Chapter 14
It had been hours since they left Berk, leaving Gobber to finish the preparations for the Great Gathering of Chiefs. And after hours of following Valka and Cloudjumper through the mist northward, the group's previous enthusiasm for another adventure was quickly replaced with boredom.
"How much longer is this going to take," Snotlout complained.
"Remind me again why we always bring Snotlout along when we should leave him behind," Astrid shot back.
"Please, who else is going to keep the group safe if Hookfang and I aren't here?" Snotlout retorted to which Hookfang gave a snort of agreement.
"It's alright," Valka said with her usual motherly patience. Getting up from her sitting position on the back of Cloudjumper and turning around, Valka addressed the young group of dragon riders, "We are almost there."
Hearing those two magic words the entire group perked up. The mist began to clear up. No one knew what they were going to see, except Valka, but they all hoped that it was going to be amazing. After many years, they were going to finally see what was Valka's secret, the reason for why she would disappear for weeks at a time. The mist slowly cleared to show a large land mass covered by a dense forest. The heavy clouds above, shadowed over the entire area. And at the center was a great ginormous giant mountain.
A collective groan was heard from the group.
"What's wrong?" Valka asked, confused from the group's sudden disappointment.
"Why is it always mountains," Fishlegs ranted, "nothing good ever comes out mountains. The Dragon Queen? lived in a mountain. The egg of the Whispering Death? found in a mountain, The nest of the Alpha Dragon? another mountain. For once why can't we have a nice green clearing. Something that isn't dark, damp, and potentially life threatening.
"When there are big secrets, you need big mountains to hide them away from prying eyes," Valka reasoned. "And this secret is certainly worth hiding under a mountain."
The group followed Valka to the opening at the base of the mountain. Walking through the labyrinth of caverns, the group encountered numerous dragons, crawling on the walls and lurking in the shadows. The dragons eyed the group warily but allowed them to past unperturbed.
"Ummm why are the dragons looking at us funny," Ruffnut asked as she made a face to a baby gronkle that was looking at her funny.
"The dragons are judging you," Valka explained.
"Judging us?" Fishlegs said, as he backed off from the dragons and moved closer to Meatlug.
"No need to worry, if you had been deemed unworthy, the dragons would have attacked you by now," Valka said.
The group exited towards an opening expecting even more dragons. What they hadn't expected, was run down old stone structures, moss growing up along the walls and others plant life. Hundred of buildings that could easily have held thousands of people. But now the buildings held memories, history and markings of an old civilization that once lived.
Weaving in and out of the old stone buildings there was a sense of eerie silence. Their own noises echoed loudly but was never loud of enough to fill the void of silence. The group look for any clues about those who onced lived here but found nothing. The only thing that survived was their legacy of stone and rock.
Following Valka the group was led to a massive wall that easily towered all other structures within the area. Drawings were etched onto the face of the wall.
"When Cloudjumper first brought me here, all those years ago I was amazed just as you all are now. It took me years to understand what happened here, and to translate the etchings of the wall," Valka explained.
"This place holds the origin of vikings. Our ancestors were once a nomadic tribe, until they travelled north and into the archipelago. It was here that our tribe encountered a race known as the Berserkers. The two groups mingled together and in time, our race known as Vikings was born.
"The Berserkers? Do you mean like Dagur and his clan members?" asked Fishlegs.
"No, Dagur and the Berserker clan today are nothing like the original Berserker tribe. I am referring the Berserkers of legend, the red eyed warriors of Odin and the protectors of Asgard. The Berserker's blood flows through all vikings and us as well.
"So why were the protectors of Asgard here on Earth?" Astrid asked. Her interest shooting up ten fold upon hearing about a race of great warriors.
"The answer lies in the next room," Valka said simply as as she signalled them to continue following her and leading them through another cavern. Upon hearing, Valka's words about the next room, Toothless Stormfly, Hookfang, Meatlug, Barf and Belch, took off.
"Where are they running off to?" Tuffnut asked.
"It is for the best that they are not with us in the next room," Valka simply replied.
Exiting the cavern, the group found the largest dragon they have even seen. The dragon was absolutely massive, easily bigger than a Bewilderbeast. It's outer shell or armour had a rock like texture to it and was gray. The ground seemed to shake by the mere presence of the dragon itself as it slept in absolute silence.
"Everyone, I would like to introduce to you Ragnorok, the god of dragons and time."
