They flew in silence for most of the journey, which took a lot longer than Hiccup had expected. By the proximity of the island where they had first met to Berk, he'd thought that Nisi should have been a lot closer. As it was, the journey consumed almost the rest of the day, with no stops in between. Alphas was entirely against stopping out of fear of Myre, and insisted that they stop only if any dragon needed to rest urgently.

Who was Myre, anyway, that even sorcerers feared him? Who was Myre, that even sorcerers couldn't beat him?

Hiccup revised all the information he had on Myre. He headed a huge force, employed several generals, had enough money for several fleets and ships that towered over the tallest sea stack, and was thoughtful enough to provide normal sized ships stocked with supplies as emergency vessels. Oh, and he'd been at war with the magic people for decades.

He sounded… somewhat familiar, actually. Thoughts of a man with burns down half his face surfaced, and Hiccup was hit with momentary sadness as he lamented that loss.

He glanced at Alphas. He sat stiff and straight on Wreckage, as though he had an iron rod instead of vertebrae. He turned his gaze to Omegas, who was sitting much the same way, then looked at the other Riders around him. Snotlout leaned back in his saddle, which had a back like a chair. Astrid rode low, close to Stormfly. Fishlegs sat up, but was as hunched over as he could get. The twins sat like they normally would on a stool, albeit the kind of stool they sat on right now was a neck attached to the rest of a dragon. Hiccup himself kept close to Toothless, Night Furies being naturally swift enough for the wind to seem like it was attempting to pull your ears off.

The way those two sat, ramrod straight, seemed to be an indication of either a different kind of training, or just a natural tendency to sit straight.

Hiccup nudged Toothless close to Wreckage. He grudgingly obliged. His wings must have been tired. Alphas looked at him questioningly.

"Who is Myre?" Hiccup asked in a whisper. "You've talked about him a lot, but you never actually said anything."

"I'll be telling you later," Alphas promised. "Any distractions, and you might have the opportunity of finding out for yourself."

Omegas' head came into view. His hair looked like it was trying to escape his head, like a victim of a lightning strike. This may have had something to do with the fact that he was upside down.

"What're you talking about?" he asked. Hiccup looked up at him. He looked down at Hiccup, although from his perspective he was probably looking up.

"Just asking about Myre," Hiccup told him.

Omegas gave a small laugh. "There's no just asking about Myre. Once you ask, he's a part of your life that'll never go away. Either you ask, or you don't."

Hiccup looked at him. "He's that bad?"

"I don't think any language has the kind of-"

"Omegas. Not now."

Omegas smoothly glided out of view. Out of the corner of his eye, Hiccup saw him descend back into his original position. The others looked at him curiously.

Alphas looked at him. "You want to know so bad, I'll tell you when we get there."

"Get where?" Hiccup asked him tiredly. "We've been flying for almost the entire day. Aren't we there yet?"

Alphas smiled, and pointed ahead. "Spot on."

Hiccup squinted. There were just clouds.

"Do you live in the clouds?"

"Ha. No. Wait for it."

Hiccup waited for it. Nothing happened.

"Wh-" he began to say, and was interrupted by the sudden apparition of a column of translucent blue light. The riders gasped, and Alphas looked smug.

It penetrated the sky, leaping out of the clouds from somewhere below. Hiccup could barely see the far edges of it, even with nothing around to block his view.

"That's the barrier," Alphas told them. "A defensive measure. Now, dive."

He demonstrated the movement as he said it, shooting down before they'd finished understanding the words. Quickly, they followed his lead, and dove through pale, neverending white until it opened up onto a clear, greenish sea, unlike the deep and impenetrable blue around Berk.

"Is something wrong with the water?" Hiccup shouted as they plunged downwards, the wind whipping at his words.

"What are you talking about?" Alphas yelled back. "It's just a different colour."

They pulled up right before they hit the water, and spray erupted under the dragons from the speed of the motion. Hiccup gasped as icy water hit his face.

Alphas sped away, and they followed. It was amazing how fast a dragon like Wreckage could be. Normally, you wouldn't expect it from the sheer bulk of the dragon.

