A New Dawn
Dragon Island
Heiđrún was about to tell her lover that she missed him like this, but Tunglið swooped in joined the couple.
"You two can be lovers later," she teased, turning to their real objective. "First, he needs to die. Any ideas?"
"I thought it was a she?"
"Nope, male through and through"
"Okay, what about blowing him up?" Guðbrandr plotted, not sure if it would even work. The two females thought, but it was his mate that commented first.
"That could work if we ignite his gas in his throat, but it wouldn't kill him."
"True, but what if he crashes like that into the island?"
The bonded pair turned to the glowing Night Wing. Their stunned looks were all Tunglið needed to see before bolting off towards the Monster. They watched her green blast hit and puncture through the massive dragon's wing it hit.
They both smirked and join the third putting nearly a dozen holes in the beast's wings in total. Below, the Vikings watched on astonishment as the flashes of light from the shots illuminated the clouds.
Some coward in fear, thinking the Gods were furious with them. Stoick and Astrid stood beside each other, watching and hoping for a sign that Hedvig was prevailing. Fishlegs was pondering though because the number of flashes happening at the same time couldn't correspond to just two Night Furies.
He strode up to Astrid and put a hand on her shoulder, speaking up to his chief and ally. "I think we need to be prepared for something." The two looked curiously at the rotund Viking.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! BURN!" the Monster seethed and spewed his torrent of flame around the cloud. The flame was easily dodged by the two Night Wing siblings.
Heiđrún was the exception as her tail fins and lower part of her tail were burned. The pain sent waves of pain through her body and although dragons were naturally fireproof; this Monster's flame was different. Ages of him being in lava added in the heat and texture of the lava to scald her from the assault.
She took the initiative and began a dive in front of the Beast. "Catch me if you can, you monster!" The Red Death growled as he sensed the pure Dragon Soul in the taunting Night Wing.
"You shall perish!" explained the Death, tucking his wings in to follow the sleek Night Wing.
Guðbrandr and Tunglið followed behind the enormous dragon unable to catch up to Heiđrún. Tunglið cursed to herself for using so much of her godly nature and Dragon Flame earlier to return her sister to Night Wing.
Guðbrandr altered his course to gaze down past to his beloved. He could see her flapping her wings to keep ahead of the massive jaws behind her. A few moments later, he noticed the jaws of the Beast open. "Ljós you best not be taking my love today or I will find a way to kill a God to get my love back," he swore while extending his spinal fins in hopes that he could speed up somehow.
Heiđrún could hear the gas from the monstrous beast behind her. 'Nottú… Odin… Thor and whoever else is watching over me, give me the strength to survive' she prayed as she rolled over to face the evil Death. Her wings partially opened from the wind buffering against her as she prepared her shot.
'Make this count Heiđrún,' she concentrated and launched her bolt down the malicious dragon's throat. The sound was amazing to hear as the gas ignited and backfired into the beast's gullet. Smoke and flame billowed out from the jaw as the Red Death saw the ground approaching quickly. He snapped his wings open, but the damage was done as the holes from the Night Wings ripped open quickly.
Inadvertently, Guðbrandr was tossed to the side as the large wings flung open. His sister dodged it but she had to pull up sharply as the ground became visible. Heiđrún tumbled briefly as the Red Death fell past her and collided into the island. All in attendance saw the beast explode, causing a massive fireball and mushroom cloud.
Heiđrún beat her wings feverishly as the fireball grew behind her. With the fireball closing in by the second, the worst thing began to occur to the newly reborn Night Wing: her tail fins weren't moving how she wanted. The burns from earlier were causing her intense pain where even the slightest movements made her stop adjusting.
She faced ahead to the massive club tail swinging down towards her and she prayed, 'Ljós, Nottú, and Odin… save me.' Her eyes shut waiting for the blow that was inevitable. Seconds became hours, flashes of her father Skuggi and his sacrifice made her sad but happy knowing she was doing the same for the Dragon Souls.
Stoick ran towards the explosion as the mushroom cloud rose into the air. The heat had faded, but sweat freely ran down the massive Vikings body under his clothing.
"Hedvig! HEDVIG!" he cried out in desperation. He glanced around in the smoke-filled air, unsure of what he would find. Then, he came across two of the black dragons, looking at something in front of them.
