Chapter 204
Hiccups POV:
It's been three months since my time as acting chief came to an end and in that time a lot has happened in from the moment my dad took over as chief again. To begin with I spent the first week of that time relaxing and enjoying some down time since after being chief for a week, I needed it. Following that I got back to my regular life of tending to my animals and dragons, working in my forge, designing new things to help Berk and my island, relaxing with my wives and of course cleaning up Toothless after his many failed attempts to woo the girls. Besides that, things had been peaceful with me just working on my designs and just enjoying my days but after that week I began thinking about catching up on some other work of mine.
I began thinking back on how when I first started travelling I wanted to explore all the places that no Viking has ever been to and although I admit I did do so when travelling through the nine realms I really just wanted to see the places in Midgard. After thinking about that I decided it be nice if I just took a trip to somewhere new and it would give me a chance to try and figure out what the compass could do now. I'd already done some tests and got an idea of one of the things it could since when I was out on my ship heading towards dragon island to check on the mining operation the compass showed me how it enhanced my crystal maps abilities. When I was passing through the sea stacks nearing the island I was examining the compass while wondering if I should come by with some of my tidal classes to search the sea floor for shipwrecks before the compass glowed brightly as the map lifted.
This was when I examined below the map and was surprised when it showed me what was happening below the waters on the sea bed like where the sea stacks come from, what fish are below us and the multiple ship wrecks that were there. This was an ability I knew would be helpful since it would help me in the future when it comes to finding shipwrecks to loot or best places to collect underwater plants. After that I went through some tests with my tidal classes and ended up being able to loot multiple other sunken ships that I didn't even know about and came back with a large addition to my treasury. After I got this ability down I spent some time in my map room and began going over the various places I'd yet to travel to and decided on a place with desert like landscape.
There isn't much known about this land since so few people had visited this land and those who had didn't stick around that long due to the harsh environment and multiple types of poisonous beast and bugs that called the land home. I wasn't going to let this change my choice though since I'd dealt with my fair share of venomous creatures in the past and knew I'd be able to handle them. The tough part was explaining things to the girls what I wanted to do and what the place was said to be like and unsurprisingly they weren't too fond of the idea of me leaving for a place that sounded like a deathtrap. It took a bit of time but I was able to convince them that I'd be fine and I'd have to contact them three times a day to let them know what's happening, what the land is like and other such things. After that I spent a month planning my trip such as the route I'd take, supplies I'd need and other such things while also getting all my affairs in order.
Once everything was put in order I took off on my ship and began my journey to Australia but it was part way through that I discovered a new ability my ship was given by the compass. I just had to focus on a clear spot on my crystal map and the compass would glow before a portal opens up in front of my ship taking me to that location on the map. When I first discovered this ability, I continuously thanked the gods since this ability would save me days in time when it came to travelling and already cut this journey time by over half the travel time.
After a week at sea I was able to get my first look at dry land and docked on a beach that had multiple types of sea life I'd never seen before with multiple large boulders that were red like the setting sun. It was truly a magnificent thing to see since I had seen my fair share of beaches in my travels but this one had its own unique beauty to it with its red stones and occasional crab or octopus on the beach. Along with these species during my stay on the beach I spent most of my time not on land but below the waters since below the waters was more incredible than any other place I'd been to. The waters had this large garden made of reef that was teaming with aquatic life that I'd never seen before in my life or even read about in any of my books. I didn't touch any of them though since I didn't know if any of them were poisonous and I was not going to run the risk of food poisoning here in a foreign land. I did however do some shark hunting since the skins of these sharks were different to the ones, we have in the archipelago, so I'd be able to keep them as souvenirs and sell a few for a high price.
I spent a week enjoying the beach before I took off into the desert on my travelling scorpion but it was not an easy ride since my scorpion was made for sandy deserts and this desert was mostly hard red stone with a dry looking bush and grass popping up occasionally with a tree. This makes my scorpion a little more difficult to control since it normally stabs its legs into the ground to get a grip in the sands of the desert and the landscape here was hard making it harder to keep my scorpion balanced since it would drag its feet through the ground. Along with this my scorpion couldn't sink into the earth like it did in the sandy dunes so it would pull its legs in and fold them in, so it was laying down with the tent on top of it.
