Sunless Fire

by hellzbelles

Summary:

For thousands of years, it has been foretold that the Great Destroyer, Alduin, was to return and with him, a warrior with the soul of a Dragon would arise to vanquish the beast for good.

But what happens when the Dragonborn doesn’t want to kill dragons? What if instead, he rides them?

Notes:

I know what you’re saying: “Hamborg, why do you keep disappearing and then posting something for a random-ass fandom and then disappearing again!”

To that I say: Shut up and take this unholy offspring of a lifelong dragon hyper-fixation and my love of irony.

Also: I have only played about 150 hours of this game. Skyrim is one of those games where there’s too much (see: the 22-hour retrospective on it bc holy shit) and I couldn’t research everything for a silly fanfic. So if there’s smth wrong or some NPC is mischaracterized, just know that it was for the bit and totally not bc I was lazy and only did five minutes of research into each NPC I didn’t replace lmao. Trust me and just keep that in mind.

Chapter 1: The Boy and the Dovah

The prophecy was one foretold for thousands of years.

After the banishment of the dreaded Alduin and the extinction of dragons in the lands of Skyrim, the final being born of the Dovah would rise, their Thu’um breaching the heavens and striking down Alduin for time and all eternity.

The Greybeards spread the prophecy, even as far as Morrowind, hoping that the next Dovahkiin would be brought to their hands to train and to guide for their battle with Alduin.

But, thousands of years passed instead. The Greybeards refused to take on any prospective Dovahkiin, knowing that any child brought to them was not the true vanquisher of evil. Great warriors rose, all rumored to be the Last Dragonborn, but with not a single dragon left to prove it, they soon fell to being footnotes in the College of Winterhold’s library.

Jarl Stoick the Vast knew of these rumors and tales. In fact, he had been asked by multiple warriors in his youth as to the strength of his Voice. He always shook them off, stating that he needed not the power of a Dovah to be a great warrior. And he had made his point when he tore a herd of giants down with only his bare hands at the age of seventeen. The herd had been plaguing the mountain nearby for years, and after Stoick’s beloved was injured by one, he sought to kill every last giant that made that cave their home.

He earned his place as Jarl, with his brother, Spitelout, as acting advisor. Their Hold in the central region of Skyrim was plentiful, with many abundant fields for farming, forests for lumber, and claimed mines that delivered only the finest of materials and jewels. It seemed that their home, Whiterun, was the greatest of the Holds in the region. Stoick gladly married his beloved Valka soon after his position as Jarl was confirmed.

As the Jarl of the centralmost Hold in Skyrim, Stoick was asked to participate in the Civil War, a dreaded and heated battle between the Stormcloaks and the Imperials. He refused to meddle in the affairs of his northern neighbors, stating that their squabble was of little concern. Spitelout wasn’t so sure that centralism was the best play, but he wasn’t Jarl for a reason. The fighting continued as Whiterun continued to grow.

It wasn’t long after the birth of Stoick’s heir that the dragons returned.

After thousands of years of relative peace, Alduin appeared in the Throat of the World. His roar reached even the farthest edges of Skyrim, shaking even the mightiest warriors out of fitful slumbers.

“Your arrogance has only brought more suffering!” The god of destruction laughed, “Face your maker, meet your doom! I know you have no Dovahkiin to save you!”

The first city he attacked was Winterhold, though the mages were able to keep their ground against him. Alduin traversed the land, reviving many dragons and beasts to aid in his conquest of the region. It wasn’t long until Whiterun was the target of his attacks. Their forces fought valiantly, making use of the many outposts and watchtowers around the Hold. Archers make their marks upon dragon wings and warriors felled the beasts with swords and axes.

Jarl Stoick was forced to the frontlines to fight the incoming assault. Dragons came from all sides, though they did not expect some quite like the Stormcutter. Valka noticed the dragon enter the window leading into her child’s room and instantly grabbed the sword she was forced to carry. She raised it to slay the beast, but then she heard the giggle.

The Stormcutter was playing with him.

Valka didn’t see a beast try to kill her child. Instead, she saw an animal be gentle with what it knew to be a fragile thing. Seconds passed by like hours as Valka watched her son smile and grab onto the Stormcutter’s claw. Then, time caught up and a burning beam collapsed, startling the Stormcutter and leaving a claw mark upon her only son. Valka was the next thing the dragon noticed.

Then Stoick was the last thing Valka saw as the dragon carried her into the sky, screaming for her husband and son.

From that day on, Stoick assisted the Imperials in their quest to slay Alduin. He still stood by his decision to not join the Civil War, but both sides had a common enemy and no war could be fought until the dragons were dealt with. After Stoick’s brief period of mourning, he began the rebuilding of his home. Whiterun, and Dragonsreach, were known for their impeccable defenses, but the dragons revealed major flaws in their ways.

Soldiers needed to be trained, armor and weapons needed to be smithed, potions and enchantments needed to be researched. Stoick buried himself in his work, being the Jarl of such a great Hold that just suffered such a great loss. His Hold had to defend their region from the dragons, it was in his blood, his mind, his soul.

Jarl Stoick of Whiterun may not have been chosen by the Gods as the Last Dragonborn, but he sure as hell was not about to let his lack of a Thu’um stop him from being the greatest dragon killer in all of Skyrim.

None of the generals of Skyrim could make Alduin fear like the words, “The Dovahkiin has awoken.” However, all his fear subsided in an instant as he listened to the report.

Alduin laughed when his sentries told him of the fall of their brother and the instant that the scrawny child, no older than fifteen years, had taken in his first soul. He wouldn’t believe it, not until the Greybeards of High Hrothgar themselves called for the Dovahkiin.

But the Greybeards never called.

And the boy was never seen again.

~~~

Hiccup Haddock, son of Jarl Stoick the Vast, hated his life.

And it had nothing to do with the Civil War, or the dragons, or the absolute mess he made whenever he left Whiterun’s castle. It all had to do with those stupid classmates of his and their stupid pranks, as well as the Hold that seemingly hated him.

So far, in his fifteen years of life, Hiccup had been stabbed, drowned, hung by his pant leg over a fire, electrocuted (don’t ask), and had more joints dislocated than his father could count. Hiccup was, by all means, empty space. He couldn’t lift a hammer to help in the forge until he was twelve, when most blacksmiths had started their apprenticeships at seven or eight, depending on how in-line with the smithing family you were. His mind often wandered, leading him to places that most warriors wouldn’t go with a knife.

He tried to ignore the betting pool that all of Whiterun had going for years about when his father would finally snap and strip Hiccup of his heir to the Jarl seat, giving it to Snotlout, his cousin. Some had bet that it would happen within ten years, some bet fifteen, and only one person, the village elder Gothi, bet that Hiccup would take on the title of Jarl. Though Hiccup didn’t like the idea that the supposed “Hold Crazy Lady” was the only one who had any faith in him.

But Hiccup persisted. He enjoyed his time alone, using it to think of and make new inventions that would help him become “a man”. His countless hours away from people, whether it be from his perch in Dragonsreach or his favorite spot by the river outside of the Hold, made him very used to being without company. He was sometimes the victim of his cousin’s ire, having to avoid traps laid by Snotlout’s friends, but he had gotten good at sneaking around them.

When Hiccup started his apprenticeship with his father’s best friend, Gobber, he had expected more freedom now that he was learning. He tried his hand at actually crafting the inventions he designed, though most of the time it caused more issues that it fixed. The dragons were a constant still, and he quickly became accustomed to sharpening and repairing weapons and arrows for warriors who wanted to end at least a few dragons during Alduin’s reign.

Hiccup had resigned himself to dying by a dragon’s hand. In fact, most of the villagers of Whiterun were shocked to see him still alive at the end of each raid. Would they ever see him as more than a useless boy, so weak and frail, so lost without the mother who was taken from him as a baby? Hiccup didn’t have the answer to that. Yeah, he wanted to do great things and prove he was a warrior worthy of the Jarl title, but his body simply wouldn’t allow it.

That was, until his fifteenth year.

Dragon raid happened every few months, as the recently revived dragons would encroach upon Whiterun’s stables and storehouses, stealing whatever they could to feed themselves and their newly brought-back brethren. What wasn’t immediately eaten was to be taken back to Alduin, as a thank-you for bringing them back from the dead.

This raid, though, Hiccup was determined to make his mark. He ran to the forge to meet Gobber for his duties of sharpening weapons and crafting arrows.

“Took ye’ long enough!” Gobber yelled before bringing his hammer down onto the hot metal in front of him.

Hiccup tied the too-big metalworking apron around himself, “Sorry, got held up! Dad wasn’t sure if today was a day for me to leave Dragonsreach.”

“From my experience, lad, no day is a day for you to leave yer room!” Gobber laughed and dunked the blade he was working on into a barrel of water, a hissing steam rose into the forge’s air, “Don’t know why he still lets you participate.”

“Oh, please, Gobber, Dad never actually lets me participate,” Hiccup rolled his eyes, “He just runs off to kill dragons and I run off to help where I can. I may not look it, but it’s hard to contain all of-“ he flexed what muscle he had, which was none, “-this, y’know?”

“Uh huh, well I bet Alduin needs toothpicks, don’t he?” The blacksmith said as he grabbed another blade to sharpen, “He probably won’t even like how paper thin ye are. Imagine that, the God of Destruction, refusing even a toothpick because of the thinness!”

“Alduin wouldn’t be able to handle me-“

“You wouldn’t even make it to Alduin, lad!” Gobber grabbed Hiccup with his hooked hand, “Now get back in here and sharpen these blades!”

“Oh, come on, let me make my mark!” he struggled uselessly against Gobber’s hold on him, “I gotta do it one of these days!”

“You can’t lift a hammer, you can’t swing an axe, you can’t even throw one of these!” Gobber held up a bola that was swiftly grabbed by a warrior and chucked at a nearby Gronckle, who landed harshly within a circle of readied warriors.

“Yes, but this will throw it for me!” The bola launcher knocked a man outside the forge onto his back as soon as Hiccup put his hand onto it, “Okay, minor calibration issue, but the point still stands-“

“Hiccup, just stop!” Gobber yelled, “Stop. You’ve got plenty of time to prove yourself and it shouldn’t come at the expense of…” he waved his hands around before pointing at Hiccup, “-this.”

“You just gestured to all of me.”

“Exactly. Now, if you don’t mind manning the place, they need me out there,” he swapped his hammer hand for an axe hand and ran out into the night, ready to slay a dragon.

And to Hiccup’s credit, he also ran into the night to slay a dragon. He just wasn’t sure what that would entail exactly.

He set up close to one of the watch towers. It was an older one, not really used by the archers who preferred to be closer to the Hold. His bola-thrower, the Mangler, sat prepped and ready to fire at whatever dragon came his way. And there he waited. The sounds of fighting continued as morning crept ever closer, but he never spotted another dragon.

At least, his eyes didn’t, but his ears totally did. It was a loud roar, different from the others, that sent a shiver down Hiccup’s spine. He scanned the starry sky, ready to shoot whatever came across his field of vision, but nothing ever did. He turned to look at the forest nearby and that’s where he saw it. Two massive stone-grey dragon wings beat just above the tree tops with another roar. This one hit Hiccup in the very core of his being.

The Mangler could still be wheeled while prepped, so Hiccup grabbed the handles and ran as fast as he could towards the forest. Eventually, he reached a small dirt path that he knew lead to one of the old quarries nearby. And in that quarry was a dragon grave.

The Mangler sat open near the treeline as Hiccup snuck his way forward. The roars were louder and he could feel the hot fire from the dragon’s breath hit his face. He kept his feet moving, but he froze when he saw it.

Hovering not two hundred feet away, blasting fire onto a reforming dragon skeleton, was Alduin. He was much more ferocious than the other dragons, his scales a deep grey. He had many horns lining his face and spikes and jutting scales covered him from nose to tail. This was truly the God of Destruction. Hiccup doubled back to the Mangler and he aimed it for the dragon’s wings. Just as the dragon skeleton was almost done reforming, Hiccup launched the bola at Alduin, tangling his giant wings in the ropes and stones.

Alduin screeched and jerked his head around to try and see who dared attack him, but Hiccup ducked himself into the underbrush, hiding from the piercing black eyes of the dragon. Alduin let out another roar and fell to the ground, forgetting about the dragon he was in the middle of reviving in favor of saving his own hide from the embarrassing predicament of his wings.

Once Hiccup was sure Alduin was gone, he crawled from the underbrush and stepped forward to see the blood Alduin had left behind, “I did it. I actually did it!”

“Did anyone see that?!” He said to nobody in particular. Though he didn’t say it to the Monstrous Nightmare behind him, at whose growls he turned, “Except for you.”

His success was left behind as he ran from the dragon. Even though he just shot down Alduin, he was in no way capable of dealing with a Monstrous Nightmare face-to-face. He ran as fast as his toothpick legs would take him, down the hill into the center of Whiterun. It wasn’t until he heard the crack of hammer meeting scales that he stopped and turned. His father, Stoick the Vast, spun his great hammer around in his hands before bringing it down onto the dragon’s jaw a second time.

The dragon roared and grabbed the hammer, wrenching it from Stoick’s hands and breaking the handle in half.

“Aye, that’s nothing,” Stoick said as he then socked the dragon in the face with his bare fist. Hiccup ducked behind a storefront as he heard his father kill the dragon. A Monstrous Nightmare is nothing without its fire, so the Jarl proved his station by simply beating it into submission. As the last gasps of air leave the Nightmare’s lungs, Hiccup poked his head from his hiding place and stared at his father’s bloody fists. The Jarl exhaled deeply, “That will teach you to not mess with my son.”

But, the dragon had the last laugh. As Stoick moved to turn away and rejoin the fight, the scales and membrane of the dragon’s wings started to disintegrate. Fire burst forth from the Nightmare’s flesh and all but the bones were burned away. Stoick covered his eyes with bloodied hands as white wisps of light emanated from the dragon’s corpse. Hiccup dared to get closer, only to understand what was happening in front of him, but he didn’t expect the light to fly into the sky and immediately dive towards him.

Hiccup was hit with the force of a thousand suns and knocked backwards into the dirt. His skin felt like it was burning, the light digging into his flesh to tear him apart from the inside. He screamed, thrashed, and screamed some more as the light faded and the fire in his heart subsided. In his mind, he heard a low chant of words he had never heard before, and then the speaking of one he had.

“Dovahkiin.”

~~~

Word of the Dragonborn’s awakening spread like wildfire across Skyrim, and eventually all of Tamriel. What luck it was that the prophesied destroyer of Alduin was the son of the greatest Jarl in Skyrim’s long history! But those words of praise and joy were hesitant to be repeated when they actually heard about the lad. A scrawny boy with no feats to his name, barely the age of fifteen, who could barely swing a sword without falling over.

Jarl Stoick assured the people that his son would be ready to slay dragons in less than a year’s time, making the three-week trek to Windhelm himself to assure the gathering Jarls and village elders that his son was worthy of his title of Dragonborn. Hiccup was ironically left behind, as he wasn’t fit to travel in the moment. He saw the humor of his father not taking him to meet the other Jarls, but in the moment he was glad he was left behind, as Hiccup had other plans.

He found his way back to the dragon grave he found Alduin digging up that fateful night. It was in the middle of a large trench-like area in the side of the mountains to the east, one that was spacious enough for an abandoned quarry to still rest. It had gained a rather large pond from a waterfall that came from a cave entry higher into the mountainside, and while it had little in terms of actual trees, there were plenty of points of overgrowth on the wooden pillars of the mine.

This quarry was one Hiccup had been to dozens of times already, before Gobber or one of the unlucky warriors in charge of watching Hiccup could tell him to go back to Dragonsreach. He found his worn way into the quarry, following the same footholds he used to use to get lower into it. All he wanted to do was find that grave, but as he scanned the area, Hiccup was startled by a loud screech and a scratching on the quarry wall beside him.

A giant black mass fell from his line of sight and very unsteadily glided past the pond to the other side of the quarry. Hiccup pressed himself against the rock landing and stared at the mass. It was a dragon, one as black as the deep night and easily three times Hiccup’s height in length alone. It was quadrupedal, with two massive leathery wings on its back. It snorted in frustration, once again attempting a climb up the quarry wall, but failing to find purchase and falling back down to the stone ground.

Hiccup had heard the tales of such beasts. Night Fury, it was called. One that never showed itself, never stole food, and never missed. To see a Night Fury in broad daylight, much less see it at all, should have made a regular Viking run, crying and screaming, back to Dragonsreach. But Hiccup wasn’t a regular Viking. This boy was excited to see the beast in the quarry. Maybe if he could weaken it more and bring it back to Whiterun, they’d see him as the great fighter he could be. The people of Skyrim could rest easy knowing that their Dragonborn savior had killed a Night Fury at fifteen!

But as he pulled out his notebook and pencil to draw the beast, for posterity, he noticed something. The dragon was missing its left tail fin. Usually, a dragon needed its tail fins, or something like spikes or spines, to help with its balancing, especially a fast-flying dragon like a Night Fury. If it didn’t have those, it was grounded. According to Gobber, that was the goal when dealing with any kind of dragon. A downed dragon was a dead dragon. 

He stared at it, but the fin was much too far to get a good look at this angle. Hiccup went to put his notebook away, but his pencil dropped from the landing he was hiding on, hitting the stone below and then rolling into the pond. He saw the Night Fury stir, then look up at him. Despite the distance, Hiccup could see the many emotions in the dragon’s face: anger, embarrassment, disgust, fear.

Fear. What a strange thing for a dragon to feel.

The Night Fury glared at Hiccup before turning and walking out of sight. The boy slid backwards on the landing, then climbed out of the quarry. He looked down at the sketch he made of the dragon and the smudge he made of the missing tail fin.

The dragon had a very distinct look and sound. Round and flat head, jet-black scales, light markings, four legs, two wings, and a very recognizable roar. He stopped in his tracks.

“It’s the one Alduin wasn’t able to finish reviving,” he said to no one. The words echoed in his mind. Had he not shot Alduin with the Mangler, then the Night Fury would have both its tail fins. Had he not interrupted the ritual, then Whiterun would have to deal with a Night Fury every raid. Hiccup ran through every version of the story. This dragon was as good as dead, because of Hiccup. Because he shot the very thing that was responsible for bringing the dragon back to life.

“I did this,” he stared at the smudged charcoal, “It can’t fly because of me.”

He remembered the fear he saw in the dragon’s eyes. The Night Fury was probably well aware of the fact that it was probably going to die in that quarry. And it was afraid of that.

The supposed unholy offspring of lightning and Death itself was afraid of dying.

Hiccup couldn’t blame the beast. He would be scared if he wasn’t capable of the one thing he was known for and had the possibility of starvation looming over his head. He slowly looked back down at the drawing he had done. Night Fury’s were rare as-is, the ones who did exist thousands of years ago were hunted almost to extinction for their rare scales and those that remained after Alduin’s defeat were soon slaughtered as they were some of the most ferocious of Alduin’s dragon army.

Hiccup had no doubt that any one of the people of Skyrim would commend him for grounding such a beast before it could do any damage to Whiterun, but the fact that the Night Fury would remain there, in that quarry, alone and scared for the rest of its days made his stomach do a back flip.

That dragon didn’t deserve to die for his mistakes. Hiccup needed to fix this, and fast. He might not be able to completely fix it, as the ritual was finished and Alduin was off terrorizing another part of Skyrim, but he could use what skills he had to make something to help.

Once Hiccup had trudged back to Whiterun, he sat at his desk and designed something so outlandish that even the Hold crazy people would say he’d lost his mind. That afternoon, Hiccup stole back to the quarry with his notebook, a few lengths of rope, a basket of fish, and a dream.

He was going to fix this, he swore to himself, Gods willing.

He was going to give the Night Fury its flight back, and by any means necessary.

Chapter 2: First Steps

Summary:

Stoick speaks to the faction leaders of the Skyrim Civil War and Hiccup speaks to the dragon.

Notes:

Was gonna upload this before my flight today, but the internet around the airport was ~hot garbage~ so here we are.

The afternoon sun seeped through the trees as Hiccup wandered into the quarry. He dropped the basket of fish and rope down from the landing before carefully scaling the wall himself. He landed on the stone ground and hauled the basket to the center of the quarry. Really, the area that wasn’t covered by crystal-blue pond water wasn’t that large, maybe thirty feet at the longest, so he had no issue dragging it. He looked around for the dragon he had left behind, hoping to find the black scales among the rock and overgrowth.

 

He spotted a few loose scales on the ground nearby. His hand was a few millimeters away when he heard a growl from behind him. The scale forgotten, he turned to face the Night Fury. The detail in the creature’s body was even more apparent now that Hiccup was on the same level as it. He backed away as it stalked towards him, “Hey, remember me? From earlier?”

 

The dragon’s throat rumbled through the growl.

 

“I have something for you. Wanna see?” Hiccup kept his body facing the dragon, but he walked towards the basket and opened the lid, pulling out a nice big salmon, “Here. I figured you can’t find much in here.”

 

The dragon’s pupils dilated for just a second once it saw the fish. It stalked forward and sniffed it, eyes carefully scanning it for any tricks or traces of tampering. Once the dragon had looked it over, it opened its mouth and Hiccup noted the distinct gummy texture.

 

“Huh. Toothless,” he said, “I could’ve sworn all dragons had-“

 

The Night Fury’s teeth unsheathed themselves and it grabbed the salmon from Hiccup’s hand, throwing it down its gullet in one fell swoop.

 

“Teeth.”

 

The dragon licked its maw and looked back at Hiccup. It sat down in the dirt and stared expectantly at the child as if to say ‘do you have more’.

 

Lucky for the dragon, Hiccup did. He let the Night Fury have its fill, tipping the basket over to let it have a better way to grab the fish. Hiccup found his way behind the dragon and began to loosely measure with the rope how long the damaged portion of the tail was. After he had the finished measurements, he wandered towards the dragon grave. It was a wide, shallow dip in the earth covered in stone and marked with carved stone runes around it. The true meaning of the runes every dragon grave was marked with, but Hiccup assumed it was a poor attempt at making sure they didn’t come back. Whatever magic Alduin had was capable of breaking the runes and pulling the dragon beneath the dirt back to the living world.

 

But clearly, the Great Destroyer’s magic wasn’t infallible, as this Night Fury was only half-revived, missing a tail fin, and unable to fly. Hiccup had a job as the Dragonborn to end Alduin’s reign once and for all, but he knew he couldn’t kill a dragon, his body was simply too weak for that. But what else could he do? His father said he had a sharp tongue but Hiccup doubted that Alduin, the God of Destruction, could be reasoned with.

 

He looked back at the Night Fury. The dragon had finished the fish and had gotten the basket stuck on its face, shaking its head to try and get it off. Hiccup laughed and walked back over to grab the basket strap and pull it from the dragon.

 

“Not the fearless beast they say you are, huh?” He joked, which made the Night Fury snort in offense, “Well, I hope you’re satiated for the night. I’ll be back sometime tomorrow with more, okay?”

 

Hiccup reached his hand up to pet the dragon, clearly not thinking that this was still a wild beast. The dragon just looked at his hand and growled the tiniest bit. It shook its head and leaned away from Hiccup’s touch.

 

The boy pulled his hand away, “Okay, I get it. No touch.”

 

The Night Fury walked to the other side of the quarry to a patch that was under a piece of settled wood and overgrowth and laid down, stomach full and content. Hiccup whispered a goodbye to the dragon and turned to leave the quarry, already planning applying the measurements he got to his design in his head.

 

~~~

 

“Stoick, I hear you, but you sound insane!”

 

Stoick let out a hefty sigh. Of course they’d say that. He had finally given the Jarls of Skyrim their Dragonborn, and yet they did not accept him. Of course they didn’t, Hiccup was only fifteen and weighed less than a femur, why would they trust their salvation and safety from the dragons to him?

 

He had travelled to Windhelm to meet with the Jarls and leaders of the Civil War sides, to bring them the good news that Hiccup was the Dragonborn and he was to be called by the Greybeards soon. However, every other thing these leaders had heard of the lad made them more hesitant to name him a warrior and let him train. And it wasn’t Stoick’s lack of trying! The boy just would not improve in every training session, no matter what!

 

Stoick guessed it’s because he took so much after Valka. The boy’s mother had been gone for his whole life and yet Stoick believed the Gods were laughing at him as every time he looked at his son, he just saw a shadow of his lost wife in his face.

 

It was the eyes, the hair, the hatred of fighting, and the sharp tongue.

 

He had thought of every way these few days if meetings could go on the three-day trip here. Truthfully, Stoick had only thought of a few situations where the Jarls weren’t happy about Hiccup being the Last Dragonborn. This response was unexpected.

 

“I am not insane, Mala. My son is the Dragonborn, destined to kill Alduin, and there is nothing we can do to change that. We have a duty to our people,” he said.

 

“And we are saying that we don’t need the Dragonborn to fight this war on the dragons! Alduin cannot fight all of us at once!” Ulfric Stormcloak slammed his fist upon the table, making all the untouched mugs of mead shake, “We have a duty to Skyrim to kill that beast. Not to trust a child with the future of this region.”

 

“Battle plans have been made already. Give us time to gather our troops. Stoick, you are a descendant of the last of the Blades,” Jarl Mala said, “You have an even greater weight upon your shoulders. This task should be carried on by you, not Hiccup.”

 

This had been their argument. Instead of trusting the boy to train and become a warrior, they wanted to unite the Civil War fronts and attack Alduin head-on. Honestly, the appeal was there, but if it was really that easy, then the warriors who banished him to the current time period would have done it. Stoick knew that they had to wait for the Dragonborn to be found, but the hot-headedness of his peers meant that they would not wait until Hiccup was old enough and proficient enough with his Voice to fight.

 

Another five years at minimum was too much to the already-angry population of Skyrim.

 

“I still believe we should wait,” Stoick said, “I can train even the scrawniest of men! Give me time to help him. We only found out about him being the Dragonborn a mere few days ago!”

 

Ulfric scoffed, “I appreciate the commitment, but if he hasn’t become enough of a warrior in fifteen years, what makes you think another year will do?”

 

“And I’d rather not pass over the fate of our kingdom to the hands of a child,” General Tullius said, “It is the one thing Ulfric and I agree upon.”

 

“Indeed.”

 

To think that the two generals of the Civil War had agreed that Hiccup should not be trusted as Dragonborn broke Stoick’s mind enough that he had to adjourn the meeting and nearly drown himself in mead at one of the bars nearby.

 

Gods, this was going to be a long battle. He just hoped that Hiccup was spending his time in Whiterun wisely.

 

