Warning: This chapter will contain graphic and violent material.
- Cassiopeia
PS. For those of you who were wondering, Haikus may or may not be included in the next chapter ;)
*
Ingrid's face unsettled Stoick as she climbed through the forest with a hand filled of rectangle bean pods. The strange creatures before her seemed familiar. They had the same body as a deer that roamed the Berkian forests, but their ears were so long they trailed on the forest ground.
She snapped the bean pods in half and tossed it to the closest deer, who hesitantly sniffed the edge then daintily ate it. Soon the others advanced towards her and were fed bits of broken pods.
When they all seemed friendly enough she climbed on one of the smaller deer's backs.
"You want us to ride these...things?" Spikelout quickly voiced his negative opinion and Stoick's stomach turned with the unsettling glint in her fake smile.
"Unless you want to walk across the Dracones Valley, which is thirty miles across and has dragons as large as your island that will melt you alive, then yes. And lose a few pounds."
Stoick looked down at his heavy furs that had kept him warm through the latter half of this journey, and the weapons that hung at his belt. He looked at the fragile deer and decided it was probably for the best, so he nodded at the others and pulled off his heavy cloak.
The fresh chill of winter rattled his bones and he regretted all the warm air he was losing as he pulled off several fur lined tunics. When there was nothing but a single tunic and a thin undergarment left on his body, he pulled his heavy cloak back on and tried to regain his lost warmth.
Then he pulled one axe and a sword off his belt and wrapped them in his furs. He left the sword across his back and the daggers lining the inside of his belt, just in case. With his discarded weapons wrapped securely in his furs, he walked around and found a small root that was wide enough to shove the bundle over and pull a few fallen branches over.
"Stoick, you get the buck." she pointed to the largest deer that had stars painted on its nose. He walked with gentle footsteps towards the buck, who lazily watched him approach. He reached out his hand and stroked the soft fur that felt like an eagle's feathers.
He mounted the buck like a normal horse, right as the others were mounting as well. Ingrid whistled three quick beats and the deer started to follow her back onto the trail.
They rode a short distance before stopping at the edge of a great valley. It dropped immediately and stretched almost as far as the eye could see, but a glimpse of the sun kept ricocheting into his eyes, so he squinted hard and swore he saw a small outline of a tower in the distance.
His reflexes almost spurted out the stupid question of, "What now?", but he caught his tongue before anything was spoken. In reality he bit his tongue as the deer started to quickly wrap their long ears together and lift themselves into the air.
Their bodies dropped were held almost perpendicular to the ground, except for the small flaps that their tails provided. Stoick threw his arms around the deer's neck and tried not to look at the costly fall that he was doomed to if he fell.
Suddenly he had no love for the silk fur as it made his fear pound against his heart every time the deer's muscles jolted to remain in the air. His fingers slipped and he had to regain his grip before the joints moved again. He doubted it had even been a minute before his fingers started to tire out, but the fear of death was enough to persist any man to power through the journey.
It was a relief to see land again, and he was almost ready to jump off of the flying deer and onto it, yet he made himself wait until the deer had landed and walked several feet from the edge to climb off.
"My lady." The man who bowed, looked extremely short next to the elven guards that stood at least eight or nine feet tall. His platinum hair was plastered to his scalp with hair gel and although he had a healthy figure, the buttons over his chest strained to escape the material's grasp.
Stoick grabbed his sword instinctively and was about to unsheath it, when a heavily accent voice ordered him not to. Where Ingrid was supposed to be standing, an elf with flames whisping around her bare arms glared down at him. Her eyes had turned to slanted slits, with thick eyelashes that had flecks of orange and red in them and on her eyelids. Her face was slender and seemed angled at the perfect points, starting with her ears that extended to almost the length of her head.
The small man looked appalled at the Berkians. "You brought humans?"
The lf gave a cruel smile towards Stoick, and his gut told him to run. "Zhu shuki kesacalaketzu." the man seemed pleased with whatever she told him. "It's time to put our planz into axion. Tventy long yearkz 'ave veen vuilding up to thiz moment, and zoon we will 'ave what we came for."
And despite every instinct telling him to turn around and leave, Stoick followed Ingrid through the snow and towards the large castle.
There might have been a stone path underneath the piles of snow, but it looked like the snow never left. Stone walls that were as tall as his shoulders bordered the pathway they were following, and when he raised his head above them, all he saw was an endless horizon of snow. The only was he was convinced it wasn't a wasteland was the castle standing directly on the edge of the Dracones Valley.
Above the rest of the castle, a tower with two skinny staircases, both suspended in the air and wrapped around to daintily touch two of the four balconies.
"What do you suppose is up there?" Henrik whispered, pointing at the same tower Stoick had been admiring.
"Their Great Hall perhaps?"
"All the way up there?" Spikelout scoffed. "Why don't we ask Ingrid?"
The other three men quickly shushed him. "No." Stoick shook her head. "Don't talk to her unless spoken to. We don't know what else she has hidden from us, or how dangerous she is."
"We know how dangerous she is." Spikelout raised his hand parallel from the ground in Ingrid's direction. "She's an elf."
"And has lived with us for twenty years." Henrik shook his head in disbelief. "I don't understand. How is this possible?"
Spikelout huffed and crossed his arms over his puffed out chest. "You know, I told you not got mess with the Dragon Master. I voted to stand our ground and fight. But no you guys had to get involved and try to reclaim your long lost son and dabble with magic."
"We're doing this for Berk." Stoick snapped, shutting Spikelout's mouth long enough to realize this had nothing to do with helping Berk, and they were long past the point of turning back. "Plus, if I don't make it back, Hiccup will. And he will take over the tribe."
