Chapter Thirty-Eight:

Aphotic

He lay on a cold hard floor, absolutely dry. For a second, he imagined himself dead, but as he examined himself, his senses, he started to question otherwise.

"Astrid!" He called out, but no sound ever responded to him. There was no echo, nor response, like sound had never left the inside of his mind… For the first time he noticed his surroundings. It was so horribly dark, to every direction he looked. Above him there was such an indiscernible blackness that he wondered if there was even a ceiling several metres above, or was it a starless sky he was staring at? There was so much room, so much empty space, and absolutely nothing was happening. A perfect void. Absolutely, perfectly, nothing. Existential Inexistence. A hopeless feeling sank in.

He had forgotten he even had a body. But he could tell with quite a degree of certainty that he lay against some sort of surface. His fingers tatted up to his face, finding an overwhelming sense of relief at meeting his cheeks, rubbing his eyes — which open or closed, they made no difference; his vision allowed him to see everything, but there was nothing to be seen.

His brain finally clicked to him that he could retrieve his wand. He found it — again with great relief — and drew it to his chest, and then he noticed how fast his heart was beating. Taking it as a good sign, a sign of persistent life in him, he whispered, "Lumus!".

The light nearly blinded him. It was so much stronger than he had anticipated, in the complete darkness it could have been the sun he had just stared at. As he adjusted to that stellar beckon of light, he examined where he was. Standing up slowly, he saw a strange path of soling ground surrounding his feet. It was rocky, uneven, and he couldn't tell how far it went.

"Lumus Maxima!" He ordered, and a warm glow levitated from his wand. But although it was incredibly bright, there wasn't much to illuminate. He began feeling a horrible sense of despair forming in his guts. He wasn' t even aware of time any more. It could be minutes or hours he had been standing under the light he'd casted, time had lost all meaning.

An eternity later, or perhaps not a second past, he saw a strange agitation on the ground. What he had first assumed to be a plain black floor suddenly revealed a rippling glimmer under the lumus charm, and he realised it wasn't solid ground, but water. A dreadful mixture of hope and anxiety built up in Hiccup. And then a huge mass jumped out of the water, hovering in the air for a couple seconds before landing with a heavy thump; and the gurgling sound it gave let Hiccup know it was Toothless.

Even greater relief, like he had never felt before, filled the boy, like a breath of pure oxygen after nearly drowning. "Are you alright, bud?" He hurried to the dragon, grabbing Toothless' head with the utmost care. Toothless stirred himself up slowly, struggling to his paws before taking a look around. Toothless gave a low cry. "It's okay, I'm with you..."

Another figure materialised from the water, the blonde locks of hair urging Hiccup to rush towards Astrid, who after coughing horribly the dark water, lay on the floor and stared above in wonder. Boy and dragon rushed to her, cradling and hugging, all as much relieved as they were terrified.

"Are we dead?" She asked. Hiccup considered for a while, before standing on his feet again. Any movement felt too strange, like the world didn't move along with his sight...

"I don't think so… we need to get out of here." He spoke.

"What is this place?" Astrid got on her elbows, and immediately shut her eyes, also sensing the strangeness of that insurmountable void.

Toothless, now standing almost firmly, shook his wings, and took a strange look at his surroundings before emitting a toot-like growl ahead, where the floor seemed to extend forever.

"That's where we go?" Hiccup asked the dragon, who kept staring unchangeably into the blackness. "Come on," he helped Astrid on her feet and both of them climbed atop of Toothless, adjusting behind his wings. As Toothless carefully bestrided forwards, the floating light Hiccup had casted began following their trail.

Before they had noticed, small white dots sparked from the end of the world, approaching in less than seconds, so quickly the dots grew into figures, human-shaped figures that stood so undeniably immovable. Statues, Hiccup thought. It was strange how their vision seemed to be distorted as they approached the standing figures — things seemed to twist at the edges, expand and contract all at once; it was beyond dizzying.

At first they neared what seemed to be a few dozen statues, all of them very human, very greyish in colour as if life had been stolen from them, but the resemblances ended there. They all had such remarkable differences, the people carved seemed and felt so very real. And then their faces held such strange expressions, not a bit angelic and ethereal like the famous greek sculptures, but those faces were filled with an agonising expression of pure horror and torture. They were faces neither Hiccup nor Astrid were ever bound to forget.