"Whoa that is so freaking cool!" Snotlout said before Ruffnut smacked him on the back of the head.
"Can you not wake up the god of freaking Dragons" Ruffnut yelled in whispers.
"Oh he won't wake up from a little noise!" Valka yelled, scaring the entire group. The group stared back at Ragnarok but he remained unmoved. "Legend holds that Ragnarok has been sleeping since the beginning of time, and guards the entrance to Earth and Asgard. Ragnarok will only awaken when the great battle of Norse Gods begins, signalling the end of time."
"So you have been helping Ragnarok?" Astrid asked.
"Goodness no! He's the god of all dragons, what help could I possibly be? Although my task is very similar in nature," Valka explained.
"Long ago Odin created a second precautionary measure. Two keys to bridge the world between Asgard and our Earth. The first key is known as the Gem of Ice which allows beings from Asgard to come to Earth. And the second key is known as the Gem of Fire, and allows beings from Earth to come to Asgard."
"And where's the door?" Fishlegs asked.
"Right in front of you," Valka pointed. Resting in front of the sleeping dragon, was a large and ceremonial looking altar. Stairs in the middle that led to the top flat surface of the altars.
"The dragons were originally born from the flesh of Ragnarok and lived in the Passage, the land between Asgard and Earth. The Berserkers were tasked by Odin to guard the Gem of Ice and the Gem of Fire. On their way to Earth and through the Passage, the Berserkers took along the dragons to Earth to aid them in their mission. Years have gone by, with the Berserkers gone and nearly all dragons having forgotten their original purpose.
"So this is what you have been disappearing to mom?," Hiccup asked having been unusually quiet so far during the entire trip, "Carrying on the Berserker's and dragon's mission to guard the keys?"
"Correct Hiccup, in the past week I was up further north, checking up on the Gem of Ice when the base came under siege. Five individuals, that wore dragon masks with heavy cloaks and rode a Snow Wraith, a Nadder, a Rhumblehorn, a Zippleback and a Skrill. I was unable to escape and they took the Gem of Ice.
"What do they want with the Gem of Ice? Or both gems," Astrid asked.
"I don't know. But hopefully without the Gem of Fire, they will be be able to accomplish nothing.
"So where is the Gem of Fire?" Fishlegs asked, "is it somewhere in the mountain?"
"Or better yet, where's the other group so we can kick their buts and take back the Gem," Snotlout commented.
The gem is sitting on the pedestal at the top of the altar," Valka responded as she pointed to the altar that rested underneath Ragnarok.
So how do we protect the gem?" Astrid said, "Can't believe I'm saying this but Snotlout is right. We have to find and stop the other dragon riders. We can't just stay here a guard the mountain for the rest of our lives."
"I don't know how we would find them, at least not at the moment with the Gathering of Great Chiefs that is coming up in a few days." Valka replied, " However, if we are able to secure the Gem of Fire we would be at a stalemate for now and we can think of a solution afterwards."
Looking at Hiccup, Valka directed her son towards the altar to which Hiccup gave an audible gulp.
"Ummm Ragnarok is not going to kill me right? Hiccup said warily.
"You have a knack for dragons Hiccup, Nothing to worry about," Valka said cheerily.
"Don't really think it works with gods," Hiccup mumbled but was pushed forward by Valka before he could argue more.
Giving one last glance to everyone, Hiccup started to move towards the altar. Everyone watched with bated breath as Hiccup neared the altar and simultaneously moving nearer to Ragnorok. Everyone silently prayed that the god of dragon would hopefully not wake up. With each step it felt like Ragnarok doubled in size.
Reaching the top of the altar Hiccup could see two pedestal, one for each gem. The left pedestal was of course empty. The right pedestal contained the Gem of Fire. Between the two pedestals was a stone tablet with etchings similar to the stone wall. The tablet featured two people facing each other and in the middle was Ragnorok, holding the Gem of Ice and Fire. On the bottom was writing that Hiccup couldn't read. Grabbing the Gem of Fire, Hiccup returned to the group.
Without any warning Hiccup tosses the Gem of Fire and without missing a beat, Astrid snatches it out of the air and twirled the necklace around her fingers.
"More jewelry, Hiccup? You shouldn't have," Astrid gushed in fake enthusiasm. As she inspected the gem.
"Keep it safe. As we fly out of here I want everyone to fly in Night Terror Formation." Hiccup directed.
