The next morning after Viggo's first flight with Firestorm, everyone was a lot happier. Both dragons seemed to have forgiven each other, but Thunderstorm was extra insistent that Viggo fly with him anywhere they had to go. They just went about their daily routine, checking on the injured dragons, and then catching some fish for breakfast for themselves. It wasn't until about the middle of the day that Viggo's eyes located familiar wings flying through the nest.
"Ha ha, they're back. Thunderstorm, Firestorm, let's go welcome Valka and Cloudjumper home." Viggo stood up from the cliffside he had been sharpening his sword at and ran over to Thunderstorm's back, who quickly took off and caught up to the stormcutter in the distance.
"Valka! Welcome home!" Viggo called out.
Valka turned around from where she was standing on Cloudjumper's back and called back to him. "Viggo! How have things been in my absence?"
"Oh, everything's normal here. Well except for him." Viggo pointed behind himself to the nightmare flying just behind Thunderstorm. "This is Firestorm and he's made it clear he wants to join our little team."
Valka smiled even brighter. "Oh that's wonderful Viggo, and I have lots of good news too." She patted the bag on her back as Cloudjumper came to a landing on the cliff above the Alpha's pool, but there wasn't an Alpha to be found.
"Oh yeah, I guess I was wondering if I should have been concerned when he was gone this morning?" Viggo asked her as he came in for a landing behind her.
"No don't be. Everyone needs some alone time now and again, even Alphas." Valka reassured him. "If he was already gone this morning I'm sure he'll be back soon."
"So, do you have the egg? What did Atali say?"
"Yes, I do have the egg." Valka carefully pulled the large, white egg with black spikes out of the bag to hold it in her arms.
"Remarkable." Viggo stepped closer to inspect it. "Well, as far as I can tell it has to be the Alpha's, right?"
"Oh yes. I am certain of it, although thankfully it appears Atali and Hiccup don't understand the full story."
"But you do? Please tell me, how Hiccup accomplished this. Also, where was the egg located?"
"Berserker Island, it sounds like the Alpha made a second nest beneath the island so he could lay his egg. And it apparently came down to a massive final battle…" Valka began telling Viggo everything Atali had told her a day ago, and he seemed just as awestruck at Hiccup's accomplishment as she had been.
"Remarkable, every detail. I do wish I could have seen Johann turned into an icicle, and all of Krogan's Flyers tossed off their own dragons," Viggo chuckled, "although I do admit I am concerned that Krogan may have escaped."
"I'm not." Valka said, "I'm fairly certain he works for Drago directly, and after a failure such as that, I doubt he'll be a problem for us any longer."
"If you say so." Viggo nodded. "So there are no more Flyers, and for an operation such as this, Johann would have surely used every last ship he had."
"If he did, none remain. Atali said after all the wild dragons arrived, not a ship was intact on the seas around the island."
"So finally, no more of my hunters either, most likely all dead or captured." Viggo said, "So Hiccup really won the war, once and for all."
"Yes and no. He beat one enemy, but Drago is still out there, hopefully, he'll be so angry with Krogan that he doesn't learn anything about Hiccup and the Riders before he kills him for his failure."
"What makes you say that?"
"Viggo, there are…several reasons that I have never gone back to Berk, but number one and two are, I need to protect the dragons, and I need to protect my family. I know that once Drago learns what Hiccup has done for Berk and its allies, he'll march in and conquer it. He is not like you, he doesn't see war as a game that can be played strategically. He is brutal and bloodthirsty, he doesn't care about anything except his own power and desires. He would throw every man and dragon under his control at Berk with no regard for the loss he would sustain as long as he wins in the end. I fear that nothing could possibly stop him if he set his sights on Berk, so I pray to the gods that he doesn't learn about Hiccup for as long as possible."
"I see your point." Viggo nodded his head. "But even so, to Hiccup though, he has won another war. Do you know what he and the others are doing next?"