~~~

 

Hiccup ran through the forest, basket of fish on his back, artificial tail fin in his hands.

 

He had finished it right before sunrise and hadn’t gotten the chance to sleep due to his nerves. He was excited, to say the least. If this worked, then maybe his other plans to help the Night Fury fly would also work. He had barely missed an exposed tree root when he jumped down into the quarry.

 

“Hey, bud!” He said, throwing the basket down and opening it for the dragon. The Night Fury looked up from its napping place, sniffing the air. It stood up, stretched its whole body with a loud pop, and stalked over to grab its fill, “That’s it. Just enjoy your meal. I’ll be back here, doing nothing of note.”

 

He snuck behind the distracted dragon and placed the tail fin next to where the real one should have been. He sat atop the tail and snaked the belt straps under and over the tail itself, pulling the fin open. It had some gaps and was a little bit smaller than the fin on the other side, but those were minor adjustments he could make with more time in the forge. Overall, it was a great first attempt. So great that he didn’t notice the Night Fury unfurl its wings and shift at the new balance it discovered on its tail.

 

Then, the dragon took off.

 

Hiccup saw the ground get further away before he realized where he was: holding on for dear life to the tail of a Night Fury. He wrapped his legs around the tail, gripping tighter when they started to lose air. Hiccup looked at the artificial tail fin. It was closed. He reached forward, grabbed the closest metal bar, and yanked on it. As soon as he did, the Night Fury shot into the sky, beating its massive wings to gain as much height as possible.

 

“Yes! I did it! It works!” Hiccup yelled as he leaned it to the right with the dragon’s body. He heard a confused grumble behind him then felt himself be chucked at the pond surface. He hit it twice before landing in the water proper. When he resurfaced, Hiccup threw his hands into the air, “Lets go!”

 

The dragon sat in a shallower part of the pond, shaking off the adrenaline of the few moments it had its flight back. It stumbled out of the water and shook off as much as it could. The Night Fury then sat down and brought its tail to its face, looking the artificial tail fin over. Hiccup by now had gotten out of the pond and began wringing out his shirt.

 

“Do you like it?” He asked the beast, “There are a few things I need to fix, mainly the opening function, but it works apparently.”

 

With another confused rumble, the Night Fury cocked its head to look at Hiccup.

 

“I’ll take back home and figure something out. Maybe a connection to your real fin or some sort of way I can control it,” he kept rambling and walking around the pond to where he thought the dragon was. But his body hit cool scales as he gently bumped into the Night Fury, “Sorry.”

 

Green eyes stared into green eyes as Hiccup backed up a bit and the dragon looked down on him. Hiccup reached his hand out again, expecting the usual growl from its chest. But the growl didn’t come immediately or with as much ire as last time.

 

Hiccup took a deep breath and turned his head down and away, his hand still out stretched to the Night Fury. He didn’t open his eyes again until he felt the cold scales hit his palm. When he turned back, the dragon had also closed its eyes and pressed its nose to his hand.

 

“Thank you,” he saw the Night Fury say.

 

Hiccup’s eyes went wide, “You can speak.”

 

“Yes. All Dovah can, though we do not like speaking in your tinvaak - your language.”

 

Hiccup pulled his hand away, “I mean, of course you can speak, Alduin’s been taunting us since his return, but… why didn’t you say anything the last few times I was here?”

 

“I didn’t know if I could trust you. You jul - humans- have a nasty habit of trying to kill every Dovah  you see.”

 

“Yeah, uh, sorry about that. It’s in their blood,” Hiccup laughed, trying to fill the awkward air between him and the Night Fury, “So, what’s your name?”

 

“My… name,” the dragon’s eyes dimmed.

 

“Yeah. Mine’s Hiccup, by the way.”

 

The Night Fury turned away from Hiccup, mumbling, “My name.”

 

“What’s wrong?”

 

“I don’t remember my name,” he said softly, eyes jolting wildly as if visibly searching his brain for the word he was called before his death.

 

“Well we can give you a new one. For now.”

 

He flinched, “No, a Dovah’s name is the most important part of them. If they don’t have a name, then… they are nothing.”

 

“Seems a little extreme, but I’m not a dragon. I can’t keep calling you ‘the dragon’ if we’re to be having conversations like this,” Hiccup snapped his fingers, “I have been thinking of things to call you. It’s better than nothing and will only be until we jog that memory of yours.”

 

“If I deem it fits.”

 

“How about Toothless? I noticed you can retract your teeth whenever you want, so it’ll be like a funny ironic thing,” it sounded ridiculous when he said it out loud.

 

“Toothless… Vokinzon’jot .”

 

“Bless you.”

 

“No, I didn’t- Vo , kinzon , jot . “Without sharp maw” in your tongue,” the dragon shook his head, “It’s good enough for now. Just until I remember mine, okay?” He stood up to walk around Hiccup towards his current bedding situation.

 

“Sounds like a plan, bud,” Hiccup felt a shiver run up his spine as he remembered he was still in soaking wet clothing, “I better go change. I’ll be back later to make some adjustments to that thing, okay?”

 

Toothless didn’t respond, choosing to lay down on the scorched dirt and cover his face with the new tail fin. As Hiccup packed his stuff and turned to leave, he heard a shuffle from behind him.

 

“Hiccup?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Thank you. For the name. And the fin.”

 

“Of course, bud.”

 

Hiccup went home, changed out of his still-soaking-wet clothing, and promptly passed out on his bed to sleep until the next morning.

 

~~~

 

The next few days of Hiccup’s life went by in a blur. After the initial test of the fin, it was time to figure out how to have it open and shift like the other. He played around with a few designs for a rig to make it open with Toothless’s real fin, but both needed to move independently, and Hiccup was not skilled enough to think of something for that.

 

So, he got to work on a different rig. This harness and saddle idea wasn’t as well-received by Toothless as the independent fin, but the Night Fury wasn’t completely opposed to the idea, especially if it meant he could fly again.

 

Really, the biggest issue in all of this was the fact that Gobber got a letter from Stoick who said the discussions in Windhelm were running long and he wanted Gobber to start training Hiccup to fight.

 

“Just train him enough so he’s prepared for the trek to High Hrothgar when the Greybeards call,” his father had said, “I don’t want to lose the Dragonborn to a mere wolf.”

 

So, instead of spending his afternoons fine-tuning the cords connecting the fin to the saddle, Hiccup was given an axe and told to meet Gobber in a field to the north of Whiterun. Of all the warriors that Stoick could’ve chosen, Hiccup was both really glad and very disappointed that Gobber was training him. Gobber had such a “learn on the job” mentality, he literally said as much, but he also didn’t really know how to start an apprentice or trainee the slow way. Sure, he’d teach you the theory in the books that Whiterun had, but your first lesson was always going to be practical and end with you almost dying.

 

Which is precisely what happened. At least Hiccup had an audience of people his age to watch him die to training.

 

“Nice one, Haddock! Alduin will truly shudder in fear!” His cousin jeered from the sidelines. Snotlout had convinced four other kids their age to join him in heckling the practical training. All of them had already gone through this once before, as he’d started late due to his apprenticeship.

 

Hiccup dodged Gobber’s axe head, but was kicked in the stomach by the wooden foot.

 

“You left yourself open! Rule six: never let them in!”

 

“Careful, Gobber, if Chief comes back to his son in a full-body cast, I doubt he’ll be happy,” Astrid called into the field. She was sitting in the shade of a tree with Fishlegs. The twins and Snotlout were more invested in watching Hiccup almost die twenty times than she was. She was just here because she had nothing better to do.

 

“Lass, I won’t kill him. He’s better than he looks!” Gobber laughed before using his axe to pull Hiccup’s from his hands and throw it to the ground, “Remember rule four: never be-“

 

He was cut off by Hiccup jumping him and pulling him to the ground by his facial hair. Gobber screamed and fell forward, trying to use his free hand to get Hiccup off. The boy scuttled like a bug across Gobber’s head and knocked off his helmet. He grabbed at Gobber’s axe and yanked it from his hand right as the blacksmith finished falling to the floor. He held the axe head to Gobber’s throat, “Well, at least I remembered rule two. Use your strengths.”

 

“Talos, he looked like a feral animal,” Tuffnut said, laughing.

 

“Yeah it was like Gobber got attacked by a giant squirrel!” His twin, Ruffnut, said.

 

Hiccup climbed off Gobber and helped him to his feet, “Sorry, I guess I can take you in a fight. And you said we wouldn’t stop until I won.”

 

“Well it was certainly one way of doing it. Maybe we’ll actually focus on those strengths tomorrow,” the blacksmith said, grabbing his helmet from the dirt, “We’ll also start looking over dragon theory. Spitelout has pulled some books from the College for you to study.”

 

“Okay,” Hiccup took the opportunity to leave for Dragonsreach, climbing the stairs to his room. He had already had gathered the books he could that mentioned Night Fury’s, but everything was about how deadly they were and how you should run and hide if you spot one. Nothing about their anatomy, or their shot limit, or their personalities, nothing. Everything was written out of fear, as if even detailing it would summon the dragon before them.

 

He’d already transcribed the notes he took from his time with Toothless onto loose pieces of parchment on his desk, planning on asking one of the tutors in Whiterun about adding them to the Book of Dragons. How he would go about suggesting it, he had no clue. Maybe he could make up something about being the Dragonborn, but that would probably make the Greybeards not want to call for him more.

 

He opened one of the books he hadn’t gotten to, one about more “unknown” types of dragons. Alduin had his own section, talking about how he was the Great Destroyer, how many lives he took, what it took to stop him. Hiccup cursed the previous victors for their lack of knowledge on Alduin’s weaknesses. In some accounts, it seemed like they just, somehow, made him drop out of the sky. His return was prophesied for years, yet no one knew when that would be.

 

The next morning, Hiccup stole away back to the mountainside. He packed a satchel of books and parchment, grabbed the usual fish, then ran the whole way to the quarry. Gobber had said to start running everywhere, to build up what stamina he could for future training, and who was Hiccup to deny that?

 

He slid down the rocks once more, “Toothless!”

 

“I thought you weren’t going to be here until later,” The dragon stretched out of his cave, “What’s with the early arrival?”

 

“Started training yesterday, this is the only time I have to work on your fin. Can I see it, by the way?”

 

Toothless settled with the basket as Hiccup grabbed the fin off of his tail. He adjusted some of the parts and added a new piece of leather, this one dyed black to match the other side. They sat in comfortable silence as Toothless ate and Hiccup fiddled with the mechanism he had constructed. Eventually, Toothless stretched his wings out to his sides, letting the black scales soak up the sunlight.

 

Hiccup took the tail in his hands again and wrapped the adjusted tail fin around it, “There we go. I’ll finish the last part tonight and then we’ll give it a test fly tomorrow.”

 

“Are we still using the praal ?”

 

“The saddle, yes, until I can figure out something else. You’re still good with it, right?”

 

Toothless folded his wings again and turned to look at Hiccup before turning his attention to the sky, “As long as I get to fly again. And it’ll be fun showing you my hofkiin - my home, in the sky.”

 

They kept discussing random topics, from the dragon language, to Hiccup’s place in Whiterun, to training. Toothless, Hiccup found, was the first person to actually listen to him.

 

“And then, we found this massive cave system, but Snotlout was too much of a baby to go in. I ended up taking the front and when we were attacked by the family of badgers that lived there, one of them gave me this,” he pointed to the faded scar that ran from his knee to his ankle, “My dad wasn’t too happy about it, said something about how the first scar a warrior should get should be in training.”

 

“I can’t remember where I got this scar, but I bet it isn’t as crazy a story as that,” Toothless gestured to one of the few faded marks on his body. It was situated between his wings and was only a few inches long.

 

“What do you remember about the past?”

 

The dragon snorted, “Not much. All I have right now is a searing pain, then a cold dark, then my revival. Everything else is from after we met.”

 

“Do you remember a family? Your parents?”

 

“It’s in a Night Fury’s nature to leave their eggs once they start to hatch. We are to see if they survive the sulgein and if they do, take them into the brod ,” Toothless tried to remember more about his family, but kept coming up short, “What about you? I know of your father, but you’ve hardly mentioned your mother.”

 

Hiccup shifted and closed the notebook in his lap, “My mother was taken by a dragon soon after I was born. My dad said that she was dragged away by a four-winged one and he had to choose between saving her and protecting me.”

 

“Four-winged? Pogaanviing , perhaps. I’ve not seen any fly over this region.”

 

“I bet they don’t because my dad swore he would kill all who entered the Hold’s borders. We haven’t seen one in a raid for fifteen years,” Hiccup sighed, “My dad keeps saying that I look like her, I think it’s why he can’t stand the sight of me most days.”

 

“Do you think life would’ve been different if she was here?”

 

“I… I don’t know. I still would’ve grown into a fishbone, but the villagers…” he brought his knees to his chest, “They whisper when they think I’m not listening. They always talked about how she thought we shouldn’t fight dragons, how killing would just make everything worse. Maybe she was right, but she was gone before I even had the ability to remember her.”

 

Hiccup didn’t register Toothless standing up and walking around him, placing his side to Hiccup’s back and his head right next to him, “She sounds like a brave woman, knowing we could be reasoned with. I bet, had she more time, she would’ve found a way.”

 

“I like to think so, too. Can you miss what you never had?”

 

“You can yearn for the feeling. I miss my parents, despite not remembering their faces.”

 

Hiccup leaned back into the dragon’s side, head resting on the folded wing behind him, “Well, at least we have that in common.”

 

“That we do,” Toothless brought his tail around and placed it across Hiccup’s legs, finishing the cocoon he had started. Hiccup felt a small rumble in the dragon’s chest as he closed his eyes and let the purr take him to sleep.

 

Suffice it to say, Hiccup was almost late for training that afternoon.

Notes:

Next time: The First and Last have a conversation and Stoick is shocked for the first time in his life.

Chapter 3: The First

Summary:

Miraak: Git gud.
Hiccup: Bet.

Notes:

Boss makes a dollar, I make a dime, that’s why I post fanfic on company time.

Again. This is the second attempt at posting this from my workplace.

“Focus, Hiccup! You’re not even trying!”

The training protocols of Whiterun really needed to be looked at from a critical standpoint, because in no way should an enchanted crossbow shoot spells at teenagers. Hiccup ran from protective wall to protective wall as the crossbow hovered around the center of the field, loosing arrows of fire, ice, and lightning.

He held up his shield between two walls and felt an arrow slot itself between the wood panels. It barely missed his wrist by an inch and he had to break the tip off so he wouldn’t hurt himself. Of all the things he had to do right before finishing the saddle rig, why did this have to be it? It could’ve been another fight with the twins, a study session with Fishlegs, a theory lesson from Spitelout, anything, but Gobber decided to pull out the rusty training crossbow. A training crossbow, not meant to teach you to use one, but meant to teach you to fear magic attacks. Hiccup went to move to another wall, but the crossbow launched an arrow that made the left gap an impassable ice wall, so he had to turn around and find another path to follow.

Hiccup’s uncle might have been a College of Winterhold graduate, but he certainly was not taught self-preservation. Whatever these enchantments were certainly were out to kill. Hiccup landed behind a wall right next to the crossbow. He discarded his shield and took the one-handed short-sword in both hands. A few deep breaths later and he kicked the shield to one side of the wall and rounded the other. The crossbow heard the noise and turned to investigate, but as it passed the barrier, Hiccup snuck up behind it and brought the sword down onto it, sending it to the floor and cracking the wood.

“Well, that’s one approach,” Gobber said, “Well done, Hiccup. Now, let’s review,” he turned to their small audience, “How’d he do?”

“Well, he didn’t die so that’s a start,” Ruffnut jeered, “It’s an improvement from yesterday. I thought he was actually gonna drop dead.”

“His agility is good, probably from only ever running from dragons,” Fishlegs ignored the laughs behind him from his unintended insult, “But he’s gotta take the initiative sometimes.”

“Correct. Anyone else?”

“He refused to do any confrontation. He can’t keep running circles around the opponent, he has to go on the offensive,” Astrid swiped her blonde bangs away from her eyes, giving Hiccup a critical look from top to bottom, “And he just needs to get better at the sword.”

“Oh, Gobber, can I train him?” Snotlout asked. Hiccup wasn’t sure if he was genuinely asking or if this was some sort of ploy, “I could show him how and he could show me how not to swing a sword.” Okay, most definitely a ploy.

“Nah, you’d just behead the lad, especially with how you insist on swinging that great sword that is literally taller than you,” Gobber gave him a pointed look, “Anyone else?”

Tuffnut laughed, “Sorry, the only thing Hiccup has going for him is that he can eat dragons.”

“Absorb their souls, but whatever,” the Dragonborn mumbled.

“You’re not helping, you bastard,” Astrid stood up and kicked the twin in the side, “How about I fight him? I could see more as his opposition.”

“Do you agree to this, Hiccup?”

“As long as she doesn’t go for the kill, I don’t care.”

Hiccup really wished he’d learn to stop talking. As he found himself at threat of Astrid’s axe, he ducked and dodged all he could, but for the life of him could not land a hit on the girl. She also moved wildly, much more in tune with the axe she carried. It was weighed perfectly for her, Hiccup knew that much. After all, he’d forged the damn thing.

But now he was cursing himself from two years ago for creating it, as the axehead nearly buried itself in his foot for the fifth time. Hiccup spun on his heel and kicked his foot out, hitting the bottom of the axe handle and throwing Astrid off balance. He then hit the pommel of his sword hilt into her arm. The movement caused her to fumble. He grabbed her by the shoulder and attempted to push her to the ground. Astrid caught up to him and took the front of his shirt in her free hand.

The dust settled as they stood there. Astrid was standing widely and off-balance, her axe fallen from her right hand and the left gripping Hiccup. Her opponent had his sword still clutched in his left hand and her shoulder in the other. They both glared at each other, breathing quick and deep.

“Well, that was fun,” Gobber chuckled at them, “Alright, you can let go.”

Hiccup let go first, not wanting to make Astrid comply before him, but it seemed like the worst idea as she immediately fell to the dirt.

“Sorry,” he reached his hand back down to her, but she smacked it away to push herself up, “You, uh, you did good.”

“Did well. Gods, you can’t get anything right,” Astrid grabbed her axe and began her walk back to Whiterun. The other teens silently followed, before their usual conversation and laughter started up once they were far enough away.

Behind him, Gobber whistled, “She’s a fierce one, eh? Gonna be the best shield maiden in all of Tamriel.”

“Yeah…”

“Oh, lighten up, lad. You didn’t beat her, but you did stalemate her. That’s a success in my book,” he slapped his hand onto Hiccup’s shoulder, “Your mother was a lot like her in her youth. It’s why your father loved her.”

Then, Hiccup was left alone in the field. The sword’s leather hilt dug into the skin of his left palm. Stoick never mentioned his wife. She was like a specter, haunting their family. Gobber would be the one to tell Hiccup stories about Valka, saying she was the sweetest and fiercest woman in the Hold. But Hiccup heard the tinge of hurt as he spoke those words. No one ever told Hiccup how his mother died, carried off by a dragon and leaving a husband and child behind, but he heard it in every story about Valka and the dragons, every whisper about the poor heir left without a mother, every look of pain by those who were close to her.

If Hiccup had the chance, he’d tell Stoick to save Valka instead of him that night.

“Maybe things would’ve been better without me. They could’ve had another kid, anyway.”

He sheathed the sword and took off running towards the quarry. Toothless didn’t ask about the tears running down Hiccup’s cheeks, instead he opened his wing and let the boy crawl next to him and fall asleep. When Hiccup awoke, it was sundown.

“I can’t imagine we can get much done today,” he fiddled with a loose scrap on the saddle before just cutting it with his pocket knife, “But we can still test the fitting and maybe how it feels with me on you.”

“Are you sure this harness will work with the fin?”

“Positive. The cord is strong enough to move the fin but lightweight enough to not change your balance,” Hiccup explained, “Here, let me put this on you.”

The harness and saddle slotted together perfectly, and the cord down to the tail fin was snug against Toothless’s scales. Hiccup used one of the harness loops to climb atop of the dragon, finding the natural seat in the saddle for himself to sit.

“You are surprisingly light,” Toothless said. He strutted around the quarry, stretching his wings and making sure none of the rig got in the way of them.

“Well, according to the Hold, I am a fishbone,” Hiccup laughed as he studied the way the right fin moved and adjusted the left to follow it, making notes on a spare piece of parchment, “Now how about we try getting up the wall?”

Toothless stretched his wings out like he did the first time Hiccup put the tail fin on him and beat them hard against the air. Both dragon and boy left the ground and Hiccup adjusted the fin to help Toothless get higher. Soon, they were out of the quarry, landing near the mountainside forest.

“Alright, good start, good start,” Hiccup said, “Let’s try a bit further up.”

And so they did. Finally out of the quarry, Toothless scanned the area all around him. Eastern Whiterun was beautiful in the summer, with the rocky mountain and the overgrown forests giving dimension to the land. Toothless’s wings moved like heavy blankets and Hiccup did his best to adjust the fin to keep the two upright.

By the time they got up to a cliff on the mountain, he’d gotten the hang of it, barely sparing a glance to the other fin. He kept making notes on the parchment, already having to flip it over to make more. He really should’ve taken his notebook with them.

Hiccup swung himself off of the saddle and slid to the rock, “Oh wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been up this high.”

The view from the mountain covered almost the whole of Whiterun. The usually towering shape of Dragonsreach on the upper hill of the village was nothing but a brown splotch of green and yellow. He could almost see other Holds from here.

“This is nothing compared to what we Dovah actually reach,” Toothless said, sparing a glance at the sun, “We’re nearly done with suvulaan- twilight. We can wait here until nightfall and we can fly around more then.”

“Won’t we be seen?”

Toothless gave him an incredulous look, “Have you forgotten which Dovah you’ve met? What is the name your people gave mine… Night Fury? I thrive in the dark.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes at his own stupidity and Toothless’s preening, “Of course.”

The remaining rays of sunlight faded in time and Hiccup stepped back onto the saddle. Toothless crouched down and soon enough, they were flying higher into the night. Climbing into the sky wasn’t an issue with the fin rig figured out. Hiccup could feel Toothless purr beneath him. This was probably the long-awaited closure he needed.

They climbed and climbed until Hiccup was sure that if he reached his hand out he could grab a palmful of starlight. Toothless hovered in the sky a bit, still purring, then fell backward. He flipped to face the ground and tucked his wings in. Hiccup adjusted the tail fin accordingly to increase their speed. Seconds before they hit the ground, Toothless unfurled his wings and they soared back up.

Hiccup dared to let go of the saddle as they launched back into the sky. He stretched his arms to the side, feeling the wind go around them from the incredible speed they were flying at. He shouted into the night, “This is what it means to be a dragon!”

They flew around Whiterun’s border, avoiding the smaller villages and assorted houses in preference for flying over the fields and forests of the Hold proper. Hiccup steered clear of the mountain where High Hrothgar sat. Legends said that the winds covering the mountain were too strong for even the toughest dragons.

Well past midnight, the two finally touched down in the quarry again.

“You were right. Flying is incredible,” Hiccup said as he undid the many straps holding the rig to Toothless’s body, “I can’t imagine how the past two weeks were without the ability to do that.”

“Stories tell of Dovah who go insane after months of the inability. But you were fast enough that I am still plenty sane,” Toothless said, “I’m grateful, Hiccup, truly. You are one of the few humans who truly understand the Dovah. And now that you’ve tasted our true home, you are no doubt the only one who may fully understand us.”

“I wish more could see what I saw,” he said, “I’m tired of this war. But it’s not like I can do anything to stop it. I couldn’t kill Alduin. At least not as I am now.”

“Are you expected to?”

Right. Hiccup never told him. Well, how do you tell a dragon that you are the prophesied Dragonborn, a man meant to kill the dragons once and for all? He had considered bringing it up, but he didn’t want Toothless to think he was using him for information on how to kill a dragon more easily.

But now, that indecision had caught up with him. There was no use in lying to the dragon now, after everything Hiccup had seen and learned. After he had given the Night Fury his flight back.

“Toothless, do you remember something called the… the Dragonborn? It might have been known as the-“

“Dovahkiin? Bits and pieces of folklore are there, but yes, I know of the Dovahkiin.”

“Well, when Alduin was first banished thousands of years ago, it was told that the Last Dragonborn would arrive when Alduin did. The war would last until the Dragonborn killed Alduin, for good.”

“What does this have to do with you?”

“Toothless, I am the Last Dragonborn.”

At the dragon’s silence, Hiccup continued, “The night Alduin brought you back, I witnessed the ritual. I used a machine to throw a weapon of ropes and stones at Alduin, which interrupted the ritual and left you alive but without your left tail fin. After that, I was chased back by another dragon. I got to the village and my father-“ he paused, “He killed that dragon. Afterwards, its body disappeared and its soul slammed into me. It was the textbook definition of a soul consumption.”

“You took in the power of a Dov. Willingly?” Toothless looked at him with those large green eyes.

“No, it just happened. I fell and was passed out for a few days. My dad travelled to the north to spread the word: his son was the Dragonborn and the war would be ending soon,” Hiccup scoffed at himself, “As if I could ever kill a dragon. I am barely stronger than a bear cub, I am in no way capable of defeating someone known as the Great Destroyer.”

Hiccup threw the last of the rig onto the pile beside Toothless’s cave. The Night Fury had not moved from where he stood, still staring at Hiccup as he sat down on a rock near the cave entrance.

“My father has absolute faith in me, but knowing what I know, after seeing what I’ve seen,” he stared down at his shaking hands, “How could I kill a dragon? My mother was right. She was right all along.”

“Hiccup,” when the boy looked up, Toothless sat in front of him, wings tucked into his sides and tail wrapped around his front paws, “It’s alright. Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re not upset? The song that was passed down from generation to generation said I am the bane of the dragons’ existence, their final opponent.”

“How does the tune go, exactly?”

Hiccup grabbed his notebook and opened it to the page he had transcribed the song on. The pages of this section of the book were heavily annotated, marked up and down with notes, interpretations, and more from Hiccup trying to glean more meaning from the words. He slowly read through the Song of the Dragonborn and the Night Fury listened.

By the end, Toothless had laid down and was looking off into the night, “That last verse, with the dark dragon’s lies… it only says that you are to kill Alduin, not any other Dov. His death will end the war.”

“But, everyone thinks that I will kill all of you. Nords are notorious for their stubbornness, they won’t listen even if I show them that we are friends.”

“We’ll think of something, Hiccup. When you aren’t here, I have a lot of time to do so. How about you head back home and get some sleep? I doubt your training will advance with you running on only a few hours of rest.”

Hiccup stood and grabbed Toothless’s face in his hands, bringing his forehead against the thick scales, “You’re right. Thanks, bud.”

“I’ll be here if you need to talk. You focus on becoming a warrior,” the dragon whispered, “Destiny cannot be avoided, though nothing says we can’t be maliciously compliant.”

“Trust me, I’m good at that.”

Hiccup slowly said his goodbye to his best friend and climbed out of the quarry, taking the winding path back to Whiterun. He stared up at the stars overhead, seeing faint wisps of the Aurora Borealis. The phenomenon was so close to his hands atop Toothless. How do you return to the ground after experiencing the true freedom that is flying with a dragon?

Maybe that’s how he would win people over, showing them the incredible feeling of flying. He thought up the beginnings of a plan as he eyed Dragonsreach. The place was initially meant to capture a dragon, though the workings were old and inefficient. Perhaps Hiccup could look them over.

That would have to wait for another day, he decided, as he collapsed into bed, not bothering to change out of his day clothes before he fell asleep.

