Looking back at that day, Hiccup realized that had he not chosen to free the terrible terror, his life would be completely different. His future had just seemed like a winding path with no clear end in sight. Now he felt pulled in many directions by forces he could barely comprehend. He still hadn't decided if having an ordained destiny was even something he wanted. It felt like a lot of responsibility to place on the shoulders of the village failure. Bríghid and the rest of her order had taken him under their wing as a sort of apprentice. The high priestess had not revealed the full contents of her vision to anyone, but she had been firm that he was to have a very important place in the world and required proper training if he was to survive.

Most days now he was with the Order. Studying meditation, politics, and learning to interpret the flow of the natural world around him. It was very fascinating and his intelligent mind picked everything up extremely quickly. Though he was finding meditation a difficult practice to learn as he had never been good at sitting still and quiet for extended periods of time. This seemed to amuse Bríghid greatly.

After he was released from his studies, he would return to Toothless and they would fly to the coast and talk about all that Hiccup had learned that day. Then he would return to the village to put in a few hours at the forge with Eret senior. He enjoyed helping the older man to complete the busy work that was needed to keep the village running smoothly.

During these hours, Eret senior had been teaching Hiccup the local dialect. It was a strange language, but he was beginning to grasp it. He could manage simple requests and conversations now. By the end of the day though, his brain felt like a wrung sponge and he was mentally exhausted. He was barely able to stay awake long enough to eat dinner with Toothless before passing out on the ground where he sat. Only to wake up and do it all again the next day.

Eret the younger had also begun to open up to Hiccup. He had taken it upon himself to train the scrawny boy in self defence and weapons use. They had started out with sticks, but now practiced with the short sword that Hiccup had made, as well as with daggers and hand-to-hand combat. At first Hiccup was afraid of the muscular warrior, but Eret turned out to be a patient and knowledgeable teacher. Never before had Hiccup done so well during a spar. He doubted he would ever be able to beat Eret, but he was getting stronger. His arms did not shake as much when he held his sword, and his movements were becoming more coordinated. You could never call him graceful exactly, but he had stopped tripping over his own feet or falling down every time he went to parry or attack.

Yet, he still had not told anyone about Toothless. He was sure that Bríghid knew, but she had never said a word to him or anyone else. The others in the village had taken to calling him by a shortened, local version of the name she had given him though. After he had been referred to as Scáth on more than one occasion, Hiccup had inquired about it. Eret senior had explained to him that Scáth Rothaí meant Shadow Rider in the native tongue.

Hiccup found that he actually liked this new name. It sounded mystical and heroic. Two things that he certainly wasn't, but hoped to become one day. He never let on to Eret that he knew why Bríghid had called him this though. Conveniently, the villagers had long since given up on questioning the mystics.

Still, it had become increasingly difficult to divide his time between all of his duties and his friend, while still keeping the dragon a secret. He stayed on his guard around everyone, afraid to let something slip about Toothless. Careful to also not give away who he was and that he was on the run. He never shared a meal with Eret and his family, despite being invited many times. He just didn't know what to do about this situation though. Toothless was unable to fly without Hiccup and he was unsure of who he could trust enough to not put his friend in danger.

He had also been expending a great deal of effort to convince the Eret men to give up dragon trapping. Though as much as he tried to explain to them about the true nature of dragons, he had to admit that he had not offered them any proof. Without it, they were unlikely to give up their livelihood at the words of a strange boy from unknown lands with no past. One night hope arrived in the form of the small green and red terror that he had freed. It flew into the campsite and came right over to Hiccup. Toothless growled at it, but quickly changed it to a grunt of acceptance when he realized it was the same terror from Hiccup's memory.

They shared their remaining fish with the small dragon before turning in for the night. From that moment, the terror had stayed with them. Hiccup had begun training it to do simple tricks in what little spare time he had left. He hoped that showing the people how the small dragon was able to understand commands and was intelligent enough to follow orders might just be his best bet.

He took the chance one night after a particularly productive day at the forge. When Eret senior invited him to share their meal, he agreed. Full stomachs made everyone more agreeable. After a delicious meal, the men gathered around the hearth for friendly talk and mead. Eventually the topic came round to dragons with Hiccup again trying to sway the others. After going around in the same circles as always, he decided now was as good a time as any. "I would like to show you something. If you can promise to keep an open mind," Hiccup stated as he began to walk towards the door.

The two men exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed the young boy outside. Once they reached him, Hiccup raised his fingers to his mouth and produced a shrill whistle into the coming night. They stood and waited in silence for something to happen; the Erets wondering what Hiccup could possibly be up to. Suddenly a small green shape came zooming out of the edge of the forest straight for them. Young Eret reached for his sword, but Hiccup held out a hand to stop him. "Just wait and watch" he said quietly.

