Chapter4
Dreams and nightmares

Sandy and Hiccup were flying in the middle of the streets by night, chasing after the two fugitive nightmares. One for each of them. While Hiccup was beating his wings in his dragon shape, Sandy was flying by surfing on a dreamsand cloud. When the nightmares spread up, one going through a window inside of a building and the other brushing the wall, both spirits spread too. Sandy followed the one inside and managed to catch up. He got a bit delayed as he took time to use his powers to turn back the nightmare into a dream, changing the black mare into a golden manta ray he rided.

He followed the dragon roars to find back his comrade, who was slowly catching up with the second nightmare. Granted a Night Fury was one of the fastest creatures in the spirit world, but the nightmare was taking a lot of turns and narrow streets to slow the dragon down. So, after a moment, Hiccup shifted back in human shape and kept his pace by running, enabling him to take back the advantage.

As they turned into a very narrow and dark street, the nightmare ascended to the rooftop, and that's when Hiccup managed to touch it with his flames. He didn't have the time to concentrate it into plasma blast, but the hit was enough to lay the nightmare.

''Got you.'' The viking grinned.

He jumped on the roof and found the remains of the mare. The mixture of black sand and ashes left odd residues. Hiccup stepped closer and kicked the shapeless sand mound, making sure the creature was dead. No reaction, except for the mount to crumble. Good, he wasn't fond of fighting these nightmares. He made use of its lifelessness to get a closer look at it. There was no sign of the blue light he had linked to Pitch's mysterious accomplice, visibly his fire attack didn't got along with this ice magic.

He still put his palm in the sand, trying to feel some remains of this magic, but there was none. However, he suddenly felt the air around him getting chilly. He looked up by reflex and spotted some frost on the ground, a few steps away from him. Glistening silver fern-like patterns spread softly, slowly. It was delicate and beautiful, full of details. He stared at it with attention, and swore he could feel some presence in this area. It was faint, barely noticeable, but it was there. If he had not noticed the frost, he was sure he would have missed this presence.

''Hello ?'' He asked tentatively.

The frost stopped spreading, then it changed direction, moving on the left, tracing a path, as if following something invisible.

''I know you're here.'' The fire wielder said.

He made sure his voice was calm and not menacing. Whomever or whatever this spirit could be, the simple fact they had not attacked him right away was a good sign, a sign they were not as evil as Pitch.

He waited a bit, eyes still focused on the frost. It kept on spreading slowly, keeping a safety distance.

''I'm not gonna harm you, you can show yourself.''

The frost stopped moving, but Hiccup could still feel the presence. Either the spirit didn't trust him, either they wanted to hide their identity. Another hypothesis emerged in Hiccup's mind, but he quickly dismissed it. If this spirit could turn invisible, maybe this power was new and unmastered and they couldn't show themselve ? But that couldn't be that. Generally, powers were linked to emotions, so if the spirit felt lonely their powers would have turned them back into visible intinctively.

So either they were distrustful, either afraid. Hiccup was more encline to believe the second option, and it would have explained why Pitch had allied to them, to feed upon their fear. Tentatively, the viking rose from his crouching position, then took a step towards the frost. He wanted to try and approach them, reassuring this unknown spirit, but he stopped as the frost backed.

''It's okay.''

He suddenly felt like going back through time, back when he was still human, when he had tried to approach Toothless when the dragon was still wild. The secret was patience, and not intimidating the other.

So Hiccup rose his hands in a peace. The fact he couldn't either see or hear the spirit he was adressing was a bit disturbing, he was not even sure of their size nor where he was supposed to look to meet their eyes. Still he didn't give up.

''My name's Horren Blaze, and you ?''

He waited but didn't hear anything. He strained his ears, but there was nothing but sounds from the city. At least, until he heard a faint crackling sound. He looked down and saw more frost spread on the ground, drawing new patterns. But this time, it was not fern-like pattern, but a snowflake.

''Yeah,'' the fire wielder chuckled. ''I got you're a winter spirit, but do you have a name ?''

He looked up as he heard a breath, and blinked in surprise as he saw a faint smoke that seemed to match a breath. He could not see the spirit, but now he was seeing their breathing.

''If you're a spirit, why can't I see you ?'' He mused out loud.

He hoped to get an answer, anything, but all he got was a voice from behind, a deep and silky voice he recognized.

''Blaze ?''

He instantly jumped around to face Pitch. Not waiting for what the other could do, he gave the first blow, throwing red flames to him. Obviously, the Boogeyman dodged it as he escaped through shadows, reapparing on the neighbor roof, slightly higher than the one where Hiccup was.

