Chapter 258
Hiccups POV:
It's been two weeks since Brant was given his new spear and, in that time, he has barely ever let it out of his sight and has spent the majority of his time in the island's different environment, training with his spear in them. He was constantly trying out various maneuvers for each of the environment, making it so he could use his spear to make it possible or easier to adapt to the environments and use them to his advantage like my ninja have taught him. He's been doing pretty well with most environments, especially with the Mayan jungle with him jumping through the various trees and rocks to make his way across the dense jungle. It was because of his constant training in these environments, I built him a special holster for his weapon that goes on his back and the way it works is he just has to press the pole of his weapon against it and a long tube closes around it and all he has to do to retrieve it is pull his weapon up and it'll be free. Still though it did worry both me and his mother's that he may have been pushing his body too far again and needed to learn how to balance his training with resting.
This brings us to now, with me and Brant, sitting across from each other in my tea fields gazebo with Brant tapping his fingers against his knees while I prepared the tea so he and I could talk about him needing to rest more. I poured the tea into two separate cups and passed the one cup over to him which he took with a smile before I picked up my own cup and sipped some of the tea. It was then I'm guessing he had enough waiting to find out why I'd called him here and asked.
"So why did you bring me here dad, since I've got training to get back to." I sipped my tea.
"That's exactly what I wanted to discuss with you." He raised an eyebrow. "Ever since you received your spear you've been focusing on your training and not much else."
"I've been wanting to know what it's truly capable of and to truly master it."
"Son, I know how you feel since I've felt it more times than I care to remember but lives need balance and that's something you seem to have forgotten."
"What do you mean?"
"Son, you need to take some time off from training with your spear to enjoy some down time where you can just have some fun and spend some time with your family." I took a sip of my team. "One thing I've also noticed is you've been training hard in the jungle but you haven't been enjoying the beauty it possesses'." He sighed.
"I'm sorry dad but I've been too caught up in my training to enjoy the jungle."
"Well that's why me and your mothers have been talking and decided we're all taking a family vacation to the Mayan city of El Dorado where you will be taking some time off from training outside of a set period of time each day under the supervision of both me and my ninja." He sighed and nodded. "Now we're leaving for the city in five days so I want you to stop training for these days so you can spend your time planning on what you're taking before packing it up for travel and maybe spend some time with Chara since I can tell she misses her big brother." I could see the small bit of guilt in his eyes for neglecting his baby sister.
"I will dad." I smiled.
"Good now drink your tea and I'll tell you what you can expect to see and what's expected of you in the city of El Dorado." He nodded and I began telling him everything he'd need to know for the trip, including how some people would try to get to me through him and Chara.
5 days later
It's been five days since Brant and I had the chat about him overdoing his training with his spear and in that time, I am happy to say that he hasn't been training for more than an hour a day, under strict supervision to ensure he doesn't overdo it. I am glad to say that he's been spending most of his time either packing his belongings for the trip or playing with Chara in the various environments. Their favorite game though was a game that they called 'jungle tag', a game in which they jump from tree to tree which made this not only a game for them to enjoy but also a way for them to practice their ninja skills. I had to admit when I saw them flying through the branches and couldn't help but take a great deal of pride in the grace and form, they took when they did so. Brant form allowed him to move quickly but a little stiff which allowed his body to remain straight during his dives which made his movements a lot faster while Chara was a lot more flexible, allowing her to move with the grace of a dancer allowing her to make more complex movements. Either way they both had the makings of excellent warriors and when she reached the same level as her brother, she would also be taken to the golden dragon and see if she could walk out with a weapon of her own.
Now we were standing in front of the portal door that leads to the city of El Dorado and with us were our dragons which included Twilight who'd grown to be half Toothless' size. I took the hand of Astrid on my left and Blanca on my right who placed their hands on their dragons who were carrying the other humans on their backs. With that done we all stepped through the portal door with the familiar feeling of water rushing over us before we fully made it through and into the jungle on the outskirts of the city. I smiled as I took a few steps forward and held out my hands while gesturing to the city and said.
"My dear family, welcome to El Dorado, the city of gold."
They all stared at the city in amazement as I lead them all in while Toothless just warbled and shook his head since we'd already seen the city enough times. As you can expect, a group of people with a few dragons walking into the city is bound to get the attention of the guards who recognized me immediately and sent a squad to escort us into the city to meet with Eadrich who'd want to know we were here. I didn't mind though since it was only right that the ruler of the city know that an old friend had come to visit the city with his family, and we would need to introduce him to the kids.
