Here comes another update! However, in light of the previous chappie, I'd like to make a teeny-tiny request. I love your reviews and I absolutely adore what you all think - just make sure to not reveal spoilers in case new readers read them before they read the story.
Most of you can probably tell we're heading towards the end of this journey, so let's surprise anyone who may join us on this adventure. But please! PM me if you want to rant about specific points in the story and I'd be more than happy to reply to each and every one of you. Reviews are, of course, encouraged and appreciated. Just make sure you're not doing all the work for someone else by spilling the beans. ;)
Chapter Forty-Two: The Valkyrie
Hiccup, Rose, Valka, and Stoick all sat at the Great Hall's table, feasting for the first time since the Battle of Berk. They filled their bellies and shared stories of Hiccup and Rose to each other in an attempt to catch up after fourteen years of separation. Hiccup and Rose were laughing so hard at a comment Valka had said about Stoick on their wedding night, Hiccup's side ached and Rose broke into an unstoppable fit of snorting while everyone smiled, chuckled, and shook their heads at the reunited family.
It was the first time Hiccup had laughed that hard in… he couldn't remember. On top of that, the hall was full of people and food for once. Hiccup calmed himself from his laughter and Rose covered her mouth as Valka slyly nibbled on her bread. Stoick had resorted to a fit of bumbling, embarrassed at what Valka had said, which made Hiccup laugh again.
Rose drank out of her horn and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand as Hiccup leaned over towards his mother.
"So I've never seen the kind of dragon you fly," he noted.
"Cloudjumper is the last of his kind," Valka replied sadly. "I think he hatched an oddball, kind of like a Screaming Death born out of a Whispering Death mother."
"Toothless is the same. Before everything flipped upside down, I wanted to find a friend for Toothless, but… well, things flipped upside down."
Valka smiled empathetically as she placed her hand over his. She gave it a squeeze as Rose looked outside the hall doors, her eyes lingering on the moon. It was getting full, she noticed. She narrowed her eyes to see it clearer, still smiling at the happy conversation the family shared. But something warm trickled over her upper lip. She casually wiped it with her hand, but when blood showed on her knuckle, she paused. She furrowed her brows, a cold feeling entering her gut, as another drop of blood dripped onto the table.
Hiccup looked across at her and his smile dropped. "Rose?"
Rose didn't reply. Her eyes were vacant, her hand and face frozen as if she were lost in a dream. Valka reached across as Stoick turned to look at her.
"Rose?" Hiccup asked again. He stood and reached across the table, resting a hand on her shoulder.
The dreamland shuddered violently and suddenly, making Rose stumble and fall to a knee. She looked to the sky in alarm. Dagur appeared, staggering forward with his fingers tangled in his hair, screaming and cursing and howling. Rose scrambled to the other side of the tree and pressed herself flat against it. Dagur stumbled forward and fell to his knees, and just as fast as he'd arrived, he was gone.
The cove melted away into nothing. Rose spun around, trying to focus on something. Voices surrounded her and faded in and out of her mind, bombarding her from every direction.
"I feel no restriction. No limit. I feel nothing. Nothing but what the gods feel."
Rose covered her ears, wanting to scream, as blood trickled over her lips from her nose into her mouth. Flashes of Astrid cutting Dagur open with a bloody knife slammed into her head over and over.
"And once the entire Underground watches you burn, I'm going after Hiccup. And Thorvane is going to tear Toothless' wings off like parchment."
Rose fell to her knees as the wind howled around her so severely, it felt it was trying to undress her. Astrid bonded Dagur to a Skrill, the sight of him throwing Astrid into a cell. The vision of Mikhael's body blowing apart, his four aspects filling Dagur to complete the bond.
The wind disappeared, and Rose reared her head, looking into an endless stream of darkness. She couldn't see anything in the cloak of black, until a beam of light appeared behind her. She turned and scurried back on her backside, terrified, shielding the rays of white light from her eyes. A figure stood ahead, silhouetted in the light. It walked towards her, reaching out to her, a slender hand of milky white.
