Chapter 222
Hiccups POV:
It's been two weeks since the end of the family reunion and that time has mostly been spent with my family when I wasn't busy planning out my route to a new land. My family wasn't too big on the idea of me leaving them for we don't know how long but they understood that travelling to new lands is just what I do and it could end up helping the Berk in some way by expanding the knowledge of the unknown. In doing so I open up the opportunities to learn new techniques for farming, fishing, blacksmithing, building methods and other such things like I normally do when I go to new places. I always brought these new methods back with me to share with those on Berk who were always grateful to learn these new things since it helped them with their jobs and helped Berk grow as a village.
Anyway, the place I had chosen to visit is a place called India, it's said to have a rich culture and a fascinating history that I'm looking forward to checking out. The reason I chose this place is actually a funny story since I was having trouble deciding where to go when a wind knocked the map to India, in front of me and I decided to take it as a sign. With my destination in mind, I started planning and two weeks later Toothless and I was off on my ship, heading to this new land to see what it had to offer to me. To be honest though, I was just hoping for a nice quiet trip where I could study the local culture, gather some samples of the local plant life for study and of course, add some new animals to my collection.
Now after a week of travelling the land has finally come into view making me smile since I could still tell from this distance that it was a beautiful place covered mostly in jungle. I could tell it wasn't like the Mayan jungle though since the plant life was different but this doesn't mean that the jungle is any less dangerous since there's no telling what those plants could do or what types of animals called it home. It was then Toothless walked up next to me and crooned making me smile as I gently rubbed his head and said.
"A new day a new place for us to explore bud and hopefully this time we won't need to go through any life-threatening adventures this time." He growled making me chuckle. "You're right, best not jinx it." I then looked down at the jungle. "We better find a place to land before loading up supplies into my spiderpack so we can begin our exploration." He growled and nodded before we began searching for a place to land.
4 days later
It's been four days since we arrived and that time has been spent exploring the various sections the jungle had while collecting the plant samples, mapping out the area and occasionally dealing with the local wildlife. Most of them weren't trouble since they would run away at the sight of us with only some of them coming to investigate us but they'd quickly take off when Toothless let out a roar. There was only the occasional issue with some of the animals thinking I was a threat and getting ready to attack me but they'd back off whenever I'd bring out my snake whip and crack it a few times to scare them off.
Now it was night and I was sitting in front of a roaring fire with Toothless behind me with my tent set up behind us so we could enjoy some peace of the night with a good meal of roasted meat with a side of vegetables. This little campsite of ours was set up in the middle of a small clearing so we'd be able to see any of the local wildlife coming and be able to fight, without the local plant life getting in the way. Still just to be on the safe side I set up a few scouters to keep watch over the surrounding area so if any animals came by, I would be able to prepare. I kept an eye through the eyes of my scouters with the eye of the dragon while I watched as my boar meat steak cooked on the frying pan, I'd set up over the fire and listened to it sizzle, making me smile since I could taste it already. I lay back against Toothless and gently rubbed his head as I let out a content sigh as I said.
"Nights like these make our long trips worth all the trouble bud."
He growled in agreement as I flipped my steak to cook it evenly and was content to just enjoy the sound of the meat sizzle, mixing with the sound of the fire crackling and the music of the jungle. It was then my peace and quiet I was enjoying was ruined by the sight of something coming towards the clearing through the eyes of my scouter. I couldn't see too well since it was so dark but I could see that it was the figure of a small human although I couldn't be sure since I wasn't entirely sure what creatures call this place home and if it is a person, I couldn't be sure if they were an enemy. I quickly stood up while signaling Toothless to be on guard as I released my snake whip and unfolded my eagle shield and turned my attention to the direction where the creature was coming from.