A sense of pride swept over him, imagining his son as chief of Berk. With his granddaughter standing beside him, learning as she grew. And Valka. To see her smile again, hear her legends of magical places and the adventures she had while refusing to remain still. He could almost feel her warm breath on his cheek through the harsh winter winds.
But she had said the elf was her daughter.
Which meant, she was one of them. She had lied to him as well.
"Um Chief?" Gober's familiar voice crept up his shoulder. "Listen, I'va been meaning to talk to you about somet'ing."
"Go ahead." Stoick welcomed his friend to speak his mind, expecting the question of, "What is the plan?"
"Well, not to bring up any bad memories or anything, but," he fiddled with his wooden hand and took a deep breath. "You need to hear this. Really hear this."
"Just spit it out Gober."
Gober's worried glance made Stoick's kind eyes harden slightly. It was a rare occasion when Gober was truly frightened to say something to him. "When you were in the cell with Ingrid and Spikelout, I had the chance to spend some quality time with Hiccup. I saw him working, leading like a true leader, and training people to ride dragons."
"He'd make a great chief."
He tensed up. "Aye chief, he would. But he's not going to be chief."
Stoick stopped in his tracks, and stared straight into his best friend's eyes. "What do you mean?"
Gober's eyes were filled with fright from angering the chief, but slowly a wall of stubborn courage was built over his orbs. "Hiccup isn't a little boy anymore. He's found his place, his calling. The gods chose him to be where he is, with the people who are with him. You can't take him away, and he won't stay wherever you try to chain him. I know you love him, and you want him to come home, but..." he looked down at his feet quickly before raising his head, catching a glimpse of Spikelout and Henrik who were fearing for his life. "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III is no more. Your son is gone. He left the day he jumped on the back of that dragon and flew off for ten years. All that remains is a strong, true leader, Hiccup Daengrus, who deserves to be respected."
And with a strange fire of passion, Gober turned and walked away from a speechless Stoick. Henrik and Spikelout didn't dare to move, and only watched as the elves they were following slowly turn around and question their lack of movement.
"Zhief Zoick? Iz t'ere a problem?" Ingrid's voice snapped him out of his trance and he quickly gathered his remaining pride and composure.
"No, no. Just catching my breath. A bit cold up here, yeah?"
Ingrid shrugged and kept walking, but Stoick felt the stupidity of his question as the other elves passed by in sleeveless tunics.
They walked for another few minutes, before the pointed roofs of wooden houses started to appear through the snow's dust. Their wooden boards were decorated with lavish symbols all painted in a pallet of pastel blues. Children were dancing on rooftops and running across the narrow fences.
In one yard, a little boy was running around with a large blanket flying behind him. He was yelling something that the Berkians couldn't understand, so they simply watched the other children spread their arms out and run around.
In another yard, a group of older children were kicking a ball around, bumping it on elbows, heads, knees, and expertly maneuvering it with their feet. One of them yelled and pointed across the street. Stoick followed their finger and saw an open window with another kid waving her arms around.
The girl who had control of the ball ran around the yard then threw her leg back to kick the ball. Her kick was off, and instead of sailing through the window, it crashed into Ingrid's head, and sent her to the ground.
The town literally froze as they watched Ingrid rub her head and slowly climb back to her feet. Two guards walked forward and seized the girl, forcing her to the ground in front of Ingrid.
Stoick inhaled and involuntarily held his breath. Ingrid glared down at the girl, and carefully examined her. She spoke in the girl's language and waved her hand to allow the girl to stand. Once she was standing, Ingrid grabbed her arm and squeezed it around the bicep before walking slowly around her.
"How old are you?" she asked the girl.
"Twelve, my lady."
Ingrid did not look convinced, and to her credit, Stoick knew the girl was lying. Her face was almost void of any babyfat and her eyes were beginning to show their natural highlights, that the other women were seen to have. Her chest was developed, and her figure was filling out. And she reached Ingrid's shoulders in height.
"Twelve?" she asked again, and the girl nodded hesitantly, staring straight into her eyes. "You parents were smart to teach you how to act like you're not lying. But not smart enough to know that to act a lie, is not a convincing lie." she snapped her fingers and the guards grabbed her arms again, and started to drag her off.
The girl started pleading and yanking her arms away from the guards.
"Please my lady, she is not fifteen yet." a man hastily walked up to Ingrid and dropped to his knees immediately. "She has not even bled yet."
"I don't care if she's bled yet." Ingrid waved it off with an eye roll. "Honestly it's just a nuisance. However if you claim she is that young," Ingrid snapped her fingers and one of the guards unsheathed his sword and ran it through the girl. "Then I have no need for her."
"Vulmaer!" the man cried and ran towards her as the guards released her body and let her royal blue blood stain the snow. Two other guards however grabbed the man and forced him down, while a third stabbed a needle into his back and injected a bright purple fluid.
"Gather the villagers, I want them all lined up here. Anyone who is not fit to fight, get rid of them." The order itself isn't what sent a violent shiver down Stoick's spine, as a group of guards eliminated the other elves playing ball. It was the tone of her voice. It's wasn't a cool emotionless voice, as if she was trying to wall up any emotions. It had a cruel smirk to it, a hint of enjoyment as royal blue blood spilled over the ground.
And this time, Stoick ran.
But before he could get out of her sight, she called out to him as a spear was plunged into the throat of a small child. "Ztoick, that elvf your zon was hanging out with the queen of Moonlire. When you see her next, make sure you tell her what happened."
*
Hiccup finished rolling up his bedroll and strapped it to Toothless' saddle.
"Morning." Astrid leaned against Toothless' body and smiled at her husband, who gave her a quick smile before opening his saddlebag. "Good morning." she repeated.
"Morning m'lady." he quickly said, looking her way again for another smile.
She shook her head and grabbed his shoulders so he was forced to pause his movements and look back at her. "Breathe."