"What do you want with me?" Rose asked, her head pounding as blood dripped onto her shirt.
The figure said nothing as it glided across a floor made of glassy water. It wore robes of a magical fabric, changing colours from green to blue at any shift in angle. It circled Rose, staring at her with a blank face.
"Spirit Weaver," the figure whispered. The figure waved a hand, and a vision filled the sky.
The dark room transformed into a memory. Rose stood slowly in absolute awe as the black space above her turned into a night of endless stars, and the ground below her bloomed into a healthy meadow. The flowers glowed all around her and filled Rose with a feeling of security, warmth…
The Gate of Valhalla. Rose marvelled at the beautiful sky above her, wanting to reach out and touch a star that seemed so close to her hand. She stopped before she did, seeing the figure staring at her. She motioned a hand behind Rose, pointing a finger. Rose turned slowly, the traces of her smile fading. She wiped the back of her hand against her nose as her gaze fell upon a body.
It was Astrid the night she had been poisoned… she was floating towards the stars of Valhalla, about to die, about to fade. Her feet left the ground and she smiled as her body fell back gracefully, bearing her body to the stars above.
But something below her stopped her. The stars shuddered and she felt something tug against her in her lower back. It was as if a rope or a wire was tied around her spine at its base and refused to let her float up.
The rope faded in an out of Rose's vision. It was like a star; if she looked at it too long, she couldn't see it. But the figure pointed to the space between Astrid and the magical pond beneath her, a shadow flickered into sight. A tether made of woven strands of dragon nip and grass prevented Astrid from floating away, secured inside Astrid's body.
Rose didn't understand. She looked back up to the figure slowly, her heart skipping a beat. "Why are you showing me this?"
The figure said nothing, but it waved again, changing the image once more. The stars disappeared and turned into a black sky. Storm clouds loomed overhead, kissed with the soft tinge of orange as Berk burned. Trees grew from the ground and created a forest around Rose and the figure. Rose narrowed her eyes… she had been here before…
They were in the Berkian forest, the sounds of battle muffled by the trees. Hiccup's voice faded into the back of Rose's mind. She jumped and turned again, a gasp caught in her throat. She saw Hiccup, his body wet from the river after his leg had been burned by Sun Sap, staring at a younger version of herself, his body vibrating with rage. Rose watched Hiccup confront herself three moons ago, his words scarring her mind.
"You could have told us about the poison, about Alvin and everything! Astrid wouldn't have been poisoned, we wouldn't have lost our – I mean, none of this would have happened if you just said something!"
"Lost what?" Rose asked quickly. Hiccup didn't hear her.
"And why me?!"
"What did you lose?"
The forest morphed and trees began to cave in around the figure. It turned its head to stare down at Rose, who stared ahead at Hiccup, who continued to scream at her until Rose could hear no more. When the vision faded, Rose didn't move. Her hands were clenched into fists, ice filling her stomach.
Rose slumped out of her chair and crashed onto the floor. Everyone stood and Hiccup jumped over the table. He crawled over her and cradled her head, giving her limp body a shake. Valka and Stoick surrounded the pair of them, their hands hovering over her body.
"Rose!" Hiccup cried. "Rose!"
Rose's eyes rolled to the back of her head as blood trickled from her nostril down the side of her face. Her red eyelashes fluttered and her head lolled back and forth.
"What's happening?" Stoick asked quickly.
Hiccup lifted her into his arms, tossing her lightly to get a proper grip under her back and legs. Valka supported her head and the villagers all jumped out of the way as they walked from the hall towards the conference room.
"She's having a vision," Hiccup grunted as Stoick shoved the door open. His bed was still set up inside, and they rested Rose's frail figure under the furs. Valka cupped her face and cleaned Rose's cheek with her thumb, but more blood flowed forth.
"She's still bleeding," Valka muttered worriedly. She grabbed a clean handkerchief from her sleeve and placed it over her face.
"I'll send for Juniper," Stoick grunted, leaving the room. Valka looked up to Hiccup, who refused to tear his eyes away from his sister. He grabbed Rose's hand and gave it a squeeze.