It didn't take long for the figure to break through the jungle and what I saw made me freeze up in shock since the thing that was approaching me was a little boy who looked to be no older than nine years old, wearing only a dirty set of pants. I lowered my arms but kept my guard up since I knew it could be a trap but considering how weak the boy looked, I highly doubted it. It was then I noticed the boy began to shake and quickly rushed over to him just as he collapsed but before he could hit the ground, I caught him and saw he was starved and dehydrated. Seeing this I pulled out my water skin and brought it up to his lips and slowly poured the water into his mouth and lifted his head to help him drink it down. I smiled when he drank it down but before I could offer him something to eat, he passed out in my arms and I knew I wasn't going to get anything out of him tonight.
With this in mind I took the boy into my tent so I could set him down in one of the guest beds and began examining him and I did not like what I saw. When I'd set him down on the bed, I saw that along with the boy being starved he'd also been beaten a bit and judging by the marks on his back, he'd also been whipped and after examining his hands, I could see they were rough and cut up telling me he'd been worked hard. All in all, I was not liking what I was seeing, and I intended to see who was responsible for this and give them a good hard punch to the face with my prosthetic in its dragon claw form. For now, though, all I could do was go back outside, eat my dinner, come back inside with Toothless and just go to sleep after giving the boy one last look over and then going to bed myself but I knew it was not going to be an easy slumber.
3 days later
It's been three days since I found the boy who I now knew to be named Anand and those days have been nerve racking to say the least since I'd been worrying about him. I admit he'd gotten a little better after he woke up a day after the night I found him but it didn't stop me from worrying about him since he was still pretty weak. I'm guessing the scare from seeing Toothless didn't help his condition improve since when he saw him, Anand jumped back and fell out of the bed in shock. Once he'd calmed down a bit I was able to explain to him who I was and what Toothless was before I began asking him about what had happened to him and what I was told made me growl.
Apparently, he'd been taken from his village along with all the other children and their villages greatest treasure by worshippers of the dark god Kali. Where they were taken, he did not know but he knew it was below the earth where he and the other children were forced to mine for diamonds and something else but they weren't told what and any who asked were whipped for it. This made me clench my fists in anger since they were only kids and they shouldn't be punished for just asking some questions nor should they be worked like dogs. I promised him I'd find the ones responsible for his suffering and not only free all the other kids but also make sure the ones who took them, pay with a good beatdown before handing them over to the proper authorities.
Anyway, after taking care of him and helping him become healthy enough to travel I was able to return him to his village but when they saw Toothless the people ran and hid thinking, he was some sort of demon. When we landed Anand got off and cried out how we were there to help but he didn't get far before his parents ran up to embrace him as they cried tears of joy, seeing their son again. Soon after that though I was taken to meet the village leader who wished to discuss some things with me, which brings us to now with me sitting in the village leaders hut, across from the leader himself.
The leader of this village was an elderly man with the top of his head being bald with grey hairs sticking out around the sides of his head, while the clothes he was wearing were dirty white and baggy. I couldn't blame him though since the village hadn't been doing well with the land, pretty much dried out and dead while their well had dried up. I was told it was because the servants of Kali had taken their sacred gem that was said to have been given to an ancient hero by the goddess Shiva who gave it to him along with five others to help drive evil from the land. The four others were lost to time while the gem that was the village treasure was discovered in what is now the middle of the village which is why the village was founded here. In the center of this village was a giant boulder that had a large indent carved into it which is where the gem normally resides since it was also where it was found but now it's just an empty spot.
For the past hour the village leader who simply went by the name Elder had been telling me about what he was able to understand about these bandits who attacked his village. Elder couldn't tell me much though since they came at night and were quick to steal the children and the village treasure so there wasn't that much information, he could give me. What he could tell me though was they went North and the only known buildings there was the palace that the king of this land lived in with his servants and family. However, he told me it was very unlikely since he was said to be a fair and kindhearted ruler who loathed the servants of Kali since what they did to worship their dark god was horrific to say the least and all he could tell me was that it was mainly human sacrifices. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the village chief asked.
"I appreciate you wanting to help my village Hiccup but are you sure you can take on this challenge as the servants of Kali are capable of truly unspeakable horrors." I smiled.
"Trust me, they can't do anything to me that can compare to the horrors I've seen in my travels." He raised an eyebrow.
"What kind of life do you live?" I smiled.