Besides the land being more firm there were also always large mountains in the distance though and the occasional animal which was mostly rodents, snakes, lizards and other forms of animals but they'd rush away when they saw my scorpion in the distance. It was a shame since I was hoping to study some of them and understand how they survive in this harsh environment with the lack of water and intense heat which lead to me wearing my grootslang coat in its vest jacket form. Besides this there was something that made me a little uneasy though and that was how one morning, when I woke up, I walked out of my tent and found prints in the dirt nearby and I knew they were human. This was all the proof I needed to show me that not only were there people in this land, but they were watching me, probably wondering if I was a friend or foe.
Now I was on top of a mountain looking out at the landscape smoking my dragon pipe while thinking about this land and enjoying the beautiful night while listening to the cries of the native canine species in the distance. As I looked at the beautiful star covered sky, I made a mental note to bring the girls here one day and share the beauty of the nights of this land with them. It was then the peace and quiet of the night was ruined by the sound of someone screaming echoing through the night making me jump slightly. I immediately turned to the direction the scream came from and jumped from the cliff while spreading my wings allowing me to glide above the land and get to where the scream came from.
When I arrived, I found myself on the edge of a cliff looking down into a large lake that was filled with creatures I immediately recognized as crocodiles all swimming towards the foot of the cliff. When I looked down, I saw why, there was a person down there on a small piece of land, gripping their leg and it wasn't hard to tell they were afraid of the crocodiles that were coming towards them at a high speed. I quickly jumped off the cliff while extending the claws from my spiderpack and stabbing them into the wall allowing me to slow my decent. The person looked up just as I came to land behind them making them back up in fear as the legs were pulled back into my coat while the person who I now saw was a little boy stared at me. I didn't take time to fully examine him though as the crocodiles were approaching us and they were doing it fast, so we needed to get out of there fast. Seeing how close the crocodiles were getting I knew I had to act fast, I picked up the boy bridal style while activating my ox flame boots speed mode and then rushing across the lake while using the crocodiles as steppingstones. When we reached dry land though I didn't stop running and got as far away from that lake as I could knowing the crocodiles might try to follow us.
When I felt we were far enough to the point that the crocodiles wouldn't try to follow us I stopped and gently put the child down so I could fully examine both him and his injury. I was able to see his skin was a light shade of brown while his hair was black in color and grown to shoulder length, and for clothes he had animal pelts wrapped around his waist and an animal tooth necklace around his neck. When I was done examining his physical traits, I examined the ankle he was gripping, and I did not like what I was seeing in the least since it did not look good. It was swollen and clearly the bone was broken so it the child will need to stay off it for a couple of days while it heals but for now it needed to be tended to and fortunately I had medical supplies in my spiderpack so I could tend to his wound easily.
Tending to the wound didn't take that long and I had gels rubbed on it and wrapped up in ten minutes, but it would've been done sooner if the child didn't keep struggling. Now that the wound was fully wrapped up, I looked at the boy who stared at me in curiosity probably wondering who I was and why I was helping him. Before I could even try to answer him, someone yelled out what sounded like gibberish behind me and I turned to find a group of men armed with wooden spears, running at me. It wasn't hard to figure out they were worried about the child, so I stood up and slowly backed away from the men and child with my hands held out to show I was not a threat as they approached the child. They looked ready to throw their spears at me while one man was getting ready to take the child away, but it was then the child spoke in the same language as the men. I'm guessing he was trying to explain to them that I wasn't there to hurt any of them and how I helped him since they lowered their weapons but never took their eyes off me. When the child was at the front of the group being carried by one of the men, two men came to stand at my sides and lead me away, but I was ready to bring out my weapons if they were needed.
1 hour later
It's been an hour since I finished tending to the child's wounds before I was led away by the armed men who did not look the least bit friendly but that was probably because they were being cautious of me. A few minutes ago, we arrived in a small gathering of buildings with strangely shaped buildings made of wood with a fire pit in the middle and multiple people standing around and looking at us as we passed by them. The child was taken into one of the larger huts a few minutes ago while I was left standing in the same place with two armed spearmen at my sides while everyone around the buildings stared at me. It wasn't all bad since it gave me a chance to look around at the small village and noticed some of the children and women had some kind of dog with them, but I wasn't sure what they were. Along with this there were some elderly people sitting together including one man holding a long wooden pipe that I'm sure would reach up to just above my waist in height with a few symbols painted on it.