The figure waved its hand one more time, changing the image back a few hours. The sun soared through the air until it stopped high above the Great Hall. Rose looked around herself, spinning in slow circles, as she tried to place herself. Unlike the other visions, Rose was unable to remember this place… she craned her head to look up the Great Hall's side, and she looked up to the figure.
"Is it gone?"
Rose jumped as Hiccup appeared. He stared above Rose's head, his words echoing in the memory. Rose turned to see where he was looking, and glimpsed Astrid glaring back at Hiccup.
"I don't know, Hiccup," she said firmly.
Rose's head turned this way and that, her chest throbbing with her racing heart.
"You've always known," he argued.
"Well, I don't," Astrid hissed.
Hiccup didn't move, but she could see the tears welling up above his lower eyelashes. He was trying so hard to remain passive.
Rose backed away from Hiccup as she watched tears spill over and cover her face. She backed into the figure. She jumped and squeaked, snapping her head up to face it as the figure placed a hand on her shoulder.
"You don't look upset," he muttered, heartbroken. Astrid's heart seized within her chest and the felt the sting of his words.
"I don't have time," Astrid said as she clenched her teeth.
The figure held Rose's stare as Hiccup and Astrid yelled at each other. Rose watched Rose stare at the image with a shocked expression contorting her face. "Wait…"
Rose coughed, tiny droplets of blood wetting Hiccup's cheek. Valka and Hiccup quickly pulled her upright into a sitting position to prevent the blood from her nose to pool in her throat. Her head slumped forward and rocked from side to side. Valka winced and pulled the hanky away from Rose's face, waving her hand in pain.
"She's burning up," she cursed. "It's never been this bad, has it?"
Hiccup shook his head. "Let me."
He grabbed the handkerchief and pressed it under Rose's nose. He hissed as her fiery skin burned his fingertips, but he endured. Dragon bonds created the warmest of fevers, and sweat pooled over Rose's back. Her shirt clung to her skin as she began shivering, her eyes still fluttering rapidly.
Rose stared between Hiccup and Astrid as Hiccup's face contorted into pain. He threw his hands in the air and waved them about, and Rose cowered slightly as it became hard to breathe.
"You always do that," Hiccup spat.
Astrid pursed her lips. "What?"
Hiccup flapped his hands about unnecessarily, angry and biting back tears. "You always pretend that nothing gets to you!"
Rose stumbled back, staring up as the image surrounded her, screaming at her the answers she had been looking for.
"As if the possibility of losing our child means nothing!"
"No…" Rose whimpered. Tears had covered her face, even though she didn't feel she was crying. The figure watched the image as it continued, voices echoing in and out of Rose's head.
Astrid stared at him, mouth open and eyes wide. "I never said that. You think I asked for this?"
"No!" Hiccup countered. "But it would be nice for you to show me an emotion that made sense!"
Astrid shoved him back, her heart aching. "Shut up!" she shrieked. No one was around, but if they were, she didn't care. Hiccup paled and stepped back. "I felt my soul get torn away from my body! Do I know if it's still there? No, I don't! And frankly, I don't want to know. Not right now. Not today! I can't handle any more shit today! Okay?!"
She slapped her hands over her mouth to shut herself up. Her face was wet, her body shook, her blood burned. Hiccup clamped his mouth shut and sucked in a breath. "Astrid, gods, I'm sorry."
Astrid shook her head and raised a hand, shutting him up, almost ashamed of him, almost ready to walk away.
"If anything happens, if they come for us, if they try to take Berk, you have to make sure you come out of it alive. You fly to the cove with Toothless, pretend you're dead, anything to make them turn tail and have no reason to stay."
She said it without room for question. She couldn't get upset yet. She was almost certain about its fate. Her scarred body couldn't keep it, but to think of that… there was too much shit heading their way for her to think about that. To grieve would risk everything.
The image disappeared and silence filled Rose's being, filling her with emptiness. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. Only strangled, incoherent noises left her throat.