"One where there's rarely a dull moment." He raised an eyebrow.
"We'll have to discuss this later but for now, is there any way I can help you in tracking them down?" I rubbed my chin in thought.
"Do you perhaps have something of theirs that they left behind." Elder rubbed his chin in thought before shaking his head.
"I am afraid not." I looked down in annoyance before I sighed.
"Trails probably gone cold anyway."
"I am sorry we could not help you more Hiccup but perhaps we could offer you a small meal." I looked up at him in surprise before smiling and shaking my head.
"Although I appreciate the offer, I can't accept it since your village barely has any food as it is."
"Still, you have returned a child to us and offered your help so this is the least we can do." My eyes widened in realization.
"You've just given me an idea on how I can find the servants of Kali." He raised an eyebrow. "Take me to Anand." Elder looked at me confused. "Chances are he might have left a scent trail on his way back from the mines so a few of my warriors can track down the trail and find where they're hiding." He smiled and stood up.
"Then let us not waste anymore time." He stood up. "I will take you to him, but can your dragon truly track them down by scent." I smiled at him.
"Who said Toothless was the one who'd be tracking them down?" I placed my prosthetic hand against the ground before summoning five of my Bastet warriors making Elder back up in shock as I stood up. "Don't worry, these warriors are my trackers and won't harm you unless you threaten me."
"My friend, one day you will have to tell me what these creatures are and how you gained control of them." I smiled.
"We'll talk when I get back with all the children of the village." He smiled.
"I am looking forward to that day my friend." He then walked to the door. "We better hurry before the trail grows cold." I nodded and we took off.
Next day
It's been a day since Toothless and I left the village with my Bastet warriors in search of the servants of Kali with my Bastet warriors leading the way but not before I brought out four crates of food with eight water filled pots for the people of the village. While my warriors rushed through the trees following the scent Anand left behind while me and Toothless followed from above and so far the trip had been pretty uneventful. Now me and Toothless were coming in for a landing after one of my warriors signaled that they'd found something but what it was, I did not know. We came to land in a small clearing where my warriors had gathered around something before, I dismounted Toothless and asked.
"What did you guys find?" Toothless took a few sniffs and growled making me turn to him. "What is it bud?" He gestured towards my gathered warriors who stepped aside to reveal a demonic statue with a necklace around it that had ten human fingers, with five on either side of a dead crow in the middle of it and since the fingers were still dripping blood onto the statue. "I think this is a sign that we're getting close." They all nodded as I petted Toothless' head. "Easy there bud." I walked up to a nearby tree while switching my prosthetic into its plant form. "I'm going to use my prosthetic to check out the area through the trees."
They all nodded as I placed my hand against the tree and entered it to see what was happening in the area and hoped to find something that could lead us in the right direction. After checking around the jungle through the various trees, I am both relieved and disappointed to say that there was nobody around, meaning whoever left the necklace is long gone. I did however find a palace in the distance which I'm guessing is the one I was told about that belonged to the king of these lands so I might find help there since they might have at least heard something. With this in mind I exited the tree and made my way to Toothless while dismissing my warriors since I could summon them later if the palace was a dead end. I mounted Toothless as I said.
"Alright bud, there's a palace nearby where we might be able to get some answers but there's no telling how they'll take to seeing you so do your best to keep calm." He growled in approval making me smile. "Let's go bud." He growled and nodded before we took off.
Half-an-hour later
Toothless and I arrived at the palace twenty minutes ago and those twenty minutes were spent trying to convince the guards that I was not there to cause trouble. I had to sit down in the middle of the palace courtyard with Toothless for fifteen minutes without either of us making a single move before two of the men walked out with one holding metal cuffs and the other holding rope. It wasn't that hard to figure out the cuffs were for me while the rope was for Toothless who did not look happy, but I signaled him to stand down and let them do what they wanted. A minute later, Toothless' wings were tied down and my arms were cuffed behind my back before we were led into the large palace. As we made our way down the hall, I took notice of the layout of the palace and saw the walls were decorated with tapestries, statues of Shiba on shelves and other such decorations with all of them looking incredibly expensive proving this was a home of royalty.
