Hey, everyone! I know that it was too long since I updated my stories but with my finals exams on my high school closing in (First part of my finals will take place 14 and 15 march) I have too little free time and when I have a little free time, school will usually leave with no mood for writing. Another problem is that I am planning to go onto a university so another exam there. So I hope you will all bear with me... Also, I want to thank every one of you. I want to thank you for every single fav, follow or review! All credits for my stories are yours as well because without you guys I would never continue this far. It means the world to me. But enough of me. We had another season of RTTE! And it was glorious, amazing and gloriously-amazing! And Hiccstrid became official too! (Little sad for Viggo but I have a feeling that we didn't saw him for the last time.) Anyway, I will not rant about it because I don't know if everyone of you saw it, so I don't want to spoil you anything! And also you are waiting for the chapter and not for my rants. So feel free to leave a review because I really love to read them.
Also, special thanks for new chapters goes to the Miti-sweets who is the most wonderful and amazing person I know and if you didn't already read her story Never stop dreaming, you should give it a try!
So I hope you will enjoy new chapter and until next time guys!
Two days later.
Ice plains of the North.
They were freezing for a long while now. Heather was clinching her coat to her chest as much as she could but that didn't help her situation. They flew for past two days without proper rest and now their situation got worse because of the powerful snowstorm. They ate and drank only a little because Hiccup insisted on flying as fastest as they could. Hiccup always told her about how cold is here, but now when she was here it was starting to be unbearable.
"Hiccup, what are you want to do?" Valka shouted through strong wind and Heather and Hiccup barely heard her.
"Just follow me!" Hiccup shouted back. After a long flight in a chilling wind, Hiccup and Toothless started to descent with Cloudjumper and Windshear on his tail. Soon they ended up in front of the ice cave. Hiccup jumped down from Toothless and went inside. His mother and sister followed his lead as did the dragons.
"So what will we do now?" His sister asked when he halted in the dark. She made a soft sound and her dragon lit her fire in her mouth. Hiccup just nodded to her with a smile and continued deeper to the cave. Her mother and sister followed him and they were surprised that ice reached so deep to the cave. They walked for a long while, but when they got to the point where ice finally ended they stopped.
"We will stay here until the end of that storm." Hiccup said and Heather looked around. She saw that someone lived here already so she asked. "You stayed here all the time you were here?" Hiccup, however, didn't answer only nodded. Hiccup a silently growled and Toothless lit up the fireplace in the middle of the cavern.
"So who is hungry?" Valka then asked as she pulls out several fishes from her saddle bag her Childs jumped back. Valka laughed and said. "Don't worry. I took it from the kitchen before we left the Lunansholt." Hiccup and Heather looked at each other before they made their way to their mother. They went to sit down around the fire and then they roasted their meal. Their dragons made a protective circle around them as they wanted to rest a little. However, they didn't know that a violet dragon eyes were watching them closely from the deeps of the cave.
But soon they were startled by the loud painful roar coming from the deeps of the cave system. Haddock family were instantly on their's feet as was their dragons. Dragon in the dark with violet eye quickly retreated into the darkness of the tunnel.
"Ok, what was that?" Heather asked and her mother only shrugged. Hiccup, however, took hilt of his sword from his waist and pressed the button. Blade of the sword shot out of the hilt and soon it was engulfed in the flames. Heather and Valka didn't move for a moment but they followed his lead. Heather took her double axe from her back, while Valka took her old staff from the Cloudjumper. Hiccup returned it to her right after she gave it to him that day he woke up from his coma.
"Follow me." Hiccup said and they did. Hiccup walked in front of them, Toothless behind him, while Heather and Valka walked on his sides. Windshear again made light so they would saw where are they going and after a moment they heard some kind of echo. They couldn't understand what kind of echo it was so they walked deeper into the cave. They came to some sort of crossroad. They could see three tunnels in front of them and they stopped.
"Where now?" Heather asked and they looked at each other. But then again they heard that echo. It was clearer now, but they still didn't know what it was.
"It's coming from the middle tunnel." Valka said and Hiccup made the first move. He passed the entrance and they followed him. As they moved deeper into the cave they could hear that echo stronger. After a while Valka said. "She is singing." Hiccup and Heather stopped and looked at her with raised eyebrow.
"Just listen." She said and they did. Heather really heard a soft voice of a young woman. And what surprised her, even more, was that she was really singing. They continued a little longer and soon they could hear words of that song.
When the sun finished her journey,
for a moment, the last ray of light was.. Left... Behind...
They silently continued through the cave and Heather also silently admired that beautiful voice.
Darkness creeps into the forest.
The gold-winged ray of light,
was just about to fly out of its way.
As they walked deeper and deeper into the cave, they could hear her voice as if she was singing it to them personally. Valka now also recognized that song but she didn't hear it for quite a long time.
