Chapter 42 – The Enemy Revealed:
Flying over the ocean, towards a rocky island not far from Remola…
"I must say, you're staying awfully quiet for a Viking."
Erp opened his eyes, breathing in what could be his last breath of air. His left arm was being held by Viggo's two back paws. His claws hadn't pierced him, the Shapeshifter was just holding him. While the rest of his body hung loose in the chilly open air.
"Well, what would you like me to do?" Erp asked, looking at the ocean passing beneath him. They were flying very low to the water, Erp could feel the sea spray flicking onto his feet at times.
"I don't mind." Viggo replied. "Oh look!" He said, jolting Erp up and down a little. "There's your final resting place!"
The Shapeshifter tossed Erp onto the rocky ground in front of the cave, from many metres up in the air. Erp screamed in pain, and Viggo evidently heard one of his legs snapping.
Viggo landed gracefully, and quickly spun around and transformed into his Viking form.
He walked calmly over to Erp, and picked his arm up and began dragging him towards the cave. His screams were music to his ears.
He spotted some baskets of clothes and food, and he knew at once that Hiccup and his crew would come back here to look for Savas tonight.
"We're here." Viggo announced, releasing Erp.
The Viking was on the verge of passing out, but before he could do so, Viggo walked over to him and knelt in front of his face.
"Let's do some re-decorating. After all, we want Hiccup to feel welcome for when he looks for his friend. Hope you don't mind, I love some good splashes of red."
Viggo drew his sword, and pointed it at Erp's face.
Erp muttered out a few words before his death. "Good luck Hiccup."
Meanwhile, back on Berk…
It was nightfall. The sun had set not too long ago, and complete darkness had just fallen over the island of Berk.
The Dragon Riders, along with Fishlegs were perched on the top steps leading up to the Great Hall. Waiting for Valka and Vali to return on their dragon partners.
"How are we supposed to see them coming?" Fishlegs asked, after a long period of silence. "I can barely see any of you."
"I'm sure they would see us. The big flaming pits on the statues of the gods out there in the ocean are pretty unmistakeable." Hiccup said, "Plus, I'm sure the dragons could see us. Dragons have much better eyesight than Vikings."
"True." Agreed Fishlegs.
"Tell you what…" Kormak began, "Why don't we open the doors of the Hall, and light the fire inside so we can see each other?"
"Good idea." Seaflare and Toothless said at once.
So they stood up and opened the doors.
Thanks to Hiccup's eyesight, he could immediately see the message burnt onto the floor, and once again thinking of Viggo, and how tonight could pan out.
Toothless spat a ball of purple fire into the pit, and almost at once it was aflame once again. However, it wouldn't last too long, as there wasn't much unburnt wood left in there.
"Should I get some more wood?" Seaflare suggested, looking around at Kormak and Hiccup for approval.
Kormak looked back outside at about the same time the others did. "Nah, I wouldn't bother. We probably won't be too much longer. They should be back soonish."
Seaflare understood, and sat down behind Kormak who was standing directly in front of the fire.
Fishlegs put his hands forward to warm up in front of the fire. But then he looked outside, and up at the sky.
"What's up?" Hiccup asked him. He stood next to Fishlegs, and saw him look outside.
"Oh, I'm just thinking." He said, turning back to look at the fire. The reflection of the flames were dancing in his eyes.
"What about?" Kormak questioned him, now looking at Fishlegs too from the other side of the pit.
Fishlegs's beady eyes turned to look at the leader of the Six. "I'm worried about tonight."
"We all are." Hiccup said.
"It's just that…" Fishlegs mumbled, "I don't think I really-"
"Fish…" Hiccup interrupted, "You're not coming. This time I can't let you. It's too dangerous."
He let out a sigh of relief.
"Thanks Hiccup. I actually was going to ask if I couldn't go. I'm very nervous. I would be happy to go back to that rocky place with Savas and stay there."