Dragons shimmered into view around them, and Hiccup gaped. Maybe a Changewing could manage, even if there wasn't anything to camouflage against in the air, but these were other species entirely. Hiccup spotted a Skrill, a Thunderdrum, and a Nightmare, among other dragons he couldn't identify.

Something clicked in his brain. Of course. Magic must be extraordinarily useful. You weren't bound by things like natural logic.

"Who-" one of the riders began, then noticed the Arcanums. "Alphas! Omegas! Where have you two been?"

"Capture," Alphas said.

"Right, right. I'll just send word then, shall I?" the rider asked. He was sitting on top of the Skrill.

Alphas tilted his head, confused. "For passage?"

"The search parties."

"Ah," Omegas chimed in. "It's nice to be missed."

The rider gave him a look. "Of course you'll be missed. The two of you just disappearing for days after being sent out on a mission is a disaster. The king's been worried."

"Has he now? We'll pay him a visit."

The rider noticed Alphas' torn and bloodied clothes. "You're hurt."

"I'll visit a healer on the way, don't you fret."

"Right. And your friends…?"

"Currently, they're guests. Myre's taken their island."

"Hate it when he does that. Alright. Who's going to tell Buzzard?"

Alphas treated him to a grin. "You will."

"Hell no."

"That's an order." This came from Omegas, who was wearing a gleeful expression. The rider looked terrified.

"Come on, please, don't do this to me."

"We've been imprisoned for three days and shipwrecked for the other two. We'll have some fun now, thanks."

The rider hung his head in defeat. "I hate you both."

"That's no way to speak to your superiors," Omegas chided him playfully.

"It's deserved."

"Can't argue with that," Alphas shrugged. "Ah well. Have fun."

The rider glared at them as they passed on. He glanced at each of the Berkians as they flew by, and looked pensive.

They neared the shield, and Alphas waved at the island. Someone must have seen it, because a hole appeared in the rippling blue, which they flew through. Hiccup took a look at the island, or at least its outskirts, and then he kept on looking.

Large wooden structures like warped, twisted catapults were dotted periodically around the edge of the island. Unlike catapults, however, they didn't seem to have any mechanisms to them. Like catapults though, there were people attending to them. Hiccup wondered what they were for.

Someone brought a piece of wood and held it up to one of the structures, then let go. It seemed to have attached on its own. Hiccup looked behind them. The blue wall was climbing up at a frantic speed.

Aha. So that's what it was for.

Hiccup looked back at the view.

Beyond the barrier generators were rows of pristine houses, built out of slabs and walls and pillars of cut rock. Wonderful colours burst through his sight, red and white and blue. And in the middle of it all, towers and spires rising from a tall central building, their roofs lined with gold. It all sloped upwards, the city a prelude to the grandness of the castle.

It took Hiccup's breath away to see it.

Berk was nothing like this, so grand and bright. The buildings were full of colour, their structures, their architecture was filled with vibrance, but it didn't pack quite the same punch. Compared to the sight before him, Berk was faded when put beside the liveliness of Nisi.

"You know," Alphas remarked as they flew the distance, "I think I prefer Berk."

"Huh?" Hiccup was bewildered by the response. He preferred Berk? Compared to this?

"But… it's so beautiful here. How do you like Berk over all of," he gestured wildly, "this?"

Alphas smiled. "You have a sort of freedom there. The forests haven't been overrun by the expansion of your people. Here, we've had to restrict the places that you can build or cut them down. We've squeezed every last drop out of the land and we keep looking for more."

He looked back at Hiccup. "You still have the opportunity to save your island. Don't let your home die like ours has."

Hiccup stared at him as he flew on. He looked back at the island.

Not a bit of green in sight. Not from here.

His heart sank. The forests of Berk were one of the places he'd felt safe, when he was younger. When the people rejected him, he'd gone running there sometimes, and he'd let the ground soak up the tears, and he'd let the branches shade him, and he'd let the chatter of those unseen animals surround him, until he felt better, until he felt he could take another day in stride.

