The days passed by quickly as Fishlegs and the others got ready. The day of departure had come and the plan was to steal some dragons from the stables after the King and his allies had departed.
"This is inhumane" Ruffnut whispered as they watched, crouched behind some crates in one of the stables, as the dragons were manhandled. The dragons were whimpering as they were being saddled and they flinched when one of the leaders of the trappers passed by.
"Viggo are we ready to go?" Drago asked as he climbed onto a Raincutter.
Viggo nodded. "We have an excess of dragons."
"Leave them. Their hides might be worth something on the market later." Drago muttered as the Grimborn brothers also mounted a dragon.
Soon the royals as well as the trappers were in the air. The people of Haleah watched and cheered them on because that morning King Madine had announced that they would embark on a quest to return the symbol of Hope to the land and usher in an age of peace and prosperity.
"Let's go." Snotlout whispered as the group came out of hiding. The dragons who were left in the stable hissed and growled when they saw them.
"They don't look too friendly." Tuffnut said as he backed away from one of the cages.
"Then let's hope that this works." Fishlegs muttered as he picked up some rocks and approached a snarling Gronckle.
"Hey boy" Fishlegs said as he cautiously inched closer. The Gronckle growled at him then. Fishlegs stopped for a moment. "Are you a girl?" He then asked and then received a softer growl.
"This has officially gotten weird." Snotlout stated as he saw Fishlegs try to bribe the Gronckle with rocks. The gronckle hesitantly approached Fishlegs and sniffed at the rocks before eating them. The Gronckle now seemed calmer and even allowed Fishlegs to give her a scratch. "I think I'll name you Meatlug."
"Can you help us out?" Fishlegs asked to which he received a grunt.
Once he opened the cage Meatlug began licking him.
"Guys, pick a dragon." Fishlegs said as he tried to get the Gronckle off of him.
The twins found a green Zippleback who seemed to have taken a liking to them after they fed the dragon some of the jerky from their packs. They decided after a few headbuts to name the dragon Barf and Belch.
Snotlout ended up with a Monstrous Nightmare that he named Hookfang. The funny part of that encounter was that the dragon and Snotlout ended up negotiating over the amount of fish that Hookfang wanted.
"Now it has gotten weird" Ruffnut mumbled as she watched the exchange.
"For once I agree with you sister."
"Let's get the rest of these dragons free." Fishlegs suggested as the dragons in the stable were now much calmer and stood curiously watching them.
The dragons once free happily took to the sky. Fishlegs, Snotlout and the twins then departed after the royals.
They held on for their dear lives as the dragons climbed higher and higher. Fishlegs had a deathgrip on Meatlug while the twins were cheering and Snotlout was boasting that his plan had worked.
The flight to the Isle of Shadows on dragonback took them almost three to four hours. The twins stared openmouthed at the sight of the island below them.
"So that is why they called it the Isle of Shadows." Tuffnut said as he and his sister observed the dark mist that surrounded the Isle as well as the dark clouds which hovered above.
"That mist is not normal." Ruffnut stated. "That entire island is not normal." Ruffnut shivered as she said this. "It feels like we should not even be here."
"We have come this far." Snotlout said. "Are you not curious as to the plan of the king?"
Ruffnut looked back below at the island and then back at Snotlout before letting out a groan. "Come on. Let's go." She then said as the dragons started to descent.
The isle itself was covered with a jungle. The king and his allies were at the center of the island, in a clearing, where stone ruins lay scattered about. The group hid near the tree line and observed the royals getting ready for the ritual. As night started to fall the torches in the clearing were lit.
Time passed and the preparations were completed done and the kings were just waiting for the moon to rise to start when a high-pitched shriek pierced the air. Snotlout and the others looked up to faintly see a dark blur streak across the night sky.