Hiccup nodded understandingly. "Of course, that sounds logical. No problem."
Hiccup and Toothless suddenly heard beating wings, and turned to see two familiar looking dragons arriving at the entrance to the Great Hall.
"You're back!" Hiccup exclaimed with relief, running over to them. Gazing at Vali, Valka and their dragons to see if they were injured at all.
"Yeah." Vali said, hopping off Spark and landing gracefully on her feet. "It was surprisingly easier than I thought. They-"
"Hush!" Valka interjected, silencing Vali.
"Sorry." Vali apologised. Nodding to her.
Valka slowly got off Cloudjumper, and winced painfully as she landed on her feet.
"You okay?" Hiccup asked her, as Cloudjumper looked sadly at the spot he knew where her injury was.
"Yes dear, thank you. Don't worry about me." She smiled reassuringly, that warmth Hiccup truly loved.
"So, we ready to go?" Valka asked Hiccup and everyone else.
Everyone, including Hiccup and the dragons nodded.
"Gang, gather round." Hiccup raised his arms, and everyone came together in a circle with the dragons standing behind all of them.
"Whatever happens tonight, we must stay strong, united and vigilant. We don't know what we're flying into. We could be ambushed by Viggo and the entire Myrkian fleet, or we could be surrounded by thousands of Skrills and have to surrender. That could mean we could be split up, or separated, and if that happens, remember your marks."
"We are the Six. Sure all of us may not be here and united yet, but we are already a powerful and wonderful group of friends. Our goals tonight, are to meet Viggo, and if we can do so without being harmed, to capture him, or kill him if we must."
Hiccup paused for a moment, then said, "The most important thing for all of us, is to stay together. We stand for everything Viggo does not. We will meet and discuss with Viggo, but after that, I will try my best to outwit and defeat him, but I will need your help."
He closed his eyes, and held out his right arm, showing the glowing dragon mark. "Are you with me?"
"I am with you." Kormak said first. Putting his hand on Hiccup's glowing Night Fury mark of the Six.
"So am I." Valka said next, putting her hand on top of Kormak's.
"Me too." Vali spoke, doing the same.
"Us too." Toothless spoke proudly. Leaning forward and licking everybody's hands.
The other dragons all nodded, and licked their rider's hands too.
"I may not be one of the Six, but I will help you in any way I possibly can. Anything you ask of me, I will try my best." Fishlegs announced, managing a weak smile.
Hiccup and the group turned around and smiled to him.
Afterwards, all the riders got on their dragons. Fishlegs got on Toothless and sat behind Hiccup.
"First, we go back to Savas on that rocky island. There he and Fishlegs can look after each other, until we return." Hiccup declared, to the agreement of the others.
"Let's go."
With that, the dragons leapt into the sky with their riders on board, flying towards that rocky cave.
Several hours later…
"We're approaching the island!" Hiccup called out to the group.
They had been flying in a V formation for most of the journey, with Hiccup and Toothless in the lead.
Toothless had spotted the island at long last, and they descended towards it.
"What is that horrible stench?" Spark said out loud, then Hiccup and Toothless suddenly both had a sense of déjà vu, that smell was familiar. It was the smell of rotting flesh.
"Everyone get ready! Weapons out!" Hiccup yelled.
But there was no need.
The gang landed right in front of the cave, and they saw what was making the smell.
All of them had to turn away from the sight, closing their eyes and turning their faces away for a few moments. Not believing what they saw.
The cave had changed dramatically since they last saw it.
There were flaming torch lights attached to the walls, like the ones inside Myrka's Underground Network (M.U.N.), that lit up the cave.
Most of the cave rocks, walls, ground and surround looked as if they had been painted a bright or dark red colour, the ground inside the cave was littered with the remains of a Viking body.
It was awful.
Fishlegs threw up behind Hiccup, his sick going to the left of them.