The small terror zipped over and landed gently on Hiccup's shoulder. His large yellow eyes gazing towards the other two men. Using his mind to calm the terror and tell him how important this was, Hiccup turned to the Eret men and pointed at the dragon. "This is Sharpshot. I have been training him. He can understand Norse quite well and can perform most simple tasks if asked correctly." Hiccup was unsurprised when he saw that both of the men just looked at him as if he were crazy. Perhaps a demonstration was in order.

"Sharpshot, please fetch me some apples." The dragon took off and was back in a flash with as many of the small fruits as he could carry. Without pausing to see the men's reaction to this, Hiccup took the apples from the little dragon and placed three on some upturned buckets. "Sharpshot, multiple blast." Quick as a flash the terror rose and fired off three successive fire balls. Taking out all three apples. Then he returned to Hiccup's shoulder.

After giving him a scratch under the chin, Hiccup then quietly picked up another apple and tossed it into the air. The dragon took it out with another fire ball. He turned to take in the open-mouthed looks on the two men's stunned faces. "How did you do that?" Eret senior exclaimed after he found his voice again.

"Dragons are incredibly intelligent and friendly creatures. As I have been trying to explain to you. They do not wish to harm us and often only react in self defence. Don't just take my word for it though, watch. He will not hurt me even when given the opportunity."

With this, Hiccup tossed the remaining apple to Eret the younger and asked him to place it on a bucket. He then told Sharpshot to fly to the barrels and blast the last apple from there. Just as the dragon was building up his flame shot, Hiccup stepped in front of the bucket, putting himself between the terror and the target. Sharpshot quickly closed his mouth and swallowed the building fireball; being unwilling to chance harming the boy.

"That was incredible! I've never seen anyone offer themselves up to a dragon flame before. This creature has been well trained." Eret the younger stated with a hint of admiration in his tone. Sharpshot flew down and perched himself on Eret's shoulder at these words, purring loudly and nuzzling against him. After a few tense moments, Eret reached up and scratched the terror under its chin as he had seen Hiccup do. The dragon closed its eyes and leaned in to his touch and that was it.

Hiccup could see the moment that both men were won over. Eret senior came over to scratch the terror as well, the light of possibility shining in his eyes. Sharpshot simply climbed his arm and settled onto his shoulder next. It was honestly hard to reject the tiny and friendly dragon. Though Hiccup had to admit that it was an awfully big step from a terrible terror to a night fury. That introduction would take some hard thinking on his part. From then on though, Sharpshot usually accompanied Hiccup to the village where he would help Eret senior in the forge. Mostly by bringing him tools and running errands.

*

One day in late summer, Bríghid informed Hiccup that he was ready for the next step in his training. She said that it was time he was initiated in the ways of magic. The ceremony would begin at sunset. This meant that Hiccup had the whole day to himself mostly. He returned to the glade and spent the time conversing with Toothless about what the druidess had meant by magic. Did she mean real magic, like in the eddas? He had never known anyone to use it and had always assumed that only the gods had the knowledge and ability.

Sharpshot was especially interested in these stories Hiccup spoke of. He had never even heard of magic. As Hiccup began to regale the two dragons with the epic tales he could remember from his youth, a sense of homesickness began to wash over him. Not so much for the place, he realized. More so for the people. At least for certain people that he had left behind.

He missed Gobber's terse parenting and silly antics in the forge. He missed his father with a sadness for what could have been if he had been a better son. He missed Brenna Hofferson, Astrid's mother, who had always been kind to him as a boy. Especially after his own mother had been taken during a raid. Most of all though, he missed Astrid. He wished he could somehow tell her that he was alright. She was probably worried about him. At least, he hoped that she was a little bit worried about him. Gobber would have certainly been upset after he realized Hiccup was gone. If only there was a way that he could get word to them. Just to reassure them.

His eyes landed on Sharpshot and an idea occurred to him. "Have you ever been to the archipelago, Sharpshot? Or, more specifically, Berk. Were you one of the dragons from the queen's nest?" He knew that it was a long shot, but he hadn't encountered many dragons this far east. There was a very slim chance that the little dragon had escaped from the nest, but he wasn't getting his hopes up.

"Yes, I have been there my lord. I managed to escape from that evil murderess and have been hiding here ever since. Why?"

This was not the answer that Hiccup had been expecting. Excited now, he still took a moment to grumble about the "my lord" comment. Ever since he had freed the terror from the trap, the small dragon had insisted on referring to him as 'sir' or 'lord'. No amount of effort on his part had broken the dragon of this annoying habit. Now though, he had more pressing matters to attend to than unnecessary formalities. "If I wrote some letters, do you think you would be able to deliver them to people on Berk for me?"

