The next morning they rose early. The sun was still hidden behind the horizon, but a soft glow could already be seen. The clouds were already lit in the distance. He calmly looked at the sky, a few clouds hanging in it but beside that not much. The sky would be bright blue today, and the weather would be excellent for flying. They'd be able to cross the distance to the fortress with ease.

The wind blew gently into his hair as Hiccup watched out across the sea. Toothless stood beside him, the dragon calmly watching as some Terrible Terrors fought over a fish they had taken from Valka's supply. The large black dragon was jealous, because of their size and cuteness they could manage to get more fish than they could eat, but the large Night Fury would always be caught if he tried anything.

He huffed softly as he noticed his rider walking towards him. He wined softly and looked at the fish that the Terrible Terrors had, before looking back at Hiccup. Hiccup followed his gaze, and clearly understood his dragon.

"Oh no." He began, denying the dragon of the second breakfast he would always adore. "You've already had your share, and you emptied the entire basket."

Toothless lowered his head, looking up at Hiccup his large green eyes. He really looked like a scared little puppy this way, beside the fact that he was easily twice his size. Hiccup looked at his dragon, knowing that he shouldn't, for the large beast was a master at convincing him of things that he knew he shouldn't do, like give his dragon more breakfast.

"No, not now at least." He said, already twisting from his original plan. "Perhaps we can grab a few on the way there."

The dragon happily jumped up. He was always in for a mid-flight snack. And they often also lead to a few stunts and a bit of playing in the sky. So he really didn't mind this offer. He jumped back into the cave, where Ragnar, Heather and Astrid were already saddling up and preparing. Hiccup had risen a bit earlier, and had managed to finish his checklist before the others were out of their sleeping bags.

He calmly walked back into the cave, following the sound of Toothless knocking into dragons, before it turned into Toothless knocking into people. He walked around the corner, and could quickly see what had happened. In his excited stage Toothless had managed to jump on Stormfly's back, startling her and causing her to run towards Astrid, who quickly began calming the Nadder in the hopes that it would stop pushing her against the wall. Then he had proceeded to jump on Ragnar, who was knocked over quickly, shooting an annoyed look at the Night Fury. Toothless had proceeded to leave the area, running off into one of the caves with an empty basket in his mouth, trying to get someone to chase him.

"Is he always that playful?" Valka asked as she looked at the dragon, who was standing a few meters into the cave. Waiting for someone to come play with him.

"Playful?" Ragnar asked irritated as he got up from the ground. "Annoying you mean, or destructive."

"He usually is." Hiccup answered with a smile, looking how the dragon was teasing everyone to come and grab the basket from him. "Makes it hard to believe we called him the unholy offspring of lightning and death."

"Sure does." Stoick said as he joined them, Gobber calmly walking behind him. "Strange that we used to fear this one the most of all."

"Ah, well, times have changed." Gobber said jovially as he calmly walked towards grump, the large dragon still sleeping calmly. "By now each of these reptiles is just a weak little fluffy dragon." He said as he scratched the dragon, which slowly stirred in its sleep.

"What's the plan for today son?" Stoick asked as he watched Gobber treat Grump, who had now waken up but had only rolled over to allow Gobber to rub his belly.

"Ragnar and I are following the last lead." He said calmly, grabbing his journal and showing the crudely drawn map that he had made of the images the dragon eye gave them. It wasn't much, but it was clear enough to use. "Astrid and Heather are joining us."

Stoick nodded as he looked at the map. The location was about as far away from Berk as the nest was, and it would probably just be half a day of flight for them to get there. Probably quicker, knowing Hiccup and Ragnar's speed.

"Sounds good." He said as Hiccup packed his book again. "Me and the others will be heading back to Berk." He said. "To make plans for Valka's return."

"Ah, that'll be tricky indeed." Gobber added. "We'll need some serious improvements for the hangar for all those dragons." He said as he swung his arm around Stoick's neck, using him to take some pressure of his back foot. "Especially that big one."