"You've been quiet this entire time and now all of a sudden you are telling us what to do?' Snotlout said.
"Something doesn't feel right. They've should have gotten here first, where are they? They could be planning and waiting for an opportunity to assault the mountain. The transition from the mountain to Berk is when the Gem of Fire will be most vulnerable. The moment we leave they will probably attack us. Me riding a Nightfury would be the most obvious candidate for having the gem. They will probably recognize my mother so they might target her as well. Astrid along with Stormfly is the best choice.
"Well like you said, you are riding a Nightfury, why not use that speed for something useful and blast right through them," Tuffnut asked.
"Or better yet, why don't we just fight?" Snotlout said.
"If they do end up catching up to Toothless, then we would be separated from everyone else and it would be too late for you all to help. And we shouldn't fight because we don't know what we are up against. I can't afford to miss the meeting. We need to get back to Berk and we will deal with them afterwards. I will be the bait and during all the commotion, we will make it look like I have the gem while Astrid and Stormfly find an opportunity to sneak away.
The group returned to their dragons, mounted on top of them and prepared to ride. "Remember stay on your guard and be prepared," Hiccup said as Toothless took off and everyone followed closely behind. Exiting the mountain to the gloomy and still dark skies, the group kept their eyes open and watched their surroundings.
A loud dragon roar was heard, originating from above the group. Looking up there was nothing to be seen but dark clouds. But suddenly a hole opens up in the clouds. The sun rays escaped through the hole and blinded the group. Squinting through the light, Hiccup could make out dark figures emerge from the hole of the cloud, approaching them at full speed.
"Scatter!" Hiccup yelled. The disoriented group, although blinded was still able to follow Hiccup's order. Flying in all directions, the group reacted just in time to narrowly dodge the fireballs. Exiting from the sun ray, Toothless let out a low growl, not particularly happy of being nearly blinded. Doing what a Night Fury did best, Toothless flew. With great and powerful flaps of his wings Hiccup and Toothless , climbed upwards along the edge of the sun ray. Dodging a few more fireballs, Toothless continued to climb until he passed, the enemy group. Well above them now, Toothless flew upside down, while Hiccup hung on. Looking down, the chief assessed the situation for best course of action.
The enemy group had continued downward towards his friends while the Snow Wraith stopped and his partner looked up towards Hiccup. Spinning downwards, Toothless executed his signature dive bomb attack, to which the Snow Wraith countered with his own ice blast.
Using their superior speed Toothless flew circle around the Snow Wraith. Any ice blasts from the Snow Wraith cleanly missed the Night Fury, while the Snow Wraith struggled to dodge Toothless' own plasma shots.
Letting out a loud roar, the belly of the Snow Wraith glowed as it let out a wide cone of icy mist. Leading his icy breath in front of Toothless' flight trajectory, the Night Fury did not have enough time to dodge as he flew right through it. Exiting the icy mist, the Snow Wraith let out another blast of icy mist that Toothless could not avoid. Flying out of the mist the second time, Hiccup knew that something was wrong.
The strong wings against his face and the screeching sound of the wind had stopped, Toothless was slowing down. Roughly shaking himself, Toothless tried to lose whatever it that was slowing himself down. Looking around Hiccup saw the problem, ice had started to build up on Toothless' wings locking the range of motion that Toothless could do with his wings and simultaneously weighing Toothless down. The Viking Chief could feel the frost building on his armor and constricted his movement like he was underwater. Hiccup and Toothless were in trouble if they didn't do something soon.
OoOoO
Astrid watched as Hiccup and Toothless charged at their enemies and watched as four of the dragons ignored the alpha pair, and headed down towards them. The plan was for Snotlout, Ruff, Tuff, Hookfang, Barf and Belch to distract their enemies, while Astrid, Stormfly, Fishlegs, Meatlug Valka, and Cloudjumper escape. The plan was a solid one as usual for Hiccup. But there was one major problem with Hiccup's plan as per usual. Nobody ever follows the plan. At least, not the first time. Astrid spotted her one true objective.
"Let's go Stormfly!" The blue dragon cawed before breaking off from the group. Likewise Ruff Tuff, Barf and Belch broke off from the group as well. From behind Astrid could hear Valka yelling to stick to the plan. But Astrid was sticking to the plan, her plan, the one that formed the moment she heard that there was a dragon rider with a Deadly Nadder.
