The young vikings returned to the town as soon as they could with what meat they collected, thankful that they were done with their hunt up in the fjords, and that they could warm up and enjoy the respite.
However, what Stoick did not expect was what Hiccup was about to tell him, and as they stood near a cliff overlooking the ocean, the lad told his father everything he learned.
"...And that's when the warlock just snapped his fingers and disappeared in chaos fire. Almost as if he… teleported or something."
Stoick slowly bobbed his head in a nod, carefully hearing out his son. "This chaos magic sounds dangerous, very dangerous. I always wondered why the orcs had green eyes and rough skin, but now we know."
"That's not all," continued Hiccup. "The area around where we set up our campfire was just… destroyed. Corrupted. And what's worse is that we can't remove it. I asked Arn if there was anyway to get rid of it, but he said it is corrupted beyond repair. No spell can undo it."
"Berk, the Archipelago, and all of Midgard will suffer the same if we don't do something."
There was a pause. Stoick rubbed his hand against his beard in deep thought. What worried him, as well as anger him more however was not the orcs themselves, but Drago Bludvist being alive and having the Island of Tomorrow under his control.
Drago during his reign as a viking warlord was nearly unstoppable. His tactics crushed and annihilated foe after foe, and his iron fist of tyranny dominated much of the northern Archipelago before his defeat. And now he had sided with the orcs.
"It's quite difficult to take in," spoke Stoick concerningly. "I never imagined anything like this. Not only is Drago alive, but he is also allied with our greatest enemy. And what is worse is that he leads them…"
"...Though at the same time, maybe not entirely."
"What?" questioned Hiccup. It sounded like Stoick was onto something.
The chief's head turned to face his son directly. "Think about it, Hiccup. There was no way Drago could have saved himself after being tossed into the sea with his Bewilderbeast. The chances of survival would have been zero… that is, unless something saved him; something behind the curtain that not even Drago could command."
Hiccup arched a brow. "Are you suggesting something powerful saved Drago?"
"Aye. And whatever it is, it could likely be the catalyst for why the orcs have grown much stronger… perhaps even the reason why they are here to begin with. Still, we'll need to find out more, as we do not know whether that is the case."
"Don't worry dad," said Hiccup. "I sent Fishlegs to the Berkian library to find any information on the Wings of Midgard. Hopefully we'll be able to discover their location. Astrid and Arn went off to help mom and Gobber with repairs and storing food, and the Twins… well, they've gone back to sleep."
The Berkian library was a large stone structure built near the cliffs of the village right by Gothi's tower. It was a place of knowledge and magic for those who were interested in learning such as Fishlegs. Fire, ice, and lightning magics were present in the runes and statues that were built within the library's structure, but only few could ever dream of mastering a single element.
If anything, most of the knowledge there was founded by Gothi herself.
"Hrm… I doubt Gothi would know anything about the Wings of Midgard," said Stoick. "Then again, traders in the past have come from across the sea bringing relics and books. It is a shame they have stopped coming in though, thanks to Snotlout of course..."
"Snotlout?" asked Hiccup. "I actually haven't heard any response from him, not since last night after his assassins tried to assassinate the others and I."
"He will most likely be occupied with reorganizing his village," replied Stoick as he crossed his arms, now looking out to sea. "From what I've heard from my scouts, he still has not been able to repair his village entirely. Some of the people of Clan Jorgenson are even beginning to doubt him."
"Are you serious?"
Stoick nodded. "Aye, and if this continues going on then we might be able to focus all our efforts against the enemy. Snotlout will become a thing in the past..."
"...Now, if you'll excuse me Hiccup, I have other things to attend to. You should go check up on your dragon if you can."
And with that, Stoick walked off to focus back on his chiefly duties as he silently spoke to himself, which Hiccup assumed was most likely a further plan of action.
As the lad was about to walk off however, he spotted Fishlegs in the distance who was hastily running towards him, before stopping in front of him short of breath.
