(Hiccup's POV)
Flying was incredible.
Flying was terrifying.
Flying was also very easy to mess up.
Hiccup and Toothless had spent the better part of the afternoon circling the forests outside Berk, practicing turns, climbs, and dives. Every movement required perfect timing between them.
If Hiccup pressed the pedal too early, the Night Fury tilted too sharply.
If he released it too late—
They spun.
Which is exactly what was happening now.
"Okay—okay—too much!" Hiccup shouted.
Toothless banked hard to the left while the artificial tail fin stayed open.
The dragon rolled.
The sky and forest swapped places three times in rapid succession.
Hiccup let go of the pedal.
The fin snapped closed.
Toothless flared his wings and leveled out again.
They skimmed just above the treetops before climbing back into open air.
Hiccup laughed breathlessly.
"Still learning!"
Toothless gave a low rumble that sounded suspiciously like agreement.
They glided for a while after that.
Smooth air.
Steady wings.
Hiccup loosened his grip slightly.
"You know," he said, patting the dragon's neck, "this might actually work."
Toothless snorted.
They banked toward the coastline.
The cliffs of Berk rose in the distance, jagged and dark against the ocean horizon.
Hiccup quickly pulled back on the reins.
"Uh—maybe not that direction."
Toothless adjusted course immediately, turning back toward the deeper forest.
They couldn't risk being seen yet.
Not by the village.
Not by the other Vikings.
Above them, far higher in the sky, another dragon glided through the air.
The bat-winged dragon followed at a distance, riding the high currents above the forest canopy.
Her enormous wings barely moved as she circled.
Below her, the Night Fury and the human practiced their strange new partnership.
The human controlled the tail.
The dragon provided the power.
Neither could do it alone.
The bat-dragon tilted her wings slightly as Toothless dove again.
The Night Fury folded his wings and dropped like a falling arrow.
Hiccup's voice carried faintly upward through the wind.
"Okay—okay—this is the part I'm still getting used to!"
The dive ended just above the treetops.
The dragon flared his wings and pulled them back into level flight.
Hiccup laughed again.
Toothless roared happily.
Far above them, the bat-winged dragon circled once more before gliding away toward the cliffs where she roosted.
The Night Fury had returned to the sky.
And the story was moving toward the next part she remembered.
Soon—
The human girl would discover the secret.