"Oh, right." he sheepishly chuckled and took a deep breath, then kissed her. "I'm just so excited. We're finally going to meet the Father Dracones. The dragon that created all dragons!"
"And you'll never make it there if you don't take a moment to breath!" Astrid laughed, shaking her blonde hair out of her face. "We're going to get there, but first, I think you should make sure everyone else is with you."
He raised an eyebrow to her, and quickly counted everyone in the group. "Everyone is here, are we missing someone?"
"Not physically." she titled her head to the left, and Hiccup followed the invisible line that led directly to Nikolai. "Tell me, since when has your sister found a new friend to wreck havoc with and instead opts to sit by a dragon staring off into space?"
Nikolai was leaning against Shockwave's body and facing the massive trunk of one of the trees so her back was towards the group. She barely moved, even when she breathed or blinked, it was a boring sight.
"Never."
"Good, I thought I was going crazy." she pushed her body off of Toothless and nudged him towards Nikolai. "Go talk to her."
"Why me?"
"Why not?"
Hiccup sheepishly shrugged. "I don't know, maybe she doesn't want to talk. I mean its a lot to take in, she hasn't been here since she was fifteen, she just met a close friend of hers."
"I don't remember her acting like this when she met you and I." Astrid argued and grabbed his chin. "Are you trying to avoid talking to her?"
Confusion washed over Hiccup's face and she knew he wasn't lying when he said, "No I'm not. I just think that the right person should go over."
"You're her brother."
"Human brother."
"Hiccup." Astrid pushed and he quickly nodded.
"Alright, alright I'll go over." he kissed her cheek and walked over to the tree. Shockwave raised his head to see who was approaching, then laid it back down on his front legs. "Hey Niki." he gave a small wave and awkwardly stood while waiting for an invitation to sit beside her.
His greeting seemed to startled her, though she didn't make any sudden movements, instead she took a few seconds longer to respond. "Are we leaving soon?" She gently asked then picked up her staff like she already knew the answer.
"No, not quite yet." He correct her assumption and sat down next to her. "I just wanted to spend a little, brother sister time, you know? We haven't done that much lately."
She have a quick smile. "Yeah I know. Being here makes it a little difficult though."
"Well we don't exactly have to spend an entire day flying around new islands. We can just spend a few minutes talking."
Niki smiled and arched her eyebrows at him. "And what are we going to talk about?"
"Oh I don't know." He shrugged. "What about some stories from when you were little?"
She picked up a twig and examined the sides before poking the top with her finger. "Training, training, more training."
"That can't be all you ever did!"
"Life of a Rouge Moon Hicky." Niki poked his arm.
"Would you stop calling me that!"
Niki snickered. "Oh fine I guess only Astrid can call you that."
Hiccup's face turned a bright scarlet red and he dove into his hands. "Nikolai!" Niki's laugh was merciless as she clutched her stomach and threw her head against Shockwave's back. As her laughter slowly fell, he decided this would be the best time to ask her. "Nikolai, are you okay?"
She gave him a weird look then quickly laughed again. "Why would you ask that?"
"Well before I came over you seemed pretty quiet."
She shrugged. "It's early in the morning."
"Nikolai." All humor has vanished from his voice and her looked at her straight through her eyes. "I'm being serious. Something is wrong."
He expected her to deny it, or lash out with 'So that's why you came over' but she didn't. Instead she pulled her knees against her chest and sighed. "I'm fine." She simply said, but Hiccup sensed there was something more. Something she couldn't put into words, something she didn't want to. Whatever the issue was, it was chewing at her, and she wanted him to see it. See that she was struggling, but understand her inability to confess it.
"Are you sure? I mean I'm your brother, you can tell me anything."
Niki's eyes bore pain as she looked back at him then shook her head. "I'm fine." She repeated then rested her head into if her knees.
Hiccup took this as his invitation to leave, so he gently stood up and walked away.
"Well," Astrid asked him when he walked over to Stormfly. "What did she say?"
"Something is wrong with her." He said. "But she couldn't tell me."
"What do you mean she couldn't tell you?"
"Well she didn't lie about something being wrong, she didn't even try to hide it. It was like she wanted to tell me, but something was holding her back."
"Hm." Astrid pondered for a moment. "Well we can't force her to tell us, but there are other ways to figure it out. She pointed out last night that Kaeytlyn and Mala knew a specific reason to something. They probably know what's going on, so we can ask them."
"Let's wait first. I don't want to rush Nikolai. If she hasn't told us in the past ten years, it obviously isn't that important and can wait a few more days."
"If that's what you want to do." Astrid shrugged. She wasn't convinced it was the smartest decision, but at least he knew she would respect it enough to follow it.
"Alright gang," he called out to the other riders. "it's time to go. Get on your dragons."
The Dragon Riders threw strapped the last of their supplies to the dragons' saddles and mounted them to the sky.
The wind pushed Hiccup's bangs aside and wrapped itself around his body like a soft blanket. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling completely at peace with the gentle breeze and Toothless' wings beating against his legs. "Everything's going to be okay." he barely whispered to himself then patted Toothless' back. "Let's go Bud."
"'Ey Mr. Hiccup." Kaeytlyn's voice shouted. "Might I advise something before we fly for too long."
Toothless turned around, but Hiccup had to bite his lip in order not to laugh as the fearless Kaeytlyn made quick and nervous glances at the ground while tightly wrapping her arms around Niki's waist. "Yes?"
"Is that his actual name?" she asked Niki. "Like is it hiccup," she quickly made the noise then asked, "Or is it Hiccup?"
"It's Hiccup. I thought it was ridiculous too, but you get used to it."
"Niki, Kaeytlyn." His voice snapped like a pair of fingers. "What did you need to tell me?"
