Chapter 3

Metal Magic

"GOOD GOD WHY?!"

I burst out laughing as Hiccup stared, horrorstruck, at the laptop screen in front of him. Unsurprisingly, curiosity had finally got the better of the Viking, and he'd finally gotten around to asking me how to use a computer.

Okay, so granted that in itself doesn't sound worthy of an outburst like Hiccup had just released, until one realizes he had asked me to show him the website with all the stories I had been reading about his original movie. There are some amazing tales people have thought up, but unfortunately, bad always comes with good. Right alongside the great stories, there are also things that would make any person in their right mind recoil with disgust or horror (one reason I had become very, very picky about what I read on there), and Hiccup had managed to stumble on one of the worst.

He glanced over his shoulder at me. "This is sick! Why on earth would people imagine things like this?!" he vented. I shrugged. "Eh, probably for the same reason every other twisted thing exists in this world, or yours. You learn to spot which stories are good reading, and which ones are demented just from the summaries usually."

Hiccup took another disgusted look at the screen, before quickly closing the tab. "Ugh. If the stories people write are like that, I would absolutely hate to see what kind of pictures or art they come up with to go with it." I shuddered. "Yeah, stumbled across that a couple times; wouldn't recommend it." He nodded in agreement before getting up out of the chair and closing the computer completely.

We stepped out the back door, and headed in the direction of the portal. "So, you wouldn't happen to have any extra time today, would you?" he asked. I reached down into my pocket and glanced at my phone. "Eh, about four hours or so before I have to pick up Holly, plus I don't have to work for a couple days yet, so I have a little."

That was one good thing about college: while there aren't many days off during the actual semester (just wall-to-wall school days), I did get out practically the first week of May (three finals don't count, in my opinion), while my poor sister was stuck in middle school for another month yet. Save for work, I now had all sorts of time on my hands.

"Great, because Ember and I were hoping to get your opinion on what to do with that odd metal," Hiccup continued. I nodded. "Yeah, was wondering about that stuff. With the last couple weeks I'd forgotten to take a closer look. It's similar to an alloy in one of those stories like you just read (Hiccup gave another grimace, making me smile); the author called it myssteel, which while I might change the pronunciation a little, I kind of like." We stepped through the portal, greeted by Toothless as we did so, and as soon as Hiccup mounted his saddle we took off.

"By the way, you have been pretty busy for the past month or so, so I never did get the chance to talk to you about what you did to Toothless and I," Hiccup drawled. I smirked in response. "Oh? And how's the experience been so far?" I queried innocently. "Well, other than the fact that I've heard an obscene level, pun intended, of conversations from the more wild dragons about the approaching mating season in a month or two, it's been rather interesting," he replied, then patted Toothless on the head. "Oh, and I also understand just a little bit better why this one gets on your nerves occasionally. Are we really so sarcastic that it's rubbed off that much on him?"

Toothless only nodded, and I snickered. "Well, can't be too surprising it'd rub off," I said. "Yeah, but you don't have to live with him," Hiccup countered. "No, but I do have to deal with Holly on a daily, sometimes hourly, basis. Which would you put down as worse?"

There was a bout of silence as the Viking thought this one over, before he sighed. "Okay, I think you win that one." I chuckled again, then focused on the dragon. "And what about you Toothless? Any interesting changes?"

Toothless glanced over at me, and smirked. "I scared the pants off Stoick when I suddenly started talking like this all of a sudden instead of Dragonese a few days ago, he replied, the smirk growing into a grin. "Oh, and a couple villagers here and there got the same." "Well, good to know it's working for you then," I replied. "Or, at least entertaining you."

Yeah, okay, so some people are going to think that I'm insane for doing that, letting Toothless speak English and Hiccup understand Dragonese, but there was good reason for it. There is no more iconic a dragon than Toothless, and Hiccup was already incredibly close to the dragons, so a little extra communication there never hurts. Plus, the next time we got into a skirmish (it was a question of when, not if) and Hiccup and I both had our hands full, it would be best if they didn't have to find me for quick translations when necessary.