The people of Nisi seemed to have lost the opportunity to have that comfort. He swore to himself then and there that the people of Berk would have it forever.

There was a loud burst of foreign language below them.

The shouted whisper was audible to all of them, and Hiccup glanced downwards to see people pointing upwards and talking to each other with great fervour. Several of them were running quite fast, although the dragons easily outpaced them. Hiccup wondered where they were running to. It seemed somewhere distinctly towards the inside of the island, although where they were right now left almost any direction to be towards the inside of the island.

They continued on for a bit, the houses whirling by beneath them, then Alphas and Omegas suddenly dropped down and landed on a street made of smooth, grey stones. The white buildings, with their coloured roofs and strange construction, clustered around them. Wreckage just barely fit in the street. The inhabitants peered out as they passed by, and the whispers, in a language he didn't recognize, turned to exclamations, which then turned to a roar.

"Well," Hiccup said, feeling a little uncomfortable because of all the eyes watching them, "you're popular."

Alphas smiled. The crowd's whispers grew a little more frantic. "It comes with the post."

He raised his voice and said something Hiccup didn't understand. The crowd immediately began to trickle away.

"What did you say?" Fishlegs asked.

"Go away."

"Hey!"

"That's what I said to them. Not you. Gods…"

"O-oh."

"What language was that?" Hiccup asked in an attempt to rescue Fishlegs.

"Greek."

"Greek…" Hiccup rolled the word around his mouth. "I haven't heard of it."

"Of course not," Alphas sighed, and dismounted.

"Where are you going?" Hiccup asked.

Omegas, tired of not talking, replied for him. "We've reached the stables."

=0=

When they had put the dragons in the stables, and Alphas had left strict instructions that they were to be given adequate food and none of them were to be messed with in any way, they left, and Alphas went to a healer. In the meantime, Omegas took them in some unknown direction.

"Where are we going?" Snotlout asked.

"Getting a lift."

"A… lift?"

"Yeah."

"Omegas, I hope we don't have to keep reminding you that we don't know some of the things you have," Hiccup said tiredly. "What's a lift?"

Omegas looked embarrassed. "Sorry. It's slang for getting some transport."

"Transport? You mean dragons?"

"Not exactly."

"Wyverns?"

"What? No. Are you insane? It's like riding a human. They're on the same level as us. The only way they'd agree is if it's a battle."

"Oh. Alright." A thought struck Hiccup. "You have wyverns just roaming around here?"

"They like to drop in sometimes, yeah. What gave you the idea of using wyverns as a ride though?"

"You said "not exactly" when I asked you if you used dragons, so…"

"Right."

They walked in silence for a bit.

"Something I've noticed," Omegas said, "is that no one really talks except you."

"We just don't know what to say. It's a bit of a new experience."

"How come you talk so much then?"

"I'm chief. I need to take the initiative."

Omegas laughed. Hiccup looked at him, puzzled.

"Did I say something?"

"You did. That's what I'm laughing about."

"What did I say?"

"You said, "I'm the chief. I need to take the initiative.""

Hiccup felt even more confused. "So?"

"Nothing."

Hiccup pondered this for the rest of the journey.

Omegas stopped. "We're here."

Everyone looked around. There was nothing there. Not even any people, in fact. It was just an empty street.

"I think you took a wrong turn somewhere," Astrid remarked, hands on her hips.

"I don't think I did. It should be here in a bit."

"What should?"

And then it came. Excellent timing, really.

An empty thing on thin, elegant wheels. It had seats inside and a large seat in front. It had a roof, and no doors. There was a man sitting on the outside seat, holding something like black ropes in his hand, which were tethered to some magnificent beasts, with long, graceful faces and a mane of long hair down their neck, and powerful legs. Their tails swished behind them. It drew to a pause in front of them, and the operator's face took on an expression of shock the moment he saw Omegas, who grinned cheerfully at him.

He said something which seemed to excite and alarm him. The operator immediately responded with frantic gestures and words. He dropped down from his perch and bowed deeply. He didn't straighten up.