Toothless slowed his steps as they crossed through the little crowd made of stone. Whenever they moved, the shifting in their vision distorted sickeningly, cursing their stomachs to churn. "I don't like this…" She muttered. "What are these statues?"

Toothless stepped closer to the nearest one. That woman could not be older than her thirties. Her eyes were open but vague, gazing hopelessly into the black sky above… The grey shade erased any sort of pigment she might have ever had, the full and meaty lips with the coily afro-hair; surely she had rich black skin in life…

In life. Hiccup gasped.

"These are not statues, Astrid…" Hiccup gave a haunted look, as if he had seen a ghost.

Toothless leaned down for them to slide down his back. Sick as they felt, Hiccup and Astrid neared the next statue, the urgent sense of wonder taking over any other feeling. They inspected the statue of a young boy, but unlike the others who showed pure pain of distress, his eyes were rather unfocused, his expression empty, as if he was waiting for something.

Hiccup swallowed a cry. "All these people… they're dead."

Astrid examined them closer with Hiccup, looking at the boy, and then shaking her head. "No, I think you're missing the point… His expression is too lively for that…" She took another look around, and then yanked her wand, aiming it to the ground. "Homenum Revelio!" She ordered, and suddenly a yellow path glowed across the floor, illuminating the frozen bodies in warm light, and it was like the horizon had flicked a light on.

There weren't dozens, nor hundreds of bodies: they looked at thousands of standing bodies, lining up to the ends of that strange world.

Hiccup understood immediately. "The Revealing charm doesn't work on corpses…" He muttered, his face paling visibly as the light from the incantation faded back to black.

"I don't know what they are." Astrid said, holding her own stomach to hold back the sickness she felt. "But they're absolutely not dead either, otherwise my charm would've been useless here…"

"We have to get out of here." And then they looked back at Toothless. "You brought us all the way here, bud…" Hiccup patted the dragon's rough scales, but Toothless remained stiff, his eyes still glaring to the same distant point in the horizon. "Take us further."

The deeper they sped through the hollow, cavernous blackness, the sea of people stretched along, endlessly; but such a curious place that was, distance seemed to mean everything and nothing simultaneously - the world expanded and contracted, shrank and grew, and both wizards felt sick beyond their stomachs, dizziness striking them immensely, and they lowered their heads, closing their eyes and gritting their teeth before Toothless once again came to a halt, and the world seemed to regain some of its balance. It took endless minutes until Hiccup managed to regain his composure - puking his guts out before being able to stand back to a less pitiful position - only to find Astrid already several feet ahead, walking warily over what looked like an elevated platform on the ground.

"What is this place?" Astrid asked, her braid for long untied, and her hair had now fallen to frame her face in wild curves. It was then that Hiccup realised the silvery and wavering light on the ground.

Jack remained in his vault/room, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the sentence of his hearing. His mind wandered back and forth between Flee and Hiccup - or should he say now, the Dragon Rider - what if he hadn't seen Hiccup? What if someone else had taken control of Toothless and began flying in his place? No, he knew Toothless, the dragon was too loyal to the boy, he could never be replaced…

And then the biggest worry of all sank in - he would have to see Hiccup eventually. If everything went right, he'd have to chase the boy he had left alone all this time. Jack felt like a coward, a completely despicable coward. Hiccup would hate him, he was sure of it. But then, he himself had managed to find room for hatred in his heart when it came to Hiccup. The boy had thrown himself into the fight against Jack's pleading and begging. The boy had said he'd wait for him… Brave, stubborn Hiccup who would allow himself to die. Now that was something Jack could not bear. Adding that to losing all he had ever known as family, losing Hiccup was a price he'd never afford to pay.

The door to his vault opened with a heavy noise, and through the familiar cold shiver of the Dementor who was certainly guarding his door, Azel shot herself through the opening, and before the boy could protest, she tackled him into a tight embrace.

"I can't believe you're alive!" She cried into his neck, and the boy carefully placed his hands around her tiny frame, comforting her.

"I can't believe you're alive;" He muttered. "Azel, what are you doing, though, this is not safe…"

"You could never hurt me, Jack." She spoke, distancing herself from him only enough to look him in the eye. "I know who and what you are, and I trust you still."