''You know, for a neutral party, you spend an awful lot of time with those weirdos. This isn't your fight, Blaze.''

The fire spirit gave a quick look at the frost but noticed it was not there anymore. If the winter spirit had fled because of his flames or because of Pitch, he didn't know, he only knew he had to focus on the Boogeyman.

''Made it my fight when you tried to destroy Tooth.''

''And why do you care about what could happen to her ? You spent the last centuries rejecting anything that was linked with Lord Søl.''

''I may have my issues with the Sun, doesn't mean I'm gonna let you destroy other spirits. You're overstepping one of the most ancient rules of our world.''

''Ha, obviously you know about ancientness. It's said you're almost as ancient as the Sandman himself.''

The Boogeyman opened his mouth to add something else, but he didn't as he noticed a silhouette standing next to him. He jumped back as he recognized the short golden man, who was crossing his arms and giving him a glare, like a parent about to scold their child. Pitch got his nerves back and chuckled.

''Now this is who I'm looking for.''

Sandy didn't give him time to attack as he shot first, shaping two whips with his sand.

Pitch dodged and armed himself with a long scythe made of pure shadows. When both weapons collided, Hiccup realised that, if the Boogeyman had not much control over nightmares to give them consistency, it was not the case with shadows. This weapon was fully capable of hurting and wounding !

So the fire spirit shifted into a dragon and bounced to intervene, but he quickly had to throw himself on the ground to avoid the scythe. After a few hit echanged, Sandy managed to disperse the scythe and wrapped a lasso around Pitch's writs. He threw the dark spirit into the air and caught him back to smash him into a wall next to Hiccup – who had to duck again – before finally throwing him over the edge of the rook.

The auburn dragon shifted back into a viking and walked next to Sandy who was wiping his hands with a satisfied grin. Both of them looked down to the Boogeyman sprawled on the pavement of the main street, empty this late at night.

''Remind me to keep on your good side.'' The viking joked.

Sandy smiled at the respectful hint and nodded before floating down. The viking followed and both of them joined Pitch.

Sitting on the asphalt, he crawled back when they came close, and Hiccup noticed frost patterns on the ground next to the dark spirit. So the accomplice was still there, in the end.

''Okay, easy.'' Pitch tried, his voice full of worry as if he knew he couldn't beat Sandy. ''You can't blame me for trying, Sandman. You don't know what it's like to be weak and hated.''

He got up and dusted his shadow cloak.

''It was stupid of me to mess with your dreams. So, I'll tell you what.''

Hiccup frowned. He didn't like the way Pitch had hidden an arm behind his back, the quick glances he took around them, and the way the frost patterns were spreading on the ground, as if the winter spirit was concentrating their powers.

''You can have them back.'' Pitch added with a threatening snarl.

Gloomy neighs echoed all around them as black sand streams floated from the sewers, blue lights lighting up their cores and enabling the nightmares to take shape. They were way more than the two spirits had imagined, indicating Pitch had been planing this for longer than they had thought. Soon, hundreds of nightmares surrounded Hiccup and Sandy, who placed themselves back to back and started to circle to keep an eye on most of their enemies.

''You take the ones on the left and I take the ones on the right ?'' Hiccup asked hesitantly, half trying to light up the mood.

Sandy gave him a perplexed grimace, shrugging, then both faced Pitch as he approached on the back of a nightmare.

Sandy formed his whips while Hiccup clenched his fists, looking at the nightmare that Pitch mounted. This one had a brighter core than the others, and those around it had a slightly less bright one, but still brighter than the others. It looked like they were closer to the source of the magic. When Pitch's mount slightly turned on the side, the dragon spotted frost patterns on its rump, just behind the Boogeyman. Said spirit frowned and mumbled something angrily, as if adressing someone behind him, visibly he was talking to his invisible accomplice.

For anyone else, these words would have been missed, too low to be heard, maybe even for Aster, but for Hiccup and his dragon hearing, it was crystal clear.

''Stick to the plan, Frost.''

Frost ? Was it the accomplice's name ? Well, that matched their powers, at least. Sometimes spirits' names were really lacking originality, Hiccup thought.

Now that he knew the winter spirit's name, the viking knew it would be easier to reach them, and now seemed to be the perfect moment to act. Judging by Pitch's words and anger, the accomplice was doubting, this was going to be really helpful in order to get them out of the Boogeyman's claws.

''You don't have to do this, Frost.'' Hiccup claimed.

