Vow of Silence Broken
While Hiccup and his family had finally figured out the secret of how whoever was threatening the afterlife, without having to obey the normal rules, they still weren't any closer to figuring out the answers to their many other important questions. They still didn't know where any of the ancient Archways of the Realms were located at. Nor did they know who found one and who was using it. All they knew for sure was they needed to find one for themselves and fast! Time was running out fast and they needed to find one and complete their mission before everything in both the mortal realm and the realm of the dead was forever out of balance! And they didn't know even yet that things were going to get much, much, much worse!
Back in the conquered Valhalla was Hel who just came from torturing Stoick and Boden some more. It'd been fun, yet she was growing incredibly restless. She and her brothers were more then ready to take the rest of Asgard with the help of her secret cohort. Their collaborator was more then ready for the invasion to come too. They wanted to take out the Gods' home and quickly. Once the rest of Asgard had fallen, then they'd go after Berk! After the fall of both Valhalla and the rest of the Gods' realm it'd be a piece of cake to take Berk and then mastermind behind all this could finally after half a decade have their revenge!
Nevertheless there was still one thing that had to be taken care of first, before they'd proceed to next step. Their combined armies were more then ready to begin the conquest, yet even though both the ice soldiers in addition to a thousand Vikings along with about a hundred dragons, no-one could go forward. Hel and her cohort had to find out once and for all if the Resurrection Amulet existed and if it did who it was given too. It was vitally important that no-one alert the Gods to their plans, and also had to make sure that their secret of the Archways remained that way, a secret! Therefore in order to do that they need to get the Valkyries to talk.
It was obvious that none of the souls knew this answer but Hel was completely convinced that Kara held the key to everything. She after all was caught away from her beautiful sisters, and she also escorted many new souls to the afterlife. Plus it had been let slip that she was extremely fond of children. It had been noted that she took extra time out for them to comfort them if a child died. So far she had been very definitely stubborn and silent. Hel and her brothers hadn't been able to break her. Yet their partner thought they had an idea on how to get her to talk. It was a sick and evil thing they're about to threaten Kara with yet evil had no conscious and never really cared much about others. After all they'd just sold their immortal soul for power, gain and revenge! So who knew what else they're capable of!
Hel had ordered her brothers to continue to patrol Valhalla and keep up the pain and anguish. She though only issued this order after they brought the Valkry she wanted. So both brought Kara, though they made the quick journey last twice as long. They mauled in addition to shot her with fire and ice nevertheless she was still holding her silence. Like all of the prisoners of Valhalla and her sister Valkyries her wings, hands and legs were bound in frozen iron cuffs. She was halfway frozen solid, and her flawless alabaster skin was now covered with cuts and bruises. Her beautiful body armor dress was worn to shreds along with filthy, and her long ropes of golden silky wavy hair were dull and limp. She was most certainty not a beautiful Valkry anymore. Yet she had resolved that come what may she wouldn't betray Una to Hel and her brothers. Una and Hiccup were the only ones who could save Valhalla and restore order and balance to their worlds. After an eternity of being dragged to the isolated tower that overlooked the fallen Valhalla Jormungand and Fenrir brought her inside the lonely little tower where Hel was waiting very impatiently.
"Took you two long enough!" she snapped angrily at them. They looked very hurt by their sister's words and she frowned. "Sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm just very eager to begin phase two. So whilst my special friend and I get some loose ends tied up, I want you two to do whatever you can to help us get closer to the invasion! My ice warriors are ready and so are my dance partner's 1000 member armies! So just do one more sweep of Valhalla and then come back here. Got it?"
"Understood, sister! We shall take our time but we'll be back in an hour's time. So we shall be ready to do what's next! Come, Fenrir we must be going!" Jormungand the dragon brother hissed and the wolf brother climbed on his back and both howled before leaving.
"Charming brothers you have, my love. They're exactly what I wish my siblings to be like if I had any! Now let's get this show underway, shall we?"
"For you, my one and only love? I'm more then ready to do what it takes to make our dream a reality!"