Half an hour later
It's been half an hour since we arrived in the city and in that time we've met with the guards who took us straight to Eadrich who welcomed us with open arms before leading us away for some royal hospitality to welcome us to the city. Now we were all in a large room with a large table that was topped up with multiple delicacies of the city which we were all taking pieces of to enjoy and it was easy to tell everyone was enjoying themselves. Even the dragons were enjoying the offered food with Twilight trying to sneak a few pieces off Brant's plate when he was busy talking to Eadrich who was curious about what life with me was like. She never succeeded though since his ninja training allowed him to see what she was doing before a quick and gentle slap to her snout got her to back off for a few moments before he'd toss her a turkey leg and of course Toothless would ask the same of me. I swear it's times like these I wonder which one of them was the younger dragon since at times he acted more immature one of the two which is not good when you want to set an example for your child. It was then as I enjoyed a piece of sliced fruit when Eadrich asked.
"So, Hiccup how long will you and your family be gracing our city?" I shrugged.
"A week at the least since my son needs time to relax and unwind."
"Oh, he does, does he?" I nodded.
"He's gotten a little too wrapped up in his training and needs some time to let his body rest since a warrior needs to learn to balance their lives." Eadrich nodded.
"Just don't be surprised if he gets requests for sparring matches from the young warriors who are close to his age."
"I won't be surprised and to be honest, I'm hoping for it since it'll be good for him to have some new sparring partners." He nodded as Brant asked.
"Aren't I supposed to take a break from training?"
"Yeah, but if there's one thing I've learnt, if you don't beat guys like them down then they'll keep pushing you until you give them what they want which in this case will be a chance to go up against you."
"But why would they want to go up against me of all people?" Eadrich answered.
"Child, when your father came to us for the first time he not only saved the city and its inhabitants but proved himself as one of the mightiest warriors ever to set foot within it and as such, to defeat him would bring great fame to whoever did so." Brant nodded. "As his adopted son who has been training under him the young boys who are also wishing for a bit of glory will see defeating you as a way to gain a little fame among their peers while bringing a bit of glory to their families." Brant nodded as I placed a hand on his shoulder.
"When they do challenge you son, try to make it look like you're having a hard time beating them since if you don't then they'll think you were trying to make them look weak in front of everyone." He nodded as Eadrich said.
"Enough of that now, we still have much to eat and I would love to hear about the new places you have been and I would love to hear how you met each of your wives as you never told me." I smiled at him.
"Now the tales of how I met each of my wives is something I am more than happy to tell since it allows me the chance to fall in love with each of them all over again." The girls blushed and giggled as I gave them each a charming smile before I used my golden spider to begin the story how I met Blanca.
Nightfall
The entire day had been spent in the company of Eadrich who had me show him illusions of all the places I'd been, the beasts I fought and of course how I met each of my wives which is the first thing he asked me to show him. Now we were sitting on a large stage and watching as a large party happened in front of the temple where my family would be sleeping. I chuckled as I saw Hadasa dance with a few of the local women while Chara was playing with the local children who were playing with a ball. Brant on the other hand, at the request of Eadrich was performing some of his moves with his spear, hoping that seeing his skill in addition to being good entertainment would get some of the younger warriors who were thinking of challenging him to back off. Astrid on the other hand was with the dragons, trying to help Toothless keep them calm while also making some of the curious locals back off and avoid crowding them. Blanca on the other hand had chosen to remain quiet and simply enjoyed watching the festivities from my side while occasionally picking up a cut piece of fruit from the bowls around us to enjoy a snack. It was then she asked.
"What are the plans for tomorrow?" I shrugged.
"Who knows my sweet serpent, when on vacations like this, I've learnt to just enjoy what it brings but what it does is something that I never know until it comes."
"I just hope you are able to avoid falling into any giant whirlpools or taking on any giant stone jaguars that are being controlled by mad high priests." I rolled my eyes.
"Are you ever going to let any of the dangers I face on my adventures go?" She giggled and rested her head against my shoulder.
"We will see how this trip goes." I nodded.
"I'll try to keep out of trouble then, but I make no promises since trouble seems to find me no matter where I go." She giggled before we continued to watch the festivities deep into the night.
