Apologies for the grammar.

Chapter 10: Hopeful discoveries.

Panting, Astrid found Fishleg in the Great Hall, sitting underneath a pile of books and scrolls almost as high as him. Without catching her breath, she slammed down the parchment with the poem on it on the table. The blond Viking jumped in shock, the pile of parchment crumbling under his movements.

"Astrid!" Yelled Fishleg "Oh Thor" added he when he particularly thick book ended on his toes.

The young shieldmaiden cringed at the sight of his friend.

"What are those?" she asked

"Theses" Fishleg responded while picked the fallen items up, "Some logs from all the household of Berk." He showed one made of sturdy leather that sported elegant carving. On the center was proudly displayed the Haddock clan crest.

"Wait," Astrid asked, "You went into Hiccup's house?"

"Of course, I found this on his table upstairs. Haven't you been there? You are his be.." Fishleg cut his answer short when he saw the look Astrid gave him: fury with a hint of guilt.

"Anyway, I figured out the poem," Astrid said, evening out the parchment and gesturing Fishleg to come. The other Viking eyes lit up in excitement.

"Really? How." Fishleg asked

"Well, I put myself in Hiccup shoe and think in his perspective," Astrid answered. "You remember that I told you there was a Night Fury head drawing on the same page?"

"Yes, so?"

"Turns out that this Messenger is related to dragons, probably in the same way as we are, here on Berk."

"So, the 'senseless killing' means stop killing the dragons," Fishleg said. "Makes sense, that was what Hiccup tried so hard to prove and achieve."

"Turns out he isn't the only one." Astrid smiled.

"Then 'piece of the night' means a Night Fury scale!" Fishleg said.

"And living fire means a dragon blast," Astrid said smiling triumphantly.

"Then what does this 'brother' means?"

"I don't know, maybe a subspecies of the Night Fury?" Astrid asked.

"Astrid," Fishleg sighed "I'm afraid that there are none."

"What?" Astrid yelled in frustration.

"All we ever documented on Night Furies are data taken from Toothless," Fishleg explained. "But I'll go search if there is something else," Fishleg added.

"There has to be. " Astrid said firmly, refusing to let this fresh spark of hope die out. "Do you know where I can find some scales?"

"He sleeps in Hiccup's room, upstairs of his house, there has to be some," Fishleg answered. But seeing the uncomfortable look on Astrid's face, he quickly added, "I can grab them if you want."

"No, it's fine." She said.

\/—•—\/

Astrid stood in front of the Haddock house, house in which Hiccup lived and planed for six months. With a pang of guilt, she opened the front door. A thin layer of dust was covering the furniture downstairs. Taking a piece of rag in the kitchen, she whipped them quickly -coughing a bit when she inhaled a bit of dust- while searching for Toothless' scale. Piece of cloth in her hand, she looked around, her mind wandering, her feet guiding her in the house, organizing and tidying up. Finding nothing downstairs, she went to the bottom of the stair leading the Hiccup's room. She hesitated, before taking a deep breath and the first stair. The old wood creaking under her feet, she slowly ascended towards that forbidden paradise that yet belonged to her.

Upstairs, she immediately saw Toothless 'scales, those dark, blue translucent smooth triangular dragon scales laying on his flat piece of stone. She grabbed them and put them in a pocket on her skirt. She turned her heels and was about to bolt back down, but something held her heels. Maybe it was the messy blanket on his bed or the pile of disorganized paper on his bed. Either way, she stayed.

Approaching the bed, her mind wandered if one day she was going to sleep in it. Before, she was so sure about it, that it blinded her actions from her. Now, even seeing him again wasn't certain. Grabbing the pale green blanket and the pillow, she shook out the dust before laying them neatly on the bed frame. A leathery, smoky fragrance filled her nostril, and it took her some time to figure out that it was his scent. Heart clenched, she made her way to the desk, where unsorted stacks of paper and a couple of charcoal pencils were spread over it. Stacking the papers scribbles with doodles and blueprints that she couldn't understand, she then reached over to the pencil. Leaning over the desk to reach ones that were on the far end. She actually felt comfortable doing this. "How dumb was I to think that I wouldn't be ready for this." She though. Mind clustered with thoughts, she snapped out of it when she felt the desktop moving under her weight. It could be just the wooden response to induced stress, but her instinct told her that Hiccup wouldn't build a desk isn't stable. So, she cleaned the desk before kneeling down and examining it closely.