The teens and Gobber came up next to Stoick, while the rest of the Vikings and dragons stood back further.
"Is it me or do my eyes deceive me?" the blacksmith inquired.
They didn't deceive him for just beyond the Night Furies was a pure white dragon with some peculiar red markings over its body laying on the ground. Those there, including the Night Furies, didn't know what or who this white body was before them.
The white dragon uncurled to reveal another black dragon beneath its wings.
"Heiđrún, please, are you okay?" Guðbrandr pleased, rushing forward and nuzzling the top of her scalp.
Tunglið, although concerned for her sister, stared at the white dragon with unease until their eyes met. Once they did, her uneasy feeling burned away, for now, she knew who this male was.
"I see Nottúhas finally chosen," remarked the white dragon.
"She did and you must be…"
"Yes, I am Cináed. The vassal of Ljós."
As the dragons were speaking and reuniting, Fishlegs moved forward until Stoick stopped him.
"Where is my daughter? Do you know what is going on?"
"Chief, I think the one on the ground is your daughter. Returned to being a dragon by that one over there," his finger pointed at the new Night Fury while explaining.
"That… can't be… I just forgave her and she returned to being a dragon?" he stammered in dejection.
Astrid came forward and told the Chief that he and Fishlegs would find out before drawing close to the group.
Heiđrún opened her eyes while groaning in pain. The tender sensation of a tongue licking her ear plates made her happy. Slowly, she lifted her body from the rocky beach. Her focus shifted to the white… Night Wing.
"Am I seeing a ghost?"
"No, you are seeing my counterpart," the younger dragoness confessed.
"Counterpart?" the bonded pair asked.
"We will reveal more once you speak to your friends," Cináed proposed, pointing with his wing to the two Vikings that drew closer.
"Astrid, Fishlegs… how will we be able to communicate now?" Heiđrún pondered, stepping forward to then.
"Well, that's definitely Gunny. I recognize him easily from our numerous meetings," the stockier Viking declared, turning his attention to the newest Night Fury. "If that's you, Hedvig, do what I showed you in the shop a week ago."
Heiđrún's plates perked up realizing what her friend was asking. She quickly started scratching and digging with her paws. Stoick and Gobber decided to join them upon seeing this reaction from the one Night Fury.
Gobber was partially slack-jawed, swearing he was being tricked by Loki. "That can't be runes can they?"
Stoick saw these shapes being craved and dug and they were definitively runes. They were fairly bad, but he could make it out: "Dragon Souls"
Fishlegs gleamed with excitement knowing his friend was finally able to return to her love, but it also saddened him with the fact he could never understand her again.
Reaching forward, he wrapped his arms around her neck and hugged her tightly. "You've returned to your mate. I'm so happy for you," his voice cracking as tears formed and rolled down his cheeks.
Astrid gave Hedvig a light punch on a leg. "That's for scaring me."
Heiđrún frowned at Astrid, wishing she could retort back. Instead, she felt the embrace of her other friend around her neck. She wanted to tell them it was going to be fine and that she would visit, but alas she couldn't.
"Sister, it's time you heard from us," Tunglið proclaimed, making Heiđrún and Guðbrandr turn to face her.
The two opposite colored dragons stood next to each other, their eyes fixated on Heiđrún.
"Hedvig Heiđrún Haddock, step forward please."
Heiđrún complied slowly, the Vikings watching on. She sat nearly a body length away from the duo waiting to hear the explanation.
"We are the living embodiments of Ljós…"
"... and Nottú. Our God and Goddess imbued us with their powers to balance the strings of fate from the Nords."
"I am a Light Wing, a cousin of the Night Wings that resides in hiding but follows Ljós."
Heiđrún and Guðbrandr absorbed this revaluation and wanted to bombard them with many more questions.
"You see sister, Nottú chose me the moment my mother saved Skuggi. Her action to save Skuggi no matter what it could do to my egg made the goddess protect my egg and prepare me for my new role in life."
"Indeed, a similar thing can be said for myself, but I won't bore you with the details. For now, we must present you with a gift."
"A gift?"