3 days later
It's been three days since we arrived in the city and in that time, things had been anything but boring since I'd been able to get a good idea at how far my son has come in training since he'd face at least seven challengers a day and none of them ever beat him. Although he did try to make it look as if they were actually making claiming victory a challenge for him, none of them took their defeat well and vowed they'd beat him next time. Sadly, like with me when I won multiple matches my son also got something that I could easily tell was really annoying for him and that thing is attention from both boys and girls close to his age. Girls were trying to cozy up to him while the boys were eager to either challenge him or train with him, so it was always a headache for him. The difference is though, while I had to suffer and endure the constant pestering of the people alone, he had me to help get him out of it by coming by and claiming I needed him for something.
Chara didn't have it any easier though as some of the kids saw her practicing her speed and acrobatics in the trees while also seeing her practice throwing kunai while in midair. Some of the boys actually found her acrobatics attractive and developed a crush on her but I was not going to let them anywhere near my little girl since she was way too young for that sort of thing and even if she wasn't, I was not going to let those boys near her since none of them were good enough for her. I couldn't blame them though since it was easy to tell she'd mature into a beautiful young girl since her body had fully recovered from her time with the slave traders with her hair that was shaved going from shoulder length to a little past them which she now kept in a short ponytail and her body growing a few inches. Brant of course was no exception since he'd also grown a few inches and developed muscles that were leaner and showed everyone that he was going to have a body that most males would love to have, and women would love their men to have. I just hope that neither of them get arrogant in the future as arrogance comes before the fall and that is not something I wanted to see happen to any of my kids, adopted or by blood.
Now I was enjoying a quiet morning with my family as we all sat around on the couches in the room we were staying in while we talked about our plans for the day. It was then Chara asked.
"Daddy, how did this city come to be?" I turned to her with a smile as I answered.
"Well sweetie, according to legend the city was built by the Mayan gods as a way to reward the people for their services, but nobody knows what services those were." It was then Brant asked.
"Maybe it has to do with the one who this place was originally built for." I shrugged.
"Maybe." It was then he got a look on his face that showed he had an idea.
"Hey, what if there are hidden passages in this place that was left behind by the previous owner." I chuckled and ruffled his hair.
"You never know son." It was then Hadasa asked.
"Don't you have something that exposes all hidden doors?" I turned to her with a smile.
"You're right." She smiled and sipped her drink as I turned to Brant. "I do have a set of mystic bells that will allow me to find and unlock any secret passages, but I highly doubt there are any around here since if there were Eadrich would've told me." Astrid then said.
"Unless he didn't know about them." I shrugged and reached into my coat. "If there is a secret passage then we'll know soon enough." I began pulling out my mystic bell with blue patterns that lets me know of any secret passages or doorways but as soon as it left my coat, I heard its familiar ring. "Well I'll be darned." Astrid asked.
"Hidden passageway?" I looked around and saw the glow that showed its location was in the middle of the pool.
"Right in the middle of the pool." I took a closer look and saw a symbol of the Quetzalcoatl that was carven into the stone. "Hold on a minute." I took off my shoes and leg guards before rolling up my leg pants and got into the water before walking up to the symbol. "This might be the way to open it up." I pressed down on the symbol before but nothing happened until the symbol began glowing and my prosthetics upper arm began to heat up as holes opened in the sides of the pool which drained the pool before the trap door opened to reveal a ladder before Brant asked.
"Where do you think it leads?" I shook my head.
"I'm not sure but maybe Eadrich will." I climbed out of the pool. "I'll go ask him but from what I saw that passage hasn't been opened in years which is why until I get back, nobody is to go near it." They nodded as I got my shoes and leg guards back on before I took off out of the room.
10 minutes later
I was back in the room but this time, Eadrich and a few of the city elders were with me and we were all looking down into the secret passage. Eadrich nodded before turning to me and saying.
"I am sorry Hiccup, but I am afraid none of us even knew this existed since the secrets to this temple were lost to time centuries ago." He then gestured to the room. "Over time people began believing it was simply a room reserved for honored guests." I kneeled down and looked down.
"Looks like there's more to it than that." I then smiled. "Well I guess I know what I'm going to do today." Before I could jump in though, Eadrich placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me. "Are you sure about this Hiccup?" I smirked.
"I've never turned down an adventure and I'm sure my wives will be happier if it's in the city we're vacationing in than out in the dense jungle." They all chuckled and nodded.