This was one of the rare opportunities to improve. Hiccup and Toothless were a bunch of cheats and was too big of a hurdle. Meatlug and Fishlegs were a pair of pacifists. Heather and Sharpshoot are never around. Ruff and Tuff are too busy fighting each other. And Snotlout won't ever shut up. Here was an opportunity to improve. After this was over, Astrid would be one step closer to Hiccup.
In game of cat and mouse, Astrid synced her movements with Stormfly, to chase the other Nadder. In a battle of aerial dominance, the Nadders ducked and dived between the clouds. Stormfly approached from above, letting loose a fireball, causing the other fleeing Nadder to stop. The two Nadders, flew around each other, creating a circle, as they exchanged two fireballs each. Both riders, aware of the Nadder's six shot limit and were careful to use each one sparingly. But all dragons have more than one trick up their sleeve.
"Stormfly, spine shot!," Astrid shouted. Opening her tailed plumage, Stormfly flung her tail and let loose three spines. The enemy Nadder spun upwards and countered with its own spines, clashing with Stormfly's spines mid flight. The enemy Nadder took off into the clouds once more and Stormfly gave chase. The clouds diminished Astrid's vision but no way was she letting her prey get away. Spotting the other Nadder escaping the clouds, Astrid directed her partner to exit the clouds.
A gaseous smell broke Astrid out of her concentration. Swivelling her head, Astrid located the source to be a large green cloud of gas. "Oh no," Astrid thought, "the twins can't be that crazy," But her question was quickly answered as the green gas ignited. The resulting explosion and aftershock, drop two Deadly Nadders and two Zipplebacks from the sky.
OoOoO
"What about the plan!" Fishlegs yelled out. His words were futile, as he watched Astrid, Ruffnut and Tuffnut break off.
"Honestly, what a bunch a children," Snotlout said with a voice of superiority with his arms crossed as Hookfang flew up to Meatlug's left.
"We won't be able to keep up with Astrid and Stormfly," Valka said, as Cloudjunper flew next to Meatlug's right, "It will be up to the six of us to deal with the Skrill and Rhumblehorn"
"But the Skrill, has a power of fourteen and armor of ten. It's power is capable of matching even a Nightfury!" Fishlegs cried.
"Not to worry old chum," Snotlout said without a hint of fear as he flexed his arms. "So long as the great Snotlout and Hookfang are here you have nothing to fear!"
Hookfang, with his large wings, suddenly took wind and charged at the enemy before Snotlout could say anything else. On the other side the Rhumblehorn responded in kind and started charging towards the Nightmare.
"What are you doing Hookfang!" Snotlout yelled, but Hookfang didn't listen as he continued to charge through Snotlout's screaming. The two pairs drew closer and closer to one another with neither dragons slowing down or backing out.
Mere seconds before impact with the Rhumblehorn, Hookfang, swivelled underneath the boulder type dragon. Coming from behind, Hookfang latched onto to the top of the Rhumblehorn's wings. The extra weight of a Nightmare in addition to having it's wings constrained was too much for the Rhumblehorn as the two riders and two dragons plummeted from the sky as Hookfang refused to let go.
Fishlegs and Valka, were completely dumbfounded at what just happened.
"Okay new plan. The four of us will have to deal with the Skrill and its rider," Valka observed.
"Still not liking our odds," Fishlegs said.
"There is nothing to worry about. With the Skrill's rider on top, it will be unable to attack with it's lightning strikes." As if having heard Valka's words, the masked dragon rider jumped off his dragon. Free from the fear of hurting its rider, The Skrill climbed to the clouds and started charging itself with lightning. Meatlug and Cloudjumper barely had enough time to scramble before beams of lightning came towards them.
"Valka what do we do!" Fishlegs said as he ducked to another beam of lightning that flew over his head.
"Only Toothless and Hiccup will have any chance of dealing with the Skrill," Valka said. "I will distract the Skrill while you find them."
"But you and Cloudjumper are still injured,"
"All the more reasons why it should be Cloudjumper and I. We won't be able to last in this fight for much longer. Might as well make the best of what we have left. Now go!" Valka said. Not waiting for Fishlegs to respond, Valka urged Cloudjumper forward. Noticing them approach, the Skrill directed its attack towards Cloudjumper.