Now Toothless and I were kneeled in front of a large bejeweled throne with a golden statue of Shiva behind it while no less then ten troops armed with swords standing the walls that were lined with silk drapes. I was told to wait for their ruler who would be coming soon, and I was hoping that I'd be able to show him that I wasn't an enemy and had just come looking for information and possibly help. It was then a bearded man wearing orange silk robes with a white turban that had a shining emerald lined with gold in the middle of it. Following behind him was a young boy wearing yellow robes with a red turban that had a ruby lined with gold in the center of it and a man wearing black robes with a grey turban that had a small diamond lined with gold in the middle of it. As I watched them walk in, I don't know why but I was getting a bad vibe from the man in the grey robes and did not like the look the boy was giving me since it was the kind Snotlout and the twins used to give me.
The one in the orange robes coughed a bit before sitting down in the throne while the man in the grey robes stood by his right side and the child on his left. The man on the throne who I now believed was the king let out a few coughs that did not sound good at all before he looked up at me while hiding the hand he coughed into but not fast enough for me to not notice the small amount of blood in his palm. It was then the man said.
"Stranger, you have come to my palace riding a strange winged beast and yet you have shown no aggression towards us which shows that you have not come to cause trouble which brings up the questions of who you are and why are you here." I bowed to him and answered.
"Your majesty, my name is Hiccup Haddock while my companion is named Toothless who is a dragon known as a nightfury from my homeland." He nodded. "As for my reason for coming to this land, I am a traveler who loves to explore new lands to take in the culture, meet the locals and other such things but my reason for coming to your palace is the problems that have fallen on a village that's a day away from here." He raised an eyebrow. "A week ago, they were attacked by a group who called themselves as the servants of Kali who came and took all the village children-" I was cut off when the other man in the grey robes snorted making me turn to him.
"The servants of Kali were wiped out years ago after their horrific actions were brought to light so it is obviously wasn't them." I knew right there and then that I didn't like this guy.
"And you are?"
"I am Sahil, the king's advisor."
"Well Sahil, if there is one thing I have learnt in my travels is that no matter how many you kill, like these servants of Kali, there will always be survivors who will gather together and rebuild what was destroyed." He grunted as I turned back to the king. "Your majesty, I would like to ask for the aid of your men in the search for the group and the missing children." The king stroked his beard in thought but before he could reply Sahil turned to him.
"Sire, please do not bother with what this foreigners' request as even if it is true, the fate of some pathetic little village should not be your concern." I growled but it was then the child said.
"Father, I agree with Sahil as it is just a meaningless village with simple commoners who are not worth our time." I glared at the child who I now know to be the prince.
"I'm guessing you're the future king." The child turned to me with an arrogant smirk.
"I am prince Sanjay, crowned prince and future king of these lands."
"Well here's some friendly advice to you your majesty, a good king cares about all his people, no matter what their rank in life." Before Sanjay could reply his father smiled.
"Wise words Hiccup, along with this your words hold much understanding, so it is clearly something you have experience in." He stroked his beard. "Are you perhaps a leader in your homeland?"
"I'm the heir to my tribe but my words come from multiple experiences where I have taken the roll of a leader to many men and people, in order to lead them against whatever obstacles stand in the way of their land flourishing into the paradises they can be." He smiled.
"These are things I would love to hear about, but I believe it best told over a meal so please, I invite you and your mount to spend the night so we may both discuss what has happened to the village and a few of your travels." I smiled but before I could reply Sahil said.
"Your majesty, you cannot be serious as this foreigner could be here to assassinate you." I chuckled making everyone turn to me.
"Please, if I wanted to hurt anyone, I would have done it the second you all walked in." He sneered.
"Are you saying that you could do harm to us with both your hands tied behind your back and no weapons?" I smirked.