"Just be careful my friend as I highly doubt, they'll be happy, and I doubt the city could survive the rage of the women who are tough enough to capture your heart." We all laughed before I made my way down the ladder but as I did, Toothless walked up and crooned making me smile and pat his muzzle.
"Don't worry bud, I'll be just fine since what's down there can't be worse than my wives when they're angry." His eyes widened and nodded before letting out a growl and sitting down on one of the couches while resting his head on a cushion making me mutter. "Lazy reptile."
I then headed down the tunnel but I was careful since there's a lot of cobwebs and there's no telling how old this ladder was so it could fall apart at any moment. When I reached the bottom, I took a breath while looking around and as expected the place was near pitch black and covered in cobwebs but fortunately there was a torch on the wall. I walked up to it and ignited my arm before using it to light the torch to give me a little more light down in this place but the second I lit the torch, every torch on the walls lit up as the trap door leading out closed. I then looked down as the floor lit up with a jade green light before it blinded me and then as quickly as it came, it disappeared and when I looked around there was nothing besides the lit torches. I then felt my prosthetics upper arm and looked to see the symbol that represented my blessing of the Mayan gods was glowing and then fading making me raise an eyebrow before I tried summoning a weapon but got nothing. I tried using my weapons sash and got nothing before I tried manipulating my coat and blade scarf but still nothing and I said.
"Well I guess the gods want whoever discovered this place to do it the hard way."
I made my way down the hall but as I did, I kept my guard up since there was no telling what this place held and if there's one thing I knew about the Mayans, it was that they were experts when it comes to making traps and lethal ones at that. I slowly made my way down the passage while keeping my hands on the walls to help me avoid getting lost since for all I knew; this place could be a labyrinth. I never let my guard down as I walked down the hall right and this was proven to be the right thing to do since when I took a step forward, the stone I stepped on sunk and I immediately got ready to move. This was proven to be the tight thing to do as holes in the walls opened up and began launching sharp and thin stone discs out and into the other hole across from them before being launched back out. It was only thanks to both my ninja and kung fu training that I was able to dodge them and even then, it was barely with some strays being able to cut a few inches off my hair. When I reached the other end of the trap, I took a breath and smiled at those blades as I said.
"Thank Odin that the Ancient One and Master Shen trained me so hard when it comes to being able to react to threats in an instant and think on my feet." I then turned down the hall. "Better keep a closer eye out for more traps." With that in mind I kept walking down the hall.
Half an hour later
It's been half an hour since my run in with the first trap and in that time, I've had a run in with multiple other traps including spike filled pits, flame throwers from the walls, giant spiked balls falling down from the ceiling and more. Now I'd just reached the end of the hallway and was met with a dead end and this annoyed me to no end considering all the trouble I had to go through to get here. I looked around knowing that there had to be more to it than meets the eye and began looking around at the walls to see if I could find anything that might lead to a hidden door. It was then I found an indent in the wall that was shaped like a Quetzalcoatl and gently pressed my hand against it right before it glowed, and I backed up expecting a secret passageway to open. Then before I could react, a wall came down from the ceiling behind me completely cutting off my exit making me raise an eyebrow figuring one of the other walls would open in a few moments. It was then a large hole in the ceiling opened up right before water came rushing out like a waterfall and began filling up the room as I asked.
"Was this all meant to lead up to drowning me."
The room was filling with water fast with it already reaching my waist as looked around for any way out but saw no way out meaning I might really drown. Sadly, there weren't any visible ways out, but it was then I looked up and realized there was only one way out and slowly allowed the water to fill up the room to lift me up to the ceiling. When I could touch the ceiling, I thanked the Ancient One for his training in swimming against currents and swam over to the opening where the water was coming from. As soon as I reached it, I took a deep breath and climbed into the opening as the water continued to fall on me, but I kept climbing the opening against the force of the rushing water. I kept climbing without a moments weakness since that would mean being tossed back down into the room where I'd be as good as dead.
I kept climbing for what felt like hours but I knew it couldn't be more than five minutes at most, but it was then I finally found an end to it all when I reached the ledge of something. I quickly pulled myself up onto it and out of the waters path and crawled away from it while taking a few breaths and looked around to get an idea of where I was. I was in a large stone room that looked to be in runes with some of the statues on the upper ledges looking just about ready to fall, plants growing everywhere and rubble all over the place. I looked around a bit more before my eyes landed on a large set of double doors with four stone figures carved into them with one at the bottom in the center, one three feet above it and one on either side with each armed with a weapon of some sort. The one in the middle at the bottom had twin daggers, the one on the right had a large club with spikes at the end , the one on the right had an axe and the one on top had a macahuitl.
