The Strength of the Princess (HTTYD)

Acceptance

Chapter 60: Acceptance

Dagur dragged Krogan along while he and Eira searched for Hiccup. They had not gone far when Eira spotted the other riders landing near a cave, so they started in that direction. Sure enough, Hiccup and Toothless walked out of the cave, Hiccup holding a strange looking white dragon egg.

"Oh!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "Oh, my Thor. Is that the King of Dragons' egg? Hiccup, what did the King of Dragons look like?"

"I never even saw it," said Hiccup, appearing almost in a daze, "but it saved me. It saved us all."

"What about Fenris?" said Tuffnut. "Did he help?"

"This has his fingerprints all over it," added Ruffnut.

Hiccup stared at them. "Uh, sure. Why not?" Then he looked at Eira and Dagur and breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, you got Krogan. Where's Viggo?"

"Grimborn is alive?" Krogan said unhappily.

"Yes," said Dagur, "and unless you want me to hand you over to him, I suggest you shut up."

"Johann was the one who-"

"Don't care!"

"Viggo is with the dragon hunters who surrendered," Eira told Hiccup. "There were quite a lot of them, actually."

"Wow, really?" Hiccup said in surprise. "Good work, Eira. You too, Dagur. Any ideas on what we should do with them?"

"I want to keep them!" Dagur declared. "Some of them helped protect the village today. I can put them to good use."

"Well, you're the chief here. That's your decision." Hiccup turned to Eira. "You'll help him, won't you? You're good at this stuff."

Eira smiled. "Of course."

"Does that mean you're staying here?" Snotlout said as he and Ingrid landed. He appeared a little dejected at the thought.

Eira hesitated. "That is something I will have to think about, but with Swiftwings, I can easily fly here."

"As long as I still get to see you, whatever you choose is fine with me," said Dagur.

Eira nodded. "Me too."

"So, it's really over?" Ingrid said after a moment of silence.

"Yes, it's finally over," Hiccup said. "Our mission is complete. The archipelago is safe for dragons."

"For now," said Dagur, and everyone glared at him.

"That's technically true," said Eira, "but it doesn't matter. As long as we're here, we can handle anything."

Hiccup smiled. "Well said."

***

The dragon riders took a few days to recover after the battle against the dragon flyers. Krogan was placed in a cell on Outcast Island where he could do no harm. Hiccup gave the King of Dragon's egg to Atali and the Wingmaidens, who knew someone who knew someone who had a safe place to keep it. In more good news, Stoick recovered and took back his place as chief, with much great relief from Hiccup. Viggo and Runa decided to stay on Berserker Island for the time being despite Haldor's insistence it was safe to return to Torvald. Viggo claimed it would not be safe for the baby to travel such a great distance, but Eira had a feeling the rescued dragon hunters also had something to do with it.

After a long discussion, the dragon riders decided it was time to leave Dragon's Edge. They had fulfilled their purpose there, and it was time to return home. A bittersweet atmosphere as everyone packed up their belongings. They were in the stables getting ready to go when someone approached the door.