"H- Hiccup," he began, crouched down before standing up straight. "I found something from the library. An old book. But there is something you might want to read from it..."
"...Get Astrid and Arn. Meet me at my place."
…
Fishlegs set the old book on Hiccup's desk for the four of them to see, as well as Toothless who had been woken up as soon as his rider returned.
They all gathered around Hiccup who sat in the chair, and upon opening the book he was greeted with fiery runes which were written and enchanted in the back of the front cover - as was with many books.
But the particular book in front of them was a spell book.
He looked back at Fishlegs questioningly. "Alright… so what did you want to show me, Fishlegs?"
"Go to the last few pages," he said, which was at first confusing to Hiccup. He then added on, "Most of the pages and chapters in this book are useless. The last chapter is something you need to see."
Hiccup was about to respond, but instead he quickly shrugged it off as he turned to the last pages of the book, where he was then greeted with something unordinary. In front of him, at the top of the page were another set of enchanted runes. But they weren't any runes Hiccup knew, as they were not fire, nor ice, nor storm.
"Wow, shiny!" crooned Toothless in Dragonese.
"A new element...?" asked Astrid.
The runes glowed with a magic as blue as the opened skies. It was an element that none of them had ever seen before. As mysterious as it was, it was also fascinating to the young vikings.
However, what was more interesting was the title of the chapter, written below the runes.
The Wings of Midgard.
The title was rather strange and peculiar to them. Why would a spell book such as this in particular have anything on the Wings of Midgard?
Hiccup tilted his head to Fishlegs. "W- Where in the library did you find this?"
"It was in a forbidden part of the mage's section. But it doesn't matter. Just read it."
The lad gave a nod, turning back to the book as he proceeded to begin reading aloud...
…
Chapter the Twenty Fourth. The Wings of Midgard.
"Many who read this may say that this information is false. But know that what happened all those years ago was in fact true in its history…"
"More than a thousand years ago, when the world was younger, a shadow swept over the islands and continents of Midgard, and from this, everything fell under the gaze of a new power that became manifest from the north of the world. Dark grey clouds flew southwards as green lightning struck the skies, bringing with it chaos."
The word chaos immediately reminded everyone of the dark magic the orc warlock used. Regardless however, Hiccup continued on.
"What brought the storm however was not an omen or curse, but a dark entity whose power was beyond mortal comprehension. Many called it a beast, while some called it a god. But others saw him as a mix between demon and dragon, and for good reason..."
"His voice bellowed with the distorted roar of a hundred dragons. His wings flapped with the sound of thunder. And his green flames burned everything and anyone with but a mere touch; no one could escape his immeasurable power. Wherever he went, storms of chaos came with him, spreading about corruption that killed the lands in a tide of darkness."
"In time, many would come to address him as the Dark Master, for he offered his evil power to those he deemed worthy of it, granting them unnatural strength, everlasting life, and even greater knowledge... in exchange for their submission."
"...No one could resist the temptation... not even the strongest among us. Those who were gifted the Dark Master's power of chaos gladly took it, forever becoming his slaves, and soon enough, more than a hundred thousand men fell to his blackened will. They turned away from Odin and the other gods, and under his dark command, they raged war across the world of Midgard for nearly a hundred years. Thousands stood against him, and thousands perished."
"Against such a powerful and massive army, it seemed as if there was no hope..."
"...Until they came."
"At the very roof of the world, atop a large black mountain, seven brave warriors from atop their dragons came before the Dark Master's throne of power, and addressed themselves to him as the Wings of Midgard."
"Their leader stepped forward, and offered the Dark Master a chance to surrender, despite the seemingly uneven odds. "I will never surrender to you, humans," he merely roared, and with little further response, he flew high up into the air. The Wings of Midgard quickly followed, and what came was a great battle."
