HELLO EVERYONE. A BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SENT ME NOTES AND MESSAGES GIVING ME ENCOURAGMENT. IT'S NICE TO KNOW SOME PEOPLE LIKE MY WORK. A HUGE THANK YOU TODEATHWINGSEEKER WHO FINALLY KICKED MY ASS INTO WORKING ON THIS STORY AGAIN.

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THANKS YOU SO MUCH DEATHWINGSEEKER!

BY THE WAY FEEL FREE TO DROP ME A NOTE SO WE CAN TALK.

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Hiccup craned his neck upwards to look at the crumbling wall in front of him. The walk across the clearing had been odd, as though someone had been watching him the whole time he'd been making his way here. But he pushed past that feeling he needed to get inside the castle before him. Walking around the wall hiccup soon found a large enough crack in the wall for him to pass through. Taking one last look at the outside world hiccup ducked down and walked into the crack; and into the crumbling old fortress.

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CHAPTER 4

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Hiccup looked around as he slowly walked through the large stone corridor. He'd entered the fortress through the crack in the wall. From there he'd emerged into a large courtyard which he had crossed and made his way through a large gap in the crumbling walls. And now he was inside the castle; walking through the large stone corridors. Looking along the walls hiccup's eyes drifted over the tatters of ancient banners that had been hanging for who knows how long. Every so often hiccup would pass a suit of armor, or a vase of unknown origin. Coming to the end of the corridor hiccup found himself standing in an old doorway. The doors had long since rotted and fallen away exposing the next room. Stepping into the room hiccup found himself standing on a large walkway. High above him the stone ceiling was so high that he could not see it. moving through the room, hiccup found that the room was not a room but a balcony that over looked the real room; that was to say a large chamber. At the edge of the balcony hiccup found a small staircase that lead down into the lower chamber.

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Moving down the stairs hiccup found the chamber he was in was massive, easily the size of several houses. But it was what was in the middle of the chamber that made hiccup move forward until he was in front of the object; a large basin easily the size of a dragon. As he stepped up to the basin hiccup felt his eyes widen as the basin began to glow a faint blue light. Now standing over the basin hiccup peered down into it; only to find it full of water; with a series of sigils and runes carved into the smooth stone. He had been about to lean down and touch the water in the basin when a noise behind him made him turn. For a moment all he could make out was the ark room around him. But as he continued to look hiccup found that….hiccup felt his eyes widen as the form of Aria seemed to materialize out of the darkness. "Aria? What are you doing here?" Aria smiled and motioned for him to follow her; before turning and making her way down another hallway. Following hiccup did his best to try and catch up with Aria who; despite his best efforts managed to stay ahead of him.

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Slowing down hiccup watched as Aria slipped into a room just off the corridor. Still following hiccup found himself in a much smaller room; a bedroom if he had to guess; judging by the large bed that sat against the far wall. Behind him hiccup heard the door close; and turned to find Aria had closed the door. Hiccup watched as Aria slowly walked forward towards him. "Aria what are you doing he-" but hiccup was cut off as Aria put a finger over his mouth. As she did so hiccup couldn't help but notice how cold her finger was. But what she did next really caught his attention. Hiccup's eyes widened as Aria's free hand reach back and pulled off the shirt she was wearing; reveling her smooth skin and chest. "Aria what are y-" but again Aria silence him, this time her hand moving down to under her pants; and let them hit the floor, leaving her in only her underwear. This time when hiccup tried to speak Aria reached up with both hands and wrapped her arms around his neck before pulling him into a kiss. Trying to break the kiss hiccup found his muscles beginning to relax, and his mind beginning to cloud. He groaned frustrated as aria pressed her body closer to his; grinding their bodies together. As the kiss broke hiccup felt his body respond; making him blush slightly as Aria ran a hand tantalizingly over his crotch.

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This time her kissed her; something in him mind going fuzzy, he pushed her back so they were leaning against the bed; his tongue rolling out of his mouth and into hers claiming it. his own arms wrapped around her waist forcing their bodies to grind together again. This time when the broke the kiss hiccup watched as Aria gave a small jump up and onto the bed. He watched as she grinned slightly as she leaned back offering hiccup a very generous view of her thighs and crotch. His mind was even foggier now, slowly he got to his knees and leaned forward. Aria's skin was cold, but salty. Almost hungrily he licked at her skin, enjoying the smoothness of it mixed with the saltiness. It was like a drug, the more he licked and kissed the more he wanted. Becoming more aggressive hiccup gently bit Aria's upper thigh enjoying the small yelp that she let out. Becoming even bolder hiccup let his lips leave her skin; which made Aria whimper in response, but the whimper turned into a moan as hiccup's lips touched the fabric of her underwear, gently biting it before running the flat of his tongue against her crotch.

