The team flew over the land, watching it make way to water. They were careful to not go too low in case the sea king was truly an enemy of theirs. As they did, the cousins kept thinking about new questions their minds were beginning to form.

"Does Poseidon usually work alone?" Hiccup asked.

"Not really," Dagur answered. "He has a bunch of sea monsters. I call them 'Outcasts,' but he'll get pretty offended if you say that."

"Why do you call them that?" Snotlout inquired.

"Because they're the rejects of the sea. Even he doesn't like them. He just uses them to carry out punishments on random mortals."

"So, he doesn't like getting his hands dirty?" the inventor asked, starting to feel hopeful.

The hope faded as Dagur got quiet.

"I wouldn't go that far. He just has a lot of dirty work to do, so he gives some tasks to his little flunkies." Dagur paused, thinking over this more. "He might not be only working with them. There are some other immortals that I don't really trust either."

"But how many do you trust?"

The resulting silence answered Hiccup's question. He sighed softly.

"They can't all be against us," he said. "Maybe we'll find out more about whoever our enemies are if we just keep searching."

Snotlout's brows furrowed. "It's a shame they aren't mortals. At least then, we'd be able to guess what they wanted. Who knows what an immortal's motive could be for something like this."

Goals of the gods. It seemed too complex for any mere mortal to comprehend, but if they wanted to save Greece, the cousins would have to push themselves beyond these limits. They continued to think of this as they began to land. Dagur started looking around curiously.

"Okay, if you see anything really bright, that's what we're looking for."

"Can't you just tell us?" Snotlout complained, arms crossed.

"Nope."

"Why not? A really good way for us to find what we're looking for…is for us to know what we're looking for!"

Dagur made a face at him. "That would be boring. Let's do it this way. It'll be fun!"

The redhead eagerly started walking off into the lands. Snotlout grumbled behind him as he and the others kept going. It was a quiet area. They had arrived in a new city. In the distance and away from the forest, they saw homes and a palace. The further they walked, Toothless began to tense up. Soon, he stopped walking completely.

"What's wrong?" Hiccup asked, turning to him.

The Pegasus's eyes narrowed, then he blinked and shook his head. It was like he was unsure if he was seeing something or not. Hiccup followed his gaze, but all he saw were trees.

"I wonder what's going on," he commented.

Hesitantly, Hiccup started walking again, but Toothless put his wing in front of him. With a huff, the horse warned him against moving forward another time.

"Is your horse turning feral already?" Snotlout asked. "I thought we'd at least have another week before that happened."

Hiccup patted Toothless's muzzle. "I don't think that's what's happening. He seems spooked."

"Why? We just fought demon horses. Now that we're in a peaceful city, he's spooked? Weird horse."

Dagur turned slightly, picking up on new sounds. They were subtle—too subtle for any mortal to notice. His eyes stayed trained on one spot. When something moved, he saw it.

"T's right," the god said.

"Right about what?" Snotlout asked.

"There's something here."

"I don't see anything."

"You won't. I'm not entirely sure what it is."

Hiccup's eyes widened in worry. "Well, that's comforting."

His sarcastic tone barely hid the nerves in his voice. None of them knew what they were up against. It was becoming an all too familiar feeling. Each of them hated it. Taking a breath, Snotlout stepped forward.

"Whatever it is, we can't leave. If the people here are in danger, we need to defeat what's trying to hurt them."

He saw agreement on the faces of his friends. As he went deeper into the forest, they did as well. Toothless was the only one to stall, but a reassuring look from Hiccup got him to join them. From what they could tell, nothing was overtly wrong. Gradually, the group felt a chill on the backs of their necks. It seemed to get darker. The next one to stop was Snotlout.

"What happened?" Hiccup asked.

"I hear something," the warrior admitted, glancing around. "It's like a whisper."

Automatically, the inventor looked at Dagur. The redhead shook his head.

"It's not me," he said. "I don't have anybody I'd want to give a war whisper to anyway. It must be what Toothless was sensing."

The horse let out a soft warble of agreement. His ears were perked up as he glanced around.

"I wonder why we can't really sense it," Hiccup commented.

"Whatever it is, it's not from my domain," Dagur explained. "For you two, it's probably because it's not something physical."

Snotlout's eyes widened. "What are you talking about? It's got to be physical. How else are we going to fight it?"

The immortal did not get a chance to answer. He shuddered as that intense coldness washed over him again. The cousins huddled together and Toothless put his wings around them. Shadows from the trees could have engulfed the area. Even though they could not, the horse heard shrill cries from another realm. These hurt his ears and he tucked his head towards his teammates. Tensing up, Dagur tried to spot the source of this problem. He squinted, but nothing was working. Nothing seemed to happen at all…then it did. The cousins started to levitate. They yelped as their feet left the ground. He tried to keep his wings over top of them so that they could not fly off. The Pegasus felt like there were invisible hands pushing his wings away. As they did, the cousins flew upwards.

"What's going on?!" Snotlout asked, flailing.

