Viggo and Thunderstorm flew steadily on through the night, taking a rest stop on Healer's Island about halfway through their journey before continuing into the next day. And despite all Viggo's anticipation for a whole host of reasons, from the potential danger Grimmel possessed to seeing Valka, Cloudjumper, Hiccup, and Toothless again, to the mystery of the Light Fury and just what all of this meant together, along with the challenge of playing against a gamemaster even more ruthless than himself. Viggo still managed to keep himself composed enough to not push Thunderstorm close to his limits, which could potentially be playing into Grimmel's trap, whether he knew Viggo was coming or not.
But when they finally reached Berk, Viggo couldn't help his eyes from widening in surprise, he even took off his helmet just so he could take it all in, and make sure what he was seeing was truly reality.
Berk had been changed drastically since Viggo had last laid eyes on it from the decks of his warships, and even more so from when he had last flown by with Thunderstorm. Berk was no longer just a simple Viking village like so many others, except for course for their reptilian company, but now, even though Valka had filled him in on many of the developments Hiccup had planned and enacted, he never imagined this.
Every single building seemed to be reaching into the sky as high as it could go. Massive wooden towers constructed out of countless perches, Viking huts, pools, and more had turned Berk's village into a forest, and its forests along the other cliffsides of the island into a village fit for dragons. No. Viggo realized Hiccup had done much more than simply rebuild the village for the ever-increasing number of dragons like Valka had described in her letters. He had built a nest. A nest where Vikings and dragons could presumably be just as at home together.
While nothing would ever compare to the sheer awesome majesty and grandeur of the Bewilderbeast's icy sanctuary, this came close, and of course, if this was all built in less than a year, Hiccup was busier constructing his new nest than even Hailstar was. As they flew ever closer, Viggo could only imagine how many dragons would be able to live here, even if Valka had reported issues of overcrowding between the Vikings and dragons, with the sky likely being Hiccup's only limit, Viggo could understand Hiccup's stubbornness to criticism.
As they started flying through the first rows of towers, Viggo took time to admire the artistry all over, traditional Viking images were side by side with colorful draconic decorations all living in perfect harmony. He was so entranced, that it took him nearly a minute of flying over the village before he realized…it was too quiet.
A dragon nest is never quiet, and Viggo had seen no sign of any real dragons around… Not a wing, talon, tooth, nor scale was visible. No rush of wingbeats, growls, roars, or squawks. Not even any fire anywhere, nor were there Vikings on the ground.
"Where is everyone? Valka had dated her letter only three days ago." Viggo said out loud. He started feeling a pit of dread in his stomach, this situation felt much too familiar to when he discovered the Alpha's empty nest.
"Thunderstorm? Can you see or smell anything? Any humans or dragons anywhere?" Viggo asked him.
Thunderstorm growled, but then suddenly turned on a dime so fast that Viggo couldn't even react to anything until they were crouched inside one of the many towers.
"Thunderstorm what is it?" Viggo asked him softly, as they hid in the darkness within the tower.
Thunderstorm growled softly but crept close to the edge of the opening and extended one wing to point out the opening Viggo looked out in the direction he was pointing down in the harbor several large warship ships were docked, and on their main sails, familiar insignia was emblazoned. A black image of a nightmare's head with a sword resting over it, the symbol of Drago.
"No. He can't be back, can he?" Viggo whispered to himself, and unfortunately logic failed him since he could easily remember several times he'd faked his death and here he was still standing. Considering Hiccup and Valka only assumed Drago had drowned didn't bode well for Viggo's hopes. But he needed to trust his better judgment, find the evidence, and find the answers to his questions, don't panic.
"Thunderstorm, we need to know more, but we also need to be careful." Viggo cautioned him while soothingly scratching Thunderstorm's neck just behind his head. "If this is the remnants of Drago's fleet, we should be fine as long as they don't have any dragons with them. But if Grimmel is here, if he sees us, we need to fly away as fast as possible. He's rumored to have killed every night fury except Toothless, and while I would never doubt your abilities, I want to keep you safe above all costs."
