Ok, I know I'm a week late, and I'm sorry! But hey, at least that week wasn't months. I think that this chapter should be one of the best so far. My good friend LEPShot had agreed to become my partner in crime… er.. Beta reader. With his help this chapter got kicked up to the next level (Qualitywise). SO SHUT UP AND READ. Oh, and don't forget to tell us what you think. (That means write review.)
Chapter 25
Astrid
Astrid uncrossed her legs. Then she recrossed them, watching the motes of dust that were thrown up by the movement dance in the flickering light of the torches. The kegs on which she sat were blanketed in a very heavy layer of the stuff. Apparently no one ever bothered to come up here. She wondered just how old these barrels might be. Before her was spread the entirety of the hall, as well as all of those that had survived these past few days. It was not a pretty sight.
This had once been a mighty, resilient people. A village of warriors unmatched by whatever man or beast dared stand against them. Now what were they? A tiny band of about eighty, cowering in the shadows of a cave, waiting to either starve, or die by the enemies hands. Powerless. It seemed that no one had any sense of purpose anymore. None of them were thinking beyond whether or not they would survive. What had happened? There had never been a time when the entire village had not been sure in its course. Well.. Maybe Hiccup, but he wasn't even a true Viking. Where had their sense of direction gone?
Astrid found her gaze drifting over to the stand of skin walls that surrounded the small medical camp that the Elder had established for herself. Stoic. That was the missing piece. The village took example from the Chief. If his course was unknown, then the village was lost. Without a leader, there was no purpose. And without purpose, everything became stationary. This would not do. Someone needed to step up and give the sheep something to follow.
Astrid's gaze shifted downwards, towards one of the tables nearest her lofty vantage point. The teens still sat at their table, conversing in hushed whispers and sipping at their drinks. Or rather, Fishlegs and Ruffnut conversed. Tuffnut still sat rigidly, staring off into space like a completely inanimate stave of wood. He hadn't gone near his drink either, as it was still full to the brim. Perhaps she could snap him out of his depression, and bring the rest of the village along with him.
With one fluid motion Astrid was on her feet. With one step, and a gesture, she was falling through the air. Tuffnut jerked and his eyes finally focused on something other than memory. Centimeters away from his left hand, which rested on the table, a knife stood quivering, embedded in the wood. Astrid's feet hit the stone floor with a muted thud, and she was striding towards the table. Tuffnut was still staring at the knife when Astrid's fist connected with his face with a dull crunching noise. At that moment, Tuffnut's battlefield training and reflexes woke slightly. He let his body go limp, rolling backward with the punch, and throwing his hands out. His hands hit the floor and with a swing of his legs he was on his feet, fists up and guarding.
"Pathetic." Astrid spat, advancing on the young Viking. "The Tuffnut I know would have at least taken the knife before he flipped. Better yet, he would have been paying enough attention to recognize me as the threat, rather than a stationary blade. What exactly do you have to say for yourself?"
Tuffnut was backing away hastily.
"Well sorry if I'm a little shaken up," His tone was low and angry, a cornered wolf's snarl. "But quite a few people that I've known for my entire life died the other day. One was a best friend. Murdered by his own ax. I think you can spare me some time to figure things out."
Astrid laughed, loud and cold.
"Dead friends? We're Vikings! Any one of us could fall in battle at any time! What makes it so special that Snotlout died? His parents are over there, helping to inventory supplies! What useful thing does your sitting like a log accomplish?"
With deadly speed Astrid's hand whipped out, suddenly holding another knife. Tuffnut barely had time to duck, and a strand of his long hair fell to the ground. He almost lost his balance, but managed to stand and continue his retreat, knocking chairs and benches out of his way as he went.
"I'm sorry! But what are we even supposed to do?! We're trapped in here, because the dragons are out there waiting for us to come out!"
