After a week of packing and organizing, Eyarr and I finally left. Hiccup and his family and their friends were there to bid us goodbye and good luck wherever we went.
"Don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." I teased Nuffink, wanting to ruffle his hair, but I was not quite tall enough to reach his head. He rolled his eyes, giving me a quick side hug instead.
"We'll be waiting for you when you return." Hiccup said, giving me a tight hug, "And we'll miss you."
"I know, I'll miss you guys, too." I gave Ana and Astrid hugs as well, but Zephyr was the one who held her hug the longest, her head resting on my shoulder.
"You're the best, I hope you know that. You've become like a sister to me." She sniffed.
"Oh, Zeph, don't get sentimental on me now." I teased.
"Be careful out there, and don't forget to write about your experiences if you can. I can't wait to hear about everything you've seen!"
"I will!" With our last goodbyes, Hiccup and Nuffink assisted with loading our stuff onto Cliffire's back. I heard Hiccup whisper something to Cliffire, patting his snout good-heartedly. It was lovely to see the chief interacting with the Nightmare-Skrill mix in the way he did. Every interaction was natural and carried a certain air to it.
"Safe travels." Came Hiccup's assuring words. With a small wave, Eyarr turned Cliffire towards the edge of the cliff, and after a small sprint, Cliffire took to the skies.
I watched as the silhouette of the towering island disappeared in the oceanic fog behind us. My home for a year now… my new home. But now, I was returning to what I felt I was meant to do. To follow wherever the wind and sea took me.
I was lucky I met Eyarr, because now I had a reason to travel again, regardless of the difficulties we'd given to each other. To see what I wanted, to explore.
We had presented different challenges to each other at first, and even though we still had much to learn about each other and figure out what we clashed on. But it seemed that we had a decent friendship building. I felt like he trusted me.
"You know, I'm proud of you," I said, breaking the silence. I felt his body shift under my hands, back straightening. He slowly turned his head.
"You are? Why?"
"Because you allowed yourself to take a chance and trust someone new. That's a very difficult thing to do, and I'm thrilled you allowed yourself to let down your wall." He twitched slightly, flexing his shoulders under my hands.
"You're the first person I've genuinely trusted in years. I don't know why or how you somehow knew what I was going through, but… I guess I needed it."
"To be fair, I think I needed someone new, too. My whole life I was told I was born to sail. To see the world, meet new people. And then I ended up on New Berk, and everything flipped upside down, and I was forced to ground myself. It felt like no one else had the same level of ambition that I do." I sighed, running my hand on the saddle seam, feeling the hand-stitched thread on my fingertips.
"Seems that once I came around, I was stuck in your head." I nodded in embarrassed agreement.
"Yeah, basically. I couldn't stop wondering about the kind of person you were."
We chit-chatted for hours, surprisingly able to talk about anything. But deep down, I knew I wasn't seeing all of him or knowing all of him. He was still hiding. But I didn't expect him to reveal everything about him. In time I would probably understand.
I looked down at the vast sea below. Occasional sea spires or a whale would break the surface. I was going to ask if we could fly closer to the water to see if Ocean was in the mood to respond. But before I could ask, Cliffire took a sharp nosedive down, causing us both to yell out in surprise.
A hard bank left, and he leveled out. He glided just over the surface of the water. I cast my gaze down to my reflection, distorted by the ripple of waves and the speed at which we flew over. But even then, I could still see enough of myself; I was different.
I was so used to seeing my reflection on the ocean's surface from the edge of my canoe, but seeing it from the back of a dragon was entirely different. Who was this girl?
"He senses something!" Eyarr exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts.
I heard it before I saw it.
The echoey roar of waves ahead. I peered over his shoulder and saw a great wall of mist rise from the ocean. Soon, I spied sharp rocks and boulders poking out.
"Eyarr." I breathed out.
"I see it, too." Cliffire lifted up before we made an impact with a rock and circled over the legendary waterfall.
I was breathless.
It was even bigger than I anticipated, and the waterfall's roar was deafening. But it was a sight to behold. I wished so desperately to capture this moment in some way. I felt my stomach drop out of my abdomen as I looked down into the abyss. I frantically looked around, trying to see as much as possible, take in everything. And then I saw draconic shapes on some of the rocks.
"Eyarr!" I shouted, pointing towards a figure. Cliffire angled over so we could see it up close. I was taken aback to see a dragon statue perched atop a rock. Looking around, nine more of the same figures surrounded the edge.
"Who put dragon statues here?" I exclaimed. Cliffire roared suddenly, and to my disbelief, the statue moved! I could hear the grinding of the rocks as the dragon's head turned to watch us.
And then I remembered.
Sentinels.
An ancient, Boulder class dragon legendary for guarding Vanaheim. According to Hiccup's story, this is the last resting place of all dragons. But since thousands inhabited the Hidden World, I assumed there were very few dragons traveling to Vanaheim anymore.
"What are they?!" Eyarr asked.
"Sentinels! They're Boulder-class dragons that are known for guarding the island of Vanaheim! But it looks like they're guarding the Hidden World instead!" It appeared Cliffire and the Sentinel were talking to each other.
"What could they be saying?" Suddenly, Cliffire nosedived down into the abyss.
"CLIFFIRE!" Eyarr shouted.
I squeezed my eyes shut and grabbed Eyarr as tightly as possible, becoming soaked in ocean spray. I coughed as water entered my mouth, and I grimaced at the saltiness.
Cliffire leveled, and I opened my eyes to an extensive cavern filled with stalactites and stalagmites. Water filled the bottom, and small schools of fish vanished into the dark as we flew overhead.
"Is this it?" I asked. Eyarr shook his head.
