I shot up straight and cursed under my breath for doing so as my back started to ache once again.
My eyes searched the room for anything that could have made the noise, well actually for the someone that whispered my name. But found nothing.
I frowned and got up carefully "I could swear I—"
"Marianne…"
I froze and my eyes went wide.
"Marianne…" it whispered again.
I listened as the whisper kept repeating and repeating itself, while I tried to get from where it was coming which, apparently, was outside.
The next thing I knew I was walking quietly downstairs as to not wake up Stoick or Johann, specifically Johann since he was sleeping on a makeshift bed near the fire pit. I tip toed to the door then sneaked out of the house and closed the door behind slowly.
And I followed the whispers.
I was pretty reluctant at first but I felt this need to go and find out what was with this whisper. Even though now I was starting to pretty much question my own sanity but I pushed that aside.
After a while of walking through the village, following the stupid whisper I got to the docks, to Johann's ship, then it stopped all together.
"What the…" I stared at the boat for a while before I hopped in it carefully, looking around for something but I didn't know what.
I gave up after a while and decided to get sit on a crate and think this through. When I walked to it though, I hit my pinkie against the edge of a wooden plank that formed the deck of the ship, and gritted my teeth at the pain.
How in Hel I was managing to always get hurt was beyond me.
When I turned around and crouched down to inspect the plank, I noticed that it was missing the nails on the end that I stumbled upon and it was also slightly raised. I frowned and grabbed it with both my hands and pulled it up to reveal a small, hidden compartment under it. What was inside perked my curiosity as I grabbed one of the darts and inspected it, then I grabbed the little leather bag and looked through the contents only to find a bunch of letters.
Why would Johann of all people have a small compartment hidden under one of the wooden planks of the deck?
I furrowed my brows and grabbed one of the letters hesitantly. Maybe I shouldn't even be looking at this, for all I knew it might be his personal stuff or just some simple letters, which he kept in a hidden compartment.
I stood up fast and searched for a candle and something I could light it up with. Eventually I found what I was searching for and went back to the letters.
Opening one I began reading. It was a rather short note that left me confused.
"How is she? Who she?"
I grabbed another one and read another perplexing sentence.
No, Erika stays there, it's safer for her and less trouble for me.
After I've read some more of the letters I decided to put all back in place.
In all those letters it pretty much seemed like someone was giving Johann orders or as if they were bickering about this she.
I let out a breath and got up slowly, quenching the candle, then I hopped off the boat and scurried off the docks after I made sure no one had been looking.
At first I headed back to Stoick's house, but then thought of going back to the Edge and start searching for Phantom, then maybe I could go to search for the Hunters. I was feeling good enough, I just needed a dragon. So I began walking to the forest.
What better place to find a dragon than the forest?
Soon enough I was strolling slowly between the tall trees and bushes, looking around for a dragon, in the middle of the damn night. How great, right?
Suddenly three sharp spikes shot right in front of me, missing my face just by a few hairs.
My eyes widened and I stumbled back slightly. I snapped my head to my right to see the spines implanted in the thick trunk of a tree. Then I turned around fast as I heard a squawk from behind.
I looked at the purple Deadly Nadder and started to approach slowly.
It snarled and raised its tail as if ready to shoot again.
"Hey, hey, it's okay" I spoke calmly and raised my hands "I am not going to hurt you"
The Nadder squawked again and cocked its head at me, assessing me as it slowly lowered its defense.
"There you go… I mean you no harm" I raised my hand to its muzzle and scratched it a bit, making the dragon purr.
"I need your help" I said and kept on scratching its chin.
"I am kind of stuck little human" she said.
I looked down at her paws and saw that one was caught in a trap.
"Let's get you out of that then. And I am not that little" I chuckled out and went to grab one of the spines from the trunk of the tree.
"Dragon Whisperer?" she asked curiously as I came back holding a spine in my hand.
I gave a nod and crouched down carefully. After I placed the spike between the jaws of the trap in such way so it wouldn't harm the paw further and I could get a good grip on it, I took in a deep breath and pushed down on the spike with all the force I had, opening the trap enough for the Nadder to get its paw out. I let go of the spike instantly and the jaws clasped it hardly.