"Well, apparently Stoick was injured right before the final battle for the egg, but he is making a strong recovery now, but now that things are peaceful, to them at least, they are leaving their base, Dragon's Edge, to go back to Berk."
"Mhm, and by chance did Atali mention anything about the Dragon Eyes?"
"Indeed she did. Hiccup recovered the original and all of Johann's lenses, and he then destroyed both eyes and all of the lenses."
Viggo felt his eye twitch and he clenched his fist involuntarily. "He did what? Oh of course he did." Viggo rolled his eyes to himself. "I shouldn't be surprised since he tried to do that before, but if he has no more enemies that he knows about, why would he do such a thing?"
"Atali said that Hiccup decided that while they were valuable tools, they were also dangerous weapons in the wrong hands. And from the sound of them, I agree with her."
"Of course, noble Hiccup, and I suppose he was thinking of me. And I have no clue how he made him, but the original is supposed to be indestructible. Did she say how he destroyed it?"
"I think by combining all their dragons' fire at once."
"I see. Then the battle is truly over, there is nothing left to fight for, except for that." Viggo motioned to the egg in Valka's arms. "So what are we going to do with it now?"
"That is for the Alpha to decide, but it seems to me that the Alpha had to know Hiccup had the egg, and understood it would be safe with him. Atali even described Johann's death as the King, which Hiccup never saw, saving Hiccup's life with his ice breath."
"Perhaps he recognized the similarities, I know I have," Viggo suggested.
"Perhaps he did," Valka said softly to herself, thinking about the short glimpse of Hiccup's life she had seen last night.
From below the cliff, large bubbles started rising to the surface, and all the dragons around them perked up and stood tall and proud. Viggo by now recognized the signs the Alpha was about to emerge from the deep, and emerge he did.
He burst out of the water, but this was more of a result of his massive size than any dramatics, as the water sprayed out in a mist, and then slowly drained off the white scales and dark spikes of his back.
Around Viggo, Valka and all the dragons bowed their heads in respect, and Viggo instinctively fell into the same position.
Valka and Cloudjumper stepped forward, Valka still holding the egg in her hands as they reached the cliff's edge and Valka held it out in front of her in plain view so that the Alpha, nor any of the other dragons could possibly miss it.
"Great Alpha! We have returned with good news, and even better, we have your egg!" Valka shouted.
The Alpha stepped closer to the cliff until his face was the only thing Viggo could see in front of him. His icy teal eyes zeroed in on the egg in Valka's hands for a moment. He then took a deep breath in and roared loudly, but this roar was different than all the other roars Viggo had heard so far. This one was undeniably angry. Viggo had to cover his ears it was so loud, and many of the other dragons around them either flew away as fast as possible or shrunk down to the ground, trying to look as small and low the ground as they could.
Viggo turned and saw both Thunderstorm and Firestorm with their wings spread wide and flat against the ground, their chins pressed against the dirt, and looking up at the Alpha.
Cloudjumper, if it was possible was pressing himself even lower. His gaze was locked in with the Alphas, with his chin and wings pressed against the ground and holding himself painfully still, not his tail, frill nor wing was moving an inch.
Valka had also taken a step back, and she looked completely lost, which made the tiniest sliver of panic rise in Viggo's gut.
"Valka! What's happening?" Viggo shouted over the clamor as loud as he could.
"I…I don't know. I've never seen him this angry before." Valka said.
The Alpha stopped roaring, but his lips were still curled in a snarl, and instead, Viggo's ears filled with an intense humming, his gaze was still locked on Cloudjumper, whose face was slightly screwed in either pain or fear, Viggo couldn't tell. But he guessed that the Alpha must be demanding a report from the stormcutter.
After a few minutes, the Alpha seemed to calm down slightly, and all the dragons around them slowly raised themselves back into a standing position.
Valka ran to Cloudjumper's side. "What is it? What's the matter? What's the problem Alpha?"
Cloudjumper paused, looking deep into her eyes for a moment, and then began making several different roars, squawks and other sounds, and several odd motions as he appeared to be trying to explain whatever the Alpha's issue was.