After some fumbling around, she found out that the top of it could actually lift up. Moving the desk apart from the wall, she could clearly see the hinges that were placed on the backside of it. She tried lifting it up, but it wouldn't budge. After a couple of tries, Astrid quickly grew frustrated and was pondering the option that she was the most familiar and comfortable with: forcing it open. But she didn't want to damage the furniture. Reluctantly, she went under the desk and laid on her back to figure out if there was something. Rubbing her eyes to get the fallen dust out, she figured out that there were indeed, two small locks on both sides of the desk. After flipping them, she climbed out and tried again, without success.

Letting out a cry of frustration, she kicked one of the legs. Unlike the usual study sound of leather hitting wood, a metallic tinkle resonated in the room.

"What?" Astrid kneel down and ran her finger along the leg, thanking Odin inwardly. At the very end of the leg, she found a slit. It was too thin for a key or even a finger. Looking around for a suitable candidate, her eyes trailed over Hiccup's prosthetics that were placed near the walls. The metal part was flattened thin to act as support without being too heavy. Looking back around to where the slit was located, a small smile grew on her face when she put everything together. Taking out a dagger, she slid the blade into it and moved it around.

Click, following by the sound of hinges. Looking up, she found out that the top of the desk had popped open. The first thing that caught her eyes was a shiny, almost pale ingot and a couple of chunks of non-processed ore that she thought was the same metal. But then her eyes were riveted to what she could only describe as a weapon of the Gods.

Seated nicely in a wrap of cloth was the most beautiful axe she ever saw. The double-headed blade shone with deadliness and was carved with intricated design of runes, all twined around a vine-like shape that ran along the four edges of the blade. Running her fingers along the vines, she found out that they continued along the edge of the axe, down to the handle. What surprised her even more was that the vine actually had depth, like a canal. Her fingers then trailed to the handle and discovered another one of this mystical weapon's feature: the wood under her fingers felt smooth, but not slippery, and again, it was beautifully carved with runes of protection and strength. The grip was made out of leather but wasn't placed at the very end of the handle, like a traditional axe. Actually, a length slightly more than her palm remained. With infinite precaution, she lifted the weapon out of its bed. It was heavier than she expected and set it on the desk. The ray of sunlight caught the bottom of the handle and shone blue upon the wooden desktop. She took a look and her jaw dropped. A gemstone as wide as the handle was incrusted in a golden ring at the bottom of the handle. A light blue gem that must have costed a fortune.

Now she was completely surprised, why would Hiccup keep such a magnificent weapon hidden in his desk, it wasn't for him, that's for sure since he was more of a sword person. Maybe a gift for an upcoming tribe? She wouldn't know, because of how little she involved herself in running the island. Wrapping the weapon in its cloth and snatching up one of the ingots, she ran out of the Haddock household and straight into Berk's blacksmith shop. Discarding the small leather box that sat in the corner.

"Gobber" she yelled, slightly out of breath.

"Easy lass" The blacksmith replied, "we aren't getting attacked."

"What do you know about this?" Astrid unwrapped the axe and showed it to the blacksmith. Gobber's widened at the weapon. He gestured Astrid to come in and closed the blind of the shop, just enough to see clearly.

"Hiccup was keeping this hidden in his room, in his desk. Why?" Astrid insisted.

Gobber sighed deeply before answering. "You weren't supposed to find this."

"Why?"

"Because it was supposed to be your wedding gift," Gobber said.

His words were like swords, piercing her through and through. Wedding gift? She thought, after all this time, Hiccup still wanted her.

"But, I'm…" Astrid trailed off, "I'm not worthy of this, of him, after everything I've done."

"Lass, to him, you're everything to him, and so much more than a weapon."

"But I'm not even close to being worthy of such a weapon, I mean, it's"

"Lass, let me show you something." Gobber dug out some blueprint and gestured her to hand over the weapon. The blacksmith laid out the blueprint on the table. On it was an axe, but the head had a grid-like pattern on it.