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He felt her grab his head and he could not help but growl as she tugged at his hair. He become even bolder, reaching up hiccup slipped his fingers past Aria's underwear grinning as she lt out a loud whimper. He could feel her sex; dripping wet and quivering. Taking to kissing her thigh hiccup felt his fingers slip inside Aria who gasped and tugged more roughly at his hair. Standing up hiccup moved so he could watch Aria's face change as he played with her. Only to find that Aria's face was no longer what he was looking at. Hiccup tore his hand away from Aria's body and backed away as in front of him Aria changed; her skin crawling like thousands of bugs were under it. he watched as she became something like a corps; skin dried, wrinkled and diseased looking. His back hit the wall and he watched as 'Aria' stood up and looked at him. "love me." Her words sounded raspy and strained, as though she had not had a glass of water for several years.

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"love me!" this time she shouted it. hiccup watched as 'Aria' ran at him. He did the only thing he could think of. As the fake 'Aria' neared him hiccup lashed out, punching Aria in the chest and making her burst into a cloud of dust. Hiccup watched half amazed, half horrified as the cloud of dust swirled before reforming 'Aria' who let out another cry and charged at him. "IF I CAN HAVE YOUR LOVE NO ONE CAN!" ducking her attack hiccup grabbed one of her legs and hurled her across the room; taking the moment to run from the room and back down the corridor he had followed her through, moments before. Reentering the great hall hiccup looked around for a place to hide, or stage a fight. His eyes fell upon the basin of water in the middle of the room. Running towards it hiccup heard 'Aria' let out a screech; before he felt her grab his shoulders and lift him off the ground; before hitting the surface of the water in the basin. Hiccup's world became wet and filled with bubbles as he tumbled about in the water. His hands lashed out searching for something to grab on to. he could feel, 'Aria' still holding onto him. He felt one of his hands break the surface of the water and he spashed about looking for the edge of the basin so he might pull himself out.

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But a second later hiccup felt someone grab him arm and pull him up and out of the basin with ease. Coughing and spitting up water, hiccup blinked furiously to rid his eyes of the water that clung to them, while his eyes fell upon….but he had no time to think as the fake Aria seemedto explode upwards into the air from the basin, water dropping from her body and landing on the cold stone floor sending echoes racing around the chamber. "CLEANSING FLAMES!" a second later the fake Aria began to writhe and scream as blinding flames ignited her body and began to burn her away until not even ash remained. Still coughing hiccup recovered enough to look up at his savor; an eerily blue figure of a man clad In armor. "thank you." The man turned to him. "how is this possible?" hiccup shrugged. "how is what possible?" the man looked back at the basin; it's waters still full of waves. "how can I be here?...unless….." the man turned to hiccup again. "you're a dragon knight." Hiccup nodded. "yes." The man smiled. "so am….was I." hiccup cocked his head to the side. "what do you mean 'was'?" the man chuckled. "I would have thought that was obvious."

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When hiccup didn't respond the man sighed. "I'm dead." Hiccup was silent for a moment. "but…..you're right here." The man nodded. "yes but it's not really me, it my….no…..not a ghost, I can feel no presence or fragment of my soul…..so I must…..i must be a rumunti." Hiccup cocked his head again. "a what?" the man smiled. "a rumunti; a kind of magical shadow, left over from a spell I must have cast when I was living." Hiccup cocked his head. "you don't know for sure?" the man shook his head. "no, I do not…but I must ask. Why are you here?" hiccup shrugged. "looking for an old charm; to present to the local lord." The ghost nodded. "a worthy goal, if you'll follow me I may be able to assist you." As they walked around the basin hiccup spoke. "what was that thing?" the ghost sighed. "a sad creature called a wraith. A spirit that possesses a dead body so that for a time it might feel the sensation of being alive again." Hiccup turned and glanced at a pile of ash and dust that he half expect to try and kill him. "it certainly seemed real enough."

