Chapter 41 – Preparing:
"Top of the hill? Like that's helpful." Spat out Vali, walking over to a table and kicking it out of frustration.
Fishlegs looked back to the writing on the ground, before turning to Hiccup. "You honestly think Viggo wrote this?"
Hiccup nodded, turning to look at him. "Yes. That's him."
"I think we might have an opportunity here." Valka considered, her right hand scratching her chin thoughtfully.
The gang all turned to her, and Cloudjumper cocked his head to the side in curiosity.
"Viggo claims, 'He will have them killed tomorrow.' So, that must mean they are all being kept together. In one spot." She said, turning to look at Hiccup.
Hiccup considered this, before saying, "In that case, they could be anywhere. Viggo could have them on a remote island in the middle of nowhere, or they could be-"
"They are in the Myrkian prisons." Kormak suddenly interrupted.
Everyone turned to him.
Toothless gave him a confused look. "How could you possibly know that?" He asked.
Kormak walked forward, with Seaflare standing next to him. "Think about it. Berk is pretty big, and we've seen how big the Shapeshifter is. Even though this Shapeshifter is extremely powerful, he would not have been able to capture all of the Vikings here, without killing any of them or causing any destruction to the village."
"Yes, this is what I was thinking." Valka agreed, gesturing at Kormak. "Viggo would not have been able to take the entire Berkian tribe by himself, and not leave a single trace. I think they must be in Myrka. The Myrkian Army must have been here and took them away. They have the numbers and Viggo on their side, so that must be what they had done."
Vali and Spark nodded in unison. "That makes sense. What do you think Hiccup?"
Hiccup half smiled. "When you put it like that, it makes sense." Hiccup agreed. Thinking.
Vali kicked another table, before saying, "But that's even worse if they are in Myrka than somewhere in the middle of nowhere! How on Thor's world can we possibly rescue them? That's an entire Viking Army! Plus Viggo!"
"How about we focus on whether we meet Viggo or not?" Kormak asked the group.
Toothless cleared his throat and turned to look at Hiccup for the answer. "So what are we going to do? I assume we will meet Viggo?"
Hiccup began walking to the entrance of the Great Hall. The gang followed him, and looked out across the sea next to him in the massive door way.
The dark clouds were heading away into the distance, pushed by a light and chilly breeze. The Viking's clothes waved around in the light wind. It was a beautiful sight; the clouds had turned orange as the sun began to set behind them.
"Yes. We will meet him." Hiccup declared. "But we're going to need to be very careful."
"For sure." Said Kormak.
"I have an idea." Valka announced, "however, I will need some help."
Hiccup turned to look at his mum, curious. "What do you have in mind?"
She didn't answer, and instead turned to look at Vali and Spark.
"Will you two come with me?" She asked.
"Where?" Spark and Vali asked at once.
Valka looked confidently at them, saying, "Trust me. I'll tell you on the way."
Hiccup looked at her confused. "You're leaving us?"
"Only for a few hours. We'll be back one hour after nightfall. Then we'll leave together to meet Viggo." She walked over to him, and gave him a hug.
She looked deep into her son's eyes, and she tried to fill them with trust. "Trust me."
Hiccup shut his eyes and hugged her tighter, taking deep breaths, before he released her.
When they separated, Valka walked over to Cloudjumper. "Good luck. We won't be too long."
With that, she painfully struggled onto Cloudjumper, wincing with each movement of her leg, and eventually took off into the sky.
Spark and Vali were a little hesitant, looking at Hiccup and Toothless for confirmation if they should leave.
Hiccup took a deep breath. "I don't know what she's doing, but I trust her. Go with her. Be safe. And please be back as soon as you can."
"Sure." Vali replied.
Spark now leapt into the sky, following Valka and Cloudjumper.
"Where on Earth do you think they are going?" Kormak wondered, now standing next to Hiccup as they both watched the dragons disappear into the clouds.
"Haven't the foggiest." Hiccup admitted. "But it must be good, right?"
Kormak shrugged. "I guess so."
They stayed there for a while, watching the horizon.
"Should we find some food?" Seaflare interrupted the silence.
"Yeah. I'll go with you." Toothless replied, now standing up.