"Right." Kaeytlyn flipped her thick braid over her shoulders. "After the forest ends, you'll want to fly at medium height. The next elven tribe is Daventia, home of the Carless Breaths. If you don't know, they have wings so their city is in the air. They still have farms on the ground though, so just be careful at the height you fly."
"Good to know."
"Should we put on our disguises?" Tuffnut suggested.
Fishlegs was one of the many who gave them a werid look. "Your what?"
"Our disguises." he promptly repeated. "You know how Niki has a human disguise, we have an elf disguise."
"Oh um no I don't think that's necessary." Hiccup said.
"Give them a chance Hiccup, they're actually pretty good." Niki said.
He rolled his eyes at her. "I don't trust any disguise you say is good Nikolai."
"Suit yourself. I did make you a pair, but I guess we can just give these custom fur lined ears to someone else." Ruffnut pulled out two wooden ears with pointed tips. "Here bro, these are yours."
Tuffnut grabbed his pair and carefully slide them over his ears. From a distance they looked surprisingly legit. "They're very comfortable. If you have the fur lined ones at least."
"Yeah my first pair didn't have fur in them and our ears were raw by the end of the day." Ruffnut slide on her own pair. "I made a pair for all of you, sorry the Berkians don't have fur lined ones, I didn't have the time to do that or custom fit them. But the others should fit perfectly."
Hiccup hesitated to grab his pair, and gave each of his trusted leaders a questioning glance. "Hiccup, I would suggest you take them." Mala coaxed him into agreeing. "It could end up being very useful."
"You know, we all tried your moss earplug thingys. Why can't you give our experiment a try?" Ruffnut huffed. "I spent a long time making these."
"Alright I guess I wouldn't hurt." he agreed.
One by one the Dragon Riders flew by the Twins and collected their ears. The wooden ears were not what Hiccup had expected. The wood was light, and only grew lighter towards the long tips. They had intricate engravings carved on the side and he noticed while helping Astrid put her ears on, they were all unique. While Astrid had gold and scarlet red markings carved into crisp flames, his were lines shaped in segments to mimic Toothless' tail. When Astrid put them on his own ears, they slid on like soft silk and the fur kept them in place without moving too much. A wooden piece in the front wrapped around his ear to meet another piece in the back, but he barely noticed it, even up in the sky with the steady breeze.
"These are incredible Ruffnut." Heather exclaimed. "How did you make all of these?"
"And to fit so exact." Astrid added.
"Didn't you know?" Tuffnut laughed. "Ruffnut is an acclaimed carpenter. She made all of our hut's furniture. You should see our plates, they're beautiful."
Hiccup adjusted his ears. "But how did you get our measurements?"
The Twins' wicked smirk made him immediately regret asking that question. "Well, we didn't need you guys to be awake. And with Niki's quiet feet, it was easy as cake."
"Thank you for asking Hiccup." Astrid tolled her eyes. "Now I'm going to sleep with a dagger in my hand for whenever they try it again."
"You already sleep with one."
She smiled. "Then I'll sleep with another. I'll get both of them that way."
Kaeytlyn cackled. "I love this group. Some are cuter than Heline Deer, others are almost as deadly as me."
"Almost?" Dagur scoffed. "I could beat you any day."
Instead of returning the offense Kaeytlyn crossed her arms and looked him over. "I'd say you would have a fair chance against me. I mean you'd probably fight hard enough that I could let you win and it would be believable."
"Well I've been doing it for twenty years so obviously he believes it," Niki laughed as Dagur rolled his eyes.
"Now, now, let's not forget the times Dagur crushed you Nikolai, in archery." Mala placed her hands on Dagur's shoulders who smiled proudly at his queen.
"I'll give him credit for that, but it still took him several years to do that." she shrugged, then quickly added to Kaeytlyn, "I should note that when he does beat me, it is with my own bow, not their flimsy wooden ones."
"Whatever you have to tell yourself." Dagur shot back. Niki glared at him and stuck out her tongue. "Mature." he replied then stuck his own tongue out.
Hiccup shook his head. "I have a child for a sister."
*
They continued to press through the skies despite their rear ends being extremely sore from the long flights. Their only form of entertainment besides Snotlout's constant attempts to steal Heather or Ruffnut's hearts with his flirtatious personality, was the continuation of Ruffnut's training.
Since landing in Monrides, Mala didn't have the time to focus solely on her training, and instead squeezed in small pointer tips when she could. With the long flights though, she had spent practically ever minute hammering down the basics.
"Your abilities right now are based on instinct. You can only use them when you don't even think about it. What we need to work on is being able to use them on command." she explained, and for once Ruffnut seemed to be taking in every word being told to her.
Yesterday they had worked on shifting the winds' directions and tracing wind patterns. Today it took about an hour of constant coaxing and serious concentration from Ruffnut to regain some control of her abilities on command. Then Mala set her to work with mixing two wind temperatures.
As interesting as the idea was, the execution was rather unimpressive and once again left the riders bored out of their minds.
"Are we there yet?" Snotlout complained, lounging back in his saddle and dangling his arms and legs from Hookfang's back.
Kaeytlyn looked down at the ground and started to answer but Mala quickly shushed her. "Ruffnut, how far are we?"
Ruffnut opened one eye and released her hands. The only evidence she was actually doing something was the small hush of wind they all received. She squinted her eyes into the distance. "Not far. So stop complaining Snotlout!"
And their destination needed no introduction.
As they approach it, the winds pick up and push down on the dragons' wings and throw their riders over their heads. The land dropped into a steep decline and the valley stretched further than what their eyes could see. The forest that had not been cut down for farmland had trees growing on the side of the valley and sticking over the edge for yards. A small stream tumbled into the abyss, evaporating before it could even hit the bottom.