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The specture nodded. "indeed. But I must ask….how much time has passed? Has malacath's rampage been stopped?" hiccup shook his head sadly and told the specter all he knew. When he was done the specter was silent for a moment; then. "we'll…..it is some comfort to know that this facility was not the only one to suffer malacath's wraith." Looking around the room they had emerged into hiccup's eyes widened as they fell upon a dozen skeletons littering the floor. "what happened here?" the specter sighed. "malacath." Hiccup looked to him. "tell me. I want to know." As they continued through the ruins the specter continued to speak. "this facility was a reliquary. It was used to story ancient artifacts of vast, or unstable power. I remember….that day malacath attacked us. It was swift; without warning. I was in the alchemy lab; when I felt the fortress shudder. I ran out onto the grounds and found…..battle." hiccup watched as the specter stopped for a moment. "dragons were everywhere; on the ground in the air; there was shouting screaming; people confused about what was happening. We fought for as long as we could but when the grounds were lost we retreated into the great hall. If nothing else we could hold that place; and hopefully wait for word of the attack to spread and hopefully bring aid with it."

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The specter began walking again. "but now I know that was a mistake. Malacath wasn't letting us build a strong hold; he was corralling us. By putting us all in one place he could ensure that everyone saw him. We watched as the dragons pulled back and he…he started killing. He killed so many; seemingly without any effort. He stabbed them; broke their necks, set them on fire, used every possible way to kill someone and he did it without so much as breaking a sweat. Some of us tried to run, to escape the facility. That's when we discovered 'it'." hiccup cocked his head. "'it' what?" the specter sighed. 'did you not notice the large barren patch of land surrounding the facility? It's in a perfect circle. Malacath before the attack erected a barrier. Any living thing that touched it burst into magical flames that could not be extinguished. He never had any intention of letting anyone leave the facility alive. He was going to kill us all. We became desperate; so many of us had been killed; and malacath was blasting and twisting the facility apart to find those that remained. In that dark moment….we broke our covenant. We turned to the artifacts held here for so long. We turned their considerable powers against malacath…and in the end I think that is what sealed our fate. The hand of glory; the dead man's noose, even Mala was released from their prisons and even then; they could not save us."

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again hiccup cocked his head. "who…or what is MAla?" the specter seemed to shudder. "a very powerful demon who made a move to try and become a curse lord; several thousand years ago. Luckily a group of mages was able to imprison her; in a vessel of her own blood. But then we released her to try and kill malacath; and she did what she does best; trickin us into killing most of each other and abandoned those who remained. Although I have no doubts she is still nearby." "why do you think that?" the specter grinned. "because we built a phylactery of her blood. If she strays to far from it she'll begin to weaken and eventually waste away into nothingness." Hiccup nodded. "what does she look like? She may be hiding out in Cinderhall." The specter nodded. "yes I have wondered if she was there. She can take any form she wants but she enjoys the form of a frail old women; who tricks people into doing things for her." Hiccup stopped cold; "I think I met her." The specter turned to face him. "what?" hiccup repeated himself. "I think I met her. She led me here to the fortress; but…..she stayed outside the barren zone." The specter nodded. "yes. Even now with the fortress mostly crumbled the magical defenses are still in place. She would not be able to reenter the castle once she left it. she probably wishes for you to find her phylactery. Then she'll try to bargaining with you and trick you into giving it to her."

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Hiccup nodded. "im gunna guess that would be bad?" the specter nodded. "yes. Although she is not a curse lord her power is easily on par with theirs. And with her phylactery she could easily unleash her full power on the world which would be disastrous." Hiccup nodded in understanding. "how can we stop her?" the specter shook his head. "we can't. as a demon even if we destroy her body she'll just reconstruct it after a few hundred years. The only way to stop her is to contain her in the original vessel; which by luck we still have here. If you can find it you can contain her in it, and then bury the vessel as deep as you can; or find a place that no one will ever go and put it there. The world is dangerous enough; MAla just makes it so much worse." Hiccup nodded. "what does her vessel look like?" "it's a stone vase; with a iron lid built over the top. Once she's inside you'll have to close the top over her and keep it closed while the seals power up and activate. Do you understand?" again hiccup nodded. "yes." The specter nodded. "good. Because we've arrived." Looking in front of them hiccup found himself staring at a set of large stone doors. Each door was massive easily 3 times his own size and held in place by large steel hinges.