"Yes, a gift from the gods." the godly dragons flung their wings open, beginning to gather their powers. Sparks of red and green arced from the respective dragon.
"The gift bestowed upon you is fitting for your role in this world. You shall henceforth be the leader of the Dragon Souls, guiding and cultivating a new world for them all."
"With this role, you will need to deal with problems of the Viking nature along with dragons. Every time the night sun rises into the sky, full and vivid, you shall be able to change your form from dragon to Viking, or vice versa, until the next full night sun."
The energy grew stronger and brighter, causing the Vikings to shield their eyes. Heiđrún felt her heart race, body quiver and mind explode at the possibilities.
"But, you shall only ever be able to carry a child of a Night Wing. And while carrying, you will not be able to change. For then and any other time, no matter your form, you shall be able to understand and speak both Dragon and Norse fluently."
"Do you accept this gift from your God and Goddess, dear sister?"
"I do, and I swear to do this to the best of my abilities."
Tunglið couldn't help but smile, knowing that her sister finally had her fate string returned to her true path. Both godly dragons released their flame together, causing them to spiral around each other before connecting with Heiđrún.
Heiđrún felt the warmth of both Ljós and Nottú wash over her body. She could see in the flame, the true forms of the God and Goddess smiling down upon her. As the flame diminished around her, she heard her deities tell her, "Return to the island where you last saw your father when you bear your first egg."
With those last words, her gift was received and her body was healed. Tunglið and Cináed had disappeared by the time the flame dissipated. Only Heiđrún and Guðbrandr remained in front of the Vikings.
All of the Vikings stared, bewildered at the event that befell their eyes. The two black dragons nuzzled one another before the smaller one was engulfed in flames yet again.
Instead of a dragon coming from the flame, a familiar looking child stepped towards them. Stoick rushed forward, scooping the girl into his arms and spinning her around.
"You're back. You…"
"Let's go home and I'll explain to everyone what happened," she interjected by covering his mouth.
Astrid and Fishlegs ran up and hugged their friend as cheers erupted from the Vikings and roars of celebration from the dragons.
The age of the Dragon Souls had just been ushered in again.
Author's Note: Cináed - Means "born of fire" in Gaelic
So this ends the main story of Hiccup the Fury. A few notes for all that have questions about the transformation gift Heiđrún received. First, she can choose each month to change or not. She won't just change automatically every full moon so no werewolf style changing. It's her choice to turn or not. Second, the form she will choose is what will be most comfortable for her. I'll leave that for you to decide what she will choose most. Third, I chose to make the Red Death male from a script I found online of the first movie where they said he in it, so I went with it. Last, there is an epilogue coming after this and I already have a feeling it will cause a lot of controversy with what I'm going to do in it, but we'll wait and see.
Now probably to address the Elephants in the room known as Cináed and Tunglið. Alright, so the God, Ljós, and Goddess, Nottú, can't physically ever show up on the world. They are forever Ethereal beings, but they can empower those they deem strong enough. First, they have to be still an egg to get the first part of their powers, you've seen that with Tunglið and her ability to sense things she couldn't quite understand. After a while, the dragons that have this small blessing will run into someone that understands what they are and are sent on a quest. It's a multi-stage quest that tests to see if they are mentally worthy of handling the responsibilities of deciding the fates of those that seek guidance or assistance from them. The final test is the removal of an evil entity that has harmed the vassal in some way, but not in a vengeful way, just do it for the need to balance the fates.
So that is a bit of how they got their powers, now we talk about their abilities. So as the vassals, they can usually teleport to where they are needed. Evil entities that are on the level of the Red Death can prevent that power. They also have unlimited Dragon Flames to give what the dragons seek if it helps to fix the fate strings. Next and certainly not least, they are near immortal. Only in the presence of an evil entity can their godly powers be drained and leave them able to be killed. That is why Tunglið cursed about using too much of her godly power because the Red Death drained the powers from her the closer she got to him.
So both Tunglið and Cináed are more like Demi-gods but not sired by the God or Goddess directly as you would think in a most mythological sense. But that explains them and I hope all have enjoyed this and can't wait for the epilogue. I'm tying up one loose end that NO ONE has caught in all the time reading this story. One from many, many, many chapters ago. We are talking Pre-Berk Chapters.