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The singetail began to fly toward her, a hard look in it's flier's eyes. Aldru stumbled backwards, falling onto her butt. She lifted a hand, palm facing the dragon, and pleaded, "please, stop!" But the dragon kept coming.

Aldru found her feet and began to back away from the advancing beast in terror, shouting desperately, "don't!"

The singetail landed where she had stood before and Aldru watched the fire ignite in it's mouth. But then, a sudden burst of energy and confidence came over her. Aldru's face hardened and she stopped backing away. Then, with a demanding yell, the dragon shut it's mouth, "you will not!"

The flier whipped the singetail again, but this time, it turned it's head around and shot. A burst of fire flung the flier off of it's back and the singetail looked back at Aldru with sorrow in it's eyes.

Aldru gently held the dragons head for a moment, then told it firmly, "leave here."

At once, the singetail squawked loudly and began to fly away. Along with it went all of the other singetails; the island was no longer under attack.

All of the riders landed back on the ground. Aldru met them all with an exhausted grin.

"Aldru," Hiccup began with a proud smile, "that was amazing."

"How did you know they would still respond to you're human form?" Fishlegs asked in wonder.

Aldru shrugged, "because I'm still a song wing, and they know that." She decided to leave out the part about having difficulty changing.

Then, Mala came over to the group. "You've saved our island once again, Hiccup Haddock," she thanked sincerely. She then turned to Aldru and did something unexpected. Queen Mala bowed. "I see now that your power is much greater than any I could've imagined before." She stood tall again and smiled as she praised, "Protector Aldru, your story will be told to our many generations to come."

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, Aldru decided to accept the queen's respect. She nodded firmly and responded, "I'd appreciate that very much, Queen Mala."

When Mala left, Hiccup gathered with all of the dragon riders. "We need to go to Berk," he told them.

"So the singetails can just follow us there, too?" Tuffnut questioned, "I gotta say, H, not your best plan..but it would involve a lot of fire...okay, I'm in."

"This singetails are going back to their master now," Astrid reminded them.

"But I thought Aldru did some special magic thing and now they're free?" Ruffnut inquired.

Aldru sighed in sorrow, "sadly, no. Those dragons are being completely controlled. They may have abandoned this attack because of my presence, but soon...their master will break them of that."

"Does that mean..?" Fishlegs began to fret.

Aldru finished for him, dread in her voice, "this new leader has more influence on dragons than even me." And suddenly a sense of dred dawned on her; this was exactly how her mother died, at the claws of dragons who'd lost their free wills.

• • •

After arriving on Berk and filling Stoick in on what was happening, the entire village began to ready themselves for battle. They were going to take back Dragon's Edge. Hiccup had devised a plan to lure the singetails away from battle by capturing one, knowing they would try to help it. And although Aldru should've been able to help in the situation, she knew that she couldn't this time.

All Aldru could do was wait while the dragon riders readied themselves for battle; she hated it. So she decided to address a problem of her own in the mean time. Aldru slipped away into the forest until she was out of sight and attempted to change form. There was no problem this time.

Aldru changed back with a sigh of relief and told herself, "I must've been so scared that I couldn't change."

With that problem solved, she went back to the village to find the ships being loaded; it was time to go. Aldru raced back to the arena to meet with the other riders. Everyone was climbing onto their dragons. "Are you sure you want to come with us?" Astrid asked with worry.

Aldru's face hardened as she reminded, "my dragons are out there; I will help free them."

Astrid gave her a grin and nodded as Aldru changed into her dragon self. Then, they were off. The dragon riders, the A Team, and a dozon Berk ships all made off in the direction of the Edge.

Once they arrived, Hiccup peeled off with Spitelout to put their plan into action. All remaining dragon riders let out their battle cries as the singetails made their way to the sky. Aldru, however, snuck around the side of the island. She landed and changed into human form. Silently, she snuck into the club house through the back.

Once inside, she spotted a man that she recognized from Hiccup's description of his kidnapper a while back; Krogan. And beside him, stood Viggo.

Aldru's heart lurched, but she remained hidden in the shadows. The two men talked briefly, but the sounds of battle outside made it impossible for her to hear them. Finally, Krogan left the club house. Viggo looked around suspiciously as if to make sure no one was around then closed the entrance of the building. He sighed and rubbed his temples, "you really need to work on your sneaking, Aldru."

When he looked in her direction, Aldru came into view. "What are you doing?" She demanded in a hushed voice.

Viggo walked toward her, his hands clasped behind his back, "I told you that I'll explain."

"When?" Aldru demanded a bit louder.

Quickly, the man approached her and covered her mouth with his hand. "Be quiet," he told her, looking over his shoulder at the still closed door, "this is probably the worst time for one of your little drop-by's."

Aldru shook his hand from her mouth but decided that he was right; she couldn't risk getting caught, so she quieted down again. "Why are you doing this?" Aldru pleaded.

When Viggo heard the break in her voice, he felt his chest clinch. He looked at her with shame in his eyes. "Because this business, just got ten times more deadly. You don't know Krogan; he will kill you, no questions asked."

Aldru's eyes watered slightly as she realized what he meant; Viggo became Krogan's right-hand man in order to protect her, to stear him clear of her at all costs. Again, he was risking his life for her.

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