Valka though, just looked at him bewildered, it was clear whatever the problem was, it was quite complex, but was it more complicated than the bond she had with her dragon?
Finally, Cloudjumper seemed to think of a different track, since whatever he was doing now wasn't registering with Valka or Viggo.
He pointed to the egg with one claw, then mined setting it down, then drawing a circle around it, and then sitting on the circle.
"The egg, should be in a nest? Is it supposed to be here, or somewhere else?" Valka guessed.
Cloudjumper nodded his head, and gave a purr in excitement, but then shook his head sharply, once again, pointing at the egg, and then pointing in the direction of the main tunnel to the outside world.
Valka swallowed audibly, but her voice was still thick with hidden emotion. "I think I understand. You don't want the egg to stay here? It can't be in our nest?"
The bewilderbeast nodded his head and roared at a more reasonable volume.
"What do you want me to do Alpha?"
The Bewilderbeast stared silently down at Valka and Cloudjumper for a moment, but then turned his head slightly to lock Viggo in his gaze, Viggo felt himself freeze even without the ice breath.
Valka seemed to catch on faster than him though. "Wait, are you saying? Do you want Viggo to take it? Why him?"
The humming sound filled the air again, and Thunderstorm stepped forward with a growl and a bow to the Alpha. He then glanced back at Viggo and Viggo began to put the pieces together.
"Valka, I know when we talked before it was just theories based on what Cloudjumper could try to communicate with you when the Alpha left. Maybe your guesses were more correct than you thought. The Alpha left the nest to lay this egg because there can't be more than one Alpha in a nest. He likely wanted to give it its own territory and its own dragons to rule over, but of course, stayed to protect it before it hatched, but now, it can't stay here."
"Right," Valka nodded, "and for some reason, he obviously did trust Hiccup to hold onto the egg, and perhaps even understood Hiccup's mission. While all the flyers were thrown off their dragons when the Alpha gave them the order, none of the Riders' or Wingmaidens' dragons were affected. Perhaps the egg is supposed to go to Hiccup, I trust my son, but I don't think the people of Berk would be able to handle having a King of Dragons turn the island into a giant ice nest like this."
"Valka, as much as I have enjoyed my time here, and beyond that your hospitality specifically, I think it is clear what the Alpha wants us to do…what he wants me to do."
"Viggo. As much as I know about dragons, I have no real idea about how a Bewilderbeast grows. If you do this… I feel that you and Thunderstorm may need to stay with it for the rest of your lives. Are you willing to do that?"
"Valka, you have taught me that there is a reward in service. I may have spent the past two decades doing everything I could to put myself on top, but there is also honor in serving a higher authority than my own. I am more than willing to do whatever it takes to keep that egg safe if you will allow me to."
Viggo turned to face the Alpha once more and walked up to the edge of the cliff before bowing his head, and placing his hand over his heart, "Great Alpha, I hear what you are saying. Thunderstorm and I are honored by the faith and trust you place in us by presenting us with this wonderful responsibility. I swear on my life to you, my Alpha. Not a single scale will ever be harmed on your hair as long as Thunderstorm and I are still alive to defend it. I understand that it may mean I will never again grace this magnificent nest you have built from the ground up. I am at your service, however you see fit."
Viggo raised his head to meet the Alpha's eyes once more, once again getting lost in his noble gaze. After a moment, the Alpha opened his jaws slightly and released a blast of chilled air that passed over Viggo, similar to his first meeting, leaving his hair frost-tipped, and Viggo knew he had his permission.
Viggo stepped back and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. He gave Thunderstorm a pat on the snout and then turned his attention back to Valka. "So what now?"
"I'm not entirely sure. Alpha, Cloudjumper said that we should still have two months until the egg hatches, correct? So may the egg stay here while we prepare and come up with a plan to make sure the egg stays safe?"