"Wish I could help." Hiccup said as he saw Toothless coming back from the cave, pieces of the destroyed basket hanging from his saddle, and a guilty look on his face. "But we have to get this done first."

"We'll help as soon as we're done." Hiccup said as he approached Toothless, removing the pieces of basket from the saddle and scratching the large black dragon. "We'll be back soon."

"Alright." Stoick said as Skullcrusher came over to him from the far side of the cave, the dragon as big and calm as the chief usually was. "Be careful Hiccup." Stoick said as he placed his hand on the large nose of the Rumblehorn. "All of you."

"Aren't we always?" Hiccup said as he mounted Toothless, earning questioning looks from almost everyone in the room, except for his mother, who wore an amused and curious expression. He decided not to look too long, the last thing he needed was another over protective parent.

The weather was calm and clear, indeed perfect for flying as Hiccup had expected. There was a gentle wind that blew through the sky as they travelled towards the trappers' fortress, since it was almost an exact match to the location the dragon eye had given them.

They were all glad that the weather was on their side, since these parts of the archipelago were often subjected to snowstorms and blizzards, which could slow them down, and in the worst case, ground them completely.

It wasn't too difficult to find the way towards the nest, since Ragnar had remembered the way that Skullcrusher had led them. Hiccup hadn't paid much attention to the way he was travelling, since he was taken, since he had been flying off in a single direction for the first part, and he hadn't been able to get a good grasp on the way they were heading after he had been grabbed.

It was good that his mother hadn't explained to the others how they had met, since Ragnar wouldn't let him hear the end of it. He was kind off emberassed about it too, he hadn't expected to just be grabbed from behind, but then he should have expected something besides just the vigilantly flying in front of him. He should have expected a trap, and he should have watched his back.

But then again, if he had done that, he might have never met her. And if he didn't, his dad also wouldn't have been reunited with Valka. So from that perspective it was definitely a good thing that he hadn't noticed the dragon coming in behind him. But he would be perfectly happy with keeping that between his mother and himself. It could be their little secret.

"I think it's here somewhere." Ragnar said as he looked around the islands. All he needed to find was that one island that was covered in an ungodly amount of ice, littered with destroyed pieces of ships and fortress walls. "It should be."

"Shouldn't be too hard to spot." Heather commented, looking around to find the light blue ice that the Bewilderbeast had used to destroy the trappers fortress. The sharp icy spikes certainly would stand out in the rocky environment.

"There!" Astrid said as she pointed south of them. She spotted a glimpse of the ice between two islands, and the group quickly changed their course. The destroyed fortress slowly came into view, scattered pieces of wood and sails still hanging from the large ice-covered rock that the fortress and dock had been on.

They flew a large circle around it, last time they arrived they were surprised by the trappers who inhabited the destroyed fortress, but now, it seemed deserted. The few fires that had been lit when they arrived there yesterday were now extinguished, and didn't even smoke anymore. Flaps and doors of houses and tents were blown open by the wind, and it seemed like no one had put any effort into keeping them closed.

"Looks deserted." Ragnar said softly as they circled the destroyed fortress. A few carts were left on the stone and wood dock, left behind as a victim for the elements. They would be left to slowly rot or rust away, eventually breaking as wild dragons came across and would use the parts for nests or shelters.

"I know." Hiccup said as he looked at the docks, the area abandoned and stripped of any crates and barrels, except for a few which were either damaged or tipped over, but clearly empty. "Let's take a closer look."

A small correction in the tail send Toothless steering towards the fortress, the dragon looking around him warily, making sure that they weren't being lead into a trap or about to be ambushed. The other three followed swiftly, each of them keeping a fair distance for each other, so if they were attacked they wouldn't be an easy target for one net.

They flew around the fortress closer, each time they passed by checking closely for any sign of live, but finding none each time. All they found were left huts, even some weapons that had started to rust from being exposed to the salty air of the sea. It didn't take long for them to realise that what remained of the fortress was completely abandoned.

