Chapter 165
Hiccups POV:
Darkness was the only thing I could see which was accompanied by the distant sound of familiar roars that echoed through the darkness. As I stared out into the darkness I thought back to how I ended up here since the last thing that I remember happening before the darkness was a shockwave throwing me and Toothless back into the side of the crater. It was then I was slowly able to open my eyes only to be forced to shut them quickly due to the sudden bright light shining into them. I slowly opened my eyes again but slowly this time to see what was happening around me and when I fully opened my eyes I was shocked by what I saw.
I was kneeling before Surtr's throne with my arms and torso were covered in hardened lava rock that was binding them to the ground leaving me trapped. I looked around for my dragons and Adal before my eyes landed on my winters wing who now like the other dragon was shackled to the giant ring. Much to my horror the chains and shackled glowed with runes making all three heads roar in pain before my winters wing helped lift the stake up into the sky. While they did this I looked around for my other dragons and Adal but what I saw didn't make me feel any better since they were all in similar restraints like the ones holding me. Adal was up on a ledge forced into lying down position with the hardened lava rock holding down his legs along with his body and his head with a fire giant on either side of him. On a ledge higher than the one he was on were my dragons whose bodies were completely cocooned in the lava rock leaving their heads the only parts that were visible while a single fire giant watched over them.
It was then I was brought out of my observation when the stake dropped from the sky and went through the ring and down the hole once more. For a few seconds there was silence until this silence was broken by the sound of the shockwave cracking through the crater while releasing a large heat filled blast of air. If I weren't pinned to the ground I would've been thrown back from the strength of the blast, which I knew to be stronger than the last one. When the shockwave finally ended I opened my eyes and watched the best I could as the stake rose back out of the hole and then hilted itself on the ring. I then heard a deep voice that reminded me of a burning bonfire ask me.
"Magnificent isn't it?" I immediately turned to see Surtr once more sitting on his throne and looking up at the spike before he turned down to me. "I believe we have yet to be introduced Hiccup Haddock." He gestured to himself. "I am Surtr, king of the fire giants and the one responsible for all you see before you now." He then smiled down at me. "And I know all about you Hiccup Haddock."
"How do you know about me?" He chuckled.
"When a young mortal male defeats one of my greatest enemies, I tend to notice."
"You're talking about the frost giants, aren't you?" He nodded.
"My race has been at war with theirs for centuries and for half that time me and Aegr were in a constant battle with each other." He smiled. "I was surprised to hear he'd been slain by a mere mortal until I heard of your other accomplishments and began following your exploits and you never ceased to amaze me." He then stood up. "And now you're here to witness the end of the other races and the beginning of my rain over all the nine realms." I glared at him before trying to access my weapons but I couldn't. "Don't bother trying to pull out any of your weapons, the magic in my magma sealed your prosthetic so you can't access them." I looked up at him in shock but he just smiled. "I do my research on potential obstacles to my plans."
"And what are your plans exactly?"
"My plans have already begun Hiccup Haddock." He gestured to the stake. "For centuries my kind has worked on this stake which we call 'The blazing destroyer' and the ring which we call 'The ring of Muspelheim' and now after waiting so long they were finally complete and ready to put my plan into action." I raised an eyebrow. "You see Hiccup Haddock the stake is plunging deeper into your world and with every plunge it comes closer to the heart of your realm and when it does this realm will fall as will the others all in a raging fire."
"How did you summon my winters wing here?"
"As I said before the Crimson Fire dragon is it's natural enemy to the point where yours could sense my Crimson Fire when we arrived and came to fight it." He chuckled. "If his species didn't need to rest I then by the time you got here it would've already been chained up and helping me bring an end to Midgard by now."
"If you destroy Midgard the other realms will know something is wrong and prepare for you." He chuckled.
"Foolish mortal, when the stake plunges into the heart of your realm it shall be plunging into the center of the world-tree Yggdrasil and let its flames set the tree ablaze and with it all the nine realms."
