Chapter 35

The gentle slope outside the village of Berk soon became a steep climb as Hiccup and Gothi made their way to the foot of the islands mountain. The travellers trudged on for almost two hours before they finally reached their destination. True it was a cave, but it was a cave like nothing Hiccup had ever seen before. A short way inside there was a wooden wall with a small locked door in the center. Gothi took off her pack and fumbled inside it for a few seconds before pulling out some pieces of flint. She used the flint to light a torch on the wall, unlocked the door and beckoned Hiccup to follow her inside.

Hiccup had to stoop over to avoid hitting his head in the cave but Gothi stood tall with plenty of room to spare. She lit a second torch mounted on the inner wall and gave it to Hiccup before leading him further inside. A few bumps on the head later, the young man found himself in a larger cavern with a faint light coming from the far side. Hiccup first thought there must be an opening to the outside, but he soon discovered the glow came from some strange blue gemstones encrusted in the wall, covering an area the size of the average shield.

"Wow!" he exclaimed and reached out to touch one.

A sharp tap on the skull from the old woman's staff warned Hiccup away and added to his current set of lumps as the wise Gothi motioned for the boy to step back and stand on a spot marked on the ground. She then took Hiccup's torch from him and placed it on a nearby stand before placing hers in a similar one on the opposite side of the cavern.

"Ah so that's what those stands were for" Hiccup realised "When Gobber and I made them for you, we assumed..."

Hiccup decided not to finish his thought when Gothi tapped him lightly on the head again. When she was sure she had the boys full attention, Gothi stood in front of him and motioned for him to look at the small cluster of gems in the wall.

"What am I looking for; what should I be seeing?" he asked as he stared intently.

Gothi reached inside her pack and removed two items; a small covered clay pot the size of an apple and a wooden box containing a selection rune tiles. She placed the pot down and opened the rune box, handing one to Hiccup.

"You're kidding me" he declared as he read the rune for future.

Needless to say, Gothi hit him again before handing him three more tiles.

"Not, mind and see" Hiccup read aloud "I don't get it."

Gothi looked down and rearranged the tiles and turned the one for 'mind' sideways.

"See, remember not; are you saying I'm going to see the future but not remember what I saw?"

Gothi smiled and gave a nod.

"Excuse me for being sceptical, but isn't that just a little too convenient? You could tell me I saw the future when I only OWW!"

Hiccup rubbed his head and decided it would be good for his heath if he gave the old woman the benefit of the doubt for now.

Gothi stared menacingly at Hiccup for a few second to make sure he was ready before she picked up the clay pot and removed the lid. Inside he saw a fine sand of red crystals; Hiccup thought they looked like crushed red gems, similar to the blue ones set in the wall. Gothi took a small pinch of the jars contents and flicked it at the wall and much to Hiccups surprise, the light from the blue gems shone through the red dust and began to swirl in an eerie purple haze.

"Whoa how are you doing..." Hiccup began but stopped when Gothi reached for her staff.

He stared intently at the strange reflected light for a moment until a figure appeared in the image, causing Hiccup to inhale sharply. Gothi pointed to the light haze and then to her mouth, encouraging Hiccup to speak of what saw.

"Can't you see it too?" he asked and the old woman shook her head.

"It's me and I'm wearing some kind of leather vest or harness; this is amazing" he declared in wonder.

Without realising it, Hiccup just stared silently at the image until Gothi kicked him in the shin.

"OWW, sorry I forgot. Well I seem to be walking somewhere and talking to someone but I can't see where or who; I can only see myself. I'm smiling and laughing, so that's a good sign because I don't have many reasons to smile right now. I guess I must be chatting to Fishlegs because he's the only one who is speaking to me at the... oh."

Gothi gazed expectantly for a moment before prodding Hiccup to continue.

"Couldn't have been Fishlegs because I just kissed whoever it was before waving goodbye. This is disturbing because there are only two girls my age on Berk; one is crazy and the other one talks to me the same way my father does."

Hiccup suddenly froze and turned as white as a sheet.

"Wait a minute; WHAT HAPPENED TO MY LEG?" he cried out.

'

'

"Come on, come on" DeGroot urged Blue as he finished off his breakfast.

"Alright Max, just let me get my backpack."

"You don't need it; I've got water, a little food, a first aid kit..."

"Have you got a two-way radio?" Blue asked.

"What for? We'll be back before lunch time" DeGroot threw up his arms in frustration.

There was no point in arguing because Blue was not about to leave the village camp without any means of keeping in contact. It should have only taken a minute for him to get what he needed but as usual, it took over fifteen minutes due to all the people who would stop the young man to ask advice on how to train their pet Terrors. During this time, Blue asked Calla and Abigail if they wanted to join him, taking up even more time.

"Thanks, but I've got a lot of things to do down here; maybe next time" Abigail told them.

Calla on the other hand would not want to miss the chance to see more of the island, so after another pause for her to put on her hiking boots, the trio were finally on their way, accompanied by three happy dragons.

"Did you know the Dragon Riders used to use these little guys to deliver messages?" Blue said as they walked.

"Don't be silly; of course I knew" DeGroot huffed.

"Erm... I was talking to Calla" Blue sneered.

"Just like leathery carrier pigeons huh?" the young lady replied.

"Yup" Blue nodded.

