The group was advancing towards the river when they saw the leopard and the wolf most of them encountered, laid dead with arrows on their heads and hungry ravens pecking certain parts of their bodies.
"I guess the Udam we killed won the fight," Fishlegs remarked.
"And we shouldn't allow them to go to waste."
Hiccup and Astrid approved Snotlout's suggestion as their approach scared the ravens away, which allowed them to skin the leopard and the wolf without disturbances. The skins, meat, bones, fat, and hide would be of use soon. With that done, the group continued their journey into Oros.
Upon crossing the river, the group started to listen to a series of shrill whistles coming from the North. The Twins were the first to turn around and witnessed a pack of eight dholes surrounding the leopard and wolf carcasses, growling and yapping at each other as they began their feast. Knowing what was best, the six humans let the canines be and walked forward.
Snotlout grew tired when the others simply waited for a lone boar to finish its grazing, but it had been blocking their path for five minutes. Frustrated, Snotlout snatched Tuffnut's spear and flung it at the boar's head, killing it in an instant.
"Snotlout, we can't just kill every animal in our path," scolded Hiccup.
"Sorry Chief, but the day's not getting any younger," was Snotlout's argument as he walked to the boar to skin it. "Besides, we'll need the provisions it provided. Also, you know how I love roasted boar butt."
Astrid rolled her eyes at Snotlout's excuse but she decided to let it go. She then used the time to collect nearby slate flints and alder wood. Not long after, the group caught sounds of yelling just over the hill in front of them. They kept a low profile and saw two Wenja spearmen fighting against two Udam archers before a towering yet extinguished bonfire. One of the Wenja had his side scraped by an Udam arrow as the other did her best in protecting her companion. The Udam were about to draw their arrows when both of them were riddled with arrows fired by Hiccup and Astrid. The Wenja were surprised by the sudden deaths of their enemies as the group walked to them with calm composures.
"Thank you, brothers and sisters," said the Wenja woman. Astrid checked on the man's wound and applied the same technique Hiccup performed on Sayla with the special green leaves, but at a smaller scale.
"You certainly know how to heal."
Astrid merely smiled at the Wenja man's compliment.
"There's a cave west of here. You'll be safe there."
The Wenja pair nodded at Hiccup's information. Snotlout and Tuffnut looted the dead Udam while Fishlegs was more fixated on the bonfire before them.
"What's this doing out here?" he asked.
"Bonfires helped Wenja in finding their way through Oros," explained the Wenja woman. "They also show our claim to certain territories."
"But the Udam doused the fire," the Wenja man added. "Without light from the bonfires, the Wenja are lost."
"Well, there's no more Udam around here, so…"
Tuffnut read his sister's thoughts as he used animal fat to ignite his spear and passed it to the wooden structure. Within seconds, the bonfire blazed with fire once more as a passing owl circled it with a screech before flying away.
"Thank you, brother."
"No problem," replied Tuffnut to the Wenja pair. "Now go to the cave in the West. Also, you might want to watch out for a pack of feasting dholes along the way."
"Dholes are easy to be scared off," said the Wenja man. "Good luck on your journey."
The group bid the pair farewell and turned their attention to the bonfire, which they viewed as a beacon of hope and light in dark times.
"I hope we can find a place to sleep soon," nagged Tuffnut as the group hiked northeast through the mountainous forests. "My legs are starting to kill me."
"You are welcome to walk back to the bonfire or Sayla's cave, brother," jeered Ruffnut. "I'm sure you can walk through the night alone since dusk is approaching."
Howls of wolves in the distance made Tuffnut think about what he blurted out.
"I think sticking with you guys increases my chances of survival."
"Wise choice, Tuffy," Snotlout added.
A drove of hares scattered past the group when they heard more sounds ahead of them. They soon caught the sight of three Udam spearmen sitting around a campfire, and west of them was a pond sitting before a cave. As the sun disappeared and shadows grew, Hiccup, Astrid, and Ruffnut used the darkness to slay the Udam with their arrows. Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Tuffnut then looted clay pots, special green leaves, and reeds from the bodies.
