Chapter 13:

Black Ash let out a low dragon-like growl, before standing up slowly, and slowly started to walk towards Marko and the others, who were still frozen, either with shock or fear. That was, until, Marko slowly stood up, and was about to walk to meet Black Ash in the middle of the Arena, but was stopped by Rachel grabbing his arm, shaking her head. But Marko still looked at Black Ash with a dead glare, and finally, Black Ash came to a stop, right in the middle of the Arena, and looked up.

Then Black Ash started to chuckle darkly, before saying, "At last...Freedom," and then there was a ripping of cloth, and out of his back came a pair of what looked like bat wings: great thin flaps of rotten black skin, connecting three main bones, covering in skin, and the wing itself seemed to come from Black Ash's shoulder blades. He then looked back at Marko, and said, "Until we meet again, Marko. Until we meet again." And with a large flap of his wings, Black Ash crashed through the chain covering the Arena, causing it to fall into the Arena, and Black Ash was nothing more than a small black dot in the sky.

Marko wrenched his arm out of Rachel's grip, gave her a cold stare, and slowly, started to walk up to one half of his mask. When he reached down to pick it up, Hiccup could see he was slightly shaking. When Marko stood up again, he was looking at the fractured mask, before shaking his head and dropping it again. Not looking at anyone, he made his way towards the entrance and was soon out of sight. Looking between themselves, Hiccup, Fradokos and Rachel, ignoring the crowd, who were once again talking between themselves, made their way to follow Marko, who was heading towards the Great Hall.

After a few minutes' walk, they arrived at the doors of the Great Hall, which had been left agar by Marko. Looking at each other, Fradokos pushed open the doors completely. All the torches had been lit for the feast after the fights, but no one had come down for after what had happened, except Marko. There, on one of the tables near the corner of the hall, sat Marko, a glass of mead in his hand, and a depressing look on his face. Looking at him with sympathy, Hiccup walked over to his friend and sat down next to him. Fradokos and Rachel followed, sitting opposite him. "Why are still near me?" asked Marko, looking at the three of them, "You've seen what's inside in. You two should know better than Hiccup," and he pointed at Fradokos and Rachel. Fradokos sighed, and Rachel reached out and placed her hand on Marko's, and said, "Marko, you know we're you're friends to the end, even if Black Ash was in you."

Hiccup spoke up, "So, who IS this 'Black Ash'?" At the mention of his name, Marko clenched his hand that was holding the glass into a fist, and let out a shaky sigh. Marko started, "He's a monster. Nothing more, nothing less. I've had him most, if not all, of my life. I've never told anyone, except Fradokos and Rachel. He's like the dark side of me: I'm like ice, he's like fire. It's hard being near each other, and yet we need one another. Years ago, we couldn't be apart from more than a couple of days. But now...we can survive without each other." But Hiccup was confused by this.

"But, isn't that a good thing?" Marko looked coldly at him, "No, it's not a good thing: when we couldn't survive without each other, I'd always know we become one again, but now, I KNOW he won't come back. He'll want to get as far away as he can. The last time he got out...he destroyed Molak." Hiccup was shocked: the great village of Molak, destroyed? "How?" asked Hiccup, but Marko was taking a great gulp of mead, so he couldn't answer, so Rachel answered for him, "Black Ash got released when Marko found out that someone had killed his uncle. That was the first time he really lost it: much like earlier, Black Ash came out with a flash of light and a crash. He destroyed everything: humans, dragons, houses: all up in flames. Only me, Marko and Fradokos managed to stop him: all the other people who tried had been killed. And then for some reason, Black Ash disappeared and went back into Marko's body."

But there was one thing that Hiccup didn't understand, "What do you think Black Ash wants?" Marko sighed and put down the glass, and said, "When he went back inside me, I felt a feeling that I never thought Black Ash could feel: remorse. He felt terrible for destroying Molak, so that means..." Marko stopped, and then started to breathe deeply. "Oh no. That means only one thing: he's going to level Berk, make it a new Molak." Marko stood up quickly, knocking over his glass. "I've got to find him," said Marko, moving away from the table and started to run towards the door. Sighing, Hiccup, Fradokos and Rachel got up from the table and, they too, started to run after Marko.