Hiccup waited with bated breath while the terror considered this. "I don't see why not," he finally said. "It would take me some time to fly there and I would need to know who I was looking for, but otherwise it shouldn't be too difficult. As long as I stay far enough away from the evil queen's nest that is."

Ecstatic at this new possibility, Hiccup wrote two notes in his journal and tore the pages out. He also tore out a sketch he had done of the village and surrounding wilderness and added it to one of the letters. He then rolled them up and wrote each recipients name on the outside of the scroll. One for Astrid and one for Gobber. Gobber should be able to explain things to his father for him.

After tying the scrolls to Sharpshot's hind leg, Hiccup sent a picture of Astrid through the mental link, so that Sharpshot would know who to look for. He trusted that Astrid would get Gobber's letter to him somehow. His chest felt lighter as he watched the small green shape disappear into the sky. He returned to the village that evening with a new sense of purpose, ready to face his next set of challenges.

When Hiccup arrived back in the village, Bríghid was already there waiting for him. As he reached her, she drew her hood up and wordlessly strode away. They headed into the forest through the gathering night. It was full dark by the time they reached a large circular clearing containing a strange ring of standing stones. The remaining order members stood spaced around the outside of the stone circle holding torches; their faces shadowed by their hoods. The overall effect was impressive. Very mystical, Hiccup thought to himself.

Bríghid led him into the centre of the circle, so that only the two of them were within the standing stones. The priestess motioned for Hiccup to take a seat as she settled across from him. "Scáth Rothaí, you have been initiated in the ways of the order and you have proven yourself to be a worthy disciple. It is our collective agreement that you are ready to take the next steps in your journey. The next discipline you shall learn is that of magic. Magic of the earth, magic of life, magic of essence."

The torch bearers chanted back her last words in an eerie unison. Hiccup could feel an almost static feeling ripple across the clearing, as of just before a lightening strike. It made the hairs on his neck stand up. Fighting back a shudder, he turned his focus back to the woman in front of him. She lowered her hood, settled her green eyes on him, and continued in the same low voice.

"Magic is a rare and powerful gift that is not bestowed upon all beings. Most have to train for many seasons before they are even ready to attempt it. Some will only ever be able to sense its ebb and flow through creation. Thus allowing them to predict the changing seasons, coming storms, and the productivity of the harvest. Others may be able to manipulate certain aspects of it in an indirect way. Such as calling on the winds in times of drought to hopefully bring rains, or encourage flood waters to drain around a village. These are subtle yet powerful gifts that the possessors do not take lightly."

"Very rarely, there comes a master who is able to channel their will into the world around them. This being would have the ability to draw on the near unlimited magics within nature to strengthen their own powers, giving them untold control over the essences of life. Such a powerful sorcerer has not been seen for many generations. We must only rely on stories handed down to warn us of the dangers of using so much magic."

"I can see how that sorcerer would be considered dangerous by others, but what danger could possibly come to them? If they can bend the whole world around themselves, would that not make them nearly indestructible?" Hiccup had to ask. He did not really understand what she meant by the essences of life, but it didn't sound very dangerous.

"The use of magic is quite draining on the system. You have a limited amount of energy, or essence, at your command. Your life is spent once the balance of essence is no longer in your favour. To bend the world to one's will would require an incredible amount of this energy. This means that such magic would likely kill the user. Possibly before the spell was even completed. If you survived, you would likely be driven mad by the negative energy that would race to fill the void left behind."

This all sounded very dark and dangerous to Hiccup. Though he had to admit that it would be exciting to be able to control the wind. That would certainly help when flying with Toothless. What if he couldn't use magic though? He had never been special or very good at anything before. Why would he suddenly be good at this? Or worse, what if he tried too hard to prove himself and gave too much energy up in the process? He was also famous for that. How many times had he almost been killed because he was trying too hard?

Swallowing down his nerves, he took one glance around the circle before coming back to Bríghid. "Why are these stones here? Why are the others standing outside of the circle while we are inside it?" Hiccup asked nervously.

She smiled reassuringly at him. "These stones surround an ancient source of energy that comes from the very earth herself. They help us to channel and use this energy to extend or amplify our own powers. As for why the others are outside of the stones; it is always difficult to tell how a first foray into magic will turn out. Usually it is mostly uneventful as it takes many years to harness and manipulate the essence. Sometimes a particularly powerful apprentice will catch on too quickly and unexpected magic will burst from them. The others will keep this energy from escaping the circle and causing harm if that ever happens. As I said before, this is very unlikely."