Thunderstorm crooned at Viggo, turning his head so he could glance at him still sitting on this back before giving a nod of agreement. He then slowly crept out of the hut they were hidden in, Thunderstorm using his talons and the claws on his wings to grip the wooden walls on the outside while he glanced furtively around in all directions and took several long sniffs. He then turned his snout knowingly in the direction of the great hall and let out a small growl. But after that, he took off without hardly making a sound.
Thunderstorm then started gliding between each tower, doing his best to remain as silent as possible, and always checking if any danger was nearby. Viggo just did his best to follow Thunderstorm's lead in being quiet. He trusted him enough to know he was doing what he thought was the right move as they searched for whatever he had smelled.
Finally, they approached the great hall, and Viggo was once again impressed by the imposing statue of Stoick the Vast standing guard over his village, even long after he was gone. He was even more surprised when after a moment, Thunderstorm swiftly dived down, landing in between the space behind Stoick's head and the solid stone wall of the Great Hall.
Viggo himself instinctively didn't make a sound either as Thunderstorm carefully adjusted his position until they were secure. It was only then that Viggo finally realized who Thunderstorm had been tracking.
Down below, a tall but lanky man, dressed all in dark leather was pacing near the wooden doors, an apple in his hand while two large, red and black dragons with scorpion-like tails paced around him as well, hissing quietly.
So this was Grimmel the Grisly, and those must be Deathgrippers, by appearance alone they shared many similarities with the Triple Stryke, of course with only one tail instead of three, but the insect-like claws were similar enough. They were enough to make Viggo question just how accurate their name was, because right now, they seemed both aggressive and on alert, but every time they got close to Grimmel they visibly relaxed a bit before tensing up again. Just how had a dragon hunter with his reputation managed to train them?
Viggo had so many questions, but as he could also see three other, heavily armed and armored figures approaching the great hall, he had a feeling luck was shining down on him. As long as they stayed hidden they could learn the answers to many of Viggo's questions.
"Where are they?" One of the heavily armed men in the lead demanded as the three warlords walked up the steps toward Grimmel.
"Gone, obviously," Grimmel said nonchalantly as he took a bite of his apple while studying what Viggo realized was a map lying on the ground in front of him.
"The night fury escaped you? Again?" The woman warlord asked angrily.
"I encouraged it. They've abandoned their only defensible position, running scared with what little they can carry." Grimmel stood up and stuck the rest of his apple on the tusk of one of his deathgrippers. "Don't worry they won't get far. The night fury is distracted, I introduced him to your female. Furies mate for life you see…"
"Yeah, yeah yes. But where did they go?" The largest warlord demanded, interrupting Grimmel's explanation of his entire plan. Viggo cursed silently, it was just like when he was in charge, no one else was a master of the game like himself, it was always so annoying when pieces asked what their purpose was beyond what he told them what they needed to fill their part.
Grimmel audibly sighed and mumbled something under his breath and then started crossing out locations on his map. "Night furies can't survive in the cold, so they haven't gone North. They are trying to put distance between themselves and enemies from the East and South. And night furies cannot fly long distances without rest. Their flight path must include stops. Therefore, they've gone…." Grimmel trailed off waiting for them to make the connection. "They can only have gone… Does anyone want to take a guess?"
"East!" The largest warlord said confidently and slammed a tiny wooden ship down on the map.
"West!" Grimmel corrected him. "Hm? Simple yes? Isn't this fun? Yes? No."
"Ugh." The warlords all stormed away. "Just bring us the night fury!"
"Yes, yes. Where is your love of the hunt? I thought you were conquerors? You'll have your prize in due time. Just allow me to enjoy this. I have dearly missed it." Grimmel said under his breath, just loud enough for Viggo to hear.
Viggo strained closer. He could admit he didn't know any of that information about night furies considering he'd only ever studied one who was far from natural with his bond with Hiccup. He did his best to make out the map Grimmel was referring to. Just the direction of west wasn't enough information, but before he could clearly read the map. Grimmel walked over and rolled it up.
