Chapter 29 - Inside The Glacier:
The large dragon was unlike any Hiccup had seen before, it had an owl-like squashed face and looked very muscular. It wings were very long, sturdy and had several spike like hook claws on the tips of the wings. But the most amazing thing about it was its wings and how many it had, it had four. It had bright yellow eyes that again looked like they belonged on an owl.
Much of its body was a faint mud brown tinge colour, like murky water. However on its face it was also sprayed with a red to orange tinge on the edges.
The human figure then without warning took a few steps on top of the dragon till it was standing on its head, and then did several hand movements.
"Who are you? What are you doi-" Spark attempted to say.
She was cut off however, when the human drew its bow, seized an arrow and fired at the Skrill extremely quickly. The arrow hit the Skrill right in the chest, and before anybody else could react, the person had fired two more. One of which hit Toothless after he attempted to dodge but failed and the other which hit Vali.
Hiccup managed to dodge several of the arrows, as he then drew his sword and began trying to shield himself from the arrows with it. The crew behind him then drew their swords and some of them threw the weapons at the dragons who easily dodged them in mid-air.
Then suddenly Hiccup felt a sharp puncture into his leg from a red arrow, and then his vison went black as he fell into the realm of unconsciousness.
In an unknown location…
Kormak was waking up to some very wet and warm surroundings. He gradually managed to get his senses back, as he realised his head was throbbing. He sniffed and he could smell warm and steamy air. He sat up, and opened his eyes.
He awoke to a truly astonishing sight. To his right was undoubtedly a hot spring. He had never seen one before in his life, but he knew they existed. It was quite small, but looked quite deep at the same time. Steam was wafting off its surface, along with the occasional bubble.
Around him was ice, lots of it. It went all the way around, except for an opening in the distance which he could see daylight and the edge of a mountain there. It almost seemed like this tiny hot spring was in the least likely place for such an area. He looked down and saw he was sitting on a wooden bed with a few sheets, but he didn't need them as he was warm enough from the spring.
He was still wearing his clothes from before plus he still had boots on. He stood up and put the blankets back on the bed neatly, before observing the surroundings more. The ice was a beautiful turquoise mixture of light blue and green. It was an amazing sight. Never had he woken up to such a breath taking place.
The warmth of the hot spring was quite intoxicating, he just had to go over to it and feel how warm it was.
He walked over and knelt down on his knees. He saw that the edge of the spring was surrounded by rock, not ice, but a little further along and it became ice. He leant over the spring, and looked down.
He could easily see the bottom, and several bubbles making their way up from the hot volcanic activity underneath. Inside the spring it was all rock, aside from the water of course.
Kormak extended his left hand and touched the water gently.
Immediately he felt like he was in heaven. He lowered his hand further down, soaking his sleeve. The water was blissfully warm, not too hot to boil and not too cool to be uncomfortable.
All of a sudden thoughts came rushing back to him of what he last knew. He was on Dyflin with Trader Johann and Polk. Then he recalled seeing several black figures before receiving a blow to the head.
He felt his head, and he could feel a large bruise already there.
Kormak knew he had been taken somewhere but he had no idea where. He hoped that nothing happened to Polk. On that thought he yelled out, "Hello?"
His voice echoed around the ice cave, and there was no reply, and just when he was about to yell again, somebody walked out from around an icy corner.
"Good afternoon, how are you feeling?"
It was a woman. She was a very small and short woman too. She had long flowing dark brown hair that shined when she walked, she had practically sparkling hazel green coloured eyes and the rest of her features were average except for her height.
Kormak was utterly taken aback by this woman's beauty. His jaw dropped and his eyes were as wide as plates. She had thin legs and had a long brown and green horizontally striped pants. Her front however was covered by a thick and warm looking reddish brown fur coat which was draped around her.
She looked around his own age, or maybe a little younger. Kormak himself was twenty three. She looked at least twenty one.
"Hello?" She smiled at him and waved her hand in front of his face when she arrived in front of him.
Only then did Kormak finally pull himself together, as he realised she was holding a large cup of water and she was trying to hand it to him. He took it from her and said, "Uhh, sorry what?"
She laughed gently, and Kormak couldn't help but smile. "I asked you how you were feeling."
"Oh." Kormak replied awkwardly. "Well I'm feeling fine, my bruise is a little sore but fine. Where am I? Hang on! Why did you bring me here! What happened to Polk?!" Kormak began to become angry as he remembered what happened.
The young woman stopped smiling. "Is that the little boy in the boat?" She asked politely.
"Yes! He's my brother! What have you done with him?!"
"He'll be fine. We haven't done anything with him. He's still in the boat. Trader Johann is looking after him until the Dyflin crew arrive and they will look after him." The young girl walked backwards a bit and began to pick up Kormak's bed sheets.