"If you squint you can see the tip of Moonlire's castle." Niki pointed across the valley, and only a few were able to catch the small glint of light that were being reflected.
"So what do we do now?" Hiccup asked.
The answer was caught in her throat. "I-I don't know. I never have gone into the Dracones Valley before."
"Have you met the Father Dracones before?"
"No."
"Yes." Kaeyltyn corrected while Niki swirled her head around and hissed.
"Kaeytlyn."
She glared back at her. "What? It's valuable information."
"You know, we don't have time to wait around for him, let's go find him." Niki suddenly declared and Shockwave dove off the edge.
Hiccup gave his wife a pointed look. "What do you guys say?"
Tuffnut's voice was completely covered in the excitement of seeing action once more. "Are you asking us if we want to follow our honorary Nutt-sister into an abyss of eternal darkness that stretches further than the eye can see, that could be highly dangerous and 100% exhilarating to track down a monstrously huge dragon?"
"Because if it is my friend, you should know us better than that by now." Ruffnut chuckled.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Snotlout shouted. "Hookfang dive!"
Hiccup lived for the trill that deep dives gave him. The acceleration that rushed through his stomach, the breath ripped from his lungs only to regain seconds later, the sting in his eyes. But even after years of that thrill, this drop made him feel a lump of dread in his throat as Toothless rose up then dropped into a steep dive.
The light started to fade slightly, and Hiccup feared they would soon be elapsed into complete darkness, but when the surface light started to fade, huge fires embedded in deep side caves made up for.
They dove for nearly half a minute before landing on the gravel floor. Lights were lowly humming, but it seemed darker than what it should as the clouds above slowly rolled in.
Hiccup felt nearly as breathless as he had after exiting the portal, but unlike that, he felt an excitement to repeat the drop.
"So where do we go now?" He asked Niki who was looking around nervously.
"I'm not sure. It's been at least a hundred years since an elf or human has been in the valley besides at the crossroad. In reality it could've been the Original Elemental Queens that did."
"We could split up." Dagur looked at both ends of the valley.
"Not with that storm coming in." She pointed to the clouds. "You may think Berk has harsh winters, but those are Moonlire's autumn weather. We should stick together and once that first snow hits, stop and take shelter in one of those caves."
"Then which direction should we fly?"
"Not sure, but our best bet would be to fly North." She pointed to the left. "Legends say that's where their nests are."
The storm was slow, and that allowed the riders to fly for another hour before the snow started to lightly fall.
"Niki, it's starting to snow." Ruffnut called put fiercely rubbing her arms. "And getting cold."
"We're not far." She called back.
Fishlegs has to shove his maps back into his bag and replace them with thick furs. "How can we be a certain distance from something, if we don't have a destination?"
"We can't." Hiccup replied. "Nikolai!"
"No it's just up ahead, I can feel it." She shouted back. There was something in her gut pushing her to keep flying. To fly through the storm, and beyond. Something was out there.
"We can keep flying tomorrow, we have to, Nikolai!"
She only saw the large metal doors after her shoulder crashed into it. A shock of cold snap ran through her body and almost froze her blood. Wind tumbled around her, tossing her like a rag doll until Toothless grabbed her and flew into one of the caves.
"Nikolai what were you thinking?" Mala snapped at her, droplets of water fell from her short hair.
"There was something out there." She muttered, giving a violent shake that dispersed any chill in her body.
"You practically headbutted it!" normally Dagur would be laughing at his own comment, but he wasn't. Instead he had a rare voice of caution and sorrow. "Shockwave's wing was burned off by that thing."
"Wait what?" Niki jumped up and ran over to her fiance's dragon, and dropped to her knees beside the torn wing. She tried to touch it, but Shockwave roared and lightning bolts flickered at the tip of his wing. It was burned nearly to his body, and the skin was still bright as a fire where it was sheared. "Kaeytlyn." She breathed then looked up at her. "It exists."
Kaeytlyn looked from the dragon's wing to Niki's unscathed shoulder. "Mother of Ling."
"What is it? What exists?" Fishlegs eagerly asked.
Before Kaeytlyn or Niki could answer, a deafening roar crashed over the valley, echoing off of every surface and multiplying its sound. Everyone clutched their ears, and threw their heads between their legs in attempt to deafen the sound. Strong gusts of wind tunneled into the cave and forced everyone to clutch the sides of the wall.
"What was that?" Hiccup tried to yell out, but he couldn't be heard through the noises. The small gap between the fire was suddenly blocked, but when the final gust of wind ended, Hiccup jumped up and ran to the cave's entrance.
The wings couldn't even be sized, in fact it was difficult to imagine anything besides the ocean that was large enough to compare against the Father Dracones. Even island were not big enough. His eyes might have been orange, but he couldn't exactly tell, but the clouds made his scales seem like a bright grey with small stripes of a marble blue.
The other riders followed to the mouth of the cave and stared at amazement at the creature. It was breathtaking to behold, and Hiccup lost any sense of reason. Instead staring upon the creature and marveling at its features.
But then it was all gone. A mist of delicate snow surrounded him, and all that was left was an elderly man. He sat down peacefully on the valley's floor, brushing his long beard and staring at them through his narrow and slanted eyes.
"Come down." he beckoned them, waving the winds and snow away from a snug circle for them to sit in. The Dragon Riders mounted their dragons and quickly sat down. "Why are you here?"
"Oh, um, your majesty..."
"Don't call me that."
"Oh ok, um, I'm..."
"Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III of Berk..."
"It's Daengrus."
The Father Dracones arched his eyes then looked at Niki who sheepishly leaned out of his sight. "Nikolai, you are ignorant to the consequences that secrets can have." She didn't say anything in response. "Hiccup Haddock..."
"It's Daengrus."