"But countless lives will be destroyed with the worlds."
"Indeed, and from those ashes a new tree shall grow." He grinned as he slowly spread out his arms. "A tree of flames holding realms of fire which we fire giants shall rule with me ruling over them all AS THE SUPREME LORD OF FLAMES." I glared at him as he turned back to me. "And now you shall get a front row seat as thanks to your winters wing things shall go so much faster." This spiked my curiosity since from what I could tell the stake was going up at the same speed as before despite the extra muscle.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't think the shackles on those dragons and the ring are just to ensure they don't go anywhere?" Before I could reply he continued. "The ring infuses the stake with power enhancing its ability to break into the heart of your realm and it gets this power by draining it from the dragons that lift the ring." He then chuckled. "I must admit though it is rather ironic that the power these two-dragon species who are mortal enemies would bring about the end of all the realms and their species with them being the last ones in existence." He chuckled and gestured to them. "While the frost giants hunted the last of the winters wings to create his axe of eternal winters I hunted the last of the Crimson Fire dragons to create the 'The blazing destroyer' and 'The ring of Muspelheim' by draining their corpses of their power." He chuckled. "And now like all others they shall die with the realms." I glared at him.
"YOUR INSANE!"
"No mortal, I am a conqueror." He then smirked up at Adal before turning back to me. "And when I destroy the realms your wolves father Fenrir shall be released to aid in our conquest and I shall take pleasure in handing your mutts over to him to be killed like he should've been when he was a pup." I struggled against my restraints. "A fitting fate for a runt."
"DON'T YOU EVER CALL ADAL A RUNT, HE IS NOT A RUNT AND IF YOU DO I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF YOU OVERGROWN CAMP FIRE!" He glared down at me.
"I believe before the end of your world I'll teach you what happens when you fail to respect your betters." He then held his hand towards Hiccup before runes made of magma appeared on the restraints and I felt as if burning daggers were being twisted into my body making me scream in pain. "Beg for mercy and I'll consider stopping your pain." I glared up at him while gritting my teeth.
"I'll never beg for anything from scum like you!" He raised his hand higher and the pain increased for me making me scream even though I tried to hold my screams back.
Nobodies POV:
Adal watched from his place on the ledge as the human he considered not only his alpha but also his father was tortured by Surtr. As he watched he tried to break out of the lava rock holding him in place but runes of lava formed against the surface of the rock keeping him pinned down. Adal felt his power pulse through him as the collar created for him by the dwarves to help control his power glowed with the runes that held strengthened it so it wouldn't break glowed. (AN: Chapter 109 guys!) Hiccup screamed again in pain but this scream echoed through the entire crater and this was the last push Adal needed. His eyes glowed blue that was so light it was almost white as white mist slowly leaked out of the sides of his now blank eyes and his snarling muzzle. A cold wind began to circle him as his collar slowly froze before shattering as the lava rock soon followed allowing him to stand back up.
The two frost giants took notice of him then before he leapt at the fire giant in front of him quickly sinking his fangs into the giants throat while launching icicles back at the fire giant behind him hitting him straight in the head. Both giants fell to the ground turning to volcanic ash that scattered as they hit the ground but then the fire giant guarding the dragons leapt down on him with an axe made of lava rock raised and ready to decapitate him. Before he could though Adal looked up and let out his icy blast freezing the giant in a second leaving him free falling and unable to do anything as Adal jumped out of the way and watched as the body shattered on impact. Adal looked to the skies and let out a mighty howl that echoed through the area before the clouds above circled above and the wind circled the crater making a blizzard begin to form. This in turn shocked the fire giants including Surtr who stopped torturing Hiccup to see what was happening since he feared it could mean trouble.
