wise to go alone and I know you're smarter than that."

She was given a grunt of assent as Astrid realized she wouldn't be able to get out of Dany coming with her. "Fine. When do we leave?"

🏹🏹🏹

"Okay. We are going to observe the Flightmare, Astrid," Dany instructed the other girl sternly as they flew under the brilliant green lights of Aurvandil's Fire. Astrid sat behind her on Drogon's back, her arms wrapped around Dany's waist as she tried to accustom herself to the dragon's huge size. "It's always good to have information about your opponents before you engage them and since we know nothing about the Flightmare, you shouldn't start fighting it immediately."

"Sure," the Hofferson agreed, in a tone that indicated she would do whatever she wanted anyway.

Daenerys sighed at the blonde's obvious blasé attitude; she only wanted to make sure her best friend had the best chance of bringing honor back to her family name, not completely prevent her from achieving her goals. Since she'd picked up on the other girl's lack of commitment, she insisted, "say the words 'I understand, Dany.'"

"Fine," she grumbled. "I understand, Dany."

The Targaryen let out another sigh, sure to be one of many that night; she wasn't at all convinced of Astrid's cooperation with the dry tone she'd just used. But, there was no reason to press the point further when she knew that there were few people who could change Astrid's mind once it had been made up. So, instead, she scanned the ground for the landmarks she'd memorized from Fishlegs' map. "There's the northern swamp."

A roar echoed over the trees below them, one that she wasn't familiar with. Excitement rushed through her at the thought of seeing a new dragon, and such an infamous one at that. She'd read about the Flightmare in the Book of Dragons, of course, but reading and seeing were to very different things. She felt Astrid stiffen behind her at the sound, her determination unwavering as she breathed out, "I can't wait to see this thing."

"Me too!" Daenerys conceded, but felt the need to remind her: "remember, observe only!"

Drogon's wings beat steadily towards the horizon as a intense blue-white light suddenly shone out of the darkness. There was no distinct shape yet, but the color was in such contrast to their surroundings that it was almost as if the sun were rising early— at least if the sun were cool-colored versus the warm orange-yellow that it actually was. As it surged above the treetops, Drogon wheeled away against the onslaught, causing Astrid's grip to tighten around her as their balance shifted with his sharp movement.

The girls screwed up their eyes to counter the glare. The Flightmare spread its wings to an intimidating size, which made Dany definitely glad that she'd insisted on Drogon coming along. Her dragon recovered, though his flight path had been disrupted and they were closer to the ground than they used to be.

"Wow!" the Targaryen exclaimed, impressed. "Now I understand what all the hype is about!"

But Astrid didn't care to notice the Flightmare's assets; she was only focused on revenge. Although it was a bit of a jump, she didn't hesitate to use Drogon's wing as a ramp and tumbled off the dragon, her feet hitting the ground as she landed. Dany glanced around in alarm at the thump to see her friend drawing her axe. "Astrid, what are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing? Defending Berk, and my family honor! We'll see who's a coward!"

So much for observing first, Daenerys thought, letting out a faintly annoyed breath as she guided Drogon in a circle to land. Astrid ran forward, holding her weapon aloft. "Leave Berk now and never come back! Here I am, ungodly beast! Fearless Astrid Hofferson— come and get me if you dare!"

Dany watched as the Flightmare surged forward at the same time the blonde swung her axe. The dragon shot a mist of small, shimmering particles in her direction— not the fire or acid they were used to, but a different substance altogether. It froze the girl solid and circled in a wide loop to come for a second attack.

"Astrid!" the Targaryen shouted. Hiccup is going to kill me if I let Astrid get hurt! (She would never want her friend to be injured, either, but Hiccup had entrusted her with Astrid's safety.)

Drogon swooped in at the same time the Flightmare did, cutting off the opposing dragon from its victim. Its glow intensified once more and they were forced to duck out of the way so they wouldn't end up frozen as well. Dany took the same path Astrid had and used her dragon's wing as a ramp to get to the ground rather than waste time landing. She threw herself towards the blonde, using her body to protect Astrid as the Flightmare flew above them, its tail nearly flicking against her hair.

It roared again, now quite annoyed that Dany kept interfering with its target. She wrapped her arms around Astrid's middle and began to tug the statue-like girl towards Drogon. How she would climb up to Drogon's back with a second person, she didn't know, but at least her dragon would offer some protection from the Flightmare.

Then, her feet were unceremoniously yanked out from under her and both girls were lifted into the air. Drogon's talons gripped her shoulders with only some discomfort as their clawed points dug into her skin. She tightened her grip on the Hofferson, who was still deadweight in her arms.

Dany glanced back to see the blue-white glow still following them as Drogon gained altitude and she hoped her dragon had a plan; fighting the Flightmare from this height and this position definitely wouldn't be fun. It didn't take her long to realize what her dragon was devising as she felt cool mist dampen her hair and clothes: he was using the cloud cover to their advantage.