"Look at that, a cave that we can use for the night," Astrid pointed out.
"But is it occupied?" Fishlegs' question was answered when a pale orange glow stirred within the cave.
"Udam?" asked Ruffnut to her chieftain.
"Only one way to find out."
Hiccup set his club on fire and light the way for the group. When they entered, Snotlout noticed a bag dangling on the ceiling. He brought it down and looted the red leaves and dhole skin that it contained. The glow grew stronger and they could hear a male voice chanting 'oh great spirits, give us strength through this strife' repeatedly. Hiccup and the others were puzzled and decided to proceed in this new venture.
Eventually, they caught the sight of a man, dancing and chanting before a campfire with a large branch in his hands. He was either twice or thrice the group's age with white paint around his dark complexion, draped in loincloth and wolf skin that had stag antlers protruding out of them. Much to the group's relief, they decided not to draw their weapons, for the man's whiteshell anklet, as well as armband of reeds and clams, confirmed that he was of the Wenja tribe.
Hiccup extinguished the fire on his club and slowly approached the dancing man. When Hiccup cleared his throat, the man stopped his dancing, dropped the branch, and abruptly grabbed Hiccup's shoulders with glee. Astrid and the others tried to pull the man away from Hiccup, but the grip was too tight. Hiccup's close encounter also allowed him to see that the man's blue eyes were half-blind.
"Strong spirits! Strong spirits!" proclaimed the man until Hiccup pried his shoulders to complete freedom. "You are the ones!"
The group was completely dumbfounded at the man's statement about them. Instead of elaborating what he just said, the man sat before the campfire and pinched a handful of dust placed in clay bowls until he spread them over the flames and waved his hands around the smoke.
"Who are you, wolf man?" Snotlout questioned.
"Wolf man?" repeated the man. "I am Tensay, the Wenja shaman."
"I didn't expect a shaman to be this strange," whispered Fishlegs as if he remembered someone with comparable qualities.
"I tried to call for strong spirits," Tensay continued as he reached into a nearby bag and revealed a live rat in his left hand. In his right hand was a stone knife. "Lions, bears, elks, rhinos, mammoths…" Before the group knew it, Tensay gutted the rat and spilled its blood into six skulls of leopards that were already filled with greater masses of blood.
"Then you came."
Tensay placed the dead rat and the stone knife on the ground and handed each member of the group the skulls. They all tried to prevent themselves from vomiting, for they already understood what Tensay wished them to do with the skulls.
"Drink, all of you. Drink."
With great reluctance and Tensay's insistence, they gulped the blood down and tried their best to endure the saline taste that was flooding their mouths. Soon, all of them felt exhaustion overtaking their body as Tensay and the entire cave became hazy with a dampened, deep voice.
"Let your spirit walk free. Let it walk free."
One by one, the group woozily lost their footing, starting from the Twins, to Snotlout, to Fishlegs, to Astrid, and finally, to Hiccup. The couple struggled to look at each other's eyes, only for darkness to greet them.
When the group opened their eyes, they immediately found themselves standing on a stream in a forest filled with animals of various shapes and sizes. The one trait they have in common, however, was the ethereal golden light that veiled their bodies.
"Guys?" asked Hiccup.
"Is this for real?" Snotlout queried as he swayed his hands through a golden deer's body, almost as if it was intangible.
"Are we, dead?" probed Fishlegs with a quivering voice.
"I'm not sure…" Ruffnut's words trailed off, for she was captivated in her attempts of touching a golden tortoise.
"Come here, golden ghost birds," said Tuffnut as he tried to pet some of the golden mallards and starlings.
Hiccup and Astrid walked towards a massive elk with vast antlers on its head. The beast sniffed at the pair before emitting an elegant bellow.
"They are not afraid," Astrid commented, as Hiccup remained silent.