I walked up to the door and examined it, knowing that what was behind the door was what all the traps were protecting but from what I could tell there was no way in since the two statues in the middle had sealed the door shut and were blocking any way to open it. I stared at the statues and couldn't help but feel like they were glaring right at me but shrugged it off, figuring I was just being paranoid and turned around to begin looking for a way out. I took a few steps but then heard what sounded like earth cracking followed by wind being cut and quickly tuck and rolled forward before turning around. Turns out that was the right move as the stone breaking was the statue at the bottom of the door coming to life and the wind cutting was it swinging its twin daggers towards my head. I took a moment and saw it had the head shape of a large peccary and its body was mostly covered in metal armor with spiked shoulder guards, knee pads, elbow guards, helmets and gauntlets and horned helmets. In addition to these it also had metal skirts and chest plates that covered their upper chests but left their stomachs exposed revealing stone beneath them. A few seconds later the other three formed their own metal armor before stepping out of the door with their weapons becoming jade and gold with them all glaring at me as I sighed and said.
"Whoever built this place must really not want that door opened." I looked at my approaching foes and cracked my knuckles. "Well I would love to have my weapons, it's best to get some practice in hand to hand from time to time." I then got into my fighting stance bring it one rock heads." And with that said the stone creatures charged at me and our fight began.
Nobodies POV:
Hiccup was quick to rush at his foes and deliver a few swift but strong punches to each of them but he quickly learned that their rock bodies weren't just for show and although their bodies were heavy, their strikes were very fast with them almost being able to hit him. Hiccup knew that without his weapons, killing these guys was not going to be the least bit easy but if there's one thing he'd learnt under his various combat teachers, its that you needed to fight smart if you wanted to win in a battle when the odds were against you. Hiccup quickly jumped to the side to avoid the axe of the one beast while quickly looking around for a way to beat these guys when his eyes landed on the way he came in and he smiled as an idea formed in his head.
He quickly ducked out of the way of a swing from the spiked club being swung by one of the foes and backed up towards the waterfall. The creature wielding an axe charged at him with its axe raised high and ready to kill Hiccup who smirked at it and waited till it was five feet away and ran at it before dropping to the ground and sliding beneath its legs. The beast stumbled forward as Hiccup stood back up and turned to face it just as it turned around, but Hiccup was faster and charged at it while channeling all his strength and striking the beast with a thunderdrum pulse fist, knocking it back into the water. He smirked as the beast fell down the hole as the water pushed him down into it the hole with no chances of returning.
Hiccup didn't get the chance to enjoy this victory for long though as the one wielding the club took a swing at Hiccups head in an attempt to knock it off. It was clear this one was physically stronger than the others since it was able to swing its weapon with incredible speed and strength showing Hiccup that it wasn't going to be easy. He quickly did a few backflips to put some distance between not only the foe with the club but also between the other two who were approaching him. When he reached the wall and looked up, he saw that he was beneath one of the statues that was almost ready to fall and knew how he could use it to his advantage so he could deal with his club swinging foe. He quickly picked up a few stones and began throwing them at the club wielding foe that as expected, was angered by this and charged at Hiccup with its club held high and ready to kill him. Hiccup stood still as it did so and the second it came within swinging distance, it swung it at Hiccup who tuck and rolled out of the way causing the beast to strike the wall instead. As soon as the club contacted the wall, the wall cracked and shook right before the statue fell from its pedestal and fell down on Hiccups foe, crushing it beneath its weight.
Hiccup smiled before turning to his remaining foes who had decided it best to attack together to stand a better chance of avoiding ending up like their two comrades. The foe with the twin daggers came at Hiccup slicing at him constantly but Hiccup was quicker and was able to avoid every strike thrown at him. Sadly, he was still being pushed back and right into the one with the macahuitl who had his weapon raised high to kill Hiccup, thinking Hiccup was too busy with his dagger wielding foe to notice it. This however was not true as Hiccup had taken notice of his other opponent and had decided to use this as a way to get rid of his current opponent. The second he was close enough, the macahuitl was brought down towards Hiccup who smirked when he heard the wind whistling and quickly jumped towards the dagger wielding creature, placing his hands on its shoulders before lifting his body up and flipping over the dagger wielding creature. Sadly, for the creature, its comrade couldn't stop the momentum of his weapon and ended up hitting his comrade instead, splitting it in two as Hiccup smirked and said.