Pitch's eyebrows shot up and his eyes widdened, the viking could see hatred growing in his grey eyes. It looked like Pitch had wanted to keep this accomplice a secret, but it hadn't work.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Sandy gave him a quizzical look, and make a question mark appear above his head. The viking gave him a quick smile and focused back on Pitch's companion. He stared straight at the empty space above the frost patterns, where he could see the faint fog. It had vanished once he had adressed the spirit, as if they had held their breath due to astonishment or anticipation. It comforted him into talking to them.

''I don't know what Pitch told you to convince you to join him, but you have to realise what he's doing is wrong. No spirit can pretend being more important than another one. No spirit should be allowed to destroy another one.''

He knew his words were hitting home as the blue lights inside the nightmares flickered, but they steadied as Pitch talked.

''Don't listen to him, he's lying. All your life they had shunned you, ignored you, and that's only now they are weakening they start to care about you ? Don't let yourself be fooled by that old trick !''

He didn't gave time for Hiccup to retort as he launched the nightmares to Sandy and him. Sandy fought back with his lassos while the dragon spirit threw bursts of fire in try to touch as much enemies as he could.

The way the nightmares' core was reacting to his powers, instantly melting, gave him an idea as to why Lord Søl had sent the Guardians to him, his fire seemed to be the perfect weapon against this magic, but it only slowed the nightmares down because they formed again and the winter spirit was still puring powers into creating new cores.

That's when they heard familiar jingling bells echoing in the sky, then something flew above them. North's sleigh. It turned around and came back towards them, almost scraping the ground as it flew straight to them, aiming to crush them. Hiccup and Sandy got ready for it, waiting for the last moment to throw themselves on the side while the nightmares started to spread. It could have been a real slaughter if not for this sudden outsburst of winter magic, rising up an ice platform that sent the sleigh right up into the sky.

''Tchaïkovski !'' North exclaimed, ''Zis winter spirit iz verry powerrful !''

The attack failed, so Pitch launched back his nightmares on the two spirits on the ground, but Sandy didn't waste time to get them out. He dispersed his lassos and grabbed Hiccup's colar before getting off on a dreamsand cloud. The spiral of golden sand left by the cloud got circled by black sand as the nightmares took off after them. Seeing they were followed, Sandy ended up throwing the viking away, but the stubborn spirit shifted into a dragon and quickly flew after him to help. He shot a plasma blast to a nightmare, the condensed fire making it explode.

While the sleigh was trying to get back to them, Tooth left it and flew to the battle field. She found Hiccup fighting off a bunch of nightmares and ramed into the one that tried to attack the dragon from behind. Hiccup had to admit he was impressed by the speed of the fairy's blows.

Aster jumped from the sleigh, closer to the ground, so he could take care of a group of nightmares on a roof. Only one launch of his boomerangs proved enough, the australian weapons piercing through the creatures' body and hitting the magic core, then he climbed back on the sleigh. North made use of his return onboard to give him the reins, unsheating his swords and climbing on the console so he could strike all the nightmares on their path.

The dragon spotted two black mares rushing to him, so he shifted and dropped himself to let them ram into one another, still the blow made him loose his balance. He made a great fall before he finally managed to steady his flight, then landed on one of sleigh's fins. Aster saw him and grinned.

''You might wanna duck.''

A quick glance behind the viking's back enabled him to see a nightmare come their way, then a boomerang. It hit the creature before Aster caught it in middle air, looking way more smug than necessary.

Hiccup made use of this time to tell North and him what he had learnt about Pitch's accomplice.

''Their name is Frost, visibly. I don't know exactly how Pitch recruited them but it looked like they don't agree with his way of handling things. I think we can convince them to join us.''

''Well, go and try.'' Aster grunted, sounding sceptical. ''Go ask 'em while we take care o' the nightmares.''

''Bunny, look out !'' North shouted.

The rabbit started and quickly bent, letting the nightmare smash into the railing instead of him. They noticed with surprise the blue lights were vanishing, leaving the creatures in unstable, streaming sand and shadow shapes.

''Looks like our new friend is doubting more and more.'' Hiccup stated.

Then they heard an angry shout coming fom the main street, below them. Much to their surprise, it was Pitch's voice. He was standing on the ground, handling his long scythe with fury, trying to dodge jolt of blueish lightning that seemed to bolt from thin air.

''Oh, looks like ya may not even need ta talk.'' Aster cheered.

''I'm gonna help them, I doubt they can make it against Pitch.''