Astrid snarled and jabbed twice, once at middle height and once high. Tuffnut jumped backwards to avoid the first, but a table stopped his retreat and as he jerked to the side, the second jab left a thin line of red across his cheek. Hands scrabbling behind him, Tuffnut managed to grab hold of a shield. With a tug, he brought it around to his front and shoved his arm through the strap. Astrid's next slash was stopped by the shield, and Tuffnut threw all of his weight forward, body slamming Astrid, using the shield as a buffer. With a bounce of her feet, Astrid fell back with the force of the attack and landed in a ready position, knife up. For just a moment, neither moved. Then Astrid dropped her stance and let the knife fall to her side.
"That's what you can do."
"W- What?" Tuffnut's eyes were wide with confusion. The entire hall was dead silent. Now that Astrid wasn't so intent on her target, she noticed that every single person had frozen. Ruffnut stood behind her, presumably ready to jump in if things went too far. All eyes were fixed on her. Good.
"You can fight back. That's what we do. That's what Vikingsdo. I understand that you are angry and depressed about Snotlout's death. But that can be used as an asset. Channel your anger. Not at Hiccup, he is beyond your reach. A waste of your energy. No, channel all of your frustration into defeating this latest menace. That is the only way we will survive." With that Astrid turned her back, and let her knife drop into her belt while she strode toward the casks.
All that was left of Berk watched her go.
XXX
Hiccup
Flying had always been a joy. From the first moment Toothless had consented to lift him into the air to share in flight's happiness, Hiccup had loved the sky. Freedom, euphoria, and peace could all be found here. And all of those feelings were the reason for Hiccup's current state of mind. He was decidedly uncomfortable.
Above and behind them, flew the gravel voiced Shade with the blue stripe across his eyes. To their left, the smaller tenor voiced Shade was shifting from side to side, and up and down in lazy arcs. On their right flew the larger, silent Shade that had said nothing during their encounter, in a straight and steady line. Ryshkaa was leading the way.
This was not true flight. This felt like sitting in a box suspended thousands of feet over sharp rocks. There was no freedom. Hiccup locked the tailfin in glide position and took his foot out of the stirrup. Flipping around and resting his head on the back of Toothless', he stretched out across the dragon's back and tried to relax, closing his eyes. He hoped that he wouldn't accidentally project any of the thoughts he was about to think.
Darkness. I am floating in darkness. Nothing more. Black, empty, infinite, darkness. A dull throb began pulsing in his forehead. The pain of his heartbeat was comforting in its familiarity. He silenced the thoughts he'd been trying to use, and instead started to think of nothing more than the burning. Pain. Silence. Pain. Silence. His heartbeat resounded through his body. Slowly, true darkness blossomed behind his eyelids. And he found himself passing through the archway.
The burning was his anchor. If he thought of nothing more than that, then the archway wouldn't pull him back. Golden clouds swirled around him, accompanied by the wispy tendrils of shadow that ran freely between them. High above him, the golden light source glowed down on the peace of the cloudscape that surrounded him. Perhaps this was what meditation was? Spending time within one's own mind space and contemplating the true nature of oneself?
Hiccup decided to investigate the upper levels. He willed himself to float upwards. Slowly, he began to rise. Some of the clouds closer to him started to rise with him. He saw a few clouds that floated up near the light source start to sink. At the exact same time, the pull of the archway was suddenly tugging on him. Hiccup ceased his attempt at ascending. The clouds around him stopped with him, and the clouds near the top stopped their falling, and reset themselves at their previous height.
Hiccup tried again. Willing himself upwards, he began to rise. Once again, the clouds above him started to fall, and the pull of the archway became tangible. He grunted in frustration and stopped again.
"Need some help?"
Hiccup let out a long heartfelt sigh. Out of the corner of his vision he saw the wisp of darkness condensing down into the shape of Toothless, sitting on a cloud with his head tilted to one side.
"The idea was to master my mind before you noticed and amaze you later." Toothless chuckled.
"As cute as that is, I noticed the moment you left. That annoying bouncy one was very interested in a human so comfortable with flight that he could just 'fall asleep' in mid-air."
"Are you going to dislike every new Shade we meet?"
"No. Just the ones that are interested in you."
"Hey now! You're not gonna tell me who I can and can't talk to!"
"No.. I'll just make sure that they know who you belong to." A shiver passed through Hiccup's body at those words. Quickly he changed the subject.