Kara gagged loudly and pretended to throw up even. She was thoroughly disgusted by both the cheesy love talk and that Hel even liked her partner more then just a pawn. This of course caught the attention of both Hel and her lover and they didn't look very happy with her. Hel narrowed her icy eyes on the Valkry and spat in her face.
"You think this funny? You think only the beautiful can have people be in love with them? That someone as ugly as I couldn't possibly find someone to care about them more then just a friend? Is that what you think, Kara?"
Laughing till tears poured out of her teal eyes she shot back at her. "I believe everyone god and mortal alike are destined to find their true loves. I just didn't expect to hear such cheesy love talk and see you as such a pathetic lovesick puppy! The great and powerful Goddess of the Dishonorable Dead acting like a lovesick teenager. Totally gross if you ask me! Now why don't we cut to the chase here and you tell me what this is all about?"
"Patience, my lovely Valkry, patience. We'll get to that soon. For now you better tell us what we want to know. Or things here will get more unpleasant. And believe me I can truly think of many ways of making this far more wicked then what is already going on. So you better tell us what we want to know now. Or things will get much, much, MUCH, worse. Understand?" spoke the silky menacing voice of the unknown bargainer.
"You don't scare me, whoever you are! Nothing you do to me will make me talk! So you're wasting your time!"
The shadowy person just laughed. Not a good laugh. It was the kind someone laughs when things aren't funny and they're not mentally stable either. It was the laugh of a sick and evil person. One who didn't have any respect for anyone whether they are living or dead. Like the old song. "An awful, awful man. Not well breed. No respect for anyone. Not even the dead!" Kara was just fuming mad and wanted to know who in the hell was Hel's partner and who could possibly love her like this. She was about to get an answer.
"You really want to know who I am? And how we've accomplished what we've done? And what are our plans for the future. I'll tell you if you tell me what we want to know. And if you don't your really gonna regret it, Kara. Your precious leader Freya isn't here to protect you or any of your sisters. The Guard on the Bridge is fully ignorant of what's happened in the Gods' backyard. So don't think you'll have any of your Calvary show up."
"Who in the name of Odin are you?!" demanded Kara furiously as she perceive the sound of a sword unsheathing. She then felt the deadly razor-sharp blade press against her lovely neck and saw an evil sneer within the eyes of whomever it was this mysterious human being. They laughed that sick insane laugh once more before finally entering the light of the dingy isolated stone tower. She gasped in shock at who it was and was struck temporary dumb by who she saw.
"Why don't I introduce myself now to such a fair lady? My name and title is Dagur the Deranged. And I'm the Chief of the Berserk Tribe. And I've waited half a decade to get my revenge on that scrawny little Hiccup for what he did to me! I was denied my victory and you have no idea what I suffered from that wretched Alvin the Treacherous and his Outcasts! Now my long awaited victory is close at hand. In a little while we'll both have the long-awaited victory we've so desperately craved and ready to dine upon. And guess what, Kara? You, my lovely lady, are gonna help us in that conquest. Doesn't that sound wonderful?"
"Dagur! I should've known!" she screeched out wrathfully as she wiggled and thrash about to get free, despite the fact that it did no good. She was chained up pretty damn good. Glaring hatefully at the young lunatic Viking Chief before her she spat at him and then yelled a little bit more. "You're the only mortal who wouldn't care about selling their immortal soul for power, gain and revenge! You're everything that a true chief shouldn't be! Hiccup of Berk is ten times the Chief you'll ever be, and he's a thousand times the man you'll ever be! He's a real human and he will beat you as he did in the past! Don't you even doubt that!" she then looked at him confused as her powerful teal eyes bored down into the evil ones of Dagur. It looked like she was baffled by something. It wasn't immediately apparent what till she spoke to him again.
"How are you here? How did you get around the rules? And how can you even see me? You're not dead! Valkyries can only be perceived by the dead! And why does my death stare not work on you? You should be writhing in pain or be dead on my command! How are you doing all this? How did you and your evil girlfriend do all of this?"