"You just don't get it, do you?" I stood up while making my body intangible causing the cuffs to fall off but I caught them and held them in front of me shocking the men as I activated my boots speed mode and rushed right up to Sahil how jumped back in shock before I took his hands and placed the cuffs in them. "I let you capture me and could escape anytime I wanted but allowed myself to remain restrained." I then held up my prosthetic. "As for weapons." I released my prosthetics dagger making him gasp. "I'm never without a weapon." I then rushed to Toothless' side and cut the ropes. "I'm guessing, I've proven my point so in the future, please don't underestimate me." He hesitantly nodded before the king said.
"We clearly have much to discuss but for now I shall have one of my guards take you to the room where you and your mount shall rest." I nodded and allowed myself to be led out of the room.
Nightfall
I was lying on the bed in the room I was given while staring up at the ceiling and going over todays events after I met the king who I now knew to be Mohan sent me away to rest while Toothless was sleeping in the stables with my ninja watching over him. The room was nice with yellow walls that had velvet red drapes hanging from the walls, a large carpet covering most of the floor, a table against the right wall, a five armed chandelier made of black metal and the bed I was laying on was pressed up against the wall with the side facing the door and it was a single person bed that had velvet red silk sheets and pillows. As I lay there though, I went over todays events and I had to say that the majority of what has happened to me did not make me feel the least bit easy.
To begin with I had a run in with Prince Sanjay who demanded an apology for what I said to him but all I did was glare and told him that I would not apologies for telling the truth. He then began throwing a fit but stopped when I took him by the collar and lifted him up to my face and told him that if he wants to be a good king then he had to grow up and begin seeing his people for who they were and not their ranking in life. I left him with a shocked yet thoughtful look on his face before making my way back to the courtyard with Toothless for an afternoon flight. I hoped he would be the only headache I'd get but sadly it wasn't as Sahil was nearly always around glaring at me with a dark look and I couldn't help but get this bad feeling about him.
Then there's the sultan who I'd spoken to once before dinner which is when I confronted him about him coughing up blood to which he replied that it was just a little blood and nothing to worry about but I wasn't feeling easy about it. Still I wasn't going to force him to see a healer since I was new to this land and could only assume it was one of their diseases that seem dangerous but really nothing.
Dinner was an interesting affair with a few nobles being present alongside those who I met in the throne room with a few women who were performing a dance for the evening's entertainment. The food was interesting to try but still enjoyable and I wasn't going to complain since enjoying new foods from new places is something I always enjoyed. I couldn't fully enjoy it though since it's hard to enjoy a meal when someone's staring at you as if they were expecting something and, in my case, it was Sahil who was watching me throughout the entire dinner.
I figured there was no use in worrying about what happened at dinner since I was still going to be hunting the servants of Kali who took the kids. With this in mind, I closed my eyes and decided to try and get some sleep, but the feeling of uneasiness didn't leave my mind as I tried to sleep. Five minutes later, the feeling of uneasiness was proven correct when I heard the door quietly opened and opened the eye of the dragon to see who it was and was shocked to see a man wearing reddish purple robes with a long black cloth wrapping up his entire head with only his eyes showing. What caught my attention the most though was the curved dagger that he was holding in his hand in a way that it was facing down so it was easy to tell he was here to end my life. I allowed him to get close enough and when he brought the dagger down towards my chest, I reacted by quickly grabbing his wrist with my prosthetic while opening up my eyes and then shoving him back. I quickly stood up and turned to face him as I said.
"Just because my eyes are closed, it does not mean I'm asleep."
The man growled and charged at me, but I grabbed his wrist and twisted it, forcing him to drop the dagger and pushed him back while kicking the dagger to the side. My opponent then charged at me but when he was two steps away, I quickly delivered the triple strike sting, paralyzing his arms before delivering the strong blow to the chest, throwing him back into the wall, knocking the guy out cold. With the guy unconscious, I did a lookover of the guy and immediately knew him to be a servant of Kali since he was wearing the same outfit as the village leader claimed the men who took the kids wore.