"Viggo had found Savas." Hiccup said, closing his eyes again and putting his head down. "The Shapeshifter has torn him apart."
"But how?' Questioned Valka. "How on Earth could Viggo have tracked Savas all the way here? He left Myrka all that time ago, how would Viggo possibly-"
"Maybe it was by accident." Suggested Kormak. "Perhaps Viggo was coming back from doing the message and the invasion at Berk, and stopped here for a rest, then found Savas."
"That sounds more realistic." Valka said, nodding.
"Oh Savas." Hiccup said sadly, feeling awful. "I'm so sorry. Thank you for teaching me so much, and saving me."
"But where are we going to take Fishlegs now?" Vali wondered. "Where on Earth could he possibly be safe?"
"We'll take him to Remola." Hiccup said, opening his eyes and looking to the group. Fishlegs just stayed quiet, his face as white as a cloud. "There's another member of the Six there. Sven. We'll take Fishlegs there, tell them to look after him, and we'll be back soon."
"Sure." Valka said at once.
"We'll do it now, on our way to meeting Viggo. There's nothing for us here. Let's go." Hiccup quickly said. He felt awful, he wanted to stay, clean up the place, give Savas a proper farewell, but he didn't have time. He had to meet Viggo, or the whole Berkian tribe were going to be executed tomorrow.
So, the gang abandoned the rocky island, and took off towards Remola.
It took them no less than two hours to get there, explain the situation to the Queen of Remola, and drop Fishlegs off. Sven and the Queen greeted them with open arms.
The gang left the town, giving their best wishes to the tribe and Fishlegs. Oh whom promised to explain the story of the Six to Sven and Sven only.
Hiccup however, grew a bit suspicious of the tribe at that time. They seemed almost too welcoming, as if they had already knew who they were. He hoped this wasn't some trap Viggo had created for Fishlegs, but he trusted them, as he had relatively no choice, so he hoped he would be safe there.
He wondered for a moment if his mother had come here when she left earlier with Vali, but he put it out of his mind, he had more important things to think about as he took off into the night sky.
At last, the dragon riders were together.
They flew as one. In the direction that Viggo had left for them back on Berk.
There was utter silence among the group.
The only sound was that of the wind, streaming through the dragon's wings.
Hiccup and Toothless lead the way, only just being able to see where they were going.
They stayed not far above the water, keeping close to it.
A few hours into their journey, Hiccup glanced up to the heavens. He noticed clouds had covered the sky, and the stars had been shut away.
The young man almost felt as if that was a sign. He was heading to a place where light was shut away, where a creature had created darkness. The Six were crossing over into the heart of enemy territory, as the further they flew, the less they knew.
Even Valka and Cloudjumper, who had scouted almost the entire archipelago since she left Berk, had no knowledge of this place. They had never ventured here, as this area was only believed to have just miles and miles of open water.
But soon, they were proven wrong.
They approached an island, that only the dragons and Hiccup could see at first.
"Here we go guys. Be on your guard. Get ready to dodge arrows, fire blasts, or hop onto your dragons at any moment once we land." Hiccup warned. He let go of Toothless with one hand, while his other grasped his sword handle very tightly.
The island appeared to be in the shape of a small but tall volcano.
There was a wharf, with no boats moored to it, directly in front of them. Hiccup and Toothless could also see that the wharf was a stained red.
They had found the right place.
Once they were closer, they also noticed there were flaming torch poles, like the ones on Berk, starting from where the wharf joined the shoreline.
The flaming poles were in groups of two, each one parallel to the other. They led up the hill, up to what looked like a crater.
The flaming pits at the top of the poles were lit, but there was something very strange about them. The fire billowing out of them was not the usual colour of orange that fire normally is. The fires were white. A bright, terrifying white that reminded the group of the Shapeshifter. They knew the Shapeshifter blew white fire.
The four members of the Six and their dragons landed on the wharf.
Hiccup whispered to them quickly, "Good luck."