Hiccup growled and tossed the soaked square of fabric over his shoulder. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and placed it under her face as her nose flowed freely, coating everything in red.
"Rose!" he yelled, trying to wake her up. "Can you hear me?! Rose!"
The figure stared at Rose as she trembled in place, surrounded by emptiness. A distant voice filled her head once more, with no image accompanying it.
"Astrid was so far in death that I had to give more in order to save her. Two parts of my being went in her place, hovering in limbo until I die to appease the gods."
And nothing. There were no more voices, no more images. Rose stood there shellshocked and afraid. She wrapped her hands around herself. She tried to breathe but no air would come.
The figure walked behind her, brushing against Rose's back. Rose closed her eyes and she sobbed through her teeth.
Juniper rushed in behind Stoick, and Valka jumped out of the way. She was about to press her hands to Rose's skin before Hiccup waved her away.
"Don't touch her, you'll burn!"
Rose twitched, a moan escaping her lips, her skin pale and clammy.
The figure stepped in front of her and Rose looked up at its face. Green eyes looked down on her and Rose's lower lip trembled. A voice gently entered her mind, but the figure's mouth didn't move. Rose heard the creature speak, and her eyes widened, a single tear falling from her eye down her face.
Rose's head snapped up suddenly, startling everyone around her. Hiccup jumped back, Rose's skin too hot for even him to touch. Steam drifted from her sweat-drenched skin. She looked right at him, but her eyes were no longer hers. They glowed with a fierce need, and a terror struck Hiccup's heart as Rose stared at him.
"Time is running short," she said with an unfamiliar voice. Hiccup staggered back as her eyes began to glow, light wafting from them like smoke, her voices layered like a dragon's.
"Who – what – who are you?!" Hiccup screamed.
"I am the Valkyrie, and you must hurry. Time…"
The glow faded, and Rose's head fell once more. Her whole body folded over and almost tumbled out of the bed. Stoick and Valka both made a move to catch her, and caught her before her head hit the stone. They lifted her back into the bed, touching her face as it cooled, as the blood from her nose slowly stopped flowing, their shaky voices trying to coax her back.
Rose's eyes snapped open, a scream exploding from her throat. She entered a fit of violent shivers, tiny shallow breaths whistling through her tight lungs and Valka and Stoick held her down, embracing her and rocking her, soothing her.
"It's okay!" Valka said quickly as Stoick rocked her back and forth upon the bed. "We're here!"
"H-H-Hicc-Hiccup!" Rose sobbed hysterically. She closed her eyes and sobbed as air tore in and out of her body. Hiccup found himself and he moved to her slowly, but couldn't shake a feeling that had burrowed itself in the pit of his stomach. Rose pushed herself away from her parents, and she tried to get out of the bed, desperate to reach her brother. "Hiccup!"
Hiccup caught her as she stumbled into his arms. Her legs were weak, trembling. She looked up at him and Hiccup noticed the terror in her eyes.
"She needs to go back to bed!" Juniper said quickly.
"No!" Rose screamed. Everyone silenced as she hung her head again, shaking. "We – we need to go. Now, we need to go now!"
Hiccup furrowed his brow, trying to keep up. "What?"
Rose shook her head and placed a fist above her ear. "They have Astrid!" she cried. Hiccup's grip tightened on Rose's arms as she repeated it over again. "They have Astrid they have her they have her!"
"What do you mean?" Valka asked, suddenly harsh and hard, her jaw clenching.
"D-Dagur, Astrid bonded Dagur, he's – he's – he threw her away into a cell, he's –"
Hiccup gave her a rough shake, forcing her to look at him as his wild eyes searched her for any untruths.
"He waited till I left," Valka spat. "Barb."
"What about Barb?" Hiccup asked.
"Dagur's men captured her when she was turned around by a storm, she told Dagur everything. The bond, the Saviour, everything!"
"What did you see?!" Hiccup asked loudly, almost yelling into Rose's face. She grabbed his blood-stained shirt and held him tightly, as if he were holding her over a cliff.
