Chapter 36:
When they landed, they saw the blackened tree in the middle, along with two major scorch marks on the ground. Valka was on her knees and crying next to one of them.
Vali was standing next to her with her hand on her shoulder, she too had a few tears. Cloudjumper had his head bent low over the two of them.
Kormak was stomping around the area and kicking anything in his way, he was furious.
Spark wasn't doing anything, she just sat in the hot springs watching Vali. She was definitely deep in thought and not sure of what to do.
Kormak's dragon, the Thunderdrum just came out of the icy corridors, obviously having had searched them for any clues.
Hiccup just stood next to the blackened tree, with Toothless sitting beside him. He was looking at his friends and Valka. He knew what needed to be done, and it needed to be done soon. He felt terrible, but action needed to be taken.
Toothless felt the same way.
He raised his right arm, exposing the brightly glowing blue dragon mark. And spoke up loudly, "Everybody, all dragons and Vikings alike, please, come over to me."
Slowly, everybody did so. His members of the Six stood at the front, and waited patiently.
"We need to leave." Hiccup said plainly, clearly and confidently. "We need to leave now. That creature knows this place. It's no longer safe. Kormak and Vali, go with your dragons and get as many supplies as you can. Get as many weapons as you can carry. As much food that your dragon can hold. Anything that we could need in the near future. Do it now."
They left immediately, following his orders. Hiccup now turned to a few of Valka's dragons. "Dragons, you all are now free. I'm setting you free. You can't come with us, it's too dangerous. I'm sorry. I would like you all to go and live your lives as best you can for now. We, the Six and our dragon partners are going to go into hiding. We are going to find the rest of the Six as quickly as we can. I need you all to leave and train. I may need you all again in the future. I have a feeling war is coming."
"Would you all be prepared to fight within say five years?" He asked them.
Each and every single one replied with 'yes.' Hiccup nodded thankfully, before saying, "Thank you. I'll send out word if war comes. Goodbye."
Valka smiled weakly, and said, "Goodbye friends. Stay safe."
All the dragons then slowly took off, one by one, and left Lowtov's glacier.
"Where will we go?" Toothless asked, looking curiously between Valka and Hiccup.
"I don't know. Somewhere far away, isolated and desolate. Know anywhere mum?" Hiccup asked.
She turned to face her son, and rubbed her eyes. "I would have suggested Remola, but Berk has an alliance with them. That's too risky. Maybe a further island like Acquio. That place is pretty far south. However it hasn't got much space, it's pretty packed with Vikings."
Hiccup shook his head. "We can't have that. I think we should find an uninhabited island like Lowtov here. We need to train before we start looking for the Six. Kormak especially needs to train. So the plan is, we'll head south west, see if we can find an uninhabited island. Take refuge in caves or something, and stay there for maybe a few months. Then we leave for our missions."
Valka nodded. "Agreed. Good plan."
Hiccup looked at her right in the eye. "Mum, because we are leaving this place and probably not coming back, can I give Toothless permission to go into each room and burn everything? I don't want anything that could lead the creature any information."
Valka nodded sadly. "Yes, go ahead."
"Hey bud," Hiccup turned to the Night Fury, but before he could say anything, the dragon spoke, "Sure. Everything burned?"
"Yep." Hiccup answered. "I don't want to leave a thing. We only take what we need with us."
On the land of Myrka, just behind King Harun's Castle…
"Preparations for the great gathering are complete master." King Harun bowed to the darkness of night as he heard his master land on the ground around him.
"Excellent." The creature boomed. "Your forces are ready for war like you promised?"
King Harun nodded, "Yes master. Half our fleet is on standby in the Myrkian Bay, the other half is already at Tokenill waiting for the gathering to begin next week. We are yours to command."
The creature smiled as it looked down at King Harun. "Good. Because straight after the great gathering, our mission is a go. We must start the invasion the next day. So I am hereby giving the order to get the boats from the Myrkian Bay sailing to their destination now."
Harun smirked. "After the gathering, we will be in position to strike. How much of the fleet do you want to leave from Tokenill for selection after the gathering?"
Master replied saying, "The usual. So, half the Myrkian fleet will be heading out for selection just after the gathering, as per our normal routine. The other half will be doing our mission. You have soldiers in Myrka guarding it in case of a sudden or unexpected attack?"