He was so relieved Calla had agreed to join the minor expedition; it would have been a very stressful trip if he'd only had grumpy DeGroot for company. Blue did not want to admit it, but he did want to see what the dragon historian had discovered. The only reason he had been delaying the short journey was to teach DeGroot a lesson about being patient, and not forcing his personal schedule onto everyone else. Blue had still not forgiven the older man for sabotaging his first trip across the Atlantic, even though the redirection had led them to Berk.

Bad weather could be seen on the horizon to the south of the island but with the prevailing wind coming from the west, Blue crossed his fingers hoping it would not come much closer. If it did, the group would not know until later in the morning because after a long and solid march, they had finally reached the cave. They removed the torches from their backpacks and shone them into the uninviting tunnel.

"Why is it we can never stay above ground?" Calla wondered as she followed the others inside.

The curious trio had not gone far inside when DeGroot made the first of many discoveries.

"Look at this ironwork on the walls" he pointed his light "a thousand years ago, there was a wall put here to keep the villagers out, unless they were accompanied by Gothi herself."

"Cool" Calla shrugged with an indifference DeGroot did not like.

The two men both walked stooped over, but Calla found she could stay upright most of the time. They moved slowly and steadily, shining beams of light over every inch of the cave, looking for any relic or clue. At last they reached a slightly larger cavern at the end of the tunnel but as they moved their torches in all directions, DeGroot gradually became more and more agitated.

"No...NO... IT SHOULD BE HERE!" his voice echoed in the chamber.

Blue was not surprised to find the cave empty, so he tried to console the upset man.

"I don't know what you're referring to Max, but after a thousand years..."

"No you don't understand; what was here could not be moved" he stated, almost in tears.

"What couldn't be moved?" Calla shrugged and almost burst out laughing at DeGroots reply.

"The magic lights."

While the cave was an interesting discovery, it appeared to have very little to hold their interest. Blue decided to give DeGroot a few more minutes to look around before insisting they begin the journey back to the Berk village.

"Hey watch where you're pointing that thing!" Calla snapped when DeGroot's torchlight shone straight into her eyes.

Blue looked down at the powerful light in his hand and a thought crossed his mind.

"Wait a minute, everyone stand still and turn off your torches."

They all did as requested and the cave was instantly plunged into total darkness.

"Woo... spooky" Calla declared.

"Wait... just for a minute" Blue urged.

Ever so slowly, their eyes began to adjust to the darkness and Calla could make out the faint outline of Blue's silhouette. It soon became clear to everyone that a faint blue light was emitting from the wall opposite the tunnel entrance.

"oh..." DeGroot whimpered with joy.

Even though the cave was still quite dark, Calla could tell the odd man was close to tears. The light was very pretty, but she could not understand why they had gone to so much trouble to see it.

"Okay, everyone stand still a bit longer" Blue said as returned to the tunnel.

Treading very carefully, the young man made his way back the way they had come until he could not see his way anymore. Blue then carefully placed his torch on the ground, pointed it away from the cavern and placed his jacket over it before switching it on. The dull light gave just enough illumination for everyone to see what they were doing, while still being able to clearly make out the soft glow from the far wall.

"Brilliant idea m'boy" DeGroot said as he removed his backpack and placed it on the ground.

"So this is the... I almost hate to say it, the magic place you've been looking for?" Blue asked.

"Yes... oh yes... I'm sure it is" DeGroot voice wavered as he fished through the bottom of his pack.

"I must admit, it's very pretty" Calla smiled.

"Oh it's much more than that" DeGroot said excitedly as he removed a small clay pot, roughly the size of an apple.

Holding the pot with great care, DeGroot looked down at the ground near the glowing light.

"Stand right there!" he ordered Blue "Now if this works, you won't remember what happens afterwards so be sure to tell Miss Calla and I everything you see."

"I won't remember?" Blue repeated "How does that work?"

"I'm afraid I don't know, but if Gothi's writings can be believed, you should come face to face with your ancestor, and you must ask him how to get to Dragon Island."

Without any further explanation, DeGroot lifted the lid from the jar, took a pinch of the red dust inside, and flicked it into the glowing blue light. Both Calla and Blue were surprised to see the light begin to swirl in an eerie purple haze. To Calla it was just a wondrous psychedelic vision, but for Blue there was so much more to see. The twisting image slowly settled into what appeared to be a translucent window and on the other side, Blue could clearly see a young boy with scruffy clothes and even scruffier hair. As he stared, he noticed the boy appeared to be staring back until much to Blues surprise, the boy spoke.

"Gothi... there's someone else in there!" he declared as he pointed at Blue.

'

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Sorry this one is a day late, but I've been rather busy writing the later chapters.

Something else has happened too; three days ago I came down with a slight chesty cough. It wasn't bad but I thought under the current covid-19 circumstances, I should take the day off. I had been doing a lot of bus work all last week at the airport and with students from overseas so if I had caught something, I didn't want to give it to anyone else.

When I called the company I work for, they told me even if I was well, I should not come back till after I have been tested (this should happen tomorrow). So the result has been that I (who normally works seven days a week), have had three days off with more to come. Result – A heck of a lot of writing done (yay). Of course I can't be 100% sure, but I hope to have finished the story before I go back to work.

Good to hear you're still well Vin, all the best to you, your family and of course all the other readers out there.

Bye for now, Marty.