~~~

Darkness.

Hiccup felt the darkness around him. Strange, he thought, darkness was the absence of light. But this darkness was physical. It grabbed at his limbs, threatening to swallow them whole. His lungs heaved as he tried to breathe. He wasn’t panicking, so he wasn’t dying, but not needing to breathe was a weird feeling.

The darkness was so stark that he wasn’t sure if his eyes were closed or open. He tried to blink, but they refused to obey the command. He tried to speak, but his throat was hoarse. He tried to do anything in the darkness, but his body didn’t want to move.

He tried to pass it off as sleep paralysis, but he was sure he’d see his room instead of this void.

“Curious,” a quiet voice came from his left (was he sure it was his left? Hiccup could never tell), “You’re lankier than I thought.”

The darkness shifted. It was barely noticeable, but it moved. Hiccup felt the gravity on his body shift, his head feeling like it was being taken from horizontal to vertical. He was stuck inside of some sort of wall made of a dark matter. His hands and feet were buried in the stuff, but it left no feeling upon his skin. His head hung down, but he lifted it to try and see if there was anything in front of him.

That’s when he saw the mask.

It was an intricate silver mask. Where the mouth and chin would’ve been were golden tendrils. They were accompanied by inset slitted eyes and more horns and tendrils at the top. The mask sat atop a body draped in black and silver robes, two gloved hands sat folded in front of the body’s chest.

“What is your name, boy?”

He found himself able to speak, “My name is Hiccup Haddock.”

“You sure look like a Hiccup,” the voice said. The mask tilted, “Now. Tell me why the gods decided that you would fulfill the Dragon Song Prophecy?”

“I’m sorry?”

“You should be. A boy, no older than sixteen, takes in the soul of a Dov. It should be cause for celebration that the Dragonborn is here, and yet,” the mask shook as if the body was laughing, “Their supposed savior is nothing but a-“

“A fishbone? I get that a lot. Nords aren’t really creative with their insults, I’ll say that much.”

“I was going to say a broken eggshell, but that works too.”

“Who even are you?”

The mask shook again, “Oh the things that are lost to time… You may call me Miraak. I was the very first Dragonborn.”

Hiccup’s eyes went wide and Miraak only laughed again.

“Indeed, my Voice was the strongest and my will the most unbreakable. Whatever I wanted, I got, and whatever I didn’t need, I razed. Life was so much simpler back then,” Miraak said, “But now, you are being asked to kill Alduin. Let me tell you, if I was unsuccessful in bringing about a dragon revolution, what makes you think you’ll be able to?”

“I’ve already befriended a Night Fury?”

Miraak paused, “Now that is unexpected. I only met a few of the Sunless-Fires in my time. The rarest dragons, those were. Now, tell me, how are you preparing for the coming war?”

“Considering I found out about my Dragonborn-ness two weeks ago, I’m trying my best,” Hiccup deadpanned, “Honestly, you sound like my dad.”

“A truly terrible experience, I’m sure.”

“You have no idea.”

“Well, Hiccup, I’m not going to keep you here much longer. All I really wanted to tell you was to get your shit together, but I’m sure your father will do that enough,” Miraak walked forward, his footsteps making no noise and the bottom of the robes not moving. It looked like he was floating, “So instead, I leave you with this: Your destiny is unchangeable. Whatever happens, happens. You will kill Alduin, though I fail to see how at this moment.”

“Thanks for the overwhelming optimism.”

“I’m not done, child. Even though I do not see how you succeed where I failed, I have no doubt you will accomplish this mission of yours,” Miraak sighed, “Though I do encourage you to at least look the part. Put on some armor, carry a weapon, just don’t run around looking like a peasant child. We Dragonborn have a reputation to maintain.”

“I’ll think about it,” Hiccup said through gritted teeth, “I doubt that our reputation will be ruined by me, though. I am the last one, after all.”

“We’ll see about that,” Miraak waved his hand and the black void that swallowed Hiccup’s limbs started to grow up his body, “Perhaps we’ll meet again. Maybe in Sovengarde. Goodbye, Final Dovahkiin. May the stars guide your way.”

Darkness. So intangible, yet still so physical.

Hiccup watched the void consume his vision and he blacked out.

~~~

When Stoick returned to Whiterun, he expected Gobber to say that Hiccup was making little progress and that he shouldn’t have told Ulfric and Tullius that he was going to be ready in a year. What he didn’t think to expect was Gobber to say that Hiccup was actually doing… not bad.

“Well, he’s no Astrid, but he can hold himself well. We started with shortswords, but he’s taken a liking to the glaive of all things,” Gobber said, describing the intricate weapon that Hiccup had crafted just a day ago, “Honestly, it’s like Talos got sick of the lad and forced him to get good overnight.”

The blacksmith talked Stoick’s ear off all the way through Whiterun and up into Dragonsreach. Spitelout waved a greeting from his room off to the side of the main hall as Stoick took his seat and listened to the remainder of Gobber’s retelling of the past three weeks.

“Honestly, he beat Snotlout only by the skin of his teeth and the fact that the boy chooses to carry a sword twice his height. Hiccup knows his strengths better than anyone else in the Hold,” Gobber said, “You should come by training sometime and see. He’s doing well.”

“That gives me hope. Any word from the Greybeards?” Stoick asked.

The blacksmith shook his head, “If they decided to do something different and send a letter instead of using the Voice, then it hasn’t arrived.”

“Then, we must be missing something,” he took off his horned helmet and placed it on the arm of Valka’s empty chair. Oh, how Stoick wished she were here. Her death was nothing more than a short twinge of pain in the back of his mind. She was gone and there was nothing Stoick could do to stop that.

One of the doors to Dragonsreach opened and Stoick looked up to find his son walking in. He had switched out his fur vest for a leather armor piece and leather wraps around his wrists and on his belt was a short sword. Gobber said that Hiccup had started taking more of a prepared approach to training. Even if he wasn’t the best warrior yet, he had still wanted to get used to wearing armor, carrying a weapon, and being on-guard at every moment.

“Hey, Dad. Good to see you’re back,” Hiccup said, “How were the other Jarls?”

“Oh, stubborn as always. We agreed on another meeting in a few months. Hopefully you’ll be able to join me then,” Stoick said.

“Alright,” he turned to Gobber, “Are we good for training right now?”

“Yes, let me finish up here. I’ll meet you at the training field. Today is archery, so if you could grab a few bows and a bundle of arrows from the armory, that’d be great.”

Hiccup nodded and ran off to find the supplies. It was a stark contrast from the boy Stoick left behind three weeks ago.

“How in the nine realms did you do that?”

“Oh, he did it on his own. About a week ago, I found him crafting that chest piece,” Gobber shrugged, “He’s taking the initiative. Remember when you had to fight him to get him to carry a hammer?”

“Aye, he was such a little thing then,” the Jarl sighed, “Well, it’s a start. I’ll join you guys today, just to see how much further we have to go. I promised them I’d have him ready within a year. Gods know we’ll need more than that, but Talos willing, he’ll be somewhat prepared.”

“I can’t teach him everything, Stoick. Most of this he’ll learn on the battlefield. You and I both know that for a damned fact.”

Stoick sank further into the Jarl’s seat, sighing. Maybe this was the lucky break he’d been hoping for. After all that wasted effort trying to get Hiccup to be a true Nord, it took one measly three-week break from his father to get him motivated to take it all seriously. Fifteen years and the boy had never held a sword, and yet now he carried one like he always had. From what Stoick could see of it, it was simple, but it worked for Hiccup.

He walked next to Gobber on the way to the training fields, where a small group of seasoned guards were doing drills. Their captain was speaking to Hiccup about a strange weapon he held. As Stoick got closer, he noticed it looked like a spear, but the blade was flat and sharp on one end, sticking out an extra few inches from the handle.

“Jarl Stoick!” The Captain said, “Nice of you to join us.”

“We’ll be using the field after you, Caius,” Gobber gestured to the area that the Captain’s men were finishing their drills in, “Mind helping us set up targets for archery?”

“Oh, we’ve got a few already up. We’ll tidy them for you when we’re done,” the Captain turned to his men and shouted a few orders. Stoick trusted him to keep them in line, as he’d been the Captain of the Hold’s guard since Hiccup was born. The soldiers did as he asked and Stoick found himself a seat on a fallen log on the edge of the field, looking down into the makeshift “arena”.

He felt the log move as the other teens of the Hold sat nearby. They were probably here to help Gobber critique Hiccup, they seemed to be really good at that.

The first half of the training session was archery, as Gobber said. Despite his lanky form, Hiccup was actually rather decent at this. He was consistently able to hit the targets, even while moving, though they weren’t that centered. Stoick assumed that Hiccup was always going to be a ranged fighter. He guessed that would help, as Alduin would be flying circles around him, but if it came down to it, Hiccup had nothing in terms of close-range combat. He needed more practice in hand-to-hand, Stoick decided. He’d have to talk to Gobber about it.

The few hours of practice faded into the background until Gobber pulled the Thorston twins from their spots in the tree beside the Jarl to help with combat training. Why he needed both of them was beyond Stoick.

Soon, the archery portion of the day was done and Hiccup stood between the twins, brandishing his strange weapon with a shield at his side. He looked between them as Gobber called, “Begin!”

The twins launched at the boy, Tuffnut with a mace and Ruffnut with a dagger and shield. Hiccup used his shield to block the mace and grabbed Ruffnut’s leg with the blunt side of his glaive. He gripped it tighter and pulled. The mace hit the shield and at the same time, Hiccup threw the hand holding it to the side. Both twins were sent to the ground. Tuffnut was faster to recover and took another swing at Hiccup. But the boy side-stepped it and hit Tuffnut’s side with the glaive handle.

Ruffnut recovered, ditching the shield and spinning the dagger in her hand. She launched at Hiccup and swung wildly, trying to hit any part of him. He responded by dodging and ducking, eventually finding an opening to get around her and grab one of her braids with his shield hand. She fell to the grass again. Tuffnut had stepped back to assess his situation, but he got a running start and jumped over his sister to slam his mace down onto the top part of Hiccup’s shield, denting the metal and breaking the wood.

The heir grit his teeth and lunged with the glaive, the point cutting into Tuffnut’s side to leave a small cut. Tuffnut yelled from shock and jumped off the shield. He landed a few yards away and held his side with his hand. It wasn’t bleeding much, but he couldn’t move much without risk of the tear growing. Ruffnut stood up next to her brother, glaring at Hiccup. She made the smallest glance at her brother, who caught her eye. They could both take him, the look said. 

Then, the twins rushed Hiccup.

Hiccup tossed his shield down and gripped his glaive, poised to strike. But no swinging or stabbing ever came. Instead, Hiccup took a deep breath and shouted.

“Fus!”

Both Ruffnut and Tuffnut were thrown backwards, their weapons and helmets flying from their hands and heads and landing somewhere beyond the field. They slowly sat up, staring at the Jarl’s son in shock. Hiccup gave them a weak smile.

“Does this mean I win?” He was struggling to take in air, eventually dropping his glaive and then falling to his knees, “Damn, that did more than I thought.”

Stoick didn’t move. None of them did.

Astrid was the first to speak up, “That was the Voice. He just shouted.”

“Aye,” Gobber said, “He’s finally a true Dragonborn.”

The twins quickly recovered from having such a power used on them, yelling about how they were honored to be the first victims of Hiccup’s Voice. They held the heir up by his arms and helped him walk up the hill to the tree.

“That was badass, dude!” Tuffnut said as his sister dropped Hiccup onto the log next to his father, “Truly a bonding experience.”

“Ah, I’m so jealous!” Snotlout huffed, “Imagine being able to say you were the target of the Last Dragonborn’s first shout!”

“Yeah, I can imagine,” Ruffnut threw an arm around her brother’s shoulders, “WE can imagine that!”

“Hell yeah we can!”

Stoick heard the familiar thunk of their helmets meeting. His eyes were trained on his son, who was still recovering from the shout. Hiccup was laughing weakly at the twins’ antics, clutching his side with one hand and using the other to keep himself upright. Fishlegs was also helping in that, though he was mumbling something about the effects of shouting on the human body.

“A good fight, that was,” Gobber said, his brain finally catching up to what had just happened, “Stoick, besides the Shout, any notes on it?”

“Oh, well,” he sighed, “Their forms were good, though the twins were too reliant on their advantage of numbers. Hiccup did good in stumbling them and disarming them. Tuffnut could use some more care in how he swings and Ruffnut needs to become more adept with the shield; she hardly used it.”

“Well, if I had the chance, I would’ve used it more,” she grumbled, kicking the dirt below her foot.

Stoick ignored her, “They’re advancing well. I bet that soon they’ll be as good at killing dragons as any other adult warrior in Whiterun,” he stood up, brushing his hands against his armor, “I must return to Dragonsreach and inform Spitelout of Hiccup’s development. I trust you can clean the training field?”

The teens nodded and Hiccup gave a shaky thumbs-up. Jarl Stoick patted his son on his shoulder.

“I’m proud of you, Hiccup.”

Then he took the long road back to the Hold capital. He had a lot to think about.

~~~

“I take it your first use of the Thu’um went well?” Toothless joked as he half-carried Hiccup further into the quarry.

“If by well you mean I almost passed out, then yes. It went well,” at least Hiccup was in good spirits. He was still riding the high of using the Voice for the first time. The Unrelenting Force Shout was the easiest to learn, according to Toothless, and since Hiccup had already taken in a dragon soul, he just needed to find a way to use the magic to instantly learn the Word of Power.

A week before this, Hiccup was in the quarry, talking about his dream about the First Dragonborn. Toothless listened intently, as no memory of his detailed the life of Miraak. Hiccup said that Miraak mentioned a dragon uprising against Alduin that went awry, though no text mentioned Miraak, much less an uprising.

Toothless supplied that maybe he should listen to the man, as he was a powerful warrior. Hiccup wasn’t sure if he wanted to listen to everything the First Dragonborn had said, but the dragon next to him was adamant.

“I do know a few Words of Power as they translate into your language,” Toothless said, using his good tail fin to wipe at the dirt on the ground and make it even. He then used a claw to etch runes into the dirt. As he finished the last rune, Hiccup stepped forward. The word glowed a deep red and then a bright white as Hiccup read it.

“This is a Word of Power, Fus. It means force in your language. The full shout is Fus Ro Dah, however I suspect you’ll need more power to learn those,” the dragon had said, sitting down beside the Word, “Now, you already have that soul in you. I want you to dig deep into yourself and find it. Use that power to understand the Word.”

Hiccup did as he was told. He closed his eyes and searched for the dragon soul that rested in his body. It had already been two weeks since the Monstrous Nightmare’s death and Hiccup’s birth as the Dragonborn. He hadn’t thought about the power already in his soul, though he hadn’t needed to use it yet.

The power wasn’t something he could yank up like a bucket in a well. He hadn’t been able to use it to truly learn the Word yet, until that training session he just arrived from. He didn’t expect it to make his body react like this, though. Toothless said he just needed to get used to the weight of the Voice and soon, Hiccup would be Shouting down his enemies with ease.

They flew around Whiterun for a bit in the evening, avoiding villages and Dragonsreach to get a better feel for the area from the sky. Hiccup was feeling better after that. The dragon was right: flying really did make you forget everything troubling you.

“What other Words do you know?” Hiccup asked as he took off the tail fin again.

“I know the full Force shout. Plus, my fire breath is powered by my Shouts. To those who don’t know about the true nature of Shouting, it may seem that we naturally breathe fire,” Toothless stretched his wings and legs, “Different Dovah families hold different Words secret. They get taught to every member of the family, but are strictly forbidden to anyone else. It’s how we prevent one Dov from becoming too powerful.”

“But, how did Alduin gain his power?”

“My memory of the exact myth is fuzzy, but from what I remember, he actually existed before the Gods you know. It was said he destroyed the previous world to make this one. He forced your kind to bow to him. But then he was betrayed as one of his lieutenants taught the Nords how to use the Thu’um. This resulted in the Dragon War, and Alduin’s banishment,” the Night Fury said, “Then the story goes as you know, with the prophecy, his return, and the birth of the Last Dovahkiin.”

Hiccup sat back against Toothless’s side after the dragon laid down beside him, “Damn, we got a lot of stuff to figure out.”

“Yes. Like how to make your training go faster and how to get you more in-tune with your Thu’um.”

“Dad said he promised the other Jarls that I’ll be ready within a year, and my uncle said he wanted to see me first thing tomorrow.”

“Why?”

“He didn’t say. Spitelout is very good at not saying things until the last minute. I garner he found something to do with my Voice.”

“He can’t teach you any Words, but he might find a way to get you more souls so you have more power,” Toothless put his head onto his front paws.

“Maybe. I better go if I don’t want to make him upset at my tardiness,” Hiccup pushed himself up. He ran a hand across Toothless’s shoulder and then pat his forehead, “I’ll see you tomorrow, bud.”

“Can we go further than the Hold’s borders?”

“We’ll see.”

Notes:

Next up: Bleak Falls Barrow!! The whole quest. I had to replay it myself to figure out how to describe it.

Chapter 4: A Barrow So Bleak

Summary:

Hiccup and Astrid bond over a literal dead body.

Notes:

Someone held a fancy bottle in their hands and asked, “Is this alcohol or perfume?” I grabbed it, drank ALL of it, and said, “It’s perfume.”

Hiccup’s Uncle Spitelout was… certainly a man he had to deal with.

Don’t get it twisted, Hiccup cared about him, as his father’s younger brother, but Stoick and Spitelout butted heads as much as Hiccup and Snotlout. Which is to say quite frequently. So it was to nobody’s surprised when Hiccup walked into Spitelout’s working chamber after dawn to find him arguing with Stoick.

“No. I forbid it,” Hiccup stopped at the entrance when he heard his father’s voice.

“Oh come on Stoick. He just awakened his Voice. The lad can take this mission!”

“Spitelout, this is too dangerous. Hiccup may be getting better, but he still has a long way to go before this sort of thing.”

“And if we wait for him to be ready, then we will lose our chance! Stoick, let him go. He can take one of the other teens with him, it’ll be a good exercise in trust-“

Spitelout stopped when he saw Hiccup walk in.

“What are you guys talking about?” The heir asked.

“Son, your uncle believes to have found something to aide us in the war. But we have no guarantees that it’s there, nor do we know how dangerous it is,” he put heavy emphasis on those last parts, “And he thinks you should be the one to get it.”

“What is it?”

Spitelout spoke up before Stoick could answer, “An ancient tablet called the Dragonstone. It details every dragon grave site in Skyrim. I know that if we get that Stone, we can plan our attacks better.”

“If the Stone even exists and is in those ruins!” Stoick urged, “Brother, I don’t want to send my son into a death trap.”

“Which is why I propose the Hofferson girl goes with him!”

The two began arguing again, but Hiccup grabbed his glaive from the holster on his back and slammed the butt of the handle into the wood floors.

“Stop. Just stop,” the Dragonborn stepped forward to the map that Spitelout had open. On it was a circle around the mark of Bleak Falls Barrow, an ancient nordic ruin further up the mountain. Hiccup had seen it a few times on his and Toothless’s flights around the Hold, but they never dared get close due to the bandit camps in the vicinity, “It’s not far. I could be back in just under a week, should all things go according to plan.”

“Hiccup, I will not allow it. It’s too dangerous.”

“Dad, if the other Jarls want to see me as the Dragonborn, then I need to be willing to take risks. You have taught me that a good warrior never backs down from a challenge,” Hiccup pointedly stared at his father, “I will go on this journey. And for back-up, I’ll take Astrid.”

“Are you certain? You weren’t in the best shape after that Shout yesterday…”

Hiccup shrugged and put his hand on his dad’s arm, “I got this. I’ll return with the Dragonstone and we’ll have an advantage in this war.” It hurt him to say this, and to be helping kill more dragons. But, if he wanted to prove himself, Hiccup needed to do this. Maybe he can find a way to get rid of Toothless’s grave site from the Stone on the way back to Whiterun. He’d have to find a way to keep that part from Astrid, but she often ignored him so maybe a little scratching of the Stone on the way home wouldn’t catch her eye.

Spitelout just clapped his hands together, “Well, that’s settled. You can go tell Astrid to get ready, Hiccup. I’ll prepare what you’ll need and you two can take some horses from the stables and set out at dawn.”

And so, Hiccup made his way down from Dragonsreach towards the Hofferson family home. It was still pretty early, but Astrid was a good warrior who tended to rise with the sun. He walked up to the door and raised his hand to knock, but before it hit the wood, the door swung open. He locked eyes with Astrid as she stopped in her tracks.

“Hiccup? What do you want?” She asked as she pushed past him and closed the door.

“My uncle is sending me on a fetch quest and my dad requested I take you with me,” he said, following her through the town square.

“What are you fetching?”

“A map of dragon burial sites. He said it’ll help us figure out Alduin’s next attack.”

Astrid kept walking, clearly thinking it over, “And you say the Jarl told you to bring me?”

“He thinks we could work well together,” Hiccup shrugged.

She seemed to take in his words before saying, “I’ll think about it,” and walking off to do her usual routine at the training field. Hiccup was also meaning to go that way, but when Astrid Hofferson walked away from you in a huff, it was best to not follow. Instead, Hiccup went to the forge. He spent the morning with Gobber, sharpening swords and crafting axeheads. The blacksmith was admittedly grateful for Hiccup’s assistance, saying that he had been swamped with work the past week while Hiccup got his act as Dragonborn together.

The morning was like any other from before. Lighthearted insults and sarcastic quips were thrown across the forge floor as the two worked seamlessly around each other. In the three years Hiccup had as Gobber’s apprentice, plus the many others from before where the man helped raise him, he had seen Gobber as not just someone he was working under, but almost as a second father. Stoick was his dad, Hiccup couldn’t change that, but Gobber saw something in the lad that first day in the forge. The day turned into a week, then a month, then a year.

After everything with Toothless, becoming the Dragonborn, and training, Hiccup was glad to have a semi-normal morning at the forge. Though right before he was about to finish for the day, before he had training, Astrid walked into the shop and directly to him.

She handed him her axe, which had a pretty severe crack down the blade, “I was too reckless in my training this morning and I need it for our quest tomorrow. Could you-“

“Of course,” he smiled and took the axe from her. Turns out she was accompanying him to the Barrow after all.

He remembered the day he had gifted this axe to her. It was the first full weapon he crafted, after only making blades and hilts. It was perfectly weighed, balanced, forged, and even had some embellishments around where the blade connected to the handle. He had made it for her birthday two years ago and while he was often on the receiving end of her threats, he was proud she still used it.

Gobber pushed training back a few hours so Hiccup could work on the axe into the afternoon. Astrid Hofferson wasn’t one to go anywhere without her weapon, so she took a spot on a stool near one of the workbenches as Hiccup heated the blade to fix the crack and resharpen it.

They filled the quiet with the sounds of the forge as well as faint conversation. Gobber had left to get the field ready for everyone else, so it was just Hiccup and Astrid.

“So, when are we leaving tomorrow?” She asked him after a half hour of silence.

“I would assume right after dawn. We can take the horses my father has and be there by sundown, even if we stop in Riverwood, then camp and explore the ruins the next morning.”

“Not even leaving room for issues on the way?” She folded her arms across her chest.