"Yes master, of course." King Harun stated. "We have three thousand troops in Myrka, half are in the M.U.N. (Myrka's Underground Network), and the other half are patrolling Myrka on the surface, in my guard duty or spying in the markets."
"Hmmm." The creature wondered. "That's good."
Harun cleared his throat. "Indeed master."
"I will watch the invasion. Make sure it all goes to plan, if they all need help, I will be there in the shadows. It is imperative that my plan goes exactly right." Master warned.
"I understand master. But there is one thing I want to ask. What if Hiccup finds out, or the other members of the Six?"
Master smiled. "He won't find out. I will make sure of that. He and his few members of the Six are currently grieving for the loss of two people I just killed for them."
"I understand. Is that all?" Harun questioned, now standing up.
"Yes. Farwell." Master said, immediately King Harun heard the rush of wings beating into the air before the creature disappeared.
King Harun smiled to himself as he walked back to his castle and gave the order for the mission to start.
When he was alone that night, sitting in his throne chair, he looked forward to when the mission was complete.
"They won't stand a chance." He muttered to himself, smirking.
Flying high in the skies above Tokenill…
It was already nearly dawn, and the sun's first light was steadily getting closer to creeping over the horizon. The skies were clear, but the wind was fierce. It pelted aggressively at Hiccup and his friends as they flew through the air.
Together, all of them had baskets with lots of supplies for all of them for months. They had only left Lowtov about five hours ago in the middle of the night, and Hiccup was in the lead flying south west, according to Gothi's compass.
All of them were very tired and desperate for sleep, so they needed to find a safe place very soon.
They passed over the lands of Tokenill where they saw hundreds of boats all around the waterways. Valka explained that the great gathering of chieftains and traders takes place there every few months or so.
They kept flying through the cloudless winter skies. Very grateful there were no clouds. It was freezing.
Passing island after island, Valka explained to Hiccup which island was which, because she had been scouting and exploring all the lands and islands of the archipelago over the past seventeen years or so.
Finally they saw the island of Remola. "That's Remola down there." Valka yelled from her position on top of Cloudjumper.
"Good!" Yelled Hiccup. Observing the place, it was a fairly small island, circular shaped. However Hiccup did notice that most of the island was covered in Viking huts. They definitely had a much bigger population than Dyflin or Berk.
"So any island we see from now, we'll check out and find if it's habitable. But we must find out if it's got Vikings on it first." Hiccup announced, as they flew out of sight of Remola.
The rest of them agreed.
It didn't take long at all till they found another island. They flew down to get a better look, and noticed this island was substantially large. Its coastline rather zig zaggy, and had rough topography. It appeared to be entirely made of rock. They couldn't spot any trees or grass.
The closer they got, the better it looked from Hiccup's perspective. There were plenty of big caves to hide in and store stuff.
Landing there, they went into the caves and saw the ground inside the caves was gravel. That was a relief for all of them.
Hiccup and Toothless searched the cave and found a small pool of water right at the back. It looked extremely deep and they couldn't see the bottom, it might even lead to the ocean on another side.
Hiccup turned back to face the group. "All right, this is safe. Let's set up camp here for the night. We'll scout the island and its surroundings tomorrow afternoon. For now, get some sleep."
Hiccup got comfortable in Toothless's wings as Toothless cocooned him in them to keep him warm.
Valka went through the same process with Cloudjumper, Kormak and Vali however took quite a while before they got comfortable and finally got some sleep.
By the afternoon they had all woken up.
It was overcast day, clouds covered the sky in all directions. The winds had picked up dramatically since they arrived this morning, it cut around the rocky island and boulders, hitting them from all angles.
They had secured the supplies they had brought to the back of the cave. The weapons, food and clothes. The only thing they needed was water. Since they didn't have any fresh water on the island or with them, Hiccup told Vali to hop onto Spark and fly around nearby islands in search of water.
Meanwhile, Hiccup was duelling Kormak in sword fighting while Valka, Cloudjumper, Kormak's Thunderdrum and Toothless watched.
Kormak surprisingly already had excellent reflexes and great stamina. Hiccup guessed from all that time in slavery he would have needed to be quick on his feet and tough enough to perform duties.
He did however lack in skill and coordination. But that's where Hiccup came in. He was teaching Kormak the manoeuvers to move and adjust to while fighting and so on. It was going to be no easy task. Especially considering Hiccup wasn't fully skilled either.