"So are you going to help me with this or not?" He could swear that he felt a smirk radiating from his mate.
"Well, I did keep you in place when you lost all focus and started talking to me. That counts, doesn't it?"
"Shut up and teach me."
Toothless chuckled again, then half unfurled his wings and leapt straight upwards. Hiccup found himself rocketing upwards alongside him. Clouds shifted out of their way as they flew upwards, completely untouched by downward pulls of any kind. Toothless settled on a cloud, stretching out on his side. Hiccup landed with a small "oof" against his scaly side. The golden light source was directly before them, and slightly above. Hiccup could feel warmth washing over him in waves, and it only took him a moment to realize that each wave came exactly in time with the burning thud of his heartbeat.
"Tell me Hiccup, where are we?"
"…My mind-space?"
"Precisely, so what do you suppose these clouds we're sitting on are?"
"Umm…"
"Oh come on Hiccup, what floats around in anyone's mind?"
"Thoughts?"
"Precisely! So, these clouds are thoughts. All the things that you are thinking about at this very moment are represented here. Memories are here as well. Now, if these are thoughts, what do you suppose that big glowing thing in front of us is?"
Hiccup thought carefully this time. The clouds were thoughts. When Hiccup had been focused on rising to the light source, the clouds already floating near it had fallen farther away. It was also pulsing in time with his heartbeat.
"Is that… me?"
"Very good! That's exactly what it is. That is your conscious mind. The more you think about any given thing, the closer it moves to that light. Did you notice that all of the thoughts are rotating around it?"
Hiccup leaned out over the side of the cloud. Sure enough, all of the clouds below were moving in a circular fashion, like a large, slow motion hurricane.
"Does knowing the exact structure help me control it in any way?"
"It will help you learn. All you need to do is figure out which of these clouds represents the thoughts that maintain your presence here, and keep it up here at the top. It's a much easier concept to grasp, and it's easier to maintain when you're thinking of other things."
Toothless' tail gave a flick.
"But for now, I think you should wake up. There's something interesting going on outside. Grab hold."
This time, Toothless did not slow down or let up to allow Hiccup a view. He accelerated hard and fast for the outer reaches of their mind. Almost before Hiccup could comprehend what was happening, he was being swallowed by the white light of an exit. With a gasp and a partial heave, his eyes snapped open and sat dead upright on Toothless' back, almost upsetting his own balance.
After a few seconds of heavy breathing, Hiccup started to pay attention to the mental voices that were flying in every direction.
"…I don't have the energy to get back! I'm running on almost nothing as it is! When I do get back I'll be sleeping for a week!"
"I don't care if you're tired, we need to get word back to Home Cave before we arrive! Think of what The Three would say if we came bursting in unannounced with a mad rogue and his pet human in tow?!"
"Look Sycle, I'm not drawing a rune that will kill me. It's as simple as that."
A younger, chirpy voice sounded from the Shade Hiccup knew to be called Skuru.
"Why don't you just draw it on me then Rysh?"
Ryshkaa snorted.
"Shut up Skuru. You're being even more stupid than usual."
"No, seriously! Why not? I've seen Alda draw things on you and other Shades. Just give me some freaky speed and I'll deliver the message."
"I can't in good conscience draw a rune on you Skuru. You have no control over your Heart's Fire. You wouldn't be able to release it in time. Hells, you might not even see death coming."
"Ooooo, look who's so smart! You've been gone for a while Rysh, and I've been grounded for a good chunk of that time."
"Yeah.. So?"
Skuru did a couple of roles and shrieked with glee.
"So Alda's been giving me personal instruction while you were gone! Sure, I can't draw my own runes yet, but I'm competent with basic control!"
At this point, Hiccup felt it was time to voice his question.
"Um, Toothless?"
"Yes Hiccup?"
"Why aren't they speaking privately? I can't understand what all of this is supposed to mean, but it sounds kind of important. Wouldn't they be discussing this privately?"
"They are Hiccup. For some reason Ryshkaa is letting us hear."
"She didn't give you a reason or anything?"
"She did say one thing. 'Shut up, and you might learn something.'"