“Nah, if we’re fast enough and stick to the roads, we’ll avoid most conflicts,” he slammed the hammer back down onto the metal, “And besides, if we do come across anything, I bet you’ll scare everyone away.”

“Not if I don’t have my axe.”

“Which is why I’m fixing it,” he gave her a loose smile before hitting the metal again, “But you’re strong, even without this, Astrid. I bet Alduin will think you’re the Dragonborn if he encounters both of us.”

“Har har,” Astrid rolled her eyes as they both fell back into the silence, this time being a bit more comfortable. When Hiccup was done with the axe, he and Astrid walked to training together, deciding on what to bring on their quest, how to go about it, and where in the ruins they’d find the Dragonstone.

That afternoon flew by. Gobber had decided to have Hiccup learn to deal with multiple weapon types, starting with Fishlegs and his hammer, then Snotlout and a (decidedly smaller) sword and shield. The twins kept yelling for Hiccup to use the same Shout as the day before, but Astrid had to keep reminding them that it was a weapon only to be used when necessary.

Hiccup returned to the quarry for his and Toothless’s nightly flight, telling the dragon about the quest and his plan to keep his burial site a secret.

“I see no need in trying to hide it, Hiccup. I can get out of there on my own now, even if it’s a bit difficult without my wings,” Toothless had said as they circled the Throat of the World, “And once they see that there is no dragon there, then it won’t be a place of interest.”

Hiccup sighed, “I hate it when you’re right.”

“I’m always right. Just focus on finishing this quest. I can handle myself for a week.”

Hiccup made sure their goodbye hug was extra long that night.

~~~

The ride to Bleak Falls Barrow was, according to Astrid, disappointing.

When asked as to why she thought this, all she said was, “Everyone in Skyrim knows who the Dragonborn is. I would’ve expected at least one assassination attempt by now.”

“Are you actively wishing for my death, Astrid?”

“No, of course not, don’t be ridiculous. But not even one thief looking to become a legend? Not one cultist trying to appease their god?” She scoffed and swung her golden braid to the other side of her cloaked shoulders, “I honestly expected the first week to end in you being found in your room, poisoned to death.”

“How very charming and quaint, my lady. Though, I assure you it takes more than a few poisonings to take down a Haddock. My dad is immune to most minor ones.”

“Yeah, but that’s the Jarl. You are as thin as a twig and couldn’t throw a punch until three days ago.”

He laughed, “You wound me, Astrid, you really do.”

“Case in point.”

They stopped briefly in Riverwood to buy more arrows for whatever waited for them, as well as find out more about the Barrow. When Astrid walked into the town’s trader, she was met with a lively argument that was cut short by the door’s squeaky hinge.

“Lucan, I can go to the Barrow. I can find it!”

“We’ll talk about this later, Camilla,” the trader firmly said to the woman he was arguing with before turning to Astrid, “Welcome to the Riverwood Trader! How can I help you, traveller?”

Camilla walked off and left Astrid to approach the counter, “Just need a few arrows if you’ve got them.”

“Of course, we have the finest fletcher this side of Whiterun who makes them. It’s a gold for five or two for twelve.”

She handed him the gold she was given by Hiccup, enough to buy thirty, and asked, “May I ask what that argument was about? I’m heading up to the Barrow.”

“Oh are you? Well, maybe you can help me,” Lucan said, “We were broken into a few nights ago and a precious family heirloom was stolen. It looks like a dragon’s claw. We suspect the thief might be holed up in Bleak Falls Barrow.”

“I could keep an eye out for it if you want me to.”

“That’d be much appreciated, lass. You keep yourself safe.”

Though they expected some sort of confrontation, it didn’t come on the road to Bleak Falls. Instead, the fight came once they reached the Barrow about an hour before sundown. They spotted maybe five or six bandits on the stone walkway by the entrance.

Hiccup pulled his hunting bow out and was able to take a few from the horse, but Astrid decided to jump off hers and rush in.

By the time Hiccup got to the fight with his glaive, she was cornered by three bandits against one of the black stone pillars around the entrance. Hiccup stabbed one of them through with the blade, slicing it to the side and scattering blood on the snow. Astrid took the one to her left by surprise, knocking him out with a well-placed jab with her axe handle. The glaive blade found another victim in the final bandit’s leg, then the axe made its home in their back.

After dealing with the bandits, Hiccup got a better look at the Nordic ruins. It was situated on one of the mountains south of Whiterun, covering one of the many peaks with black stone stairs. Giant angular pillars rose into the sky like a giant ribcage, the ones closer to the entrance becoming full arches with stone dragon heads at their peaks. Bleak Falls Barrow was one of the many Nordic ruins in the region, but this one was supposedly built by worshippers of the dragons. Hiccup supposed that’s why the Dragonstone was hidden here.

“Let’s make camp, then head in when we have a better look of the place. No doubt this is crawling with draugr and traps,” Hiccup headed back to the horses to grab their supplies. They used the remains of the bandit camp to bulk their own and camped for the night.

Morning came and went as they scouted. It didn’t reveal much, just the structure that sunk into the mountain, fresh-fallen snow everywhere, and the one door in and out of the Barrow. Astrid took the initiative, opening the stone doors and lighting a torch to head inside.

The first chamber of the Barrow was covered in fallen stone pillars and the bodies of skeevers, a large rodent native to Skyrim. Their tails were cut off, most likely from the fact that they’re a potion ingredient and are worth a bit of coin. Hiccup found the remains of a campfire close to the tunnel downward, “Maybe those bandits were smarter than I thought,” he said, referring to them camping indoors.

Astrid took to the tunnel system first, carefully holding the torch in front of her to not miss any traps or tripping hazards. They came across a larger chamber, one with spider webs all around, before they heard the voice of someone further into the tunnels.

“Hello? Is anyone there? Come cut me down!”

After cutting the webs over the doorway, Hiccup walked in. This stone room was covered in massive swaths of webbing, as well as a few egg sacs. None looked broken, but a few had the beginnings of cracks down the middle. Perhaps whatever was inside was ready to get out.

The voice continued and Hiccup looked over to see a drow elf stuck in a tangled mess of webs, “Hello, you there, please cut me dow-AAAAAH-“

The man trapped in the webbing screamed as a giant frostbite spider descended from the ceiling. It roared at Hiccup and Astrid, who took out their weapons.

“Go left!” Astrid yelled as she ran right, swiping at the legs of the spider with her axe. Hiccup followed her direction and banked left. He jumped from a fallen boulder to right behind the spider and slashed the glaive blade across one of the legs. The spider roared again but it was cut off by Astrid slamming her axe down upon its head. The spider’s body fell limply to the stone.

“Oh thank the Gods, you really saved me. Now get me down from here!”

Astrid used her axe to stop Hiccup from moving, “Why were you down this far all alone? Were the webs not enough of an indication that a mere thief couldn’t handle this area?”

“What do you know? You are children! It’d be wise to cut me down before anything worse happens to you!”

“Astrid, come on,” Hiccup moved the axe and used the dagger on his belt to cut the man down. But, as Hiccup moved to cut the ones on the man’s left side, she noticed a small glint in his pocket, then a claw.

She moved to cut the webs on the right side, but instead of letting go, she barreled into him and pinned him to the floor, “You have something that doesn’t belong to you. Give it to me and I will let you run out of here alive.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about!” He yelled, but Astrid was quick to grab the golden claw from his pocket, “No, I found that-!”

“In the home you broke into,” she slammed the butt of her axe handle into his stomach, “That’s for lying,” she then let it fall into his face, blood scattering on the stone and webs nearby.

She heard a whistle behind her as Hiccup leaned on his glaive, “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, “Just surprised you caught that when I was there the whole time.”

“Well, some of us are warriors and need to be observant,” she grabbed her axe and kept going into the Barrow. They were met by an onslaught of draugr, frostbite spiders, and skeevers as they tried to sneak in. Their attempt at such a thing was futile, much to Hiccup’s dismay and Astrid’s joy. The shield maiden only took each new enemy as target practice, swinging the axe wildly to get at least one slash on every one of them.

“Hey Hiccup!” Astrid called back into the tunnel once she killed another draugr. The Dragonborn met her in the hallway and stopped next to her. On the walls of this passage were carved murals. They each depicted one scene, where an armored figure stood with the sun behind him, being revered and worshiped by soldiers to his right and left.

“It must be whoever is buried here,” Hiccup quickly pulled out his notebook and began sketching a crude version of the mural, wanting to show his uncle later. Once he was done, he turned his attention to the other end of the passage. A big wooden door with three turnable sections was between them and the Dragonstone.

Astrid reached to the third section and spun it to the next symbol, then the next, “An owl, a moth, and a bear,” she said.

“And then there’s the holes right here,” Hiccup gestured to the oddly-placed holes on the center of the door, “What key would fit in that?”

“What if it isn’t a key at all,” Astrid opened her bag and pulled out the Golden Claw, “That thief stole this for a reason.”

Upon further inspection, the Claw had three symbols on its palm: a bear, a moth, and an owl in descending order. Astrid moved the door sections to match, placed the three claws of it into the holes, and turned it. The middle section turned with the claw and Astrid pulled it out before the door started to move. It shifted up, then down with a loud stone-on-stone sound, revealing another rocky passage behind it.

“Wow, never would’ve thought of that,” Hiccup mumbled, “I thought there was something in the murals.”

More draugr (and a frost troll that Astrid ambushed from above, against Hiccup’s advice) filled the remaining halls between them and the Dragonstone. The inner sanctum was even more overgrown than the outside. The chamber with the frost troll even had a broken ceiling and snow. But, slowly but surely they made their way through the sanctum and into the final resting place. Walking across the stone bridge and to their destination, Hiccup noticed the strange wall. On it were runes that he’d never seen before, except for a group of runes towards the middle that shimmered, then faded.

“It’s Fus,” he whispered, running his hands along the stone. He tried to find the others, but the fact that he didn’t know the written language didn’t help. Maybe he could come back later and Toothless could translate it for him. But his thoughts were cut short by a rough shifting behind him.

He turned to see the stone box near the wall move as the lid flew off and a tall draugr stepped out. Astrid was quick to throw her axe at it, grazing the side of its face. She side stepped it and went to retrieve her weapon as Hiccup pulled his from his back.

The draugr didn’t speak, instead choosing to scream gibberish, and grabbed the sword that it was buried with. Hiccup stabbed the glaive at the draugr’s chest, but it was too quick. It dodged it and swung the sword down. The Dragonborn barely moved out of the way in time, stumbling down the steps away from the wall.

Astrid took the opportunity to attack from behind. She slammed the axe head into the draugr’s left shoulder and as it fell forward, she yanked it out and made another attack to chop the left arm off completely. She jumped off it and joined Hiccup back at the stone bridge. He had pulled out his hunting bow and prepared an arrow on the string.

Once the draugr came into view at the top of the stairs, he loosed the arrow into the monster’s chest. The arrow flew straight through the decayed flesh and organs, but it didn’t make a noticeable difference.

Astrid looked around and found one of the low-lying flames sitting in the braziers next to the wall, “I’ll distract it, you go set them ablaze. The fire will do the hard part.”

Hiccup nodded and bolted to the other side of the room, making a large arc around the draugr.

“Come here, ugly!” Astrid yelled at it, “Try to kill me!”

The draugr screamed once more and charged. Astrid dodged it with a dive to the right, making it crash into one of the stone pillars in the room. Hiccup took the chance to strike. He held two arrows on the string of the bow and lit them with the brazier to his right. Then, he fired both of them at the draugr. They landed within the monster’s body, setting paper-like skin on fire. It screamed and thrashed, swinging the sword wildly to try and get the fire off.

Astrid tried her best to dodge it, but the draugr came for her directly. She was hit in the head with the butt of the sword and slashed on her side by the blade. Hiccup grabbed his glaive again and jumped from the platform. He ran across the room and sliced at the draugr’s neck, cleaving the head from its body. It thrashed some more before falling limp and still. Hiccup walked over and reached into its body, pulling out the stone tablet hidden within its torso.

“Is that it?” Astrid asked, her breathing heavy. Hiccup turned the Dragonstone over in his hands. It wasn’t heavy, but it also wasn’t that small and had a rough outline of Skyrim, split down the middle between the two sides of the stone. The Stone also had about a hundred or so small nicks in the stone for what Hiccup assumed to be the dragon burial sites.

“Yeah. Yeah this is it,” he walked over and helped her up, steadying her, “Lets get out and head back to Riverwood. We’ll rest there and go back to Whiterun tomorrow.”

Astrid had no objections.

Notes:

Next Up: Astrid meets Toothless and the main quest advances!

Chapter 5: The Girl and the Dovah

Summary:

Astrid meets Toothless and there’s an issue in Ivarstead.

Notes:

Was gonna upload this while I was at work, but the internet there was trash so I had to wait until after my shift.

After bandaging Astrid’s wounds and slowly but surely descending the mountain to Riverwood, they stopped by the Trader and gave him back the Claw. Lucan was grateful to them and offered to purchase their room at the inn for the night, which they both refused. They had enough from Stoick to get them by.

When in their room, Astrid rested and Hiccup poured over the Dragonstone. He had his own map of Skyrim and he started placing markings of each burial site detailed by the stone. About halfway through, Astrid woke up and joined him on the floor. The silence was only broken by the scratching of quill on parchment and the occasional shifting from either party.

“Where’s Whiterun again?” Astrid had moved to the other side of the map, sitting with her hands in her lap and watching Hiccup mark the area around Markarth.

He gestured to the small symbol of Whiterun on the map, “There’s only a few around there,” he said, “But I’m sure we’ve found them already.”

Astrid studied the map and the Stone more, “There’s one in the area where I used to play with the twins growing up. They found this big overgrown quarry there. It’s on the way back, maybe we can check it out?”

“It might be best to leave the dragons to my father,” Hiccup said absently, “Besides there could still be a dragon there and you’re still hurt. We shouldn’t risk it.”

“Hiccup, you’re literally the Dragonborn,” she whispered, “Don’t you want to find more dragons and eat their souls or whatever it is you can do?”

He only sighed. She wasn’t going to back down and him refusing more would make it more suspicious. Hiccup eyed the area where he had marked Toothless’s burial site. What if Astrid could help him show them? His father listened to her, and most of the Hold took her seriously, so it wasn’t a long shot. But would she listen to Hiccup?

“Fine. We can check it out,” he said and she smiled, “But only because whatever dragon site is there is probably already open and the dragon is gone. But at the first sight of one, we run. Deal?”

“Deal.”

The next morning, they were seen off by Lucan and Camilla (“If you ever come back to Riverwood, say hi!”) and took the north road back to Whiterun. The quarry was only a few hours away by horse, so they decided to go there first, then find a place to take a break. Hiccup knew they could just break in the quarry, but he didn’t want to tell Astrid about Toothless ahead of time.

It was nearly noon when they reached the familiar downward slope of the quarry walls. Hiccup got off his horse, “We should walk from here.”

Astrid climbed off her horse and tied it to the same log Hiccup had tied his. She brandished her axe and crept behind him into the quarry.

“Y’know, I haven’t been completely honest, and I want to preemptively apologize,” Hiccup said. He didn’t see Astrid’s confused look, but he could feel it, “I would’ve told you, but it’s really better to show you.”

He dropped down into the quarry and walked without fear to the middle of the grassy patch. He cupped his hands around his mouth, “Toothless!”

Astrid heard a rustling behind her and then felt the wind shift as a massive black form shot out above her head into the quarry. It engulfed Hiccup, pinning it down with its two front paws. He didn’t look at all scared or intimidated, but then again the form didn’t look malicious or like it wanted to kill him.

No, the dragon that pinned Hiccup to the ground had started licking his face.

“What. In Talos’ name,” she said, still holding her axe and staring at Hiccup laughing with the dragon. It was one she’d never seen before, with black scales and giant wings, but then she noticed the leather on the tail fin. Then the harness. Then the saddle, “Hiccup what is happening?!”

“It’s okay, Astrid, you can put the axe down,” the Dragonborn stood up and held the dragon’s face in his hands, “Bud, this is Astrid. She’s a friend.”

The dragon grumbled but turned to her and stared her down with those giant green eyes. Astrid still held her axe, but she lowered it to her side, “Explain yourself. Now.”

“Okay, okay. Calm down, both of you,” he entered the space between the two, “Astrid, this is Toothless. He’s a Night Fury.”

“I can see that.”

“And Toothless,” he turned to the dragon, “You know Astrid. I’ve told you about her.”

“She…” the dragon spoke, making Astrid stumble back a bit, “-is just as you described.”

Astrid didn’t say anything. Hiccup worried that she was about to pass out, but she just dropped the axe to the ground.

“Astrid? You alright?” Hiccup asked. He slowly approached her, “It’s a bit of a shock, I know, but I can explain everything.”

Her words were caught in her throat, “I just… You befriended a Night Fury.”

“Yes, I know,” he grabbed her hand, “Come meet him.”

She let herself be dragged towards Toothless, who was sitting like a dog would, tail swishing behind him in anticipation. Hiccup moved her hand out in front of her and opened it. She paused in her movement right before the dragon.

“He’s not gonna hurt you. I promise,” Hiccup whispered, making a pointed look at Toothless. The dragon lowered his head right in front of her hand. Astrid took a deep breath and planted her palm onto Toothless’s nose, skin hitting scales.

“See? It’s okay.”

“There are no words. Nothing I can say would encapsulate my emotions right now,” she said, turning to Hiccup, “How long?”

“Since the night we found out I was Dragonborn.”

“Four weeks. Four weeks you’ve kept this a secret.” She numbly rubbed her hand along Toothless’s nose. Toothless let out a low rumble from his chest, “Why are you telling me now?”

“You were insistent on seeing this burial site. I figured that since we’re a bit closer, I might as well tell you about my best friend,” Hiccup leaned against Toothless’s shoulder.

The dragon’s eyes peered into Astrid’s, “He gave me my flight back,” he moved his tail around Hiccup so Astrid could see the artificial tail fin, “We fly as one now.”

Astrid let out a laugh of shock, “Who would’ve thought. You really are the master of surprise, Haddock.”

“I try my best,” he shrugged, “I can’t tell Dad yet, not while my place as Dragonborn is so rickety.”

“Wait, doesn’t your place mean you need to kill more… of them to absorb their souls?” She gestured with her head at Toothless.

“Astrid, that’s exactly why I don’t want to say anything,” Hiccup lamented, “In order to learn the Shouts I need, I have to use the power of a dragon soul. But to get the souls, I need to kill them. Knowing what I know now, I could never bring myself to.”

“Then how-?”

“We Dovah can give our knowledge of a certain Shout to the Dragonborn, so they know it immediately. Without a soul, or this method, it would take years to even see results of training,” Toothless answered for Hiccup, “Though, as I’m still young and don’t remember much before my death, I can’t help him as I please.”

“So we need to get you more dragons who know more Shouts,” she finished. Astrid pulled her hand away from Toothless, still feeling the warmth of the scales on her skin, “And we need to not kill them.”

“It’s not gonna be easy convincing a Hold full of dragon-killing Nords to not kill dragons,” Hiccup sighed, “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”

“Oh, don’t trust the face, Haddock,” she smiled, “I am screaming inside.”

Astrid meeting Toothless took up most of the afternoon, as she asked how the fake fin worked and Hiccup went into a full mechanical breakdown of everything, ending with him showing her some flight around the quarry. She was still afraid of the dragon, nothing could rid her of those fifteen years of conditioning that fast, but he proposed that they wait a bit longer for twilight, then he could really show her what he found so amazing about the beasts that plague Skyrim.

He climbed into the saddle before her and reached his hand down to help her up. Astrid swung her legs over and slowly lowered into the saddle, wrapped her hands around Hiccup’s waist. Toothless shifted beneath them and spread his wings wide, beating them downwards to launch into the sky that bled sunlight. Astrid held her eyes shut until they evened out, then she opened them.

The normally blue sky was a beautiful orange and purple, and she could see the stars peeking through the faint wisps of sunlight that persisted through the sunset. Hiccup guided Toothless around the Hold’s borders. She looked around, spotting Falkreath to the south and Rorikstead to the west, then Whiterun to the east.

“Oh my Gods,” she whispered, “They see this all the time?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it at first, but this is their true home,” Hiccup said, “Dragons belong in the sky. It’s why I helped Toothless fly again. That and the guilt I felt from how he lost it.”

“If I may ask…” she left the question unsaid.

“That night, I came across his burial site. Alduin himself was there, in the process of reviving him, but I used one of my contraptions to throw a bola, interrupting it. Toothless was revived without many of his memories and his left tail fin.”

“I keep telling him to not feel guilty, as he didn’t know what he was doing,” Toothless said, “He refuses to listen to my forgiveness.”

“Oh hush, let me be guilty all I want.”

“Fine, but it will get you nowhere.”

Astrid laughed, “You two really are friends.”

“Yeah, it’s been a wild few weeks.”

As they passed over Whiterun once the sun had properly set, Toothless climbed further into the sky. His wings beat against the wind and Hiccup felt Astrid clutch into him further. Toothless burst through the cloud cover and into the true star-filled sky. A shimmering aurora drifted across the curtain of stars and Hiccup saw Astrid’s hand reach out, as if she could grasp it.

“It’s beautiful…” she whispered, “I see it from the ground every so often, but up here-“

“It almost feels like you can touch it?”

She gave him a soft smile, “Exactly,” she rested her head on his shoulder as Toothless took them in for a slow descent to the ground. They landed in the quarry and decided to stay the night there. Astrid set up her tent near the overgrown cave, where Hiccup and Toothless slept. The Dragonborn made sure she was good before he decided to crawl under his best friend’s comforting wing and fall asleep.

~~~

Dragonsreach wasn’t something Hiccup would call “quiet”.

At one point or another, there was always some sort of commotion, be it an argument between his dad and uncle, an unauthorized fight between the twins, Snotlout being himself, or something to do with ruffians, thugs, the guards, and more. Hiccup had spent nearly sixteen years getting used to the bustle and business of Dragonsreach.

However the day he and Astrid returned to Whiterun, and the moment they set foot into the Hall of the palace, he knew this commotion was completely different from all the others. Captain Caius, Spitelout, and Stoick were all in heated discussion with a man who was waving his hands around wildly. Usually, the opening of the doors at least caught someone’s eye or ear, but whatever conversation they were having at the head of the Hall was enough to make every distraction go away.

“But what will we do if they call?” The Jarl asked, something Hiccup could hear from the head of the stairs leading up to the Hall.

“We’ll find another way up, brother,” Spitelout shrugged, “I see no reason we can’t just climb the mountain like we’re used to.”

“But the 7,000 Steps is a rite of passage!” Caius looked red in the face, “He must climb the Steps to get to them!”

Hiccup walked just behind Spitelout and cleared his throat, scaring the three men, “What is happening?”

“Son-“

“The 7,000 Steps to High Hrothgar have been destroyed!” A man that stood to the right screamed, “I watched it happen with my own eyes, I did!”

Hiccup just stood there as the arguing continued. The 7,000 Steps lead from the small fishing village of Ivarstead to the Greybeards’ home of High Hrothgar on the Throat of the World. The safest way up the mountain was through the Steps and if they were destroyed, should the Greybeards call, there was no way for Hiccup to get up there. Even with Toothless’s help.

He listened as the man, a shopkeep in Ivarstead, recounted the terrible commotion from the mountain. It happened in the early hours of the morning a few days ago, when an armada of thirty Gronkles, led by Alduin himself, used their magma breath and rock-hard bodies to destroy the only safe path up the mountain. When the villagers braved the broken path at the bottom and made their way around the mountain, they found a giant landslide on the north side of the Throat, along with sinkholes, boulder piles, and more stormy weather than they could handle.

“It’s like Alduin wanted to make sure that the Dragonborn couldn’t get up the mountain,” the shopkeep said, “And if you can’t get up-“

“Then you cannot learn from the Greybeards,” Stoick said.

“And I can’t defeat Alduin,” Hiccup finished the unsaid thought. The Great Destroyer planned this. All of it. Maybe the Gods were laughing at him, goading him to figure it out only to make him fail, “We’ll figure it out. The Greybeards serve as a guide for the Dragonborn. Maybe there’s another place for me to learn Shouts.”

“Like the wall in the Barrow?” Astrid supplied, “You said that one had a Word of Power on it.”

Hiccup’s eyes lit up and he placed a hand on her arm, “Astrid, you’re a genius! Those walls have to be in other places around Skyrim. At other burial sites or temples to the dragons, perhaps!”

“What are you talking about?” Spitelout asked, “Does it have to do with the Dragonstone?”

Hiccup walked over to the long table in the Hall and dumped the Dragonstone onto it, along with the map he had finished the previous day, “In the Barrow, there was this giant wall of runes we didn’t recognize, but I knew one of them: the Word of Power, Fus. It’s the first word of the Shout I used that day in training.”

“But the wall was near the crypt of the draugr that had the Stone on his person,” Astrid jumped in, pointing at the mark of the Barrow on the map, then the same area on the Stone, “So what if the other burial sites have Words of Power at them? It’d be like putting a map on a headstone.”

“Astrid and I could go together and find more, then maybe I don’t need the Greybeards to teach me anything.”

“But that could take months, son,” Stoick stood and observed the map and the Stone, “We don’t know how much longer we have.”

“Dad, you gave the Imperials and the Stormcloaks a deadline of one year. Expeditions around Skyrim take half of that,” Hiccup argued, “We could plan out a route, then hit every burial site we can. If there’s still a dragon there, we either flee or fight it.”

“Jarl Stoick, if you want Hiccup to become a Dragonborn worthy of the title, then you need to let us do this,” Astrid said.

“Brother, this is ridiculous! These two aren’t even sixteen and yet they wish for an expedition around the region to burial sites!” Spitelout yelled over the teenagers at the Jarl, “How can we trust them to find enough Words in time?”

“We can’t, but that’s exactly the reason why we can,” Stoick said sagely, “We’ll take a few days to discuss, then we’ll form a plan.”