When she saw a little goblin,
meeting her on the road.
He had only just risen from his cave.
"For goblins, before dusk. Can never be on the earth." Valka silently said and her Childs looked at her.
For goblins, before dusk,
can never be on the earth.
"You know that song?" Hiccup asked and she nodded.
"How?" Heather asked and she smiled. "When you had around four winters behind you, we visited a land on the east of the old sanctuary. I don't remember the name of that land, but they were afraid of dragons. We stayed there for a winter, hiding Cloudjumper in the nearby forest. King and Queen, there had two daughters around your age. One was older and one was a year younger from her. Queen liked to sing this song to her Childs and you liked it too. I'm surprised that you don't remember it."
When she said that, Hiccup was now confused more than ever. He started walking as he listened to that song once again.
They looked at each other.
The goblin in his heart felt a hot flame.
He said: "You burn my eyes, but never in my life,
have I seen anything as wonderful as you."
They finally came to the huge cavern room. The room had nice temperature and in their thick coats, it started to be quite a hot in there. They looked around and they could saw torches on the walls and hundreds of dragons under them. In the middle of the room was a hearth with a pot. The woman's voice, however, came from the place behind the hearth. They saw in a dim light a woman sitting on one side of the wooden bed. Her long platinum blonde hair reflected light from the fire and they all froze.
"It's all right if your glowing makes me blind,
living in the dark is okay.
Come with me, I'll show you to my cave,
and make you my bride."
To Hiccup's surprise, dragons around them didn't react to their presence. He looked around a tried to find two dragons he knew. However, he found only one. Snow wraith was lying near that woman's legs watching them with big violet eyes.
The ray replied: "Dear Troll, darkness will kill me,
and I do not wish for death.
I must leave immediately if I do not fly into the light,
I won't live another moment."
Heather felt quite sad as she was listening to her song. As she was listening to it even an old memories rushed to her. She saw two girls in her age as they in some kind of courtyard.
And so the ray of light left, but still,
as the goblin walks alone at night.
He wonders why one of us is child of light,
and other loves the night...
She stopped singing with a deep sigh. She bends down and kissed that body on the forehead. The trio just stood there and watched her.
"So, you came as I expected you would." The girl said as she stood up and turned to them. Heather saw that she was around her age maybe a bit older, but not much. She was tall and slender build. She had blue eyes with rosy cheeks, thin lips and she could saw that her platinum blonde hair was long to small of her back. She had also small nose and very pale skin with a few light freckles. She must admit that she was quite beautiful but something told her that they were in trouble.
"You came as a fox for a weak prey." She continued and now Heather understood the tone of her voice. She thought that they were the enemy.
"What?" Hiccup exclaimed. "We are not..." He tried to say but he was interrupted by dragons roars. He saw how every dragon around the cave room started to hiss on them and their own dragons tried to protect them. From the tunnel behind them emerged more dragons and soon they were surrounded. Toothless, Cloudjumper and Windshear were ready to jump on their foes, but then that girl made a high-pitched roar and something above them answered to that roar. Hiccup looked up and saw how a big dragon flew down from the ceiling and he gasped as he recognized that dragon.
"The Death song..." He heard his mother whispered and soon after that Death song fired on their dragons. They were not quickly enough to get out of the way and in a moment they were trapped. Aggressive dragons made a circle around them and Hiccup could see that their own looked down defeated. Hiccup saw how Death song flew back up to the ceiling and after that, he heard a soft laugh. He watched as dragons made a way for that girl and she walked straight to them. She had her hair made in a braid which was draped over her left shoulder. She was wearing a dark emerald green off-the-shoulder dress with a right knee-high slit. Her dress was patterned to resemble leaves. Her sleeves and top of her dress were decorated with pink flowers. She was wearing dark emerald green leather shoes and a long dark emerald green cape decorated with flower and leaf design attached to the back of her dress.
"It's funny, isn't it? The pray trapped the hunter." She said as she stopped in front of them. Hiccup stood in front of her while Heather and Valka knelt beside their dragons. "We've always been hunters. Nothing was on our tails. But there was something in you which made my dearest change. We became your pray."
Hiccup could see that she was eyeing him carefully. He thought that maybe she was afraid, but he didn't saw fear in her eyes. He saw hatred. Not towards him personally, but towards everyone who hurt her or someone who she loves. "But things had changed when he was wounded. He is always saying that to capture a predator, you can't remain the prey. You have to become an equal in every way. So I did. Look at me, Hiccup Haddock, the Dragon master and tell me, who do you see? Is it still me? Or is it you?" She finished with a smile but it was not a warm smile.
"I think this is a just big misunderstanding." Hiccup tried to negotiate because he knew that she can kill them in a second even when he is an alpha.