He then whistled, calling his two dragons' attention to him, and they followed at his heels, but one glanced back once more, and Viggo watched at it froze, with his gaze right at Viggo and Thunderstorm hiding up above. It slowly lengthened the stinger in its tail and its two long white tusks, and let loose a low growl.
Grimmel paused and glanced behind himself at the growling dragon. He smirked and whistled again, this time on a higher note, and that was all it took.
Both dragons hissed and flew up in a coordinated attack. Cutting off Thunderstorm's escape from both directions from his hiding place.
"Well, well, what do we have here, a skrill eh? And here I thought those were all extinct after the Berserkers' hunts. Oh well, I suppose that can be easily corrected." He whistled again and both dragons launched themselves at Thunderstorm, one landing inches in front of his head, nearly piercing his skull with its tusks. While the other used its strange claws to latch onto Thunderstorm's tail.
Viggo ducked himself down on the thunderstorm's back and lowered his helmet and his amber lenses. He knew their only hope of survival. "Thunderstorm, lightning, now!" Viggo hissed.
Thunderstorm roared loudly, and Viggo could see sparks traveling over his scales and over his own armor as Thunderstorm charged himself up and let loose a bolt of lighting point blank at the deathgripper in front who was blown away with a burst of energy and a pained roar.
Thunderstorm then quickly turned his head to shoot at the second deathgripper, but as he did, Viggo heard Thunderstorm roar in pain just as loudly as the deathgripper as it too was blasted back.
Thunderstorm then quickly removed himself from the tight space and flew off, but Viggo could feel something was wrong. Thunderstorm wasn't flying as fast as he could, and his flight was very wobbly.
Viggo risked a glance back, Grimmel was watching him with sharp eyes, but both dragons appeared stunned on the ground beside him, even though they appeared to be slowly shaking off the lightning.
"Thunderstorm are you ok?" Viggo returned his attention to Thunderstorm.
Thunderstorm growled painfully in response.
"Go to the forest, we're too exposed in the village," Viggo ordered. "You can do this Thunderstorm I know you can."
Behind him, Grimmel was watching the skrill fly away awkwardly. He glanced at his dragons, one of them had definitely gotten a sting in, but if they couldn't keep their prey, then they didn't deserve to eat tonight. It was odd that the skrill was just hiding there, but he didn't care. He had no use for it, it wasn't a night fury, and if it was stung it was no threat to his plans. Besides the impatient Warlords were itching to move on from the moment they discovered Berk abandoned. Plus Grimmel could admit only to himself, that he was enjoying the hunt so far, now was where the fun would really begin.
Thunderstorm continued flying out of the village, but he was clearly struggling, he kept dropping in altitude before struggling to regain it. Viggo glanced back over his shoulder again and again, but there were no signs of pursuit from either humans or dragons. Nor did he hear any alarm calls. He just had to hope that no one else saw or cared about them enough to hunt them down.
"Go on, just a little bit further," Viggo whispered in Thunderstorm's ear as they reached the edge of the forest. Despite his best efforts though, Thunderstorm's wings soon failed him and they suddenly dropped through the trees, once again all Viggo could do was duck his head down as they snapped countless branches before finally coming to a jarring stop when they hit the ground with a painful thud.
"Oh, Thunderstorm! What's wrong." Viggo jumped out of the saddle and ran around to in front of Thunderstorm's head. His eyes were half-closed but filled with pain, and he could just barely growl at Viggo.
"It's alright, I'm here. We'll figure this out." Viggo did his best to reassure both Thunderstorm and himself. "I'm going to look over you alright? But I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
Viggo began to slowly examine Thunderstorm from all angles, until he finally saw it, on one side near the base of his tail, a small, but noticeable wound was bleeding out both red blood, but also a purplish liquid, which Viggo assumed must be some kind of venom. The deathgripper had indeed stung him.
"Thunderstorm. Can you move?" Viggo asked.
Thunderstorm visibly strained as much as he could, but he couldn't do anything. Viggo's mind raced. He had never heard of deathgrippers before, so he had no idea what their venom could do, or how long its effects will last.