Adal didn't give the fire giants a chance to react however before he charged down the ledge swatting away any giant who was foolish enough to get between him and his master. When he reached Hiccup Surtr stared at him in shock as the blizzard quickly closed in on them focusing on Hiccup and Adal trapping them within a snow tornado cutting them off from the fire giants. The fire giants stared at the massive spinning the snow tornado not able to see within the massive icy wind that revolved around the man and his wolf. Within the tornado Adal slowly covered in ice until he was once again trapped in a large chunk of ice with Hiccup and his restraints were slowly trapped in his own chunk of ice like Adal with both chunks glowing light blue from inside. For a few seconds there was nothing but the sound of the winds rushing around them as the fire giants gathered around the snow tornado to try and see what was happening but to no avail.
Inside the ice chunks that held Hiccup and Adal slowly began to crack until they burst sending out a shockwave that blasted the tornado open freezing any fire giant nearby that then shattered as the restraints holding his dragons froze and shattered. When the snow cleared to reveal all the giants who survived stared at them but who could blame them as those who were standing there weren't the same as those who were standing there before. Adal now had ice covering his front torso and back along with his back thighs forming an ice armor of sorts before two curved hooks formed out of his shoulders with a long row of ice spikes running down his back's spine. His head also had an ice helmet with curved horns facing upward like a Viking helmet but the ice also covered the sides of his head leaving his muzzle sticking out but his eyes exposed. To add on to his transformation he'd grown to the point he reached Surtr's chest in height giving him an even more intimidating look. Along with this the white mist was flowing out of his eyes like smoke from a chimney as he breathed heavily and his eyes glowed bright as the sun.
Adal wasn't the only thing that had changed however as Hiccups winter armor went through quite a few alterations to the point it wasn't recognizable as Hiccups armor. The armor was now silverish blue in color with boots that look like wolf paws made of the same kind of metal as the rest of the armor with carvings of a sitting wolf on each of the shins. It also had leather gloves that were the same bluish silver as the armor with leather armbands wrapping around them that metal wolf shaped head below the knuckles, white fur lining on the ends and on either side of the wrist was a single wolf fang. (AN: Picture the 'Gloves of The great wolf' on my pinterest page.) There were also shoulder padsshaped like wolf heads that were glaring at whatever they looked at with sapphire eyes in each of the heads. The chest also had a huge wolf that was walking forward carved into it with eyes that seemed to follow you around wherever you were. There was also now a helmet even in the shape of a wolf's head with the guard of the helmet looking like the top of a wolfs muzzle with a circle of fangs on top while the lower jaw curve down next to the chin and white cloth circling the underside of the guard. This helmet covered the top of Hiccups head including his eyes that are covered in a blue glass lenses that look as if they were made of the coldest ice giving off a ghostly blue glow. (AN: Picture the wolf's crown from my pinterest page for gifts from the gods.) On the armors back was a huge white fur cape that flowed in the wind with the latches holding it onto the armor looked like wolf claws. Wrapped around his waist was a belt made of black leather with white designs on it looking like icicles and a belt buckle which took the form of an oval with a carving of a wolfs head in it.
Hiccup looked at himself in this new armor through the lenses as he felt the power run through his veins but it felt surprisingly cold but it was the kind of cold he enjoyed from snuggling Adal. He lifted the gloves and flexed his muscles before white claws shot out from the tips making him stare in amazement as he felt the snow crunch beneath his feet. This to was different, as it felt as if he somehow had a connection to the cold and ice like he could reach out and take command of it with his will alone as if it were part of his own body. It was then he was brought out of his thoughts by his dragons flying down to land by him and give him a nuzzle making him smile as he rubbed their heads. Sadly the moment was broken by the sound of a chuckle followed by a voice saying.
"How touching." We turned to face Surtr who stood up from his throne and giving a slow sarcastic clap while smiling smugly as if he'd already won. "Sadly, if you think a minor outfit change and your pet wolf going through some growth spurt will change things then think again." He then held out his hand towards the dragons still chained to the stake and the runes glowed. "GET BACK TO WORK YOU FILTHY BEASTS!" They both began flying upward, pulling up the stake with them as Surtr turned back to Hiccup. "The stake only needs to be dropped once more from the highest point AND MY RAIN OVER THE NINE REALMS SHALL BEGIN!" Hiccup glared at him as he looked down at Hiccup. "But you won't be able to live long enough to see it." He pointed at Hiccup. "KILL HIM!"