We landed in front of the smithy, and sauntered in to find Gobber and Ember sifting through a pile of the fragments of metal they'd stored away in the nearby shed, with Astrid looking on from nearby. Ember looked up as we walked in, and held up a large shard, gleaming like it had been freshly polished.

"While you two were off and away, we tried melting this stuff in the bellows," she said, "and nothing happened." "Aye, and it got quite warm, but not a thing could bend it," Gobber added. He hobbled over to one of the work benches and picked up a large iron hammer, one that now sported an impressive dent straight down the middle. "This is the hardest hammer I've got, an' it's been warped! I'll have te reshape it entirely later."

I nodded. "Yeah, Mysteel is pretty tough stuff." "Mysteel?" "Similar to a name from another of those stories I read, and one I happened to like. It seems to fit here; an extremely strong, shiny metal, though our version appears to lack the magical properties of the fictional version, thank goodness."

Gobber nodded, clearly in deep thought now, as he gazed at the pile. "So…how do we melt this stuff so that we can use it?" He picked up a shard again and looked it over, lost. I held out my hand, and he handed me the piece.
"It's going to get pretty hot right here," I warned, and as the others backed up to a safe distance, I focused on heating my hands up. The temperature skyrocketed as they began to glow red, then turn practically white with heat. The Mysteel shard changed color only slightly, dulling to a barely glowing molten red before beginning to puddle in my hands.

"It takes temperatures at least equal to Toothless' fire, around 3500 degrees Fahrenheit or more, to actually melt it," I said, and gestured to Ember. "You might be able to produce enough heat to do so, but otherwise you'll need Toothless or one of the Nadders to help when working this stuff. I'm pretty sure the bellows would begin to melt before the metal will."

I glanced at Hiccup. "Mind grabbing me a small mold somewhere that we can use?" He nodded and walked over to the other end of the shop, rummaging through a pile of who-knows-what and returning with a small metal mold designed for a dagger. I nodded and, after he set it down, poured the metal into the hole on the end. After a few seconds, the glow disappeared from within and the metal began solidifying.

I touched the outside of the mold and flash-cooled it, allowing for the mold to be opened to reveal a solid metal dagger, albeit with somewhat ragged edges. Carefully, I heated my fingers and squeezed the sides down to a uniform razor edge, and held it out to Gobber. "Got something to test it on?" I asked. He took it carefully in his large hand, and looked around. After a minute he took out a thick oak log from under his desk.

"This is one o' the ones I use fer testing axes," he explained, "but considering what this stuff did te our shields a couple months ago, better safe than sorry. And, Ah'm curious as te just how well something this small works."

He set up the log on a flat rock outside, balancing it so it wouldn't roll away before, lining up the small blade carefully, he swung the dagger down toward the wood.

Nothing happened. At first, it looked like Gobber had missed the target completely. Then, he pulled the blade of the dagger out from the rock underneath the log and held it up. Not even a scratch was present on the surface.

"Tha' works better than I thought it would," he noted, "considerin' how light it is." He looked back down toward the target, and a moment later, the oak log rolled off its perch, two perfect halves traveling in separate directions and revealing the deep, clean groove cut into the stone's surface as well.

I glanced at the teens, and immediately noticed Astrid, with a smile quickly spreading across her face. "Alright, dibs on a new axe," she said excitedly. I chuckled. "Oh, I think we're going to do more than that," I commented. "This is too good to waste; we're going to outfit everyone, starting now."

The next three hours were spent in the smithy, working the odd metal as best as we could and molding it into all sorts of new shapes. It was slow going, as while both Ember and I had an advantage, being we could melt the metal in our hands, only I had the experience from hanging around Hiccup to shape the finalized pieces. Hiccup and Gobber meanwhile had to rely on Toothless' help to melt the Mysteel, and it took some practice but they managed to eventually figure out how to use the dragon as an effective smelter.