"Just wait." Suddenly, the caves opened up even more to an endless cavern of towering spires and stalagmites that rose from a seemingly bottomless glowing blue mist. And to my sheer amazement, Cliffire's scales changed. They were glowing! I breathlessly grazed my hand over his wing.
"Did he do this when he brought you here?" Eyarr nodded.
"He did. Took my breath away for the first time. I don't know what causes it, but I've seen the same effect happen to other dragons' scales"
Incredible…
We continued to fly, and I was still amazed by the bioluminescence around us. It was absolutely gorgeous. But I knew there was more to come. Especially more dragons.
After a few more minutes, this cavern opened to perhaps the biggest cavern I'd ever seen. Filled with the strangest assortment of plant life, with enormous crystals scattered across the landscape. Almost as soon as we flew past the threshold, Cliffire landed on a rock below, Eyarr helped me down so we could both look.
I got on my hands and knees so I wouldn't be seen, and Eyarr joined my side.
Dragons of every shape, size, and color were everywhere. I could hear their various cries and calls to each other. I was breathless, I almost wanted to cry.
Eyarr pointed out the flocks of Light Furies, their pale bodies sticking out amongst the various colors of other species. Looking around, I could point out familiar species I'd seen in the Book of Dragons. Monstrous Nightmares, Deadly Nadders, Gronckles, Zipplebacks, Terrors, even Skrills!
Eyarr helped me identify other species that were rare to see beyond the surface. Like Rumblehorns, Flightmares, Armorwings, Timberjacks, and even Typhoomerangs! It was so much to take in.
"I see why you love dragons," I said.
"Pretty amazing, huh?" I nodded wordlessly. Eyarr stood and helped me up.
"Where should we go next?" I shrugged.
"You're the one that's been here before. You lead the way." With a grin, he grabbed my hand and ran down an embankment. As we were walking, I kept looking up at all the dragons flying around like giant birds. Mom would have loved to have seen this, and Dad, too, as apprehensive as he could be, I knew he would be amazed by all this.
We walked briefly before finding a rocky cliff with a perfect view of what I assumed was the Dragon King's "throne." A colossal crystal that had its own glow. We could see dragons gathering around, calling out to each other. I got Eyarr's attention and pointed.
"It looks like something's happening!" I whispered excitedly. I heard roaring from overhead, and a dark shadow flew over us. We ducked down to make sure we weren't seen. And my heart began to pound when I recognized the shape.
A Night Fury.
"Oh. My. Gods…" I couldn't even get words out. Hiccup's drawings did not do the real creature justice.
"Eyarr… Night Furies!" I whisper-screamed. We watched as the Night Fury landed on the crystal, and I noted its appearance. Intense forest green eyes, a powerful build… and its tail. I could faintly make out gears and cogs on its tail. And that's when I realized.
"Eyarr, that's… That's Toothless!"
"The Chief's dragon?" I nodded. We covered our ears when Toothless let out a deafening roar, I could see blue glowing from his spine and his nose.
"He's the Alpha for sure. Look at that!" We spied the Light Fury with her Night Fury mate and their three children, who definitely weren't hatchlings anymore. I remembered what Zephyr told me. Ruffrunner, Dart, and Pouncer. I pointed them out respectively to Eyarr.
But then, two more dragons landed on the crystal. Two more Night Furies!
"Wait, I thought Toothless was the last of his kind?" I shook my head.
"Nope. From what I can recall, one last Night Fury colony remained in the Archipelago. But after Grimmel's defeat, Toothless and his mate led the colony here, safe from dragon hunters." I saw the Night Fury nuzzle Toothless.
"His mate?"
"Yep. It's quite sweet, actually. That's Blueheart, Zyrah's Night Fury. Blueheart and Toothless are the Alpha pair. They have one daughter and two sons, like the Light Fury and her mate. I haven't seen Toothless and Blueheart's children yet, but I vaguely remember their descriptions. I know that the sons are much younger than their daughter." After I finished explaining what I could recall, we lay there for a while, watching the dragons converse with each other. And the entire time, Toothless and Blueheart remained next to each other, forever loyal and in love.
When Hiccup had told me that Night Furies mated for life, it added a special touch to the life the Alpha pair had made with each other.
"I wish I knew what they were saying," Eyarr remarked, interrupting my thoughts. I had to agree.
"Me too, I can only imagine the stories they have to tell."
I don't know how long we watched Toothless and his family, it felt like forever, but I loved every second of it. I felt lucky to be able to witness that. I knew that very few knew of the Hidden World's existence.
Later, I helped Eyarr set up camp under a rocky overhang with very little dragon traffic. Cliffire would guard us for the night. Once we had a fire going, Eyarr pulled out his maps of the places he'd been to. I couldn't help but be impressed. Eyarr mentioned all the maps he'd made himself, and I was eager to see them.
"Your maps look impressive," I complimented. He gave me a smile as a thank you.
"Thanks. It's not an easy skill to master, though. I've worked hard on my accuracy."
"You've been to all sorts of places, haven't you?" He nodded.
"I like being kept on my toes and not knowing where the wind takes me next."
"I feel the same way. Everyone back on my home island says I'm just like my mother. Since we both love the thrill of adventure."
"That right?" I nodded, laying down on a wool blanket.
"Yeah, according to my grandparents, I'm just like my mom in personality, though my aunt says I share many features with my father."
"Interesting."
That evening, as I shared stories with him about my family, I began to enjoy his company. He seemed genuinely interested and was an attentive listener.
After staying up chatting, I finally turned in for bed; but even as I slowly began to lose consciousness, I could still hear Eyarr murmuring something to Cliffire. What he said, I have no idea. He then doused the fire, and the cave fell dark.