"What happened here?" Heather asked. The previous day this fortress had been manned by at least a dozen men. Each of them armed and equipped with weapons to take down some of the most agile and strongest dragons they knew.

"Looks like they left." Astrid said as she landed on the stone dock. Stormfly's claws scraping the stone. "Must have packed up and left on that ship we stopped."

"Well, should make our job easier." Ragnar said as he landed and slid of the back of Bolt. "That temple should be somewhere around here, right?"

Hiccup nodded calmly, this was exactly the island that the dragon eye had shown them. It was the most centre island in a group of six, and the trappers just had to pick that one for their fortress. It wasn't surprising, it allowed for the easiest placement of a dock, which was definitely needed for such a remote outpost. It also granted them the best sight around, while also keeping hidden behind the rest of the islands. So that would suggest that they had chosen this location just for the sake of strategic advantage, but Hiccup felt like there was more to it than just that.

"Let's spread out." Hiccup yelled to the others as he landed near a small abandoned hut. "Search for anything that can give us a clue for the location of the next lens."

The rest landed calmly, fanning out and scouring the abandoned huts and tents that the trappers had left behind. The huts were unlocked and open, allowing them to easily excess the various buildings around the destroyed fortress.

The soft smell of fire hung lightly in the air, and embers could often be found inside fireplaces and pits, as well as torched which were still smouldering softly, just a little bit. It looked like the trappers hadn't been in a hurry when they left, since they had carefully collected everything in the houses. The buildings were devoid of food, clothing, and blankets. Anything that you would take if you were certain that you would never return to a location again. It seemed that the destroyed fortress was at the end of its use, all because of the devastating attack of one dragon.

Scouring the houses was a boring and simple task, tip a few tables, pull a few drawers open, empty some closets, it really didn't take much effort to turn the rooms upside down and litter them with cups, plates, and any other materials the trappers hadn't taken with them. Hiccup kept his eyes on the lookout for parchment, or pieces of paper. Anything that could have hints on it where this temple could be. Anything that could help them to at least find the entrance, and hope that the Templars hadn't gotten to it before them.

As he traversed through the messy room of yet another ransacked home he heard the soft crunching of paper. He looked down, seeing the small yellowed paper on the ground. It was stuck underneath his metal leg, pinched between the two irons of the prosthetic. He stepped off it, bending down to grab it carefully, not wanting to tear the thin paper.

He unfolded it gently, it looked like someone was trying to make a note or letter, but decided halfway through that it would be best to never send it. The text slowly came into view. And Hiccup read it carefully.

It begun with: Dear Drago. But Drago had been crossed out, replaced by Sir Bludvist. Looks like this was still the draft of the eventual letter. The next sentence was completely crossed and striped, blocking out what had been written there by other lines. So they would never know what stood there.

He continued, and the next sentence looked like the start of the letter. We wanted to bring something to your notice. It read, indicating that the trappers had found something they wanted to bring to the attention of Drago, but eventually decided not to. Hiccup hoped that it would prove to be a foolish mistake.

While digging a new well, Stimn fell through the bottom of it, and beneath is a large chasm. Hiccup read as his eyes scanned the runes calmly. We threw a torch down there and it landed on some sort of scaffolding. The letter explained, and Hiccup's hope rose slightly. Perhaps this was part of another Temple. And if the scaffolding was a part of it, then perhaps it was still being build, which could prove to be an interesting discovery for them.

He snapped out of his distracting thought, focussing back on the letter in his hands. He searched for the part where he left off, and found it quickly. We didn't recall any caverns dug during the build of the fortress, and we are pretty sure that this isn't a recent addition.

The trapping is going fine, we'll send a few ships over soon. The second lest sentence read, before the letter ended, signed by the person who had at one point wished to send it. Eret, son of Eret.