He waited for his friend's approval, a nod, then he let go of the railling and dropped before shifting back into a dragon. The Night Fury roared and shot a plasma blast directly at the Boogeyman, who fled into his shadow to avoid it. The last blue lights remaining faded, but it didn't mean all danger was gone. On the contrary, the shadows within the black sand were still making damages and giving control to Pitch, the nightmares had just traded their horse-like consistence shape for a more unstable one, starting to form streams and waves of black sand.

When the aurburn dragon neared the ground, he spotted a swarm of black sand surounding an empty space where bolts of ice lightning were sparkling. He had never seen this kind of magic before, he had to admit it, but he dismissed this to focus. He spat a tornado of flames on the shadows, making sure to avoid the winter spirit, hense he managed to open up a safety zone where he landed.

''Frost !'' He called out, though his voice only came as a roar.

The lightning stopped for a second, then they sprouted again but the source seemed to move and get closer to the dragon. Then Hiccup felt a cold hand lean on his shoulder, and a light weight settled on his back. He knew the spirit had climbed on his back to flee with him, so he didn't wait to take off. Much to his surprise, he felt a cold gale blow around him, helping him shot to the sky.

Meanwhile, far above in the sky, Sandy was surounded. Floating on his golden cloud, he had to face and fight off a huge wave of black sand coming from all sides, turning around him like satellites around a planet. He was trying all his might to turn it back into dreamsand, but his two lassos were not enough for all of it. Try as he might, it looked like he was doing nothing, giving him the feeling it was feeding from his inner worry.

Hiccup saw the sleigh and Tooth above him, the three guardians fighting fiercefully and bravely against non-stopping enemies. He beat his wings harder and aimed to help them, but he felt the cold hand tighten its grip on his shoulder, then he heard a voice.

''We have to help Sandman, he's Pitch's target !''

The fire spirit had to admit the voice surprised him. It was a male voice, but it sounded young. Too deep for a child, but too young for an adult either. And this voice sounded familiar, oddly. He pushed this aside to focus and roared. He was still not used to spirits not understanding him while he was in dragon shape, but it wasn't like Frost would not understand he had to hold on.

Once again, the cold wind helped him fly faster, catapulting him even if it was obvious it had troubles carrying the dragon's weight. He swore it was not natural, that it was another power of the spirit on his back. They flew past the sleigh, which Hiccup heard following them, and they kept on climbing towards Sandy. The more they were getting closer, the more they could see what was happening. Sandy was swarmed from all sides, his small golden cloud almost blending in the dark, and another cloud was floating a bit farther… Carrying Pitch.

When the dark spirit stretched out his arms as if pulling a bow, Hiccup swore the temperature dropped around him. And worst part was when he saw the arrow. It pierced the air and stabbed Sandy… on the back.

''NO !'' Frost screamed.

Hiccup felt the wind howl around him, slamming into him with strength and rage, and suddenly the faint weight on his back vanished. Much to his surprise, he saw something flew above his head and dart upward, as if carried by the raging wind. He only had time to see a blue blur. However, he clearly heard Pitch's voice laugh and taunt Sandy.

''Don't fight the fear, little man ! I'd say 'sweet dreams', but there aren't any left !''

Sandy turned around feverishly, almost paralyzed with pain and fear, while black was spreading on his back, straining his golden sand and turning it dark. Soon, his legs gave in and left him drop to his knees, feeding the Boogeyman's laugh. He was being consumed, slowly, painfully, but despite this he stood up and glare defiantly at his opponent. From the corner of his eye, he could see his friends below, trying to reach him. There was an unknown blurry figure ahead of them, it was darting faster than anything he had seen before, but still he doubted it could be on time. It was too late for him, he knew it, so he accepted his fate. Head high, he closed his eyes and lost the battle.

The other spirits witnessed his end from afar, only seeing a faint golden explosion, before it was engulfed in darkness and black sand. When it dispersed, there was nothing left. No golden cloud. No Sandy. He was just… gone.

Dark streams floated casually to circle its master, who was smirking with satisfaction.

''Sandy…'' Nord gasped.

Hiccup, Aster and Tooth were just as struck as him, then the foursome heard a furious cry echoing in the air. The voice was unknown for three of them, but still they guessed who it was as they saw this frame heading towards Pitch. The Boogeyman didn't seem worried about that and threw a giant wave of sand and shadows upon it. The silhouette still kept on aiming at him, only stopping at the last moment before being crushed.

''Frost !'' Hiccup roared.