Toothless leapt into the air, using his mouth to catch Hiccup's sandal. The boy tried to bend down to hold onto the horse, but he could also feel those hands. They tightly had him by the arms and kept pulling. Dagur helped push him towards Toothless. As soon as he was close enough, the inventor grabbed the horse's mane and clung to his neck. Snotlout drew his ax in the air, trying to hit whatever was holding him. Nothing worked. His weapon went clean through just like the air he seemed to be held up by. Dagur flew towards the warrior so that he could push him back down by the shoulders. Snotlout's eyes widened when he saw something materialize out of the air—someone. It was the face of a woman. Her eyes lacked pupils or irises and her cheeks were sunken. The figure's mouth moved quickly like she was speaking. Dagur saw this too as a troubled crease came to his brow.

"No," he said quietly. "It couldn't be them."

"Couldn't be who?" Hiccup asked.

Faster, Dagur pushed Snotlout back towards the others. The cousins suddenly covered their ears when there was another shrill cry. This one was loud enough for the cousins to hear as well. It sounded like words, but they could not distinguish the language.

"Stay low and keep your ears covered!" the war god ordered. "These are the Arae!"

The cousins were not sure what this meant, but they did as he said. Toothless began to run with them, getting further away from the area. Gradually, they stopped hearing that sound, but the Pegasus did not feel less uneasy. Neither did the mortals.

"What the heck was that?!" Snotlout asked. "Who are the Arae?"

Dagur frowned off into the direction they had come from. "They're like spirits of vengeance for those who died."

"Vengeance?" Hiccup inquired. "Then why would they be attacking us? Do they avenge monsters?"

"It's not as simple as that. They avenge whoever calls on them and sometimes, they just carry out ill will for others too."

"So, whoever wants us cursed could be someone we killed…or literally anybody else?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, that narrows it down nicely," Hiccup remarked, sighing heavily.

"How do we know if we got cursed?" Snotlout asked.

"It might have happened," Dagur commented unhappily. "We won't really know until something happens."

Snotlout kept looking around anxiously. "Just what we need. I don't think I like fighting spirits. How do you hit them?"

"You really don't."

"I don't think I like your pep talk right now either," the warrior added, arms crossed.

Dagur wanted to be able to help more, but it was not a simple task.

"I don't have any power over them," he explained. "It's like I said. They're not from my…"

The immortal's eyes widened and the trio stepped towards him in curiosity.

"Did you figure something out?" Hiccup asked.

"I think I just figured out who another ally of Poseidon's is, but we don't have time to focus on that right now. We need to find the creature and stop those Arae."

"As much as I'd love to do that," Snotlout said, "how are we going to?"

He saw the lack of an answer on his friend's face and sighed.

"Great," he snarked. "I guess today's as good a day as any to fight a ghost."

"Spirit," Dagur corrected.

"Really not helping."

Dagur offered a shrug and they continued to walk. Their steps were more hesitant this time. Snotlout kept seeing that haunting face in every shadow. He disliked how much it unnerved him. Again, Toothless stopped walking. This time, he did not look worried. His eyes were bright and he started galloping. Intrigued, the group followed him to a spot in the forest with very few trees. Hiccup and Snotlout looked around. There were just stones and a few singe marks.

"I wonder what made these," Hiccup mentioned.

He trailed a finger over one of the few nearby trees. Its trunk was scorched. Snotlout went over curiously.

"Maybe someone forgot to put out their fire for the night."

A devious chuckle escaped Dagur and his friends turned to him. The cousins both crossed their arms.

"We almost got carried off by spirits," Hiccup said. "You can't still keep this a secret from us."

"Fine, killjoys," Dagur relented with a sigh. Immediately, he grinned. "You were about to find out anyway. Look up."

At his words, the duo glanced up into the sky. Initially, they did not see anything, then they noticed a bird. It was uncommonly large and had beautiful red feathers. Snotlout squinted.

"What's…"

The warrior's jaw dropped when he saw a sudden brightness in the sky. Above them, the bird had turned itself into fire. Flames lit up each feather, making the bird seem like a miniature sun in the sky.

"A Phoenix," Dagur explained proudly. "How's that for a feathery, flying friend?"

Snotlout was speechless as he watched the grand creature. It flew down, landing right next to him. When the creature's flame faded away, the warrior could get a better look at him. The bird had a hooked beak and stood a lot taller than he did. He seemed to have a challenging look in his eyes. Snotlout pulled back cautiously.

"Is he glaring at me?"

Dagur peeked at the expression. "Phoenixes are naturally…fiery." He chuckled at his own pun. "He should get used to you in a bit."

Snotlout hoped this was true because the Phoenix seemed devious.

"Um, how am I going to fly on a bird that lights itself on fire?"

"That, my no longer flightless friend, is a Hiccup problem to solve."

"Mine?" the inventor asked, eyes wide. "This is new for me too."

"Yeah, but you build stuff. Build him something to not get roasted."

Hiccup began to think of the ways he could do this. As he did, both animals turned behind them. Instinctively, the others knew what this meant.