"You never told me," she choked, "you never told me, you should have told me!"
"Told you what?" Hiccup asked desperately.
Rose's lip twisted as she sucked in a sharp breath. She locked eyes with Hiccup and begged him with every part of herself. "You – your baby."
Hiccup clamped his mouth shut and caught his breath. He leered down at Rose, eyes wide and his heart stopped beneath his breast. Everyone stared at Hiccup – Valka and Stoick both paled and Juniper slowly averted her eyes.
"You should have told me," Rose repeated.
Hiccup gave a slight shake of his head, a lump in his throat. But Rose saw the tears well in his eyes as he tried to look away, and Rose tore away from him.
"We have to get Astrid out of there," she stated, her strength and her wits returning to her. "That vision – we won't have another chance if we wait."
"Wait –"
"Do you trust me?" she asked Hiccup sharply, a hand on his chest. Hiccup didn't move, a hesitation freezing his legs, his arms. "I know I may have taken moons away from you and her… and you have no reason to put any faith in me… but I need you to."
Valka and Stoick watched in silence as Hiccup's face hardened, and colour returned to his cheeks. He grabbed Rose's wrist and kissed her firmly on the forehead before stepping around her. He looked at his mother and father and they looked up slowly, sadly.
"I didn't know," Stoick choked, barely making any sound.
"It wasn't meant to be," Hiccup replied quickly, his voice breaking. "Mum, can you fly us back to where they're keeping everyone?"
"Aye…" she replied reluctantly.
"And Eret can lead the ships."
"It's a long journey. At least three days' ride by dragon."
"Not our dragons," Stoick countered. "If our son has a purpose, he can break barriers."
"And our water dragons will drag the ships faster than the wind will take them," Rose finished.
"We'd be flying in blindly," Stoick spat. "Val, what are our options."
"There is a single port," she said quickly. "It looks like a sea cave at low tide and it leads into the rest of the compound."
"Only the one?"
"Aye, and we'd only be able to breech it if the snow hasn't plugged it already."
"We'd better move," Rose stammered. "It'll take us until dawn to get the dragons ready, if we wait –"
Hiccup was already on the move. He left the room and entered the main hall once more, jumping up the stairs to the throne three at a time. The feast hushed after a few tense moments, and Hiccup took a deep breath.
"There's been a change in plans," he stated strongly, images of Astrid's face dancing behind his eyelids. Everyone looked up at him. Cauli stood and Netmug peered up at him. "Netmug, where is Barb?"
Netmug scoffed and everyone mumbled and groaned quiet complaints. They were worried for a moment.
"She never eats dinner with me," he laughed sardonically.
"Dagur and his men have captured her," Hiccup replied darkly.
Netmug dropped the turkey leg he was eating from and he stood slowly. "Is that a joke?"
"It's no joke," Valka replied to him. "She told Dagur everything about us. I flew here to warn Hiccup but I didn't know she had a husband."
"You're damn right she has a husband!" Netmug yelled. "Where is she?!"
"Probably dead by now, that was three days ago." Valka shook her head and gave a defeated shrug. "He has the upper hand now."
For once, Netmug's face dropped, a twinge of feeling at the edge of his features. Cauli's peeked over, a frown on her lips.
"What do we do?" Snotlout asked. "If he knows everything, then –"
"We're flying out," Stoick grunted officially. The hall began to vibrate with nervous prattling and whispers.
"Open the storm doors!" Hiccup ordered. "Everyone brave enough to ride a dragon will do so. Thunderdrums, Scauldrons, and other water dragons will drag the ships over sea. If we leave now, we may be able to make it to Alvin and Dagur before they make it to us. So let's move."
Benches and chairs scraped across the floor as people left the hall in waves. Hiccup watched them leave, but couldn't move himself, as Stoick relayed the plan to the dragon riders, who all ran off in separate directions. Cauli and Netmug both barked orders to the foot soldiers, and soon everyone had somewhere to go. Rose moved to pass him and he grabbed her arm, pulling her to him so no one could hear him speak.
