Right, before beginning I'd like to remind you that there will be a time skip in this chapter as a certain event will happen here which will help out one of our main protagonist characters.
Also, thanks to everyone who reviewed on the previous chapter, and a bigger thanks to everyone for getting this story to a milestone of over 5,000 views which now lies at 5.6 thousand! You guys are insane, and great! :)
Now, let's begin chapter 10, shall we?
"Astrid…" a voice called out. The young Viking's head was laid against a small boulder as she rested in the meadows. Her vision was still blackened, but a voice continued to call out to her as her sense of hearing started to clear.
"Astrid, wake up!" the voice called out again. Being able to make it out, the voice was that of a young man she recognized, and eventually her sight started to come back to her. Astrid opened her eyes and saw Hiccup with the rest of the group standing in front of her.
"Astrid, are you alright?" he asked, offering a hand to the lady.
She gave a sigh, placing a palm on her chest in relief. "I'm fine." she said, reaching out to grasp Hiccup's hand and helping herself up on her feet. Astrid then sat down on the boulder as she started to gather her thoughts on what happened.
Fishlegs stepped forward. "When Hiccup told us what happened we gave no question and came here as fast as we could. He left you here so that you'd be easy to spot."
"Aye." replied Hiccup. "The only one who was unable to get here though was… well, Snotlout. He said he was too busy doing his duties, so we had to go on without him."
Astrid shook her head. "That doesn't matter." she sighed. "What matters is what I saw. That… black Dragon. It's been years since we saw it, and it…"
"It frightens you?" Hiccup asked her, receiving a nod in response. He crossed his arms. "I've seen it before in my dreams. I just never knew what it was or where it came from. Though… why are you so scared of it?"
Astrid splurted in a sarcastic laugh. "Why aren't you?" she asked him. "Do you not know what they say when you see one of those Dragons? Hide and pray it does not find you."
From hearing that quote the Twins and Fishlegs began to shake in tension. It was at that moment that the three knew what Dragon that Astrid was talking about. "Impossible…" the Ingerman said, shaking his head.
"I can't believe it what I'm hearing either." replied Ruffnut. Her tone sounding more serious this time. "I thought it was gone for good. First the Nightmare, and now this? What has this world come to?"
Hiccup gave a small grunt. "Will someone please tell me what in Odin's name we are talking about here?"
The four young Vikings exchanged looks, staring at each other for a bit on whether they should tell Hiccup what exactly they were going up against here. After all, it was a Dragon - but not any ordinary Dragon…
"Alright, Hiccup." began Astrid. "If you really want to know. This thing is a…"
…
"Night Fury." she said to Hiccup, dropping the Book of Dragons right in front of him as the five sat at a table in the Great Hall. Astrid being the closest to him.
Hiccup arched a brow as he slowly opened the book, immediately being introduced with the first Dragon. The obvious Monstrous Nightmare. He then began flipping through and saw more Dragons, some of which he didn't recognize at all. To him it was obvious that these Vikings were keeping track of their Dragons.
"You've recorded many Dragons in this book…" said Hiccup, his eyes widening more as he slowly made his way through each page. "You guys have been studying, haven't you? ...Thunderdrum, ...Timberjack, ...Scauldron, Changewing?"
So far the dragons he saw from the book so far gave him a sense of suspense, and it was then he began flipping quicker through the pages. "Whispering Death... Boneknapper, Speedstinger, Flightmare, Snaptrapper, Singetail, Seashocker, Smokebreath, Snow Wraith, and…"
Hiccup's eyes had suddenly landed on a page. He was facing a frightening Dragon whose mouth and body looked as if it were covered in lightning. Its teeth as sharp as a dagger - as well as its spikes behind its neck and head. The picture itself sent chills down his spine.
"A Skrill…" he shivered. "I wouldn't want be around those."
Astrid nodded. "That Dragon is considered to be a near rival of the Night Fury as we've seen both of them in action before from the nightly raids, and they're powerful." she said. "We identify those two as the mighty Strike class Dragons. But the Night Fury - well, we don't really know about... You'll see when you read it's page."
He nodded whilst continuing in flipping through the pages, over and over until he finally landed on the last page. Barely anything written in it as well as no drawing. Just a few notes.
"Night Fury." his voice shook. "Speed: Unknown. Size: Unknown… The Unholy Offspring of lightning and death itself... Never engage this Dragon. Your only chance: hide and pray it does not find you."
He looked back at the group, his face lit up and his eyes widened. "When was the first time you encountered such a dangerous beast? This Night Fury, I mean it's just…" He stopped for a moment, unsure of what to say next.