They dismounted their dragons. And now, with Hiccup and Toothless in the lead, they walked together in their V shape towards the shore.
When they reached it, they discovered the ground seemed to be made of a black ash or sand. It was most unusual. Hiccup paused for a moment. They had reached the first flaming poles, and they stood in-between them.
Hiccup then continued, and the gang followed him.
Together, they strode up the hill. Following the path between the poles that looked like it had been laid out for them.
It took a bit of effort, but eventually, they made it to the top.
The gang had now finally reached the top of the hill.
Here, they were greeted with a sight not much different than the rest of the island.
Unlike the shape of the island, the crater was not like a volcano. There was no hole, crack or crevasse in the middle. Just more black sandy ash, and it was flat. The entire crater spanned over a little distance in a complete circle.
Those flaming torch poles now surrounded the entire crater. They were all around the very edges of the crater, and each one was billowing out a bright, sharp blaze of white fire.
It was the perfect place for a stage, or a meeting. This place was so remote, so desolate, so lifeless and devoid of light.
Hiccup now remembered, this was the place he had been dreaming about. Ever since his mark of the Six had been activated, he had visions of this place. This was where he always met with some creature that was responsible for all the evil in the archipelago.
The only difference between the dream and reality thus far, was the torch poles. He didn't remember those in his dream. But not that it mattered.
"What now?" Vali whispered nervously to Hiccup.
"We wait." Hiccup replied. "Viggo will be here."
Hiccup glanced around the place once again, waiting for that black creature to fly in front of them.
At this point, Hiccup realised that the Berkian tribe, including his father were nowhere to be seen. He couldn't see any cages or anything like that.
Suddenly, the gang heard a voice.
A voice that sounded eerily familiar, yet it had a tone that sounded suspiciously deceptive.
"SURPRISE!"
They all spun around at once.
Standing in front of them, between the two flaming white torch poles where the gang had entered, was a familiar looking Viking that they thought was dead.
He had striking brown eyes, wearing a black tunic with what looked like a kind of black draconic Armor. Also, he had some dark red scales on his shoulders and around his waist in a diagonal way, with some black shorts that also were cut diagonally like the red scales.
On his shoulders, he had spiked shoulder pads which covered his dark red scales there. He also had a brown belt, with metal spikes all over it, and black wrist guards with a steel circumference.
His hair was a short jet black. He also had three distinct scars on the left side of his neck, which Hiccup was surprised he never noticed till now.
Behind him, attached to his back, was the ruby encrusted hilt of a sword that Hiccup knew only too well.
The former Myrkian Army Commander who trained Hiccup on how to fight, not to mention saved his, Toothless's and Fishlegs's lives, was the man standing in front of them.
His hands were behind his back, and he had a confident, self-assured smile on his face. The flickering lights of the fires from the torches lit up his smug facial expression.
"Savas?"
He shook his head, smiling wider. His teeth showing.
He began to walk calmly, collectively around the group. As he walked, the gang stared at him intensely.
"They say there are two ways to be fooled." He began in a deep, terrifying voice. He kept up walking, each step becoming scarier than the last for the group. "One is to believe what isn't true, the other…"
He now reached the point where he was now standing in front of Hiccup, in near the middle of the crater. He turned and looked at Hiccup right in the eyes.
"Is to refuse to believe what is."
Suddenly Hiccups face went white. His eyes bulged, and his heart began beating faster.
"Viggo?"
Savas smiled widely, then he turned around, and removed his hands from behind his back, and lowered them until they hung by his sides.
"Viggo I am, Savas I am too."
He suddenly turned around on the spot, and began to transform.
The ash began to blow away from where he was standing, as the scene unfolded.
His clothes vanished, but he began to spin so fast it was impossible to see anything except for a large black blur. His human body was transforming and enlarging quickly into something else. When the creature stopped spinning, it had turned into a huge and deadly jet black creature.
