I open my eyes slowly, a haze clouding my vision. I immediately feel a dull pain in my side, causing a soft groan to leave my lips.

In another second, a strong hand surrounds my own. I turn my head, seeing Hiccup sitting at my bedside.

"Thora...you're okay," he breathes, looking relieved yet exhausted.

I push myself up as I wince, resting my hand over the wound in my side. He gets to his feet, waiting for me to say something.

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"Only a day. You needed a lot of poison antidote, but it could've been worse." He sighs, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "You...you scared me half to death."

I take a few more deep breaths, my head pounding. "I'm sorry."

Silence blankets us, making my skin prickle. There's something bothering him, nagging at his mind much like how my recent enlightenment has sent me reeling. He's going to say something soon and I don't know if I'll be able to respond.

"Thora, about Hermaōr—" he starts.

I flinch. Of course he would know the name now. They probably saw the pictures, the sword that I retrieved. Astrid and Ruffnut probably spilled the beans about everything that happened.

"Hiccup..." I start, unsure of what to say.

"So who are you, really?" he asks, his tone remaining more curious than sharp. "Because right now, I'm second-guessing everything and I want to know what's going on. You...what did you mean by 'just stories'?" He exhales as he purses his lips, turning away and bouncing on his feet a few times.

I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, the ache in my side still prevalent. This is what I was afraid of. I never told them who I really am, but now that it's come to light...they don't trust me. Right now, even Hiccup is doubtful.

"My village was said to have...old magic," I say. I notice him tense, his shoulders squaring as his hands curl into fists. "Magic that was left behind by the gods long ago. I never saw my people use it, but my mother always told stories about warriors that were strong in the mind and when it came to controlling enchantments."

He turns to me, his face a mask of emotion. "So you're...a sorcerer? Not a barbarian?"

I shrug. "I...I don't know. I just know that, while I was out, my mother came to me. She told me what she could about my past, and I believe her."

He smirks, but it disappears just as quickly as it came. "If it weren't for the magic thing you just said, I'd think you were crazy." He laughs shortly. "But...I believe you." He rustles his hair. "Uh...so what did your mother say?"

"Berk isn't safe anymore, and it's my fault. There's a new threat coming that's more dangerous than Drago, more dangerous than the Red Death you told me about, and all of it is because apparently, I'm someone special." I spit the last statement, the sarcasm sharper than an arrow.

Hiccup touches his metal foot replacement, no doubt remembering the giant dragon. His face falls—obviously wracked with questioning and unsureness—and he purses his lips.

"New threat?" he repeats.

"As in, the man who...killed..." I wince as a burst of anger ignites in my chest. "...my family and my people is coming for me, because I'm somehow standing between him and total domination."

I get to my feet, feeling unnaturally fuelled by the rage building within me. My side sends little spiderwebs of pain through my body, but I can hardly feel it compared to the tightness in my chest. It's like everything is suddenly coming to light, and the idea is like poison to me.

"Thora, calm down," Hiccup murmurs, stepping closer to me and resting one hand on my arm. "You haven't explained everything to me yet. There's the picture of your parents and a bunch of Vikings, DDS—"

"I can't talk about that right now," I interrupt. "So if I could please go home and think—"

"Thora," he repeats, his tone more forceful as he grips my shoulders and turns me towards him. We stare into each other's eyes for a moment before he speaks again. "We're your friends. We deserve to know. Besides, if our future marriage is going to work out, I think I deserve some honesty."

My throat tightens as some of my anger ebbs away, but his words only bring another problem to light. "That's another thing, the wedding. I can't think about getting married with all of this going on."

"Thora—"

"It has to be postponed until this mess is fixed. I'm sorry." I push his hands off my shoulders and step back, resting a hand over my forehead.

He remains silent, his weary green eyes staying fixed on me. My stiffness doesn't leave as I wait for him to speak. It's fine for him to feel angry, hurt, maybe even betrayed.

"No, it's not your fault. If there's a new threat then we can't risk being caught off guard," he says, his tone lilting and exhausted. "But...I am going to marry you, Thora."

I can hardly smile. "Yeah, I know." I glance towards the window as an anxious roar rings out, my eyes widening. "The Furies...oh no, they were probably worried sick."

"Nightstar guarded the house. She's a bit paranoid if you ask me," Hiccup attempts to joke. "But Toothless and the kids stayed with her."

"So I guess I have to explain everything to the others now?" I clarify. He nods.

I sigh heavily, heading towards the door.

----------

When I get outside, Nightstar practically tackles me to the ground. She licks my face and whines, sniffing me all over as though checking if I'm really okay.

"Oh, I was worried about you too, girl," I say, scratching her ear plates.

Dark Moon and Emerald rush over to me and I lower myself, petting the tiny dragons. Thunder Song peeks his head out from behind a nearby pole, slinking towards me and giving my arm a nudge before dashing away. Typical Thunder, he's never been one for affection.

Toothless nudges my hand as I get back up, causing me to pat him once or twice.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I tell him.

A whole ton of voices scream my name frantically as my friends come running towards us, making me flinch. Astrid crushes me in a hug as soon as she's close enough, making me wheeze. Still, I'm glad that the demon Nadder didn't get her or Ruffnut. The others just buzz to me about everything they're thinking

"I'm sorry. That was the worst bachelorette party ever," Astrid apologizes as she pulls herself away from me.

"It wasn't all that bad," I say, although it feels like a lie.

"But now we've got questions that need answering, Thora," Snotlout interjects, stepping closer to me and jabbing a finger at my chest.

"Are you really a barbarian?" Tuffnut asks, making a stupid face and imitating a clumsy attempt at fighting.

"Why'd that guy have such a problem with you?" Ruffnut adds before she promptly smacks her brother over the head.

"We've all seen the scrolls. Your parents are in some sort of warrior Viking club..." Fishlegs mumbles, fiddling with his own hands as he shifts on his feet.

"Yeah, DDS," Snotlout adds. "We don't even know what it means."

"And I just know that name; Hermaōr," Eret utters, frustrated with his failure to recall whatever memory is nagging at him.

"DDS means the Demon Dragon Slayers," I say, silencing them. "And...I'm the last one."