King of Shadows HIATUS

Chapter 24

Hiccup was currently wrapped in Toothless' protective cocoon of wings. The dragon has been spooked and refuses to let go of Hiccup. Hiccup doesn't mind, he needed his friend's support. The other dragons in the nest were also spooked, they were currently sitting around them, releasing coos and grumbles of concern. The bewilderbeast was observing them but not saying anything, he was grateful that the gentle giant was giving them time to calm themselves because judging from his grimness, he does not have good news. 

After half an hour, Toothless calmed enough to let go of Hiccup. Hiccup gave Toothless reassuring scratches, it didn't work, Toothless was still concerned. "What happened Hiccup? You smelt like you were injured AGAIN" Toothless said, huffing and puffing, pacing around Hiccup and sniffing him searching for the injury. Once again, he found nothing.

"I don't know bud, I just had this, headache and this ringing in my ears, it hurt so bad" Hiccup said, his voice strained, hoarse form the screaming he must have been doing. There is no way he could stop himself from screaming from that. Toothless whimpered. The bewilderbeast released a huff of cool ice, it is his way of comforting Hiccup. Hiccup shook his hair to shake of the flecks of ice in his hair and gave the giant a smile. 

Hiccup then sat in front of the king with Toothless beside him, he leaned on Toothless for support because he knows the conversation they are about to have not be an easy one. "I am the king of the dragon's in this nest" the giant started, Hiccup simply nodded, not really knowing where this is going, "as such I have the will to give to my subjects and they will obey" Hiccup nodded again, he knew about the mind control kings and queens have over other species of dragons, "because of this ability, I have the knowledge to navigate one's mind, and I would like to use ability on you" 

Hiccup let out a scoff of disbelief, dragons in the mind of other dragons he could understand, it was a form of communication for them, but dragons in the minds of humans?  Humans cannot understand dragons how could their minds connect?, "why would we do that? is that even possible??" Hiccup said in confusion, "from what I know, this headaches and this ringing of yours are all in your head and I would like to remove them as they are causing you harm, as for if it is possible, I do not know, it has never been attempted before, but you can understand us, it is logical to think that you could also connect with me." the bewilderbeast said patiently. 

"You can't do it!" Toothless roared, seeing Hiccup about to agree. Hiccup looked at Toothless confused at his beast friends adamant disagreement, "but Toothless, this could help me" Hiccup said, not understanding Toothless' reaction at all. "He said it's never been done before! something could go wrong, what if you float too far and can't come back?!" Toothless said, very agitated at the possibility. 

It dawned on Hiccup what this is. He wrapped his arms around Toothless' head, scratching his friends chin and muttering reassurances. Hiccup wanted to slap himself for his stupidity, Toothless was a victim of mind control abuse by his former queen, of course he would be against it. "the option is not the best but, buddy, I can't go through that again without knowing why" Hiccup said, his tone pleading and empathetic to what his friends had to go through but adamant in his decision "you said I smell like I'm injured right? what if I actually am? what if the king searching my brain could heal me? I need to do it bud" Hiccup said and Toothless released another huff. 

Toothless was still worried and obviously against it, but he is willing to let Hiccup try. Toothless turned to the king with determination in his eyes, the king looked back with fondness, they had a silent conversation and both were in agreement. 

The king turned to Hiccup, "are you ready, child?" he asked, "yes" Hiccup answered

Hiccup was laying down on a bed of leaves and flowers, Toothless laying down beside him, alert and ready incase something happens. Soon he felt a presence in his mind, it was not invasive, it was soothing and calming, as if asking for permission and not just imposing its will. Hiccup was quite sure this isn't how the queen's mind felt for Toothless. Hiccup closed his eyes and let the presence in and he saw... his garden? a flash of panic flashed through him as he saw the corruption but he was soothed by the presence of the king. 

"why here?" Hiccup asked in his mind, "it seems your garden is your mind, child" a voice answered, and Hiccup started to panic once again, his mind was being corrupted?!?, the presence, undoubtedly feeling his distress, wrapped him in calm and for a second he didn't see his garden, he saw the king's nest, he saw his cove, he saw his friends and he saw Toothless , Hiccup breathed. He was back in the garden, still scared but no longer panicked. 

"what do I do?" Hiccup asked and the presence was gone and he was no longer in the garden. He was back to reality with Toothless crooning and nudging him worriedly. Hiccup gave him pats as he turned to the giant, "I am sorry, Hiccup, I cannot help you" the bewilderbeast said sadly. Hiccup felt his stomach drop, "w-what do you mean? it my mind okay?? am I DYING?!" Hiccup said, getting increasingly manic the more he said. Hiccup's distress fueled Toothless' as well and the black dragon turned to the king, roaring and angry. 

"You said you would help him!" Toothless roared and Hiccup was quite convinced that he was seconds away from blasting the white king. Hiccup stopped Toothless when the dragon build fire in his throat. The owl like dragon that Hiccup often sees but rarely talks with jumped between Toothless and the bewilderbeast, he saw the situation escalating and rushed to protect his king, the other dragons were the same. For a moment, it was a stand off, until the king and brought back order. The dragons of the nest went back to their previous places and Toothless took his place in front of Hiccup. 

Hiccup was silent for a moment, he was waiting for the dragon king to answer his question, was he going to die? 

"I do not know if you are dying, an ailment that is not physical is hard to remedy and even harder to notice" the giant said, Hiccup was slightly incredulous, 'what do you mean you don't know? by what you said it sure sounds like I'm dying' he thought but he stayed silent, his usual quips of humor would do nothing here, but Toothless definitely didn't stay silent, the dragons raged and singed the ground with his purple flame. Hiccup laid a hand on Toothless snout to stop him and the black dragon could do nothing but release an anguished roar.

" I can't help you cure it because something is triggering it, that trigger is stopping me " the giant continued over Toothless' roars. "but, something is trying to cure you" this stopped Toothless' roars, "what do you mean?" Hiccup asked, a flame of hope burning in his chest, "it seems something was counteracting the trigger, the corruption in you mind garden would've been worse otherwise" the giant said

"how can we find out what this trigger is?" Hiccup asked, his mind already rushing to examine any possible possibility, when he heard the news that he might be dying, he was too shocked to feel anything but now that he heard that there was a chance, he shocked right out of his stupor. He will live, he just needs to figure out how. The white dragons let out a sigh, "I cannot help you with that for I do not know, but exposing yourself to the trigger will endanger you and exposing yourself to the cure will counteract the trigger" he said in a defeated tone, "I cannot help you find what is the trigger or what is the cure, all I can do, is determine the time you have before your mind is completely corrupted" 

Hiccup gulped, his blood was pumping, he has a time limit and he would not fail. 

"How long?"

"8 months"