The Bewilderbeast gave a slight nod of his head, and Viggo once again heard the humming sound he knew meant the Alpha was giving out orders to his subjects.
From one of the nearby ice caves, a streak of blue flew down and landed beside their group on the cliff. It was a Groncicle, whose icy scales very nearly matched the ice all around them. The dragon walked up to Valka and lightly nudged the egg in her arms with her snout.
Valka glanced over at the Alpha, who gave a nod of approval, Valka then nodded her head and placed the egg carefully on the ground in front of the dragon. "This is Bewilderbreath Viggo, although I don't see why the Alpha wants her to have the egg."
The Groncicle raised herself on her hind legs, and gently lifted the egg in her forelegs before taking off back into the air.
"Cloudjumper, let's go." Valka ran to Cloudjumper's back and he took off after the dragon and the egg, although he seemed more calm than Valka did, so he probably knew what Alpha's orders were already.
Viggo pulled himself on Thunderstorm's back and they were immediately in the air following Valka back to the groncicle's cave.
However, when Viggo arrived, he froze. The Groncicle was breathing a stream of bright blue flames over the egg, looking like it was trying to roast it alive.
"No!" Valka was already ahead of him, running towards the dragon and the egg, but even more surprising was that Cloudjumper raised his wing in Valka's way to stop her in her tracks. "Cloudjumper what are you doing? Bewilderbreath Stop!" Valka ordered, but both dragons seemed to be ignoring her.
Viggo stepped off Thunderstorm's back, and he noticed that his dragon didn't seem alarmed either. So he studied the situation more closely. "Valka look at the egg! He shouted, "What's happening to it?"
Valka stopped her panicking for a moment and studied the situation as well. The egg still looked completely fine, except now it was coated in a fine layer of icy blue frost, and it was surrounded by a small ring of icy spikes. After a moment, Bewilderbreath stopped breathing on the egg, then sat down next to it and curled her tail around the shell protectively. She glanced over at Valka and gave a growl low in her throat.
"Valka, do you know what's happening? Should we be concerned?"
Valka visibly swallowed and took in a few deep breaths to calm herself. "No, Cloudjumper and Thunderstorm obviously know what's going on… The groncicle's fire doesn't burn, it freezes. Groncicles themselves are cold enough that when they swim the water can freeze around them… Cloudjumper, did the Alpha tell her to do this? Does the egg have to be kept cold?"
Cloudjumper nodded, and seeing that Valka understood, folded his wing back to his side, and purred at her.
"Whew. OK then, it was just a small misunderstanding." Valka chuckled to herself.
"To be honest Valka, I was just as confused as you were, and then I may have gotten a little bit scared when I saw your face." Viggo chuckled.
"Well, even after 19 years, I still learn new things every day." Valka managed to smile. "Now though we need to come up with a plan for you. Viggo, I know you will do everything you can to protect and raise that egg into the king it's meant to be, but let's make sure you can succeed."
"Not to worry, I'm a master of maces and talons, plans are my specialty." Viggo grinned.
"Well then, let's go back to my cave and brainstorm. It's obvious Bewilderbreath has things covered in here."
"Gladly, may I ask why you call her Bewilderbreath?" Viggo asked as they left the cave.
"Because out of all the groncicles here, her scales match the ice of the nest the best, and the ice she creates does as well. So she's a bit like a mini bewilderbeast, and she's great at maintaining the nest's structures that the Alpha can't access."
"I see," Viggo said.
When they made it back to Valka's cave, the first thing she did was pull out a map. "First things first we need to decide where you are going to go."
"Presumably it should be at least as far from the nest as Berserker Island, and personally this place is already far enough north for me, so I would prefer somewhere a bit more southern." Viggo pointed out.
"That's understandable, especially since we don't know when the hatchling will be able to create a nest of his own." Valka nodded. "Do you have any ideas?"
"Well, I do have one actually." Viggo studied Valka's map for a few moments, but quickly realized it didn't show what he needed. He grabbed a blank piece of parchment and a charcoal stick and made a quick sketch. He then studied Valka's map once more. "Ah, that's Caldera Cay? And that is Wingmaiden Island, correct?" He pointed at the familiar islands in question.