"She is so very kind."
Ryshkaa had been flying and stewing over whatever it was Skuru had given her to consider, finally she roared into the night and grumbled,
"I swear the universe conspires to annoy me. Get over here you lump of useless scale." Skuru gave a few hard flaps and left his place on Toothless' left side, pulling up alongside Ryshkaa. The gruff and graveled voice of Sycle spoke.
"Skuru, you are to inform The Three that we are bringing the rogue and… I'm not sure how you're going to explain the human."
"I'll figure something out! I always do!"
"Anyway, make sure you inform Alda as well. Oh, and see if you can light a fire in our hollow before we get there too."
"Would you like me to fetch dinner as well, your eminence?" Skuru's tone was laced with sarcasm. Ryshkaa chuckled once, then said,
"Shut up and catch me."
What followed, was the strangest thing that Hiccup had ever seen. Ryshkaa rolled in midair, baring her stomach to the sky and shedding a small amount of altitude. Skuru, made a rapid rudder movement with his tale, and shifted over into the space that Ryshkaa had just vacated. The young shade dropped his legs, and wrapped them around the female, resulting in a strange midair embrace. Skuru grunted as Ryshkaa folded her wings, allowing him to take all of her weight.
"If you activate the rune while you're still holding me, I swear I'll bite your tail off."
"Just hurry up."
Pale blue light flared in the space between the two Shades. Hiccup could just make out one of Ryshkaa's claws tracing across the scales of Skuru's chest. For a moment, Hiccup had no idea what was going on. Then a memory flashed through his head: Toothless, lying prone and unseeing, while a Shade drew a strange blue symbol on his head using only her claw. Ryshkaa had helped them escape from the Hive! Now what was she doing?
Ryshkaa's voice rang out. "It's done! Release me!"
Skuru dropped his hold. As Ryshkaa fell away and rolled right side up again, Skuru yelled, "See you all in a few hours!"
Blue light glowed once again beneath Skuru. For just one moment, it looked like his body was stretching. Elongating. Then the light flared and his body snapped forward, blurring with speed and disappearing entirely. A few seconds afterwards, an explosion sounded in the distance.
"Toothless.."
"Hiccup?" The response was nothing more than whisper.
"If it's the last thing I do, I will find out how they did that. And I will learn to do it myself."
Toothless was barely able to suppress his chuckle, remaining stoically silent, but Hiccup's mind resounded with his laughter.
XXX
Astrid
Gobber stood speaking to the entire village, outlining the condition of the food supply and other such matters. The harvest had been a good one this year, and a portion of it was stored in a small storage cave off of the hall. The rest was in other caves along the ridge, inaccessible from here. Astrid was not watching Gobber. She was staring at the doors. The dragons had not made another attempt at forcing their way through, and the two villagers posted on either side were looking sleepy as they were soon to be relieved.
Astrid checked her weapons. Two small knives, one at each hip, and a dagger thrust through her belt at her back. None of the axes in the hall quite suited her. Some weren't balanced properly, others were the wrong size. She could never wield a weapon that was not matched with her exactly, so in the place of her ax, a shortsword was strapped to her back overtop her shield. In just a few quick flexings of her legs, she was standing and stepping lightly towards the doors. Everyone's attention was focused on Gobber, and the watchmen's heads had fallen sideways onto their shoulders. They must be truly exhausted to sleep standing up. It was a simple matter to lift the bar and silently swing one door just far enough out for her to gain passage. Deftly, she pulled the dagger from her belt and placed its edge against the locking bar above her head. As she pushed the door closed behind her, she slowly lowered her dagger until it was squeezed between the two doors. The locking bar fell back into place on the other side.
A cool autumn breeze wafted its way over Astrid's exposed neck. She whipped around and placed her back to the door, switching her shield to her arm and holding her dagger at the ready. Moonlight bathed the charred ruins of Berk in silver light, giving the scene before her a very surreal look. The breeze created waves in the grass that was not charred, and billions of stars twinkled in the night sky. From this point, she could see clear to the ocean, where the heavens joined with the earth. The sky's light was reflected in the ocean. It was one of the most beautiful sights Astrid had ever witnessed.
