Sixteen years had passed since I’d left Berk, and I hadn’t felt better in my life. I’d found an island teeming with friendly dragons and riders—Heather and her brother Dagur first, then Eret, then more and more. The island had become a haven for those who understood the bond between dragon and rider. I smiled, surveying the scene from atop what we called the Great Mountain, Toothless beside me. I’d built something worthwhile. They’d elected me Chief. We called ourselves the Strike Tribe.
I looked down at our village, a sprawling network of carved stone and woven nests clinging to the cliffs. *Could Berk believe where I was now?* A wave of bitterness washed over me, quickly followed by a familiar ache. A year ago, someone close to me had died. I closed my eyes, trying to push the grief back down. The thought was cut short by a roar—a Deadly Nadder’s call, coming from behind.
Turning, I saw a blue-green Nadder, its rider a girl of ten. She had green eyes, a tangle of auburn and black hair. “Dad,” she called, her voice hesitant.
That’s right. A father. My daughter, Scy. Her mother, Abia, had died a year ago, a quiet illness stealing her away too soon. I’d found her during my first year away from Berk, young, reckless, and irrevocably in love.
“Yes, sweetie?” I asked, leaning down.
“Uncle Eret and Aunt Heather… they said they needed you in the Great Hall.” Her voice stuttered, each word a struggle. She looked so much like Abia, the same stubborn chin, the same haunted eyes. The sight nearly took my breath away.
“Okay,” I said, forcing composure. “Race you?”
A flicker of excitement sparked in her eyes. “If I win… I get to ride Toothless for a month!”
I grinned, nudging Toothless. He responded with a rumbling dragon laugh. “If *I* win, you help me around the town for a month.”
I was Chief, yes, but I needed these moments with Scy. She was growing up too fast.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Set!” she replied, her voice steadier now.
“Go!”
We launched forward, soaring towards the Great Hall. I pulled back on Toothless, subtly slowing their pace. He knew what I was doing. *Let her win again.* He gurgled in Dragonese—a language we’d developed over the years, a language of shared glances and shared heartbeats. We spoke it so often, English felt foreign, stilted. Scy still stuttered in her native tongue, but she was improving.
As we landed, Scy was already leaping off Toothless, her face radiant. “I won! Toothless is mine for a month!”
“Okay, let’s go inside,” I said, dismounting. “Your Dragonese is getting stronger. Your English too.”
She sighed, her shoulders slumping. “But I keep stuttering.”
“But you will succeed in both, my dear,” I said, guiding her towards the Great Hall. “You’ll find your voice.”
I pushed open the heavy wooden doors and found Eret and Heather waiting. “What seems to be the problem that summons me?” I asked.
Both looked away. “Speak,” I commanded, my tone sharp, laced with Dragonese.
Heather finally broke their silence. “We saw ships heading this way, Chief.”
“What kind of ships?” I asked, a knot forming in my gut.
Eret met my gaze. “Berk ships.”
The world seemed to tilt on its axis. Sixteen years. Had they finally found me?
“No chance your father is on the ship,” Heather said, her voice low.
“But why out here, near Wings Isle? Why here?” Eret argued. “All the other places… why this one?”
“I don’t know,” I said, my voice tight. “But get the inn ready. They’ll think this is a dragon’s nest.”
I paused, watching Scy’s face. “Eret, gather all the men you can. Meet the Hooligans at the docking area.”
“What about their weapons?” Eret asked as Heather left to prepare the inn.
“Leave them on the shore,” I ordered. “Tell them if they want to live, they leave their weapons. I’m still furious at the way they treated me while I was marooned on that forsaken island. Go now.”
Eret nodded and left.
“Dad,” Scy called, her voice small.
“Yes, sweetie?”
“What will they do… once they see you?” Her words stumbled over each other.
I knelt down, taking her hands. “If they do… they’ll have to deal with it.”
She giggled, a sound that eased the tension in my chest. “Go tell everyone to come to the Great Hall.” She ran off, her face alight with purpose.
I sighed. Had they been searching for sixteen years, or had they finally come to claim the dragon’s nest? Had they finally come for me?