I brought out my mystic Celtic Bag and pulled him into it before rubbing my chin in thought, wondering how he was able to get into the palace when there were guards everywhere. I then turned to the dagger on the floor and knew it was my best chance to find where the servants of Kali were hiding so I quickly summoned five of my Bastet warriors and tossed them the dagger before telling them to backtrack the scent of the owner of the blade. They quickly took a few sniffs before growling and taking off with me following behind them to see where that guy came from so, I could deal with them.
5 minutes later
It's been five minutes since the attempt on my life and that time has been spent following my Bastet warriors on the path of the servant of Kali who tried to take my life. Doing this I learnt he'd climbed through the window by using a rope that was tied to one of the statues that was on the wall and right next to the window with the window being right across from the door to my room. After this my Bastet warriors lead me into the jungle and after a few minutes of running we came up to the entrance of a cave with two of Kali's servants guarding it. They were easy to deal with though since all I had to do was throw a single crystal shuriken, filled with my knockout gas between them and they were down for the count before I pulled them both into my mystic Celtic bag.
Once they were out of the way I let my Bastet warriors go while turning my grootslang coat into its ninja form since I had the feeling stealth would be best in this situation. With this done I made my way into the cave and discovered many paintings of the dark god Kali covering the wall so but from what I could tell, these paintings were ancient meaning this place had been here a while. Along with the painting I also found the occasional dried out body hanging from the roof and on the walls which both disgusted me and proved that this place had been here a while. When I was examining some of the cave paintings, I began hearing chanting and began to go investigate what it was, but I had the feeling it was not going to be something I'd like.
When I'd turned a corner while remaining in the shadows though, I found one of Kali's servants looking down at something and I knew it would be best to take him out before doing anything. I silently snuck up behind him and grabbed before pulling him into a grapple grounder grip, knocking out cold before I lay him down and checked out what he'd been staring at. What I saw shocked me since I was looking down at a giant cavern with a large gap in the middle that ended with a pool of lava at the bottom. On the right side of the cavern were multiple men who were all shirtless and wearing turbans with red upwards facing horseshoe like symbols on their foreheads with all of them on their hands and knees while chanting.
On the other side of the pit was something that made me sick to my stomach and scared me a bit but anyone who saw it would most likely be afraid. Against the back wall was a giant statue of the goddess Kali with a face that looked a bit like a melted skull with a lit candle in each eye, a burning flame in the mouth and a large necklace of human skulls wrapping around the neck and also dangling from it. On either side of the head were the top arms with the right one holding a giant scimitars and the other a stone head while the two lower arms were held out, holding the tops of skulls with chains coming out of them connected to a cage that looked big enough to hold one person. At the bottom of the statue was a platform which it was standing on and in front of the statue on the platform was a giant skull that looked as if it could reach my waste in height with a king cobra, curled up on top of it. In front of this platform was what looked to be a trap door but where it led, I did not want to know and I did not want to stick around here, any longer than I needed to. (AN: Picture the temple and worshippers from 'Indiana Jones and the temple of doom')
Now I was kneeling on the edge while looking down and taking in the situation since I didn't want to go in there without knowing what I was up against. It was then a man I immediately recognized as Sahil walked in, but he was wearing a black toga with orange wrap going over his left arm, a necklace with ribs of some small animal on it and on his head was a cow's skull with the lower jaw going against his cheeks. What caught my attention though was how the top was covered in black fur of some kind and after getting a closer look with the eye of the dragon and saw a small head slightly smaller than my fist in the middle of the crown. I didn't know what was going to happen but I had the feeling something big was about to happen and I also had the feeling that I was not going to like it one bit but for now, all I could do is keep to the shadows and get an idea of what's going on.
AN: And here's another chapter done and dusted and yes I know it's not only short but also leaving you on a big fat cliffhanger but if I did it all here not only would it take till next week to finish but leave this entire adventure as one chapter. Anyway, I'm still disappointed with the lack of reviews I'm getting but that has not affected the length of how much I'm writing, it's just annoying me a bit. By the way, if any of you are wondering why I've gone with the Indiana Jones idea, it's because I don't have any other ideas for India so please just deal with it for now and try to enjoy it. Anyway, sorry again for the short chapter, have a nice day and please review since I do enjoy reading them.