"You said Astrid bonded Dagur?" he asked gruffly.
Rose gave him a terse nod, her body shaken and cold. "She did…"
"What about what you told me?" Hiccup continued loudly. "When – when you bonded us, you had to give a part of yourself away, is that true? Did… did Astrid do that?"
Rose furrowed her brow and closed her eyes. "Someone… jumped in the way. He inadvertently completed the bond and… sacrificed all four of his aspects at once."
Hiccup shook his head, trying to grasp the meaning of her words. "What does that mean?"
"It means Dagur now possesses four times the strength we do. It means we have to be careful. It's… why we have to get everyone out of there now."
He nodded slowly, closing his eyes and cursing under his breath. "Go. Get ready."
Hiccup left the hall last, summoning Toothless silently as he left the protection of the hall. He slowed and looked up at the sky, something catching his eye and stopping him in his tracks.
White flakes of snow floated to the ground around her feet, sticking to the ground. And as Snowdrop flopped over to roll around in the fresh white powder, Hiccup felt a flake of snow kiss his cheek and melt into his hot skin.
Eret and his crew returned to their ship, pulling the sails down and throwing ropes into the water.
"I don't want to help," Mehran whined. "We're all gonna die."
"I'd rather be on this side of things when things get messy," Eret grunted as he tightened a knot around a hitch. He looked up at the dark sky and put his hand on the hilt of his short-sword, reminding himself it was there. Ruffnut approached the boat slowly and caught Eret's eye as he let go of the rope. She motioned for him to come to her, and he jumped back onto the dock quickly. He wanted to say something to her, but Ruffnut made him forget his words. He shut his mouth and awkwardly squirmed for a split second before Ruffnut said anything.
"Thanks," she said bluntly. "For, you know… saving me."
Eret's shoulders relaxed and he bit his cheek.
"You don't need to thank me," he replied.
"I know, but still. This… is a big deal to me, so yeah."
And she turned on her heel and left, climbing into her Zippleback saddle and looking to her brother before they took off above them, leaving Eret with a smile on his lips.
As light began to turn the black sky above Berk grey, Hiccup tightened the buckles of his riding gear. He checked the loops attached to his wing suit and cranked his leg over to secure it to Toothless saddle. Hundreds of dragons had been mounted and reined by Berkians and other alliance members too anxious to retrieve their family members. Stoick had sent Thornado, his Thunderdrum, to the ships, where they had been tethered together tightly and sent out a few hours beforehand to get a good start. Rose had found him a Rumblehorn to fly, which Stoick lovingly called Skullcrusher, and they all waited for Hiccup's command.
Everyone was flying into this fight. Women and men all had swords tied to their belts, their children and the elderly locked away safely in the tunnels of the Great Hall with enough food to last them a few weeks. A single ship and captain stayed behind as well on the other side of the island close to the bay Stoick had taken Snowdrop through the night of the battle.
Everything was as complete as they could make it, and everyone took a few shallow breaths as Toothless carried Hiccup towards the edge of the cliff.
After all we've been through, Toothless murmured in his mind. I'm happy you shot me all those years ago.
Hiccup smiled tightly. "Me too, bud. And I'm glad you bit off my leg."
I'll be with you until the end.
Hiccup's eyes stung, and he gave Toothless a scratch behind the fins.
Love…
"I love you, too bud."
Valka reached up to Stoick on his Rumblehorn, resting her hand over his as he secured himself in his saddle. Hiccup watched his father lean down to kiss his mother, and a sad feeling crept into his stomach. He hated to do this the evening of their reunion. But Valka turned and looked to Hiccup again and gave him a small smile as she mounted Cloudjumper. She led them, jumping off the cliffs and twirling in the air as Cloudjumper soared up into the clouds. Hundreds of men and women howled and cried out, beating their chests as the dragons beneath them shrieked and roared. Hiccup shot after her, and Rose shot after him. Soon, everyone was in the air, squinting through the snow as it pelted their faces, everyone sending a small prayer to the gods above.