Here it is- the epilogue! This story has finally come to a close. I hope you've liked reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it!
The lingering scent of fresh rainfall clung to the earth, misting in the air through the grass and the trees. The rain from the previous night had left the ground damp and muddied, and the breeze that followed the storm was as soft as a kiss upon her cheek. The wet dirt deepened around her knees as they pressed softly into the ground, and her hands danced in and out of the wildflowers, weaving among the blades of grass with a practiced ease.
She found she preferred her days like this, calm and alone, away from the ruckus of the village. Eira had never much cared for the words and problems of other people. Even at an age as young as eleven years old, the girl chose to spend her days in peaceful solitude.
Everyone always expected something from her. Eira frowned hard as she plucked a small white blossom from the brush and wove it into the chain of flowers she was making. She could never make everyone happy. They wanted her to make friends, to learn how to fight, to study politics, to be a leader. Their obligations wore on her. All the girl really wanted was to be alone.
Well, not entirely alone.
There was one person who never expected anything of her. Her little brother, Kalablód. Just the thought of the Night Fury made her smile. All he ever wanted to do was explore and sleep. That was a lifestyle she could support! No learning, no classes, no social interactions! How perfect that must be, to just wander, free of any concerns!
A dissatisfied feeling lingered in Eira's gut, but when she looked down at her hands, she saw that there were more than enough flowers woven together to make into a brightly colored crown. With a tired sigh, she connected the two ends into a loop and stood. It was getting late, and she should be headed back to the village. People would begin to worry if she stayed away much longer.
The young girl trotted steadily towards home, her resounding footstep following the steady beating of her heart. Her mud-stained blue dress billowed in the wind, clinging to her small frame like a wet cobweb. Her shape came from her father, thin and lanky. Just by looking at the girl, her heritage was clear. The messy brown curls, scattered freckles, and awkward figure proved her to be Hiccup's.
But she was Astrid's child too, and her fast mind and faster feet came from her mother. Though she was easily a mile from home, she reached the village in six and a half minutes with no trouble at all. She felt as though she could run for days.
Eira darted into the town, heading up the worn path behind Gobber's blacksmith hut. Peaking around the corner, the girl glanced around at her surroundings. The person sitting on the bench just outside the smith caught her eye, and a twitch of a smile pulled at Eira's lips.
"Amma!" Valka's head tilted upward, and a smile pulled across her face as well when she saw her granddaughter approach. "Grandma!" Eira called again she she pulled herself onto the bench beside her. "I made this for you." With outstretched hands, the young viking offered her day's work.
The older woman smiled and took the crown with gentle hands. It was the fourth one the girl had given her this month, and even so , she cherished it as if it were spun from gold. Her eyes glimmered in the light of the setting sun, and with careful fingers Valka placed the crown upon her now greying hair. "Thank ye, little love. It's beautiful."
Eira smiled contently and leaned into her grandmother's side. "Amma, what was it like to live with the dragons?"
Valka's eyebrows furrowed, and a slight frown pulled at her lips. Her granddaughter had heard about her years away, of course. They were no secret. But she'd never shown any interest in them before. "Why are ye asking, love?"
Eira turned her face away and shrugged. "I dunno." The girl wrinkled her nose. "I was just thinking that it must be nice to be a dragon. They're easy to understand. They don't have to do things they don't want to do, or learn things they don't care about. It's easier. People are hard to understand sometimes. They say one thing and mean another." The girl shrugged again. "I dunno," she repeated. "Sometimes I wish I was a dragon, like Kal. Dragons make sense."
"Oh, aye, I can understand that," the woman said with a short chuckle. Eira looked up at her grandmother, a small grin on her face. "I used ta feel tha same way, years ago."
"But you don't anymore?" Valka shook her head, and Eira scoffed. "What changed your mind?"
Valka laughed again, though this time it was more than a mere chuckle. "Why, ye did, girl!"
"Amma," Eura groaned, rolling her eyes.
"I mean it, really!" When Eira didn't reply, Valka continued. "The dragons are wonderful, they are, but when I came back home, I realized how much I had missed, not seein' yer father grownin' up. But I still didn't really understand humans. Not until ye were born." Valka poked the girl gently on the nose, causing Eira to squirm away with a snort. "Ye were the one thing the dragons could never give me." Valka looked down at the girl and wrapped a tight arm around her. "Ye gave me another try at a family."