Hiccup felt the brush of Toothless' mind against his. His friend was letting him know that he was watching from just beyond the light and would be here in a flash if needed. Toothless had complete faith in his brother, but still wanted to be close. He was also a little curious. Taking comfort in his dragon's presence, Hiccup began the ritual of clearing his mind of all exterior distractions. Once he was relaxed, Bríghid advised him to search inside his mind for a pocket of energy. She said it could not be explained as it was different for everyone, but that he would know it when he felt it.

Hiccup probed his deepest consciousness and finally found a strange resistance; almost as if his mind had a door that was stuck shut with disuse. Willing his consciousness to push against the door, it began to budge. Bit by bit he began to see a glow around the edges. Finally with a last great heave, it swung open and the light inside rushed out of it.

The strange light flowed over his mind and down through his body like a tidal wave, leaving a pleasant tingling in its wake. He breathed in and felt the warmth thrum in his chest as the air essence entered his core. Opening his eyes, he glanced around at the surrounding order to see if anything had changed. That was when he noticed that they were all chanting in low voices. They were using ancient words, but he found he could understand them. They spoke to the wind and water, earth and fire. They spoke of protection and begged assistance from the spirit realm. It felt very powerful.

"Have you found it Little Shadow? Can you feel it inside you?" Bríghid asked him, likely expecting him to say no. She had said this should take years, not moments.

"Yes! I do feel it," Hiccup stated. The surprise in his tone was mirrored in the faces of others, but the order did not falter in their chants. Bríghid herself looked strangely pleased. Without commenting, she asked him to call to the earth essence and summon a stone to his hand. She said that it would be easier if he voiced the desire out loud in what ever language he felt most comfortable with. The ancient languages were used for more powerful spells, but at this stage, the words were not as important as the intent behind them.

Hiccup found a stone on the ground near his feet and held out his hand, palm up. Then, focusing on the stone with all his might he commanded "stone rise!" Incredibly the stone lifted off the ground as a faint green shimmer ran over his palm. He was so surprised that he promptly lost focus and dropped the pebble back to the dirt.

"It is okay Little Shadow. Do not be afraid of the magic." With this, she held out her own hand and said a word in a language he did not recognize. A glow of beautiful rainbow light filled her palm as a different pebble lifted off the ground to gently land in her hand. He looked at her in shock for a moment, but she just smiled at him softly. "Try again."

Bríghid spoke with a calm authority that instantly soothed him. She would not let him harm himself or others; and she could obviously do this. He held his hand out and focused again. This time he succeeded in raising the stone and bringing it closer to softly settle in his palm. The whole clearing was silent now as the others stared in wonder at this obvious display of power. Most of them had never been able to successfully summon despite years of devoted training. There was also an undercurrent of fear. If the young man before them could perform a summoning on his first try, what might he be capable of with time and practice.

"I think we will leave it there for tonight. You must be tired Little Shadow and you will need your rest if you are to keep practicing with your magic." Bríghid's voice startled Hiccup out of his state of shock and he looked over at her. She motioned for him to stand and follow her out of the circle. The other members falling into line behind them. Once they arrived back at the village, everyone except Bríghid went their separate ways to return to their homes. Hiccup, however, felt strangely energized and wanted to keep practicing.

Bríghid must have seen the eagerness written on his face however. "I suggest you get some rest. You will begin to feel the drain of the magic use soon enough." With that she turned and left. Once she was out of sight, he wandered back towards the trees and called to Toothless with his mind. He and his brother had much to talk about and a nighttime flight might be just what he needed to clear his head.

He must have stayed close, because Toothless suddenly bounded out of the shadows before him. Nuzzling his rider and carrying on about how awesome it was that they could use magic. So wrapped up was Hiccup in his friend's giddy exclamations, at first he did not realize that he and Toothless were still in full view of the village. A door creaking open behind him sounded ominous in the still night air. Then Hiccup heard a loud exclamation of surprise and the sound of an empty water bucket being dropped.

He turned around slowly, grasping desperately at the slight chance the observer had been startled by something other than the large black dragon behind him. His eyes fell on Eret the younger and there could be no doubt. Eret had seen Toothless. A look of shock frozen on his face, Eret took a slow step back and turned his gaze to Hiccup.

"Holy wolves of Odin! That's a bloody night fury!

ooOOoo

The Eret men met Sharpshot and were quite taken with the little guy, but now Eret has seen Toothless. Oops! Will the family be as accepting of the terrifying night fury?

Our little hero has also now discovered magic. I wonder if he will be any good at it ;) One thing is sure, his future is about to get much more complicated. Will his kind heart keep him content to wade in the comfortable pool of 'lighter' magic? Or will his curious mind and experimental nature lead him into darker waters?

The next chapter will delve deeper into his magical training. We will also get to visit our friends back on Berk finally, and see how Hiccup's letters are received. As well as his delivery boy...