Our first project was simple: we fashioned entirely new models of the team swords that Astrid, Hiccup, Camicazi and I already carried, except this time we made one for each of the teens. The swords turned out better this time around than I had hoped, and with my and Hiccup's refined practice the carved names and symbols turned out clearer and more concise, everything refined perfectly using a little magnetic manipulation. And, like the dagger, we quickly discovered that they had the capacity to split stone.

"Remind me not to give these to the twins until they actually need them," Hiccup commented, holding the pair meant for the two rambunctious teens. I nodded in agreement. "Yep, let's store them away until we're actually in the middle of battle."

Following that, came Astrid's new axe, complete with a carved metal handle, and she and Hiccup both requested an extra sword, just in case. Then came a pair of curved katana-style swords for Cami, and Hiccup said he was going to hold on to them and install something a little extra to fit the mischievous heir.

We built a pair of double-sided spears for Ruff and Tuff, and a set of heavy hammers each for Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Thuggory. We also found it fitting to make a short sword for Fish.

Within the space of a few hours, we'd managed to produce standard weapons for nearly everyone in the team, and upon a glance within the storage shed, we had barely dented the supply as well. One last project was left, though, and in the hour I had left before I had to pick up Holly I intended to finish it for our newest team member.

I turned to Ember, a knowing smile on my face. "There's still the matter of your weapon of choice," I said. She shrugged. "Arrows aren't hard to make," she replied. I nodded. "Yes, but we're going to make something a little different, special." Turning, I grabbed a small mug off one of the shelves above Gobber's work bench.

"Oi! What are ye plannin' te use that fer?" he queried. "Harvesting," I said, grinning and exposing my teeth. I felt the two upper canines in my mouth lengthen and hollow out, and carefully I hooked the tips over the edge of the mug. Focusing, I felt muscles squeeze down on the sides of my face, and from the two fangs, venom began to drip down, collecting in the bottom of the container. Soon, there was a small pool of the potent yellowish liquid in the mug, and I set it carefully on the bench.

"I'll find a more permanent container for it later, or make one," I noted. "Piffleworm venom is probably one of the most potent compounds I can think of, and we're going to make Ember some arrows that can carry it."

Unsurprisingly, they all looked at me oddly. "Out of curiosity, why?" Hiccup asked. "How many times does any archer manage to make a killing shot on the first try?" I countered. "If we're on the battlefield, a quick win is always the best. Piffleworm venom acts within 30 seconds or less, even if it's just a small scratch to the arm." I held up the mug again. "And even with just this, we have a lot to work with. The only problem is," I glanced at both Hiccup and Gobber, "I'm not exactly sure how to make an arrowhead that will hold the venom."

There was silence for a moment, then Hiccup disappeared into his back room. We all heard papers rustling around, followed by a *CRASH!* "Ow!"

"What are ye doin' in there, Hiccup?" Gobber asked, hobbling toward the doorway and sticking his head into the back room.

"Remember that bow we made when Orhaganuz made his first visit here?" Hiccup called out. "And Ingavar?"

Toothless growled in response. ::Please don't tell me you kept that thing around,:: he muttered. Hiccup reappeared with a few sheets of paper under his arm, smiling and shaking his head. "No, don't worry, I got rid of it, but I kept a couple of the charts and diagrams we had for it." He moved some things out of the way and unrolled the sheets on Gobber's desk. Then he pointed to the schematic, which showed the design we had made for holding pieces of eel in the arrowheads.

"These were designed to break apart on impact, but if we made the inner compartments smaller, and the sides of the head fully attached to one another, each of the four sides would all hold small pockets of venom." Hiccup turned and walked over to the pile of Mysteel and picked up a small sliver. "If I'm right, too little weight at the tip and it won't fly, so it would be best to make the heads out of steel and then coat them in the Mysteel, but the shafts and fletching we can make out of pure Mysteel. That means they can be really thin, and we can make a lot too. Hundreds could be carried in one quiver without issue."