The dragon tried to fly faster, but without the winter spirit's power over wind, he was again limited to a Night Fury's speed. It was already an impressive one, but it was not enough to cover the distance between him and the battlefield. Moreover, he knew it was too late. Just like Pitch had consumed Sandy, he was consuming this winter spirit. At least, that's what they thought.

An explosion shook the whole wave of nightmares. Suddenly, gloomy neighs echoed in panic, a blinding blueish white light pierced through the darkness, then chase away a part of it. The spirits stared with a mixture of dread and appalment as the light emitted bolts of lightning that seemed to ice over the sand and spread in every directions. The light was condensed on a frame that seemed ridiculously small compared to the powerful magic.

Pitch barely had time to realise what was happening that he was also caught into the phenomena. Though the wave of magic was not spent yet, to the extend that, once the wave was frozen solid, it exploded. The intensity of the blow seemed to shake the whole sky, filling it with lights as bright as real lightning, then the three remaining Guardians and the fire wielder spotted two frames being ejected by the blow. Never before had they seen something that tremendous.

They didn't care for Pitch and only focused on the other frame, who they knew belonged to their savior. Though the silhouette was not flying as they thought it was. It was free-falling. Hiccup roared again and threw himself after Frost. He managed to catch the spirit and went back to the sleigh. North, Aster and Tooth looked at him as he deposited the spirit on the steps, then shifted back to land beside them.

For the first time, the foursome took a look at the spirit who just saved them. The great and powerful magic they had witnessed would have suggested someone tall, strong and respectable, intimidating and built like a Stoick the Vast at least, but no. Actually, he didn't look impressive. This spirit looked like a young boy, a teen who had still a couple of years ahead before being considered a proper adult.

His frame was thin, skinny, arms and legs twig-like. Even his clothes were humble. He was only wearing a blue hoodie and a pair of skinny brown pants which were a bit torn at the ankles. There were leather stripes wrapped around his calves, as if trying to hold the pants in place. He had no shoes on but a long stick in his hand, that looked like a crooked shepherd staff. The wood was covered with frost where it touched his hand.

His skin was as pale as death, blemish and blueish as if he was cold. His short and spiky hair was as white as snow, full of silver and blue highlights. His clothes were covered in frost. He seemed to be unconscious, but judging by the among of power he had used during the battle, it was no wonder.

Hiccup stared at this face and couldn't help but frown. He knew that face. He had seen it before, though he had been certain he would never see it again. His heart ached and he glared up to the sky. Even if it was night time and there were too many clouds to see any star, he cursed Lord Søl for taunting him like this. What kind of twisted trick was the Sun playing on him ? Couldn't he just leave him alone ? Hadn't he suffered enough that day, three hundred years ago ? Was Søl's first betrayal not enough he had to rub salt in the wound after all this time ?

He tried to tame his boiling anger as he felt flames sprout on his shoulders. He did his best to calm down and looked back at the young spirit, to notice Tooth and Aster were bent over his unconscious form.

''Hey, kid ?'' The spring spirit called, softly patting the sleeping pale face.

He started and quickly retreated his paw, shaking it and blowing on it.

''Crickey, he's freezing !''

''He's a winter sprite.'' Tooth scolded. ''What did you expect ?''

''Guys, I think he's waking up.'' Hiccup told them.

The three of them focused back on the young spirit, who squinted his face while moving faintly. Hiccup held his breath as he watched the eyelids flutter. Though his anticipation turned into dissappointment as the eyes finally opened. He had been expecting to see brown eyes. Warm, dark honey brown eyes adorning kindness and a mischievous spark. But there was no brown. Instead, he saw bright blue eyes, blue as an ice cave lighten up in winter sun, adorning a snowflake pattern. The gaze was clouded and dull and seemed unable to focus.

The boy blinked but it didn't seem helpful. He looked like he could faint at any time, but still he managed to talk, even if his voice was barely a whisper.

''The Sandman…''

''Sorry, mate.'' Aster said cautiously.

Something changed in the blue eyes. They filled with sadness, guilt and sorrow, then the eyelids dropped back.

''Let's take him to ze pole.'' North offered. ''Better weather for him, da ?''

''Good idea, North.'' Hiccup replied, unable to tear his eyes off the boy.

Santa Claus used another snow globe to open up a portal, all the spirits onboard had completely forgotten about the one that had crash-landed in the forest near the city. Pitch got to his feet and dusted his cloak while shadows and black sand were swirling around him. He looked up at the sky and watched the sleigh disappear into the portal, then he snickered.

''Fine, Frost. I'll let you have your rebellion. Anyway, I know you'll come back, eventually.''