Valka now focused her look on the girl. She was sure that she saw her somewhere, but she couldn't place her finger on it. She was snapped out from her thoughts by a sound of the horn in the caverns behind them. Soon after that, she heard another woman voice. "He who dares not grasp the thorn should never crave the rose."
"And because of that chaos within me, I found a balance." That girl in front of them said back with a small smile.
"Guard them. Don't let them move." The girl growled to the dragons. She probably didn't know that Hiccup knows dragon language, but what surprised Hiccup more was that she was actually talking in dragons language. He watched her as she made her way around them. Soon dragons behind them made a passage to the tunnel and he saw several humans walking towards them. A man and woman walked in the front and two men and women walked behind them. They had whole black leather armor with capes and masks. Duo in the front didn't have masks. The man had long, red hair that is very close to the top of his head, with it shaved off all around. He had a green shirt, with black shoulder pads and arm guards, green pants with black boots, and black armor like the those behind him. The woman had very short, blonde hair with her bangs parted to the right and pale green eyes. Her outfit was very similar to those behind her with the exception of being longer and gold lining on her tunic and shoulder guards. The ends on the front of her tunic had some kind of symbols and it was similar to some kind of dragon. Most noticeable was a sword on her back.
"Queen Mala, to what do we owe the pleasure?" The girl said as she bowed down. Hiccup was surprised by changed her attitude in such short time.
"We set sail as soon as we heard the news. Drago's hunters boast about how their brave leader probably killed the Dragon child." A woman in front, who was probably Queen Mala answered.
"Wait, Drago's hunters?" The girl asked and Hiccup now understood. She didn't know that Drago hurt Dragon child.
"Yes, my dear. Did you though something else?" Mala said and Hiccup noticed that she didn't saw them yet. "I thought that they have something to do with it." The girl said as she steps aside to reveal Hiccup and his family.
When Mala and other saw them they draw their weapons. To Hiccup's surprised Queen had curved sword.
"Who are they?" Mala asked as she sheathed her sword when she saw that dragons had them under control.
"Taramis must to talked you about him. The great dragon master of the north." The girl said as she glared at them.
Mala walked closer to them and asked. "They are controlling the dragons?"
"What?" Hiccup answered before the girl. "No! We are.." He tried to say but he was interrupted when, that man who walked beside queen, closed his distance and pushed him on his knees.
"Speak only when queen asks you a question." The man said and Hiccup gave him a scowl.
"Calm down, Throk." Queen said as she waved her hand. "How is Taramis, my dear? We will talk about them later." The girl nodded and said. "Follow me." They passed them without giving them a look.
"Hiccup, what will we do?" Heather whispered when they passed by them.
"I don't know. But we must convince them that we are not the enemy."
"How bad is he?" Hiccup heard Mala's voice.
"The arrow luckily didn't hit his stomach by few inches, but that arrow was poisoned. He lost to much blood but hunters used some kind of poison. We lost too many good dragons to that poison and now I'm afraid that I will lose him too." The girl answered with a sad voice.
"Dragon's root poison. Hiccup we have the antidote." Valka whispered to her Childs.
"Yes, but wouldn't they think that we are one of them when we have an antidote?" Heather asked.
"It's risky but we have no choice. What do you think Hiccup?" Valka asked as she hoped that her son will agree with her.
Hiccup didn't answer and they knew that he was considering their options.
"So without an antidote, he will die?" Mala asked.
"Yes. His powers are making him more resistant to the poison but his body will not be able to fight off too long." Girl answered.
"By the ancients! We must help him however we can. These dragons would be leaderless." Thork said.
"We can give you an antidote!" Hiccup shouted and that got everyone's attention. Mala, that girl and Throk made their way to him.
"What do you know about the poison?" Mala asked and Hiccup took his chance. "We call it dragon's root poison. Viggo was first who used him and later he sold it to Drago and Dagur of Berserk. We were forced to quickly found the antidote when our dragons were hit. My mother is an excellent alchemist and she found out proper herbs to the antidote." Mala and other watching him carefully.
"How can we know you speak truth, Hiccup Haddock?" Mala asked. If the situation wouldn't be so serious he would smile. He made them doubt that was the first thing to convince them.
"Look, we never wished anything bad to happen to any of you. We were only looking for allies against Drago and his companions." Hiccup said and that girl reacted.
"Why your Night fury shot at us then Hiccup Haddock?"
"I was tired.. We were tired.." Hiccup said as he gestured to Toothless. "We didn't want to hurt anyone. We just wanted to talk. And we snapped."
"Sorry for the interruption." Valka got into a conversation and they looked at her. "Mom, what are you doing?" Hiccup whispered.
"Shush, Hiccup." Valka said and then continued. "You said that he was poisoned by Drago's arrow. He is using only dragons root poison, but that poison is pointless towards the human. So how can he be in a bad state like this?"