"It's Haddock and please don't argue with me." his voice was sharp and he eyed them all like he was still a mighty dragon capable of burning their flesh into ashes. "You cannot hide from your family, nor your path that fate has set for you. However you are not here to argue about family names and paths of fate, nor would I entertain such a discussion. You are here for something else."
"In the mortal realm, a man named Dragon Bloodvist has been terrorizing the archepligo, burning villages, enslaving people." Mala started to explain.
"I will not help you defeat some mortal."
"We believe this person has magic."
He eyed her carefully before closing his eyes. "Your assumption is the truth Athena. But your answer is not. I will not help you defeat this Drago Bloodvist. He is not who your true quarrel is with, and you have all the resources you need, you just need to discover them."
"My people are dying. We don't have a cure for it, they are enslaved by him. If we don't get the cure for this magical disease I will lose my pack, the Elemental Queens will lose the Defenders of the Wing, which has protected them since their creation."
The Father Dracones was silent for awhile. "I will help you by giving you the cure for your people. That disease is a monstrosity that was created from the soul of my dead wife. Years ago a woman named Ingrid came and slayed my wife, and brought her body to her master. Together they created terrible but powerful potions to terrorize the realms with."
"The Reckless Sun Elf?" Niki asked.
"The one that started all your troubles Nikolai Daengrus? Yes, that would be her." he nodded. "This disease you speak of can only be healed one way, and I have that way. I shall give you the cure, but no other help."
"But we need your help." Astrid jumped up. "We have traveled all this way so that we could have you help us bring peace to our world."
"Serafina, peace is a fragile thing that simple is a weak facade to cover up selfish corruption. It is in the nature for every civilization to fall, and I have vowed to keep out of it."
Snotlout huffed. "So what is exactly your job?"
"My job is to ensure that the core truth of pure magic and the Elemental Queens remains alive. That the elements remain balanced, and the dragons alive. I am here to keep war out of areas that war should not be, but I do not fight wars to achieve that. Violence with violence, only leads to more destruction. Isn't that so, Nikolai Daengrus?"
"Occasionally." she stiffly replied.
He nodded. "Now, you all have traveled a long way, and this storm is dangerous. Since you are clearly the friends of dragons, you may stay in one of these caves. I shall also fix that dragon's wing up there. As long as you do not touch the door again."
"If I may." Fishlegs quietly peeped up.
"You may."
"What is that door?"
The Father Dracones seemed pleased to have that question asked. "Oh, that is a very interesting door, created by the original Elemental Queens when they first arrived on the land. That is where they discussed the beginnings of Xedous and created their elven and werewolf species. Now, Nikolai Daengrus and Kaeytlyn Starzt will have to fill you in on why the door reacted the way it did. Since none of you have seemed to notice, that Nikolai's arm is untouched. Keep that in mind Nikolai."
He stood up and brushed off his cloak of white scales, and smoothed his beard out. "I will begin working on the cure for you Athena. You may stay until the cure is completed, but I would suggest using this time to do some digging in the history section of your books. There will be a long period of turmoil for you all in the upcoming future, you must know the weapons you have to defeat it."
*
"Son."
Hiccup rolled over and brought his hand over his ear. "Mom, no, I'm tired." he mumbled.
"Hiccup-Astrid I'm sorry that is not what it looked like-Hiccup!"
He groaned loudly and sat up, expecting to see Astrid with an axe blade pressed against Snotlout's neck. "What is ..." his eyes widened as he saw the edges of his father's large helmet, heavy fur cloak, and massive red beard quivering behind Astrid's flaming daggers.
"What is all this noise? I'm trying to get my beauty sleep!" Snotlout said. Hiccup tried to form a response, but he couldn't even think of a single word to say to the group of Berkians. "Dad?" Snotlout yelled.
"Hiya buyo." Spikelout gave a cheery wave to his son, which vanished within seconds. "Could you tell your ex girlfriend to not kill our chief?"
"Ex-Girlfriend?" Astrid's voice rose steadily to a ferocious yell as she lunged at him, but Mala grabbed her stomach and pulled her back before any serious harm could be done.
"W....W.....How-Why can't you just take no for an answer!" he finally yelled, throwing his arms out.
"What are you talking about Hiccup?" Stoick asked, relieved that Astrid's flaming daggers had been removed from his face.
"You're here to steal me away again so I can come rule as chief in your village!"
"Well...no."
Hiccup was caught short. "Wait what?"
"No." Stoick gave a nervous chuckle. "No we aren't here to kidnap you. We are here for a completely different reason."
"Yeah." Gober walked around the sleeping figures. "S'e ain't 'ere 'toick."
"Who are you looking for?"
"The elf you were hanging around." Stoick answered, adjusting his belt and sweeping around the sleeping figures himself, just to make sure Gober was correct.
Hiccup stepped in front of his father. "Now you're just going to terrorize my sister?"
Stoick shook his head and grasped both of Hiccup's shoulders and swallowed. "Listen son, we have seen something."
Hiccup arched an eyebrow and stared back at his father, unconvinced this was something worth following them into the Dracones Valley and waking them from their sleep for. "You saw something?"
"Hiccup listen. It's like nothing you've ever seen before."
"Oh did the Father Dracones give you a greeting?"
"Hiccup this isn't the time for sarcasm."
"Then what is it time for? Listening to you overreact to everything you've seen?" Hiccup tossed off his father's hands. "Oh no I've seen a whole village of elves. Someone was using magic. A squirrel had sparkly fur."
Gober walked over and politely pushed Stoick to the side. "'iccup, we followed Ingrid-Astrid's mot'er-into the portal. 'en we traveled for a week to cross the Dracones Valley. We reac'ed t'e elven kingdom of...um I ain't sure w'at it's called. But anyways, Ingrid turned into an elf."