Hiccup didn't know whether they never send it because they didn't want more Templar interverance with their busyness or if they forgot. Or perhaps they had send the message and the Templars still needed to come, or they already had. He checked the date that was written on the letter. It was less than a year old. But that didn't mean too much. They'd have to investigate anyway. Perhaps they could find something.

"I got something!" Hiccup yelled loudly as he exited the house. Holding the crumpled letter in the air with pride. He walked over to the nearest ladder, since a well for fresh water would probably be a little deeper into the small sea stack, far enough for the salty sea to not contaminate it. Ragnar came out of a small house a few levels lower, standing on the other side of the walkway that the ladder was on.

"What did you find?" He asked curiously. Hoping that it would indeed lead to the temple, since he didn't really feel like ransacking more homes.

"Some kind of letter." Hiccup explained as he climbed the ladder to the top, Astrid and Heather coming out of the houses they were searching and following him. "Seems like they found something while digging a well."

The rest followed up the ladder quickly as Hiccup explored the destroyed fortress. It was difficult to picture what it would have looked like before the attack by the Bewilderbeast, since the large icy mountain. He stood at what could have been the courtyard of the fort, since shattered cages and weapon racks could be vaguely spotted mixed with the other materials of the fortress. The ground was littered with beams, planks, rocks, pieces of rope and other materials.

"Alright." Hiccup said to himself, looking around to spot the old fashioned stone round basic with a bucket of a rope. That was after all what most wells looked like back on Berk, and even during his time in the south he had learned that wells don't change a whole lot. They are usually all just a large hole in the ground that had a bucket on a rope. "We're looking for a well."

He scanned the surroundings, but there wasn't anything that looked close to a well in sight. The only thing they could see were large pieces of building lodged between the chunks of building that littered the island. It seemed like they would have to scour the icy destruction to search for the well, if it wasn't destroyed in the fight.

"Well, this might be difficult." Ragnar said as he observed the utter wreck that the higher part of the base was. He had expected this part to be the most hit of all, since walls and large defences would have come down on top of it, but he hadn't expected this mixture of materials and ice.

They scoured the ruins, checking underneath the rubble and inside destroyed buildings. They searched for anything that could resemble a well, a basin against a rock wall, a hope deep enough to collect the rainwater from the entire island and store it for a few weeks. A well could come in many forms.

"Over here!" The others heard Heather call out while they were scouring the courtyard, but as they looked around they couldn't spot her. She called out again, and they discovered that the sound came from a small crack between two large shards of ice. They slowly walked through the small cave inside the icy mountain. And discovered Heather, looking down a traditional well, completely untouched by the icy attack.

"Could this be it?" She asked as she looked down into it. She couldn't see far, since the ice above them covered out the sun. Ragnar grabbed a piece of wood from the ground, giving it to Hiccup, who lit it. He threw it down the well, expecting to see the soft flame die as it hit water, but instead it landed with a soft thud.

"Is it dry?" Ragnar asked from besides the well, but as he looked down he could see what the answer was.

"It looks like scaffolding." Hiccup muttered softly, looking around him for something to use for getting down the well. He found a thick and long coil of rope, he calmly grabbed it and walked over to a large shard of ice that stood at the edge of the small cave. He tied the rope around it and threw the rest of it down the well, heading a soft thud as it hit the scaffolding.

"Well, let's go." He said as he swung his leg over the edge of the stone well, Astrid immediately grabbed the rope after him and followed him down. Ragnar and Heather waited at the top, since it probably wasn't smart to go down all at once. If someone slipped he would take down everyone underneath them, and although they didn't expect anyone to do so, it was still a risk to considerate. Beside that there was also the chance that the large ice shard that they had used as anchor point wouldn't be able to hold the weight, and break, which would leave them without any way of getting back up.

"We're down!" They heard Astrid yell from the well, her voice echoing as it reached the top. "You can come now."

It didn't take long for them to follow, and soon the four of them stood calmly on the wooden platform. It creaked softly as the last of the four landed on it. Hiccup ignited inferno, and quickly extinguished the burning wood, since the scaffolding they stood on also looked quite flammable.