"I don't understand," Astrid said

"Hiccup has been working on something to make the weapons more durable. This is what he came up with." Gobber explained

The blade was reinforced with a gird inner structure, and the handle was actually composed of two-part: An inner metal core was molded with the blade, and the outside had the wooden shell.

Astrid didn't know much of blacksmithing, but one thing she understood is that this weapon had no pressure point, meaning that it was almost unbreakable.

"But there's more," Gobber said while grabbing a small canister, opening the top of the handle, and pouring the slimy green liquid in it. To Astrid surprise, the blade of the axe lit off like a ring of fire, just like the blade of Hiccup's weapon.

After Gobber extinguished the flame, Astrid wanted to check the mechanism for herself but the blacksmith held her back.

"Ah, I'm not done."

With his prosthetic thong, he grabbed the leather grip and twisted the bottom part of the handle. Under her astonished eyes, the bottom part of the handle separated from the rest of the weapon, just below the leather grip and a hollowed sword-like metal frame popped up from it, before lighting himself on fire.

"What?" Astrid said words were not enough to describe what she was seeing.

"Now tell me lass, who is worthy of such a weapon?" Gobber asked

"A Valkyrie," Astrid answered.

"Exactly, yet he decides to give it to you. You know what this means?"

Astrid shook her head.

"This means that you are his Valkyrie, his goddess in person." Answered Gobber while handing her the two weapons.

Astrid swung around for a bit, admiring the intricate mechanism by trying to put them back together.

"I mean, I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but when separated, the axe is to heavy," Astrid said shyly.

Gobber gave a good laugh at her uneasiness.

"Oh, did I tell you that was not the finished product?"

"What?"

"Yes, what he used here was just normal Gronckle iron. But the real gift, he was going to build it with a special kind of metal."

"You mean this? What is it?" Astrid said while holding out the ingot that she took?

"This is the dream of all blacksmith. This is the metal that can float on water. Lad spent quite some money to acquire it."

"You mean the metal of legends, the one that originated from Valhalla?" Astrid asked in shock.

"Yes," Gobber answered shortly.

He really wants far to get me a wedding gift. I'm coming to find you Hiccup, just so you can build this weapon.

"Gobber, I want you to remove the gemstone," Astrid said firmly.

"Why?"

"Because," she replied sharply, tightening her grip around the handle until her knuckles turned white, I might know where he is, and I'm taking this with me."

At the docks, Astrid straps a bag containing some dry food, a jug of water onto Stormfly's saddle. Feeling the weight of the new axe on her back, she strengthens the knot, making sure that her supplies wouldn't fall when she flew.

"Astrid!" a voice yelled her names. Turning her hand, she saw a breathless Fishleg running towards her.

"Thank gods you haven't gone." He paints. "I figured it out."

"What?" Astrid asked, impatient.

"The brother of the night, from the poem, it's a Sandwraith."

"A what?"

"A Sandwraith, here" Fishleg opened a scroll, on it was depicted a dragon to looked a lot like the Night Fury, but instead of the smooth outline of the black dragon, this one had short and spiked scales. "Beware, it says on here that they are very hostile, including to other dragons." He warned. "You do have Toothless' scale on you, right?"

"Yeah," Astrid replies briefly. Turning around to mount her dragon, a hand suddenly reached her shoulder.

"Safe travel, dear," Valka said

"Thank you," Astrid said.

After a last hug between the two women, the younger ones straddled her Nadder, while the other two Vikings stepped back to leave enough space for the dragon to take off.

"Let's go, girl," Astrid commanded.

In a gush of wind, Stormfly took off, quickly disappearing into the darkening sky.

•—0—•

Flying endlessly into the night can both be an awesome experience or an extremely gruesome one. It all depended on where your mind was wandering: into the stars? Or into the past.

"Eurh," Astrid groans. "Where can I find a Sandwraith."

Stormfly chirped.

"You tired girl?" Astrid asked

The dragon chirps again.

"Yeah, I could use some rest too. Let's find somewhere to land."