Then she shook her head, ridding it of such thoughts and looked again. Shadows were cast by rocks and the burned out husks of houses. Any crack or crevice that was shielded from her sight could hide enemies. The trees whispered with the voice of the wind, and that could conceal the rustle of scales.
A bit paranoid aren't we?
Astrid froze where she stood, head slowly panning, searching for the source of the voice.
What's wrong? Did you forget my existence already? Jeez, I thought you hated me.
This was impossible. Hiccup could not be here. He left. He shouldn't have come back. Where was he?!
"S- Show yourself." Her voice was a whisper, barely more than a breath. Hiccup might have nothing to fear from dragons, but she certainly did.
Don't be stupid Astrid. I'm not actually talking aloud. And you needn't whisper anyway. The wind is blowing directly into the trees. If any of my kind were in there, they'd have already come to eat you.
"Your kind? So you have forsworn your own race?"
Please. I left you and those like you behind when you betrayed me.
"I thought you were the traitor here."
I wasn't the one who stuck an ax in a fellow human.
"You jumped into the way!"
You didn't even give me a chance to explain.
"It was a dragon! I thought I was saving your life!"
But my face was so happy!
"What did you expect me to think!?"
Tell you what. How about we stop arguing about the past, and get under cover. Just because there aren't any dragons out there now, doesn't mean none will come around.
Astrid swore quietly and moved off in a crouch, moving from one piece of cover to the next.
Just out of curiosity, what exactly are you doing?
The Viking female crouched down behind what used to be a water barrel and took a deep breath, then hissed,
"I am trying to assess the situation out here. Those sacks of bone in there would not have allowed such an expedition. So I ignored them, and took things into my own hands. One small, fast moving target is far less noticeable than a large group of hairy Vikings that smell like they're living in a cave. Furthermore, you are a voice in my head so I shouldn't even be talking to you. Now shut up so I can take a look at the docks."
Well I see your social skills have improved about as much as your temper.
Astrid choked back the response she was about to shout, and instead ran for her next piece of cover.
In only a few uneventful minutes, she had traversed the entirety of what used to be Berk. The cliff stood where it always had been, but the wooden walkway that should lead downwards to the docks was gone. Astrid leaned against the base of a shattered beacon tower and peered over the edge. Far below, the moonlight illuminated the clouds of ocean spray thrown up by jagged rock. There was absolutely no evidence of the docks, or even the walkways that had once supplied access to the docks were gone. It was like they had never even been there.
"Wonderful. Now we can't even leave the island."
Did you know you think out loud?
"Did you know that I hate you even more now than I did before?"
Behind her, there was the sound of scraping gravel and the thud of a heavy footfall.
Would you hate me less if I warned you about the Nightmare that's sneaking up behind you?
Astrid turned her entire body, pulling the dagger from her belt as she did, and beheld a massive pair of jaws rushing toward her. Thought was not even a part of her action. Her body automatically stepped sideways, and she felt the wind of the massive reptilian head passing by against her face. As the jaws snapped together, Astrid drove the dagger downwards into the base of the beast's skull. Without a sound, it dropped to the ground, and slid over the side of the cliff.
Well that was exciting.
Astrid's breath came hard and fast as adrenaline pounded through her veins. "Well, for someone who just claimed dragons as his own kind, you don't sound very upset."
That dragon actually was trying to kill you. You were quite within your rights to defend yourself. Mindless killing is what I object to.
Astrid turned away from the cliffs and started back into the ruins. This was bad. No docks, no boats, and more dragons were probably nearby. On top of all that, she was hallucinating a horribly realistic impression of the voice of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Some charred debris to her left shifted. Unbidden, her knife leapt into her hand and she swung out savagely.
Stop!
That one word, spoken by Hiccup's disembodied voice, contained enough cold anger and rage to freeze Astrid in place. Allowing her eyes to drift down the length of her blade, she beheld a very small Terrible Terror, with a large knife scar down its chest from tiny left shoulder to miniscule right foreleg. It stood on the window ledge of what used to be a house, but was now only a single fragment of wall left standing by itself. Because the window ledge was just below shoulder height, Astrid found herself staring directly into the reptile's eyes, as if they were the same height. The small dragon was hunched and it leaned far away from her, quivering like leaf in the autumn breeze.