He was at a loss for words, settling only for allowing the girl to embrace him again. "Thank you." Was all he could whisper, his voice cracking on the verge of tears.

"Listen, we don't have much time," She let him go, adjusting his dark cloak from any wrinkles. "Your sentence should be out at any moment. They don't know we've been friends yet, and we have to keep it this way."

From the entrance of his vault, he could see Dean and Seamus had their backs to him, keeping the dementor at bay. He knew he had to trust them for whatever happened next. "How do you think it'll be?" He asked.

"I don't know, Gothel is done with her hearing by now. They'll probably execute her, all things considered." Jack gulped visibly, his eyes opening wider.

"Don't sweat it yet, you still have support from the majority of the Wizengamot, but I can't promise you anything. You'll have to hold on a little longer."

Jack stared at her in panic. "Azel, I…"

"Time to go." Dean spoke from the door, and without ceremonies, the boy was escorted back out to the corridors.

They reentered the trolley, the dizzying trip accompanied by the dementor all the way until they landed next to the huge platform in the caves where the Wizengamot was assembled. One last cavernous corridor led to the door of the court. From outside, Jack could hear Lucius Malfoy reading his final lines to Gothel.

"...And I hereby sentence you to the dementors' kiss; for conspiracy, murder and plot."

Jack's stomach sank. Not out of pity for Gothel, but out of dread for his own sentence. Every ounce of fear he had not allowed himself to feel had now condensed into this massive terror, shaking his bones and washing his face from all colour.

"It'll be okay;" Azel said, but Jack knew that was a vain promise. He knew that whatever the Wizengamot decided, it was completely out of control of any of them.

"You have to go in, now." Dean spoke, and for the first time, Jack felt a new tone of solidarity directed to him in his voice. The boy nodded, clenching his teeth, his dark hair now covering his forehead in a messy way.

He stepped into that room for the second time that day. The wizards seemed tired, but their faces also reflected the morbid feeling of that evening. Jack once again sat on his chair, the strings automatically chaining his body to the seat. And then Lucius Malfoy began his speech.

"What concerns Jackson Overland, no known address, under the supervision of Dean Thomas Finnigan, I now carry your sentence."

"For the bargain agreed on with the Minister of Magic, Hermione Granger, and by vote of the majority, we have granted you one chance in the case against you. Shall you bring the Dragon Rider to the Wizengamot, and convince him to join our cause in the Wizarding War, you shall escape the Dementors's Kiss and you'll have earned a right to another hearing. You shall be accompanied at all times by a team of wizards selected for you. Any and every contact with a fellow obscurial is strictly forbidden. Failure to accomplish your mission will lead to incarceration and resume of your sentence; now have our terms been made clear?"

Jack gulped in both relief and anger. All he could hold on to was the fact that he wouldn't die.

"Yes, sir, you have."

Malfoy slammed his hammer.

A large circular glow ghosted from the ground, big enough to conceal Toothless comfortably within its diameter. The light seemed to twirl in itself, but after a closer inspection, Hiccup and Astrid realised that it was not a twirl, but a strange combination of symbols.

"Runes…" Hiccup muttered, but in that silence, any small noise echoed like a canon. The runes he mentioned waved through the circular light, following its shape like a serpent. "Just like the ones on the entrance."

"I can't read this so easily… I think it says 'shadowy' or 'dark'…" Then Astrid's mind clicked. "What was that thing Accalia asked you when we got there?"

Hiccup struggled to remember. "I think she said something about a Guardian?" He pondered. "A Guardian of…"

"Shadows." She concluded. And then eyed the glowing circle again. "They need a Guardian of Shadows… but why?"

Then Hiccup eyed the infinite sea of statues that surrounded the platform where they stood. "We're in the realm of Hel right now…" Hiccup said. "Abandon all hope-"

"-ye who enter…" Astrid concluded his sentence again. "And they're not dead."

"Neither are we."

"How can you tell?" Astrid asked. Hiccup's eyes scanned the space for Toothless. The dragon sniffed a statue's face curiously. "Hey bud?" Toothless glowing green eyes flashed towards Hiccup. "Do we look dead to you?"

The dragon grunted, turning its attention back to the statue. Astrid eyed him without any hint of amusement.

"Can you take this seriously for one goddamn minute?!"