"Well that must've given him a splitting head ache." He then looked at the remaining creature. "And then there was one."
The creature roared in anger and came at Hiccup while swinging its weapon like a madman but Hiccup dodged every strike since anger makes someone a predictable opponent and this creature was anything but unpredictable. Hiccup did a few backflips to gain some distance between them and quickly climbed up onto a ledge where a large boulder was sitting making Hiccup smirk. He quickly tipped the boulder over, rolling it down towards the beast who saw the boulder coming and immediately ran back in order to avoid being crushed like its club wielding friend. While it did this, Hiccup gained a bit more height by climbing up the wall until he reached the ceiling and looked down at his foe who had been able to avoid the boulder and looked up at Hiccup was glaring at it as he said.
"This ends now!"
He then jumped towards the creature while he curled into a ball and when he was five feet away he uncurled himself and held out his feet to form his Catastrophic Quaken kick while channeling all his strength into his legs to give the kick more power. His feet slammed into the chest of his opponent with incredible force, throwing the beast right back into the door where it shattered into pieces while Hiccup jumped back and took a few breaths. It was then as he took a few breaths, he looked around at the various places where what used to be mighty foes once stood and asked.
"Whoever left those things there either had a wicked sense of humor for a prank or they really didn't want that door opened easily." As soon as the words left his mouth though the doors slowly began to push open. "Or maybe it was all just a test to see who was worthy of entering." He shrugged. "Well I've already come this far so might as well see what else there is." With that said, Hiccup made his way through the door.
Hiccups POV:
I slowly made my way into the room while looking around for anything that might attack me out of nowhere but from what I could tell, it was just a large room which unfortunately I couldn't see too well due to it being pitch black. It was then the doors closed leaving me in complete darkness until a giant bowl in the middle of the room lit up with flame making me back up in shock while looking around. I saw multiple drawings on the walls made of pure gold and jade, depicting what looked to be the true history of the city of El Dorado from the beginning. Before I could examine any of the carvings though, I took notice of what was at the back which was a stairway leading up to a throne that had a skeleton sitting on it. Before I could walk towards the stairway so I could get a better look though the carving inscribed on the wall began glowing brightly and slowly flowed into the throne. When the light fully flowed into it and when the light had fully been absorbed the skeleton took the form of a smiling man who stood up from the throne to reveal it was just an illusion with the skeleton still sitting in the throne.
I took a few moments to study the figure and saw he was a well-muscled man with a green loincloth around his waist that had a golden wrap around the waste with a gold and dark green striped end going down the front. His hair had been cut either side of his head leaving either side bald while what was braided and hanging back, tied back in a ponytail. What caught my attention the most though was his lower left arm which looked to be made of black metal that looked like leather wraps with the wrist having god wrapped around it along with the back, on top however was a long lime green diamond shaped gem at the back of it with silver and bronze beneath it. It was hard to tell if it was just an arm or a prosthetic limb like my own, but it was then that the illusion walked down the steps and stopped right in front of the fire and said.
"Hello, if you are watching this then you have proven yourself to be a champion of the gods like I once was for only one who has received their blessing may enter this place and take the tests to prove themselves worthy of claiming my legacy and should you have failed then your wounds would have healed and you'd be sent back to the surface, unconscious with no way back in." I raised an eyebrow. "My name Dorado and this city was named after me as you can guess and the reason for this is, I'm the one who asked the gods to make it as payment for my services to them." The illusion let out a sigh. "I admit the services they requested were never easy and sometime required a great sacrifice." He looked down at his covered arm strengthening my belief that it was a prosthetic. "It was all worth it though to protect those that I loved and now that you are here, I know that El Dorado is safe and I can still rest in peace but before I leave you now I offer you these things." He took a breath. "First I leave to you my earthly possessions as they do me no good in the afterlife and you may use them as you see fit." I looked around wondering what he meant. "I also leave to you my most trusted friend and mount along with his mate who was given to me by the gods to make my way through the dense jungles faster. The males name is Abund while his mates name is Yatzil and remember, look after them and they will look after you." He then smiled. "And finally, I leave you with these words of wisdom, when all hope seems lost and you feel as if you should simply give up the fight remember what you're fighting for."