You would save a life one day, only to strike it down the next?
The strange hallucination spoke callously, and bitterly. Astrid's voice was no more than a choked whisper.
"It.. It startled me." Slowly, she lowered the knife that was leveled at the dragon's face. Immediately, it stopped shaking and stood straighter, pushing itself forward slightly to sample the air before it with its tongue and nose. Astrid kept her eyes on it, knife still in hand. If it sprang, she'd be ready. But she could feel her fingers twitching, her heart pounding. Hiccup's voice had thrown her off balance completely. When it had said 'stop' it's voice had been so angry, so full of contempt, that it had scared her. Badly. Enough to stop her from killing what she perceived as an obvious threat.
The Terror stepped slowly to the edge of the window sill, then tipped itself forward very slowly. When it over balanced, it simply proceeded to walk down the section of wall beneath, gripping the vertical surface with dexterous claws. All of it's movement's were slow and very obvious.
You scared the poor thing. He's going out of his way to be sure you know he's not a threat.
"I seem to do that a lot when I'm near dragons apparently." The sarcasm leapt to her very easily, letting her cloak her unease and discomfort in a façade of nonchalance. When the Terror reached the ground, it sat back on its haunches and stared up at Astrid.
"What does it want?"
Its hungry, cold, and lonely. What do you usually want when you're hungry, cold and lonely?
"Are you telling me that I'm supposed to comfort this thing?"
I'm telling you that if you want my respect, then you should show a little of what you call humanity.
"And exactly why would I care about your respect?"
Because, I'm a figment of your imagination, and if we don't have mutual respect for each other, then I can make your life VERY difficult. As in, more difficult than it already is.
"Oh come on, what could you possibly do? Unless you're actually here somewhere.."
Her face grew concerned and she glanced to either side and behind her.
Oh no, I was being quite honest. I'm just a voice in your head. But voices can be horribly, terribly aggravating. Listen to THIS!
For a moment, nothing changed. The creature on the sill just sat there and stared. Its eyes were enormous. That made it look very strange. All the dragons Astrid had ever seen had had their eyes squinted with anger, and fangs bared. This dragon just sat and stared, completely silent. Its eyes were large and dark, and Astrid found herself gazing at them. After a moment she snapped her gaze away, cursing under her breath.
"Listen to what?" But she could already hear something. A buzzing drone, like the sound that all the veterans described whenever they were hunting for the nest. It slowly became louder, and it started to obscure Astrid's hearing. At first, it wasn't so bad. She was about to open her mouth to scoff at the annoying sound, but instead, her knees buckled and her hands clamped over her ears. The sound was piercingly high, and at the same time, terribly powerful. It was like a Thunderdrum was screaming directly into her ears.
Oo, a Thunderdrum. Nice comparison. It's pretty similar in tone, but a Thunderdrum cannot produce the high pitches that are overlaying the humming. It's pretty unpleasant all the same, don't you think?
Hiccup's voice was somehow distinguishable from the roaring noise, despite the fact that she could not hear anything else. Her body was slowly crumbling in on itself, slumping down towards the earth, trying to escape the horrible noise that seemed to be shaking her very sanity. By the time she had reached a fetal position on the ground tears were running out of her eyes.
Come now, it's just a little imagination. Can't you handle a little internal noise?
Astrid tried to speak, but the tears streaming from her eyes were also constricting her throat. She only managed to gasp as her body jerked and twitched.
Astrid was about to try to scream when a point of warmth blossomed on her face. At the exact same time, the horrible sound cut off completely, and she was left in deafening silence. It was only then that she realized her eyes were closed. When she opened them, her vision was blurred and distorted by the tears that she was completely unaccustomed to. After a couple of blinks, she managed to see past the end of her nose.