A fire giant wielding a giant mace made of lava rock charged at Hiccup with his weapon raised ready to kill Hiccup but Adal jumped in front of him letting out a howl. The howl froze the giant near instantly before his body was shattered, killing the giant before another charged at him from the side stabbing a sword made of lava rock into his armored side. The weapon shattered on contact but before the giant or Adal could react Hiccup jumped onto the giants back ankle with his claws unsheathed stabbing into the giants' skin as if it were thin as paper. A second later the spot he stabbed into began to freeze and stopped only when his entire leg was frozen in ice that shattered the moment he took one step. He fell back as his body turned to volcanic dust while Hiccup looked at the claws in shock before smiling but his smile soon fell when another giant charged at them with an axe. The dragons each jumped in front of him and let out a combined blast that struck the giant in the chest throwing him back with the blade of his axe landing in his chest killing him. Looking around Hiccup knew he needed to stop the stake somehow but couldn't figure it out and with the coming enemy forces. He turned to his dragons and Adal as he said.
"Hold the fire giants back as long as you can while I try to figure out a way to stop the stake or it's game over for all of us in every realm."
They all growled and took off to do what they were ordered as another fire giant charged at Hiccup wielding a hammer as Hiccup released claws once more and charged at Hiccup. Hiccup ran at the charging giant as it brought its hammer down to crush him but he jumped back avoiding the blow before hopping onto the hammer and running up the handle. The giant lifted the handle to try and shake Hiccup off but he used the height to his advantage and jumped towards the giant face grabbing onto his forehead freezing his entire head within seconds. The giant fell back with his head shattering when it hit the ground killing it while Hiccup turned his attention to the sound of a loud roar to his side. He turned to see another giant stepping towards him as he let out a battle cry and swinging a club at Hiccup who didn't have time to avoid the strike and just braced himself for the blow. Before it struck though the wolf head shoulder pads eyes glowed as the mouth opened and fired a blue beam at the club, which froze entirely within a second, when the beam hit. It shattered the second it hit Hiccup before the wolf head shot out another beam striking the giant freezing it as it let out one final roar before its head froze followed by its body shattering.
Hiccup stared at the ice and knew if he was able to keep this armor he had to figure out how to control this armors abilities or he might end up killing someone by mistake. He didn't have much time to think about this or how he activated the ice beam thing as the sound of a roar from the side caught his attention and turned to see another giant charging at him. He glared at the coming giant and knew he had to finish it off fast before the stake was dropped or all hope would be lost for not only him but also all of Midgard. He growled and ran at the approaching enemy ready to strike down another enemy so he could try to come up with an idea on how to stop the stake.
While he did this, the power flowing through him and the armor began to reach out to the ice and cold around the area slowly forming a blizzard that was circling the crater but everyone was too occupied with what they were doing to notice. As another fire giant fell to Adal Surtr continued to watch from his throne with a simple smile believing there was nothing Hiccup could do now to stop his plan. He watched as Hiccup struck down another one of his soldiers before deciding it was time to end this now before all of his men fell. He stood up from his throne and ran up to Hiccup from behind who turned just in time for Surtr to swing his hand down and swat Hiccup to the side making him fly and slam into the side of the craters wall. If it were anyone else they would've been dead the moment Surtr had struck them but Hiccup was not a normal person and the armor he was wearing was not normal armor. The armor absorbed most of the impact simply knocking the wind out of Hiccup while also making his body burst in pain as he sat up and glared at him as Surtr looked down at him and said.
"You and your beasts have fought valiantly Hiccup Haddock but you have to face the simple fact that all of your fighting now and past victories have all been in vain for there is nothing you can do to stop me from claiming the realms for the fire giants." Hiccup glared up at him and slowly stood up.