Hiccup and Kormak weren't very hungry, so they moved apart and let the dragons walk past them.
Kormak sat down where he was, putting his feet on the edge of the stairs. Hiccup sat down and joined him too.
"What you thinking about?" Kormak asked, without turning to look at Hiccup.
"I'm not sure. I don't know what to think anymore. Everything has been happening so fast." Hiccup balanced his elbows on his knees to rest his chin on his hands.
"I'm with you on that one." Kormak agreed. Mimicking Hiccup's position. "So much has happened over the past few months. I'm still struggling with it."
"Do you feel angry?" Hiccup asked gently.
"To be honest when Polk was killed, at first I was. I nearly lost it, however seeing everyone else go through what I went through, like when I saw you and Valka grieving over Trader Johann, I realised I wasn't alone. I've felt very alone."
"How do you mean?" Hiccup gently asked.
"Well," began Kormak, removing his arms from balancing on his chin and now sitting cross-legged with his arms on his lap. "Until that happened, I had felt like I had lost more than all of you put together."
There was a pause for a moment, before he continued…
"I mean, ever since I was young, our tribe has constantly been invaded by Myrka whenever they wanted to. Taking whoever they wanted. They killed my father, took my brother, then eventually they took me. Through my suffering on Myrka for the years I had been there, I learnt to live with the pain."
"Don't get me wrong." Kormak said seriously. "It wasn't easy. I used to cry every day, take out my anger on guards and get punished for it. But enough time passed, and I began to lose my fear. I also felt like I had nothing left."
"When you rescued me, my fear came back when I learnt Polk was alive. Because I feared for him. So young, so fragile, so vulnerable. He was my only care once I found out he was alive. When you rescued me and informed me about my dragon mark, the legend of the Six and all that, I felt like I had a chance to get back at Myrka. A taste of vengeance."
Kormak looked away, perhaps in guilt or a tad of shame at this point.
"I never said or showed this at the time, of course. But that's what I felt. I just went along with everything you said and did. However, when Polk and my mother were killed, I finally realised this time I literally had nothing and no one. No family, no tribe, no place to live."
"At that moment, I truly felt alone. I felt no one else in the world had been through what I have. But when I saw you and your mother grieving, I changed. I felt different. I didn't feel as alone, others were going through tough times too, so I didn't feel fear as much as I had. My only care now was you and the Six. I had lost everything. Then I truly wanted to join you in your quest."
"Now I care not about revenge or vengeance. I want to try and make the world a safer, better place. And if you were to lead us on a path to do just that, there was no way I would leave."
"You and the Six are my family now. And I will do anything I can to help keep it that way."
Hiccup didn't know what to say.
He turned to him, with tears in his eyes and pulled him into a hug.
"Thank you, my frie-"
"That's why…" Kormak interrupted him. "Whatever happens tonight, remember I will always be here for you. Viggo may try to tear the Six apart, but keep in mind there is nothing that will destroy my friendship with you. So say no more." He said, silencing him.
Hiccup was truly touched by his words, and after a while the two friends released each other.
"Wow, you both certainly have been through a lot."
Kormak and Hiccup around, having completely forgotten Fishlegs was still with them. He was standing behind them, finishing up eating a cold chicken wing.
"Jeez Fishlegs, you scared us." Kormak chuckled, shaking his head.
"Sorry, after Valka left I went into the back room of the Great Hall and got some chicken." He replied, now throwing the bone into the fire pit in the middle of hall.
Kormak punched Fishlegs very lightly on his chest in a friendly way. "I thought you were Fishlegs, not Chicken legs."
"Oh ha ha. Jokes on Fishlegs..." Fishlegs mocked him,
"Let's go join the dragons and get some fish." Kormak announced, standing up.
Kormak led the way, with Hiccup behind him and Fishlegs behind Hiccup.
"I didn't know you liked raw fish Kormak." Hiccup sniggered.
"Oh don't start with me Hiccy." He threatened.
Together they began to walk down the steps to where they could see Toothless and Seaflare sitting next to a house gulping up some fish they had just caught.