"Yes," Valka nodded, "where are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking of returning back to my old base of operations." Viggo replied, "My island is located about here." Viggo placed his sketch a few inches away from the edge of Valka's map.
"You want to take the King of Dragons to your old hunter base? Why would you do such a thing? When it comes to something like this I'm not in the mood for jokes Viggo." Valka warned him.
"I am deadly serious." Viggo promised, "Allow me to explain. I originally chose this island as my base because it had a good, natural harbor along the southern edge, while along the other three directions, the coast was all sheer cliffs about a hundred feet high, and the waters filled with plenty of jagged rocks that can stop any ship in its tracks. The island itself is largely rocky canyons, but does have a freshwater spring in the center of the island, and a decent amount of woodland, I would say about forty percent of the island is still wood. Or it was when I left it."
"How do you know it's safe though?"
"I don't, but I fully intend to investigate beforehand, and receive your approval before I take that egg anywhere, of course. But the last time I was on that island was the day I was betrayed by Ryker and captured by Hiccup for the first time. He turned my men against me and took control of the shellfire dragon and my entire fleet. He then used it to firebomb my entire base into ashes and twisted metal. I only survived thanks to a secret bunker hidden beneath my tent.
I haven't been to the island since, and as long as I worked with Johann and Krogan, they never made any mention of using my old island, plus we know from Atali that Hiccup considers my group of hunters gone for good now. So there should hopefully be no humans present, and I'm fairly certain most wild dragons would still want to avoid it like the plague. So there should be no threats present on the island, but again that is only an estimate."
"What about boars or any other threats?"
"Oh, my men hunted those down for a meal years ago. As I said there should be no threats, human, dragon, or otherwise on the island. It is also further away from here than Berserker Island so the heir should be no threat to the Alpha when it hatches, and its location is also good because it is a bit in the middle of nowhere but also in the middle of everything. But like I said, neither my old enemies nor allies should have any reason to ever return to that island. As well as having good waters for fishing. If the heir is eventually supposed to be as large as the Alpha, it's going to need a lot of fish."
Valka was silent for a few moments before speaking again, this time with an approving, but still hesitant look in her eyes. "Alright, we can check it out, and if it meets both of our approvals you can use it. But keep thinking of backups just in case."
"Way ahead of you Valka, although to be fair, most of my ideas are old bases of mine," Viggo admitted with a grin.
"We'll just have to see what the first one is like," Valka said. "Then of course we'll have to think of supplies, and I will help you with whatever you need there."
"Don't worry I'm sure Thunderstorm and I can fend for ourselves if we need to."
"Yes, I'm sure, and speaking of which, while I know you and Thunderstorm will do an excellent job, its going to take more talons than just the two of you to protect and raise an Alpha."
"Talons? What do you mean?"
"I mean you are going to need more help. I think it's pretty clear that Bewilderbreath will also be going with you to help keep the egg, and potentially the hatchling nice and cold. But you will also need more dragons to protect him at all times."
"Well, I have a good feeling that Firestorm will want to join our mission." Viggo glanced over his shoulder, the nightmare indeed followed them into the cave, and the three dragons were all sitting together, seeming to be coming up with plans of their own.
"I'm happy for you, but I think it would be for the best if you had a few more dragons to take with you. Are there any others in the nest you feel close to, or have seen interacting with Thunderstorm? I do think it's clear that you may be expected to be the leaders until the heir is old enough to take over as a true alpha."
"No, I haven't, to be honest, other than Firestorm I think Thunderstorm and I mostly keep to ourselves."
"Well then, until you leave, try to make some more allies you can count on and you think could be useful. But also, when you leave, any that go with you must make the choice to leave, because it will likely mean they can never return here again, since they will be starting a new flock. And if can also think of some suggestions just off the top of my head which will be useful partners to have on your mission."