"What is this place?" Heather asked as she tried to look around. All she could recognize was a rocky wall to her left side, probably the side of the cavern they were in. To her right she could only see darkness, and from the way their voices echoed in the distance she guessed that the cavern was rather big.

"I don't know." Hiccup answered honestly as he walked a bit over the scaffolding, the rest following him to keep close to the source of light. "These scaffoldings don't look like they're meant for exploration purposes."

"Heavy duty." Ragnar observed as he looked at the way they were build. It wasn't that much rope and knots, it was mainly careful and delicate craftsmanship and wood cut joints to keep them in place. As well as nails, something that was almost never used for scaffolds. "Pretty strong stuff."

They kept walking, Hiccup taking the lead since he had the fire, the rest carefully following him. The scaffolding creaked lightly, but didn't move an inch. It looked incredibly old, but still hold well. Probably because it was pretty cut off from any elements.

There were extinguished torched on the walls and scaffoldings. And Hiccup made sure to light them when they walked past them. Nightmare saliva only burned so long, and he couldn't rely on it to burn for the complete trip.

"Do you have any idea what this is?" Ragnar asked as he looked around, the light of the fire glistering off the wet rock walls. "This place is strange."

"Something was being build here." Hiccup said as he observed a stone archway, it began at their left side, and slowly rose above them, crossing the cavern towards the other side, but it disappeared into the darkness before they could see the other wall. "But they never got to finish it."

As they continued it became more evident that it was indeed an abandoned building site. Small cranes were connected to the scaffolding, used to transport heavy goods from one level to another one. The scaffolding became even more reinforced and stronger here. Like they needed it to be stronger for some reason.

"Has anyone seen the bottom yet?" Astrid asked as she looked beside the catwalk they were currently walking on. She grabbed a small rock from the scaffold and threw it down, waiting for a sound to indicate it had it the bottom.

They all stood silent, until after a good 20 seconds they heard a soft thud echo around the cave. They looked at each other, realising that that meant that it was indeed extremely deep, and that the scaffold would probably be the only thing that kept them from falling the hundred meters down.

"There it is." Hiccup answered with an unsure smile. "Sounds pretty far down."

"Sure does." Ragnar said absently as he squinted his eyes. Looking at the other side of the cavern, where he could see a dim light. It had a blueish glow, and gave him a familiar feeling. "What's that?" He asked as he pointed at it, focussing the rest's attention to it.

"Seems familiar." Hiccup said as he looked at it. The light was difficult to spot because his eyes were so used to the bright burning of his sword. And it took him a while before he could really see clearly. It had a square shape, and looked like some kind of entrance. "Looks like there's some path or entrance there."

"But how do we get there?" Heather asked as she looked at the edge of the scaffolding they stood on. There wasn't exactly a safe and sturdy bridge to the other side.

"That might be difficult." Hiccup said as he looked at an old rope with a small platform hanging from it by a pulley, probably some kind of way across. The rope had already sagged and the little gondola hung in the middle of the cavern, and looked like it could break any second. "But it might be tricky."

The water was pushed away from the large bows of the catamaran, creating high waves and a large wake behind the ship. Smaller vessels beside it swayed softly in these waves. But otherwise continued to sail calmly. The sea was calm, and the wind stood in the good direction. They'd arrive soon.

Beside the large ship Eret stood calmly on the bow, hanging on to the ropes of the vessel. On the deck he could feel the salt water spray up in the air as his ship heaved on the waves. The ship rising on the large waves that the ship beside them created.

They weren't even going that fast, their small boat could go a lot quicker. But not when they sailed with such a large armada, then they were grounded by the slowest of their ships, which in this case was their flagship.

He had hoped to not be a part of this, to be able to sneak out and head another way before the armada would leave the secluded ice-caves where they hid. But luck wasn't on their side. They had quickly been overtaken, even when they travelled with full sails, and they were slotted into the large formation of the armada.