"Yes! Good boy!" she cheered, proud of him for remembering their flight training, even without her guidance.

By this point, Astrid began to move in her arms and— understandably— began to freak out. "What— where are— Dany!"

"I'm right here," the Targaryen reassured her, ducking her head to speak in the Hofferson's ear to be easily heard over Drogon's wing-beats. "It's okay. The Flightmare sprayed you with some kind of mist. It paralyzed you."

"It. . . froze me," she realized once she'd calmed.

"Luckily it wasn't permanent," Daenerys commented, some of the worry easing now that she wouldn't have to face Hiccup's wrath once they returned. "That must be its defense mechanism— make you so scared you can't move."

That made Astrid's eyes widen as the observation made her come to a conclusion. "I knew my uncle wasn't afraid of that dragon! He was paralyzed by it."

"How good are you at climbing?" Dany asked.

While it seemed to be an odd change of subject, Astrid knew her well enough that there was a point. "I wouldn't consider myself an expert. Why?"

"Think you can manage a dragon's leg?"

The Hofferson glanced up at the dark shape above them, which was the slope of Drogon's chest. Then she looked over at the claws that held Dany by her shoulders, to his tree trunk-like legs. Her expression hardened with resolve and she nodded. "You take the right, I'll take the left?"

Once the girls had returned to their proper positions on Drogon's back, Daenerys steered her dragon back towards the Flightmare. "There's no way we can let that thing get to town. We have to follow it and make sure it doesn't get there."

"Yes!" Astrid let out a quiet cheer.

It was easy to see the glowing dragon against the darkness of night and soon they were on its tail again. This time, though, they kept a careful distance from it so it wouldn't notice them. They flew over a large stack of rocks and the sight on the other side caused their eyes to widen from the unexpectedness of it. The Flightmare wasn't the only light they were following anymore; a river ribboned below them in stark contrast to the landscape, shining so brightly it could have been a beacon.

"Wow," Dany breathed out, awed by the beauty in front of them. She'd been right that this dragon was definitely one worth learning more about. "Glowing algae."

They landed beside the stream to get a better look at the phenomenon. Intrigued, the Targaryen bent to let some of the water run through her fingers. "It must be caused by some sort of reaction to Aurvandil's Fire."

The girls looked up at the shimmering green sky as she said this. Dany glanced over at the blonde. "What was it that Fishlegs said? The Flightmare takes the same route every year?"

"But why would it go through the village?" Astrid wondered.

"You ever try to get between Snotlout and a bowl of mutton?" she offered as an example. Both girls had seen what damage a hungry Snotlout could do— especially when a particular dish was involved.

The blonde grimaced at the memory. "Yeah. That's something you only do once."

At the sound of the Flightmare's hiss, Dany quickly pushed Astrid to hide behind a fallen tree. They peeked over the side of the trunk to watch the glowing dragon as it lowered its head towards the water and lapped up a few mouthfuls. It glowed brighter in response to the intake and stretched its wings, as if satisfied with its meal. Astrid gasped suddenly as the understanding hit her. "Oh, I get it! The Flightmare thinks we want its food."

She nodded. "Unfortunately it doesn't know that we find glowing algae about as appetizing as watching Snotlout inhale yak butter parfait."

Finished with its meal, the dragon took to the skies again with a screech. The light around its body had intensified and the two girls had to squint to make out its shape. Astrid shrank against the tree to try and stay out of its sight. "And speaking of appetizing, we better hope it doesn't see us."

Dany had already turned to head back to her dragon. "Come on, let's get up in the air so we have equal advantage."

The Hofferson happened to glance in Drogon's direction and winced. "Yeah, don't think that's gonna happen."

Daenerys followed her pointing finger to see Drogon rising from the river with small, brilliantly-colored droplets of water dripping from his fangs. "Oh, Drogon."

As he swallowed the last remnants, Drogon's scales began to shimmer a brightly, the algae causing the red accents to become the most prominent color. The outline of each scale was illuminated in scarlet so that he stood out just as much as the Flightmare did. Of course, the dragon in question saw them immediately.

The girls scrambled to get onto Drogon's back and took to the air, hoping to use the clouds to hide them once again. Regrettably, the red glow could still be seen amongst the mist and it didn't take long for the Flightmare to locate them. Before Astrid and Dany saw this, however, the former wondered hopefully, "you think we lost him?"

The Targaryen saw a flash of blue-white out of the corner of her eye that was growing uncomfortably larger. "Nope."

She guided Drogon back the other way, but the Flightmare got in front of them easily and blocked it. They didn't have any time to redirect themselves as its glow became so great that they reeled away from it— but not fast enough. After the fact, Dany realized how incredibly powerful the Flightmare must be if its paralyzing ability was strong enough to freeze a dragon as big as Drogon was in a single blast. But, in the moment, all she felt was a shot of fear as they dropped like a stone— no, a boulder— through the sky.