"This battle isn't over yet Surtr!" He felt the cold power pulsing through him and into the ground and air. "It's not over for me until I breathe my last breath and until then I will never give up." Surtr glared down at him.
"You think just because your pet wolf gave you a new set of armor you stand a chance against me?"
"Adal gave me this armor out of his trust and loyalty to me and to show he has faith in my abilities to destroy another enemy of his pack."
"Please that mutt has no power compared to me." I glared at him. "And that armor is nothing but paper compared to my power." Hiccup could feel the power flowing through him and into the ground as the wind began circling the crater forming another blizzard. "You'll never save your world with those pathetic pets of yours Hiccup." He felt the power surge in him.
"YES, I WILL!"
He then surprisingly raised his head and let out a howl that echoed not just through the crater but the entire area before the blizzard that had formed outside of the crater rushed in towards Hiccup. The winds circled around Hiccup forming a small dome that allowed whoever looked into it barely able to see the growing form within it. Within the blizzard ice grew around Hiccup engulfing him but he didn't feel restrained or cold, to him it felt as if the ice was an extension of his very own body. Slowly the ice freezing him grew slowly taking form until it grew to the same size as Adal which is when the blizzard surrounding him burst pushing all those near it back to reveal a wolf that was the same size as Adal but was completely made of ice with glowing blue eyes and Hiccup was in the head sitting cross-legged and his arms crossed. The lenses over his eyes glowed as the wolf growled while looking at Surtr who stared at him in shock before he glared at the ice wolf and held out his right arm away from his body before flames burst from them forming a flaming sword. He pointed the sword at the wolf before he said.
"These items change nothing."
The wolf just let out a bark and began circling Surtr who never allowed his eyes to leave the form of the giant ice wolf waiting for it to make the first move. For a few seconds Surtr just watched as the wolf circled him before he finally gave in and lunged at the wolf who saw Surtr's muscles flex in advance allowing him to know Surtr was going to strike. The wolf jumped to the side avoiding Surtr's strike and lunged forward quickly sinking his icy fangs into Surtr's left wrist making the fire giant scream in pain. He immediately used his free hand to try and punch the wolf in the side of the head to try and get it to release his wrist but when he struck the wolf, it tightened its bite on the giants' wrist. Surtr screamed and began shaking his wrist around while punching the ice wolf trying to get it to let go of his wrist as he growled.
"Let go you damn beast."
He gave one last swing with enough force that the wolf let go and was sent flying off but the wolf landed on its feet and went scraping across the ground. When it came to a stop it glared at Surtr who ignited his wrist sealing the wound temporarily until he could have it tended to properly later. He glared at the wolf that glared back at him as he readied his sword before the wolf growled and charged at him head on as Surtr readied his sword. He swung his sword towards the wolf that dived beneath the blow avoiding decapitation but giving Surtr the opening he needed to deliver a strong kick into its belly. The wolf went flying as Hiccup scrunched his eyes in pain within the ice wolf since he felt the kick from within the ice. The wolf landed on its side before slowly sitting up and shaking its head but Surtr charged right at it with his sword pointed right at the wolfs head.
Adal hearing this turned to see what was happening and when he saw that his master was in danger he quickly finished off the fire giant he was in battle with by ripping into its throat. He quickly jumped off the body as it turned into volcanic ash and charged towards Surtr intending to intercept him on his way to his master. One of the fire giants tried to stop him by jumping in the way but the horns on Adal's ice helmet extended as Adal lowered his head and slammed right into the giants' stomach. The giant was impaled on the horns as Adal continued to charge, not stopping or slowing down for even a moment as the giant turned to volcanic ash. As Surtr was about to plunge his sword into the ice wolfs head Adal dived in and sunk his fangs into his left leg making him stop mid stab as he dropped his sword and screamed in pain. This gave the ice wolf time to recover and seeing what was happening it lunged at Surtr's legs sinking its ice-cold fangs into Surtr's right leg making him scream in more pain. Both wolves pulled away ripping out a chunk of his legs making Surtr scream so loud that it echoed through the area as he fell onto his left side. He looked up as both wolves stood together snarling at him and for once in his century's long life the fire giant Surtr knew the true feeling of fear. He crawled back until he reached the wall of the crater and looked back at the two wolves as he held up his hands while saying.