The closer they approached, the more difficult it was to dodge the beams of lightning. The injuries from her previous engagement with these masked riders was finally taking its toll. Miscalculating an attack, Cloudjumper was forced to take a sharp turn but it wasn't enough. The beam of lightning grazed the left side of Cloudjumper. At the same time Valka was flung off the back of Cloudjumper by the sheer force of Cloudjumper's evasive maneuver.
"Sorry everyone, Hiccup. It's all up to the rest of you now" Valka apologized as she and Cloudjumper helplessly fell from the sky.
OoOoO
"Things are quickly going downhill," Hiccup thought as Toothless narrowly dodged an ice blast without the usual grace and ease that Toothless and Hiccup were known for. Another iceblast approached them from the front. Hiccup kicked the pedal turning the back fin and steering Toothless left. Toothless at the same time tried to turn right. The resulting conflict sent the both of them in a downward spiral. Gritting his teeth in frustration Hiccup worked together with Toothless, to bring themselves upright. The frost had shackled and slowed Toothless significantly, which had an unexpected effect on their synchronization. The pair was simply not used to going so slow.
Toothless still had his secret ace, but it wasn't time to use it yet. They needed to get closer and wait for an opening. Off in the distance a large gaseous green explosion nearly blinded Hiccup, but he kept his focus on the Snow Wraith and dragon rider who had been distracted by the large explosion created by the two Zipplebacks.
"Now Toothless," Hiccup yelled upon seeing his opportunity. Letting out a roar, the Nightfury, started to glow blue, and entered Alpha Mode. The frost on Toothless' body quickly melted and turned into steam. No longer shackled, Toothless and Hiccup dived towards their opponents. The Snow Wraith was completely caught off guard as Toothless let loose a plasma shot. The Snow Wraith tried to counter with its own ice blast but it was already too late. The two blasts collided and created a massive explosion in front of the Snow Wraiths face and enveloping the ice dragon.
Hiccup let out a sigh, releasing his fatigue from the intense fight. But the battle wasn't over yet.
"Hiccup!" Fishlegs called out, as Meatlug flew up to Toothless' side.
"Fishlegs what's the situation," Hiccup said.
"We need help with the Skrill, Hiccup," Fishlegs said, pointing towards the south.
Taking off in the direction the Fishlegs pointed, Hiccup and Toothless in his Alpha Mode spotted the lightning covered Skrill in mere seconds. The Skrill had spotted them as well. Charging up, the Skrill took in its surrounding and discharged a beam of lightning at Toothless and Hiccup.
With Toothless' speed return, the original dragon and rider pair, gracefully and efficiently dodged each shot until they were directly above the Skrill. Toothless let loose another devastating plasma shot point blank at the Skrill as they flew by.
"Yea nice going Toothless!," Hiccup cheered as they circled back . Toothless warbled in glee as they spun in circles.
"Watch out Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled. Taken off guard Hiccup and Toothless were unprepared for the ice blast that flew towards them. Meatlug flew in front of Toothless, taking the full power of the iceblast. With half of Meatlug's body completely frozen, the boulder dragon was unable to maintain flight with only one wing and started to spiral downward.
"Fishlegs!" Hiccup called out, as he watched helplessly. Fishlegs tried the break the ice off of Meatlug but it was hopeless. Hiccup wanted to help but it was too dangerous, not with a dragon still on the loose. Looking around Hiccup located the source of the ice blast. The Snow Wraith and dragon rider slightly charred in the front from the blast, flew straight at Toothless and Hiccup.
Clutching the reins in anger, Hiccup and Toothless charged at the Snow Wraith at full speed.
"We only have one more shot Toothless, Let's make it count," Hiccup said in a low whisper as he lowered his body.
The Snow Wraith and Night Fury flew towards each other, neither dragons showing any signs of weakness. Summoning what little energy they have left, The two dragons let loose one final blast. The exchanging blast flew past one another and took a direct hit on each of the dragons.
The world around Hiccup was spinning. The winds and Toothless' roar screeched around him in his ear. Igniting his blade, Hiccup swung at the frozen wing as hard as he could. Slowly Hiccup chipped away at the ice with each swing but it wasn't enough. There wasn't enough time in the seconds that they have left to reach the ground. But Hiccup wasn't about to leave his best friend helpless. And so the last pair of dragon riders and dragons fell from the sky.
Author End notes: Proof reading is boring especially if its because of a stupid auto correct. What little effort that I have I would like spend on furthering the story. You can just pm if you feel like helping.
Typo Helper: warofpeace
Cover page by Mistress of the Snow
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