"Ok, so paralysis was likely one of the major effects," Viggo's mind mentally listing the many poisons he knew. Flightmare mist froze its victims with fear, stiffening the muscles so nothing could move at all, usually lasting only a few minutes. Speedstinger venom was a numbing agent, so that the body couldn't follow any commands from the brain, and could last up to twelve hours per sting. Dragonroot poison overstimulated a dragon's senses so that they couldn't fly, and then they would be exhausted by the crash from their high, the effects lasting up to six hours depending on the dosage. Triple Stryke venom could be the closest match, and according to his studies each tail had a different poison, one caused paralysis, one caused pain, and the final one was a death poison. Most dragon venoms that caused paralysis usually only temporarily affected dragons, while in humans they could easily stop their heart from beating or their lungs from breathing. Viggo lowered his head against Thunderstorm's chest, he was still breathing, even if it was strained, and his heart still sounded strong.
When he looked back at Thunderstorm's eyes, he could see he was visibly more relaxed by now. Viggo could move his wings and tail as he pleased, so his muscles weren't frozen or numb. Instead, it appeared that the venom had a sedating effect. Making him too calm and relaxed to be able to move.
"Thunderstorm how are you feeling?"
Thunderstorm looked at him a bit lazily and just sighed, splaying his wings and legs out wide as he seemingly relaxed even further.
"Don't worry, we'll get through this, but until you feel better, I'll protect you. I promise." Viggo said once again.
Confident that for the moment at least Thunderstorm wasn't in immediate danger, he finally glanced around at their surroundings. They were still in the middle of the woods, but they had landed in a large cove. Sheer rocky cliffs surrounded them on all sides, while evergreens towered above them even further into the sky. In the middle of the cove was a small pond, Viggo felt some relief that Thunderstorm managed to crash land just a few feet away from the water's edge. It would not have been a fun task trying to pull a drugged skrill out of the water.
Viggo was pretty sure he could see the shapes of a few fish swimming in the pool, but they were the only sign of life within the cove. There weren't any obvious signs that anyone had ever been here, but even still, Viggo wanted to make certain their immediate surroundings were secure.
"You just rest here Thunderstorm, I'm going to have a look around," Viggo whispered. Viggo slowly began walking around. The first thing he did was scan all the walls for a potential way out of this place, just in case Thunderstorm couldn't fly for longer than he anticipated. He made it about halfway around the cove before the glint of metal caught his eye.
Halfway up the slope, something was shining in the sunlight, and Viggo finally noticed a small trail leading up to it. He carefully walked up the path and stopped. It was a wooden shield, wedged into the walls of a narrow passage that led out of the cove and into the forest. The paint was stripped away, and the metal piece holding the shield together in the center was mostly rusted, but still held just enough metallic surface to shine in the sunlight.
"So someone on Berk has been here, but perhaps not in a long time." Viggo mused to himself, but now that he had a higher vantage point he looked out over the cove once more to gain a new perspective and he started seeing more signs of other potential visitors. In one corner, a strange mess of lines was carved into the ground, forming an incomprehensible symbol, and in another corner, there was a circle of earth, that Viggo swore looked familiar to when Thunderstorm settled down for the night and warmed the stone beneath him.
Viggo stepped down again and walked to the strange squiggles, being careful not to step on any of them and ruin the image. He had no idea what it was, but it was obviously not natural, someone or something had made it. And the burned patch, Viggo was certain it had to be a sleeping spot, and for a dragon about Thunderstorm's size.
"Just what has been here?" Viggo shrugged his shoulders. He shouldn't be surprised that some dragons and humans had been to every inch of Berk. He liked a good mystery, but he had more important things to worry about right now. As he kept exploring and checking on Thunderstorm every few minutes, he didn't find anything else particularly interesting.
Thunderstorm stayed in his drugged-up, relaxed/dazed state for at least two hours, but he slowly started to recover and gather his wits about him, but he was still obviously weak.
"We'll stay here for the tonight. I want to make sure you're ready to fly." Viggo told him, "You just keep resting." Viggo had led Thunderstorm over to where the other dragon's sleeping space was, but when they got close, Thunderstorm sniffed once and then backed away, using his lighting to burn his own circle into the grass a few feet away.