"Marko!" Fradokos called out, but Marko wasn't paying attention: he had stopped just outside the door and whistled for Ice. "Marko, you don't even know where Black Ash is! How are you going to find him!" stated Fradokos, but Ice had just turned up and Marko quickly strapped himself on and turned to the three of them, and said, "I don't care. I just need to find him, no matter what." And with that, Ice flapped her mighty wings, and they were soon flying high in the sky, and out of the sight of Hiccup and the White Fury tribe members view.

Black Ash – The Dragons Nest

After a lengthy flight, Black Ash landing on what he knew was the old Dragons Nest, now abandoned. He then tensed up and felt his wings melting into his back. After rolling his shoulders to make sure that it was all still comfortable, Black Ash chuckled lightly and started to walk over the rocky beach. Looking around, all he could see was the grey mists that surrounded the island and the great cliff that stood over him.

Black Ash let out a sigh of relief: he had been trapped in that waste of breath 'Marko' for too long, he was glad to be free of him. He looked up into the darkened hole of a cave in the face of the cliff: That must of been where that 'Hiccup's' tribe had attacked the Red Death, thought Black Ash, and looking around, he spotted the remaining bones of the dragon: the teeth alone were two thirds of Black Ash's height and some of the other bones that he couldn't recognise that were about three times his height, and were about his height in thickness, as well.

Black Ash turned around to face the shore at the sound of a ship running into the stones, and the general chatter of the crew. Smiling darkly, Black Ash slowly made his way towards the shore, guided by his hearing, for he was unable to see because of the mist. After another couple of steps, the front of a Viking long boat broke through the mist: its painted face was looking at Black Ash blankly. The sound of stones crunching together made Black Ash turn to the outline of a man that had just jumped off the boat: he was about the height of Stoic the Vast, as just as menacing looking. He had a great black beard that made it down to his chest, and dragging behind him, was a great black cape, and he was wearing a dark grey chain metal suit.

"So, I see that you got my message?" asked Black Ash, to which the new-comer nodded, and he pulled out something from behind him: it was an arrow, pure black from the sharpened front to the feathers on the end of it. "I take it your Black Ash?" asked the new-comer in a thick Scottish accent, and Black Ash nodded. Smiling in an evil manner, the new-comer continued "So is it true? What you said in the message? We're gonna level Berk?" Again, Black Ash nodded and said, "With your help, ATT, we will level Berk in under a day. All I need is your agreement." The man known as 'ATT' looked angered. "And why do I need your agreement?" he asked sharply.

Black Ash looked up and brought his right hand level with ATT's heart, and said, "Because you own me, Alvin." And he slowly started to push his hand forward, trying to make contact with Alvin's chest, but he was slowly backing away. "One touch is all it takes, Alvin: I was hesitant once, don't think next time I will be so kind," Black Ash whispered darkly, and Alvin nodded rather forcefully. Black Ash smiled softly, yet darkly, and whispered, "Good: then perhaps we can get started." Still looking at Alvin, Black Ash walked past him and climbed onto the ship, much to the dislike of the crew. "Hey, what are yer doing here?" shouted one of the crew, grabbing an axe and pointing the middle of the double edged weapon at Black Ash's throat. "NO! Don't let him touch you!" warned Alvin, but it was too little, too late: Black Ash had already grabbed onto the crew member's arm. The crew member gasped in pain, dropped the axe and tried to get out of Black Ash's grip, but he wasn't letting go.

Eventually, the man stopped struggling and leaned against Black Ash, who pushed him off and he fell on the floor, dead. The rest of the crew shouted in anger, grabbing their weapons and advancing on Black Ash, who merely stood his ground. But before they could come within five feet of Black Ash, he was blocked from view by Alvin (who was keeping a distance between him and Black Ash) and shouted, "Back off! Stay back or he'll kill you all!" That stopped the crew in their tracks. Black Ash emerged from behind Alvin, and stood beside him, facing the crew.

"Well, this is going to be fun," said Black Ash, an evil smile forming on his face.

Oh no, whats Black Ash planing? You'll have to wait, because Im not sure what chapter to put it in. And no, it's not going to be in Chapter 14. Also, I've put a pole on my aurthors page for the title of the sequel. So, if you can vote for your favourite one, I'll really like that.

-Nightfury991