Chapter 8:

There was Marko, sitting in the middle of the blacksmiths backroom, the desks being moved to the back of the room. With his back to where Hiccup was standing, and with his hood up, this made him look more sinister than he normally did. His head was bent over, and was looking at something that Hiccup couldn't see in the darkness, so he leaned a bit more to see it easier. But when he saw it, he regretted it almost instantly.

Laying on the floor of the blacksmiths, was a mask and a pair of swords, but there was something different to this mask and swords than what Hiccup was used to: the swords, which Hiccup had normally seen, were meant to be thick and heavy, these ones were long, thin, and they looked rather light. And they had what seemed to look like blood covering the ends. But the mask was the worst out of all of the things that lay in front of Marko.

The mask, from what Hiccup could see, was shaped to fit around Marko's, and only Marko's, face. And it seemed to be made of a black metal, though Hiccup couldn't tell, as the lack of light prevented him from seeing it properly. But from what he could see, there was two holes where his eyes were and third, smaller and thinner hole where his mouth was. There was a small sigh, which caused Hiccup to jump, but then he remembered that it was just Marko. He continued to watch him, and by which time Marko had picked up the mask, and was now placing it between the fabrics that made up his hoodie.

A nail rolled off the table that was near Hiccup, and made a loud thump as it hit the floor, which caused Hiccup's breath to catch in his throat, just as Marko turned his head to the left ever so slightly. "Who's there?" Marko asked in the icy voice that he used when he pulled down his hoodie in front of the other teens for the first time. Hiccup didn't make a sound, but Marko still started to stand up and when he reach his full high, he turned around to where the sound had come from, which was from the same direction Hiccup was in.

"I said, 'is there anyone there?'" asked Marko again, in the same, icy, dagger-like tone, but still Hiccup didn't answer, for he was still trying to get the breath that was lodged in his throat. After receiving no reply, Marko started to slowly, step by step, walk toward Hiccup, who by now had started to back away slowly; trying not to make anymore sounds that may cost him is life.

With reactions that Hiccup didn't know that he had, Marko was right in front of him in the split second he had blinked, which caused him to yelp in shock and fall down, causing him to knock some clumps of wood that were laying there on the table, and they went flying partway across the room, and by the time they had hit the floor, Marko was looking down at Hiccup, an amused look on his face. "Hiccup? Is that you?" Still a little nervous, Hiccup nodded, and then tried to get up, and after a few minutes struggle, Marko stuck his hand up, offering to help Hiccup.

After being settled up straight, Hiccup tried to look at Marko, but had more difficulty than usual, mostly because of the mask blocking from view. Seeing that Hiccup was wondering about the mask, Marko chuckled, which sounded much deeper than usual, and then said, "I take it you want to know about the mask?" he asked, but in a slightly less icy tone than before. Again, Hiccup nodded, before Marko

Reached up his hands to his face, his left hand under his chin, and his right hand just above his head, and slowly, pulled his mask off from his face, revealing his face again, and caused Hiccup to let out a relieved sigh, knowing that he wasn't going to kill him now.

Placing the mask on the table, Marko, facing away from the table, pulled himself up onto the table by his arms, taking a seat on the table. "It's the last thing that I have to remind me of my father." Explained Marko and Hiccup looked at the mask, and was then temporarily blinded by the light when Marko opened the back door, letting the light in, and to see that a lot more Vikings had started to make their way to the old Dragon Killing Arena.

"I got this from my aunt on my 10th birthday, and it was the only thing that they could find that was connected to my father's past...and my future..." Marko stopped suddenly, as though he wasn't meant to say something. Hiccup, now curious, asked, "What do you mean, 'your future'?" Marko didn't answer, but instead, picked up the swords, sliding them into sheath that were attached to leather straps on his back, and picked up the mask, and then put it back on, and a sense of eeriness coming along with it.

"Come on, it's almost midnight, we'll be late," replied Marko, ignoring Hiccup's question all together, and walked through the door frame, leaving Hiccup just standing there inside the blacksmiths, but he stopped, still within at least ten feet of the blacksmiths, turned around, and threw something at Hiccup, who were just able to catch in, and then he looked in his hand, and he chuckled lightly: it was the blacksmiths key.

"I'll see you there, Hiccup. I bet your father will be there, taking part," said Marko, and without a second glance, turned around and started to join the gathering crowd outside the Dragon Arena. Hiccup lost sight of him when he made his way between two Vikings, and after a few more minutes trying to find him again, he gave up and started to make his towards the top of the Dragon Arena, so he could watch: he didn't fancy getting another limb chopped off. And that was even if he made it through to first round...

As he tried to get a good view at the front, he noticed that his father wasn't at his normal seat at the front of the Arena: knowing his father, he would be taking part in the Fight's. His father had won the Fight of the Warriors the past ten years running: but now there was a newcomer, did Marko stand a chance? His thoughts were cut short as the other Vikings who didn't fancy getting any limbs hacked off either, roared as the other Vikings that were taking part in the contest, came out to the roars of the crowd and were shouting threats at random Vikings that were taking part. But strangely, Marko, who was receiving more threats than the other Vikings, wasn't looking at them, but was fitting the mask back onto his face, while other Vikings were mocking it, and him.