With that said the illusion disappeared but before I could do anything the walls began to move, sinking into the ground leaving only the pillars to hold the roof up. To say I was shocked by what I found myself surrounded by would be an understatement since I was surrounded by piles of gold and artefacts but I was brought out of my shock when the throne and the steps began sinking to the floor. When the throne was completely down to floor level, the skeleton turned to dust leaving only the clothes and the arm that was resting on the arm rest. I walked up to the throne and picked up the arm and confirmed that it wasn't a glove but a prosthetic limb like my own and picked it up with my real hand. The second I did though, I felt immense pain as the prosthetic shined and then when I opened my eyes again, my left hand had been replaced with the prosthetic arm that went up to my elbow, but it still felt like my normal arm. Still though, I figured it would be best to first find a way out of here before I did anything with it since if it had powers I didn't want to use them in a confined space so, I needed to find a way out of here.
I began walking around the various gold and jade treasures, coming across a few pieces of armor on racks, some impressive pieces on pedestals and a few old scrolls but no exits. I made a mental note to come and pick them up after I find a way out but through it all I kept wondering who and where these companions Dorado was talking about were, since for all I know, they could've died years ago. It was then I was brought out of my thoughts by the sight of a large statue of two dragon like creatures that had similar body shapes to the speed stingers so they, didn't have wings and looked to be runners instead of flyers. I walked up to the pedestal holding the statues and brushed off the dust and moss to see if there was anything that could tell me what they were and found the name, 'feather strikes' and beneath it, an indent for a pair of hands. I looked down at my own hands and sighed knowing that there was no harm in trying before I pressed my hands into the indents and got a small surprise when they sunk in a little.
I felt my prosthetic arm heat up in what I now realized was the symbol that represented my blessing of the Mayan gods before the sound of stone cracking caught my attention. I looked up towards the sound and my eyes widened as the stone broke off to reveal the beasts beneath them who jumped off the pedestal and began running around, probably to stretch out their limbs a bit while I stood back up and stepped away from the alter. It was then they ran up to each other and I was able to get a better look at both of them and had to say that they were both impressive dragons.
I saw they were seven feet tall and from head to tail they were ten feet while their arms lengths were two feet and head size was one foot and a half from top to bottom and two feet from snout to back. I also saw that like Quetzalcoatl they were feathered all over their bodies, with black Talons on both feet and claws feather patterned white underbelly that travels from underneath the chin down the belly and to the back of the tail but also had red on the legs, arms and sides of the face that travels all the way on the back to the tail. The male dragon has a long set of combs like feathers traveling down the back of his spine from his head and has a fan like pattern at the very end of his tail also within their feathers of the comb and the fan pattern on the tip of the tail has black stripes at the very tip of the feathers. The female on the other hand was a lighter shade of red and a foot shorter than the male with a crown of feathers on the back of her head and on the back of her elbows.
I was however brought out of my examination when their eyes landed on me and I froze, not wanting to seem like a threat to either of them. They slowly approached me and began circling with each leaning in to take the occasional sniff but I could see their eyes were mainly focused on my left hand showing they recognized it as their late masters. It was then they both stopped and began making their way towards me and then just stared at me and I knew what needed to be done. I held out both my hands with my palms facing them and looking down at the ground with my eyes closed. It was a few seconds later I felt their scaled muzzles press against the palm of my hands and smiled knowing I'd just trained two new dragons. I looked up at them and saw the look of wonder in their eyes and chuckled as I said.
"Hey there, I'm Hiccup Haddock and I guess your former master left you both in my care from now on." They both growled. "I promise you, I won't try to take his place but I will do my best to measure up to him." They growled and nodded. "Now do either of you know a way out of this place?" They both growled and nodded before Yatzil walked up to a wall and pressed her foot down on a hidden panel before the wall opened up to reveal a large stairway. "Well that's convenient." I made my way over to the stairs and turned to Yatzil. "This way lead to the surface?" She nodded making me smile. "Let's go then but I have to warn you, what's waiting for me up there is probably going to be scarier than anything down here." Both dragons tilted their heads in confusion. "My wives who I doubt are going to be too happy about me going down into this trap filled place." I shrugged. "Well let's head up since the longer they wait, the angrier they'll be." They growled and nodded before we headed up the steps.