Eira rested her head against her grandmother's arm and hummed lightly, considering what the woman had said. And she knew her amma to be right, in the pit of her heart. Everything she had to do, it was for her family. Her mother wanted her to learn to fight so she could protect herself, and her father wanted her to understand politics between the tribes so she would not be taken advantage in the future. All of the pressure they placed upon her was done for her own good.
Still didn't mean she liked it any.
But she did love her family. And if these issues mattered to them, then they mattered to her too.
Eira pushed away from Valka, sliding herself off of the bench. "Thanks, Amma. I think I get it. I'm going to go look for Kal. I haven't played with him in a while."
As the girl ran off toward the setting sun, Valka watched her silhouette fade into the horizon and murmured, "No, girl. Thank ye. Fer helping me ta finally understand my purpose here."
Kal was not too hard to find, curled up in a big ball of silver veins and scales at the back of her father's workshop. A rumbling snore escaped his snout as Eira approached him, leaning against his side. "Get up, you lazy bum."
Kal blinked open an eye and gave a snort. A chuckle escaped the girl, but she tried to hide it by rolling her eyes. "Uh-huh, sure you are," she uttered, trying to sound annoyed. "You don't look very sick to me. You seem fine. You just like to sleep."
The Night Fury squirmed, swatting Eira away with a gentle push of his claw, and stretched out onto his back. His underside was a web of icy veins, spiraling and wrapping around his body, though the branching lines were not as visible on his back as they were on his stomach. "Get up," Eira whined, flopping herself down into his tummy. "Play with me."
Kal grumbled and rolled over, flipping his older sister off of him. With a moody puff of smoke, he pulled his front leg around his head, covering his eyes.
With a huff, Eira plopped herself down onto the ground, sending sprites of dust flying. "You haven't been sick since you were a baby. You're just lazy."
And it was true- Kal had slept through much of his first few months, fighting off the icy death running in his blood. But once he'd conquered the first half a year of life, he'd been as healthy as any normal dragon, if only a little bit smaller.
Eira was right, of course. He didn't need to sleep right now if he didn't want to. But Kal, like any respectable dragon, was not one to be bossed around. Especially not by his tiny older sister.
So when Eira climbed upon his tail and started smacking him with her palm, he calmly shook her off.
But he was not expecting to flick his tail so hard, and the edge of it whipped against Hiccup's dresser. The ruffle of papers and a heavy bang resounded in the dragon's ears. His eyes shot open, worry causing his heart to beat harder. Had he hurt his sister? He'd never meant to do that!
But when he whipped his head around, he saw Eira was just irritated, not injured. She was covered in a thick lining of dust that had gone flying from the worn dresser, and a heavy scowl rested upon her face.
A low snort of laughter escaped the younger brother as Eira brushed herself clean. "You're so mean," she mumbled as she began picking up the loose paper. But then, a glint of shiny black caught her eyes.
The clang from before had come from a falling rider's helmet. It was a dark black of gleaming polished leather, though it was filthy now. Eira picked it up gently and rubbed the filth from it.
Beneath the dirt, she could see a bright red skull insignia.
"This used to be Dad's?" Eira placed the helmet on the desk and looked at the crumpled paper in her hands. She placed it smoothly in the table, unfolding the wrinkles until it was smooth and legible.
"It's a map," she muttered with wonder. She felt her brother's hot breathe on her back as he stood to look over her shoulder. "But it's not finished." Eira ran a soft finger across the unwritten edges of the page. "I wonder why he never finished it."
"What do you think, buddy? Wanna finished it?" A grin stretched on her face.
A glint of excitement sparked in Eira's chest, and when her eyes met Kal's, she knew he was thinking the same thing. After all, the both loved to explore.
"Let's go on an adventure!"
And that's it. It's finished. It's done.
Wow, that's so weird to say.
In a couple of days, I'll probably post a few questions in a separate "chapter" at the end of this story, asking about what you want in a sequel and what you thought of my writing in general. You don't have to answer them, of course, but I'd really appreciate if you could give me feedback on my writing, since I hope to publish something original some day, and I want to write as best as I can. :)
With all of that said, I suppose there's nothing left for me to add except thanks so much for reading! I really hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought! :)
