"Chief! Chieftess! The tribe wants to see you!"
Well that didn't sound good. Iris exchanged a look with Dagur before grabbing Yarrow, who was playing on her belly on a soft blanket, while Dagur grabbed his sword. However their fears were dashed as an eager looking young female Viking waited for them outside.
"What is it?" Dagur asked with a frown.
"Follow me please," the Viking said eagerly. "The tribe has something to show you at the docks!"
"We'll be back Enigma," Iris called.
The female Fury Howler huffed but settled down. The egg was getting close to hatching if all the movement recently was any indicator. Dagur and Iris both were excited to see the new baby dragon. Both agreed they hoped the hatchling would someday bond with Yarrow. It was a possibility, especially since the two would grow up together.
They followed the Viking through the empty village to the docks. Everyone was gathered there, even Iris' parents. All had eager looks on their faces. They cheered at the sight of them heading their way.
"Hoist the flags," one man shouted.
"Lower the sails," shouted another
Some of the ships docked suddenly had dark color cloth run up the flagpole used to communicating with other ships. All of the ships docked dropped their main sails. Iris and Dagur stared in shock while Yarrow just cooed and giggled as she played with her hands.
The Skrill had been removed from the Berserker sails. Now in its place was a soaring dragon that looked like a Fury Howler. The Fury Howler was on the flags as well but where the ones on the sails were black and red the ones on the flags were white. Everyone shouted excitedly as the dragons shrieked and roared.
"The looks on your faces," Rohan chuckled. He approached them from the crowd of people and stood before them with a grin. "It was well worth the effort."
"When was this decided?" Iris asked while Dagur just gaped. "I thought Berserk was proud of their Skrill."
"We are," Rohan said. "However it wasn't the Skrill that brought prosperity to our tribe. It was the dragons that brought our chief and now chieftess, who both ushered in this prosperous time. It was a decision among the tribes folk to make the change. Everyone is in agreeance."
"And hopefully the Fury Howler will be a dragon partner for every future chief to come," Jon said as he walked up with Vivian. "So far the chief and chieftess, with the exception of the chieftess' parents, are the only Berserkers with Fury Howler partners."
"I'm speechless," Dagur said slowly. "I'm never speechless."
"That's true," said Iris. "He wasn't even speechless when he first saw me. Of course he babbled in Norse so I had no clue what he was saying."
"I hope you approve chief," Rohan said. "We all do."
"Of course I approve," crowed Dagur. "This is a step forward for our tribe! We are the Berserkers, the only tribe with Fury Howlers! It is only right to have them as our tribe symbol."
The tribe cheered. Cheers could even be heard from the ships. Iris smiled at Dagur as he grinned at her. Things were changing and for the better it seemed.
"Come with me for a minute," Vivian said quietly in English. "I need to show you something. You, stay here with Jon."
"But," Dagur tried to argue but Vivian just glared at him. "Yes ma'am."
"What is it Mom?" Iris asked, speaking English as well, while Vivian pulled her towards her house.
"Something I should have shown you sooner," Vivian said quietly. "I only recently learned, in our homeland, that its a family secret."
Iris stood in Vivian's living room as Vivian pulled out a chest from under the stairs. It had three locks on it with a heavy chain around it. Iris recognized the metal as the dragon proof metal the Icer Tribe learned how to melt down.
Vivian unlocked the chest and opened it. Carefully she reached inside to pull out a cloth wrapped bundle. The fabric was pulled back to show a plain leather bound book. For some reason though, the sight of the book made the hair on Iris' body stand up. Yarrow wasn't phased and just chewed on her blanket.
"I saw your grandmother before we came here," Vivian said quietly as she stood up. "She had a lot of excuses about why she did what she and the family did. The first time she gave me this thing and made me take it the last time I saw her before we came here. It was thanks to this I was able to figure out how to save you."
"Wait a minute," Iris said. "You saw your mom? Who lives in Norway? All she gave you was a weird looking book?"
"Yes, yes, and yes," Vivian answered.
"Why?"
"Because she knew you came here." Iris felt her heart stop for a moment. Someone outside her family knew? "She claimed it was bound to happen ever since your father and I got married. Some babbling about how you were born connected to a boy, Dagur, here and that's why he came to our home world and you were able to come here. It does kind of explain the immediate attraction between you two, especially Dagur. Probably why he settled in so easily and why you settled here so easy."
"That's insane," Iris argued.
"That's what I said except." Vivian hesitated. "Well. This book. Its different. Its, well, magic." Iris stared at her. "Just trust me. It showed me what happened to you, when you were poisoned, as if I was reading a story someone wrote. Supposedly this is normal. My family, part of you, is meant to guard the different worlds around our home world and this book is how we can see what happens in the different worlds. It has the magic to do it."
"That takes the phrase every tale has a grain of truth to a whole new level," Iris said nervously. This was freaking her out. "Am I supposed to do something? Take over when you die or?"
"I don't know. That's why I wanted to show it to you. As well as ask you, do you remember what happens?"
"What do you-" Iris paled at her mother's nodding words. "Bewilderbeast. Shit. How could I forget?"
"I'm hoping it won't happen," Vivian admitted. "But when I checked, well. Its messed up. None of the words make sense and the pictures are blended together. Even this thing doesn't know."
"How do I-" She swallowed hard. "How do I explain this to Dagur?"
"I will. Just, I need to see if it will react to you. It didn't react to your father. If it doesn't react to you, I can rest easy."
At Vivian's urging Iris reached out and placed her hand on the book. She explained that when she touched it she felt a pull like one did when keeping two attracted magnets apart. A tug.
Whatever she was supposed to feel, Iris was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be pain. With a cry she yanked her hand back only to see bits of her skin stuck to the leather cover. A burn appeared on her left hand. It felt like she grabbed onto a hot stove top.
"Iris!" Vivian tossed the book aside and grabbed her hand.
While her mom doctored her Iris glared at the book that had landed face up. It was steaming a little as her left behind skin was burned off. That was the answer to that at least. The magic book did not like her. At all.
"At least I can tell Dagur," Vivian said quietly. "And that I'm the only one who can find out. You'll be safe."
"I can never tell him," she whispered. "Its a secret I'll take to my grave."
"Its okay honey. Every one has that one secret they take to the grave. That secret not even their loved ones knows." Iris looked at Vivian in surprise. "Yes, even I do. So don't bother asking. Just, don't be ashamed."