A haunting yet soothing screech enticed the group to walk further down the stream. The chieftain led his friends as they encountered more golden animals along their path. Soon enough, they saw a golden owl perched on an altar of stone, preening its feathers with a soothing chirrup. When it was cleaned up, the owl gazed at the advancing six humans, particularly at its leader of auburn hair. Hiccup reached his hand out to the owl as a growing light emanated from the bird and consumed everything that the group saw.
Moments later, the group screamed as they plummeted hundreds of feet from the air, as the ground beneath grew larger with every second.
"If we're not dead, I don't want to die!" shrieked Snotlout.
Everyone covered his or her eyes in preparation for the worst. Just then, an inexplicable feeling prevented them from crash-landing and made them soar through the air and the forests. Fear transformed into wonder and exhilaration.
"We're flying! We're flying!" Fishlegs hollered with joy.
"And we're alive!" added Snotlout. "Woohoo!"
"Somehow I feel that we have all flown before," Ruffnut mused.
"Who cares, sis? This is awesome!"
A red cedar snapped Tuffnut from his recklessness and he narrowly banked left or he would have crashed.
"Okay, it's awesome and scary."
Hiccup and Astrid chuckled at the phenomenon until a familiar screech was heard above them. The golden owl flew in front of the group as it zipped through the forest.
"Follow the owl!"
The group kept tailing over the owl as they soared through the forested environment. They could see golden animals below them, running around with excitement. When the owls dove into a pool of water, the group held their breath and plunged in as well. To their surprise, they were able to breathe in the water and that there was a forest submerged in it as well. Schools of golden salmon swam past them, along with another type of fish that was larger and armed with sharp spear-like teeth. The owl guided the group over the waterfall and when the humans breached the curtain, they fell into a pond and quickly resurfaced. Upon exiting the pond, the waiting owl flew off and had the group following it through another forested environment. They saw more golden animals throughout their path before finding the owl perching on a tree root that was growing along a ledge. Using a gentler motion, Hiccup once again reached his hand out to the owl.
"Where are you leading us?"
The owl, as expected, did not say anything. Instead, it flew out to the forest and the group was left to fly after it. They whizzed through the forest and into a gorge with cascading waterfalls on each side. Less than a minute later, they saw the owl heading through another waterfall. Instead of falling into a body of water like last time, they went above the canopies of another forest that was drenched in rain, which also had mountains that were floating in the air. Mammoths, rhinos, and elks stampeded through the gale as lightning flashed and thunder cracked. The humans' gazes widened when they saw that the owl was leading them into a tornado of ravens and eagles. They wished to fly away but they were somehow compelled to go after their guide. With eyes closed, they went straight into the tornado and yelled with incoherence as they spiraled riotously around the storm.
Another blinding light and the group somehow landed in another forest completely dry and without a single scratch on their bodies. The owl was perching nearby and flew off to a certain distance when its followers returned on their feet. This time, the area they stood on had little trees and several specific wildlife along the path they were taking.
"Aww, badgers," cooed Ruffnut as she fawned at the smaller creatures even though she could not touch them. Fishlegs looked to his right and the animals before him gave him a mild startle.
"Wolverines," he told the others. "They're not very big, but these guys can give you quite of a bite."
Tuffnut smiled when at a quintet of dholes lying around and playing with one another. A quartet of howling wolves made the impressed Snotlout whistled. Astrid beamed when a trio of leopards mewed and purred next to her. A pair of lions made Hiccup ponder with inquisitiveness, for their regal manners reminded him of someone he knew. The panting and growling of a bear intimidated the group, seeing how their latest experience with one was not the most positive. Eventually, the owl came into their sight resting on the branch of a tree. As if he knew of what he must do, Hiccup reached his hand out again and freed his mind of any thoughts. The owl's golden feathers molted away and revealed its brown-black feathers and sincere orange eyes as it perched on Hiccup's hand and give out hoots that brought warmth into the group's hearts. Hiccup showed the owl to his companions, allowing them to pet the bird as everything dimmed into shadows.