"The Dark Master's bulk of a body began to grow. His wings grew larger and wider, his horns gigantic and intimidating, and his hands enlargened to where he could simply grab hold of the great warriors and their dragons, and crush them like insects. Altogether, they were barely a quarter the size of his palm."
"But, even after growing to such a great size, the Wings of Midgard remained fearless."
"With the aid of their dragons, the Wings of Midgard assaulted him. They flew around his gigantic body, casting forth spells of great power as they struck the black beast with their magical weapons, using all that their strength could allow them. Simultaneously, their winged companions unleashed furious attacks upon him, both from afar and up-close."
"The Dark Master, all the while, fought as hard with what he could. His large hands and claws swept in all directions as he breathed forth massive waves of green fire, and summoned up large storms of chaotic lightning that crackled open the skies themselves."
"The battle was so intense, parts of the mountain-top below them came crashing down on itself, and though it is unknown how they did it, the Wings of Midgard eventually defeated the mighty evil after an entire day of fighting, bringing him low."
"The Dark Master's body shrunk, and plummeted back down to the pinnacle of the mountain, which had been transformed into a great crater. Much of his power was drained, and he could do nothing to resist."
"What happened to the Wings of Midgard afterwards is unclear. What is certain however is that…"
…
Hiccup was at the very last page of the book, but he could read no further. The words before him were runes he could not read. It was not Nordic, and nor was it Dragonese.
In a desperate act, he flipped through the book, turned it over, and tried to see if there was perhaps a hidden flap. But there was nothing. No answer.
Hiccup grunted as he slammed the book down and shut it closed.
"Gods dammit! There's nothing else to this!" he yelled loudly. "How is an archaic language supposed to help us at all-!?"
"Hold up Hiccup," interrupted Arn. "We understand you want answers, but I doubt that the Wings of Midgard would have made it that simple for us to find them."
"Well I will say, I'm surprised as to what extent this chaos magic can do," said Astrid. "The orc warlock's powers were not even a fraction. But this Dark Master..."
"Well, at least we know how long dragons have existed. Exciting!" Toothless added on, to which Astrid rose a brow.
"What did he say...?"
"THIS ISN'T THE TIME RIGHT NOW!" shouted Hiccup, slamming a fist hard on his desk as he finally let it out, silencing the whole room.
The lad looked back at the others, breathing heavily in irritation and anger as they stared at him in shock, petrified by his sudden outburst. Eventually, the lad shook his head, slowing down to a sigh.
"You might as well give up on the search," he replied. "If they were really alive a thousand years ago, then that can only mean one thing..."
"...The Wings of Midgard are dead."
"I refuse to believe that," said Arn.
"Me too," added Fishlegs. "If the Wings of Midgard are truly dead, then what would have been the point in all of this research? What would've been the point of Arn's journey? We-"
"Forget it, Fishlegs," interrupted Hiccup. "There's no point in continuing the search... But, if you guys are really still eager in going on with this, then be my guest. I don't want this book."
With a swift shove of his hand, he set the spell book to the side, standing to his feet as he began his way towards the door, but not before motioning with his head for Toothless to follow. As such, the Night Fury obeyed.
"Hiccup? Where are you going?" asked Astrid.
"To get some fresh air. I could use a flight."
Soon, both Hiccup and Toothless were out of sight, as Arn, Astrid, and Fishlegs were the only ones left in the room.
Fishlegs sighed. "What do we do now?"
"You guys go do your own things," said Arn, turning his eyes to the book. "I refuse to give up the search. I'm going to study this book and see what I can find. Maybe there is something in here that can help."
"Hmph… I guess I'll go after Hiccup then. I'll try and calm him down," replied Astrid, to which Arn nodded agreeingly as she bolted out of the room.
"I- I'll go check on Meatlug. She's probably hungry and still waiting for breakfast," said Fishlegs, before he too exited the room, leaving Arn alone as he grabbed the book and started to look through it. He knew there had to be something.
He then swiftly turned to the very first page. "Let's see what we can learn…"