Omegas hopped in with barely any effort. The entire thing rocked slightly as he did so. "Get in, will you?"

Everyone stopped staring at the assembly of oddity before them and carefully got in. Each time, it rocked less noticeably. Fishlegs was the last to get in. It was only then that the operator released himself from his bow, and frantically climbed into his seat. He jerked his hands as he took up the black ropes again, and there was a snapping sound.

"Hyah!" The animals out front began to walk forward, slowly at first, and then they broke into a run as the operator jerked his hands again and again, somehow impressing on them his urgency to get the party to their destination as soon as possible. The ropes snapped each time.

"So," Omegas said, unperturbed as the rest of the passengers clutched the soft seats while the world blurred outside. "Anything you'd like to ask in the meantime? I'm guessing you have a lot of questions."

"Er, yeah," Hiccup said shakily. This was nothing like riding a dragon. "What is this?"

"And what are the animals?" Fishlegs piped up.

"Why are we going to the castle?" Astrid asked.

"How come everyone here is so surprised when they see you?" Snotlout said.

"How does magic work?" the twins said in unison.

Omegas looked at them. "Any reason in particular you want to know…?"

"We need to know how to blow things up," Tuffnut said determinedly.

"Ah. Then I'd better not tell you."

Ruffnut tried to get down on her knees and immediately got back up, clutching the seats tighter with her eyes wide. She'd almost been flung out as they took a turn.

"Please," she said in a small voice.

"'Fraid not." Omegas turned to Fishlegs. "You asked about the animals? Which animals?"

"The ones pulling this… thing," Fishlegs clarified.

"They're horses? Don't you have horses?"

Hiccup frowned. "I think we did, a long time ago, but during the raids the dragons carried them all off. I've never seen one before!"

Omegas sat back. "Wow. You've never ridden one then either. Amazing."

"What's amazing about it?"

"Riding a dragon was your first experience of riding anything, is what I'm trying to say."

"You were trying to say that?"

"I… think so? Maybe. Anyway, what was your question again?" This was directed to Hiccup.

"Oh, I was asking what this is."

"Oh, that's easy. It's a carriage. We use it to get people places they want to go. It's kind of a public service. You basically put wheels on a box and have the horses pull it along."

"Huh."

"And you?"

"Why are we going to the castle?" Astrid repeated.

"To meet the king, of course. Didn't we say we would?"

"Why's the king so worried about you?"

"Some of your best fighters go missing for five days? Any leader would be worried."

"Right. Good. But it's strange, isn't it? You get all this kind of special attention. It's like you're more than just the best fighters. There's something else about you, isn't there?"

"And that," Omegas said, "leads us rather nicely to your question, doesn't it?"

Snotlout nodded, looking pleased. Omegas sat back with a grin on his face. The carriage lurched and everyone bounced.

"Simple. Me and Alphas? We're the king's nephews. If you need a word for it, we're the princes of Nisi."

He spread his arms wide.

"You're looking at royalty right now, folks."

=0=

They reached the castle without incident, although Snotlout almost threw up on the way. Thankfully, he'd managed to keep it down. Omegas paid the carriage driver with some currency made of silver that Hiccup couldn't recognize, and they left the driver bowing furiously behind them.

The gates to the castle were tall and gilded. They were made of bars that ended in spikes, and curved upwards towards the middle rather smoothly. They were set between walls made of white brick. Behind them, Hiccup could see a waving path of small stones set in the middle of a huge field of short grass.

Omegas put his hand to a symbol on the wall to which the gate was connected, which glowed blue for a moment. Then the gates swung open on their own and he walked past, then looked back.

"Come on now. Before they close."

Hesitantly, the rest of them walked through. The gates stayed open for a moment, then closed behind them with a sharp clang.

Omegas led them into the castle. Armoured guards on either side of a set of huge double doors saluted smartly before opening them, with some effort, and after a few minutes of walking through various rooms and marble archways, they came face to face with the king of sorcerers.