Kormak became furious. "Excuse me! I'll be damned if I believe a word you say! I'm the one who needs to look af-" He stopped short in his sentence, realising what she had just said. "Dyflin crew? What have you done with my friends?! Who are you?!" Kormak walked up to her and grabbed her shoulders, looking angrily down at her.
"You hurt her, you'll be sorry."
Kormak spun around, releasing her, and saw another woman standing nearby. This one much taller, equal to about Kormak's height. Though she was a larger woman, with green eyes and she was holding an axe in her hand. She did not look very fit, for she seemed a bit of overweight. She had medium length messy blond hair.
Before Kormak got a chance to speak, he heard a fierce roar of a familiar dragon. Kormak recognised that roar immediately as Hiccup's dragon Toothless.
Straight away, he ran towards the woman with the axe, and pushed past her.
He was confronted with many corridors, all made out of ice to his right and left.
He heard another roar, just as the woman grabbed hold of Kormak's clothes.
"HEY!" Kormak threw the woman off him, and followed the sound of the roar to his left. He continued running towards the left, and he was glad it was a sunny day as the sun was able to light the ice up through it enough so he could see where he was going.
Still he kept running, ignoring the screams of the two women behind him till he finally reached an opening.
He ran through it, and halted to a stop when he saw what was taking place.
Hiccup and Vali were standing next to Toothless in a similar looking cave to the one Kormak was just in, except there wasn't a hot spring here. Toothless had a low purple flame ignited in his mouth in a threatening way, while Hiccup had a sword drawn at the ready. As did Vali.
Kormak turned and saw what they were looking at, which was a totally unexpected sight. The ice cave here was filled with dragons. At least thirty or forty of them, most of which neither Hiccup, Kormak nor Vali recognised. They had surrounded the three of them in a semi-circle. At the front where they were facing, was a human like figure dressed in a draconic outfit.
Hiccup, Toothless and Vali spun around at the sound of the screaming women, and saw Kormak.
"KORMAK!" Hiccup yelled, gesturing for him to join them, and so Kormak himself ran over to Hiccup and stood next to him.
"What's going on?" He asked Hiccup, who turned back to the human in a dragon like outfit.
"No idea. I just woke up here with Toothless and Vali next to me after our boat was attacked. What happened to you, Johann and Polk?" Hiccup asked, not taking his eyes off the person.
"Same thing pretty much. I don't know what happened to Johann or Polk, but the short women there said everything was okay, but I don't believe her." Kormak answered.
"All right." Hiccup whispered back.
"Now who are you?! You're the one who brought us here!" Hiccup accused the draconic outfit Viking, as the two women who met Kormak earlier finally arrived at the opening where Kormak just came through.
The draconic outfit Viking had a quiver around its back still as Hiccup could see, and but this time the Viking was not holding the bow, it left it around its body.
The human figure did not answer, but merely continued to circle them. The human figure moved not like a Viking, it crouched and almost crawled across the icy ground. Like it believed it was a dragon. Its movements precise, fluent and animal like.
"Did you not hear him you idiot?!" Vali shouted. Pointing her sword at the draconic figure.
Then it began to approach them, moving slowly and low to the ground. Hiccup, Toothless, Vali and Kormak slowly crept backwards, afraid and unsure.
Suddenly a large figure burst through the archway where the two women were standing, knocking them over. It was Spark the Skrill.
"Spark!" Yelled Vali and Hiccup in relief. The Skrill ran over to them and stood by Vali's side.
"What's going on here? I heard Vali yelling." The Spike Bolt said, scratching its neck before forming an aggressive and defensive stance among the group.
"We just woke up here, we were tranquilized and now we're all back together after they brought us here." The Night Fury answered, before once again narrowing his eyes on the draconic figure.
The two women who were knocked over got themselves back up, and watched from the side.
Toothless growled louder and bared his teeth as the human figure approached. He curled his tail around the three Vikings protectively. The Skrill's spikes rose further and she began to let out several sparks out of her mouth.
Still, the figure crept closer. Then it suddenly took off the quiver and bow, and put it on the ground. And still it advanced.
"That's close enough." Vali declared. Stopping her retreat and holding her sword out in her right hand in front defensively.
The human figure stopped its advances, but then suddenly as Hiccup was holding his sword out in front of him, his sleeve fell down on his right arm, and instantly, Hiccup's Night Fury dragon mark of the Six was shown to all the dragons and the Vikings. Glowing a bright, vibrant blue.
A sharp gasp intake of breath was easily heard from the person behind the mask. The person in the outfit then fell backwards and crawled back. Almost like it was in disbelief.
All the dragons in the vicinity all saw the mark, then quickly bowed their heads to the ground. And the human figure followed suit. It stood up and made a bow.
"Welcome, Night rider. Leader of the Six." The Viking finally spoke.