"The point is we're not meant to be here, and neither are they." Hiccup turned back to the glowing circle of runes, desperately scanning them with his eyes, searching for anything meaningful. "Accalia asked if I was the Guardian of Shadows… Anything in myths that ring any bells?"

"No…" Astrid furrowed her brows in deep thought. "Hiccup all these people… are here because of the Raptum, aren't they?"

Hiccup nodded slowly, gathering the facts. "Yes, none of them died gloriously in battle, much for Odin's disapproval… If that's the case, then dark magic has placed them here;" The boy suggested. "So, it stands to logic that…"

"-dark magic will bring them back."

"Will you stop concluding my sentences?"

"We need to get out of here, Hiccup. And we're not Dark Arts wizards, we can't perform dark magic, as much as we'd like to." Astrid grew impatient, turning her attention back to the glowing circle, still levitating in a spinning motion. "Maybe something here can give us a clue."

"We can't fully translate Norse, though…" Hiccup walked towards the circle as well, his face faintly illuminated by the glowing disk. Several little symbols waved on the luminous disk. "I know those three mean either gift, key or life… But I can't make out all of those…" The runes were of a dim spec of white, but Hiccup and Astrid could pick up their shapes, carefully eyeing every last one of them until… "Hello…"

Astrid examined the rune he had just seen. "I know this one too…"

"Yggdrasil." He spoke. "Astrid, if we actually are in Helheim… None of those died in battle…" Both wizards eyed the frozen crowd. "Do you think we could bring them back?"

"No… not us, not we wouldn't know how…" Astrid looked at him curiously. "It takes dark magic we can't perform… And even if we could, that's not how one escapes this place in the myths. These are places for trials, for tests."

"Astrid, you remember the story of how the gods would escape this place… by trading gifts."

"They hardly ever managed to escape Hel, however." Astrid pointed.

"Not unscathed, anyways…"

Hiccup walked towards the runes again, the circle of light still shimmering when he pulled his wand, pointing to his arm.

"What are you doing?" Astrid asked anxiously, watching in horror as Hiccup grimaced at the skin on the inside of his elbows before ordering:

"Diffindo!"

A sharp hiss of pain pierced the darkness when Hiccup hexed his own arm, a gust of warm, scarlet blood spilled over the stone. The pain was searing, like a thin blade ripping his skin, all the way to the muscle.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Astrid shouted, covering her mouth in agony.

"We must prove Hel that we're not fully dead yet." Said Hiccup. "We give her blood, life; that's our gift."

The blood dripped over the runes. And then it happened.

A bright flash exploded from around the circle. Suddenly the two wizards were surrounded by the beacon of blinding, incandescent light. They felt their weight diminishing, their feet losing contact with the ground, and then they were both floating. Beneath then, the stone dais gave a thunderous rumble before spinning in a circle.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled, and the dragon roared before hopping up to the dais, also being lifted by the stone circle. And there they remained; nothing else happened.

"Something isn't right!" Astrid screamed, and they both noticed how the light around them seemed to shift in colour, the white slowly giving way to pink and then red.

"We gave it blood, what else does it need?" Hiccup shouted from where he floated, feeling the weight returning to his body, but instead of pulling him to the ground, it seemed to tighten his chest, and slowly crush his ribs.

"It takes a life to escape the realm of death, Hiccup!" Astrid's mind sparked again, suddenly understanding what both seemed to have missed. It seemed she too was being crushed by the light. But as soon as Hiccup understood what that meant, Astrid had her wand aimed at him.

"I'm sorry!" She cried, and Hiccup was about to scream when Astrid shouted "Incarcerous!"

Ropes flashed from her wand, binding Hiccup tightly into an immovable position. "DON'T DO THIS, ASTRID!"

"You're the one who has to go. I'll stay here so you'll be set free."

As if swimming in a pool, she floated graciously towards him, and both teens realised they were crying. Astrid lifted her hand to Hiccup's cheek, soothing him. "You go; I'll find Aster." She removed his wand from him, concealing it in his pocket, where he wouldn't be able to retrieve until she was done, and then she struggled her way toward the edge of the light, falling back to the floor.

"No, no, no…" Despair and panic rose into Hiccup, and he struggled and fought, but it was no use. The pressure on his chest grew stronger, and he felt like he could explode.

"I'll stay for you." She spoke, before the light pitched from red into white again, and it burst into a deafening thunder, and everything was gone.