I raised my arm as if to cheer "Hahaha yes!" then I got closer to the Nadder's paw and inspected it. The gash wasn't that deep and from what it looked like he bone wasn't broken, which was a blessing. I just needed to bandage it.
I got up slowly and petted the Nadder's muzzle "I'll have to bandage it up, but I think we should wash it first so it doesn't get infected"
"Alright, there has to be a creek nearby" she said.
"Can you walk?"
"I think so" she shifted her weight on the harmed paw and squawked a bit "It hurts a bit, but I can make it"
"Are you sure?" I asked reluctantly.
"Yes, I am. Let's go" and with that she started to walk forward through the dark trees with me in tow.
After a bit we got to a small creek that sneaked peacefully through the forest. Then we got into the creek and I washed the wound thoroughly; afterwards we got out of the water, I took off my tunic and unwrapped the bandages around my torso to bandage her paw up. When I was done I got my tunic back on, careful not to disturb the gashes.
The dragon eyed the bandages then looked up at me and nuzzled her snout against my belly. I chuckled a bit and stroked her chin and neck as I strode to her side.
"Can I…?"
She glanced at me and nodded "Come on" she got down slightly so I was able to hop on her back and soon we were in the air, above the forest, flying towards the Edge.
The sky was completely dark now and the moon was hidden by clouds that apparently covered the whole expanse. I glanced back at Berk that was becoming smaller and smaller as we were flying away.
My head snapped back to the front when thunder echoed. The wind began to pick up and I could see lightening striking through the clouds in front.
Great.
Then the next thing I knew it was raining heavily and I was soaked to the core like a drowned rat, shivering as the wet fabric clung to my injured back.
I wiped the droplets from my face and groaned "Just great! The nature has such an amazing timing!" I shouted and threw my arms in the air.
"Oh quiet you, it's not that bad" the dragon snapped at me and continued to fly through the rain.
"Fine, fine" I grumbled and looked around to see if there might be an island we could wait the storm on.
At first there was nothing and it was hard to see through the rain and the darkness of the night, but suddenly I spotted a small island in front of us.
"There! We can wait the storm on that island!" I exclaimed and pointed the island.
Soon enough we landed on the beach and rushed into the thick forest of the island. The rain was barely pouring through the thicket.
We walked a bit further into the forest and shortly I was seating, leaning carefully against the Nadder's side. We talked a bit and then sleep engulfed us both.
I woke up screaming again and Liliac, that was the Nadder's name apparently, was so spooked she almost pierced me with one of her spines.
Then when it came to getting back to the beach we both realized that we were, actually, lost. Neither I nor Liliac remembered from which side we came and there were no footprints. Also if she would blast the thick layer of branches and leaves above us, it might catch fire and I was totally against it.
So we settled on walking in one direction and see if it got us anywhere.
After a while we got to a creek and I didn't even notice how thirsty I was still that very moment. We drunk greedily from the creek then rested for a bit.
The forest was starting to give me a weird feeling and I didn't like it, I certainly didn't like that feeling crawling up my spine. The forest was starting to seem endless with all the old trees and flat terrain.
As I was leaning against one trunk with my shoulder, I looked around, assessing the view in front of me. Dread was starting to fill my stomach and my skin was all in goosebumps.
"Liliac, I think we should get out of here faster" I blurted out.
"You feel it too?" she asked reluctantly and I snapped my eyes to hers.
"Like someone is watching us? Yeah" I chuckled tightly and moved my look to a slightly better lightened spot far in front of us, on the other side of the creek.
She squawked and snarled when I guess she saw what I saw.
Fog was sipping from behind a tree and it became thicker and thicker by the moment, expanding pretty fast.
I hurried to Liliac and hopped on her back when she got down.
"Alright, I don't care if this whole thing catches on fire!" I shrieked and pointed a spot on the layer above us.
Liliac blasted it with a fireball and light pooled in. There was a ruffle of leaves and a growl. I glanced once more at the fog and saw it was just around twenty feet away from us.
"Time to go" I hurried out and Liliac flew up to the hole in the thicket.
We were about to get out when I was suddenly knocked hard off the Nadder's back.