"Wait." Fishlges interrupted Gober. "Didn't the Father Dracones mention something about an evil elf named Ingrid?"
"There is not way that's possible." Astrid scoffed at the idea, but Stoick pressed for the story.
"What did he say?"
Hiccup shrugged. "I-I don't know. Something about the elf killing his wife and using the soul to create dangerous and powerful magic?"
Stoick and Gober looked at each other. "Hiccup." Gober quickly said. "Whether Ingrid is that elf or not, she is an elf. She is dangerous, and she has set a trap for the elf you were traveling with."
"Nikolai?"
"Um...she just said the elf you were traveling with, and that she was the queen of Moonlire." Spikelout lazily added.
"That's Nikolai." Mala jumped up and looked around the cave, as if the other two men hadn't already. She cused loudly then started throwing her supplies together. "She's not here and neither is Kaeytlyn. They most likely left in the middle of the night."
Hiccup blinked a few times. "Nikolai isn't a queen. Maybe it was Kaeytlyn?"
"Hiccup." Mala sighed. "There was a lot your sister never told you. But believe me, I'm not lying when I say she was the queen of Moonlire. And if Ingrid is bringing her into a trap, it could be detrimental. Ingrid knows what she's dealing with, she'll know Nikolai's weaknesses and will have enough strength to overpower her."
"Then we need to go after her." Heather threw her cloak on and strapped her double ended axe to her back.
Hiccup's mind was still processing the information that was being thrown at him, but he still agreed to the plan. He adjusted Toothless' tail and jumped onto his back. "Are you coming with us?" he asked his father.
"Yes we will." Stoick agreed. "Your dragons are faster than our...flying deer." he nodded towards the cave's opening where three Heline Deer stood. One of them was curiously sniffing and licking Snotlout's face.
He looked at Toothless and silently shrugged, coaxing his dragon into allowing Stoick onto his back. "You can try to ride Toothless. He can only take so much weight though and he might not let you."
Stoick nodded and nervously stretched out his hand to touch Toothless' nose. Toothless glared at the chief and snorted before letting him touch his nose and climb on.
"I'mma, not great a flyin'." Gober sheepishly admitted. "I'll stay 'ere and watc' over y'er stuff for yer."
"Thanks Gober." Hiccup said, then led the others out of the cave and into the sheets of rain.
The rain froze on their skin, and soaked their cloaks. With blurry vision, it was up to Toothless to track their direction and communicate with the other dragons. It was a strange thought, that the dragons seemed to know exactly where they were going, and if there was not a storm present, there would be little need for any direction.
Toothless weaved himself around the castle's ice structure, and Hiccup manage to catch a quick glimpse of his reflection before diving towards the ground. "Where is she Bud?" he yelled, holding an arm up to block most of the ice from blinding him.
Toothless roared in reply and dropped to a lower altitude, but a sudden smell made Hiccup's stomach turn and a revolting liquid threaten to spill out of his mouth. It was like a large store of Astrid's yaknog left to rot, combined with Snotlout not bathing for several months on end.
"What is that smell?" Hiccup yelled back to his dad.
"It's what happened when we escaped." Stoick started to explain while piles started to appear. Hiccup's eyes widened as he saw the piles of bodies lining the streets. Old and young alike were tossed to the ground, staring with this eyes wide open and pools of royal blue blood were frozen to their skin and the snow. "Ingrid gave an order to execute all elves not fit enough to fight."
"But why-"
"HICCUP!" Astrid's voice tore through the air, and Toothless reacted in a split second, driving his wings to the location of her voice.
*
All the moisture left her mouth, replaced with dry wretched dirt sticking to her throat in great suffocating clumps. Air stopped cycling through her body and her blood seemed to still, but not inside of her. Instead it had disappeared from her body and flowed into the snow, like the small rivers she used to make on a day down by the lakes with her father. It was a blind reminder as her knees released tension and screamed when they harshly collided with the ground, but her mind did not register it.
She saw arms stretch out to catch her, but she fell right through them, falling to the ground in one solid drop. Her eyes glazed over with a cloudy grey mist, but she didn't blink, because she didn't feel the pain, she couldn't feel it through the mountains of sorrow. She just let those mountains press her into the snow, a frozen coffin right beside her failures.
How fitting was it, that they would lay there for all eternity, mocking her as they entered through the fates of Valhalla, leaving her behind.
Someone was talking in the background, but she didn't register the voice. It was muffled, like a cruel hallucination in the back of her mind.
I underestimated you. I admired your will to survive for so long, but look at you now. Look at what you did to these people. And it's all, you, fault.
A knife sliced so deep in her arm it rubbed against her bone. Then the other arm was sliced open.
Niki looked at all the people laying on the streets, some brave enough to stare right up into the rain, some huddled under banks of snow. They were right, this was her fault.
*
The flame in Hiccup's sword was smothered the moment he unsheathed it. Astrid's heavily covered skin was already pink and raw. Heather's mind was clouded and rapidly losing focus. And Ruffnut, although her powers went as strong as the others, she still felt some of her muscles beginning to not function as smoothly.
Mala cursed herself for not seeing the signs, for jumping forward without seeing the trap. The freezing rain cursed all of them, except for Niki. But she didn't need rain in order to fall, or a cell of metal.
All power comes with a price, and for the Elemental Queens, that was a heavy weakness to some element. Astrid's skin burned raw from the exposure to water that was not first heavily sedated with moondust. Heather couldn't breathe above the surface of water, but too much means too much oxygen and her mind stops to function. Ruffnut's muscles would start to freeze up from the cold.
Mala twisted her katana backwards and focused on the elf charging towrads her with a mace attached to a chain. An odd weapon, she dully noted while quickly enhancing some of her features to match the elf's .