Kormak chuckled at the sight of the dragons devouring the fish. "Yeah, I just love the slimy nature of raw fish. You know when you bite into the flapping scaly skin, and the fish's sloshy juices come flowing into your mouth ohhh, mhm mmm." He licked his lips in mock of the dragons.
"Ugh." Hiccup and Fishlegs revolted in unison. "Don't make me throw up." Hiccup added.
"Hey! What have you got against these delicious Icelandic Cod?!" Seaflare blurted out, spitting out some bones with her huge mouth as she noticed the three Vikings approaching.
"Yeah, we're not giving you any now! These are ours!" Toothless agreed, sitting down while placing his paws around his fish pile protectively.
"So we are going to have to fight for it?" Kormak put together. Gesturing at the flapping fish trying to escape Toothless's pile.
"If that's the way you want it…"
Kormak charged, yelling a fake battle cry, while Toothless stepped forward a little, and swished his tail around and tripped Kormak over.
"Yeah, you're not-"
Hiccup sprinted around Toothless, interrupting him, and walked quickly towards the fish. Toothless spun around and jumped back to it and tried to trip Hiccup with his paw.
He failed. Hiccup dodged him as if he was nothing. Then the Night Fury charged at him, abandoning the fish, but Hiccup jumped up as high as he could over the dragon's head, and ran along Toothless's back, before landing right in front of the fish pile.
"Hah. You can't beat me! I have Night Fury strength in me!" Hiccup boasted, grabbing two fish.
"Great ice of Bewilderbeast, that was remarkable!" Seaflare chirped, gulping down a few more fish and staring with amazement at Hiccup. "You can jump so high!"
"Thanks." Hiccup smiled at her.
"You have Night Fury what now?" Fishlegs inquired, staring at Hiccup expectantly.
"Strength. Speed. Awareness. Sight. Hearing. Toothless transferred these abilities when he activated my dragon mark." Hiccup explained, pulling up his sleeve and showing the glowing bright blue mark.
"Whoa." Fishlegs awed. "You must have like plus 15 speed!" Fishlegs practically jumped around in excitement and his smile was very contagious.
"I guess." Hiccup smiled at him.
Hiccup then tossed one of the fish to Kormak, who tried to catch it but failed. The fish slipped out of his hand and landed on the ground.
"Let me cook those for you." Toothless muttered dejectedly, his pride hurt due to being defeated by Hiccup.
"Oh relax bud, it's all right." Hiccup patted the dragon of the night fondly, and said dragon blew some purple flame at Hiccup's fish, lightly roasting it and then doing the same with Kormak's.
"Thanks bud."
"Hey can I have one too please?" Fishlegs asked politely.
"You just ate a whole chicken!" Protested Kormak, looking at Fishlegs's belly.
"I did not! It was not a whole chicken thank you ver-"
"Oh just take one!" Toothless said, picking one up with his teeth and throwing it over to Fishlegs.
It hit him on the face, and Fishlegs went ridged. The slimy fish slowly slid down his face, leaving behind Fishlegs's disgusted and furious face.
Kormak and Hiccup burst out laughing, while Toothless cooked Fishlegs's fish for him. And even the Night couldn't suppress a few chuckles at his expression.
Kormak sat down and rested his back against Seaflare's chest, while Hiccup did the same with Toothless.
"How long till nightfall do you think?" Seaflare wondered, glancing up towards the setting sun through the clouds.
Toothless turned to look at it himself, and made a guess. "I'd say another hour until complete darkness. Valka said she and Vali would be back an hour after nightfall, didn't she?"
"Yeah." Kormak replied.
"What are you all saying?" Fishlegs questioned, walking over to them and sitting in between the two dragons and their riders.
"We were just wondering how long it would be till nightfall." Hiccup answered for him.
The sun was just about to touch the horizon and sink into the water below it.
Just as it was doing so, Hiccup made a promise that he thought to himself.
I'm so sorry Dad. I'm sorry for leaving you, for leaving Berk, and for what has happened. Tonight, I will meet with Viggo. The creature responsible for all the troubles in the archipelago.
After Viggo is stopped, I will come for you.
I promise.
Just at that moment, the sun touched the horizon. They were only a few hours away from meeting Viggo.