"Wait, if you do this it won't change anything as the stake will still destroy your realm and set the world tree ablaze." Then for the first time the ice wolf spoke in a voice that seemed to echo through the area.
"We'll find a way and if we don't then at least the new realms won't have a monster like you to rule it."
With that said the ice wolf lunged forward towards his neck and a moment later when he pulled back the fire giant Surtr was no more allowing Hiccup still in the ice wolf to turn back to the ring and the stake that had begun its descent. Hiccup watched as the stake burn up as it fell while the fire giants who were still alive began cheering for it as it fell down to earth as Hiccup was struck with the knowledge on how to save the realms. He ran up to the 'The ring of Muspelheim' and began howling with Adal running up to the opposite side before he began howling as well. Their howls merged together as one harmonious melody that brought to mind a raging blizzard as wolves made of snow slowly formed around the ring, joining them in howling. Around the crater a huge blizzard formed, circling the crater and as the wolves let out another howl together it only grew stronger and began closing in on the crater as the stake came closer.
After another howl ice began to form on the ring and its supports as the fire giants pulled their attention away from the coming stake and took notice of the wolves. While the giants looked around the dragons came to land in front of Adal and hid beneath him as the blizzard closed in along with the stake getting closer to the realm but as it did ice began to form on it like on the ring and its supports. The wolves let out another howl and the blizzard came into the crater catching the fire giants by surprise slowly freezing them from bottom to top as they struggled while the ice on the ring, its supports and the stake itself spread faster. Another round of howls echoed through the area as the blizzard closed in around the ring while completely freezing the fire giants and completely surrounding the circle of wolves and the ring they were surrounding. It was as they let out another howl the ring and its supports completely froze as the stake came down like the ring it completely froze. As it passed through the ring once more it let out another shockwave but this time it didn't reach the hole before the shockwave shattered, not only the ring, its supports, the stake and all the fire giants but also the ice wolf.
When the ice wolf shattered the snow, wolves shattered with it and Hiccup was thrown back into the snow as the armor Adal had given him shattered. This left him in only his pants ox flame boots, his eye patch, his grootslang coat that was white and in the form of a jacket and his leather chest plate that was now white like his coat. He landed against the wall of the crater as the blizzard died out while he looked up at the sky that was now covered in stars. This was the last thing he saw before darkness engulfed his vision and he fell into the realm of the unconscious. He was soon surrounded by not only his dragons but also Adal, who had returned to his original form, wrapped his body around his master in an attempt to keep him safe from the elements. It was then the sound of large wings flapping sounded through the area and they all looked up to see the winters wing and the crimson fire dragon coming in for a landing on separate sides of the crater.
Freezer and Tundra looked down at their master while Hailstorm kept an eye on the crimson fire dragon who just sat there staring at Hiccup, wondering what he was after witnessing what he'd done. He also wondered what his intentions were since he seemed to care for the dragons including the winters wing that attacked him. He knew however that attacking or making any threatening moves whatsoever would result in his death due to his weakened state and how the winters wing wasn't as drained as he was. Along with this Adal was glaring at him and after witnessing what the wolf was capable of he did not wish to get on his bad side lest he bring forth its other form that was used against the fire giants. For now, however all they could do was wait for Hiccup to awaken from his unconscious state and then decide what to do from there.
AN: Hey guys here's the end of the latest chapter and wondering what you all think of the new armor and if he should keep it for cold landscapes since there will be more in the future. Anyway, I would've been done sooner but things were busy at work this week so I didn't have that much time to write it up. Also, a thank you to 'Red dragon 112293' for all his help including coming up with the idea for this wolf armor. To answer the question of a guest, yes there will be Hiccstrid but later and till then to all of you, stay safe and remember to review.