She waited for the elf to run close to her, before ducking underneath the mace and rolling to the side. The mace slammed down beside her extended leg and she had to jump aside to avoid the next swing. She swung her katana but the chain snatched it out of her hands and several feet away.
She watched the chain and his footwork. When it swung past her she threw her knee into the middle of his back and grabbed the chain. The chain's momentum swung towards her and she pulled it towards them. The mace swung around and she ducked to avoid the impact, but the elf dropped the mace and jumped out of the diameter.
The mace landed right next to her head, several of the spikes rolling against the side of her head and the elf's silver dagger was launched towards her. Mala rolled to her side and jumped to her knees when the elf jumped on top of her and knocked her wind out.
With flailing arms and a panicking mind, she grabbed the knife right as it scraped her forehead. There was a moment of barely any movement as she pushed against the knife as the elf slowly shoved all his weight onto it. The point of the knife was pressing deep into her forehead, like a needle pin burrowed underneath the skin. She grunted, trying to kick her legs are around but finally grunted and yelled, "DAGUR!"
Not even a moment later, the weight was pulled off of the knife and a battle axe sliced straight through the elf's stomach. Dagur's face was almost entirely covered in blood, both scarlet red and royal blue.
"How bad?" he asked as he pulled her up.
"I'll manage." she wiped the blood off on her sleeve and stooped down to grab her katana. "Let's go." They both gave each other a quick nod and charged at the other elves.
Astrid was knocked to the ground, her heavy breathing and grunting could be heard over the sound of metal clashing. The elf raised her sword, but Hiccup quickly blocked it with his extinguished inferno blade. Mala ran over and threw off the perry, knocking the elf to the side. She attacked relentlessly, blow after blow. The sound of their metal colliding only fueled her attacks, as she twirled and locked their blades. She yanked and the elf's sword fell out of her hands.
The elf instantly twirled around and lunged with a sword. She caught the blade with a glance and survived with a major cut in her arm. As the elf retreated her blade Mala grabbed their hand and snapped it, thrusting the blade into the elf's stomach.
Kaeytlyn's voice yelled out, and Mala pulled the sword out and locked blades with another elf. Her muscles buckled, but she kept a strong hold on her katana as she made a perry and blocked the sword from slashing Heather.
Their blades went right then left, Mala twirled and the elf jumped. She took a deep lung to the right and swiped at the legs, and the elf jumped over it like a jump rope, but not before Kaeytlyn threw an axe handle into their back and knocked them unconscious.
"How long are you going to let this go on!" Kaeytlyn yelled at Ingrid.
She shrugged, crossing her arms and examining all the damage and destruction. "Until I have what I want."
"And what is that?"
"Stand down and I'll tell you."
"We can't do that if you don't call off your guards." Mala grunted as Dagur threw his axe between two clashed swords.
Ingrid waved her hand and the elves stopped moving. The others still standing slowly drew their weapons away and backed off. "I need four things. That's it. You there." she snapped her fingers and pointed at Heather, who had a large gash on her leg. The elf closest to her took a knife and sliced her ear, letting the blood drip into a vial.
At the same time an elf grabbed for Ruffnut, but she and Tuffnut were quick to react and shoved them to the ground. But another one came up from behind her and sliced her leg. Ruffnut cursed loudly and threw a rock at the elf, who easily dodged it and gave the vial to Ingrid.
Mala tensed up and gripped her katana. "You're not getting mine." she said as the others teamed up beside her, reading their weapons.
"There's no need for that." Ingrid shook her head and grabbed Astrid's arm. When Dagur jumped forward to attack her, Ingrid simply said, "Don't worry. I already had Astrid's years ago. It was the others that I needed. Now Protector, give me your blood, or she loses her eyes."
A black mist started to form in Ingrid's outstretched hand and peered over the edges like an old soup broiling. With the little energy left in her, Astrid gripped her mother's arm and grunted, "No, Mala, don't."
But Hiccup, restrained by one of the elves loudly disagreed. "No you can't! Mala just give it!"
Mala looked between the two and bit the inside of her cheek. She stared at Niki, laying motionless on the ground. Mala screamed at her in her head, hoping that Niki would awaken and hear her cry for help. Just a single movement and Ingrid could be killed.
Then there was a spark coming from her body. Mala felt the stir of slight emotion and the ice forming around Niki's fingers.
"You'll have to fight me for it." Mala raised her katana then let out a great battle cry. The Dragon Riders and Berkians charged towards Ingrid, who's eyes widened as Niki jumped up and shoved a piece of ice through her stomach.
Ingrid's body shattered, but the shards of ice simply blew aside to reform into Ingrid's true body. Dagur stuttered, clutching the ice spike as his knees slowly set him on the ground.
"Oops." Ingrid raised her eyebrows in amusement then nodded at one of the elves who sliced Mala's arm as she stood awestruck at her husband's body falling to the ground. The mist in Ingrid's hands rose and they twisted into Astrid's eyes.
Astrid screamed and clutched her eyes as they faded from their magnificent sapphire blue to a dead grey white.
"Wish your father well for me." she told her daughter.
As Ingrid started to walk away with a sickening saunter to it, she paused and turned back around to look at Niki who was staring in disbelief at the ice spike she had thrusted into Dagur's stomach. "Mistake after mistake. Daengrus, won't you ever learn when to quit playing my game?" She unsheathed a knife and sliced through Niki's platinum hair, letting the strands scatter onto the ground. "When you play my game, you win or die. And I when I make the rules, I've already won."
Words: 9446
*
Hey guys! Sorry for delay in releasing the chapter, but wow this was a long one! Let me know if anything isn't exactly clear and I'll try to fix it, I just wanted to get this chapter out as soon as possible. Thanks for your support!
-Cassiopeia