Spitelout grumbled swears under his breath as he was handed the Dragonstone and the map provided by his nephew. He marched into his workroom, the one just off the Hall, then promptly closed the curtain divider. Stoick sighed before pulling the shopkeep to the side and discussing plans for communication between the Holds as there wasn’t much he could do to help Ivarstead without the other Jarl’s approval.

Hiccup and Astrid took their leave to Dragonsreach’s great porch. It was a massive space that looked like an enlarged horse stable. And in a way, it was, as this porch was designed with the intent of capturing dragons. Before he met Toothless, this was his place of refuge. Well, this and the balcony in the Jarl’s quarters. From the former, he could see into the far reaches of Northern Skyrim, and from the latter, he could see all of Whiterun. Both had significant places in his heart, though he could feel the quarry and the Night Fury have a larger space.

“Are we sure this’ll work?” Astrid watched the dismissed guards leave the porch after Hiccup waved them away, “You still have to use a dragon soul to understand them. It’s not like we can just ask wild dragons to give you their knowledge of the Words.”

“I’ll come up with something,” Hiccup leaned against the large stones of the porch’s balcony edge. He looked up into the sky, “Maybe we can find a few friendly ones. And maybe you can even get your own.”

“My own what? Dragon mount?” She scoffed, “I wouldn’t know how to do that.”

“Well luckily, you’ve got the best dragon rider around to help you,” Hiccup placed a hand on his chest with great gravitas.

Astrid chuckled and lightly punched him in the arm, “You mean the only dragon rider around?”

“Hey, I just want to say it now because we both know you’ll be better than me if you ever bond with a dragon like that. And, you never know, things in Skyrim are weird right now. I mean, who would’ve thought that this,” he gestured to all of himself, “would be seen as a hero of prophecy?”

Another laugh escaped Astrid, “You’re right. I never would have thought that.”

“Words have power, Astrid, that’s literally the whole point of a Voice. And yet, even without Shouting, your words cut deep,” he placed his hand over his heart like she’d shot a dozen arrows into it, “How awful it feels to have the best shield maiden in Whiterun call you weak!”

“I never said you were weak,” she rolled her eyes, “You held up pretty well against those draugr in Bleak Falls. Though you didn’t have to almost faint at the ice troll.”

“And you didn’t have to jumpscare it from above.”

“Hey, I got it, didn’t I?”

~~~

“I don’t completely understand where you’re going with this, but if it means I can see the rest of the region, I’m not exactly complaining…” Toothless said after the two explained their plan that evening, “But I don’t get why we can’t just go see the Greybeards ourselves. We can just,” he moved his paw upwards and fluttered his wings, “Fly up.”

“The 7,000 Steps was the safest way because the Greybeards made it that way,” Astrid said, “According to the legends surrounding it, they have the ability to Shout storms into the sky. They used that to make it so no one, dragon or person, could get into High Hrothgar without using the front door.”

“And we would need to see them anyway, despite my bullshitting in the Hall earlier,” Hiccup mumbled, “They have to know something about defeating Alduin, something they haven’t told anyone else.”

Though that was the noble reasons for Hiccup wanting to see the Greybeards, he had a deeper want. The lingering question since his awakening as Dragonborn was “why haven’t the Greybeards called?” Legends always said that after their first consumed soul, the Dragonborn was called to High Hrothgar, where they would ascend the 7,000 Steps and be trained in the way of the Voice. But in the month since that fateful night, not one call was put forth by the wisened mages on the Throat of the World.

“If it’s flying through storms that’s the problem, then why don’t we find a Bo’Zeimstrun?” Toothless looked between their confused faces.

“Bless you,” Astrid and Hiccup deadpanned

The Night Fury shook his head and sighed long-sufferingly, “I hate you both. No, a Bo’Zeimstrun is the Dov with the spines on their tail.”

“A Deadly Nadder?” Hiccup supplied.

“Yes, that. Those Dovah are notorious for flying through winter storms. Many think it’s because of the toughness of their scales, but it’s actually because they know a Shout to clear the sky around them to get through safely,” Toothless explained, “Maybe one of them will know the Word.”

“I always wondered why they were the ones leading raids during the winter months,” Astrid mumbled absently.

“We might be able to find their burial sites in places with many storms, like near Winterhold or Solitude,” Hiccup said, pulling out his smaller map of Skyrim, “But that’d take us so long to get there.”

“Well, actually-“

Astrid sighed, already making a list in her head, “And we’d need to pack so much supplies and bring so much with us.”

“Guys!” Toothless raised his tail between them, breaking their eye contact and one-track mind, “I am literally a flying beast. I can make it to the Northernmost part of the region in, like, two days.”

He lowered his tail and let them process it.

“Well, that certainly makes things easier,” Astrid commented.

“Yeah, but how do we let my dad know that we’re taking this quest on the back of a dragon?”

“Simple,” the dragon shrugged, “You don’t. We fly by night, explore by day. As long as one of you is moving the fin, I can guide myself mostly well.”

“Then I guess I’ll have to learn to give Hiccup a break,” Astrid mumbled, eyeing the mechanism and the tail fin that sat at her feet, “We’ll leave in a few days and go find that Nadder. I’ll see if there have been any in recent raids, maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Astrid strode off away from the two and out of the quarry. Toothless watched her expertly climb the walls and disappear over the edge, like she’d been the one doing this for a month instead of Hiccup. The Dragonborn leaned against Toothless’s shoulder and sighed.

“Are you nervous for the road ahead?” The dragon asked, wrapping his tail around his friend.

“Of course I am. Even with Astrid, having a couple of teenagers go on a quest on their own is a stupid idea,” Hiccup rubbed his hand along a smooth section of the dragon’s scales.

“Well, you do have a Night Fury with you.”

“Yeah, a Night Fury that’s about my age and can’t fly on his own because of someone else.”

Toothless nudged his face into Hiccup’s hands, “I keep telling you to stop being guilty for it and I’m serious. Stop blaming yourself. You’ve already fixed it.”

“I know, bud, I’m sorry.”

“We’ll find a dragon that can teach you the Clear Skies Shout soon, I promise. Even if we have to cross the bounds of Skyrim to do it.”

“Hopefully it won’t come to that, but…” he hugged his best friend, “Thanks.”

~~~

Hiccup and Astrid slowly got used to their new name of “survey team” from Spitelout over the next few days. According to the Jarl, their job was to find as many Words of Power as they could, mark which dragon burial sites were empty, and to report back in six months with their findings.

He also urged that it wouldn’t hurt for Hiccup to make his name known, to get out and become a hero the people could trust. Hiccup wasn’t sure exactly how he’d be able to do that, but if his track record was to be believed, the problems and troubles weren’t something he needed to seek out. Truly, those often found him first.

The whole of Whiterun gathered to see them off, every villager giving well wishes and nods of approval. Even the other teens were there to see them off.

“Don’t see why you couldn’t take us all with you,” Snotlout shrugged, “Could’ve been the Dragonborn’s entourage, but whatever.”

“You and I both know that you wouldn’t have been able to deal with this quest,” Astrid said as she adjusted the saddle on her horse and then shifted her cloak so she could swing onto it more easily, “Besides, who will defend the village while the Dragonborn is gone? I want to see how many of them you can incapacitate.”

Hiccup didn’t make a sound at her replacement of the word “kill” in that sentence. She had been trying to use different words when referring to the act of taking down a dragon, just to get herself more accustomed to what exactly they were seeking out. Toothless had assured her that she didn’t need to do it for his sake, but she insisted on doing it and who were they to say no.

“Well, I’ll have five Monstrous Nightmare skulls in my room before you guys return! You can bet on it!”

“I’ll take that bet!” Tuffnut yelled.

“Me too!” Ruffnut joined. The twins instantly began discussing odds and how much to bet on the new offer. Snotlout seemed to hesitate when another villager bet against him. Hiccup laughed to himself, knowing that it was a lost cause. He overheard Fishlegs call for all those who wanted to take part in it to see him in Dragonsreach later.

“You certainly don’t know how to leave without making a scene,” Stoick said, adjusting the saddle on his son’s horse one final time, “Promise me that you’ll write.”

“I promise, Dad,” he wrapped his arms around his father as much as he could, “We’ll be back in a few months. Don’t miss me too much.”

“I’d be worried if you were taking this expedition alone,” his father released his hug, “But the Hofferson girl is good. You protect her as much as she protects you.”

“I doubt she’ll need much protecting,” Hiccup said earnestly. He gave his dad one last hug before climbing into the saddle and waving goodbye to the people of the village. Astrid waited for him to catch up and soon the two were on the path towards the quarry. There, they would drop off the horses, remove their saddles and Whiterun insignias, then move everything to Toothless.

The dragon was pacing the quarry before they arrived and happily trilled at their entrance, bounding over with the saddle already partly on his body. Hiccup secured the remaining buckles, transferred their things to the dragon, and swung onto the saddle. Astrid took his outstretched hand and sat in her usual spot.

“Alright, we have everything. We have everyone. We have a plan,” Hiccup counted off, more so for himself than his traveling companions, “Okay, Toothless, let’s go.”

The Night Fury spread his wings and beat them against the air, taking into the sky and flying directly above the clouds that plagued the overcast sky. He steadied out as Hiccup directed him towards their first stop: Winterhold.

Notes:

Next time: A journey to Winterhold and getting a higher education.

Chapter 6: A Higher Education

Summary:

Astrid finds herself in yet another ruin and Hiccup broods.

Notes:

No notes. Astrid is gonna be a battle mage bc I feel like she would be and Hiccup is just there :)

The College of Winterhold was a vast resource, filled with many things about dragons and magic. If there was anyone who could tell them about the area and the storms, it was the teachers there. Of course, the people of the village didn’t really respect the College, but since the mages kept them safe from dragon raids, they didn’t have room to complain about their unsavory neighbors.

Due to his training to become Jarl, Hiccup was already well-versed on Winterhold’s history and who ruled it. And, because of his uncle, he also had plenty of knowledge on the College itself. The team found a nearby cave to hide in while they discussed how to check the College library.

“How about we sneak in at night, find everything on Dragonborns and Shouting, then get out?”

“Hiccup, you want our first mission to be a heist? After your dad just said to use this quest as a way to prove yourself as a hero?”

He stopped in his pacing around the cave and just turned to the girl sitting against the dragon, “Well, now I’m glad we have at least one person with self-control here.”

Toothless lifted his head, “Am I not enough?”

“Not in the slightest.”

Astrid pet the dragon as he huffed, “Then the only way we’re getting in is by convincing them that one of us is a student. Do you know any magic or spells?”

“I know some healing stuff, it’s how you recovered so fast after that draugr got you,” Hiccup admitted, “But my dad thought I was too clumsy to learn any destruction spells from my uncle.”

“Then I’ll have to learn,” she shrugged, “I’ll go into town and see if there are any tomes I can buy. Maybe one of them will get me in.”

The next day, the team split. Astrid walked into town, utilizing the heavy cloak her mother insisted she bring to hide herself the best she could, and Hiccup and Toothless took a quick flight to Dawnstar in the west to find more tomes for her to practice with. By noon, Astrid had found two tomes, one of Firebolt and one of Basic Ward, and Hiccup came back with a few about conjuring weapons and healing. His reasoning was that he didn’t think Astrid should be too outside of her comfort zone with the mages.

She then spent all afternoon learning the spells, and even got Basic Ward to cast for her on the first try. Hiccup knew she was gonna be good, Astrid could do nothing anything but perfectly, but her ability to conjure the battleaxe and swing it was all he needed to know that she was made for this.

By nightfall, Astrid could cast a good enough firebolt spell and put up wards fairly easily. Toothless mentioned that it was remarkable for humans to have this magic, as all of his capabilities came from his Thu’um. He wondered if there was a way for dragons to learn the spells, but he doubted since the Thu’um was a dragon-only magic.

In the time he had, Hiccup took to planning out what he and Toothless would be doing. Both sides of the team had their tasks and both sides set out the next morning to start them. Hopefully both of them had their luck, but knowing them, it wouldn’t be all sunshine and rainbows.

~~~

Astrid walked up the steps to the bridge between the island of the College and the mainland, but a hand shot out to stop her. A mage woman, maybe twenty-four or twenty-five stopped her, “Halt. Who are you?”

“I am Asta,” her fake name slipped out easily, “I am here to join the College.”

“Well, any prospective student must pass a small test. If you do, you gain entry,” the woman said, stepping aside and gesturing to the stone effigy of the College’s symbol on the ground, “Firebolt is a spell any mage should know. Use it on this and if it glows, you will be allowed entry.”

Astrid took a deep breath and held her hand out, summoning the mana within her into the Firebolt spell. The blast of heat shot from her palm and onto the sigil, making it glow a bright blue.

“Congrats,” the woman said, “Welcome to the College of Winterhold. Head inside and find the Master Wizard, Mirabelle Ervine. Tell her you’re a new student and she’ll find you accommodations.”

“Alright, thank you,” Astrid nodded and walked along the bridge. It was made of multiple black stone pillars connected by stone walkways. Astrid kept her eyes ahead and her hand on the stone rail as to not slip on the ice.

The actual College of Winterhold was held up by a giant sea stack just off the coast, surrounded by ice and glaciers. It had the larger rectangular stone building at one end, and walls that circled around to the front that had what Astrid assumed to be dorms for the students. She walked up to the large ice-covered wooden doors and pushed one open.

Immediately, she was met with a large courtyard. The roofed walkways extended around the yard with a long path down the middle. In the very center was a statue of a mage dressed in long, flowing robes, wielding a long staff. Astrid walked towards the main Hall, but as she circled the mage statue, she saw two figures in heated debate. When the elf spotted her, he put up his hand to silence the Nord woman, shook his head, and walked away.

The woman called out, “This isn’t over, Ancano,” then turned to Astrid, “Hello, are you a new student?”

“Yes, I am Asta Henson,” Astrid said, “Are you Master Ervine?”

“I am. We seem to be getting a lot of new students recently,” Master Ervine nodded and gestured to the larger hall behind her, “I would show you around but a colleague of mine has decided to be difficult. This is the Hall of Elements,” she then motioned to a door in the curved wall near the entrance, “And that is the year one dormitory. There should be one more bed, just find the dorm assignments on the wall and go to whichever one is empty. I’ll send a teacher to retrieve you for your first lesson.”

“Thank you, Master,” Astrid made her way to the dorm, entering an even more silent circular room with offshoots to the different dorms. She located the empty dorm with ease and shunted her bag off to the corner, not bothering with the small amount of stuff she has with her. All she needs to do is get through a few classes so she looks like a legitimate student, gain access to the library, then spend however long finding books on the old Dragonborn.

She figured that she’d start with whatever class Master Ervine told her to attend. Not long after Astrid put down her bag did an older Nord man open the door to the dorms, “Asta Henson? Is she in here?”

“I’m here,” she stepped out with the man, seeing his blue robes and a gold medallion with the College’s sigil, “And you are?”

“I am Tolfdir, one of the teachers here. I was asked by Mirabelle to walk you to my class,” he started walking towards the Hall of Elements with her, giving her more of a tour than Master Ervine did, “You’ll find that most students here keep to themselves, so we try to maintain a quiet environment for studying and experiments.”

“What do people study here, besides spells?” She asked. Maybe Tolfdir was what she needed during this mission.

“Well, many just study what their mana can do. Others are here for potion-making, some look into the enchanting of weapons and armor, and others just want to understand their capabilities,” Tolfdir held the Hall door open for her, “Why are you here, Miss Henson?”

She thought about it. While she and Hiccup came up with a good backstory that explained her being so young and her want to study dragons, she hadn’t exactly decided on anything else about this fake character she played. Why would Asta be here?

“I am here to study whatever I can. My parents were killed in a dragon attack and I am expected to carry on their name,” she said plainly.

“Sounds like a noble cause, my young friend,” Toldir smiled at her and opened the Hall door for her, “Come, we start with lesser wards today.”

~~~

Hiccup learned after their flight here that it was pretty much essential to have something over his face and eyes if he wanted to fly in the northern regions of Skyrim. The snow and ice was too much for him at the speeds Toothless could get up to, so he had started bringing a face scarf and he bought a pair of goggles from someone in Dawnstar while he was there. He also modified his cloak so his arms could maneuver better.

While Astrid was in the College with her job, Hiccup and Toothless took to the dreary skies to find the dragon burial sites in the area. The Dragonstone was still a very old and outdated tablet, so he wanted to have a completely updated one for when he and Astrid set out to find a Deadly Nadder. Their first flight around the Hold came up with barely anything of note, though Hiccup did spot a few burial sites not on the Dragonstone, so he marked them for later.

He also noticed that a lot of them were still closed. Maybe Alduin didn’t venture this far out yet, or he didn’t need the icy dragons for his conquest. The only ones Hiccup knew he’d maybe have an eye for were the fabled Bewilderbeasts, but those were so rare that finding one would mean you used up all your luck for the rest of your life. Dragons were thought to be legends up until fifteen years ago, but a Bewilderbeast was a legend among legends. 

From what Toothless could remember, those dragons were giant, able to control others with only their thoughts and a single gaze, and were only spotted once or twice in the ages long ago. So as much as Hiccup would love to see Alduin skewered on the tusks of a King of All Dragons, he has better odds of killing the Great Destroyer himself.

Hiccup leaned Toothless to the side so they could circle another burial site, “Looks like a lot of these are still closed, huh, bud?”

“Who knew even the God of Destruction doesn’t like the snow,” Toothless sneezed a little, “Not that I blame him.”

“Oh stop whining you big baby,” Hiccup laughed, but the dragon was fast to smack him with an ear flap, “Ow.”

“One hundred percent deserved.”

They flew around a bit more, just getting a lay of the land, before landing a bit away from the village, on the icy coast. The water was frozen up to the snow-covered beach, so Hiccup carefully stepped onto the thick ice and walked out to the rocks that jutted from the water. He climbed on top of them and sat there, staring out to sea. It was truly the first time Hiccup ever saw the ocean, even with all the ice and snow covering it.

He couldn’t see that far out, with the blizzard that was coming in covering anything a few miles out, but he imagined what life across the sea was like. Away from his home, the people he was destined to save, those who didn’t see him as a hero, it seemed like an option.

What if he just left? And never looked back? Snotlout would be a good enough heir to the jarldom, especially if his dad gave him the kick in the ass he needed. Astrid would probably stay at the College and learn more magic to aid in the war. His father, though… Hiccup didn’t know how his father would react to him just upping and leaving. Would Stoick look for him? Would he mourn? Would he even miss his hiccup of a son?

His thoughts were interrupted by Toothless calling out, “Are you done brooding or can we go back?”

“Give me a minute!” Hiccup chuckled and got off the rock carefully, then slid his way back to shore. He climbed atop the dramatically-shivering Toothless and pulled his scarf back over his face. They took to the sky, hiding in the clouds above the whole way back to their cavern.

Maybe Hiccup could explore the world after the war. After all, it’d be easier with his best friend at his side.

~~~

After a practical lesson with Tolfdir, Astrid was instructed to meet his class at Saarthal, a tomb close to the College. It still meant trudging through the snowy cliffs with a blizzard on its way, but Astrid knew that she’d faced worse. She walked next to a khajiit student named J’zargo, who told her all about the College, as he’d been a student for several years.

He seemed a lot like Snotlout, arrogant and boisterous, but J’zargo actually acknowledged that he had a long road ahead. He was skilled, as evident by his ability to keep hunting wolves away from them as they travelled, so Astrid hoped he could maybe prove to be useful in her search for information. They stuck together as Tolfdir told them of their assignments.

Astrid looked around the ruin. What started out as a set of rickety scaffolding into the cave became actually carved stone bricks and murals on the walls. She grabbed one of the torches nearby and began searching through the maze-like structure for any artifacts, like the rest of her peers.

After turning into a room with a few empty pedestals, Astrid noticed a huge crack in one of the walls. She ran her hand along the stone and felt a strange breeze coming from the other side.

“J’zargo!” She called and the Khajiit soon came in after her, “Maybe there’s a switch or a lever?”

“Or we can blast it apart?” The mage suggested.

“That would crumble the whole tomb and I’d rather not die in here,” Astrid handed him the torch, which he refused and lit his paw with flames that burned brighter than the stick. She rolled her eyes and began searching for anything to help.

Within one of the walls were several nooks with pedestals. Most of them were empty, but one had a golden amulet laid across it. J’zargo walked into the nook and grabbed the amulet. The pedestal gave a rough groan as it raised from the floor. He tried to back away, but from the top of the nook entrance came iron bars, trapping him inside.

“Asta, use that axe of yours and get me out of here!” The mage struggled against the bars, trying to bend them.

“I’m not sure my axe can do much,” she said, also trying to bend them but with no luck, “The amulet got you stuck in there. Maybe it can get you out?”

J’zargo didn’t seem keen on the idea, but he placed the amulet around his neck anyway and held up his hand to cast flame on the bars. A low rumble echoed in the room as the bars shimmered and ascended back into the ceiling, “Well damn, I didn’t expect that to work.”

“Me neither. Let’s get it to Tolfdi-“ Astrid was cut off by the cracked wall falling to the floor, barely missing her feet by a few inches. It opened into another cavern, one that descended deeper into the tomb.

The khajiit took the amulet off and handed it to Astrid, “Take this and wait here, I’m gonna go get Tolfdir.”

Before she could say anything, J’zargo ran off in the direction of their teacher. Astrid looked down at the amulet in her hand. It had a vine-like rope for the chain and several charms that looked like teeth. The main amulet was a rectangular charm with a rounded top. The carving was of either a sun shining or a mage, Astrid couldn’t tell.

“Strange,” she mumbled. It was warm in her hand and only got warmer as she walked towards the now-open cavern entrance. Astrid walked further into it, gently pressing her hand against the stone wall. It slowly opened up to reveal another room, but Astrid paused when she saw a figure in the room.

They were made of a light blue mist and held their hand up to point at Astrid, “Hold, mage, and listen well...” they said. 

“Know that you have set in motion a chain of events that cannot be stopped. Judgment has not been passed, as you had no way of knowing. Judgment will be passed on your actions to come, and how you deal with the dangers ahead of you. This warning is passed to you because the Psijic Order believes in you. You, mage, and you alone, have the potential to prevent disaster. Take great care, and know that the Order is watching."

The figure then dissolved into white powder that spread across the floor. Astrid stared at where the mage stood, still clutching the warm amulet to her chest. Eyes wide, she took another step into the room. Rookie mistake as the second her heel touched the stone, three stone coffins along the walls lost their lids and three draugr stumbled free.

“Shit,” Astrid stuffed the amulet into her bag and pulled the axe from her back. The first draugr turned to her, grabbing the sword from the rotten sheath and racing over. Astrid blocked the swing of the sword with her axe and ducked out of the way of another. She then brought the axe down onto the draugr’s leg, slicing it and sending it to the ground.

The other two draugr finally got their heads on straight and rushed to help their fallen comrade. Just as one of them raised their sword above Astrid’s head, a bolt of lightning hit it square in the chest, obliterating it to dust. Astrid looked behind her at Tolfdir and J’zargo in the passageway, holding up a sparks spell and a firebolt spell respectively.

“I told you to wait, Asta!” J’zargo said as he walked over to help her up, “You really should think more before rushing into the unknown!”

“Well how are you supposed to learn about the unknown if you don’t take risks?” She gave him a smirk and got to her feet.

“Gods, you are so stubborn.”

“Trust me, it’s a Nord thing,” Tolfdir said, still keeping his lightning spell up and walking further into the room. It led them deeper into the tomb and Astrid pulled the amulet out to feel how warm it was getting at their descent.

Astrid really needed to understand this magic thing more. Maybe that’s what she’d do after the war: study whatever it is she’s gotten herself into.

Notes:

Next Time: A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON.

Chapter 7: Stormfly (And Meridia)

Summary:

Stormfly shows up and A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON.

Notes:

I fucking hate Meridia, it’s great.

The journey to Saarthal’s tomb turned up more than a learning experience for the students of Tolfdir’s class. After Astrid and J’zargo found that amulet, the passage, and the draugr, Tolfdir lead them deeper inside, stopping only at a spectacular sight.

A large blue orb that floated above a well of pure mana. It hummed with power, glowing brightly in the dark caverns.

“This…” Tolfdir breathed, reaching a hand up to it, but stopping before his hand met the orb, “This is fascinating. J’zargo, go as quick as you can and grab Mirabelle and Ancano, they’d want to see this.”

The khajiit nodded and ran off, leaving Astrid to ask, “What is it, sir?”

“I have my theories, but we’ll know more once we get it back to the College. Maybe we have books on such a thing, the library is vast for a reason,” Tolfdir chuckled, “Though the only thing I can think of that resembles this is the Eye of Magnus.”

“Pray tell, what is the Eye of Magnus?”

“A powerful mana source, said to give anyone to obeys its command untold capabilities. Some say that a mage wielding the Eye could kill Talos himself. Of course, it hasn’t happened as anyone at that level goes mad within seconds.”

“Are we sure it’s a good idea to bring this to the College?” Astrid eyed the pulsing orb. It looked to be made up of multiple spinning rings carved with different ancient runes. The blue and white glow pierced her eyes as she stared at it, “I mean, a College of mages is probably the best place, but should any of those mages feel the pull…”

“It’ll be fine, Asta. We know the people we work with well.”

“If you say so, sir.”

Once Ancano arrived, Astrid was forced to trek back to the College on her own, as the rest of her classmates got a head start and J’zargo was already there. The relative silence of her walk was interrupted by the landing of a Night Fury right beside her. She startled a bit, but calmed once she saw the rider on Toothless.

“What the fuck, Haddock, you scared me!” She hissed, “Why are you here?”

“Get on, I’ll explain on the way,” he said through the scarf wrapped around his face. She swung herself onto Toothless and pulled her cloak tighter as they shot into the air.

“Okay, we’re up. What’s going on?”

“I found a Nadder. Thing is, she’s injured and I think this’ll be the perfect moment for you to get your mount,” Hiccup seemed to smile at her over his shoulder, though the gesture was hidden by his scarf.

They flew through the wind towards a point just outside of Dawnstar. It was far enough away from the city that no one would see the pitch-black dragon against the snow. Hiccup helped Astrid off and motioned for her to follow him through the forest.

They came up to a giant drop-off where the mountain gave way towards the snow-and-ice-covered beach down below. Hiccup slid his way down, leaving Toothless behind just in case. Astrid followed suit and landed right beside him. Then, she saw the grave.

It looked just like Toothless’s, though deeper into the sand and made of various boulders, instead of the smooth stone of the one in the quarry. Within the grave was a blue and gold dragon with a crown of spikes and a tail of spines. From where she was, Astrid could see the blood that coated its wing. It was brown, indicating that it was old and dried. This Nadder was injured somehow and Astrid needed to heal it.

“I’m leaving this to you, m’lady,” Hiccup said, stepping backwards, “Go help her.”

Astrid didn’t dare look away from the Deadly Nadder in the grave. The poor thing was shivering against the cold, barely breathing as the snow began to fall again. She took a few careful steps towards it. The Nadder either didn’t register the crunching of Astrid’s boots against the snow and sand, or wasn’t able to lift her head to see if it was friend or foe approaching. Astrid pulled her axe from her back and dropped it in the snow next to her, wanting to not appear threatening to a literal injured animal.

She climbed down the stone into the grave and crouched down next to the dragon before her. Now closer, she could see the body was visibly shivering and faint wisps of breath escaped its nose.

“Hey, girl,” she whispered, bringing her hand up to the Nadder’s face. The eye on that side slowly fluttered open, looking intently at the Nord girl, “I’m not going to hurt you. I just want to help.”

Astrid lifted her hand to the injured wing, but the Nadder pulled it closer to her body, not wanting Astrid to touch it. Astrid stopped and gently rubbed the hand still on the Nadder’s face. She knew Toothless liked it when she did that, so maybe this dragon would as well.

“You’re such a beautiful thing,” she said, “I only wish to help- to vo’ahraan.”

The Nadder’s eye went as wide as it could at the use of the dragon word for ‘heal’. Astrid asked Toothless to teach her some words just in case this ever came up. It proved to be enough as the Nadder slowly, and with a whimper, lowered her wing so Astrid could touch it.

The bone seemed broken and there was a large gash that had already scarred over. It was truly such a shame, as the wings were covered in the prettiest dappled-light pattern that Astrid had ever seen. The blue and gold reminded her of clear sunrises that she saw every so often back home. She sighed and summoned her mana, placing her hand onto the wing.

The Nadder shifted slightly as the magic weaved into the wing, setting and fixing the bone, and fully closing the gash in the wing membrane. Astrid kept her hands on the dragon’s scales, rubbing the scales on the face and concentrating on healing the wound. She heard the Nadder squawk as the magic healed the final bit of the broken bone and Astrid pulled her hand away.

“Want to try moving a bit? We have a safe place we can get you to, but I need to know if you can fly,” she said to the dragon. The Nadder slowly lifted itself to its giant clawed feet, shaking the set snow off its body and chirping at Astrid, “That’s it, girl.”

The Nadder stretched its wings out and flicked its tail. Then, it flapped its wings heavily against the wind. The pain now gone, the Nadder could fly again. It chirped and squawked with glee as it soared around the beach. Astrid climbed out of the grave to follow it, smiling at the dragon’s glee.

It flew down to meet her on the snow, lowering its head so one eye faced Astrid, “Kogaan, mun. Dii bo lost daal, kogaan wah hi.”

“I’m afraid I don’t speak more than a few words in your tongue, my friend,” Astrid sighed, reaching her hand to stroke the horn that rested on the Nadder’s nose, “But I’m assuming you give thanks. To which I say, you’re welcome.”

“She did give thanks, your assumption was spot on,” Toothless said from above, hovering right above the girl and the Nadder, “Dovah Briinah, dreh hi tinvaak fin rot do muz?”

“A little. Dovah zeymah, why are you with these jul?” The Nadder turned her attention to the landed Night Fury, “You are a Sunless Fire. Are you not needed by the Great Destroyer?”

“The Great Destroyer refused to finish my ritual, leaving me flightless. My friends here gave me the chance to fly the winds again, so I have stayed with them,” Toothless explained, lowering himself so Hiccup could get on, “What happened to you?”

The Nadder looked away, possibly from shame, “My family abandoned me to fly in the Great Destroyer’s lahvu- army. I begged them to stay, but my pleas fell on deaf ears,” she was shaking now, though not from the cold, “He injured me when I refused to listen to his call, leaving me to die. But then you came along, so now I am indebted to you. However will I repay you?”

“You can help us. We ride with the Dovahkiin, but he does not wish to kill our kind. He only wishes to free those we know from the Great Destroyer’s rule,” Toothless lifted his head, which lifted Hiccup towards the Nadder, “Give him your Word of Power for clearing the skies as it will help us on our journey.”

The Nadder eyed Hiccup and listened to the words Toothless said. She then turned to Astrid, “And this will repay you for your kindness?”

“Yes, it will.”

“Then I will join you. Bring me the Dovahkiin and I will teach him Lok Vah Koor,” the Nadder backed up and began etching the runes of the Shout into the snow. As Hiccup approached them, they lit up red, then white, then appeared to fly into his body, “You now understand the Bo’Zeimstrun ancient Word. Use it wisely, Dovahkiin.”

“Thank you,” Hiccup bowed to her.

“Now, I wish to join you. I will allow this one to ride me,” the Nadder motioned at Astrid. The Nord girl walked up and placed her hand on the Nadder’s nose again, “I am known as Strumbo. But you may call me a name in your language.”

“Strumbo literally translates to Stormfly. A fine name, should you choose to pick it, Astrid,” Toothless said.

“I like the sound of it,” the girl smiled at the Night Fury, “Stormfly it is.”

Stormfly chirped and trilled at the name, nuzzling her face into Astrid’s arms. Astrid laughed and hugged the Nadder tightly.

And just like that, their party of three became a party of four.