That question made trio unsure and it got Hiccup's attention.
"Just give us the antidote!" Throk said and Valka snorted. "Answer my question and I will give you ingredients." Hiccup knew that her mother wouldn't back down now. She was too stubborn for that. Well everyone in their family was stubborn, including himself. He knew that. Almost everyone in Lunansholt knew that.
"You know that we can kill you right now if you don't tell us?" The girl asked and then Valka knew where she saw that girl before.
"You could do that in a moment you captured us, but instead you let us live. You don't want to kill us, Elsa." When she said that name that girl made a step back. "You don't recognize me?"
"Aunt..." She gulped. "Aunt Valka?"
"So you remember?" Valka smiled but Elsa's face darkened.
"What.." Valka wanted to ask something but Mala intervene. "Elsa, focus on Taramis. Don't be distracted. You know that we can't save him without you."
Elsa closed her eyes and when she opened her eyes again, Hiccup could see ice in there. "Snowflake." She said and snow wraith made her wait to the girl.
"What are you planning, Elsa?" Mala asked.
"Save him. But I can't do that when Drago's army is on our doorstep." Elsa said and that surprised everyone.
"What?" Throk asked but before anyone could react a shout came from the tunnel in front of them and soon four men came to them. "My queen! Drago's army is here! They destroyed our ship!"
"No..." Mala breathe out.
"How many of your people were on the ship." Hiccup asked.
"Twenty." Throk answered and Elsa surprised them as she let out high-pitched roar. Hiccup immediately recognize answer from the ceiling. Death song flew down and shot another liquid on Haddock's dragons. In a moment amber substance melt down and their dragons were freed.
"My lady!" A roar came from above them and Hiccup recognized it as a skrill. Not soon after that, a violet skrill was hovering about them.
"Our enemy followed the protectors. Their forces parted. One went here the second one went to the protector Island."
"Mala, we have another problem." Elsa said.
"What it is?"
"Half of Drago's army went to your Island." She said and Mala gasped. "How did he found our Island?"
"Viggo, my queen." Throk said and Mala's faced darkened.
"I know that you are not trusting us but I can offer you a place where we could defend ourselves against Drago." Hiccup said and Elsa with Queen looked at each other.
"Elsa, what would he do?" Mala asked and Elsa looked unsure. "He wouldn't fight a lost battle. And I think that we have no other choice."
Mala looked at the Throk and he said. "If you will agree to that we will lose our Island. When we move the Great protector our Island will be lost."
"Mala if you will choose to fight our dragons will." Elsa said and Hiccup got an idea.
"My queen I have an idea to save your Island but I need one terrible terror." Mala looked at Elsa and she whistled. Red terrible terror soon landed on her shoulder.
"Hello, little one. Can you flew to the king and say to him that I need help on the protector's Island?" Hiccup growled to terror and he nodded. Soon after that, he flew away. Hiccup saw the surprised look on the Elsa's and Mala's faces.
"What?" He asked and Elsa shook her head.
"Nothing, we must evacuate this cavern. We can't use the main entrance so we will use an escape route. But I need time to save all of our dragons."
"Go, we will hold them." Hiccup said and Valka with Heather nodded.
"We will help them, my queen. Get them out of here." Throk said and Mala looked at the Haddock.
"Maybe we all got you wrong, but only time will say that."
"Dragons, evacuate to the protector Island!" Elsa roared and dragons immediately reacted.
Elsa and Mala went to the Taramis's body and when Elsa was sure that Haddock will not hear them she whispered to Mala. "I need from you ride a dragon. Alone."
Mala looked stunned and quickly protested. "You know that it is forbidden."
"No, it was forbidden. You changed that when you met Taramis." Elsa said and before Mala could protest she continued. "You must carry him on the dragon. Drago's army will not easily give up and only with you, he will be safe. Death song will get you to the safety. The only thing you need to do is hold him on his back."
"Elsa I..."
"Please, Mala. Don't do it for me. Do it for him."
"Fine. But let me ask this what do you think about them?" Mala said as she pointed to the Haddock family standing near the entrance with Throk and Snowflake.
"Honestly, I don't know. If Valka is in contact with my family, there are troubles coming. If not, because she is riding a dragon and her son is a dragon master, I think I will trust them if they can save Taramis." Elsa said and Mala nodded. Elsa again made a high pitched roar and death song came to her.
"Get them both to the safety of the protector Island." She growled and Death song nuzzled to her head. She pets him and then she helped Mala with Taramis.
"Let the ancients help us all." Mala said as she jumped on the Death song. When she was on his back he immediately followed other dragons. It was not an easy task to evacuate hundreds of dragons through the cave system.
"Now I will welcome Drago's army." Elsa said as she went to the Haddock family and Snowflake. She will make them pay for this.