After flying for some more, the Nadder located a small island cluster. Choosing one to land on, the pair walked near a crystal-clear stream. Refiling her jug, Astrid laid down on a rock after placing her thick coat on it. Watching her dragon making herself comfortable, the young Viking quickly drifting into sleep, hoping that the land of dreams wouldn't be filled with hostiles.

•—0—•

A growl woke her from her dreamless sleep. Rubbing her eyes a few times, she saw her dragon standing protectively in front of her. Peering over, she saw a slim figure that was the shade of dusty orange and yellow, baring teeth and growls at the Nadder. Her fogged mind quickly cleared itself when it recognized the dragon.

"A Sanwraith!" she yelled in excitement. Stepping over, she raised her hand to her dragon.

"Easy girl."

The Nadder backed down, but still remained ready to jump in to protect her rider. Astrid approached the shorter dragon slowly, one step at a time. The dragons growled back at her.

"Easy there, I have something for you," Astrid said in a soothing voice, as she reached inside her pocket to take out the Night Fury scales, before tossing one cutout of the night at the dragon in front of her. The Sandwraith eyes widened at little as the object hit the ground in front of him. The orange dragon lowered its head to smelled it, before raising it his yellow eyes back up to see the strange creature in front of him had more skin of his distant kin. His eyes narrow again at the thought that this creature with blond fur may have harmed one of them. Growling, he approached it with a predatory stance. A fierce chirp distracted him for a bit, just enough to realized that the blue dragon was ready to fight.

"Easy girl" Astrid commanded again.

Startled that the other dragon backed down from a weird noise that the blond furred creature made, the Sandwraith starred at it with curiosity, wondering what kind of creature was it.

"I don't know if you can understand me, but someone, or rather something told me to find you and give this." Astrid showed it the scales. "I am friends with a Night Fury, but he has gone missing, so I need your help." As she finished, she reached out her hand and looked away.

Wearily, the orange dragon slowly approached the limb that was offered, that sniffed it. He recognized the scent of his kin without a trace of blood. He remembered, way back, where one creature that was a lot like the one with blond fur, one that always traveled with the Royal Guards of their kin, told him to lead anyone who shows up with the scales to the Stone of Calling.

Guessing that was what the female was requesting, the Sandwraith nudged the limb before running back into the forest.

Astrid felt the dragon coming briefly in contact with her hand. When she opened her eyes, she saw him running away into the forest.

"Quick, follow him," Astrid yelled while mounting Stormfly.

Soon, both dragons emerged from the forest onto a beach. Wondering what was happening, she saw the Sandwraith jump up and dive smoothly into the sand, creating a spiral pattern. Quickly the dragon dug up a translucent green stone that was as big as a Nadder head. The Sandwraith, once his task accomplished, gave a quick bow to them and flew away.

Dismounting Stormfly, Astrid stared at the green stone, wondering.

Use the living fire. She remembered.

"Blast it girl." She asked.

Stormfly let out a white blast of magnesium blast directly at the stone. Astrid's eyes widened as the stone started to glow with an eerie but familiar green light, one that shone like the eyes of Hiccup, slightly brighter. Not knowing if this feeling was a good or bad omen, she plopped down on the beach and waited.

•—0—•

Time passed, and now the moon was starting to illuminate the sky. Asking Stormfly from time to time to blast the stone again when the glow diminished, she started to wonder she was making a fool of herself.

Mindlessly toying with some gravel, she spotted someone walking towards her, with two slim dragons walking behind it. As the figure approached, she saw that he was wearing a full set of grey armor, and his face was covered with a mask. But what surprised her the most was the two dragons: both were identical to Night Furies, only these two were slightly bigger, and was a shade of shiny grey. The only difference between them was the color of their eyes. One was slightly amber whereas the other was golden. Sensing the newcomers, Stormfly stood up and growled at them. Only for one of them to reply with a short snarl, and to her big surprise, Stormfly backed down and bowed to it.

"Easy, Dusk," The man said.

"Who are you?" Astrid asked wearily, whole body tensed, hand firmly gripped on her axe.

"You may call me Messenger, and you came to ask me something Hofferson." He replied.

Till next time.