The same creature that killed Valka friends, destroyed Dyflin, Lowtov and countless other catastrophes around the archipelago was here.
The Shapeshifter, known as Viggo, was Savas the entire time.
He had large black wings, which Viggo had extended all the way. Hiccup thought his wings were very like that of a Night Fury. Except they were much longer, and had spikes on the edges of them.
Viggo was standing on four legs, he had grown an extra pair when he transformed.
This creature seemed to be the size of at least three Monstrous Nightmares put together. It was completely black, except for its eyes, which remained his distinctive dark brown.
He had a V shaped jaw, very much like a Skrill's. His teeth were shorter than a Skrill's, they were more even, and they were more of them.
Viggo had a long, streamlined tail with spikes running along it at every available bit of skin. At the tail's end, were four tail fins, very like a Night Fury's again, except there were two additional fins just before the ones at the end.
In appearance, the Shapeshifter was almost a cross between a Night Fury and a Skrill. But significantly larger than both.
"Aw, am I really that beautiful Hiccy? You compliment me too much." Viggo chuckled in his dragon voice.
He raised his wings, and took off. The sudden thrust of air nearly knocking the group over.
They watched Viggo fly around the torch poles in a circle on the inside of the crater. Each time he passed a pole, the flames would blow a bit and nearly go out before resuming.
Eventually he completed his fly by, and landed right back in front of where he took off.
Hiccup was in a total state of shock. Unable to speak.
Viggo spun around on the spot, and his body began to transform back into his Viking form.
His clothes that had vanished earlier automatically reappeared back on him. Once the transformation was completed, Viggo put his hands behind his back, and simply smiled at the group.
"So, you didn't think much of my offer?" Viggo said, now glancing at the rest of the group, his eyes darting from the dragons and the Vikings at random.
Valka stepped forward.
"What have you done with my tribe?" She asked, her facial expression was a mixture of fear and anger towards him.
Viggo turned to her, "Your tribe?" He eyed her, before laughing. "How is Berk your tribe?"
"How dare you! I was born-"
Viggo interrupted her. "And yet, when you left, did you return? Did make any contact with them?"
Valka went silent, her expression turning to guilt.
"I didn't think so. Some wife you are." He taunted, before turning his eyes back to Hiccup.
"So, Viggo, you're the one I've been waiting to meet all these years." Toothless growled, baring his teeth at Viggo.
The Shapeshifter looked at the Night. "Yes, I'm still amazed at how I lost you that night, when I killed the last Bewilderbeast hundreds of years ago, but when my accomplice in Helheim's Gate snagged you into her spell, I was very relieved. All I had to do, was wait."
"But," Viggo now approached the group a little, while the Six backed away a bit nervously, "That is not why I'm here or why you're here. Let's get down to business, shall we?"
"What have you done with the Berkian tribe?" Hiccup finally regained his voice.
Viggo looked at Hiccup directly, "Ah you're still there! Thought you were going to pass out." Viggo smiled at him, before saying, "They are imprisoned."
"Where?" Hiccup and Valka asked at once.
"Don't worry. They are safe and sound. No harm will come to them until dawn. Unless if we make a deal tonight." Viggo replied.
"What do you want?" Hiccup asked, frowning at him.
Viggo smiled. "Hmm, what can I have that I don't already? You see, I already have almost everything I want. I have Viking and dragon armies at my disposal. I have the archipelago exactly as I want it, why don't you take a guess?"
Hiccup went silent, trying to think.
"I'll give you a clue. Why do you think I trained you? Why do you think I saved you? Why do you think I led you here?" He asked, smugness wreaking in his tone.
He sprayed his arms out wide, almost as if he was expecting to embrace Hiccup.
"Me." Hiccup answered, closing his eyes. Realising what Viggo's plan was this entire time. "You want me. As your slave, and in return, you'll let my tribe and the rest of the Six go free."
"Now you're getting the idea!" Viggo said excitedly.