You have got to be kidding me, I thought.

I couldn't even react. After all of my futility these past few days, I almost laughed. It was absolutely fitting that I had forgotten the most important detail of this little plan.

I groaned for a second, wondering if I should simply toss the net out and hope the dragons wouldn't pay attention to it. After a moment, I decided to change this step. Maybe I could use the element of surprise by throwing the net over the lead dragon and hoisting up the ropes.

Cursing under my breath, I moved the basket near the edge of the roof and pulled out a fish, holding it for a beat so that the Speed Stingers could see what I had. I tossed the fish, where it landed in the snow with a muffled thump.

The two dragons on the ground immediately rushed to their left to claim the fish. One of them was faster and scooped the fish under its left foot. That dragon snapped at the other, telling it to back off. It began eating as the other watched.

Most dragons swallowed their food whole, as long as it fit into their mouths. But watching the Speed Stinger tear into the fish I dropped was, for lack of a better word, gruesome. It seemed like that dragon wanted to savor its victory of being fast enough to get something to eat, like it was going to tell the whole world by mutilating the fish as it ate. After about ten seconds, hunks of fish meat and entrails were spread in a loose, two-foot semicircle around the dragon.

Even though it was gross watching this dragon eat, I quickly realized it was exactly what had to happen. I wanted this Speed Stinger to make a mess so that other dragons in its pack would smell the feast and investigate.

As if on cue, several Speed Stingers began appearing out of the woodwork around the village. I tossed another fish behind the two dragons in front and watched as a mob assault on a single fish took place. Grunts, shrieks, clicks, and screeches merged into a cacophony of sounds. For a moment, I wondered how in the world such a large pack of dragons could survive like this.

I tossed another fish near the mob of Speed Stingers. Several of the dragons on the outside of the mob quickly gathered around this new morsel and began fighting each other over who was going to eat it.

It didn't take long for the first mob to join the second. Left standing in the open was a green-and-red striped dragon, which seemed to be simply watching the proceedings. The rest of the Speed Stingers didn't seem to care the lead dragon wasn't eating.

Pulling out a twenty-foot rope from the basket, I wrapped it around the next fish and dangled it about eight feet off the ground, where all the Speed Stingers could see it.

I stole a quick glance at Toothless, who was staring at the basket in front of him. I rolled my eyes as I tied the rope around my right ankle to free my hands.

I grabbed another fish and checked my inventory. This was going to be the fourth fish the dragons would eat, there was one tied up and dangling, and there were six left in the basket.

I heaved the fish toward the lead dragon to see what it would do. The fish landed about six feet to the lead dragon's right, away from the mob that was still fighting itself. The lead dragon's attention snapped toward the fish just as several of the other Speed Stingers noticed and began running full-tilt toward yet another reason to squabble.

The lead dragon lunged in front of the mob and snarled menacingly, telling the other dragons to back off. They did, and the lead dragon turned and began eating with the exact same attitude as the rest of the Speed Stingers, tearing gleefully into the fish.

To keep the rest of the dragons distracted, I threw another fish near the mob. I followed that with another fish that brought the lead dragon about halfway to the front entrance of the great hall. I waited for the lead dragon to finish before luring it closer with another fish, followed by one more fish toward the mob.

I checked my inventory again. There were two fish left in the basket and one tied on the rope.

At that point, the lead dragon spotted the fish I had strung up and rushed forward with abandon, hoping to get yet another meal. I stepped backward with my right leg and grabbed the rope, yanking upward to keep the fish just out of the dragon's reach. I knew if I brought it up too far, the dragon would lose interest and wander away.

I turned toward the casting net nearby and picked it up, getting it ready to throw. I slowly crept toward the edge of the roof, letting the fish I had tied around my ankle tantalizingly approach the waiting Speed Stinger. The dragon cackled as it watched the fish.

Without warning, the dragon jumped several feet in the air and clamped onto the fish and rope with its jaws. The rope squeezed around my ankle as I lost my balance from the dragon's weight and began sliding toward the edge of the roof. My hands let go of the casting net in panic, feeling around for something to grab. The ground was a good twenty feet below me, if not more.

In a last-ditch effort to keep myself from flying into oblivion, I shouted in desperation as I lunged toward a stylistic wooden sculpture of a dragon's head. I grabbed onto it with both hands and brought my chest toward the sculpture, wrapping my arms around the dragon's horns while my right leg felt like it was going to dislocate at the hip.

Toothless screeched in alarm, but for all I could tell, he might have been a mile away.

The lead Speed Stinger was hanging about two feet off the ground and wasn't letting go. I looked down and saw its beady eyes glaring at the rope that was keeping its prize away.

I groaned in effort, trying to lift my right knee upward in hopes of being able to untie the rope, but the dragon was too heavy.

My arms and chest began to burn from fatigue, but I tried to will myself to keep hanging on because my life depended on it. As I looked down again, the lead dragon began thrashing, trying to wrestle the fish out of the ropes. Its body slammed against the wooden doors leading into the great hall with a loud thud, but the impact didn't faze the dragon.

Toothless' worried face appeared to my right. I looked pleadingly into his eyes, hoping he'd come to my rescue, just like he always did.