~~~

The flight back to the cavern near Winterhold was uneventful, if you call Stormfly and Astrid learning to fly as one “uneventful”. They dipped a few times, but Astrid already knew how to fly somewhat from learning to use Toothless’s tail fin. Now, she just needed to figure out a new set of physical commands for Stormfly to follow in the air.

They decided on a few regarding how Astrid’s feet held onto Stormfly’s body, as well as a few whispered commands in the dragon language. Stormfly’s amazing sense of hearing, to make up for her blind spots, could hear above even the fiercest storms. It was a common trait in Deadly Nadders, according to Toothless.

The group of four flew down towards the cavern, grateful to just miss the incoming blizzard. As Hiccup began drafting the saddle for Stormfly, Astrid looked  over the tomes she had yet to learn. One was a flame spell, the same that J’zargo showed her in the tomb, and the other was the bound battleaxe spell, allowing her to summon a weapon whenever.

She had just gotten the spell down, able to dual wield her physical axe and the mana one, when a loud boom shook the cavern, sending a few pebbles falling from the ceiling. Astrid stuck her head out of the cavern, pulled the snow goggles down to her eyes, and peered through the blizzard.

Down by the village were creatures made of ice, wraiths, attacking the people of Winterhold. Astrid gripped her axe tightly, “They’re defenseless. The mages aren’t helping.”

“Then we go down and help,” Hiccup said, “Toothless, Stormfly, stay here. We don’t need more trouble caused by them seeing you.”

He grabbed his glaive, as well as his and Astrid’s cloaks, and the two took off towards the village. There were more ice wraiths when they arrived, each one stalking and attacking the citizens. Astrid slammed her axe down onto the head of one about to attack a helpless child. The wraith sneered at her, but Astrid kicked it away, allowing the child to run into the Jarl’s keep. She bashed it with the butt of her axe and finished it off with another blow with the blade.

Behind her, Hiccup fought off two wraiths with his glaive, using each end of his weapon to deliver precise blows to the creatures. He sliced one in half, pinned the other with the stick, then slammed the heel of his boot against its head. He helped the woman he saved up and guided her to the keep as well. Hiccup turned to Astrid and the two nodded in understanding as more wraiths appeared, poised to attack.

Both warriors fought through the wraiths, knocking each one to the side and destroying the crystal of their bodies. They had a few close calls, as they lacked proper armor like the people back home, but the ice didn’t pose much of a threat to Astrid and Hiccup. As Hiccup’s glaive cut through the last of the wraiths, he allowed his breathing to slow to calm his heart. Astrid wiped away the sweat that somehow managed to accumulate on her forehead and dispelled the fire floating in her hand.

They had just caught each other’s eyes when a scream was heard from the bridge to the College, followed by one of the students of Tolfdir’s class falling to the snow outside of the steps. Astrid raced over and pulled her up, “Are you okay? What happened?”

“Asta, it’s Tolfdir,” the girl hyperventilated, “Ancano is trying to use the Eye and Tolfdir can’t stop him.”

“That elf-“ Astrid grit her teeth, “Head to the Jarl’s keep. My friend and I will handle this.”

She nodded, “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“So do I,” it was one of the most truthful things Astrid ever said and she didn’t know if she was saying it more for the student or for herself. The student raced off, avoiding the wraith bodies in the street. Astrid turned to Hiccup, “Let’s go.”

They ran across the bridge and entered the College. Students were kept from the Hall of Elements by other teachers and upper classmen. Astrid spotted Master Ervine standing behind the mage statue in the courtyard, her hands wringing and her magic flickering between her fingers.

“Master Ervine!” Astrid called out, getting the woman’s attention, “Where’s Ancano?”

“In the Hall, Tolfdir is holding him off,” Master Ervine grabbed Astrid’s shoulders, “Listen well, girl, you must go and get the Staff of Magnus. It is the only way to stop this.”

“The Staff of Magnus? I thought that was a myth?” Hiccup asked.

“It is not, as evident by the Eye in our Hall. Go, you two,” Master Ervine pressed a folded piece of parchment into Astrid’s hands, “As fast as you can. If you don’t, then we risk losing Skyrim to more than Alduin.”

Astrid gripped the parchment in her hands, “Yes, ma’am. I won’t let you down.”

She turned and grabbed Hiccup’s hand, pushing through the students and teachers for the doors of the College. She didn’t let go until they reached the cavern with their dragons.

As she prepped the rope to hold onto Stormfly, Hiccup put on a stupid smile and said, “Who wants to go on another fetch quest?”

~~~

Labyrinthine was not at all what Astrid and Hiccup expected. Sure, they’d gotten used to the monotony of stone tombs and caverns and ruins with all the other stuff they’d explored during the two weeks into their six-month quest. But when the Staff of Magnus was hidden behind two secret walls, a bunch of puzzles, tons more skeletons and draugr, as well as two spiritual mages holding another mage captive in a time-warping shield, Astrid was getting kind of sick of the fetch quests.

It wasn’t all bad, they were able to find enough gold to last them a month in an inn, as well as new metals that Hiccup and Toothless immediately went to see if they were fireproof. The older magic-based ones were, though Astrid was sure she could get the enchantment off of them, learn how to do it, and enchant Toothless’s tail rig so the risk of it breaking went down by a lot. However, all of that could wait until after they got the Staff back to the College.

Astrid held it in her hands as she waited for Hiccup to finish looting the ruins. It was a simple staff, carved from a brown wood and reinforced with stone and metal. The top had an inset blue gem that glowed the same as the Eye at the College, and it had four metal petals that folded over the gemstone. It looked more like a symbol of royalty, rather than the staff of a crazed mage from a long time ago.

“Hey, Astrid, hold this,” Hiccup’s voice startled her out of her thoughts and the next thing she knew, a small-ish white orb was being shoved into her hands.

“A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON.”

“What in Talos’s name?!” She threw the orb back at Hiccup, who barely caught it in his arms.

“A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEACON.”

“I don’t want it!” He threw it back at her.

“A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE BEAC-“

“Neither do I!” She yelled again at the booming voice and threw it back towards the Dragonborn, who then kept the orb moving between them.

“A NEW HAND TOUCHES THE- A NEW HAND TOUCH- A NEW HAND- A NEW HAND- A NEW-“

“Toothless!” Hiccup threw the orb into the sky and the Night Fury jumped up to grab it in his jaws.

“A NEW… MOUTH TOUCHES THE BEACON.”

“Who in the Hells is that?!” Astrid asked, clutching her now-throbbing head in her hands. 

“Well if you mortals would calm down and let me explain, then you’d know!” The nasally female voice sneered in Astrid’s head, “You have found my beacon. Take it to my temple and slay the evil within! You will then be rewarded!”

“Oh no. Hell no,” she laughed and grabbed a handkerchief from her bag. She walked over to the Night Fury and wrapped the fabric around it, “I am not dealing with whatever divine mission you’ll send us on. We’re on a time crunch as it is.” She opened her bag and found space for the heavy orb among her stuff.

“Foolish mortal-!”

“Oh shut up!” Hiccup yelled into the sky. He huffed and swung himself onto Toothless, “Lets head back to the College.”

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Astrid mumbled as she climbed onto Stormfly. She’d gotten used to the lack of a saddle, but she really would like some stirrups right now, at least so she could get onto the dragon easier. For now, the series of ropes and leather scraps she threw together would have to work. Their journey back to Winterhold was aided by now-clear skies as while they were in Labyrinthine, the blizzard ran its course.

This also meant that they had to take the long way back, as two dragons of different breeds flying together probably wasn’t the least suspicious thing ever. They kept a wide berth around the villages they flew over, preferring to stay in the sparse cloud coverage. As they approached the College, Hiccup was about to suggest they land a bit away and run the rest of the way, but then a loud boom echoed through the air.

The doors to the Hall of the Elements flew off, hitting the mage statue in the courtyard and shattering to splinters. Astrid leaned Stormfly over towards it, landing inside the courtyard. Hiccup and Toothless landed a top the Hall, peering down into the courtyard.

Astrid climbed off of Stormfly’s back and grabbed her axe and the staff. She strapped the staff to her back and ran into the Hall. Inside was the regular fount of mana, with the blue metal Eye of Magnus hovering over it. The white and blue glow was intense and bold so Astrid had to cover it with her hand as she snuck to one of the pillars in the Hall.

“At last, this magic will be used! Skyrim will bow to me!” She heard the elven man, Ancano, laugh wickedly. It only made her roll her eyes. His back was to the Hall entrance, so she could easily sneak up and use the staff, however that would work.

She replaced the staff with her axe and gripped the metal tightly. Her breathing slowed and she closed her eyes, trying to imagine what the staff could do. Opening her eyes, she peaked around the stone pillar and held the staff in both hands. She imagined the staff interacting with the Eye. Then the light flickered. The Eye dimmed and the orb at the top of the staff went bright, before they returned to as they were.

“It took the power…” she mumbled to herself, posing to activate the staff again. The Eye flickered again as the blue glow dimmed and the staff shone brighter. Ancano’s lifted arms fell slightly.

“What is this?” He spun around, “Who’s there?!”

Astrid ducked back behind the pillar and waited for him to begin searching the other side. She grabbed her axe again in her dominant hand, still activating the staff in her left. She snuck around towards Ancano until she was right behind him. Astrid brought her foot up and kicked his legs outward to send him to the ground.

He yelled and squirmed, but she dug her knee into his back, “Hey, Thalmor. Wanna tell me what you’re doing with that orb?”

“You! You child! Do you have any idea what you’re doing!” Ancano kept up his squirming, but he hesitated when Astrid lowered the axe into his eyesight.

“No, I do. All I know is I’m stopping a corrupted man from killing the people of Skyrim,” she laughed, “Really funny if you think about it.”

“Let me go!”

“I don’t think so,” she whistled and a few seconds later, she heard a dragon run into the Hall. Toothless appeared at her side, “Hold him down, boy.”

The Night Fury nodded and threw his whole body onto Ancano, taking the breath out of the mage. Astrid turned back to the Eye, staff held up high, “I hope to Talos this works.”

Astrid lifted the Staff of Magnus to the Eye and closed her eyes. The glow from the orb grew to be too much for her and the wind in the chamber picked up, throwing her braid out behind her. Her cloak did nothing as the chill hit her body. The staff shook as she held her ground against the Eye’s power, and as the staff absorbed as much as it could.

“Astrid!” She felt hands touch hers and she peeked to her side, where Hiccup stood with something in his hands, “It has to be destroyed!”

“But how?!”

“I have an idea! Just stay there!” He held up the bundle of fabric and stone that Astrid had put into her bag earlier. The Beacon, or whatever the hell it was, still hung in the handkerchief. Hiccup grabbed the knot of fabric and swung it around in his hand. He spun around to build up momentum.

Then he chucked the Beacon directly into the Eye of Magnus.

With a violent lurch, the whole College shook as the Eye’s metal played shifted. The staff began to shake in Astrid’s hands as it took in more and more mana, until the force knocked her to her back. The Eye let out a humanoid screech, before it settled, the Beacon wedged within the dent in the metal. The blue glow dimmed to a soft hum and the staff was glowing more brightly than ever.

Ancano screamed from his position underneath the Night Fury, “NO. NO YOU FOOLS. WE COULD HAVE STOPPED THE WAR. WHAT HAVE YOU DONE.”

Astrid’s head spun as she straightened out, “Oh shut your mouth,” she stumbled to her knees as her vision went black.

The last thing she heard was Hiccup shouting her name.

Notes:

Next Time: The Dragonborn falls.

Translations:

“Kogaan, mun. Dii bo lost daal, kogaan wah hi.” - “Thank you, human. My flight has returned, thanks to you.”

“Dovah Briinah, dreh hi tinvaak fin rot do muz?” - “Dragon sister, do you speak the tongue of man?”

“Dovah zeymah” - “Dragon brother”

“Lok Vah Koor” - “Spring, summer, skies”

Chapter 8: High Hrothgar

Summary:

Old men and an even older dragon.

Notes:

I’m new in town and it gets worse.

With a College full of mages who knew the most basic to the most complex of restoration spells, Astrid was as right as rain the next morning. Hiccup was given access to the library, so he spent some of the night gathering tomes and trying to find anything on the dragons. Unfortunately, most of their information was either speculation, folk lore, or unreliable. They realized that if they were to learn more about dragons, they needed to learn it from the dragons themselves.

Astrid and Hiccup decided it’d be best to leave before the Jarl discovered the truth of the heroes of the College, jumping aboard Toothless and Stormfly right before dawn and heading south towards Ivarstead at the base of the Throat of the World. They couldn’t get close to the village, as Whiterun had dispatched people to assist in the clearing of the 7,000 Steps, but they could get close enough to set up camp and would be able to disguise themselves to get into the village and gather provisions. They were, after all, supposed to be on their way out of Falkreath.

Their attention then turned to the stormy peaks of High Hrothgar. According to the scouts sent to them between Hiccup and Astrid’s return from Bleak Falls and their leave on their quest, the Throat of the World was covered in an unending miles-wide storm that began around a quarter of the way up the mountain and didn’t stop until the very peak. As he peered into the magical storm from atop Toothless, Hiccup swore he saw hail, lightning, and heavy snow within the clouds. Stormfly had taught him the Clear Skies Shout, but he doubted his limited experience with the spell would be able to dispel the storm for long enough.

“There’s no way we get in without using it,” Hiccup said, “And if we do, we have to be fast.”

“I am fast, so is Stormfly,” Toothless said, “But with you two on our backs, we need to be more careful.”

“He’s right,” Astrid said from above him, “This is gonna be dangerous and we don’t have the correct equipment in case things go, quite literally, downhill.”

“So what do we do?” Hiccup eyed the clouds again, doing one more lap of the mountain. There had to be something, anything, that could help them get through. A break in the clouds where the magic didn’t reach, a cave that could take them through to the top, an entry just for Alduin, blinded by his pride.

“Can’t we fly over the storm?” Stormfly brought up when they landed at their new camp nestled in the forest to the south of Ivarstead, “What if it’s like a yol’strunmah?”

“A volcano?” Toothless translated, “What do you mean?”

“They are fortified by walls of stone, with an opening at the top for the liquid rock to burst forth. What if the top of the storm has an opening, or at the very least a thin top? We can use the Thu’um to open it up,” the Nadder tilted her head to see all three of her friends, “We dovah can fly really high.”

“The air gets too thin up there, Astrid and I wouldn’t make it,” Hiccup said. He and Toothless had tested the bounds of how close to the sky they could get. The answer was pretty far, but then Hiccup almost passed out. The limits were shorter than the top of the storm, even if they clipped into it. Then they were just playing with fire, or ice if you wanted to be technical.

Astrid crossed her arms over her chest, “Then our only option is to fly through the storm, unless we think we’re fast enough to risk the thinner air.”

“Which we aren’t,” the Dragonborn urged, “It’s best if Stormfly and I switch off using the Shout to get through the storm.”

Stormfly nodded, “I agree.”

“Then we head for High Hrothgar tomorrow?” Toothless looked between everyone as they nodded their agreements. Hiccup decided to go to the forge in Ivarstead to fix a few of the flimsy joints on the tail fin, as well as get more leather to make a spare just in case the journey came with a rough patch. Astrid, decidedly, stayed behind to practice her magic and learn more about the Nadder species. If she was going to be Stormfly’s rider, then she needed to know all the strengths and weaknesses of her mount.

Hiccup studied a roll of leather in the trader’s hut just as he heard voices approach the door. He quickly threw on his hood and turned away from the door as it opened to the sounds of footsteps.

“Aye, the mountain doesn’t look good, but nothing a few days and hard work can’t fix!” Hiccup recognized the voice of Gobber.

“Then you, my friend, underestimate the power of those storms,” another voice said. It was male, though Hiccup didn’t know who it belonged to, “They are unpredictable. It’s like there’s a dragon inside of it that controls it.”

“A dragon? Nah, you’re thinking too much into it. We just have to wait for the magic to run out, as everything without a mana source does. I may just be a blacksmith, but I’ve dealt with enough magical weaponry in my life to know how to get rid of a mana source so it’s safe to work on it.”

“That’s your plan? Wait it out?”

“Hey, Nords may not be the most patient folk, but we like to surprise people,” Gobber laughed. The other man made a noise that Hiccup knew was from Gobber slapping him on the back, a gesture Gobber seemed to repeat on every living being that resided in his presence.

“Whiterun really sent their best,” Hiccup heard that eye roll.

“That they did, lad, that they did. Let’s go see if the miners are up for a hike to the caves nearby. Those steps won’t rebuild themselves!”

The door to the trader slammed shut and the footsteps dissipated. Hiccup turned to the window and watched them turn the corner before taking a deep breath and putting his hood back down. He examined the leather again before just deciding to buy it. Hiccup calmly left the trader, then bolted down the street towards the forest, racing back to camp.

If there really was a dragon in that storm, then they needed to leave when it was weakest, when the dragon was most likely asleep. So that meant they needed to leave during the night. And with the encroaching Whiterun soldiers, and Gobber, it meant they had to leave soon. Like that night.

While Hiccup finished the spare fin that afternoon, Astrid took Stormfly around the storm again before dusk, hoping to catch sight of something in those clouds. Now that she knew what to look for, it wasn’t hard to spot a rolling set of scales in the thick storm. She saw the spines on the back of the dragon, as well as the grey-and-white hide that helped it fly through without a care. Stormfly flew backwards and out of sight of whatever was in that storm right as they had overstayed their welcome, hearing a piercing howl coming from the mysterious dragon in the wind.

“Do you know what type that was?” Astrid asked her mount.

Stormfly’s crown of spikes shuddered a bit, “I remember stories of dovah capable of creating such storms, but I’ve never seen one before as my family never strayed from the natural storm lands. I believe my mother called it an Odsu’um, or a Snow-Breath.”

“A Snow-Breath. Hiccup needs to hear this.” She let the dragon take her path back to camp, landing gently within the meadow they set up in.

Night soon appeared in the sky as the dragon riders prepared their stuff for the flight. Hiccup clipped his glaive into the new holder on Toothless’s saddle, one made from leather scraps and extra metal clasps he had. He also made Astrid one for her makeshift saddle for Stormfly, as the rider was still going without one and the heavy axe would cause issues in the storm should it remain on her back. Once they had triple checked everything, threw on their cloaks, and readied their face coverings, both riders and both dragons shot up into the twilight.

It was decided that Stormfly and Astrid would take the lead first, with the Night Fury right behind them, as the Nadder had more experience clearing storms from the sky. Astrid ducked down under Stormfly’s crown as the Nadder opened her maw.

“LOK VAH KOOR!” 

The Shout became a shock wave that threw back the clouds around the mountain. It wasn’t all the way through, not even halfway, but it was a sizable dent that would last, according to Stormfly, long enough for Hiccup’s Shout to ready itself. The dragons instantly shot through the opening in the clouds, their riders keeping watch for any other dragons in the storm.

The Snow-Breath had yet to show itself when the storm closed in around them. Stormfly slowed to allow Toothless to shoot forward and Hiccup to use the shout. His magic wasn’t as potent as the Nadder’s as evident by the smaller dent and shorter amount of time in the clear area. After that dent closed, they had to fly a bit longer through the hail, as Stormfly had yet to recover.

Astrid kept her eyes peeled as best she could for any sign of the dragon she saw mere hours ago, but it was good she hadn’t yet seen anything. Her anxieties never lessened, to her dismay, as they crept along her spine, a constant in the changing winds of the magic storm.

Toothless held his own against the wind, though he took a few dips when Hiccup wasn’t fast enough to adjust the tail fin to fit the wind. They almost took a nose dive into a snowbank once or twice. Hiccup tried his best to keep himself and Toothless calm, though a distant roar from the Snow-Breath didn’t help ease any lingering fear.

Their next clear spot was made by Stormfly, where they decided to land in an outcropping for a moment to shed the growing ice crystals on Toothless’s wings.

“Anyone else feel like this dragon both does and doesn’t exist?” Astrid said, hitting the snow from her cloak, “Like an invisible force that’s haunting us?”

“No, I feel it too,” Hiccup snapped a small icicle from the tail rig, “I don’t understand it, but it doesn’t seem like any normal dragon. This magic is too much for a regular, run-of-the-mill Shout.”

“He’s right,” Stormfly said, “The Thu’um is dangerous in the wrong vocal cords, but any dovah with the capability shouldn’t be able to make a storm this rough and this deep. It’s like it covers the whole of the region, but it also doesn’t.”

Toothless hit one wing against the rock to get a particularly stiff crystal off, “We just have to keep going.”

“Are you sure, bud?”

“I’m positive,” the dragon snorted, a small fire growing in his throat, “And if we find the Snow-Breath, then we can try to convince it to stop the storm.”

“Wishful thinking, but if Toothless thinks we can calm it down, then we can certainly try,” Hiccup shrugged.

Astrid tightened her braid and pulled the scarf back over her face, “Let’s not get our hopes up, Hiccup. We have to make it to High Hrothgar, that’s our priority. Then, we can worry about the dragon.”

“I agree, the journey to the Throat is what matters,” Stormfly shook the rest of the ice crystals off her tail, flexing the sharp spines on it, “I should be good for another big Shout and it should take us to the middle of the storm. Are we ready?”

Hiccup climbed atop Toothless again and the four took off into the storm. The Shout from Stormfly was louder than her previous ones, and the concussive force bled a bit into the eye of the storm. The winds still roared around them, but the hail barely hit through the Shout’s shield. The Nadder made it through to the other side first, followed by the Night Fury.

The eye of the storm covered all of High Hrothgar. The monastery itself wasn’t too big, just two wings of snow-covered stone building with a wide courtyard behind it. It was large enough for Toothless and Stormfly to land, both taking their earned break from flying through the storm. Hiccup and Astrid jumped off to unload their bags from the saddles when the wooden doors into the monastery swung open.

“Leave, or I will throw you from these cliffs!” An older voice echoed through the courtyard, calling the riders’ attention. Standing at the doors were five old men in black robes. The middle had his hood down, revealing wispy white hair and a braided beard.

“Who are you?” Hiccup asked. He knew these were the Greybeards, but their names weren’t exactly shared among Skyrim.

“That is none of your concern, child. Leave the way you came, and take those dovah with you.”

“No, we can’t just leave,” Astrid stepped in line with Hiccup, “We came all this way to talk to you!”

“I have no time for this,” the Greybeard snapped, “You will leave, or I will defend these sacred lands according to the Way of the Voice.”

“We’re here to speak to you, to learn from you!” Hiccup said, “Why would I just leave?”

“We have decreed it. You will leave and never step foot inside this monastery again!”

“I think not,” Astrid went to walk towards him, but Hiccup put his hand out to stop her, shaking his head when she looked back, confused.

“You have to teach me-“ Hiccup threw his hands to gesture to himself, then yelled, “-because I am the Dragonborn!”

All five old men looked straight to him and the middle one’s glare faltered.

“I am the Dragonborn,” Hiccup repeated, “I was supposed to learn how to use my Voice from you. But you never called, so I found another way,” his hand found Toothless’s neck, “But now that I’ve come to you first, you want me to leave?”

The Greybeards didn’t say anything. In fact, the only one to speak was the one representing them. All of their hoods remained up, covering most of their faces. The Greybeard in the middle kept his eyes locked on the party. He stepped forward, descending the steps into the courtyard, “Boy, you know not what you’ve begun.”

“Then tell me! The only thing I’m going off of right now is a song and what little memory these two-“ he pointed at Toothless and Stormfly, “-have of the last war. I want to live up to this name, to the title of Dragonborn, but when the people believed to be my teachers don’t want to teach me? Of course I’ll turn to the ones who gave humans the Voice in the first place.”

“You’ve betrayed your people, Dovahkiin,” the name sat on the speaker’s tongue like poison being spat in Hiccup’s face, “You’re no hero of Skyrim.”

“Now hold on just a minute,” Astrid moved to step forward, but her body staggered when the old man glared daggers into her. She instead lightly stomped her boot on the snow, “Just because he found another way to learn doesn’t mean you can’t also teach him.”

“Yes, it does. We were instructed by our predecessors to teach the Way of the Voice to the Dragonborn, the one who would kill Alduin and be the bane of dragons!” The Greybeard said, “We were not told to train a child who thinks he can ride them! I will allow him to live, but if you speak out again, I will not be held responsible for what happens to you.”

“Wow, threatening a hatchling. Real adult of you,” Stormfly wrapped her tail around Astrid and pulled her back. The dragon’s voice turned low and she returned the Greybeard’s glare, “We should leave before he has another reason to shove us off this mountain.”

Toothless let out a low growl, pressing his side against Hiccup, “I agree. We’ve proved that we don’t need them.”

“But, we need to-“

“Astrid, it’s okay,” Hiccup turned away from the Greybeard and pulled himself back onto Toothless’s saddle, “We’ll find another way.”

“Hiccup-“

“Astrid.” His eyes looked into hers as a million pleas were shoved into her mind by his, “Let’s go.”

She hesitated to move. Were they really giving up that easily? She could totally take these old men in a fight, magic voices or not! But her friend made himself clear, all three of them did. They were not to stay any longer. Astrid sighed and jumped back onto Stormfly, the Nadder lowering herself to make it easier while also keeping her eye on the Greybeards.

The dragons took off into the eye of the storm, beating their wings faster and faster to clear over the storm. They flew as fast as their wings could take them, eventually following the outwards contour of the clouds to get in line with the top of the stormy sky.

Astrid held on to the ropes for dear life as they flew around the clouds, barely opening her eyes to see around her. Both riders trusted their dragons to get them away from this place, even if it meant them riding blind for a while. The tense atmosphere only got tenser once they were an arms reach of the edge of the storm. Hiccup looked back to make sure they were still behind him, but a roar startled him to pull Toothless to a stop. Astrid did the same with Stormfly as another roar pierced their minds. The roar echoed around the riders, sounding sourceless and ambient. Hiccup whirled Toothless around to try and find the dragon, but neither scales nor spines showed themselves.

A giant mass of gray shot out from beneath them, separating Stormfly from the Night Fury ahead of her. Here, above the clouds, a towering silver dragon hovered between them, its unique spikes reaching the heavens and its tail swishing in anticipation. The massive wings that made up its upper arms beat slowly and heavily, shifting the wind around the riders and the dragons. Hiccup stared wide-eyed at the beast, instantly recognizing it from that fateful day in the forests of Whiterun.

“Oh, how surprising it is to see this. Two of my own kind helping the enemy,” The Great Destroyer, Alduin, roared with laughter, “You two cannot be seriously helping them, can you?”

“Stay away from us, you terror!” Toothless growled, flying backwards away from the gray beast.

“Terror? You have your master confused for one of the tiny ones? Oh you wound me so, Sunless Fire,” the silver dragon scoffed. Hiccup swore he saw Alduin’s eyes roll, “I was going to offer you your position in my army back, but I guess you’ve already chosen a side. Oh well, I have more of your kind around here somewhere. Pesky mortals and their disorganized burial methods.”

Alduin’s body twisted within the storm as he Shouted. Hiccup couldn’t make out the words of the Shout, but he felt it as the winds of the storm under them picked up, threatening to throw Hiccup from Toothless’s saddle. He knew Astrid was probably faring worse, as she only had a few ropes to hold on to.

They had to get out of here, and fast. Behind Alduin’s giant wings, Hiccup could barely make out the Deadly Nadder and her rider. There was no way he could communicate anything to them. There was also no way to attack Alduin; the dragon’s armor was stronger than obsidian, his fighting was unlike anything Skyrim had ever seen, and his magic was the purest of all. All those stories, all those reports he snuck from his father’s work table, all those songs and rumors of the Great Destroyer were right.

There was absolutely, positively no way to win this fight.

Alduin turned to Hiccup and eyed him, “You are truly no match for me. Those crazy old fools were right: I will rule Skyrim once again. And nobody can stop me! Not even a child and his equally childish Dovahkiin pet!”

The full force of Alduin’s steel tail hit Toothless in the side. Hiccup heard a loud crack, a pained screech, then felt himself be ripped from the saddle and thrown into the storm. He couldn’t see Stormfly and Astrid through the snow and hail. He couldn’t find his bearings in the heavy wind.

He tried to find his best friend. But he couldn’t.

For the first time in his life, Hiccup was afraid to fall. But he did anyway.

The world faded into black. The storm was nothing but a distant rush in his ears. His limbs slacked and he allowed the wind to carry him away.

On that day, the Dragonborn fell from the Throat of the World.

And all of Skyrim felt the world shake beneath them.

Notes:

Up next: A Change of Plans

Chapter 9: A Change of Plans

Summary:

Miraak and Paarthurnax.

Notes:

Shorter chapter as I am busy with work as of late (do not become important at work, kids) and I couldn’t think of a better way to end the chapter.

He felt the darkness around him again. It didn’t hold onto his body like last time, instead it just writhed under his feet as he stood in the space. Hiccup opened his eyes to a gray and green expanse. The walls were made of some green metal that reached to the stone ceiling. He saw bookshelves climb close to the stone, covered in decaying or rotting books that he didn’t recognize. He leaned against the pillar in the middle of the chamber, which he assumed to be the thing he was stuck to the first time he was here, as evident by the wriggling black mass against his back.

Hiccup looked around him, but he almost jumped out of his skin when his eyes met Miraak’s mask, “Gods, don’t you have anything better to do?”

The masked man shrugged, “Not in particular. You gave me a real fright when I tuned in and you were falling from that Night Fury of yours.”

The memories stuck at the front of Hiccup’s mind, “You really don’t have to remind me.”

“I know. But I figured I should also give you the miraculous news that you aren’t dead,” Miraak slapped a hand onto Hiccup’s shoulder, “Which is something I never thought I’d say.”

“Oh, enlighten me.”

“Do you remember yourself a mere month and a half ago? You seriously had your work cut out for you.”

The Dragonborn rolled his eyes. Was it always gonna be like this with the First? Miraak was more of an asshole than Snotlout and that was saying something, as the kid was the cause of a majority of Hiccup’s torment as a child. He didn’t need any reminders of how weak he was. He had started taking training seriously after his first talk with Miraak. Wasn’t that enough for the man to leave him alone? Evidently not. Well, if he was gonna be stuck here, he might as well get something out of it.

“What even is this place?” He eyed the shifting doorway to one side of the circular chamber before walking around the central pillar, “Some sort of cursed dream world?”

“No, one of those wouldn’t be as nice as this.” This was nice?

“Then where-?”

“We are in a waking dream. You passed out on your fall and it let your mind be drawn by my power into here,” Miraak gestured to the world around him, “Welcome to Apocrypha.”

Apocrypha. The strange dream world had a name.

“You’re lucky you haven’t gone insane, Haddock,” Miraak laughed, “Most people who find and read the Black Books end up here, which then leads to their eventual demise at their own hands.”

“Does it have to do with the fact I’m here unwillingly?” Hiccup gave the First Dragonborn a side-eyed glare.

The man just shrugged, “Probably. You also haven’t seen most of this realm of Oblivion. Or it could be that Mora likes you. Who knows?”

“Mora? As in Hermaeus Mora, Daedric Prince of Fate and Knowledge?”

“The very same.”

Actually, that wasn’t too bad of news. Hermaeus Mora might be able to give Hiccup what he needs, but he doubts the Prince would see him if he’s just a guest in this world. Hiccup looked around again at the many ruined books on the shelves. Some of their spines were still readable, though they were all in languages Hiccup didn’t understand.

“How would I get here? On my own?” He found himself asking.

“Read a Black Book,” Miraak said simply, “They’re found on the island of Solstheim, near Morrowind. Though I will say that the island has been experiencing some, uh,” the man coughed, “-issues. As of late. Some crazy dragon cult has been trying to give power back to their master.”

Hiccup turned to raise an incredulous eyebrow at Miraak, “Oh whoever could that be?”

“Listen, I didn’t tell them to start. But I’m not gonna tell them to stop,” Miraak folded his arms over his chest, “If I can regain my footing in the world, away from this plane, then I can come back and finish what I started.”

“But wouldn’t Hermaeus Mora dislike that? It’s in my fate to kill Alduin, not yours.”

Miraak waved a hand dismissively, “That spoiled brat wouldn’t give two shits-“

“Yes I would,” a third voice echoed in the chamber. Hiccup’s head spun as he tried to find the source of it.

“I stand corrected. Point is-“ he walked over to Hiccup, “-You are in search of knowledge. A journey to Solstheim could do you well in that area. I’m not here to dictate your journey, but you are missing a lot in terms of what we Dragonborn are capable of.”

“Would you be willing to teach me?” Hiccup tried, “I can only learn so much from Toothless and Stormfly.”

“Oh, I believe you’ll find more teachers soon enough. Though I do warn you, you may have to extend the timeline those general bastards gave you. Skyrim is a vast region, after all. Every secret will take a while to find, even with that Nadder’s tracking ability.”

“How will I know when I’m ready then?” Hiccup felt like he had a million questions for the First Dragonborn. He wanted to ask about how to succeed where Miraak failed, how to learn the Words he finds without dragon souls, how to fight with his abilities, how he can even stand a chance against a God of Destruction, capable of devouring eternity.

Miraak placed a hand onto Hiccup’s shoulder, “Don’t overthink it. Find yourself in your power. A warrior with a godly sword is only as strong as the arm that wields said sword.”

“That barely makes any sense.”

“It will,” the mask never changed facially, staying on the blank slitted eyes of the gold. Although, Hiccup swore he could see the mask soften, “We are powerful, us Dovahkiin. You will find that power in yourself, though how you choose to carry it within you depends on you, and you alone.”

Hiccup didn’t respond, so Miraak gave his shoulder a squeeze, “I’m sending you back now, and I doubt Mora will let me do this again. But if you ever wish to speak, find one of the Black Books in Solstheim. The island is vast, but not that vast. It should be easy for someone like you. I’ll see you when I see you, Hiccup.”

“Right back at you, Miraak.”

Then, the world went dark and Hiccup’s body became a hundred times heavier.