"It was at us for years back when the Dragon raids were a thing." answered Astrid. "It never stole food, never showed itself in the day or night, and it never missed its target. Though what surprised me was that this Dragon ceased it's attacks earlier when the Dragons stopped the raids. I don't remember when it exactly happened, but at first I shrugged it off."
Fishlegs sighed. "Well, I kinda find it strange that it didn't attack you." he said. "Don't Dragons hate Vikings? Why would it go after another of its kind? There has to be an explanation."
"Hmm… maybe it has a mind of its own? Perhaps it thinks things differently?" Hiccup suggested, though he didn't receive a nod or a response from anyone. "Regardless though, we need to figure out what that Night Fury was doing here."
"And how do you suppose we're going to find it?" asked Tuffnut. "I mean, didn't you say that thing flew away?"
"I noticed that when it escaped, it flew straight up into the clouds from where it was, hiding it's sight from us, which may give us a clue to indicate where it is."
Tuffnut arched a brow. "Uh… we can't fly."
Hiccup gave off a sigh. "We aren't going to fly." he said. "If it hid itself in the clouds to prevent us from seeing where it went, then we know it flew elsewhere from there - somewhere much closer than we think it is."
The shield maiden sitting next to the scrawny Viking placed a hand on her chin, rubbing it in thought. If the Dragon was closer than they thought it was, then maybe they already have a clue on where it is. "So maybe it's…" she began, only to have Hiccup finish with:
"Somewhere on Berk."
…
3 days later...
Magnus sat tied to a chair with his hands held behind his back. For days he had been beaten nearly unconscious, with his body bruised and bloody, and his sight hazzy and unclear. At first, he didn't know where he was as he was blindfolded.
Then, he heard slow knocking against the wooden planks of the floor which his feet laid upon. He could hear a few pairs of footsteps approach him, followed by the voice of a man speak to him.
"Wake up, prisoner!" he said. "It's time that you are dealt with once and for all. After all, you are nothing but a traitor."
Immediately memories began flooding back into his mind from the night before. He now remembered. He was ordered for execution by Ivar and he had specifically told his men to sail him out to sea where they would drown him. That meant he was on a ship out in the ocean.
'Damn it…' he thought to himself.
The blindfold was removed from his head, and he could see where he was. Aboard a double-sailed longship out at sea, and it was in the middle of nowhere with a crew of barbarians.
Before him stood four Vikings. Two axemen and two shield maidens looking at him with glares underneath their helmets. Magnus couldn't tell who was who as their faces were covered, though it was obvious that he didn't know any of them.
That didn't matter however. His life was about to end drowning in the ocean as it would soon become his watery tomb. What point was there for him to worry if by now his life was meaningless? He looked up to the axemen, likely the captain, and he said to him:
"Let's just get this over with, barbarian."
The captain gave an evil grin. "Eager to end your suffering, already?" he asked the former blacksmith. "I was about to give you one last drink before you fell in the ocean… Bah! What am I saying? There's plenty to drink down there in the sea… when you're dead! Hah haha!" he laughed.
The two others next to him laughed as well, one being a shield maiden and the other an axeman. One of them however caught Magnus' eyes as the other shield maiden wasn't laughing, but rather staring at him with squinted eyes.
"Gah, I could make jokes about you all day!" the captain laughed. "But despite my thoughts, Ivar's will shall be done! It must be done…"
The strong Viking walked over and grabbed Magnus' scrawny-like arm with a firm grip as he began dragging him over to the left broadside edge of the longship. This was it, wasn't it?
"Don't worry, though!" the captain chuckled. "If I awoke you too early, you will get all the rest you need as soon as you lie at the bottom of the ocean… resting lifeless! Aha haha!"
Magnus rolled his eyes from the captain's words, not giving a damn, and soon enough he was standing at the edge of the ship. Slowly he closed his eyes, and from there he allowed his mind to take over with his thoughts. He chanted quietly to himself one last prayer to the gods, standing there in silence as he awaited for the captain to push him off.
"Are there any last words you'd like to say before meeting your watery demise, traitor?"
At first, Magnus didn't respond. He stood there with his head facing up towards the sky, and his eyes still remained shut. Then, as he finished his prayer he opened his eyes and tilted his head sideways to eye the captain.
"If there's any hope for me right now, then I hope to Odin that my friend Eira comes and save me. If not, then I will gladly embrace the entry into Valhalla, where I shall live forever."
More silence followed after that. The captain gave a grunted sigh as he slowly walked forward to Magnus with his right hand held out. He then positioned his hand against the young man's back for a good push. He pulled his arm back and then shoved it forward towards Magnus' back, and then…
The captain missed. Instead Magnus was pulled back and thrown to the wooden deck by one of the shield maidens; which was in fact not their own. The three crew members looked at her with arched brows and widened eyes, and before they knew it, their shield maiden was quickly met with a blade as the female warrior unsheathed her blade and slitted it at the enemy maiden's throat.
Blood came spilling out, and when Magnus attained full vision he caught a glimpse at the maiden who was now protecting him. He realized that it was the one who had been looking at him with a stare rather than laugh with the others, and instantly he recognized the young woman as she removed her helmet and dropped it to the ground.
"You didn't think I'd leave you behind?" asked Eira.
The captain gave a gnarl and unsheathed his axe. "Gah! Get her, you fool!" he ordered to the remaining axeman.
Immediately Eira and the axeman got into a fight, slicing their sword and axe at each other, and all the while - Magnus sat there and watched, waiting out the fight even though he wished to help - however the captain would soon lay his attention on the young man.
He gave a gnarl and charged at the tied up and downed Viking, and quickly Magnus backed up from the great axe wielding Viking. When the blade of the axe came down it missed and struck in between Magnus' legs, stabbing itself in the wooden deck of the longship.
Magnus gave a grin and started using his acrobatics. He rolled towards the captain's axe, but rather than going entirely around it he stuck his hands out once his back was turned, and heard the ropes from his bindings cut.
He stood up on both feet and gave a wide taunting smile at the captain, who in response roared in anger from the mocking Viking. Thankfully, a rack of weapons laid by, and Magnus quickly rushed for it as he pulled out a light one handed sword.
The captain however was now in a frenzy. With his might, he pulled the great axe out of the wooden planks as if he were lifting a short sword, and he rushed Magnus with rage and fury.
Magnus responded in lifted his sword when the blow came, and the two weapons collided with one another. A fight had now broken between the two.
Both Vikings continued to slice at each other with their weapons. The captain would make slow but powerful strikes against Magnus which resulted in giving the former blacksmith bad blows, but the hits from the captain struck against only his arms.
Magnus did not falter however. He used his speed as his advantage and was able to get off more hits than the captain. Using his acrobatics along with his agility, he struck his weapon out against the larger Viking while spinning around him, striking his blows at the arms, legs, and even a couple at the chest.
Eventually the fight would draw in Magnus' favor, but this angered the captain even more. Rather than continue fighting with his great axe - the brutal Viking threw his weapon aside and charged at the scrawny-like Viking, lifting him into the air by his neck with strangulation.
"I WILL BREAK YOU!" he roared in anger. "AND THEN YOUR BITCH FRIEND WILL BE NEXT!"
Magnus struggled from the pressure, but still he would not give in. He looked back at the captain in defiance and his brows lowered with his eyes flaring as if a fire was lit up in them.
"No… barbarian!" he replied slowly, but as he attained his voice he shouted loudly; "This time; I BREAK YOU!"
Magnus pulled his head back, and then with a quick and hard blow, he head-butted the larger Viking. From this the captain nearly fell over, but he dropped the young Viking to his feet. He struggled at first to stand up, but once he did, it was there and then that he would meet his end.
The scrawny-like Viking picked up the captain's great axe, and with his great strength focused into his hands and the weapon, he brought it down against the large man's neck, causing a small amount of blood to go flying against his face as the captain's head rolled across the deck.
Magnus then proceeded to wipe the blood off of his face with his hand, looking down at the corpse of the captain. "Good riddance." he said out loud.
Meanwhile, Eira had too finished facing her opponent who now laid dead with multiple stab wounds through the chest. Her face had streaks of her enemy's blood scattered all over, but she was able to wipe most of it off.
The two faced each other and Magnus gave a sigh of relief, smiling at the woman he thought he'd never see again. "What took you so long?" he asked her.
"I… never knew what they did to you, Magnus." she said. "I know I should have been there when you needed me the most and… gods, I'm so sorry for everything that Ivar has done to you… But you need not to worry since we're finally back together. And I will say; judging by those bruises and how you still stand, you took it like a true Viking, my friend."
The two of them responded in chuckles, and yet they both started to walk towards each other at a slow pace before stopping a few feet away, opposite from each other. In that moment they stared into their each other's eyes, showing off the same relief... and then they rushed to each other, dropping whatever weapons they had in their hands and met with a reuniting hug.
"I missed you so much, Magnus." she said quietly, and Magnus sighed at her words. "I missed you too."
…
Hiccup and Astrid had been at it for days now. Ever since they sighted the Night Fury from the Dragon attack they had attempted to follow it's trail, back and forth and back and forth as they went all over the island, but so far they were nearly clueless.
The two walked down a hill following a trail in the forest. It was a cold foggy day, but not as cold as it was back in Kattegat which to Hiccup was surprising since Berk was located more north.