Dany cried out her dragon's name as they fell, but there was little she could do. The only thing that she could think of to ensure that Drogon wouldn't crush them upon landing was to grab Astrid's wrist and yank her off the dragon entirely. The girls free-fell next to him, tucking and rolling once they hit the ground. Drogon landed with a thunderous crash that shook the earth around them, but luckily no one was injured— just shaken.

The Flightmare was still coming straight for them, though, even as her dragon was shaking off the paralysis. Drogon was mad now, not used to being caught off guard like that. He let out a furious roar that made the leaves rustle on the trees as the vibrations hit them. The Flightmare shot another stream of mist at him, but he was able to avoid it this time and launched himself into the air.

"Drogon, no!" Daenerys cried, but it was too late— her dragon had a grudge now and needed to prove himself.

While the glowing dragon was quick and small, the second descriptor was more of a disadvantage than a help to it. It put up a decent fight against Drogon, darting here and there amongst his claws as it fired streams of mist at him. But Drogon threw his entire weight at the Flightmare and knocked it off balance. It flapped wildly to right itself and launch a counter-attack.

Below, the two girls watched the dragon fight with wide eyes, though Dany was more scared for her dragon. While she believed he could handle himself, it was never easy to see him go full 'wild dragon.'

"Great," Astrid sighed, raising her voice to be heard over the dragons' roars. "Now how are we gonna stop the Flightmare before it reaches the village?"

Dany scanned the area for anything that might distract her dragon from extracting his revenge, but her gaze caught on the bright blast of fire that lit up the sky above them. Drogon was no longer glowing red, which was some relief. Then her attention snagged on something else— three shapes flying towards them, two easier to spot than the other. They were aiming straight for the clearing the girls were in, no doubt having seen two very unusually bright dragons that marked their spot.

"Fishlegs and Hiccup!"

"How are they gonna help?" the Hofferson asked, confused as she hadn't yet spotted the boys.

"By bringing you some reinforcements!" Fishlegs replied cheerfully.

Astrid whipped around at his voice and her expression brightened at the sight of her dragon. "Stormfly!"

She wasted no time in getting on her dragon's back once the Nadder had landed, scratching the place behind her horns happily. "Good to see you, girl."

Hiccup touched down next to Daenerys and he greeted her with a smile. "Need a lift, milady?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied, glad that the darkness worked in her favor to hide the pink flush that rose to her cheeks at the use of his nickname for her. She climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist comfortably. "How did you even find us out here? I thought the academy was supposed to be on lockdown."

"It was," he acknowledged as they took off again, "but we wanted to see if we could help you with the Flightmare, so while we were looking over the maps—"

"—we figured out a way to stop the Flightmare from reaching town!" Fishlegs finished eagerly. "We cut a new channel for the river. . ."

". . .and divert the flow of glowing algae out to the sea!" Dany exclaimed as she understood what the boys were getting at.

In front of her, Hiccup nodded approvingly. "Exactly. Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, it's time to do a little emergency landscaping. Hopefully Drogon can keep the Flightmare distracted long enough."

"Of course he can," was Dany's flippant answer, which made the brunet smile.

"A real, live Flightmare!" Fishlegs breathed out as his gaze caught on the glowing dragon. It was a bit harder to see with Drogon's bulk eclipsing it, but just the fact that they were so close to one impressed him. "It's-it's-it's—"

"It's mine," Astrid declared, urging Stormfly towards the two dragons. By this point, Drogon had pinned the Flightmare down and was growling in its face with his teeth bared. But the Hofferson had her own revenge to extract and swooped in on Drogon's left to fire a blast at the Flightmare's face. The larger dragon's head jerked around, snarling in her direction at who would dare challenge his authority. He must have seen the fire in the girl's eyes, though, because with a final growl, he released the glowing dragon so Astrid could have her turn at it.

"Of all the times he chooses to be chivalrous," Dany grumbled from behind Hiccup as the Flightmare shook out its wings before returning to the sky.

But they could only trust that Drogon would help Astrid keep the Flightmare busy while they worked on their own mission. Toothless and Meatlug worked hard to create the channel, aiming each of their shots at the ground so they made a small explosion of dirt each time. The shimmering water soon forked in another direction, inch by inch as the furrow was lengthened towards the sea. Toothless fired one last blast at the edge of the coast that sent the new river flowing into the sea. The path of the glowing algae widened as it mixed with the salt water, continuing to flow towards the horizon instead of Berk.