It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by two men walking out of the hut with the child now being supported by a single walking stick that reached above his head in height. One man had the boy to his left was muscular with a beaded headband around his head, a spear in his right hand, a small beard and shoulder length hair, wearing an animal fur loincloth while the other man who was on the man's right was an elderly man. He had curly grey hair that was held up in a tight headband, a short grey beard, strange grey symbols painted all over his body and a staff clutched in his hand and wearing an animal skin loincloth. The man walked up and spoke to me in a language I didn't know making me raise an eyebrow and say.
"I'm sorry but I have no idea what you're saying." I gestured to myself. "I don't speak your language." As I lowered my hand though I saw the elderly man stare at my prosthetic and his eyes widened before he rushed up grabbed it. "Is something wrong?" He didn't answer and continued to examine my prosthetic with wonder in his eyes. "Yeah, it's a fake arm I use after losing my real arm."
It was then he turned my prosthetic hand to see the palm and saw my stone of good fortune before his eyes widened and he then looked from my prosthetic to me and then lifted my arm and began chanting. When he began the chanting, all eyes turned to me before they all stood up and crowded around us and began cheering and chanting while looking at me. It was then the elder turned to me and placed his hands on my shoulders as he said in perfect Norse much to my surprise.
"You have no idea how happy we are to see you here." I raised an eyebrow.
"You speak Norse?"
"Only learnt the language recently as a gift from the spirits so I could speak with you after you arrived." I raised an eyebrow.
"You knew I was coming?" He nodded.
"My name is Koen and I am what you would call a mystic who speaks with the spirits and ancestors of this land."
"And they told you I was coming?"
"They told me a champion would come to save us in our time of need when an evil return to our lands." I nodded as he gestured to the palm of my hand. "When I spoke to them, they showed me the symbol on your hand and claimed it was the symbol of the champion who would face the evil."
"So, an evil has come to your land and I am meant to face it?" He looked at me with hope in his eyes.
"They claimed you have faced many challenges in order to protect the innocent and the land in which they live, and we hoped you would lend us your protection against this evil."
"I can never say no to those in need, especially when it's against evil." He smiled but before he could say anything. "I am going to need a few things though." He raised an eyebrow.
"What is it you need?"
"I'm going to need you to teach me the language, a bit more about the land and of course what you know about this threat I'm meant to go up against." He smiled.
"Now that is something, I will be all too happy to teach you, but I believe it best we start these lessons tomorrow and handle the people tonight while getting the introductions out of the way." I smiled and nodded. "Let's begin." With that said we began introductions and welcoming me to their land.
1 week later
It's been a week since I arrived in this village and in that time a lot has happened, starting with me meeting the chief of the village who I learnt was named Ngarra while the child I saved was his nephew Waru. Apparently Waru had gone on a hunt for this great evil and while he was scaling the side of the cliff, he took a misstep and fell onto the land which resulted in his injury and the crocodiles seeing him as a meal. Besides that, I'd also been taught multiple things such as the language, the culture of the people, the land, the animals, their weapons and other such things. As for the threat I was meant to go up against, I hadn't been able to find out much about it since the spirits didn't mention much other than claiming it was a mistake they made that had come back to haunt them.
They didn't say much else other than that this evil had captured something of theirs that would allow them to recreate their land in their own dark image. Sadly, this evil was able to hide itself from their eyes so they couldn't tell me where they were meaning I needed to keep my eyes open for strange things which was not easy for me since I'm in this land for the first time. This means I don't know what's strange and what's normal so finding the evil was not the least bit easy, but I did have Koen to help me figure what's wrong and what's right. I'd often spend my days wondering the desert with him or as he liked to call it, travelling an Outback track in search of an evil that threatens their way of life.
I used this time to learn more about the culture and the people and I was able to learn a bit more about how to survive in this waste land. One of the things I asked was what the dogs I saw in the village were and why were they with the women and children of all people since I'd seen a few roaming in the wild. From asking this I learnt they were called dingo's and they were actually born in the wild and taken when they're cubs before being raised in the village to serve as guards and living blankets for the women and children and in the case of the hunters, hunting dogs. I was surprised though when I was told the women go as far as to nurse them when their very young, but the dingo's normally return to the wild when they reach one or two years old. It reminded me a lot of how I was with my wolves, Shadow and Snowflake since I raised them both from pups before letting them out into the wild to find mates and start lives of their own. The main difference was that unlike my wolves, the dingoes were often carried by the women who wrapped them around their waists like some form of clothing. (AN: Surprisingly true along with the nursing of the pups.)