The dragon used all of its body weight to wrench to its left. My right arm slipped from the sheer force of the Speed Stinger swinging like a pendulum's weight.

Reflexively, I lunged toward the wooden sculpture to regain my grip, but the dragon's momentum was still carrying me to the left. My right arm couldn't reach around the sculpture's head as my body weight crashed against my left arm, coupled with the dragon at the end of the rope, still trying to rip the fish free.

In slow motion, I watched in horror as my fingers slipped from the sculpture. I tried to grab at Toothless, even though he was about four feet away. Time felt like it froze with me in mid-air, as it seemingly took a few seconds for the sculpture to begin moving away from me.

Toothless watched in shock as time resumed and panic surged through my veins. He gave a short roar just as the doors leading into the great hall entered my vision.

I landed in the snow on my right heel and peg at an oblique angle, collapsing on my back. I curled slightly as the wind was forced out of my lungs and rolled onto my right side, gasping for breath. My peg felt like it was driven through my thigh all the way to my left hip, and I could barely see from the impact with the ground. I vaguely heard the lead Speed Stinger roar in alarm, as the fish that had caught its interest brought an unlucky Viking along with it.

As the world slightly came back into focus, the lead Speed Stinger turned slightly, readying its tail for a killing strike. The dragon whipped toward me, its tail swinging around toward my chest.

I tensed, ready for the pain of death when a black blur crashed down on the dragon with a vicious roar. The dragon was nearly flattened underneath Toothless' weight. A few bones snapped, and the Speed Stinger roared in pain back at Toothless.

Toothless, no, I thought.

But either the pain or the shock of falling kept my mouth shut. I could only watch as Toothless raked his right front claws through the dragon's tail. Not a second later, his open maw shot toward the dragon's neck.

Toothless wasn't bracing himself, like when he shot fireballs. He was lunging too much for that.

Toothless clamped his jaws around the dragon's neck and crunched. His front legs, neck, and shoulders rippled as he bit through the Speed Stinger's neck, its head visible on Toothless' left, and its body hidden on his right.

The lead dragon tried to screech in pain, but only the first note came out, followed by a strangled wheeze. The Speed Stinger's neck snapped with several popping noises accompanied by a small fountain of blood pouring out of its neck and mouth. Toothless wrenched his head to his left slightly and clamped tighter, his eyes nearly squeezed shut from anger and effort. Through a small gap between his front legs, I watched helplessly as the Speed Stinger shuddered for about a second and then went limp.

Toothless whipped to his right, avoiding me with his tail and back legs, and presented the rest of the terrified Speed Stingers with their leader. He spat the dragon on the ground and gave an ear-splitting roar to the rest of the pack, daring them to attack, daring them to face imminent death. Blood was dripping from his teeth, and what was formerly the lead dragon was almost two separate pieces now.

The pack of Speed Stingers stood there, almost transfixed that their leader had met such a swift end. None of them made any movement that looked like they were reaching a decision on what to do next.

Toothless decided for them. He followed his display of brutality by launching a fireball directly into the group of Speed Stingers. It exploded as it met one of the dragons, followed by a painful shriek as it flew backward through its pack like a battering ram. Two other Speed Stingers were taken off their feet as the first dragon collided with them.

Toothless roared again and lunged forward with a swipe of his front claws, raking across the neck of another green dragon. A loud smack echoed through the plaza as crimson droplets spread across the snow in front of the Speed Stingers. The dragon Toothless attacked staggered to its right a couple of steps and slumped.

I thought Toothless would stop there, but he quickly turned to his left and shot another fireball directly at the head of a Speed Stinger. The fireball exploded with a deafening bang as it collided with the dragon, knocking it to the ground. The Speed Stinger's arms and legs twitched a few times, and the dragon was still after that.

There was no deciding what to do next among the Speed Stingers. Sure, they outnumbered Toothless about twenty to one, but none of them had any kind of body language that even remotely suggested they wanted to tangle with a Night Fury. Almost as a group, the Speed Stingers turned and headed west, toward the docks. Their hollow footsteps echoed as they found their way down the wooden planks and onto the coastline. Their panicked clicking and grunting faded into nothingness.

Toothless roared at the top of his lungs after the retreating dragons.

Cut the head off the snake, and the body dies.

I was still lying on my side, facing Toothless. I knew I should have been relieved the Speed Stingers were probably gone, but all I felt was gripping fear. I had just watched Toothless murder several dragons without a second thought. He turned toward me, still with an enraged look on his face.

In true Hiccup fashion, I cowered, afraid he was going to turn on me next. Toothless had given into his animalistic nature, and I just knew he was going to kill me.

I curled into a ball with a slight whimper, making myself as small as possible, hoping to become invisible to him, but he continued glaring at me for what seemed like forever.

But he never approached me. Toothless was about eight feet away from my face, and he never showed me any concern. He never even blinked. He only breathed forcefully through his clenched teeth, his chest heaving in and out, large clouds of steam coming out of his mouth, and the occasional droplets of Speed Stinger blood raining down from his lips.

I kept my eyes locked with his, waiting for him to end my life.

Suddenly, Toothless whirled around and took off running. His muffled footsteps soon became lost in the snowscape.