Viggo just shrugged his shoulders and accepted his decision. It wasn't like he could hope to understand what Thunderstorm's issue was, but as night began to fall and there still hadn't been any sign of pursuit the entire day, Viggo leaned against Thunderstorm's side and finally allowed his tired mind and body to relax as he too drifted off to sleep for the night. He could have stayed up, but he figured that if anyone did attack, they were already sitting ducks anyway so he might as well get as much rest as he could.
The next morning Viggo woke up with a jolt, instinctively he reached for his sword and glanced around his surroundings in all directions, he slowly remembered exactly where they were, on Berk, hidden within the forest after spying on Grimmel, and Thunderstorm had been hurt.
He turned his head to examine Thunderstorm for a few moments. He appeared to be sleeping calmly, and the stinger wound at the base of his tail appeared to have scabbed over in the night. So Viggo stood up slowly, still on alert, but he still couldn't see any signs of threats, so he allowed himself to relax a little bit and after stretching himself out a little bit, went back to watching Thunderstorm and waiting for him to wake up.
Viggo didn't have to wait long before Thunderstorm's yellow eyes opened and he glanced up at him with a yawn.
"Hey there Thunderstorm," Viggo said softly and reached out to scratch him beneath his chin. "How are you feeling?"
Thunderstorm growled low in his throat but spread his teeth in a smile.
"Feeling better huh? Do you feel ready to fly?"
Thunderstorm gathered his wings and legs beneath himself and stood up, he took a few shaky steps at first and then began to shake and stretch himself out. After a few minutes of walking around. He took off into the air just above the ground and roared happily, and then he shot a bolt of lightning into the pool, causing all the fish within to float up to the surface so that he could easily start snapping them up one by one.
"Haha. If you're that hungry you must be feeling better." Viggo laughed and let out a sigh of relief. So just like most other dragons, the deathgrippers' venom was temporary, that was good to know, but hopefully, they could avoid direct combat in the future, especially since Thunderstorm's lightning was so effective against them.
Thunderstorm landed next to Viggo and held out fish with the tail just barely in his jaws.
"Ah thank you." Viggo smiled, he walked around until he found a suitable stick to spear the fish with and then stabbed the stick into the ground. "I don't want to risk a fire right now, so can you fry it for me?" Viggo asked.
Thunderstorm nodded and shot a bolt of lightning at the fish, frying it to a crisp and making it edible for Viggo to eat, which was good as he too was probably just as hungry as his dragon.
"Ok, now Grimmel believes Hiccup and Valka and all the dragons are traveling west. Whatever Grimmel did must have really scared Hiccup if he had abandoned his home island. But west could still be hundreds of islands. Could they have gone to any of their allies?" Viggo mused to himself.
Berserker Island and Outcast Island were east of Berk, Caldera Cay was southwest, Wing Maiden Island was Northwest, and his own island was mostly North, and just slightly to the West from here. If Berk couldn't handle overcrowding dragons, then Wing Maiden Island, nor Caldera Cay would be viable stopping points for the entire flock. Perhaps Hiccup had warned them of the threat of Grimmel? But that wouldn't help Viggo, no one in the archipelago would risk trusting anything Viggo had to say if he dared to show up on their shores. Only Hiccup and Valka would even give him a chance to explain himself.
Viggo wasn't sure what to do. Just flying west was no plan at all. He wondered what Grimmel's master plan was, but he knew he and Thunderstorm had been lucky to escape, and he had a feeling Grimmel wouldn't let them slip away a second time. Even though it sounded like the warlords were just power-hungry brutes trying to complete Drago's mission themselves, it would also be risky following their fleets.
"Thunderstorm are you ready to fly, and if needed fight?"
Thunderstorm roared approvingly and ducked down for Viggo to hop in the saddle.
"Good," Viggo said as he climbed aboard. "Hopefully we won't have to, but I want to check one more thing out." Viggo glanced around the cove one last time. "Despite our excellent hiding place, I don't think this will provide any answers, I think there's one more spot we can look."