Then there's what I was taught about the dreamtime and I had to say it was interesting since it was what they believed to be the first thing this world had ever known before the spirits created their land. The dreamtime was the very foundation of their culture and the very lifeblood of their people with Koen claiming that very few could tap into its true power and speak with the ancestors who watch over the land. It was through this that he taught me how to connect to the land and how to listen to it claiming that once I was able to do so I'd be able to hear the echoes of the past meaning I would be able to see what's happened in the past of land.
Now it was nightfall and I was standing out in the middle of the outback with Koen standing next to me as we looked out into the silent landscape. The reason for this is earlier today, Chief Ngarra had received word from some allies about how some of their people had disappeared when they went hunting in broad day light a few days ago. We didn't know what happened, but we had the feeling that it had something to do with the evil that had returned to the land, so Koen performed a communication ritual to ask the spirits for answers. He claimed he could hear a spirit screaming in pain from this area meaning this is where we might be able to find the evil that was threatening the land. I didn't want Koen to come along but he insisted saying he may be old but he can still deliver a mean strike to those who wish to cause harm to his home.
It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the silence of the night being broken by an inhuman screech echoing through the area followed by the sound of thunder. We quickly turned to where the sound was coming from and saw a large mountain in the distance where lights that were like Avondale's fire but resembling a giant serpent in shape. It didn't take a genius to know that the mountain is where the evil could be seen before I turned to Koen but before I could say anything he said.
"Go, I'm too slow and it better that this situation be handled as soon as possible but be careful as this evil is powerful and may have a few beasts at their command." I smiled.
"That just makes my job more interesting." He smiled.
"Be careful, you don't know what the beasts of these lands are capable of." He frowned. "Or what this evil is capable of."
"Don't worry, this isn't my first time going in blind against a new enemy." He nodded before I took off towards the mountain.
5 minutes later
I've been making my way towards the mountain on my kappa shell helmet and as I got closer the screeching of the creature only got louder to the point it reminded me of a banshee. Now I could a small forest of trees at the foot of the mountain but as I got closer, I had a bad feeling in my gut meaning that there might be trouble in there. I came to a stop and picked my helmet up before putting it away and switching out my regular prosthetic for the wood prosthetic and turning it into a wooden spike in case something attacked.
I slowly made my way into the forest but the second I did I immediately felt eyes on me and knew I was not alone meaning I needed to keep my guard up. I looked around the trees, but I didn't see anything until the sound of a branch came from above me and out of instinct I tuck and rolled out of the way. This was proven to be the right thing to do when a short creature landed where I was standing, and it did not look like it was a friendly creature. It was four feet tall with a big belly, hands with long fingers that had ends that looked like those of an octopus, a head that looked way too big to fit on the body with a large mouth and glowing yellow eyes. I knew this creature was yara-ma-yha-who as Koen had warned me about them and told me how they latch onto their victims with their hands and feet, using the suckers on their fingers and toes to drain them of blood. When their victim is weakened enough, they'd then consume them and trap them in their stomach for a few hours and spit them back out before taking a nap. This gives the victim the chance to run but they'd still be too weak to get too far allowing the yara-ma-yha-who a chance to catch up and once the victims been swallowed and spat out enough times, they would also become a yara-ma-yha-who.
I was brought out of my memories when the yara-ma-yha-who stood up and leapt at me, but I thrust my prosthetic forward impaling it through the head. For a few seconds things were silent with the yara-ma-yha-who just dangled there on my wooden prosthetic with it going right through its head. I watched as it let out a final screech before its skin seemed to melt off its body and right before the bones beneath the skin turned to nothing but black dust. I looked at the dust on the ground that was once a blood sucking beast with disgust since that creature was just plain disgusting in my opinion.
Before I could do anything else though I sensed something from behind me, so I stepped to the side and was able to avoid another yara-ma-yha-who that tried to jump me. It stumbled in front of me before I charged at it and slammed into its back and making it fall forward, onto the ground and slammed my wooden prosthetic into the back of its head, going right through its head like the last one. I pulled my prosthetic out just as another yara-ma-yha-who jumped from behind me and latched onto my back as before clawing at my chest but I'm guessing it didn't know about my armor since the warriors of this land didn't wear armor. I growled as I said.
