ts"my time is up. Now do your duty charon." The man named charon brought his hands up. Instantly his black cloak swirled around him and began to condense around his hands. Hiccup's eyes widened as the man's cloak twisted and became a scythe. Hiccup felt Aria shift as the man stepped closer to Rowena. "embrace the void Rowena; as it embraces you!" in one swift motion the man swung the scythe across Rowena's body. but no body fell, no blood spilled, not even a whisper of pain left Rowena's mouth. Instead Rowena's body simply vanished into the air, leaving them alone with the man named charon who looked at them. "before I go…..allow me to offer you one bit of advice. Do not try to stop all evil you can't. all you can do is hold the evil back. For as long as there is good, there will be evil. Don't try to do more than you are destined to." And before their very eyes charon too faded into thin air; leaving hiccup and Aria alone in the ruins.

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CHAPTER 20

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Hiccup watched as slowly Aria sat up before speaking. "Hiccup. Help me up. We have work to do." Hiccup nodded and moved so she could lean against his shoulder for support. Slowly Hiccup helped Aria to her feet before speaking. "whatever you need to do we should do it quickly. The sun is starting to set and these mountains will get very cold. Nodding Aria spoke. "Help me gather wood. We need it in a large pile so we can burn it." Hiccup looked to her. "what are you planning?" Aria smiled weakly. "the most basic burial rite for a dragon knight is to be burned in a pier. But since we have no bodies we'll simply have to create one peir for them all. Now come on." Hiccup watched as Aria tried to take a step without his help, only to have her legs crumble beneath her. Rushing to her side Hiccup helped her back up. "are you ok?" Aria nodded. "I'm fine, just… unused to this body. I…." but Aria broke off as she brought her right hand up to rub her eyes.

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"what's wrong Aria?" Aria shook her head slowly. As she did so Hiccup felt his heart jolt, small tears were forming in her eyes. "Aria….please….what's wrong?" again Aria shook her head. "nothing. My hand….it's healed." Hiccup looked from her face to her hand. "I don't understand." Aria slowly flexed her fingers. "When Malacath attacked he and I did battle. He…..he cut off the fingers on my right hand." Hiccup felt his eyes widen. "that's what happened to your tail." Aria nodded. "yes. damage done to your human body will affect your dragon body. but come we are wasting time. We need to gather wood."

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ASTRID'S POV

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Astrid looked across the clearing. It hadn't taken them long to find the clearing the trader had told them about. Kneeling down Astrid used her dagger and picked through a small pile of fishbones. "these are fresh. Can't be more than a week old. Something is defiantly living here." Throwing the fishbone back onto the pile Astrid stood up and looked around the clearing again. Off to the edge of the clearing fishlegs spoke. "hey. Hey guys I've got boot prints over here." Rushing over Astrid knelt down next to the prints. " edges are still sharp, can't be more than a few hours old. Person wearing them isn't too large." Following the tracks with her eyes Astrid felt her eyes narrow. She had seen these boot prints before.

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HICCUP'S POV

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Hiccup wiped his forehead of sweat. In front of him he watched as Aria pulled a large log onto the massive pile they had created in the center of the ruins. Watching her step back from the pier Hiccup put his hand on Aria's shoulder. "do you want to light it? Or should I?" Aria shook her head. Her face hard but set. "they were my friends, my family. I'll light it." Hiccup nodded and watched as she stepped forward before bringing her hands together in front of her for a moment before pulling them apart. Lightning arcked from between her palms for a split second, before leaping at the pile of wood and igniting it. Instantly the wood roared as flames engulfed and surged around the wood. Hiccup watched as Aria stepped back, spread her arms out and began to speak. "Bormahdov watch over these souls as they transcend this world and pass into the next." Letting her arms drop Aria turned to Hiccup. "to many died here Hiccup. Malacath spilled so much blood. He MUST pay for his crimes; Against my people and yours." Hiccup nodded. "he will Aria. He will."

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As Aria moved to stand next to him she spoke. "you know I used to be envious of him. the way he could see something only once and understand it. The way he seemed to gain more power without even trying." Hiccup looked at her sideways. "did you know him well?" Aria shrugged. "a bit. In some ways you and he are not that different. You're both smart, good with mechanics, and have the desire to help people. But Malacath…he had a coldness about him. you were worth his time or you weren't. and he made sure you knew if you were or not." Hiccup felt his spine tingle as Aria's fingers wrapped themselves around his own. "I feel….. out of place Hiccup. Everyone I knew is gone, and I haven't aged a day." Hiccup nodded. "for what it's worth you have me."Aria smiled. "yes. that is true."