He gestured to the scrap storage shed outside. "If someone would go grab some of the steel we've got, we can get started on this right away. There's no way we'll be finishing a couple hundred, but at least a few dozen for now."

After an hour, using the thinnest mold we could find, Ember and I had crafted over a hundred shafts, though I was stuck making the fletching since no one else could shape them quite right (magnetic control is wonderful for that sort of thing). At the same time, Hiccup and Gobber spent half that time arguing about how to make the arrowheads (and Astrid spent her time yelling at the two of them to quit acting like five-year-olds), so finally when they got it sorted out and determined that they could coat the heads by dipping them into the molten Mysteel for a very short time, we had only a small handful of completed arrows.

"Want to test one?" Ember asked, holding up one of the finished items. She tried to bend it, since the shaft was thinner than your average pencil, and it didn't budge. "Without the venom of course," she amended. "It certainly feels sturdy enough."

I nodded. "I've got like five minutes before I need to leave and pick up Holly, so I can stick around to watch you guys test one."

"Use this," Gobber said, lifting up a different kind of heavy oak target, one designed for archery, "an' make sure tha' no one's in the way when ye fire." I smirked and took the shield, walking outside and setting it up in the clear plaza out front. No one was nearby, oddly enough considering it was midafternoon, though a shadow did pass by overhead signifying Orha had returned to the shop to see what was going on. After he landed, wisely out of the path of the target, I moved out of the way and signaled Ember that it was clear.

She nodded, and pulled out her bow, stringing the arrow and taking aim. After a couple seconds she pulled the string taut, lined up, and fired.

There was a whistling noise and a flash as the arrow passed by, glinting in the overcast light, and then only the slightest scraping noise sounded as it passed into, and through, the target.

Carefully, I walked up to the target, and found only the wider fletching still barely visible sticking out of dead center. The arrowhead itself was embedded halfway through the metal backing of the target stand.

"How'd it do?" Gobber called as I picked up the target, bringing it over to the group. I dropped it in front of the smith and Ember, and gestured to what little of the arrow was still visible. "You tell me," I replied, smirking. Ember bent down and pulled at the arrow, before gasping as the entire shaft slipped out like it was in butter.

"Oh. My. God," she whispered. I set a hand on her shoulder, smiling. "Congrats Ember, you've got a weapon truly fit for a guardian now," I said.

"I'll say," Hiccup muttered, walking over from the forge door. "Figure out a way to make Mysteel flexible, and she could have indestructible arrows and a bow."

I shrugged. "We can always start by coating the bow in plating," I suggested. "But, that will have to wait until another day unless you guys want to deal with that on your own. I've got to head off now."

I turned to leave, before one more thought struck me. "By the way, anyone seen Spitfire recently?" I asked. "I had something to ask him, but haven't been able to find him." They all shook their heads in response.

"I saw him a few days ago; he said he was going out hunting," Orha said, looking up from where he lay, "but he hasn't shown up since. Or, I haven't seen him at least."

An odd feeling wormed its way into my gut at that, seeing as how the Changewing usually didn't disappear for more than a few hours before showing up around the village, but waved it off for the moment. Perhaps he was finally becoming a little bolder.

"Well, let me know if any of you see him show up," I requested. "In the meantime, I'll probably see you guys tomorrow!" I turned and took off, leaving the group to continue on the arrows.

As I flew toward the portal though, I still couldn't shake that gut feeling. As I'd find out soon enough, I probably had reason to be concerned at that moment, too.

A/N-Mysteel is a wonderful compound, and as you'll see later very versatile.

What do you think? Let me know in a review! And also, we all know how clingy Spitfire tends to be; what do you think could possibly pull him away from the village?