It was a clear, decisive voice. But one that seemed strangely familiar with Hiccup.
The two women in the background suddenly gasped loudly, their hands going to their mouths in shock.
Toothless stopped growling, and closed his mouth. Kormak thought this seemed like a good time to reveal his mark too. So he withdrew his sleeve and showed his Thunderdrum dragon mark to everybody. Vali was astonished to see Kormak's mark too. She hadn't seen it before. But it wasn't glowing.
Again, there was another gasp from the Viking with the dragon outfit, and the two women behind.
"And welcome, Thunderdrum rider of the Six." The Viking spoke once again, but this time the Viking nor the dragons bowed.
"Oh to Valhalla with it." Vali shook her head to herself as she spoke exasperatedly. She then withdrew her own sleeve too, revealing her own dragon mark. The mark of the Skrill.
"Oh my…" One of the women behind the group mumbled.
"And welcome, Skrill rider of the Six. It is an honour to have three members of the Six here in my domain. You are all most welcome."
Spark snorted loudly in disbelief, screwing up her face. "How do we know you're not a threat?"
Nobody answered Spark, but Hiccup was silently agreeing. "Thanks. But who are you and why did you bring us here?"
The Viking then took the mask off, and all the draconic armour.
To everyone's astonishment, another woman was revealed. She had auburn hair and bluish-green eyes. Unlike most Viking women, she had a slim like figure but not as much as the woman Kormak first saw earlier. She had her hair in three separate braids behind her back. Her appearance was now definitely easier to take in to see as more draconic armour kept being taken off.
She wore a dull yellow long sleeve tunic, an orange belt, and brown pants that appeared layered. Over her tunic is what seemed to be a chest plate with a large fur collar. It has large round shoulder pads. She has armbands and boots with spikes on the sides.
"Firstly let me introduce my two friends here." The woman then gestured to the other two women standing in the archway. "The short young one is Kari."
Kari smiled and waved, saying very gently, "Hi."
Kormak's heart fluttered.
"And the other one is Edda. They are my close friends and will always be kind to you, so treat them nicely please. And you may call me Siva. It's an honour to meet you." Siva introduced.
Hiccup kept his sword out, but took the stance and introduced his group. "Okay, nice to meet you. Firstly, this is Toothless. My best friend." He patted Toothless gently and gave him a scratch behind the ear. His eyes rolled into the back of head and his tongue lolled out of his mouth for a moment.
"This is Kormak, my friend." Hiccup gestured to him, and he smiled. "And this is Vali, another friend."
"And lastly this is Spark" Hiccup gave the Skrill one pat before taking his hand off her. Vali smiled at him when he did this. "My name is Hiccup."
Siva smiled and nodded to him.
"Now, why did you bring us here and where are we?" Hiccup liked this place, it looked like it would be a good hideout should he ever need one. The three women seem to be nice and genuine, but he needed to know why they took him from the boat in the first place.
Siva sighed and looked from him to Kormak, Vali, Toothless and back again.
"You are on the island of Lowtov. There used to be a village here, but it was destroyed some sixteen years ago now. Edda and Kari both were the only survivors of the destruction as I saved them and brought them here. I don't know what destroyed the village unfortunately."
"I had all of you brought here because I recently found out what had happened on Dyflin and that the village was destroyed. So I went there last night and saw a boat moored there. At first I thought the people there on the boat might have been the ones that destroyed the place, but when I searched Kormak and Trader Johann I found no evidence of that. It was too dangerous to leave someone as important as Kormak there."
"So I brought him here first, because I saw he had the mark of the Thunderdrum. Whereas when I searched the young boy and Johann they didn't have any marks. So I left them there. After bringing Kormak here, I went back out to see if I could find any nearby ships. And then I found the boat with you and the Dyflin crew."
"After I had put all of you to sleep with my tranquilizer arrows, I spoke with the crew and Asan and they said they were going to Dyflin. So I organised a few dragons to escort them to Dyflin and also give them a push so they could get there faster. They should be back anytime from now. I've also given them lots of supplies, food and building materials so Johann can re-build his mast and the Dyflin crew can re-build some houses."
"They won't need your help anymore, noble and wise though it was. And Polk," Siva now looked at Kormak, "Will be well looked after by the crew and Asan. By all means go back to Dyflin, I'll show you the way, and they'll say they'll be fine. From now on you five, Hiccup, Toothless, Vali, Spark and Kormak need to stick together."
Siva finished her explanation, just as Kormak turned to Hiccup.
"I understand what she said, but I must go to Dyflin and see if what she said was true." He whispered.
"Yes." Hiccup agreed. "I was going to say that myself. I'll go with you. I need to pick up my basket which has some clothes-"
"No." Vali broke in, "I'll go with Kormak. And we'll pick it all up. I haven't spent time with him yet. You stay here." Vali added, indicating at Hiccup.