Upon seeing that the course of the river had been changed, Astrid fired a final blast at the Flightmare before she and Drogon backed off. The glowing dragon shook its head to clear it, then its attention caught on the new flow of the water that it followed. It decided that Stormfly and Drogon were unnecessary obstacles in its way and shot off towards the sea instead. The riders cheered at their victory as they landed their dragons by the new path of the river that they had cut.

"Did you see it?" Fishlegs enthused as if they hadn't been there with him. "It really did glow like a night of a thousand stars! And what was that mist it was spraying at you, Astrid?"

"It has a mist that temporarily paralyzes you," Dany answered before the Hofferson could, just as excited about the new discovery. "It got Astrid when we first saw it but obviously it wore off. And it doesn't just glow by itself— it uses the algae to generate it!"

Both the Targaryen and Hiccup had dismounted from Toothless' back; while she'd gone to check on Drogon, the brunet went over to examine the water with interest. He bent, just as she had, to let the glowing droplets fall through his fingers. "This is incredible. I wonder if there are other dragons who use this algae as a food source."

"Well, it is safe for other dragons to eat," Dany offered as she ran her hand fondly over her dragon's snout. "Drogon accidentally ate some while we were tracking the Flightmare and he started glowing, too."

"Really?" Fishlegs asked. He glanced at his Gronckle. "I've always thought that Meatlug would be a bright green if she looked anything like the Flightmare."

"You've thought about that?" Hiccup wondered, amused.

"You haven't?"

The brunet held up his hands placatingly. "Fair enough. But Toothless' color would probably compliment his scales."

Still on Stormfly's back, the cough that Astrid let out above them sounded suspiciously like, "nerds." (Though she meant this in an entirely teasing way, unlike Snotlout.)

They ignored her as Dany smiled at them with a hint of mischievousness in her expression. She gestured to the river next to them. "Well, there's only one way to find out. I'm sure our dragons could use a drink before we head back to Berk."

🏹🏹🏹

As it turned out, Fishlegs was right about Meatlug— she turned a bright green after drinking the water. Stormfly had a yellow glow while Toothless was a deep blue, and Drogon was back to his dark red. The teens hadn't thought things through completely, however, as, when they approached Berk, Gobber (who'd been on watch at the time) mistook them for the Flightmare. They could hear him blowing the horn while they were still some distance away. But luckily they soon realized that their four distinct colors were definitely not their unwelcome visitor and allowed the teens to land safely.

"Hiccup, slap me in the face," Gobber started the moment they touched the ground. "Your dragons are glowing. I must still be dreaming."

"Gobber, you're wide awake," Hiccup reassured him as they dismounted, "and they are glowing. Long story. The good news is we drove the Flightmare away."

Stoick's eyes widened with delight and he reached out to place a meaty hand on his son's shoulder. "You did? Well done, Hiccup. Well done." He raised his voice to address the rest of the village: "everyone, you can come out of your homes! The Flightmare is gone for good."

A crowd gathered quickly as the information spread, the villagers both happy and confused as they heard the teenagers' feat. The chief's son stepped forward to address the audience: "uh, excuse me? I have an announcement to make. We learned a lot about the Flightmare tonight and I'll explain it all to you, but the most important thing we learned was that Fearless Finn Hofferson was indeed fearless." He paused to smile back at Astrid, who was grateful for his endorsement of her uncle. "Just like all the Hoffersons."

"Sounds like you did your uncle proud, lass," Gobber said, smiling warmly at her as he came to stand by the blonde's side.

"Now maybe we can just enjoy Aurvandil's Fire," Stoick suggested, earning cheers from the surrounding villagers.

As was usually her preference, Dany was keen on getting away from the crowd as soon as she could. But her tradition of flying under the glowing green lights with her parents came to mind, as well as the fact that a certain boy never got to have that experience. She stepped over to the brunet, who took his gaze from the lights above to look over at her curiously. "Do. . . do you want to go on a flight with me and Drogon?"

He was momentarily surprised by her question. "What? Right now?" At her nod— where she steadfastly avoided his eyes— he shrugged, giving her a little grin. "Alright."

The brunet began to make his way over to Toothless only to be stopped by Dany's fingers gently wrapping around his wrist once more, tugging him to a halt. Her face was a pretty shade of light pink that was hard to see under Aurvandil's Fire. "Um. . . I was thinking it could be more like our first flight together? You know, where you rode Drogon with me?"

It was his turn to have his face flush a bit red and he was very glad that neither Astrid nor Toothless overheard their conversation to save himself from the teasing that would have surely followed. His acquiesce of "alright," came out much quieter this time.

They settled themselves on Drogon's back with far more ease than they had the first time. Hiccup was only mildly embarrassed (and that was because of how acutely aware he was of the rapid beat of his heart) as he wrapped his arms around her waist. He settled behind her as they took off, even feeling comfortable enough to rest his cheek against her shoulder so he could look up at the shifting lights, all the while oblivious to the small, bashful smile that played on the Targaryen's lips.