He was nervous. A feeling he didn't get to experience often. They didn't have any large equipment on their ship. And they weren't part of any planned groups in the battle. They didn't have any siege equipment to operate, or any traps to spring on unsuspecting dragons. They only had their most basic weapons and tools. Nothing that would aid them in any large scale battle.

He had a bad feeling about it, really bad. He felt like they would be used as cannon fodder, as bait. As expendable soldiers that could rush the enemy gates for them. Taking the brunt of the enemy defences. It was a death sentence.

Well, at least they'd go down fighting. He thought as he looked at the horizon. It was clear and blue, calm and peaceful. Except for one thing, and it made his stomach twist and turn. Giving him a bad feeling of fear and impending doom. It gave him fear, although he'd never admit that to his fellow crewmembers. But the way that their target stood out on the horizon only signalled one thing, the first start of their own and actual attacks. No more negotiating or planning. No more subtle takeovers and clever cutting off of villages. No, they were here, they were out of hiding, and soon they'd rule the archipelago.

It sounded so good, so glorious, and so noble. So why was he getting this strange gut feeling as he saw the large icy nest grow larger on the horizon?

The sun pierced their eyes like a sharp knife, stinging as rays of light hit their eyes as they exited the small icy cave in which the well stood. They had thrown the rope down the well, making sure that there was no direct evidence that they had ever been down there. The assassins had left content, they had found a new lens, which meant that the Templars would have excess to one less.

However, not everyone had exited the cavern happy.

"Don't you ever dare do that again." Heather scolded Ragnar as they walked to their dragons. They had been the first to go across with the little gondola, and Ragnar had kicked the small craft off before Heather had gotten a good hold, which had given her quite a scare. He had apologized and everything was fine, until he had decided to do the same thing on the way back too. The second time Heather hadn't been so forgiving, especially since she could see his smug smile when she had regained her balance. "I'll end you."

"Noted." He said as he shot a look at Hiccup, who was walking out with Astrid by his side, who was checking his arm to see if he was hurt. Hiccup had been the last to cross on the way back, since the weight of his armour and weapons and that of Astrid's was thought to as too much to cross the gap. Boy, had that been fun to explain to her.

Anyway, in the end, Astrid went first and afterwards Hiccup had gone, only the gondola had supported its share of adventurers for the day, and halfway through the trip the rope slowly started unravel, and soon enough you could hear the soft twangs as individual lines of the coil broke.

Luckily Hiccup had a good reaction time, and he had quickly realised that he had to jump off the little platform while it still supported his weight. He had used his wings to glide a bit towards the base of the scaffolding, but had made quite an impact with it. And the scaffolding didn't really budge.

He had climbed up to the rest of the group with ease, while the rest shouted encouraging words down at him. But Astrid still felt like it was necessary to keep a good eye on the hurt arm, especially since she had punched him first for being so reckless, before apologizing for her impulsive and aggressive behaviour. In the end it wouldn't be sure which bruises came from the fall and which from Astrid. But that was a minor detail.

The dragons welcomed them with excitement. They had only been gone for about an hour, but the large reptiles were still overjoyed to see their safe and well. Dragons were scratched by their riders, riders were tackled by their overjoyed dragons. The group calmly mounted their dragons, ready to head home.

AN:

Well, this took way longer then I hoped it would. But here it is. I'm not really proud of this chapter, and it took a lot of time and energy to write. I feel like I cut quite some corners but I haven't been as stuck on a chapter in a very long while. I hope I'll be able to continue normally again.

I want to thanks everyone for their patience. It has been difficult to find time and energy to write with the holidays, a week full of exams, and general busyness at school. I hope to be able to update every two weeks again at least, and with a bit of luck more often. I'm noticing that my well of motivation is slowly running dry for this story. So I hope I'll be able to finish it quickly so that I can continue with bigger, better and larger stories. :D

Anyway, have a nice day, thanks for the patience. And I hope to see you all soon.

Take Care!

R4y