~~~

Hiccup jolted awake, his body instantly feeling the cold around him. He instinctively reached for the heavy cloak around him, pulling it tighter as he took in his surroundings. He sat against a cluster of boulders on a mountain. The storm that raged above indicated that it was still High Hrothgar, but where exactly was a mystery.

“Astrid?” He managed to say, rubbing a spot on his head that throbbed in pain, “Astrid!”

He frantically looked around, but immediately regretted it as his eyes blurred and his head spun. Hiccup tried to stand, but fell back onto his knees in the snow, “Toothless?!”

“Calm yourself, Dovahkiin,” a deep, strong voice came from somewhere to his right, “Your friends are alright. You, on the other wing, need to rest.”

“Not until I know they’re okay. Until I see them,” he gritted his teeth and raised his head towards the voice.

Standing before Hiccup was a dragon. It had silver scales that shimmered blue in the clear light of the eye of the storm. Four horns rose from the sides of its face and its spines were straight like lightning rods. It was bipedal, having two hind legs and using its massive wings as additional front legs. The dragon sat within a curved wall on the edge of the peak, one with ancient runes written all over it.

“Your friends- the girl and the dragons- are safe, I swear it. They told me about you, Dovahkiin,” the dragon said, tilting its head like a confused animal, “You are not what I expected, I will admit. But just because something works does not mean it cannot be improved.”

“Who are you?”

The dragon smiled as best it could, “I am Paarthurnax, former leader of the Greybeards,” Paarthurnax slowly rose from his seat in the wall and opened his wings, “I believe these are yours.”

Hiccup caught sight of Astrid’s golden hair, Stormfly’s brilliant blue scales, and Toothless’s artificial tail fin. He tried to stand to race over, but he fell back into the snow, his legs still too weak to move.

Well, his right leg was too weak.

His left leg was gone.

Hiccup stared down at the missing body part, trying to determine how or when it happened. He didn’t notice his breathing get quicker and more sporadic, or his vision blurring, as his mind jumped between when he got thrown from Toothless and when he woke up here. The only thing that grounded him was a set of arms wrapping around his shoulders. He reached up to Astrid’s arm that was set across his chest and grabbed it as an extra attempt to calm himself down.

“I know, it’s a lot,” she whispered, “You were lucky, though. Paarthurnax has experience with… removal.”

“What happened?”

Astrid removed her arms and sat at his side, letting him rest his head on her shoulders. She began from when he was thrown from Toothless, with the dragon attempting to catch him, despite the tail fin not working and the storm getting worse as Alduin cast another spell. Stormfly was fast enough to reach Toothless, but she got hit by Alduin’s magic, so she couldn’t get to Hiccup before both her and Astrid lost sight of him.

Then Paarthurnax appeared, knocking Alduin through the storm and out of sight. He aided in getting Stormfly back up and using the Clear Skies Shout to give her a moment of calm within the storm. He then dove after Hiccup and Toothless, catching the dragon in his claws. Astrid then hesitated.

“Hiccup, you hit the mountain before we could reach you. You… landed on your left leg. That, the storm, and the fact we didn’t find you for a whole day made your leg even worse. Paarthurnax had to-“

“I get the idea.”

“I’m so sorry. We should head back to Whiterun.”

That caught his attention, “What, why?”

“Hiccup, you almost died a few weeks into this quest. We have to go back and tell your father the truth.”

“The truth about what? The dragons? That I can’t do this? That we went behind his back and are only living with the consequences of my actions?!” He gripped the cloak around his body, “I can’t go back to Whiterun. My dad would give anything to have the head of a Night Fury on his wall. I can’t let him hurt Toothless. Or Stormfly.”

Hiccup’s eyes caught Astrid’s, “Or you. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

Her blue eyes went wide when he said that. She moved to speak again, but the words didn’t fall.  Hiccup looked away, unclenching his hands and staring down at the missing limb. His pants were cut right at his knee, messily hemmed by Astrid. The skin was still swollen and red, but the end of the leg itself showed no sign of amputation at all. It was smooth and looked like he was born without the bottom half of his left leg.

“How did it not get infected?”

“Paarthurnax showed me a spell to ward off basic diseases. I’ve been using it every day since we had to amputate. Just a precaution,” her hands went alight with golden light before it dissipated. Her shoulders visibly shook with her next sentence, “I also used my fire to cauterize it.”

“Oh, Astrid-“

“It’s fine. It had to be done.”

“That doesn’t mean you had to be the one to do it,” he pulled her into a hug, which she gladly reciprocated. They stayed like that for a moment. Astrid was the first to pull away, but when he moved to follow, she pressed a kiss to his cheek.

“That’s… for everything.”

She backed away and stood up, offering her hand to him. With her help, he was able to stand on his shaky right leg. The two tried to make it a few steps before Astrid raised her hand to her mouth and let out a whistle. From the circular wall, the three dragons rose. Stormfly used her wings to jump the distance, but she was still beat by the Night Fury bounding over.

“You’re up,” Toothless nudged his face under Hiccup’s hand, allowing his body to be used as a crutch, “Thought you’d be out for longer.”

“How long was I out?”

“A week. Paarthurnax protected us while you were under,” Stormfly answered, “We haven’t seen Alduin for the whole time.”

“He may be a strong adversary, but he knows I know him too well. He knows that if we fought, it would only waste time,” Paarthurnax said from his perch on the wall, “Since he has left High Hrothgar, you are now able to descend the mountain. The storm up here is of my creation; it will not harm you.”

“Thank you,” Hiccup gave the dragon a strained smile. The day rolled on with Hiccup resting and trying to figure out how to make himself a prosthetic. He’d made a few for villagers who lost their limbs, as well as for Gobber. He had experience, he just needed a forge. Luckily, the tail fin wasn’t an issue, as they had a spare, the riders would just need to swap dragons. Astrid knew how to operate it well enough to get Toothless around. They waited to talk about their next step until nightfall.

“So, where do you plan on going next?” Paarthurnax had asked, settled on a snow bank next to Stormfly as they watched Hiccup stumble around with the wooden peg he had carved over the afternoon. It would have to do for now, until he made something better suited for combat, “Whiterun is out of the question, but you need a base of operations.”

“And we can’t exactly go anywhere held by either side of the civil war. They all know me and it would raise questions,” Hiccup said right before the ice made the wooden leg slip and Astrid and Toothless had to catch him, “Our options are very limited.”

“I would suggest Helgen, as it’s been abandoned for years, but I doubt they have a forge in that small of a village.”

“It was an Imperial outpost until Alduin destroyed it. There’s a chance one was built.”

“And I doubt he’d go to the same place twice…” Toothless grumbled.

“No, he would,” Paarthurnax said, “If he saw people trying to resettle it, he’d just raze it again.”

Astrid slapped her free hand on her leg in annoyance, “Then where can we go?”

“Solstheim.”

Three dragons and Astrid turned to Hiccup.

“We can go to Solstheim.”

“Where the hell-“

“No,” Stormfly shook her head, “The Island of Solstheim is the home of the dragon cult. They would kill you the moment you stepped foot on the island. Have you forgotten your title of Dovahkiin?!”

“Where did you hear about it, anyway?” Toothless asked.

“I’ve had two dreams where I wake up in this strange place. Both times, I have been visited by a man named Miraak, the-“

“First Dragonborn,” Paarthurnax, Stormfly, and Toothless finished for him.

“Yeah, him. He came to me while I was out and said that if I wanted to learn more about the power of the Dragonborn, I should go to Solstheim and speak with him and Hermaeus Mora, the Daedric Prince of Fate.”

“Would he be able to tell his followers to expect us?” Stormfly still was hesitant about it. Hiccup wondered if she had previous experience with the man.

“I can imagine he would. He said that if he cannot kill Alduin, he would help me do so.”

“It seems the First Dragonborn has changed since I last spoke with him,” Paarthurnax said, “Well, I say ‘spoke’, it was more ‘fought’. I am convinced that man’s native language is violence.”

“Wouldn’t doubt it. He said all I need to do is find the Black Books.”

“How ominous,” the Night Fury looked unimpressed.

“Well if the Greybeards won’t help you, then he might be your best chance. Solstheim is also an epicenter of magic activity, so Astrid would do well there,” Paarthurnax did his best dragon shrug, “What could go wrong?”

“Okay. Are we good with going to Solstheim?”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Astrid gave him a smile.

The Nadder huffed a bit more, swinging her tail anxiously, “I don’t like it, but if it helps… Hiccup, if one of those cultist freaks hurts Astrid, I will kill them all and then you.”

“Understood, ma’am.”

“I’m good with it,” Toothless nudged his snout deeper into Hiccup’s side, “Though I am with Stormfly about killing cultists.”

“I will watch Alduin’s movements and try to get the Greybeards to listen to reason. They have fallen for his lies and need a good smack in the nose,” Paarthurnax bowed towards Hiccup, “Friend of dragons. What a subtitle for a Dovahkiin.”

All five began preparing for the team to leave for the island of Solstheim. Paarthurnax was a great help, giving Hiccup guidance on the Words he knew, and showing him where to find more on the island. The dragons on the island were fearless, though Paarthurnax believed Hiccup could get them to listen.

“You are very persuasive,” Astrid had said to that.

The storm was lifted for but a moment to allow the dragons and their riders to leave safely. Hiccup watched Paarthurnax Shout another storm into the sky and the clouds returned to cover his home. He turned back to the front and gripped the saddle tighter.

Hopefully their trip to Solstheim would turn up something good. If not, Hiccup didn’t know what to do.

He shook his head and focused on the now. Two months ago, he would have never imagined he’d be flying through Skyrim’s skies on the back of a Night Fury, accompanied by Whiterun’s greatest shield maiden and her Deadly Nadder best friend. He chuckled at the absurdity.

Fate sure had a mean throwing arm with the amount of curve balls Hiccup has experienced.

He’d have to talk to Hermaeus Mora about that.

Notes:

I will say, Miraak and the Dragonborn DLC were my least favorite quest (aside from Meridia), so their time in Solstheim will not be delved into. Think of this as a way to put in a time skip and give Hiccup some time to actually become the Dovahkiin.

Chapter 10: A Vast Interlude

Summary:

Stoick meets with the Jarls and Snotlout meets a certain Nightmare…

Notes:

And a thousand miles away, a hippo is like “I HAVE A NUCLEAR BOMB. AND IM GONNA BLOW UP THE HOSPITAL.”

In the past two weeks, Stoick’s son had only sent one letter. This was to be expected, as it was a few days from Falkreath and he probably hadn’t had time to write that often with his quest involving sneaking around dragon burial sites. But what really made the Jarl worry was the sparseness of the letter. It didn’t detail anything other than a few empty burial sites, a small injury Astrid sustained, and an encounter with a Nadder that ended with the Nadder flying away.

For someone as big of a storyteller as the Jarl’s son, Hiccup sure didn’t leave in too much detail. He left in a map of the empty ones for Spitelout, but that was it. There wasn’t anything about meeting the Jarl of Falkreath, nothing about where they were staying in the Hold’s capital, or if their horses were having any issues (they wouldn’t, those horses were the strongest Stoick could spare). Stoick was sure his son was just busy with his Dragonborn duty, learning as much as he can, and becoming a hero that Skyrim could rely on.

But when that was the only letter in a month, was when Stoick began to worry. His son and the shield maiden were a sixth of the way into their quest and no word of anybody seeing them reached his ears. There were no rumors from even Trader Johann, who had his hands in every hold and village in the region. And he had just come from where Hiccup and Astrid should have been while they should have been there! None of it added up to the Jarl, but he didn’t dare voice his worries, as that anxiety would spread to the village.