"Such as?"
"Well, shovelhelms are experts at construction and excavation. One or two of them will help you build shelters for you and the dragons you take with you. Perhaps a few tidal class dragons as well to help with the fishing, and of course protect the hatchling when it goes swimming. Night Terrors to help keep watch, or maybe even sentinels would be even better. And…" As Valka was speaking, her words kept flowing faster and faster.
Viggo interrupted her. "Valka, calm down, I can see what you are thinking."
"And what is that Viggo?" Valka quirked an eyebrow.
"You are thinking like a mother. You already want to protect this egg with everything you have even though the Alpha has made it clear he wants you and Cloudjumper here with him. Are there undoubtedly potential threats out there, who would give anything to get their hands on a King of Dragons? Absolutely, and we know the gravest threat is Drago, but like you said, most likely he foolishly killed Krogan before he could tell him anything useful, so we can hope he has no idea an egg exists, he has no idea that I'm alive. Honestly a large part of my plan is to live a simple life, hidden in plain sight through secrecy. I know it's a massive assumption that no one will go near my island anymore, but it is the heart of my plan."
"I uh, um…" Valka was at a loss for words.
"Valka I know I've promised not to bring this up again, but I assume Atali told you a lot about Hiccup last night, and we've talked about him a lot today. I know Drago is still out there, but I do believe that the last word I would ever use to describe either Hiccup or Stoick is weak, and even less so with their dragons and allies by their sides. So perhaps now that the seas around Berk are calm, you could make a visit."
Valka looked stricken for a long moment, "No… I… Viggo… Alright, I have a confession to make. You are right… about some things. I promise Viggo, I believe everything you have told me about Hiccup, even if it did take me some time to trust you completely. And then last night Atali more than verified your every word. The Wingmaidens have never had a male Chief, it would never work in their lifestyle and culture, but the way she talked about Hiccup, he is clearly the leader of all his allies. When she offered to show me a map to Dragon's Edge, I couldn't refuse, and even more so I couldn't help flying straight there to see him."
"I landed on their island at night, and only stayed long enough to catch a glimpse of Hiccup and the other Riders… It took me a few moments to figure out who he was, but when I laid eyes on him, I know he is my son, through and through. But even more important than that, he is clearly happy. I… if I were to reveal myself, I know it would only make things worse." Valka met Viggo's eyes, and he could see tears gathering. "How do I tell my son, my husband, that I chose dragons over them, and expect them to forgive me? You say I'm a mother Viggo? No I'm not, I'm a terrible mother every day I have stayed away. I can delude myself all I want, give myself the reasons to stay away. In some respects my choices are noble, but in others, they are selfish and led by my own insecurities."
"So I will spend the rest of my life doing what I know I can do, what I know makes me happy, and what is most important to me. That is helping dragons, protecting them, healing them, feeding them, raising them. I am so proud of you for making the same commitment I have, but Viggo, this is my life, and while I always have what-ifs… I wouldn't change a thing about my life. This is what I am meant to do."
Viggo was silent for a few moments. "My apologies, I didn't mean to question or offend your past decisions. You have clearly done so much good with your life Valka, I believe few people in this world, and least of all I can say the same. I am not trying to clear the red from my ledger, but simply trying to live out the rest of my life in a way that makes me proud."
"I know that too Viggo, but let's get back to business shall we? What do you think you will require, and what I think you will require start coming up with plans to make sure the hatchling will be safe, happy, and able to grow into a true king. Just like its father."
"Gladly." Viggo nodded in agreement, he was happy to see the tension leaving Valka's face as they got back to their previous task. He wanted to ask more questions about what she had seen at Dragon's Edge, and he had a feeling that all those thoughts must have already been filling her head before Viggo made any mention of Hiccup. Viggo wasn't certain but he thought Valka's little outburst was needed. He knew how hard it was feeling like you had no one to truly talk to, he'd have to think over just what living on his own with only dragons and no more Valka, would really mean.