Above her stood the Terror, one paw extended, resting against her face. The dragon made a strange thrumming sound low in its throat that Astrid had never heard a dragon make before. Slowly, her tears stopped flowing and she was able to clear her vision entirely. Her breathing, which had only moments before been a raspy gasp, slowed, steadily returning to normal.
This is why I looked down on you, Astrid. Sometimes all it takes is a touch. Just a physical reminder to someone that they're not alone. That's all one needs do to comfort someone. This tiny wounded dragon is ready to offer you comfort in a time of distress. Why in hell, would you not return the favor. Now either you become a true person, or we need discuss no more.
A low hum sounded at the edges of Astrid's hearing.
"Alright, fine! Damn it all!" Her yell startled the Terror and it jumped back slightly. Astrid coiled her body and extended it upwards powerfully, throwing her legs into the air and following them with her torso, head, and arms. She landed on her feet and turned to the Terror that was now once again quivering in fear on the ground.
"Alright, listen here you little winged lizard. I'm only doing this to appease the voice in my head, gods I'm insane, so if you want to get warm and maybe even a bite to eat then come with me, and I'll try to find a place to sleep where I won't be torn to shreds by your big friends. Wait! Gods this thing could lead them right to me!"
He won't. Now move your ass.
Astrid was about to take extreme issue with this order, but shut her mouth as the buzzing sounded again. She set off to find shelter in the ruins, with a small Terrible Terror slinking at her heels.
XXX
Skuru
As Skuru let his Heart's Fire flow into the rune on his chest, the traveling ring appeared before him. Alda had only allowed him to practice this on one round trip, but it shouldn't be too difficult. He felt the rune on his chest flair and he centered a picture of Home Cave in his mind. Slowly, but surely, the space within the ring distorted, and the image of a snowcapped mountain locked within ice, with the ocean crashing at its base slowly took shape within it. Skuru was only barely able to solidify the image before he passed through. Temperature disappeared. Wind, and in fact all the air around him, disappeared. He hung in darkness. Nothing around him but the image of the mountain floating far away.
If I recall correctly, this is where it get's nasty.
There was a pull in his stomach, and he felt his speed increasing, far beyond any amount of velocity he had experienced in the steepest nosedive. It was no longer measurable by his senses. All he knew was that he was traveling at thousands of wingbeats per second. The churning sensation in his stomach was horrible, but he had to put that aside for now. He needed to focus. Concentrate. When the mountain was close enough, he had to nullify the rune and drop down to normal speed. He glanced down at his chest, and his eyes widened. The rune that glowed there was not the rune of speed. Skuru had never seen anything like it before. It was two runes, one that was lit with blue light, the other still a dark navy upon his scales. Both runes were surrounded by a circle, and the circles touched each other at one single point, while at the same time they were surrounded by a single larger circle.
Skuru had seen the unactivated rune before. It was the nullifying rune that he's been preparing to draw. But the one that was currently activated was completely unknown to him.
Ryshkaa, what did you throw me into?! I don't know what this thing is, much less how to nullify it. It already has a nullifying rune! Alda said that placing an identical rune atop another was pointless! How do I stop?!
The image of the mountain was getting closer, slowly becoming clearer. Skuru was starting to panic. If he missed the window, he'd end up Spirits knew how many wingbeats away on the other side. He whipped his head downwards, looking frantically at the diagram on his chest. At that exact moment, the unactivated nullifying rune blazed brightly, though it's light was sputtering and weak. Skuru fed a small amount of his Heart's Fire into the rune, and it's light grew stronger, blazing brightly in the blank darkness. The circles lit next, first the inner two, then the larger outer one. For one moment, the entire diagram blazed brightly, then slowly began to fade, until it disappeared completely. For just a second, Skuru had no idea what had happened.
Then reality smacked him in the face. Frozen air pelted his face hard, bringing with it sound, light, smells, and the taste of moisture in his throat. With a screech, he angled his wings and corkscrewed, driving a wedge straight through the air. When his body finally slowed enough to stop spinning, though he was still a little disoriented, a beautiful sight met his eyes.
The ocean crashed against the base of a massive glacier. Far above, a single snow-capped mountain peak rose into the night sky, where its craggy summit was framed in the glow of a bright aurora. Home.