"Sorry pal, no piggyback rides."
I reached back and grabbed the beast beneath the shoulders and threw it over my head and into a tree branch, impaling it through its mouth killing it. I took a breath right before three thumps from behind me and turned to see three more yara-ma-yha-who looking at me and I did not like the way they were looking at me. They all opened their mouths wide while letting out an inhuman moaning sound as I quickly reached into my coat, into the bag of Loki balls and pulled out three clear balls, filling them up with my acidic gas. It was then the yara-ma-yha-who began closing their giant mouths but not before I threw a single ball into each of their mouths just as they closed. I smiled when the yara-ma-yha-who's opened their mouths again letting out a few puffs of gas as they fell to the ground slowly dying like the others as I said.
"I hope those were the last of them."
It was then another screech echoed through the forest and I looked towards the mountain and saw the serpent screech and knew that I needed to hurry so I took off as fast as I could. Along the way I had a run in with a few more yara-ma-yha-who but I made fast work of them using my spiderpack to deliver a quick crystal to their head killing them. Now I was making my way up the mountain side using my giant hook and spiderpack to get to the top of the mountain but as I did, I kept wondering what was going on. It was then I reached the top of the mountain I found myself looking into a large pit with multiple men sitting down in it, but they all had this strange smile on their faces while their eyes were glazed over.
It wasn't hard to figure out they were in some sort of trance before my eyes landed on a few large boulders, circling the pit with strange glowing yellow symbols on them. I then heard another screech of pain as chains appeared connected to the symbols on the boulders while the other ends were connected to the serpent in the sky. I knew that these boulders and ruins were what was causing the serpent pain and chances are it was being powered by the men who were sitting in the pit somehow. Before I could even make a move though a voice from behind me asked.
"Impressive, isn't it?" I immediately turned to see an elderly man with a bald head, grey beard, skin covered in symbols that were actually carved into his skin, black animal hide loincloth, but he kept his eyes closed as I got into my battle stance.
"Who are you?" He raised his hands.
"No need to fight during introductions Hiccup." He bowed. "I am Taz, former shaman and messenger of the gods." He then stood back up and gestured to the beast. "The serpent is Ngalyod." My eyes widened.
"The serpent who helped form this land?"
"The one responsible for the transformations of so many forms of life in this land."
"What are you doing to him?"
"I am draining him of his power and making it our own so that we may reshape the land in our own image." I clenched my fists before I realised what he said.
"What do you mean our and we?" He gave a smile.
"Do you honestly think I could accomplish all this alone?" He shook his head. "Oh no, my master who was once a simple spirit showed me the true way to power." I raised an eyebrow until a dark shadow with glowing red eyes rose up from behind him before a deep voice said.
"That would be me."
"What are you?"
"I am the former champion Darce." I raised an eyebrow before I realised what he meant.
"You mean like Akuhei?" The darkness chuckled.
"I was the chosen champion that came after him and like him I desired power to help my people but the gods denied me what I asked so I turned to my own mystics and the gods condemned to the darkness for it." I could hear the anger in its voice. "I was able to crawl out of the darkness and found help in the disgraced shaman Taz and together we shall reform this land into our own image." He then gestured to the men. "The life force of these warriors who were captured by our yara-ma-yha-who allowing us to imprison them and when they are nothing but husks Ngalyod shall die with them and our rule shall begin."
"Do you two really think I'd allow either of you to continue to harm Ngalyod and destroy this land." They chuckled before Taz said.
"We knew you'd try to stop us which is why we prepared our little trap." Before I could react chains launched from the ground and wrapped around my body and forcing me to my knees as I struggled. "You shall be helping us with our plans in the same way as the men." I glared at him and struggled as he walked up behind me. "Don't struggle Hiccup, like the others here you won't be able to escape but then again, I highly doubt you'll want to leave your prison." I raised an eyebrow but before I could reply Taz held up his hands to his mouth and blew some sort of powder into my face and then everything went black.
AN: And that brings an end to this chapter and yeah I know it's short and leaving you guys on another cliffhanger but I need room for what happens in the next chapter. Also I'm having trouble coming up with ideas for gifts for this trip so if you have any ideas let me know and I'll think about it but don't mention a boomerang because I already have that. Till next time have a nice day and remember to review kindly.