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ASTRID'S POV

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Trudging along in the dark Astrid couldn't help but feel exposed. Sure they were walking in the woods covered by the tree tops so very far above them. and sure they were not walking directly down the middle of the worn trail. But the torches they were all carrying gave off so much light that she had no doubt they could be seen from miles around. In front of her Gobber spoke. "it's getting cold. We'll need to head back soon. Try again tomorrow." Astrid looked at him. "what about the dragon? Or the nest we found?" Gobber stopped and turned to face her. "lass that nest could be week, maybe even months old. There is no way to know if the tracks we're following now are even fresh. It hasn't rained or been windy for weeks, so these tracks could have been out here; undisturbed for who knows how long."

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HICCUP'S POV

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Something was happening. Hiccup could feel the hair on his arms and the back of his neck beginning to stand on end. Something strange was happening. The pier in front of them was now fully engulfed in flames. The flames had grown and now reached upwards towards the sky. All around them the light flickered and danced casting long shadows over the ground. And yet… Hiccup felt his eyes widen; because across from them. on the other side of the fire he could see…..faces. Ghostly faces that stared out of the darkness, and up at the flames. Next to him Hiccup heard Aria speak. "the spirits of the dead. Unable to accept their deaths they have remained here. Now they can pass through to the next world."

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Hiccup watched as the flames roared up even higher and for a split second he could see them all. Every ghostly face illuminated; there were so many. Men, and women young and old, each one of them staring at the flames, unmoving, their blank eyes staring at the flickering fire. But then the fir died down, taking the light with it and leaving them blanketed in darkness. The ghostly flames vanishing along with the light. Hiccup felt a shiver run down his back as a slight wind picked up around them. it was aria who spoke first. "come on we need to go." Hiccup nodded. The sun was setting fast taking the last rays of light with it.

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ASTRID'S POV

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Astrid was not happy. Not only had they failed to find the dragon. But she had a sneaking suspicion that somehow Hiccup was involved in all this. but she had no way to prove it…..yet. walking along the darkening trail Astrid watched as in front of them Gobber pushed aside a bush. "we'll pick the search back up in the morning."

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HICCUP'S POV

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Making their way down the mountain was not an easy thing to do. And it was made much harder in the dark. the path they were following was not only narrow but was littered with small rocks and steep slopes that to be doing their best to trip them. Several times he jumped as Aria was forced to grab his shoulder or hand to keep from falling. As they came to the bottom of the trail Hiccup turned to make sure Aria was alright. "do you wanna rest for a moment?" Aria nodded and moved off the path and to a small patch of grass. Sitting down on it Hiccup watched as Aria did the same, but Hiccup was forced to look away when she actually sat down. His shirt was long enough to cover Aria's waist when she was walking. But when she sat down the shirt got pulled up slightly exposing certain parts that Hiccup could only imagine Aria would have preferred he not stare at.

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Sitting on the cool grass Hiccup couldn't help but feel as though he were in a bit of a dream. A life time ago it felt like he had been frantically trying to save toothless's life; and now here he was sitting on the grass with her in her human form. Sighing Hiccup looked up and found the night sky looking down at him, it's inky blackness dotted with hundreds of not thousands of stars. Next to his Aria spoke. "they haven't changed much." Hiccup looked at her. "the stars?" Aria nodded. "in my day we were taught that the stars played a small part in how magic worked. See the red-ish orange star?" Hiccup looked up and nodded. "it's called mars. It's named after a god that represented war to some ancient culture. I was taught that when it is out, blood will flow more easily in battle. And see that faint blue one, that's almost invisible?" again Hiccup nodded. "that's Neptune. Depending on how bright it is water magic will be stronger or weaker."

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Hiccup nodded. "see those 3 stars that line up?" Aria nodded. "That's talos's belt. Legend says he was so powerful that when he died the gods lifted him into the stars so that all humans might look upon him and aspire to be so grand." Aria smiled. "It's nice to see something that hasn't changed. I don't feel so out of place now." Hiccup's gaze was drawn from the stars to Aria as he felt her hand come to rest over his. "Thank you Hiccup. Thank you for saving me." Hiccup felt his face flush red as he found that Aria had moved closer and was now sitting next to him. looking down at the ground Hiccup suddenly found his voice wasn't working. All he could think about was Aria, and how she was sitting so close to him…..wearing such little clothing.

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He was so wrapped up in his thought he jumped slightly as he felt her lips lightly press against his cheek. Hiccup felt his face burn. Continuing to look at the ground Hiccup spoke. "so…the oath keepers…how do we find them?" Aria sighed. "Unfortunately the oath keepers are a bit paranoid. Finding them won't be as easy as someone would hope. I won't know where or how to find them until I can see a map and find out exactly where I am." Hiccup looked up and siled. "ok. Well then we should get back to Berk." Standing up Hiccup offered his hand, to Aria who took it and stood up. Turning in the direction of the village Hiccup and Aria headed off.

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UNKNOWN LOCATION

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"they're gaining strength. Should we eliminate them?" "no. they will serve their purpose." "the same was said of Malacath and now he is useless to us." "we will not make the same mistake we did with Malacath. Now go, and make the offer."

AN: WELL FOLKS CHAPTER 20 IS UP AND DONE. VERY SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG.