Astrid walked through the marsh grass, looking around for any sign of Heather.
"I thought you were never going to come back," a voice said softly from behind her.
Astrid turned and smiled.
The water nymph returned the smile, and walked forward to embrace her. "Did you succeed on your quest?" she asked Astrid.
"I'm afraid I did not," Astrid said, wrapping her arms tentatively around Heather. "I am afraid I failed in quite the worst way."
Heather sighed. "I am sorry," she said.
They separated and Heather grinned. "Have you come to stay long?"
"Only a few minutes," Astrid said. "I have to return to the others soon—we're heading to war."
"War?" Heather shrugged. "I'm stuck here at my marsh. Or I'd offer my services."
"It's alright," Astrid said. "I came here because I… wanted to hold true to my promise. To visit you. In case…"
Heather nodded. She held out her hand, and Astrid placed her own in it. "I am glad to have met you, Astrid, even if I may never see you again."
"I've already died once so far on this quest," Astrid laughed. "I suppose the chances of surviving again is quite unlikely."
"Or even more likely," Heather pointed out.
"True," Astrid nodded her head. "Anyway, should I survive, I promise to visit you often. Although I cannot offer you what you may want of me."
"Because you are a noble maiden?" Heather joked.
Astrid shook her head.
"Ah," Heather nodded her head, squeezing Astrid's hand. "That is always the case. If only I could leave this swamp…"
"But I'll visit you often," Astrid said firmly. She stepped closer to the nymph and pressed her lips against Heather's cheek. "I'll see you soon."
She let go of Heather's hand and walked away, stopping after a little while and waving. The nymph waved back, and then dove into the water, disappearing from sight.
He saw her standing at the riverbank. Tall, straight-backed, face passive. He could make out her pale skin in the moonlight, a stark contrast to her darker clothes and armor. Camicazi's teachings had started a metamorphosis in him. He could see things more clearly—especially in the dark. And Astrid looked more beautiful than ever, now that he could see more detail in her than he ever could before. He approached carefully, leaving the camp, with Eret, behind. He stepped up beside her, gazing down at the reflection of the moon and trees in the water. He thought of Alfhild—and how she would grow evermore in The North. A beacon of spring.
"I'm sorry," he said, not looking at her, "About your sister. I can only imagine how it must feel."
"It's…" Astrid began, before she grew quiet. He waited for her to speak, letting her take her time. "I did all I could do," she paused again, and Hiccup could tell she was as much convincing herself of the fact. "I wish… I could have seen her a last time."
Hiccup nodded, unsure if Astrid wanted a consoling touch or not. He decided to refrain from touching her. "It was beautiful," he told her. "Her transformation."
She looked at him for a moment, before looking back at the water. "Was it painful? Her death?"
"No," Hiccup shook his head. "I don't think it was. The fairies made sure of that."
"The fairies," Astrid scoffed, before quieting again. "It's strange… my whole life, and especially these past few months on my quest, I have hated fairies more than anything. But now… I don't know what to think."
Hiccup looked at her, that tight feeling of foreboding that he always felt when he thought of Astrid's hatred of fairies deep in his chest. She couldn't ignore what he was now that he was embracing it. He wondered what she thought of him. Did it change her opinion of him?
"It's strange," Astrid repeated. "I feel… almost relieved. Even though I failed my quest… I… I gained so much because of it."
Hiccup nodded again. "I'm… I'm not sure how to express how happy I am that you're alive. Granted it's tragic how you're alive, I won't deny that. But…" he looked at her earnestly, "The fact that you're alive means… a lot to me."
She looked at him, "Hiccup…" she began, "I… we may find Drago tomorrow—in which case, there might not be another chance to say this. I wanted you to know that I—"
"There you are!" Camicazi landed just behind them, causing Hiccup and Astrid to turn to face her. The fairy grinned at them, displaying all her teeth. "I have news," Camicazi said, in a chipper voice, "I found Drago—and it's not pretty. Both him and the situation."
"What did you find?" Astrid asked seriously.
"He's definitely amassed an army. Lots of people and I've never seen so many dragons at once. I think he's using this big brute of a dragon to control them. I also saw a night fury—think that might be Toothless?"
"Could be," Hiccup said, a surge of hope as well as horror brimming up within him. If Toothless was there, that meant he was still alive, but it also meant he was still in Drago's clutches. "Was he alright?"
Camicazi shrugged, "If you call being mind-controlled 'alright'."
"What's going on?" Eret said as he arrived.
"I found Drago, do keep up," Camicazi said, rolling her eyes.
"I just got here—"
"Point is, there's also armies from all sorts of places marching to meet him—including my mother's army, the Bogs," Camicazi said. "We can intercept them if we start now and walk through the night."
Everyone shared a glance. "I don't see how we have much choice," Astrid said, as the others nodded. Together the four walked back to camp, gearing up and putting out the fire.
"Would have been nice to have another night's sleep," Eret muttered. "But I guess beggars can't be choosers."
"Not when the world is at stake," Astrid said, as they all headed into the night, knowing that they might all not survive to sleep another night.
They heard it before they saw it.
"Look!" Astrid said, pointing to the sky. They could see dragons flying in great swarms—like black clouds above them. Beyond them, they could hear the loud clattering and shouting of battle, even from this distance. Hiccup could hear the horrors—the screams and shouts, and they sent shivers down his spine. They broke into a run, Camicazi flying, through the trees, the din growing louder the closer they neared. They broke through the tree line, and before them was a scene that took their breath away. And not in the good way. Ten armies fought—chaos the only clear winner.
"Where do we start?" Hiccup asked, staring wide-eyed at the monstrous battle. He felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness. There were too many—too many dragons. Too many soldiers, both of the enemies and the Wilderwest. Too much chaos. There was no way anyone could win.
"I have no idea..." Eret said, sounding just as clueless as Hiccup was feeling.
"We work our way through," Astrid said. "Hiccup—you find Toothless. You know dragons, you can work on that big one—" she pointed at the impossibly large dragon near the shoreline, "That must be the dragon that's controlling the others. If we can stop the dragon attack, we can lesson Drago's effect. Camicazi, go with him, Hiccup still isn't good at flying. Eret, you and I will work our way through on the ground. I must get to King Stoick—and knowing him, he'll be in the middle somewhere."
"Right," Eret said.
"Are you sure you two will be alright?" Hiccup asked her worriedly, knowing that it would be quite a task to force a way through the chaos that seemed to stretch almost a mile.
"We'll be fine," Astrid said, "Just get up there—we're counting on you!"
"Nothing like a little pressure," Hiccup muttered, closing his eyes and envisioning wings. He felt the magic erupt through his back, still not quite capable of a smooth transformation. "Let's go," he told Camicazi, who nodded. The two took to the air, rising up above and heading towards the gigantic dragon. As always, Hiccup felt a thrill of excitement. Flying solo was a strange feeling—although he wasn't quite sure he liked it more than flying with Toothless. He looked down to see Astrid and Eret heading for the line of battle, and allowed himself a moment of worry, before Camicazi shouted a warning and he narrowly dodged a fire attack from a dragon. "Keep an eye out!" he shouted to her. "Mainly dodge them—don't attack them!"
"You sound like your mother!" Camicazi shouted back. They began to make their way towards the large dragon. "Any idea how to defeat this thing?" she asked him. The dragon to air ratio growing thicker and thicker the closer they neared to the large dragon, and it made flying dangerous. Luckily the dragons seemed, for the most part, not to notice Camicazi and Hiccup. It seemed they assumed all flying objects were also dragons—and therefore allies, not a threat. The main difficulty was not getting caught by a wing and hitting a dragon. Hiccup didn't put much trust in his ability to recover from that while falling to his death.
"No clue!" Hiccup called back, "Maybe if I got Toothless back…"
"How will you do that if he's being mind-controlled?" Camicazi asked, the moment Hiccup spotted the dragon. He thanked his fairy vision for a moment, before changing course and heading for Toothless, Camicazi quickly following behind.
As they flew closer, Hiccup saw a large man sitting on Toothless' back, and opposite him, was Valka on Cloudjumper. "Valka!" he called out, gaining their attention.
Valka looked at him in surprise. Her mouth falling open and her eyes widening. "Hakón!" she said, staring at him in shock—and hope. "Hiccup, what are you—"
"A fairy?" the man, whom Hiccup could only assume was Drago himself, said, staring at Hiccup wide-eyed.
Hiccup ignored him, hovering before Toothless. "Toothless…" he said, reaching out for the dragon.
The dragon winced, shaking his head as if clearing it of a dark thought. But it was not enough. The dragon was still ensnared by the greater beast behind him. Hiccup tried to put out a hand to rest on Toothless' snout, but the dragon shook him off.
Drago laughed—a cruel laugh. "That won't do you any good," he said, "He's mine now. You can try all you want—but you won't get him back."
Hiccup ignored him still, putting out a hand and looking directly in Toothless' eyes. "Come back to me Bud," he said, managing to put a hand on Toothless' snout. He felt something within the dragon—as if he could feel Toothless' inner eye opening ever so slightly. He saw himself as Toothless saw him, clouded and sepia and out of focus. Slowly, he saw Toothless' vision changing, becoming more clear and saturated. The dragon shifted again, blinking as his pupils expanded. A smile appeared on the dragon's face, and Hiccup gave out a triumphant smile.
"How did you do that?" Drago said, an almost awed tone to his voice. He did not have long to figure it out, fore soon Toothless spun in the air, dropping Drago from his back. As Toothless began to fall, Hiccup dove after him, keeping his wings close to him to speed himself along. He got into Toothless' saddle in mid-air, and soon the two were flying through the air.
"Why are you flying on your dragon?" Camicazi asked, speeding along beside him. "You have wings now, Hiccup!"
"Not the same!" Hiccup called back, looking down to see that Drago had disappeared. Where was he? Valka and Cloudjumper appeared next to them.
"I see you got Toothless back," she said, "Luckily Cloudjumper was not affected yet. We need to stop the Bewilderbeast, if we have any hope of stopping Drago's army. That is where his power lies. The warriors below have no hope of winning if they are assaulted by the air as well."
"Right," Hiccup said. He tore a piece of his shirt off, tying it around Toothless' eyes and earholes. "Trust me, Bud," he whispered, giving Toothless a comforting rub on the head, as he and Toothless turned around, and the five of them headed towards the Bewilderbeast.
"Just up ahead!" Astrid yelled out, cutting a man down as she rushed forward. She and Eret had been working for some time to cut their way through the masses. It took some getting used to, but thankfully neither she nor Eret seemed to have made a mistake. There were so many armies—it was difficult to keep track of who was on whose side. Normally Astrid would have kept count of her kills, but in this case, there was too much chaos to keep track. And she was desperate to reach her king.
King Stoick was just ahead, surrounded by a small army of Drago's men. Eret kept up with Astrid easily, and soon they reached Stoick. "My lord!" Astrid called out, joining Stoick's side and helping him take down the men surrounding them.
"Astrid!" King Stoick looked at her in surprise, before quickly and easily blocking a blow from another soldier. "What are you doing here? Did you find your sister?"
Astrid parried a blow and cut the head off one of the soldiers, "Yes," she said, "Well… I'll tell you about it later. Good news though, I found your son."
Stoick almost let a blow hit him, and barely blocked it in time. He quickly slashed the man's chest, before looking at her in surprise. "What did you say?" he asked.
"Your son," she said, grinning at him. "Turns out he's alive. You won't believe who he had been living with."
"Well, we'll discuss this in greater detail later," Stoick said. "For now, don't get killed. I want to hear everything."
"Right," Astrid said, "This is Eret, by the way."
"Charmed," Stoick said, without much effort. The three continued fighting, making headway with the enemies around them, before they heard a loud howl from up ahead that shook the air and ground alike.
The great dragon, the dragon Astrid assumed was the one controlling the others, was cowering away from something—a black dot of sorts. "Hiccup!" she said to Eret, pointing, "He must have gotten Toothless back and is fighting that dragon!"
"Not much of a fight," Eret noted, as they watched the Bewilderbeast turn and wade out to sea. "He's got him on the run."
"Look!" Astrid pointed to the sky, where dragons were flying off in separate directions. They were moving quickly, as if their life depended on them. "Its hold on them is gone!"
"Good!" Stoick bellowed, "Good for us, anyway. Those blasted things were quite a nuisance. Liked them better when they were just a myth. Now just to find Drago. Come, you two, you can provide cover."
"Yes, my lord!" Astrid said, as she and Eret sprung after the king, heading through the thick battle to where Drago was.
They did not go very far before a particularly large foe crossed paths with them. He brandished a large mace, and Stoick was just ready to charge him when something appeared, bowling the brute over. Stoick, Eret and Astrid stared in shock as a blond elf bludgeoned the man with a mace of his own. Finally, the elf stood. "Precious Macey," he whispered to the mace. "Again you and I are the perfect team…"
"Eret!"
A look of panic crossed Eret's face as he tried to duck behind Astrid, when Ruffnut appeared out of the chaos and tried to latch onto him.
"You can explain who these two are later," Stoick shouted over the din, "For now, let's make our way over there, shall we?"
Eret managed to shove Ruffnut to safety before blocking a blow from one of the enemy. Another attacked him from behind and Ruffnut cut the attacker with her knife. "Thanks…" Eret said, following Astrid as they hurried after Stoick.
"You can make it up to me by kissing me," Ruffnut said, following them easily.
Eret glanced at Astrid, looking for help.
Astrid merely shrugged her shoulders, winking at him, as they worked their way through the battle.
"Hiccup!" Astrid yelled out, breaking into a run and rushing over to Hiccup, who stood next to Toothless, Cloudjumper, and Valka. "Where's Drago?"
Had the situation not been so dire, she would have laughed—for Toothless was sniffing Hiccup's wings with a peculiar expression on his face.
"Ah," Hiccup pointed, and Astrid looked over to see a crumpled form not far away. "He dropped about a quarter mile. That will do some damage."
"He's dead?" Eret asked, "Well, that's… one way to do it."
Hiccup looked past Astrid and Eret to see Stoick standing there. The king's eyes were not looking at Hiccup, however, but instead were glued on Valka.
Valka was frozen as well, staring at Stoick with equal shock. "Oh…" she said, slightly breathlessly.
Stoick dropped his sword, and Astrid readied her own, ready to defend her king if one of Drago's men arrived and tried to attack him. Stoick approached Valka slowly, and Valka took a slow step away from him. They spoke quietly with each other, in voices so low Astrid could not hear them. She wondered if Hiccup could—with his newly enhanced hearing, but decided not to ask.
After a moment, the king and fairy kissed, before they spoke again, and Stoick turned to face Hiccup. He left Valka's side and walked over to them. "Hakón?" he asked.
"My name is Hiccup," Hiccup said, eyeing Stoick warily.
Stoick nodded mutely, walking over. Hiccup's eyes widened when the man pulled him into an impossibly tight hug. Astrid smiled, watching as father son embraced. "Now is not the time or place but… I would like to speak to you—after we clean this mess up," Stoick said, letting go of him, but cupping Hiccup's cheek with his large hand.
"Shouldn't take too long now that the dragons and Drago are gone," Astrid said. She turned to head back into the fray, but stopped. "Hold on..." She lifted up the shell around her neck, glancing at Hiccup, whose eyes widened slightly.
"Do you think…?" Eret said.
"No way…" Hiccup said. "But if they could…"
Astrid brought the shell to her lips, and blew on it softly. No real noise came out—no song like she expected. They all looked at the shore, only a few meters away, expecting something.
For a few minutes, nothing happened, and they were all of them resolved to continue on without thinking of it more, when suddenly the water began to boil with bubbles, and out from it rose a man.
And then more. Men and women who walked on two legs but were not entirely human.
And among them was Fishlegs.
"I'm always one for reinforcements," Stoick said. "But did they all have to be naked?"
"It's a cultural thing," Hiccup said, shrugging.
Fishlegs ran up to them, pulling Astrid and Hiccup into a tight hug. "So happy to see you," he said. "Don't worry, we'll get this war under wraps. We're pretty good at fighting when our blood boils. Eret!" he let go of Astrid and Hiccup and walked over to Eret, who put his hands up to stop him from getting too near.
"No hugs for me, until you get some clothes on," Eret told him firmly.
"Oh, right," Fishlegs said, looking down at himself, unabashed. "Well, Uncle?" he turned to the first merman who had come from the sea. "Shall we fight with the humans?"
"It's been a good few centuries since I've fought against humans," the merking said.
"Good," Stoick said, as he and the merking stared each other down. "Just make sure you fight the right side."
"Right," Eret agreed, adjusting his long knives in his hands, "Let's get started shall we? I kind of want to see the official reunion after all this is finished."
"Agreed," Astrid said, and they all turned and headed back into the fray.
Many lives were lost, but many were saved. And many lived.
Hiccup and Toothless walked side by side through the sea of corpses. Men and women alike. Those that had lived had begun piling the bodies and burning them, although Hiccup took no part in this task. He was exhausted, and all he wanted to do was curl up into a ball and go to sleep. Preferably for a thousand years.
He saw, up ahead, Stoick and Valka speaking again, and saw Eret and Astrid approaching him from another direction. Camicazi landed beside him, grinning up at him. "You're turning into a fine fairy, even if you are a boy," she said.
He laughed, an exhausted laugh, and Astrid and Eret broke into a run, dragging him into a bear hug between them. They all laughed when Toothless pounced on them, forcing them to the ground. "Get off, Toothless!" Hiccup laughed, shoving the dragon off. They sat there, not caring that they were probably sitting in someone's blood.
"Hakón—ah, I mean, Hiccup?"
Hiccup looked up to see Stoick the Vast, King of Berk, standing before him. He carefully rose to his feet, gazing at the man.
Stoick gave a short nod of his head as Hiccup bowed. "I thought I had lost you," Stoick said, stepping forward and reaching for Hiccup. His large hand rested on the side of Hiccup's face again for a moment, before dropping away.
"Aye," a loud voice said from Hiccup's right, and Hiccup looked over to see Gobber standing there. "If I had known you were Stoick's son, I would have brought you back as soon as I could. As it were—I only saw you as a newborn, and all you could say as a toddler was 'Hiccup'."
"Thank you, regardless, old friend," Stoick said, smiling at Gobber. He looked back at Hiccup. "I know you must have a lot of questions. And I know this must be a lot to take in…"
"Not as much as finding out I'm half fairy," Hiccup shrugged, smiling sardonically.
Stoick and Valka laughed.
"If you would like," Stoick said, "You can come back to the capitol with me. I know it is not the life you may have expected for yourself—but I am in need of an heir—an heir that is worthy of ruling Berk when I die."
Hiccup paused, glancing at Eret and then Astrid, who were gazing at him expectantly. "Will the fact I'm a changeling matter in that?" he asked, looking back at Stoick in uncertainty.
Stoick shook his head. "No," he said. "You are my son. Doesn't matter what you are."
"I will be going back to the capitol," Astrid offered.
Hiccup laughed, "Then I guess I have no choice."
"That reminds me," Eret said, looking at Valka, "I think you owe me an explanation."
"Oh," Valka frowned, before realizing something. "That's right, you're the dragon trapper."
"Dragon trapper?" Hiccup and Astrid looked at Eret in surprise.
"You never asked," Eret said defensively. "Besides, I've had just about enough of dragons. Besides you, of course," he gave Toothless a playful shove.
"Yes, I see you've a change of heart," Valka said, looking thoughtful. "Well, hand it over then," she said, holding out her hand.
Eret unhooked the tooth from his belt, and hesitated for a moment, before tossing it over to her. Valka caught it, and whispered something to it, before dropping it to the ground and stamping on it. Eret winced, before straightening his back and breathing out. "Thank you," he whispered.
"I wish I could undo what you did while under that curse," Valka said, "But I am afraid I cannot change the past."
Eret nodded. "For now, I will go with my new family," he turned to look at Astrid and Hiccup, who smiled back at him. "If you'll let me come with you to Berk."
"Of course," Stoick said.
"Now for the real reason I came along with all of you," Camicazi said, letting go of Hiccup's arm and taking a step towards Valka. "Valka, I have a message for you from the fairies. We want you to return to The North. You'll be given back your wings—and we want you to become queen in Angharad's stead."
Valka's eyes widened. "You want me to be… queen? Is Angharad dead?"
Camicazi nodded.
"Valka…" Stoick turned to her, reaching out for her hand. She hesitantly gave it to him. "If you so wish, you can return to Berk with me. If you so wish."