"All right." Hiccup gave in, he turned to Spark, who was still watching Siva and the dragons around cautiously. "Spark are you okay with that?"
"Yep." She replied automatically, without turning around.
"Okay."
So Kormak and Vali hopped onto Spark, just as Hiccup turned back to Siva. "Siva, Vali, Spark and Kormak are going to check on Dyflin. I'll remain here if that's okay."
Siva smiled warmly and walked forward. "Absolutely." She turned around and spoke to the dragons. "Who wants to guide them to Dyflin?"
A few dragons stepped forward. A Thunderdrum and two species Hiccup didn't know.
"Spark you'll need to follow these three dragons. They'll take you there. It's about a seven hour flight from here going at top speed. If you choose to stay at Dyflin for the night that's okay. Just come back tomorrow. Good luck." Siva made several hand movements, and then her three dragons took off.
"Be safe." Hiccup wished towards his friends, as Toothless said the same.
They nodded and Spark took off, following the three dragons back towards Dyflin.
"That tail doesn't look to good."
Hiccup and Toothless turned to see Siva inspecting Toothless's missing tailfin. The jagged lines where it was sawed off. Toothless felt angry and sad looking at it.
"How did that happen?" Siva asked.
"Long story. Toothless and I had been captured in Myrka-"
"WHAT?!" Siva interrupted, sounding outraged. Just as Edda and Kari gasped and said "Oh no…"
"What in Thor's name were you doing near Myrka! You could have gotten killed! You shouldn't have gone there-"
"SIVA!" Edda blurted.
Siva began to calm herself, breathing heavily.
"Sorry, it's just-" She tried to speak, but she was still panting.
"It's all right." Hiccup replied, though he was unsure why she was reacting like this. "I had a plan and it worked, more or less. But look, on a different topic, do you have any types of cloth or fabric I can use? Or a forge or something? I've got to try and fix Toothless's tail."
"Hiccup, you won't-" Toothless tried to say but Hiccup silenced him. "Yes I will, even if it's the last thing I do, you will fly again." Hiccup vowed.
"Right, uhh…" Edda suddenly spoke, bobbing up and down on her feet. Looking like she was trying to remember something.
"Yes, right this way." Kari said calmly, before Edda said anything. Edda scowled at Kari, as Kari gestured back towards the inside of the ice columns.
Hiccup walked over to her, just as Toothless followed. Avoiding all the bits of ice scattered around the place from when Spark smashed through the archway.
Toothless was actually glad the Spike Bolt had smashed through here, otherwise he wouldn't have fit through it.
So Kari led the way, with Toothless and Hiccup just behind, while Edda stayed where she was then joined Siva. Together Siva and Edda both walked slowly after them.
"Thank you." Siva spoke calmly to Edda. "I nearly-"
"I know." Edda replied before she could continue. "That's why I stopped you. You nearly said it."
Siva took several deep breaths in. Then they stopped walking and remained in the smashed archway, watching Kari escort Hiccup and Toothless further down into the glacier.
"When will you tell him?" Edda asked.
"Soon. I want him to trust us and this place before I do." Siva replied, taking in deep breaths. "This is such an amazing and important moment for me. And this happened without any of my help."
Edda nodded silently. "You think he'll be able to fix the tail?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Oh yes." Siva said confidently. "He's a smart boy, smarter than I thought he would be. He'll be the perfect leader of the Six. And he has already found two of them." Siva spoke, a hint of proudness in her tone.
"Yes." Edda agreed.
There was a few moments silence before Edda remembered something.
"Siva? Really?" Edda suddenly thought out loud.
"What?" She replied defensively, smiling. "It was the first name that came to mind!"
Edda laughed. "I can tell. Still, of all names! Siva! You know he won't trust you very well if you don't even tell him your real name! I just have to hope you don't let it slip out."
"That's true," said Siva, "But you know why I can't tell him my real name yet!"
"Yes yes yes." Edda passed off.
"That reminds me." Edda affirmed. "Shall I begin making dinner?"
"That would be so kind of you." Siva smiled thankfully.
And Edda now rushed out of the room towards the icy kitchens far below.
Siva smiled to herself, and now picked up all her draconic armour and her bow and arrow.
She noticed all the dragons were still in the room, all looking at her.
"What are you all still doing here?" She asked them. "Hiccup is now the one in charge. I have no authority over him or you all anymore. I'd advise you to go into the main chamber, I'll show him it a bit later."
The dragons did so, and flew out of the cave. Except one dragon remained.
"My allegiance is to you."
"I know. I know. But for now until I reveal myself, you need to act like a normal dragon. You should go into the chamber too." Siva insisted. Patting her dragon fondly.
The dragon purred affectionately, and then turned around and flew out of the cave after the others.