"Do you see anything?" Hiccup called out.
"Nothing!" called back Astrid. "It's pretty foggy though, and I have to admit - we've been at this for days without any progress!"
Hiccup shook his head, unwilling to give up. "We have to keep looking!" he said. "Maybe we haven't explored all this island has to offer!"
Astrid sighed. "Alright… we'll keep trying!"
They both continued along the path, keeping their eyes peeled as they gazed all around them. Over their shoulders, from behind, and even up above them incase their target was flying overhead.
"So… the Night Fury." started Hiccup. "Is there like… any manual on it? Another book? Or maybe just someone who may have seen a Night Fury before?"
Astrid looked at him with a curious and confused face. She splurt out a chuckle. "Why would there be another book of Dragons out there?" she asked. "I doubt Bork would've made another book unless he had so much time on his hands. Not to mention that there is probably no other Night Fury out there."
"How would you know that?"
"Well, each Dragon will always have its own approach. A Night Fury could attack anyway it wanted - from a distance, in the night, behind the clouds, and so forth. I know this is the same one from all those years ago because… it just feels familiar, I don't know how."
Hiccup nodded in an underground look. "Well, hopefully we find that Dragon soon. Who knows if it could already be gone from this island by now, or-"
He immediately stopped in his tracks, staring forward at the view that laid before him. Though it wasn't the Night Fury he saw, he definitely noticed some of the wildlife was out of place. Trees bent, plants and grass stomped all over, and even some of them burnt to a crisp.
Astrid too stopped in her tracks as she noticed her friend staring off into the distance. "Hiccup. Are you okay?" she asked, and when her head rotated the way he was looking she instantly understood what he was eyeing.
They both whoa'd in unison, turning their gaze upon each other. "Maybe we should've brought the others along." said Astrid.
"Don't back down now, Astrid." replied Hiccup. "We still have yet to see where this leads."
Astrid gave a shrug of uncertainty, but regardless they continued along the path. The terrain felt more hilly as they continued along it, and it seemed like the fog was getting denser and denser as they went forward. Hiccup felt bolstered to go on, but Astrid was about to turn around.
"Hiccup!" she called out to him. "I can't see through this fog! I'm turning around, there is no way we can-"
"Wait!" he interrupted. "I think… I see an opening. An end to this path." He pointed out towards a ray of light shining through the fog, and this reignited Astrid's hopes as she was once again eager to follow Hiccup. Perhaps they were closer to the Dragon than they thought.
And it seemed Hiccup was right about the opening as they soon entered a clearing. Less fog surrounded them, and their sight was better for they were. The path however was narrow due to the two cliff sides that laid on both their left and right sides, thus they had to squeeze themselves through. But eventually, they reached an area that not even Astrid recognized.
The two stood atop a small rocky cliff, and before them stood a beautiful cove that had a lake in the center and trees all around. The place seemed untouched as there wasn't a single trace of any Viking being here. The plants and meadows stood tall, and no boulder appeared to have been moved.
"Wow." smiled Astrid. She stared from top to bottom and from left to right of what her view could provide her, and already she was amazed.
Hiccup looked at her with a raised brow. "Did you know this was here?" he asked.
She shook her head. "I've never seen this place before." she replied with a surprised and wondered tone. "I don't think any Viking in our Tribe has ever been here. I mean just - look at this place, Hiccup!"
"I know, Astrid." he said with a happy tone. "This… this was the place I saw in my dream. Standing atop a rocky cliff with grass beneath my feet. A cloudy blue sky, and the wind blowing in my face. This view… I-"
Before he could finish, something else caught his attention from the corner of his eye. He squinted his eyesight and looked at what he saw was… a withered tree of some sorts? He couldn't tell as it was all black. Maybe it was just a rock? Unless…
He got a closer view with his eyes, and soon enough he realized what he was looking at. He gasped in shock as he turned to Astrid.
"Astrid… keep quiet and keep low."
She showed an expression of slight confusion. "Why?" she whispered. "There's nothing here to harm us, I doubt that anything could-"
"Yeah, well about that." he interrupted, pointing his finger out. "We aren't alone…"
His point would soon be proven to Astrid once her eyes fell on the black object. Suddenly it started to wiggle and then slowly move out of the position it was in, and a shape began to take form. Its wings spread out that would fold together, its paws getting into a comfortable position, and its tail and head waving in a motion until the shape of the black Dragon was finally clear.
Hiccup and Astrid had finally found the Night Fury, but the Dragon had also spotted the two Vikings sitting atop the cliff watching it, thus their cover had been blown.
"Oh gods." muttered Hiccup.