I hopped onto Toothless' back and clicked into the stirrup. He took off just as I nudged him with my left knee. I directed Toothless back toward Johann's boat, but stopped his flight a few hundred feet off the western coast of Berk. Snotlout landed with Hookfang near us. Astrid and her dragon, Stormfly, arrived maybe twenty seconds later.

"Your dad asked me to make sure Snotlout does this right," Astrid told us with a hint of a threat behind her voice.

Snotlout grimaced slightly, knowing my dad would hold his promise if he didn't cooperate.

"Just hurry up. It's cold here," he complained.

For once, I agreed with him. I wanted to hurry, not only because it was cold, but also the snow shower that surrounded Johann's boat was moving in our direction. I looked further west, but I only saw a grey wall beginning to obscure the far reaches of the ice sheet.

"All right. This section looks like it's the narrowest part of the ice sheet," I said motioning to my right. "I think a thirty-foot gap will be enough to stop the Speed Stingers from reaching Berk."

"Make it fifty," Astrid said. "Don't take any chances."

"That's it?" Snotlout asked. "Hookfang could make a hundred-foot gap! And not only that, I'll even bring Johann's stupid boat to Berk!"

"Show me," I dared. 

I didn't consider the implications of bringing Johann's boat to Berk until they crashed into my mind. An instant later, I tried to hide a grimace, knowing the dead dragon was still on Johann's boat. It didn't help to know I hadn't investigated it any further, so it was anybody's guess as to what other horrors might have still been inside or following it. After a couple seconds, I figured we'd be able to deal with any surprises in the boat if it was docked near the village.

Snotlout grinned, knowing he had an opportunity to flaunt Hookfang's prowess.

"Now watch as this master shows how to create a channel," Snotlout announced, pointing at himself. He pushed his chest out and looked down at us over the bridge of his nose, making an exaggerated display of showing off.

Astrid rolled her eyes and groaned in disgust.

 He said something to Hookfang that I couldn't hear, and a second later he and his dragon were airborne. I watched as Hookfang canted to his right, U-turned and swept in low toward the ice sheet. At the last instant, he leveled out and shot a stream of lava that contacted the ice and hissed as it tore through and met the water. Hookfang U-turned again and swept in from the other side with another salvo.

Somehow, Snotlout was able to read my mind, because he didn't need any correcting on how to actually create a gap in the ice sheet.

After five passes, Snotlout and Hookfang landed on the other side of the newly-formed water channel.

"HOW'S THIS!?" he shouted to us.

Astrid laughed. I buried my face in my left hand before motioning Snotlout and Hookfang to come back to us. Hookfang jumped into the air and flew over to us, skidding to a halt on the Berk side of the channel.

"I think it's perfect," I said.

"Well, because I did such an excellent job, I think I deserve a reward." He looked at Astrid flirtatiously.

"Boat," Astrid said flatly.

Snotlout groaned, but didn't renege on his deal. He directed Hookfang to the side of Johann's boat and melted a channel from the boat to the edge of the ice sheet. Without landing, Hookfang grabbed onto one of the wooden structures at the bow with his feet and started pulling while flying forward. The boat slowly turned and picked up speed as it began to glide over the water's surface. As Snotlout passed us, he turned and winked obviously at Astrid.

Astrid rolled her eyes again.

We flew back to Berk without a word, where Snotlout was already waiting in the plaza with a panting Hookfang.

"Now, time for that reward," he said, leaning toward Astrid.

"And on that note, I think it's too cold for me to stay out here," Astrid said, barely hiding her disgust. She and Stormfly walked past him without a second thought.

"Thanks for your help," I told Snotlout, struggling to sound like I was actually thanking him. The words tasted like vinegar coming out of my mouth.

Snotlout gave an indifferent shrug before turning toward his house.

I spotted Astrid and Stormfly near her house and guided Toothless to them. I let go of Toothless, and he wasted no time in romping toward Stormfly, looking for a playmate. I didn't stop our dragons, knowing they wouldn't wander too far away.

"That was easy," I observed, turning my attention from Toothless toward Astrid.

"Easy to get Snotlout to help or easy to stop whatever those dragons were?"

I made an exaggerated show of thinking for a second, then replied, "Both."

At that moment, Toothless and Stormfly were in the middle of some kind of chase game. Toothless bounded toward me with several short grunts and whipped to his right, showering Astrid and me in snow. Both of us put our arms up to block it, but the movement was useless. He continued bounding away from us as Stormfly chased him toward Astrid's house.

"Should we separate them?" Astrid asked. She sounded unconcerned that we had just been covered in snow, which was going to make the cold seem that much worse.

"Nah. Those two are a riot together," I said.

Toothless and Stormfly had completed a lap and were heading in our direction again. I stood rooted to my spot as Toothless bounded toward me with another grunt. He slowed just a little, then swiped his tongue quickly up my chest and face before continuing his little game with Stormfly.

Toothless had licked me enough that I wasn't too concerned about it anymore, although the air around me always smelled like fish for a while afterward. I smiled and watched the snow fly out from underneath the dragons' feet as they created their mischief around us. I used the sleeve of my coat to wipe Toothless' saliva off my face.

"They are pretty crazy together," Astrid told me.

As the snowfall intensified, the wind picked up and turned the air painfully cold. I looked around, noticing Snotlout wasn't his usual persistent self. Normally, he would have spent a good ten minutes trying to get a kiss from Astrid before giving up. But this time, after Astrid rebuffed him, he simply brought Hookfang back to his house and didn't bother Astrid after that.

Toothless skidded to a halt near me, panting from his game of chase with Stormfly, who nudged Astrid in the shoulder. Both our dragons seemed to have used up most of their energy. I knew Toothless was going to sleep well tonight.

"Care to join us?" Astrid asked me as she turned toward her house.

"Yeah, I could do that," I replied.

I began shuffling through the snow, grumbling about how I lost the plate I had made to that Speed Stinger earlier today. Toothless simply loped by my side, leading me into Astrid's house. I walked in, and Astrid closed the door behind her. Toothless lay down near the table about ten feet away from Stormfly.

Maybe ten seconds had passed when Toothless took a deep breath and exhaled, sounding like the bellows in the forge. I listened to him breathing, his slow rhythm deeply relaxing. My shoulders dropped slightly, and the air inside the house even felt a little warmer.

We were safe, and Trader Johann was on the mend. It was all in a day's work for a Viking.