His trainer back on Myrka, Savas, never got to finish his training. Hiccup wondered how he was. He hoped he hadn't been caught or killed. Savas seemed like a great guy.
"That's better." Hiccup complimented to Kormak, noting his right hand sword move. "Keep the blade defensive as well. You won't always have a shield with you, so a sword can be an effective shield if used properly too."
"But remember," Hiccup paused, as he hit Kormak's sword far to his right and he did a little spin and used his right leg to trip Kormak over. He landed on his back, and Hiccup held the sword to his throat. "Don't just fight with your sword. Your body can be a weapon too. Use your legs, arms, elbows, feet and so on."
Hiccup moved the sword away and offered a hand to his friend Kormak.
He took it and Hiccup pulled him up.
"Thanks." Kormak replied, brushing dirt off his clothes. "I think this will take a while."
"Not that long with two of us." Spark the Skrill suddenly approached and landed next to them. Vali hopped off and walked over to them. "I can sword fight too. I'm not as good as Hiccup but I can teach you too." She said.
Kormak smiled. "Thanks again. Did you find any water?" He asked genuinely. He was quite thirsty.
Vali smiled, "Yep! There's a small island just to the west of here that's got a lake right in the middle. Spark and I tested it and it was fresh."
"Great!" Kormak cheered triumphantly. "Shall we go?"
"Yeah all right." Said Hiccup.
"I think I'll stay here son." Valka spoke up, patting Cloudjumper on his owl like head from where she sat. "I'm very tired from the morning flight and I don't have the energy."
"That's okay," Hiccup answered, "We'll bring some back for you." Hiccup and Kormak sheathed their swords.
She smiled gratefully in return. Hiccup went into the cave and found a large bowl in the food supplies that would serve as a good hold for water.
"See you soon mum." Hiccup said, hopping onto Toothless and securing his foot to the pedal.
"Bye. Be safe." She told them.
Kormak and Vali climbed onto their dragons and took off into the air. Followed by Hiccup and Toothless. Cloudjumper stayed with Valka.
Spark led the way, and it didn't take long till a small sandy island came into view. It was almost perfectly round, like a circle. Plus it was very flat. The middle of the island although not so much. The sand dunes trapped a fairly sized lake in the middle of the island.
Hiccup was rather surprised it was fresh water, given the fact that it was quite close to the sea.
The group quenched their thirsts for water, and drank as much as they could. Even the dragons gulped down as much as possible to last them for a while.
The lake was crystal clear. However with the strong winds it made the surface rather blurry.
"Ohh." Sighed Vali, wiping her mouth with her sleeve as she stood up. "That's good."
Hiccup collected as much water as he could from the bowl, and brought it back to his mother when they all returned.
As soon as she finished, Toothless started to speak.
"Everyone, I think it's time I told you all the story about that creature that destroyed Lowtov's village, Dyflin and what killed Edda and Kari." He sat down and had his ears raised right up awaiting a response.
"Yeah. Good idea." Hiccup replied immediately, that had been dwelling on his mind for a while.
All the dragons and Vikings of the Six that were here all got comfortable. Waiting for Toothless to begin his story.
He took a deep breath, and began.
"Hundreds of years ago, before the Vikings were at war with dragons and before the Nights were at war with the Spike Bolts, there was peace and prosperity among Viking and dragon kind. Dragons coexisted with Vikings, living in their everyday lives. There were no dragon riders either, Vikings and dragons kept to themselves, not bothering one another."
"During these times, the dragons of legend existed. All the current dragons out there still existed, however there were also Alphas. King dragons I should say. There were called Bewilderbeasts. Giant, graceful dragons that shot ice instead of fire. Capable of living for over a thousand years, they were the guardians of peace and justice. Three of them ruled the times of old. Nights were the second in command to them."
"My great grandfather, of whom was the leader of the Nights at the time, lived with the Bewilderbeasts. I knew him for only a short time in my youth. He told me almost everything I know. Anyway, on with the story, the Bewilderbeasts did keep peace and prosperity, before the Great War came."
"Many thousands of years ago, before the Great War and before the three Bewilderbeasts unified the archipelago, evil had control. Creatures, known as Shapeshifters, had ruled the archipelago. These evil and imposing creatures were half human half dragon. They could transform into a vicious and deadly dragon that was as powerful as a Night. They could also transform into a human. They were vile, destructive creatures."