"Not again," Snotlout said quietly. "Can't they just go away already?"

The sky got darker as the moon was covered by clouds. The coldest chill yet hit the team. It was like they were turning to ice. Abruptly, the Phoenix let out a screech. Several feathers stuck up like they were being torn out. Snotlout immediately felt protective of this bird. Knowing the ax would not work, he scooped the Phoenix up in his arms and ran. This surprised the bird who just looked at Snotlout in shock.

"We're maybe friends now," the warrior told him, still running. "That means we've got to watch each other's backs."

The rest of the team was close behind. Hiccup's mind raced for a solution. They had to be able to do more than just run.

"Darkness."

"What?" Dagur asked.

"The darkness! It always gets darker when they're around. It's like they exist in the shadows."

"If that's true, then what we need…"

"Snotlout!" Hiccup called. "We need him to light up again!"

The warrior turned to the Phoenix. "It'd be really helpful if you did that."

Snotlout loosened his grip so that the bird would not burn him as well. He was not able to let go fully before he felt himself getting lifted into the air. The Arae flew him higher this time, but he let go of the Phoenix so that he would not also be carried off. Dagur started to go after him, then stopped. Snotlout closed his eyes when the night became bright. The Phoenix's wings lit up in fire. Another screech from the Arae was heard as they vanished. Snotlout began to cheer, then yelped. Without them, he was plummeting to the ground. The boy prepared for a crash, only to realize that the Phoenix had caught his tunic in his talons. Snolout's nose was almost touching the ground.

"Cutting it kinda close," he commented.

Offended, the bird flew up slightly, then dropped him. Snotlout landed with a tiny thud.

"Hey!"

This made the Phoenix look proud of himself. Hiccup and Dagur chuckled at the bird's antics.

"Well, you've got your new friend, Snotlout," his cousin said. "What do you think?"

"I think that you got the nice one."

When the Phoenix pecked him on the head, Snotlout gestured to him.

"See what I mean? When's the last time Toothless pecked you?"

"I'm pretty sure he can't do that."

"But if he could, he wouldn't."

The uncertain noise from the horse made Hiccup's eyes widen. Dagur found himself being amused by both sets of animals and humans.

"You know how it works, Snotty," he commented. "Time for a name if he's going to stay."

Snotlout unsurely looked at the Phoenix. It stared back at him.

"Are you going to join our team?" he asked. "We've got a pretty big mission ahead of us."

The Phoenix glanced upwards, then back at Snotlout. Before the boy could move, he was squished under the weight of the bird plopping down on him.

"I think we've got a new teammate," Hiccup announced, grinning.

Snotlout let the bird stay where he was. "Now, we just need a name. Hmm. Hook."

"Why 'Hook?'"

"Give me a second. I'm not done yet." Snotlout got an arm free to rub his chin. "Hook…fang."

"He doesn't have fangs."

"But his talons are really sharp like fangs and his beak is hooked."

"I don't know if that makes sense."

"Hey, he's my flying friend, so I can name him what I want. Isn't that right, Hookfang?"

The Phoenix poked him with his beak and Snotlout yelped. Dagur laughed at them, but it did not last long. He turned towards where they had entered the city. It felt different. The coldness was gone, replaced by a sort of welcoming warmth.

"The Arae are gone now," he said. "Actually gone. They went back to the Underworld."

Hiccup turned to Toothless, seeing the animal also seem to be happier. He nuzzled his head against his rider's.

"I guess you're right," Hiccup mentioned. "We were able to defeat them."

Hiccup's eyes began to widen when he realized what the god had said.

"Wait, the Underworld?"

Dagur nodded and Snotlout tensed up, rolling from underneath Hookfang.

"No one leaves the Underworld without permission from the king there," the redhead explained. "If we saw Arae and they attacked us, I think it means they knew we would be here."

"But Apollo wouldn't turn on us, would he?" Snotlout asked.

"I don't think he would, but there are dead prophets who could give the same information." Dagur scowled and his eyes went to the ground like he could see the realm below them. "If I'm right, we're not just fighting Eurymedon and Poseidon. We'll be going up against Hades too."

In the myths, Arae are female spirits of curses. Like in this story, they're from the Underworld. Normally, they are meant to get revenge on the individuals who have caused their death. They can curse other people too. In one of the stories, a daughter decided that her dad did not deserve the "Father of the Year" award. Instead of that, she prayed to have him cursed with bitter and horrible old age since he was keeping her locked in their home instead of being able to go meet people. On a brighter note (literally), we have the phoenix. This bird is actually shown in a lot of different cultures and their mythology. There are Hindu, Persian, Russian, Arabian, Turkish, and more variants. It is meant to show rebirth. The phoenix is immortal and has a cycle where it will burn up completely, then be born again through the ashes. I wanted this to be Hookfang since there's no other creature I could think of that would light itself on fire in this way. Of course, I won't have Hookfang die every time he lights himself on fire, but the actual bird would use this method to be reborn.