1 weeks later
It's been a week since I discovered the hidden lair of the former champion Dorado and in that time, a lot has happened with both me and my new dragons Abund and Yatzil. The first thing I did when I got out and found myself on the steps leading up to the room me and my family were staying in, was get an earful from my wives who demanded to know what happened to me while I was down in those tunnels. Then they noticed my new arm and the dragons which led to more questions from not only them but also Eadrich who had joined them soon after, when he heard my wives yelling at me. He was grateful to find out I was alright and even more grateful for uncovering the secrets of the civilization that were thought lost for all eternity.
After all that, I went on to learn a bit more about the prosthetic that had attached itself to my left arm and I had to say its capabilities were impressive to say the least. Turns out that the entire top of the forearm could lift up and out of the arm before releasing a long green blade from the end with three smaller blades on either side, making it resemble the arm of a praying mantis. (AN: Image will be on pinterest page soon.) This blade was tough enough to stab into gronkle iron with ease and could one of two poisons with the first being able to paralyze a victim for seven hours and the other killing them instantly. Along with this it seemed to have merged with the chains that had imbedded themselves in my arm so the blade could be launched out with the chain connected to it so it would come in handy for killing foes and getting to places with nothing for my hook to hook onto by stabbing into them. The ability I liked most though was the ability that was similar to my chains in which it took the form of a tattoo which was a Quetzalcoatl wrapped around my arm with the wings wrapping around the wrist and the head resting on top of my hand. The reason I liked this ability the most is because I loved the feeling of the skin on my wives' cheeks whenever I caressed them or when I'd gently stroke their hair as they slept and to lose that feeling would be more painful than any form of torture I've ever suffered.
Then there are Abund and Yatzil who I have bonded well with and actually been able to learn how to ride as easily as I do Toothless. Along with this, I didn't even have to make saddles or reins for them since they had them in the vault. These reins were connected to a golden helmet that covered the tops of their heads and went down to stop above their noses which the reins connected to with golden flaps at the back. As for the saddles, they were made of leather on top and bottom with gold in between them and a long golden strap going down and around the chest with dangling pieces on the bottom. Then comes riding them and I had to say, these two were made for running through the jungle since after one ride, I learnt that they could quickly adapt to the constant changes of the ground and run with speed on the same level as a speedstinger, even with me on their back.
Then there's the tomb of the champion who left everything to me which is where I ended up spending the majority of my day going through before loading into my spiderpack. Besides the gold and jade there were also a lot of artefacts that I had to go through since some were thought lost or legendary so I returned them to the citizens for safe keeping but those that weren't were mine to keep and would look good on display in my home. Anyway, besides the artifacts I also found a few sets of armor on racks and loaded them all in, racks and all to save me some time of making new ones and even if I couldn't wear the armor, they'd still look good on display alongside the weapons that were set up with them. Besides that, I found a few scrolls with maps to places Dorado had been along with notes on what could be found in those areas such as plants and animals.
Other than that, things have been pretty quiet with me being able to enjoy a bit of down time with my family, just enjoying what the city had to offer so it was mostly a good vacation with nothing outside of the ordinary problems. Now I was making my way through the portal door with my family after we said our goodbyes to our friends in the city of El Dorado and were heading home. As we made our way to the portal that would take us back to our home though, I looked around at the portal doors leading to all the other places I'd been and couldn't help but wonder if these places had their own champions. I admit I was interested in what they left behind but it wasn't their treasures but the knowledge they had since these dead champions were the ones who came before me and gone through their own hardships. Finding their lairs might at least help me to prepare for the future problems I have to face to protect not only my family but all of Midgard. For now, though, I was happy to just return home and get back to my own life with my family.
AN: And that brings an end to another chapter which I hope will get more reviews then the last one which only received ONE REVIEW. Anyway, I got the idea for that small fight scene from the old 'Mighty Morphing Power Rangers Movie' after my pal Red Dragon informed me that the actor who played the green ranger died recently which is a shame as he was my favorite back in the day. By the way, sorry for the late post but busy week leading up to a Christmas party on Friday since we're all going away in December, a family friend's wedding on Saturday and a play at Church on Sunday. Now I also feel the need to warn you that the next chapter may be late as well since me and my folks are leaving on Thursday for vacation meaning travelling and family time so little writing time and I'm sorry about that but tis the season for family. Now then, I'd appreciate a few more reviews than last time and if you have any ideas on what you'd like to see in the next chapter, send it in the reviews and have a nice day.