"However they did not rule for very long. The three Bewilderbeasts became powerful and fought the Shapeshifters and had them on the run. They left the archipelago. But the Bewilderbeasts knew they would return. So they created peace and prosperity throughout the archipelago. Training Nights and making sure the Nights would help them battle the Shapeshifters when they returned."
"Thousands of years later, the Shapeshifters had forged larges armies outside the archipelago, led by one leader. And suddenly they attacked the Bewilderbeasts stronghold. This became known as the Great War. The Bewilderbeasts fought valiantly, alongside all the Nights."
"Together, the Nights and the Bewilderbeasts defeated most of the armies of Shapeshifters during the greatest battle in history. However, almost the entire race of Night Furies was wiped out. Only a few families remained. Mine for example. After the battle, the Bewilderbeasts then searched the archipelago for any remaining Shapeshifters. During their search, an unexpected attack from some Shapeshifters threw them off guard."
"Their strength and element of surprise from the leader and his forces, defeated two of the Bewilderbeasts, and severely injured the third. The surviving Bewilderbeast retreated back to the stronghold with the remaining Nights. During this time, the Bewilderbeast made a prophecy. The prophecy of the Six. He prophesised that a leader would be born within a thousand years, and would command Six Vikings and Dragons and defeat the last remaining Shapeshifters."
"Just as the Bewilderbeast passed on that knowledge to my great grandfather and several other Nights, the Shapeshifter leader attacked again. The Bewilderbeast ordered the Nights to flee. As they did, the Bewilderbeast put up its last fight, defeating all the Shapeshifters except the leader. Now drained of all its strength, the Bewilderbeast welcomed death as the leader Shapeshifter killed him."
"The leader and last Shapeshifter then devised a new goal. It searched the archipelago, and found one dragon that could help him. It was known as the Red Death. A queen, naturally the Shapeshifter's now second in command. It had been living afar, keeping to itself, never wanting any part in war or battles. The Shapeshifter transformed and forced the Red Death to abide by its wishes. The Shapeshifter filled the Red Death with false propaganda and made it believe that all creatures of the world could suffer its wrath."
"Upon seeing how easily the Red Death could be manipulated, the Shapeshifter placed it into a nest of dragons, and it took control. Forcing dragons to raid villages with its power in order to serve the Red Death. The Shapeshifter's work complete, it retreated back and now did exactly the same thing with Vikings."
"What happened from there is not certain, but I can tell you this. It fled to an unknown location, and started to infiltrate the Viking ways. Enough time passed, and with the combined efforts of the Red Death and the Shapeshifter's propaganda to Vikings, created a war between Vikings and dragons. The Shapeshifter's ultimate goal was for the world of Vikings and dragons to always be at war with each other. Never to have peace, light or prosperity."
"From here on, this is speculation." Toothless continued. "Judging from our little trip with Hiccup into Myrka a while ago, I'd say that the Shapeshifter has been influencing every King of Myrka for the past several hundred years. Forcing them to kill and capture dragons, and put many Vikings from other clans into slavery."
"This enabled the Shapeshifter to have control of both Vikings and dragons. Should Vikings from another clan such as the Bog Burglars suddenly want to attack and kill the Shapeshifter, the Shapeshifter has the Myrkians to kill them. Should dragons from another nest somewhere suddenly want to kill the Shapeshifter, it can order the Red Death and dragons under its control to kill them."
"Oh wait there's one more thing I forgot to mention. After the Shapeshifter killed the last Bewilderbeast, but before it went looking for the Red Death, it had one task to do. It knew that there was only one breed of dragon that came close to the Nights in power and intelligence. The Spike Bolts. Or as you call them, the Skrills."
Toothless glanced at Spark, who said nothing but just blinked.
"The Shapeshifter knew that some Nights had fled and escaped him, so he went to the Spike Bolts nest. He knew the Spike Bolts could have killed him, but he was smart and cunning. He simply requested to speak with the Spike Bolt's alpha, and did so. Once again the Shapeshifter used its powers of persuasion, propaganda and hatred of Nights to consume the alpha and made him despise the Nights."
"The Shapeshifter and Spike Bolt alpha came to an agreement. If the Spike Bolts were to focus solely on eradicating the Nights, once the Shapeshifter had built up enough hysteria and had the Vikings and dragons at war with each other, the Shapeshifter would allow the Spike Bolts to live in peace with them. The Spike Bolts would not have to take part in dragon raids unless if they wanted to."