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"behind these doors we stored our most valuable and dangerous artifacts. Not only is the charm you seek inside; but also MAla's vessel. Go in find them and bring them both out. Then we can move on." Hiccup looked at the specter. "you're not coming with me?" the specter shook his head sadly. "no. I never walked that room in life; there for in death entry is forever barred to me. However I do know that the charm an MAla's vessel will be at the back of the chamber." Hiccup nodded. "ok…any idea of how I get the doors open?" again the specter shook his head. "sorry no." hiccup sighed and began examining the doors. They truly were large; with dozens of glyphs and runes carved onto their surface. Kneeling down by one of the hinges hiccup smiled as he found his way in; a small plant growing between the hinge and the stone door. Stepping back hiccup closed his eyes and spread his arms apart. Now that he was focusing he could feel them; the plants and roots that had grown through the stone walls and ceiling and into the room beyond. Slowly he coaxed them; tempted them to grow, and soon enough they did. Hiccup smiled as he felts the roots bend and twist to his will; first he made them stronger; then he twisted and braided them into ropes and lastly he forced them into the stone doors. He smiled a bit bigger as he heard the sound of stone grinding and crumbling. But he couldn't stop yet. Slowly he began to unwind the rope he had made; forcing the roots to split apart and expand.

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Opening his eyes hiccup watched as the stone doors shook for a moment before large cracks began to appear and spread across the surface; until finally the stone broke and crumbled to the ground in a heap of rubble and dust. Next to him the specter chuckled. "that works I guess. Hiccup nodded and stepped forward and into the chamber before him. It took his eyes several minutes to adjust to the lack of light; but when they did he felt them widen in surprise. He wasn't sure what he had expected to find; but what he found were a series of small tables and pedestals with objects sitting on them. As he walked past some of them they creaked and groaned; as though trying to call out to him; while others gleamed and glinted as though they were some kind of eye that wanted to watch him pass by. But he ignored them and instead made his way to the back of chamber before examining some of the items on the tables until he found what he was looking for. The charm was simple enough. It was a kind of metal to be pinned to the front of a uniform. As he picked it up he examined it; it was bronze…or maybe copper. A symbol of a dragon's head with a blade in front of it gleamed up at him; A crown sat atop the dragon's head.

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Slipping the charm into his pocket hiccup set about to find the vessel; only to find it laying abandoned on the floor with its lid open. Picking it up hiccup smiled; the iron lid had a kind of metal fastening to it; to help keep it closed; smart. As he lifted the vessel up he found that it made a small rattling sound came from within. Reaching into the vessel hiccup felt his eyes widen in shock as several symbols began to glow on the surface of the vase for a moment before vanishing. Finding the object inside the vase hiccup pulled it out and began to walk back to the entrance to the room while examining the object. It was a small necklace; made of some kind of black leather twine with a small vile of something in the middle of it. looking up hiccup found that the spectral knight was within ear shot of him. "hey do you know what this is?" as he spoke he held up the necklace. As he did so a wind kicked through the hall and hiccup staggered slightly. "aahhhh. Such a smart clever boy." Blinking dust out of his eyes hiccup found that the specter had drawn his blade and had it pointed at HAG; who had appeared in the hall.

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Hiccup watched as hag turned and faced him. "now, please…..give me my amulet." Hiccup shook his head and dropped the amulet back into the vase. "not a chance demon." Hag's face bend into a snarl. "I'm not the demon here boy. My soul is still intact it's just twisted. You're on the other hand is fractured and warped; it's…..unnatural. but I suppose you are right; you did go through all this work, and now to give up your prize with no kind of repayment….i suppose that is a bit unfair. So how about this…..how about we make a little deal? You give me my amulet and give you….say….." a second later a figure stepped out from behind Hag. Hiccup felt his heart clench and his eyes widen;

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The figure behind hag was a women; tall and a bit round. She wore a set of standard Viking armor. Hiccup felt tears form in his eyes and he found himself staring at him mother. "how about I bring your mother back to life? Think about it boy; I've got all the time in the world or you to decide."

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AN: WELL FOLKS. THERE IS CHAPTER 4. THIS BY NO MEANS I'M BACK 24/7. I'VE BEEN VERY BUSY BUILDING A VIDEO GAME; I ALMOST HAVE NO TIME TO WRITE ANYMORE.

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BUT I PROMISE I'LL TRY TO START WRITING AGAIN.

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I'M HOPING TO GET SOME REVIEWS AND COMMENTS FROM THIS.

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SO HAG IS A DEMON; AND NOW HICCUP HOLDS THE KEY TO SEALING HAG AWAY FOREVER; OR GETTING HIS MOTHER BACK FROM THE DEAD.

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WHAT WILL HE DO?

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HOPE YOU ALL EENJOYED THE LITTLE BIT OF HISTORY IN THIS CHAPTER. SEEMS LIKE MALACATH IS PRETTY RUTHLESS.

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HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL AGAIN NEXT TIME.