Valka looked between Camicazi and Stoick, conflict on her face.
"I…" she trailed off, before saying, firmly, "I will return to Berk—but as Hiccup's mother. He needs training to control his powers, now that they have awakened so brutally. But I will also return to the fairies."
Stoick smiled, squeezing her hand, "I understand."
"And Hiccup," Astrid said, breaking the comfortable silence that followed, "Hiccup drew the sword of the King of the Wilderwest."
"I noticed," Stoick said, beaming at Hiccup. "You may only be my heir, but I will make sure, one day, you sit upon the throne of all of the Wilderwest."
"I…" Hiccup put up his hands, "I'm not sure if that's quite what I—"
"Nonsense," Stoick chortled, "You'd make a great king, whether of one nation, or all of them."
"Oh—no, I'm… not sure I even want—"
Astrid and Eret nudged him in the ribs, silencing him.
"Well," Astrid said, grinning up at him. "What an interesting quest. I don't think any of us got what we were looking for."
"I did," Eret said, "I was freed from my curse. But I got so much more."
Hiccup put an arm around each of their shoulders, "I could use a bath, some hot food, and a good night's sleep."
"Well, we'll be heading back to Berk, and you'll get all those things for the rest of your life," Stoick said, and small group turned and walked away, a great feeling of relief rising up within each other them, for they each, in their own way, completed a quest.
EPILOGUE
Hiccup looked at his reflection in the mirror, adjusting his fine velvet clothing and cape. He would never be used to such fine adornments. But he would have to. After tonight, he would be legally the crown prince of Berk. He wasn't sure how he thought about that. And his father—it was strange to have a father now—was convinced Hiccup would soon be king of all of the Wilderwest. Hiccup was definitely not sure how he felt about that.
Toothless whirred beside him. "Thanks, Bud," Hiccup said, "But I'm pretty sure I look like a bunch of wet noodles in this."
"I wouldn't be so sure," he Astrid say from the doorway.
He looked over, taking in a deep breath. She was dressed in deep red silk, which clung to her chest and waist, and billowed out to her feet. "You look…" he trailed off, not trusting his words to properly express himself. "Beautiful…" he finished.
She smiled, and walked into the room. "And you look quite dashing—for a blacksmith. Or is it a tanner? Hunter? Monster hunter?" she paused before him, "No… you are… a fairy."
He snorted slightly, before saying, a little hesitantly, "And that doesn't bother you? That I'm… part fairy?"
"Bother me?" she cocked her head, thinking. She looked him straight in the eye, "No. It doesn't. In fact, I daresay it makes me like you even more."
"Like me?" he asked, smiling, "Well, that's good to know—" he gave a little gasp as she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him into a kiss. He froze for a moment, unsure of what to do, before melting into her kiss, putting his hands on her waist. After a moment, they broke apart. "What about you being a lady?" he asked her, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, a prince needs a wife, doesn't he?" she returned.
"Is that a proposal?" he asked, surprised, before grinning mischievously at her, "This isn't because I'm about to become a crown prince, is it?"
She punched him, almost hard enough to bruise. "You twat," she said, unable to stop herself from grinning back at him. "If we hadn't gotten interrupted all the time you'd know that I've liked you for a long time."
"I know…" he said, leaning in for another kiss. When they separated again, he said, "Although that one time you stopped it on account of propriety."
"Well, if you accept my proposal, we won't have to worry about propriety, will we?" she asked.
"I suppose not," he said, leaning in for yet another kiss, which she gladly accepted.
Finally, Toothless whined, and they looked over to see him covered his eyes with his claws. They chuckled, and Astrid said, "Shall we go meet the masses?"
"Your crown prince awaits your command," Hiccup said, mock bowing.
She grabbed his chin with her fingers, lifting him up to his full height. "My fairy," she corrected.
He blinked, and smiled. He took her hand in his, motioning for Toothless to follow them. Together, the three walked from the room, entering the hall where Eret waited for them, and the four walked together to their new, bright future.
THE END
Finished! This story has been long in the coming. I finished writing it back at the beginning of 2016, months before I started posting it here. It's such a relief for it to finally be finished!
Thanks so much for sticking with it till the end!