Both Hel and Dagur laughed the same sickening laugh and he kissed her not-of-this-world blue cheek and smiled. Both of them wore the same infatuated smile one sees when someone finds a match. It was still disgusting to watch though. Kara couldn't be sicker to her stomach to witness the loony love between these two. Though as much as she was disgusted by this sick odd romance she had to find out more of how Dagur had bent the rules without breaking them. And fast! She hoped that Una had got Hiccup's help. However she knew she needed to find by some means to assist them get here to restore balance. And she couldn't do that without further information. She tired to get out of her frozen iron chains again but couldn't. So she just continued to glare at him.
"Well, you sure ask a lot of questions. I'd be more then happy to give you some answers. But to make it a fair trade you should give me a few answers as well. Don't you think that fair enough?" he chuckled menacingly. Hel gave him that sick puppy-dog eye look and Kara still felt sick from their insane courtship. She braced herself for whatever Dagur had planned with his sick twisted mind. The evil Viking Chief smiled once and licked his lips in great anticipation of this coming bloody torture that was ahead of them.
"Now you ask how I can be here without obeying the rules and laws of this world. Well, there is a simple answer to that. This tower is the answer as is that entrance into this tower. Which as you may've notice can only be accessed from the window from the outside? Well, there is another way in. The other way in isn't a door, or at least not a normal door. That stone archway is the answer to how I got in without being dead," he explained to the bemused Valkry, as he pointed to an ancient stone archway in the back of tower, half hidden by a large tattered veil blowing in a non-existing wind.
Kara's face went three different shades of white and she now knew instantly what had happened. She silently screamed at herself for being such a dolt and not realizing sooner how someone bent the rules without breaking them. Once she recovered from both the shock and anger her dumbness vanished. And she seethed with great angry. "You actually found an Archway of the Realms? I thought they'd all been destroyed eons ago! How did you manage to track one down?"
"I'm glad you're smarter then you look. Given that I'm greatly surprised nobody put the pieces of the puzzle together sooner. Well, you're to some extent correct. Most of the Archways were destroyed eons ago by Odin and the rest of Asgardian Gods. But they made a human error of missing a few of them. They're nearly impossible to find, but as I said nearly impossible, it's still possible to locate one. All you've to do is have a good soothsayer and find where the most spiritual energy is at. My good-for-nothing soothsayer Aldrik the Amazing has failed me time and time again. He ought to be called Aldrik the Awful for how awful he is at his job! I threaten that I'd put him to death and feed his blood-spattered carcass to a horde of wild dragons if he failed me one more time. So with that encouragement we found one of the Archways on the Abandon Isle. It an abandon isle because about a century ago it became a barren wasteland after an underwater volcano went off and destroyed most of it. Not even a single weed grows there anymore. Nothing living is there anyway, yet we did unearth concealed under all the rubble an Archway. That Archway led straight to Hel's realm of Helheim. And once we opened the passageway to her realm's connecting tower it was easy as cake to use it to connect to the Valhalla border tower. So that's how we got around the Rainbow Bridge and the Guard."
"We've achieved a great deal working together, Kara." Hel broke in as she kissed Dagur's left cheek. Smiling she flipped her lengthy blue locks and continued on with the explanation. "Once he was in my icy realm we soon discovered we had a great deal in common. Both of us wanted revenge on those who'd wronged us, and though they say revenge is a dish best served cold, there is no-one else I'd rather dine on it with me. He's such a magnificent Viking. Perfect in every way and my total match! Consequently we cut a deal. A deal that so far has gone exactly as planned."
"What are the terms of the bargain, if you don't mind me asking?"
"It's rather simple, my fetching Valkry. I gave her my soul as payment. I also granted her the full power of all the thousands of my men. We've got a massive army of both Vikings and about a hundred dragons I've caught for just such a conquest. So combined that with her icy warriors we've got more then enough fighting force to take what we want."
"I want all of Asgard and he wants Berk. Furthermore, we both desire to control both the Earth Realm and all of the Nine Realms. Sealing off Valhalla and making its inhabitants suffer was an added bonus, as was the liberation of my deadly brothers. It was also the bait. We want revenge on certain individuals, and with my beloved's assistance, we shall get revenge on both Odin, the rest of the Gods for me. Plus that stupid Hiccup and Berk for Dagur. So it's a win-win situation for both of us." Hel finished explaining to the bewildered winged woman.