"LILIAC!" I screamed on top of my lungs as I was falling to the ground, and right before I hit it I was snatched by something.
I heard her shouting my name from behind but it was distant. I tried to look around but the fog was so thick I could barely see my own hand in front of me.
I tried to debate but only to hollow when claws poked my sides.
"Let me go!" I shouted and tried to look up at what was holding me but couldn't see a damn thing.
A vicious growl came in response and I shuddered at the sound.
After some moments I felt the paws let go of me and I was falling again.
A scream erupted from my lungs and was replaced by a pained cry as I hit the ground with my back.
My vision was swirling and I felt even worse than when I had been whipped. I let out a shaky breath and stayed like this for a while, until the pain started to dull. Then I sat up slowly, groaning, hissing or howling in pain at almost every move I made.
I looked around, inspecting my surroundings but I stopped shortly when I saw a big stone formation to my left.
The air suddenly became thicker and drier as I stepped closer to it.
"Marianne…"
My breath hitched and I swear my heart skipped a bit when I heard the whisper coming from the formation my eyes were glued on.
My palms grew hotter as I got closer and closer to the source of the whispers.
When I got on the other side of the rock formation I felt my jaw drop. There was an entrance in some sort of cave that looked like it was ascending underground.
I stepped closer to it, entranced by the whispers. They intensified and became more demanding as I was enclosing to the entrance of the tunnel.
The moment I put foot inside I felt a blinding white-hot pain on the insides of my palms and let out a pained cry.
I gazed down at my palms just to see some bloody red, matching, spiky lines formed on my palms. Both the marks burned as Hel and the pain was unbearable.
Sucking in a sharp breath I snapped my eyes back to the darkness of the cave and before I managed to make another step, something grabbed me by the tunic and dragged me out of the cave.
It took me a moment or two to snap out of it. I looked back fast at my palms. I prayed to all gods in Asgard that I had been hallucinating. But when I saw the angry symbols on both my palms I wanted to scream in agony.
The thing that had been dragging me stopped and let go of my tunic. I couldn't see the stone formation anymore and as I turned slowly around I was met by a familiar face.
"Oh my…" I gawked at the dragon in front of me and then hugged him fast "Oh my Thor, Phantom! Where on Odin's beard have you been?"
He chuckled a bit and nuzzled my belly "Anne, I am so sorry that I've been missing. I'll tell you all later, but we have to get out of here now" with that he got me onto his back and began flying between the trees.
"Why don't you shoot the thicket above?" I asked confused.
Phantom growled slightly and continued flying "It never breaks, I've tried before and it just doesn't work. Then after a while I couldn't even shoot fire. It was like I didn't have any anymore"
I looked down at him even more confused "What the Hel…"
A roar echoed through the forest and behind us as Phantom sped up.
"How did you get here?"
"It was a storm and Liliac and needed to wait for it to settle. So we ended up here"
"Liliac?" he questioned bewildered as he was getting closer to the creek.
"I'll explain later" I said and glanced at the creek, then at the gap above it "There! We can fly out through that hole" I exclaimed and pointed it.
He sped up some more and quickly we were above the forest, flying higher and towards the clouds.
My eyes were searching down for Liliac when I suddenly spotted her near the beach "Let's get Liliac and go to the Edge" I pointed towards the Nadder.
Phantom nodded his head and flew to her.
Afterwards the three of us headed to the Edge.
I've told Phantom everything that happened and to say that he was angry was an understatement. He was about to change direction and go search for Dagur so he could bite his head off. I wasn't against it, but we would be outnumbered and I didn't want to get caught again. He was perplexed about Ryker and mostly about Johann's story and the letters, but he said that he had a hunch that we would find out soon what was actually going on.
He on the other hand, had been stuck on that island for around a month. Apparently, something was lurking on that island and he saw only its eyes but they were so entrancing and hypnotic that for a while he felt like he didn't want to leave. Then when he tried that thing or the fog stopped him from getting away.
Whatever was on that island, we weren't getting back there any time soon. That was for certain.
When I showed them both my now branded palms neither of them knew what it meant, which was just making me more and more curious.
I needed to find out somehow.
And I will.