"You all know the rules!" shouted Stoic, who was standing in the middle of the Vikings in the Dragon Arena, and the roars of the crowd were silenced almost immediately. "You each get a choice of two weapons, and you fight until your opponent can't stand or they give up!" He was talking more to the Fighters than to the viewers. But at these words, Marko reached with both of his hands over his shoulders, and pulled out the two thin swords that he had. And all around him, all the other Vikings were handling their weapons, throwing dirty looks at one another.

"And now, the fights begin!" bellowed Stoic, and picked up his chosen hammer, and the crowd

Screamed and shouted louder than before. Within the Arena, weapons were being prepared and people were being chosen as targets, and soon, no sound filled the Arena expect the sound of weapons clanging together, and the shouts of people from around the Arena. As Hiccup's eyes swept across the Arena, he saw Marko, and he seemed to be fighting two Vikings off at once, and he seemed to be winning: one of them already had a bleeding arm and had dropped his weapon in his left hand, an axe, so he could try to stop the bleeding, and with a final blow of Marko's sword to his stomach, he fell, and two other Vikings came out from the entrance and, trying to avoid getting injured themselves, they dragged the fallen Viking out of harm's way.

Hiccup then turned to look at his father, who was winning every fight that he fought, judging by the bodies that were collecting around him. They will still breathing, from what Hiccup could see, though. They were now down to just fourteen people left in the Arena: Marko and Stoic included. And after another few minutes, there were only four people left: Stoic, Marko, and two other Vikings Hiccup didn't know the names of. Stoic, who had a cut under his left eye, was fighting a Viking that was carrying an axe and a shield, but one careful blow to the stomach later, and it was only Marko, who hadn't even got scratched, against a Viking who had a long cut running the length of his lower right arm, and he was carrying a spear, but he did look rather pale.

Marko spun the sword in his right hand around, and they both began to circle each other, listening to the jeers of the crowd. Marko looked the other Viking in the eye, and he the one thing that made him smile...fear. Marko started to advance on the Viking, who started to back away, swinging the spear wildly at Marko, who was always just out of reach from the sharpened tip. But when the Viking swung the spear a couple of times later, Marko dodged the tip and, with a powerful blow of the left hand sword, the sharpened tip and about another foot of wooden handle come off, and the Viking fell, but when he tried to get up, Marko stepped over him, and crossed the swords over his neck.

The crowd cheered wildly at the final two men standing and Stoic and Marko walked up to each other, nodded in a greeting sort of way and Stoic walked to the centre of the ring, and the crowd fell silent once again. "Well, there you go! We have our two Champions! Me and Marko!" The crowd cheered so much that Hiccup had to cover his ears for a bit. When he let go of them again, Stoic was going on about when the next and final fight would take place "...and the winner will get this! The Sword of the Viking!" And as he finished, two strong looking Vikings carried into the Arena a large, wooden crate.

As they slowly opened the lid of the crate, and blinding glow came out of the gap of the crate, and when it was fully opened, some of the crowd had their mouths hung open in envy: The blade was made of the shiniest steel that Hiccup had ever seen, and the handle seemed to be imbedded with real gold, and on the end of the handle, there was what appeared to be a small, metal Viking helmet, protecting the owners hand. And it also looked as though there were two, golden dagger ends coming out the end of the handle. Both Marko and Stoic were looking at it with longing: every time someone won the Sword, they had to give it back every time the Fight's came back on.

When they closed the lid again, and it was carried out again, Stoic finished off his speech, "Well, I hope to see you all tomorrow!" And with that, the Vikings started to disperse to do their daily jobs around the village. But Hiccup made his way towards the entrance of the Arena to wait for both his father and

Marko. His father came out first: the cut under his eye was still bleeding lightly, but all in all, he looked okay. His father saw him, chuckled lightly, and then walked up to him, and said, "So, you'll be hoping your old man wins the Sword, again?" Hiccup didn't answer immediately: he didn't want Stoic or Marko to die. When he noticed that his father was waiting for an answer, he quickly answered, "Um, yeah, yeah, I'll be cheering you on...as usual." His father smiled proudly, before walking off to do stuff that he needed.

Hiccup turned around to come face to face with Marko's mask, which caused him to jump slightly. Marko chuckled before taking it off completely, before looking at Hiccup, saying, "You're not still scared of this thing, are you?" He lifted the mask up, and now Hiccup could now see it easier: it was the same colour as his hair: jet black. It was also covered in a thin layer of crimson coloured liquid the Hiccup strongly thought was blood. It also had a thin line going through where the nose should be on the mask.

"Hiccup, I'm going to need the use of the blacksmiths again tonight." Hiccup nodded and handed him the blacksmiths key and Marko placed it in a pocket in his trousers. "Now, if you don't mind me, I'm going to go to the Great Hall." Hiccup nodded before saying, "You know what, I think I'll join you." And with that, the two friends started to make their way towards the Great Hall.