They took off into the air, staying just above the treetops, both on the lookout for any signs of threats, be they dragon or human. Viggo had had little reason to fear any dragon since he arrived at Valka's nest, but now he realized, that whatever Grimmel had done to train his deathgrippers, all Viggo's tricks may not be able to turn them to his side or at calm them down.
Viggo thought about the real danger they could be in. In all his battles with the Riders, sure they happily took down his ships, but they never shot to deliberately kill him or his men. One thing Viggo could be certain of was that Grimmel and his deathgrippers had no such qualms.
But despite the risk, he had to try, for Valka, for Cloudjumper, for Hiccup and Toothless, and all the dragons and people under their protection. He had to try.
Thankfully when they arrived back in the village, it appeared to be abandoned once again. The harbor was empty of ships, and the skies empty of dragons. "Down there," Viggo ordered, pointing at the house closest to the Great Hall, but just like the rest of Berk, it too had changed.
He had never set foot in Berk's village himself before now, but he had spent plenty of spies as well as seen a very detailed layout drawn by Trader Johann when they had allied together. This should be the Chief's house, Hiccup's house, and presumably Valka's. But when he gazed at it, he could see no specific sign it was Hiccup's.
The wooden house had its roof caved in completely, and only three of the walls were still standing, the inside clearly visible and blackened with ash and soot. Viggo walked in slowly. This was a recent fire too, and likely part of some sort of attack. Most of the main room was just cinders and soot, while the room upstairs still held a wooden bed, and a large flat stone, similar to Thunderstorm's bed back at the compound.
He glanced around the room for a moment. Other than the two beds, a desk, and a chair, the room was bare. Viggo was surprised it was so barren, but he quickly reminded himself that just like he would, if Hiccup was leaving, he would take everything with him. Especially all of his dragon training knowledge, inventions, and plans.
He kept looking around the room when suddenly Thunderstorm perked up and began sniffing the air. He walked closer to the stone bed and pawed at it with his wing, glancing at Viggo.
"What is it Thunderstorm?" Viggo asked.
Thunderstorm bent his head down and lifted the stone up a few inches off the ground in his jaws, so Viggo peered closer and saw a piece of parchment and a few sprigs of some sort of grass.
Viggo grabbed both objects as Thunderstorm set the stone down and looked at him expectantly. He sniffed the plant and he recognized it instantly. "Dragon nip. Someone wanted us to find this. Good job Thunderstorm." Viggo held the dragon nip out to Thunderstorm who happily took a big sniff and then lapped it up as he shuddered in delight from the plant.
Viggo then opened up the parchment to read what was within.
To Viggo, I hope it is you who finds this message.
I know I'm taking a risk leaving this here, but I still think we need your help, and we don't have any choice. Hiccup has decided that the best way to protect Berk, and the dragons is to leave Berk for good. We are traveling West, hoping to find the legendary Hidden World that the dragons came from. Apparently, Stoick also searched for it for years in his quest to find the Red Death's nest. I believe in Hiccup, but I have no idea where or what we will find in our search. I'm sorry but I can't give you much more information, but I pray you can find us before Grimmel or his warlord allies do.
-Valka
"The Hidden World." Viggo ran to his saddlebags and pulled out his notes. The light-colored light fury came from a circle in the sea, whose path was marked by using ten lenses. Viggo wondered if Hiccup had ever seen this image. He had heard legends of the hidden world of the dragons too, but had only imagined them as nothing more than fanciful legends. But the Dragon Eye wouldn't lie. It was real.
Now if only he could find it, or at least catch up to Hiccup before he did and disappeared forever. But if this was all the information he was going to receive, he still had to try.
"Thunderstorm," Viggo asked. "Are you ready? We may have a lot of flying to do to catch up with the flock.
Thunderstorm nodded his head, despite his recent poisoning, and his taste of the dragon nip his eyes were clear.
"Then let's go, we don't have any time to waste." Viggo climbed in the saddle and once more took off directly into the sky.
"Go west, but stay on the lookout for enemies. Who knows who we're going to find first."