"Don't you know revenge begets nothing but a further cycle of more pointless vengeance? It never ends! Its just more pain and endless suffering! It's better to forgive and love! Vengeance is pointless!"
"Don't try your preachy words of wisdom, lady. It won't work with either of us! You've got the pointless cause. Seeing how all you do is escort the dead to this endless backyard of the Gods. What the point of that? When you only chose certain people to come here? I mean you Valkyries choose who gets to come here don't you? On your winged horses in battle or as ravens or swans you snatch the best from the battle field and bring them to this so-called 'paradise' Don't you ever grow tired of dealing with the dead? They're so stupid."
"Listen to me, Dagur the Deranged! I value the lives that are lived by all the departed souls. Life is worth value and that is strength. And unlike you who care neither about life nor death if it's so meaningless is your weakness. Valuing life is strength and disregarding is weakness. All souls deserve to be at rest when their time comes!"
"Told you she's so preachy! She and her sisters love their beauty and warriors skills and yet all the same are so stupid. Now how about we get back to business? I've waited an eternity for vengeance and you've waited half a decade. So let's caught to the chase and get the answers we seek so we may go forth with the invasion?"
"In a minute, my love, in a minute," he soothed her. Gazing his insane eyes on the Valkry he merely licked his lips and spoke for a second time, "We must first make her talk, and I believe I know how to get you to sing like the pretty bird you transform into. So let's hear you sing your swan song, shall we?"
"No-matter-what you threaten I won't talk. Count on you jackass!"
"We shall see. I mean we got this far, didn't we? You see I know a few things about you. And it's with what others have let slip I shall make you sing me a story. I understand you're very fond of children. I know for a fact that when a child dies, it's you, and only you whom goes to collect them and brings them here? All the other Valkyries go after the fallen warriors. You're the only one who deals with children. Am I correct?"
"I care for the younglings, yes. I feel they need a little extra love and attention, given that they've got so much to live for, and will have the everlasting regret of not getting to do it, because of their untimely death."
"Well, I think there you'll find your fatal flaw. I know cutting your wings off won't make you talk or banishing you from you home in Valhalla. So I'm gonna do something so evil you've to talk or all that hard work and love will be for naught. And believe me when I say I'm not lying when I say I'll do this. Now if you don't answer our questions, or if you lie to us, I promise you I shall put to death every single child I come across. And with the gates sealed and not opening anytime soon, they shall fade into oblivion. So unless you want the death of millions of children on your hands you shall answer our questions. So do we've a deal? Tick-tock. I can kill any child I want and I don't care one way or another. So talk!"
Knowing he wasn't lying and refusing to let children die she sighed and looked at him in defeat. "What do you wish to know?"
"I want to know if the Resurrection Amulet exists and if it does who did you give it too?"
"Yes, it does exist. Only a few people know of its existence though. As the fewer people knowing a plan the better chance it has for success. It was forged into existence for just such a crisis as the one you're creating. It has the power to restore life to whoever is wearing it."
"Thank you, now to answer our other question. Who did you give this trinket too?"
"I gave it to a little girl named Una. I told her to seek help from Chief Hiccup and the rest of Berk. They shall find a way to stop you! That I promise you!"
"Well thanks again for answering our questions, Kara. You saved million of children's lives. Now that we've got the answers we seek this couldn't be more perfect. Hiccup will come to me now. To save both his father's soul and all of Valhalla! So this is perfectly perfect! We'll kill two birds with one stone! Now we shall move half the army to conquer the rest of Asgard and get the other half ready to take Berk!"
"What do we do with her?"
"She shall remain in this tower for now. We'll have your brothers keep an eye on her. And now I must go my love and get ready for the invasion and siege! I shall return within the hour. Love you my sweet Hel."
"Love you, my sweet Dagur the Deranged!"
Kara only shed a single tear and whispered quietly. "I'm sorry, Una. I tried. Please be back soon with your brother's help. I'm sorry."
It didn't look good for anyone living or dead and all anyone could think at the moment was this. Could this evil be defeated and restore balance to life and death along chaos and order? They would see for themselves soon enough.