"So they came to that agreement, and because of that, the Nights have been technically at war with the Spike Bolts ever since. The Spike Bolts pursued that purpose, and because their numbers were far greater than the Nights, they wiped out nearly the entire remaining Nights. They killed my parents, and my whole family. I had no choice but to flee. I do not know if there are any Nights left in the archipelago."
"The Spike Bolts have completed their goal, and so they now live in peace. They think there are no Nights left. Possibly they are unaware that I even exist. However I'd be surprised if the Shapeshifter hadn't told them by now."
"Although, there presents a massive problem. The only beings in the archipelago that know the Shapeshifter even exists, are King Harun of Myrka and maybe a servant or two of his. The Queen of dragons known as the Red Death as well as some of the Spike Bolts. And lastly, us. All other Vikings and dragons are blind to this knowledge."
As Toothless finished, there was utter silence amongst the group. This new knowledge proving intense.
Two weeks later…
Kormak's training had already improved. With Hiccup and Vali's combined efforts, he was picking up skills even faster than Hiccup did when he was training.
He was learning his manoeuvres well, however he was becoming quite reliant on his sword. Hiccup knew it wouldn't be too long before he'd have to teach him unarmed combat. He now understood why Savas insisted on Hiccup learning it first.
Vali was teaching Kormak more sword skills, while Hiccup was watching and analysing closely from his position on a rock next to them. Spark and Kormak's Thunderdrum went with Valka and Cloudjumper to do some patrolling from the skies around the archipelago. Toothless was nearby, walking around the coastline of the island on the lookout for any boats or dragons.
"Good… Good." Hiccup said, watching Kormak's feet and his hand's grip on the sword.
"That's it, now kick- Oh, too late." He commented, now half smiling as Kormak lay on the ground held once again by Vali.
Vali extended her hand to Kormak, and he took it once more. "You're improving Kormak. I think we should continue this sword training for another week, then we start unarmed combat." She said plainly to him.
He nodded, breathing heavily. "Whatever you say boss."
"Hiccup! Hiccup! Come quick!" Called out a roar from Toothless. "I see something!"
Hiccup and the others spun around and saw Toothless beckoning them over to him. He was jumping up and down on the rocks not far from them.
As quickly as they could, Hiccup along with Kormak and Vali manoeuvred their way over the rocks to where Toothless was looking at to sea.
"What is it bud?" Hiccup asked him, eventually reaching him and standing next to him.
Toothless stared straight ahead, and said without turning, "See? Straight ahead far into the distance. I think it's a little boat on the water."
Hiccup squinted in the direction Toothless was looking, and after scanning the horizon his eyes found what they were looking for. A tiny, brown dot in the distance. It was a little easier to see thanks to flat ocean and lack of wind.
"Yeah, I can just see it." Hiccup added, now turning to Kormak and Vali who were looking too.
"I don't know what it is you can see, but I certainly can't see it." Vali huffed, "how come your eyes are so good?"
"Yeah." Kormak agreed, "I can't see it either."
Hiccup climbed onto Toothless, "We'll go check it out. We'll be back as soon as we can."
"Be careful." Kormak warned, now turning his sword around and passing it to Hiccup.
"Cheers, we will."
Toothless leapt into the air, steadily climbing higher into the sky. He then dived downwards, and began gliding through the air down towards the boat in perfect style.
As they got closer, they realised it was a very tiny boat indeed. It looked like a small wooden dingy. It had oars on either side.
Suddenly as they got close, they realised two people were inside it. Both lying down.
One of them suddenly turned around and looked up.
"AHHHH!" One them screamed in fear, and scrambled to his feet. That woke the other person up, of whom now looked up.
"RELAX! WE FOUND HIM!" He screeched, grabbing the terrified guy and turning him to face Hiccup.
Hiccup heart suddenly leapt into his mouth, as they got closer, Hiccup recognised both of them.
"No… Way…" Hiccup muttered, his jaw dropping.
End of Chapter 36.
SORRY! SORRY! SORRY! Nevertheless, a promise is a promise! I will finish this story, it might take while, but I will finish it! More chapters will come when I get time! :) Thanks everyone for your support!
I can't apologise enough for how late this chapter is. I just have been so busy, and literally have not had time to write, and I suffered some writers block at times too.