"That's-" Fishlegs whispered in surprise as they saw the black blur land in the clearing followed by a Nadder and several other dragons. Each dragon had a rider. The group, even at night, immediately recognized the black dragon along with its rider and the Queen seated on the Nadder. The other dragons carried knights dressed in black armor that glistened in the torch light.
"Cease this madness at once!" They heard the Dark Queen order as they dismounted.
The other royals scoffed at her. "Why should we?" The King of Enoth asked condescendingly.
The Queen held her head high. "If you complete that ritual you will unleash an arcane evil upon this world and plunge it into darkness as it had been centuries ago."
Her statement however was met with only laughter.
"Do you think we would believe the words of a Dark one." One of the princes muttered.
"This ritual will bring back our great teacher." Another snarled. "She will lead this world into an age of prosperity."
"She will lead this world into an age of death!" The Queen countered. "There is a reason that she was sealed away so many centuries ago. There is a reason that this island was made inaccessible by conventional means."
"Lies!" King Madine now shouted. "The words of one such as you cannot be trusted! Our teacher was sealed away because the dark practitioners feared her powers."
It was now Astrid's turn to scoff. "She was sealed away to save the world."
"History tells a different story." One of the queens' accompanying their husbands muttered and others agreed with her. "Our great teacher, our ray of Hope Sielihah went missing centuries ago. Stories soon surfaced that the Dark ones banished her to a horrible realm outside of time."
"There is a saying." The Queen muttered. "History is written by the victors. All those centuries ago Sielihah did win even if she was banished. Her followers then put her on a pedestal and used her to condemn those who did not follow the doctrine. But history is not what it seems. I have found scrolls in the catacombs of Forline which tell a much darker history."
Astrid took a deep breath as she unflinchingly stared at the assembled royals. "Many centuries ago when sickness and death swept the lands a beautiful woman appeared who could heal all. What your history does not tell you is the cause of the sickness. A journal entry spoke of something frightening. 'I silently watched from afar and hold my breath as to not be discovered. The healer we have praised is a demon in disguise. She steals the life of many to retain her beauty and sweeps the land with the Red plague. She is nothing but the Red death itself'" Astrid recited.
"Sielihah created the plague so that she could set herself up as a savior." Astrid finally stated to he now silent audience.
"How dare you sully the name of our great teacher!" King Madine suddenly shouted. "This woman is not to be trusted! Dark ones spout only lies!"
"There is a difference between being Dark and being evil!" Hiccup who had stood silently by Astrid's side now shouted incensed. "She is trying to save you all and this is how you treat her!"
"We do not want the help of a Dark practitioner." One of the royals shouted back.
"Hiccup" Astrid said as she motioned for Hiccup to stand down. "We shall take our leave."
"But Astrid-"
"They are digging their own graves." Astrid said as she put a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "It won't matter what I say. They will complete the ritual anyway."
"Yes be gone with you." Drago now spoke up. "And take your lapdogs with you."
Astrid turned once more to the royals and let her magic flow freely. The display of such raw magic had many taking a step back. "You have ignored my warning." Astrid said in an ice cold voice. "You have just dug your own graves and that of your people and for that I pity you. May whatever gods you pray too save you now."
The Queen and her party mounted their dragons once more and took to the sky.
"Why did the Queen not blast them into oblivion?" Tuffnut asked from behind the shrub he hid behind.
"Because this mist cancels out any offensive magic. I had thought it just a rumor but that seemed to have been the case. Even I cannot invoke offensive magic right now. That display of magical power was all she could do in this situation." Fishlegs explained.
After the Dark Queen had left the royals continued with the ritual. Thunder suddenly cracked from the dark clouds as the full moon became visible through them. Magic swirled around the clearing and the ground shook. Suddenly the magic coalesced and formed a swirling portal of dark energy. From the portal the slim figure of a woman emerged. As the portal closed the Fishlegs and the others observed the figure approach the royals. She had flaming red hair and wore a white dress.
"Greetings Sielihah, Savior of the people." King Madine stated and greeted her with a bow. The others soon followed.