So he stayed strong, he stayed stoic. For another five months.

When the time came for his son and Astrid to return, they never did. Stoick sent out a few couriers with letters of questions to the Jarls of the other Holds, asking if they had seen the boy and girl at all.

To his absolute shock, nobody had any news. Falkreath hadn’t even seen Hiccup pass through. It was like as soon as the two hit the road, they vanished. Stoick sent out more letters, these with warriors that would hopefully scare someone into talking. And it worked, for the most part, as the Jarl of Winterhold, Korir, had sent another letter.

“Jarl Stoick, I am shocked to hear that your son has yet to return. I have spoken to the mages at the College and while they all said nothing, one mage, a khajiit, spoke of a brown-haired boy with a strange spear-like weapon, and a blonde classmate with an axe. He said that they were quick to arrive, and even quicker to leave and that he had become passing friends with the blonde, who he called ‘Asta’ and worried for her safety.

But, there is one other thing you should know: they rode off on the backs of dragons, a Deadly Nadder and what they assumed to be a Night Fury. They were not carried off, both dragons had some sort of saddle, and they even used them to help with an issue we had with a Thalmor ambassador. Stoick, I believe this to be your son and the girl.

This cannot be told to anyone else. If the people hear that the Dragonborn is in cahoots with a dragon, they will forget about the prophecy and forge their own path to Alduin. I trust you know what to do.

And if there is no other way, then I offer my heart-felt condolences. I am sorry for your loss.”

Stoick wasn’t sure how to respond to that. His son, his Hiccup, riding a dragon? The boy who was supposed to end the Second Dragon War, the boy who was supposed to kill Alduin and rid Skyrim of dragons once and for all, was seen with one of the damn beasts. The very same beasts that killed his mother and countless Whiterun soldiers and villagers?

More reports came in after rumors spread of the Dragonborn’s betrayal, mainly from Ivarstead. Some shopkeepers said they saw a Nadder and a black dragon fly into the storm that plagued the Throat of the World. But that was months ago, and not at all helpful to the Jarl now. His scouts reported nothing but rumors and falsehoods being spread and some of the Jarls called for immediate action to dispose of the Dragonborn and rally an army to kill Alduin.

A meeting was agreed to be held in Falkreath a month after the end date of the quest. Stoick didn’t want to attend, but he had to. He left Spitelout in charge and began the short few-day trek to Falkreath.  Maybe he’d find answers along the way.

Scratch that, he prayed to every god there was that he’d find answers along the way.

~~~

A guard rushed into the hall and whispered into Jarl Siddgeir’s ear, “Sir, the Jarl of Whiterun has just arrived.”

“Send him in,” he nodded to the guard, before turning to the shouting match that was the other leaders of Skyrim, “Enough!”

Mala of The Pale looked about ready to kill Igmund of The Reach, Ulfric of Eastmarch and General Tullius were clearly arguing over something other than the Dragonborn, and the other Jarls, Elisif of Haafingar, Ingrod of Hjaalmarch, Laila of The Rift, and Korir of Winterhold, were trying to discuss the topic without the Jarl of Whiterun there.

“Jarl Stoick has arrived. Let us see what he has to say, then we can go on with calm,” he glared at Mala, “and relevant,” the leaders of the Stormcloaks and Imperials glared back, “discussion.”

Right on cue, the man known as The Vast entered, accompanied by three soldiers and a young man Siddgeir recognized to be Stoick’s nephew, Snotlout. The boy was next in line if Hiccup didn’t return, so it was natural for the Jarl to want him to learn as much about diplomacy as he could.

“Stoick, I hope the trip wasn’t too bad,” Siddgeir gestured to the spots at the other end of the table for the both of them, “We were hoping you could shed some light onto our endless questions.”

“There isn’t much to say, unfortunately, Siddgeir. My son left seven months ago and has yet to return. We have received no word on anything he has done apart from an assumed trip to the College of Winterhold,” Stoick sighed heavily, “At this point, I just need to know if he’s alive.”

“And we will do something about his alliance with the dragons, no?” Tullius said, “The last thing this region needs is a rogue Dragonborn atop a Night Fury of all things.”

Mala raised her hand a bit, “We will aid in trying to find the boy, but I will not be held responsible for whatever happens after that. If he chooses to attack, then we will defend.”

“He won’t attack. That’s not Hiccup.”

“Yes, but is it Hiccup to run off with a girl and a dragon?” Mala urged, “Stoick, you have to admit that the boy has been keeping secrets for a while now. No one can tame a dragon enough to ride it in just two weeks.”

“I hear you, but I know my son. He wouldn’t have kept that from me.”

“Then maybe you don’t know the boy at all,” Ulfric said. The other Jarls nearly flinched at the harsh words but Stoick could tell from their faces that they all wanted to say it, “Your son doesn’t tell you everything, what teenager does? And he would especially not tell his dragon-killing father about befriending a dragon.”

Befriend. Up until now, the only word anyone used to describe the act of beginning to ride a dragon was “taming” or “controlling”. Such feats would take pure strength, determination, and power. For someone to befriend a dragon was another thing entirely. That just meant understanding and showing kindness, two things Hiccup did to a fault.

No, Stoick’s son couldn’t tame a dragon. But Hiccup would, by some grace of Talos, befriend one.

“Then when would they have met? We kill or chase off every dragon that crosses the Hold borders. Every burial site in Whiterun has been opened, we know that,” Stoick said, “When would he have the time to befriend a dragon, and where would be secretive, yet close enough to Dragonsreach?”

“You clearly missed one. A Night Fury, if witness accounts are to be believed,” Siddgeir shrugged, his armor clinking as he did. Most of the Jarls weren’t for armor, but the Dragon War has forced them to make it a normal part of their wardrobe, “Which makes sense, given their speed and stealth.”

“I would have noticed if a Night Fury was a part of the raids,” Stoick said.

“Sir, what if it never had a chance to join them?” Snotlout said, ever the boy to have one smart thought a day, “What if they met when the dragon was revived?”

“Stop speaking in riddles, boy, and tell us,” Laila snapped.

“I’m just saying that every witness account from Winterhold says that the Night Fury’s tail fins were mismatched. Hiccup might’ve found the dragon after a botched revival and befriended it while it was grounded,” Snotlout explained, “Sir, we know he spent some late nights in the forge, he might’ve been making a replacement fin, as well as the saddle the witnesses saw.”

“He’d give the beast its flight back?” Ulfric asked. He leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes, “To do so is a betrayal to his Hold, to all the people of Skyrim. If anything, he probably chose to self-exile out of shame.”

“And in that case, we cannot rely on the Dragonborn for assistance in this war,” Tullius added, “I suggest we rally the troops in a central location and plan our attack on Alduin, posthaste.”

“Perchance.”

“Ulfric, you can’t just say perchance-“

“Enough. We need to think this through carefully,” Siddgeir said, “Have we received any word from High Hrothgar?”

“None yet,” Laila said. The Throat of the World was shared between her hold and Whiterun. Riften would hear of everything that happened on the mountain from Ivarstead, their village closest to the base, “We have yet to traverse it since the storm subsided six months ago. It is still a treacherous journey up the mountain.”

“We must ask the Greybeards if they have spoken to the Dragonborn. All we know is that he hasn’t been called and I wish to know why,” Siddgeir said, “Our priority is protecting our people, and if that comes at the cost of defying prophecy and killing Alduin ourselves, then so be it.”

“But we can’t, Siddgeir.”

“Impossible!”

Elisif and Ingrod said at the same time. They made eye contact and Ingrod let the other woman speak first, which she took advantage of.

“Siddgeir, our troops are out-powered by the dragons. It takes ten men to kill just one! We wouldn’t survive an assault on Alduin, even after training our men to be the greatest dragon-killing machines!”

“I agree. Fate decrees that the Dragonborn will save us. I still believe we should allow him another chance. We need to find him and bring him to his senses,” Ingrod said, her hands clasped under her chin, “If he has a way to stop the war, with the help of these dragons he and the girl found, then it may be in our best interests.”

“Are you suggesting we also befriend dragons?” Ulfric stared at the two, wondering for a very brief moment if the women before him were replaced at some point by changelings.

“I’m just saying it shouldn’t be left out of the discussion. Surely not every dragon in his army agrees with how he runs things, how he handles them, or how he says he alone will rule Skyrim. There has to be more dragons that want to defect, but can’t because they don’t want Alduin to kill them.”

“Hiccup could be the first of many dragon riders,” Elisif said, “We could even out the odds with our best warriors on the backs of dragons.”

“This is madness!” Tullius yelled, “To do so is to defect to the other side!”

“Then there are more than two sides in this war!” Stoick shouted, his voice made all the other Jarls quiet and turn to him. He stood up from his chair, “There are more than two sides now. It used to be Skyrim versus the dragons, but now we have a whole other side: Hiccup’s side.”

The silence permeated.

“If my son has befriended a dragon, got Astrid to befriend one too, and has gone off to Gods-know-where, then he must be doing it for a reason. This war is now three-sided. You have Alduin, who wants to destroy Skyrim. You have Skyrim itself, wanting to stay an intact region and prosper as a kingdom. Then, you have the Dragonborn Faction, led by my son and his dragon. They want peace between us and the dragons, and they want Alduin dead.

“My son has not betrayed us, he is simply carving out his own place in this war. I know not if he will succeed, but I will try to understand it, should he choose to return to Dragonsreach.”

The Jarls all looked between each other, no one quite knowing what to say to the man. To them, Stoick was the best Jarl Skyrim had. While everyone in the room had their faults, Stoick was an impassable wall. He was strong, smart, and a man of diplomacy. If this man, Stoick the Vast, believed that peace could be made with the dragons, then the Jarls had no choice but to believe him.

“Okay,” Mala said, “I will assist where I can.”

“Thank you, Mala-“

“Don’t thank me yet,” she held up a hand to stop the Jarl of Whiterun, “Save it for when we win this war.”

Stoick nodded and gave her a tired, worn, and small smile. He looked between the others, all of whom were going through the internal turmoil of such a decision. To befriend the dragons was no easy thing to ask of them. These were warriors who have been fighting the beasts for over fifteen years. Some had lost family members to them, some had lost dear friends. Not even Stoick’s own family was safe, with Valka’s demise some years ago.

But all of them had no other choice. Their warriors were spread thin enough with the Civil War, as well as the fight against the dragons. This shouldn’t have been an option, but their list of those was small as is. They wouldn’t like it, of course, as it meant being civil with the beasts of the hells. However, if meant ending the war, protecting their people, and saving Skyrim from Alduin’s wrath, they were willing to look past it.

The meeting adjourned with no clear decision made, though every Jarl went to their rooms with the same thought.

They would have to learn to be nice to dragons.

~~~

Snotlout didn’t know what to make of it, if he was being honest with himself.

His cousin was supposedly on this big quest to become the true Dragonborn, a hero of Skyrim. But Snotlout hadn’t heard of any of his cousin’s exploits. Not one fight, not one quest, not one song of praise. It was just a whole lot of nothing.

During the first month, it was really funny. Snotlout joked with the twins about how Hiccup was probably not even focusing on the quest, how he was probably dying every time he used the Voice, or how Astrid most likely had to save him from a bear. Tuffnut always tried to predict how the quest was going, keeping log in a journal with a copy of the quest map that Snotlout stole from his father. The jokes just kept going, as they tried to find rumors of cultists or magic-crazy people along the route.

By the second month, the appeal had died off a bit, though the two still came up in conversation during meals or training. Someone would ask how Snotlout thought Hiccup and Astrid were doing and he’d shrug it off by saying they were probably stuck in a swamp or snowbank somewhere.

But the third month rolled around, and with it came more dragon raids. 

By the fifth month of Hiccup’s quest, Snotlout wondered if there was anything more he could be doing for the Hold. He did his job as second heir, training under both his father and his uncle, but he needed a way to get himself more favor. This month only brought two dragon raids. In the first, Snotlout, the twins, and Fishlegs were doing their normal fire-fighting duty as the Whiterun soldiers kept the dragons away from the people and farms. However, the second brought a surprise.

The dragon-capturing device in Dragonsreach actually worked.

Snotlout was beginning to think the chains and giant wood stock were just for decoration or for show, but no the gods damned things actually worked. When the second raid began, a Monstrous Nightmare came into Dragonsreach through the great porch and, by some godly power, Snotlout happened to be at the porch when the Nightmare appeared.

He eyed the lever on the wall and slowly crept up the stairs towards it, ignoring how the dragon was starting to throw the stuff on the porch around like a curious dog. He waited until the dragon was under the stock and pulled the lever. The wood came crashing down onto the dragon, making it screech and roar.

Snotlout breathed a heavy sigh of relief when he noticed the tough metal around the dragon’s neck and wings. Even if the Nightmare lit itself ablaze (which it had already), it wouldn’t get past the metal and chains binding it to the porch. The boy instantly ran to get his uncle, ignoring the dragon’s fire in favor of boasting about his accomplishment.

The dragon was muzzled immediately, and was kept under lock and key until they found a way to study it.

The remaining months of the quest were filled with Snotlout training, hanging out with the twins and Fishlegs, and helping his dad get to know the Monstrous Nightmare. Even though dragons could speak, this dragon refused to. It would attempt to free itself every so often, but the men lined up with arrows and swords quickly discouraged any other attempts.

But after that meeting in Falkreath, Snotlout found himself standing outside the great porch’s entry. He paced the hall a bit before steeling his nerves and walking in. If Hiccup could befriend a Night Fury, then Snotlout could speak with a Monstrous Nightmare.

He carefully closed the door, not wanting to wake the dragon before him and get doused in fire. Snotlout turned to the dragon, curled up as best it can in the stock. It almost looked peaceful, the way the tail shifted and loose clouds of smoke emanated from its nose. He felt around for his sword, making sure the weapon was firmly attached to his back, before stepping forward and getting a better look at the sleeping beast.

The red and black dragon barely moved in its sleep, though its tail did. The edge of it flicked and wagged around the porch, probably an unconscious fidget from whatever was happening in its dream. Well, his dream. According to Snotlout’s father, this dragon was most definitely male. Maybe Snotlout needed to address the dragon as such, to help with the figuring out what to do.

He gently padded his way around the dragon’s wings, eyeing the spines and claws on him. Each one was longer than his body, fully capable of sticking him through like a sheep on an oar to roast over a fire. The fact that the dragon could light itself on fire didn’t help with quelling the image from his mind. Snotlout finished his round of the dragon, but he arrived at the head right as the dragon opened his eyes.

“Oh, uh,” Snotlout nervously stuck to the walls as he made his way to the door, “I’m just… I’m just gonna go-“

“Why are you here?”

Snotlout’s entire body froze when the dragon spoke. It was a husky voice, low and rough, like someone was speaking through a mouth of soot and ash. The boy slowly turned around to the Nightmare, eyeing the orange eyes that stared daggers into him, “I was just… making the rounds.”

“In the middle of the night?”

“Yeah, new training method,” he laughed too obnoxiously, “Just ignore me.”

“You’re the one who trapped me in here. You’ve been boasting the past month about it.”

Snotlout cursed his big mouth, “Yeah, what about it?”

“Impressive that someone like you could accomplish such a thing without any help.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?!” His voice went higher than he expected it to and he covered his mouth with his fist and coughed.

The Nightmare let out a low rumbling laugh, “Merely a child. You remind me of that boy I saw before my capture.”

Snotlout tried not to freeze again, “What boy?”

“Intriguing child, that one. Met him in the East, as he was searching for something around my tomb,” the Nightmare said, closing his eyes, “He was clad in the strangest black armor, seemingly made of dragon scale. When I told him he was not welcomed, he was rescued by a dovah the color of the blackest night.”

“A Night Fury?”

“If that is what you call a Sunless Fire in your tongue, then yes,” the Nightmare tried to adjust his position, “Do you know him?”

“Can’t say I do. Did you get a better look at him?”

“All you’ve asked is questions, so allow an old man one,” he waited for Snotlout to nod before taking in a rough breath, “What is your name, child?”

He hesitated before saying, “I am Snotlout. Who are you?”

“Zahkrii’viing, but I know your kind prefer simpler names. I overheard you throw around ideas and I will say I am partial to that of the name Hookfang.”

“Then, we’ll call you Hookfang.”

The Nightmare- Hookfang- breathed a flash of smoke out of his nostrils, “If there is a way to speak with your leader, to at least get him to remove this stock, please do so. My wings tire from lack of use.”

Snotlout eyed the wings. They’d been folded and closed for almost two months now. Maybe Uncle Stoick would allow at least the chains binding Hookfang’s wings to be taken off? Or a supervised stretch on the porch?

Whatever Snotlout convinced his uncle to do, it would have to wait for morning anyway. It was still midnight when Snotlout climbed the stairs to his room and fell asleep on his bed. When he woke up again, he quickly changed, grabbed his sword, and ran down to meet his father in front of the porch doors.

“Hey, Dad, quick question for you.”

“Yes, Snotlout?” Spitelout handed him his usual note-taking materials, which almost fell out of the boy’s hands.

“What are we gonna do with the dragon when we finish researching him?”

The man nodded his head from side-to-side as he debated his answer, “That is up for my brother to decide. Until then, the Nightmare stays locked up.”

“But would he be killed, used for training?”

“Why do you care so much?”

“Fishlegs asked,” the lie was quick, “He wanted to know if we were planning on capturing any other dragons.”

Spitelout put his hand on his son’s shoulder, eyeing the sword on the boy’s back, “Son, if you are worried about wanting to take your first dragon’s life, then don’t. Stoick has yet to say the fate for this one, but if Hiccup doesn’t return soon, you may need to prove to Whiterun that you are ready for the jarldom. Which means slaying this dragon.”

Of course Hookfang would be killed. Snotlout nodded his head, “Okay.”

“We’ll speak with Stoick later. For now, we must feed the beast and grab another sample of gel from its scales. Come, boy, our jobs await.”

Snotlout had to wait until around noon to ask his uncle to meet him at Dragsonreach. 

“Alright, boy, I’m here,” Stoick folded his arms, “What did you wish to show me?”

“It’s more like, what the dragon wanted to say,” at his uncle’s confused look, Snotlout put his hand on Hookfang’s head, “Go on.”

The Nightmare eyed the Jarl, “You look like him, the boy I met in the East. I was awoken out of my eternal slumber and left to prepare for war when I heard a dovah land nearby. I saw the boy climb off a praal- saddle- on the dovah, then inspect one of the ruins around my former-final resting place.”

Stoick just nodded along to the story, keeping his eye on the hand that touched Hookfang’s head. Snotlout decided to not move from his spot, even under the careful gaze of his uncle. Hookfang continued his story.

“We shared a few words. The boy called himself the Dovahkiin, Dragonborn, and said he was looking for a dovah to teach him the ancient Thu’um.”

“He said he was the Dragonborn? And riding a dragon? Then what Korir said is true-“

“Let me finish. I refused to teach him my kind’s words, as they were precious to me,” Hookfang breathed a few puffs of smoke, “But he understood. The Dovahkiin, who refused to raise his weapon to a dov, was not something I’d ever seen in my life. Until that day on the island of Solstheim.”

“Solstheim? But that’s Morrowind territory. I have no jurisdiction there,” Stoick said, putting his hand to his beard, “Which is why it’s the perfect place for Hiccup to hide.”

“Stoick?”

“Snotlout, you can go.”

“Wait, Stoick, slow down. I’m not one to question your decisions, but you are not making any sense,” Snotlout raised his free hand to wave in the air, “Solstheim? What even is that place?”

“It’s the home of the temple of Miraak, the First Dragonborn,” Hookfang answered before Stoick, “I watched him carve the island from the mainland with his own two hands thousands of years ago. It is covered in his cultists, though I did notice a decline in activity after I met the Dovahkiin there. I cannot guarantee that he is still there after these past few months.”

“And if he is there, then there’s no way I can use my power to get to him,” Stoick approached his nephew, “Snotlout, you can go to Solstheim, find him, and bring him home. As far as everyone knows, Hiccup is still the heir, so you will be treated as a visitor.”

“But, that’s so far away. And what about the cultists?”

“Please, Snotlout.”

The boy’s eyes darted between the dragon and his uncle. This would be his quest, his mission, to bring his cousin home. No one knows why Hiccup fled when he did, nor how difficult it would be to bring him home, but if anyone could grab that boy and drag him to Whiterun, it was Snotlout.

“Fine. But I’m taking Hookfang with me.”

“The dragon?”

“We’re almost done with research, and Dad said that when we’re done, he’ll be killed. He just wants to go home.”

Stoick’s eyed betrayed his unmoving expression. Those were eyes filled with the highest betrayal that Snotlout had ever seen. The man stared into his nephew, trying to see if he was joking or not. But when Snotlout retained the ever determined face, Stoick broke his facade and sighed.

“Fine,” the Jarl straightened himself, “But you will take others. Now, go uphold our end of the deal. I believe the dr- Hookfang- would like to stretch his wings.”

Snotlout watched the retreating form of his uncle with shock.

Then he darted up the stairs to the lever and let loose the first dragon he’d ever captured.

Notes:

Next time: Hiccup and Astrid have been busy in Solstheim.

Chapter 11: Obsidian and Sapphire

Summary:

Solstheim’s heroes and Snotlout’s angels.

Notes:

I NEED you guys to know that this chapter went through like three or four drafts and I am still not that happy with how it turned out.

They always started their days with a morning flight.

Two dragons, a black and blue splotch against a sky of orange and red, always flew by the town of Raven Rock around dawn, the riders never stopping for more than a few minutes to trade dragon scales for smithing materials and basic supplies. They always wore masks and used names that the blacksmith knew were not their real ones.

The one on the Deadly Nadder, with a female voice and tough personality, was known as Sapphire. The blue of her Nadder’s scales matched the blue eyes that the people could see through her mask. Not that they’d dare get that close to the girl, as she had helped rid them of their cultist problem six months before. The makings of a warrior, the leader of Raven Rock once called her. All she said to that was, “I know.”

Then, Obsidian, the man on the Night Fury. He was lanky, even with the armor he said he built himself. He never strayed too far from his dragon, and never stayed for pleasantries. The blacksmith allowed him to use the forge, but the boy only ever used it after dark, and never to complete his projects. He seemed… flighty. Like he’d disappear on the back of the Night Fury at a moment’s notice. Like he wasn’t supposed to be there.

The Dragon Masters, they were called. And the name wasn’t for nothing. The dragon cult that sprang up in the last few years was almost completely dealt with after the Masters arrived. Obsidian said they had come to an understanding, but the way Sapphire held her axe begged to differ. They also handled a recent incident with a Rumblehorn almost destroying the village, a problem with Speed Stingers in the mines, Fireworms and their migration, and a territory dispute between a family of Terrible Terrors and a flock of Night Terrors.

It seemed like that whenever Obsidian and Sapphire showed up, the dragons instantly calmed. No one knew why, and of course the Masters never said, but they welcomed it, as it meant their few warriors and spare Imperial soldiers didn’t have to waste their lives against a beast that was only legend until sixteen years prior.

Raven Rock also welcomed the Dragon Masters’ information about the dragons. When the two were feeling generous, they’d meet with the leader of Raven Rock, Eret (son of Eret) Trueswing. The man’s family was in the business of monster trapping until they came to the Morrowind colony a generation or two ago. And while Eret wanted to return to the trade as there was money to be made with the dragons, Obsidian and Sapphire convinced him, in a very short amount of time, that his calling was in Raven Rock.

The six months after the Dragon Masters’ arrival were the best in recent history for the mining colony. Dragons no longer raided their food stores, the mines were still dangerous but not as much, especially with the Gronkles that now helped, and fishing was as plentiful as a full fleets’ worth of boats. Really, the people of Raven Rock, however small their role or fleeting their stay, adored the Dragon Masters.

Little by little, day by day, Obsidian and Sapphire worked on their gear at the village forge. Obsidian did most of the metal work, but Sapphire had a talent for enchanting and leatherwork. ‘Together,’ the blacksmith had said one night to a bar full of curious travelers, ‘they make the perfect team.’ By the third month of the Masters’ stay, their armor was complete as well as an improved blade for Obsidian and a sturdy saddle for Sapphire’s Nadder. It was normal, after six months, to see them out and about in the village proper, usually sticking by each other’s side.

Eret wasn’t a stranger to seeing them in town. As he was finishing his normal morning routine one particularly fine, he heard the tell-tale sign of a Night Fury. The sharp whistle reached his ears and he turned to see the dragon, and its rider, land gracefully near the main homestead of Raven Rock.

“Obsidian! There’s my favorite dragon rider!”

“Oh, don’t let Sapphire hear you say that!” Obsidian chuckled and hopped off the dragon, his one metal foot creaking with the shift of weight, “She’s back at the Temple, but if she were here…”

“That’s exactly why I said it, so don’t go spouting that I said such a thing to her,” Eret gave Obsidian their normal firm handshake, “What brings you in today?”

“Well, it was just for trading, and I need to adjust a few things on our rig,” he gestured vaguely to the saddle and tail fin of the Night Fury, “But I also wished to tell you that Sapphire and I are leaving in a week.”

Eret’s face shifted from a smile to disappointment, “Whatever for?”

“The cultists are subdued and there are a few things we are in search of. Plus, we must spread the word to other dragons about our mission,” Obsidian only vaguely mentioned his mission, to raise a dragon army against their terrible leader, “I also have to return to Skyrim, just for a bit, before we head through the rest of Tamriel.”

“Ah, well, it’s sad to see you go, my friend,” Eret said, putting a hand onto the rough scale of Obsidian’s shoulder guard, “Do come by and visit from time to time, you’ll always have a free room in our inn.”

“I appreciate it, Eret. I’ll come see you closer to when we leave. Raven Rock has been a good home, and Solstheim has been of great help. Sapphire and I just need to do this.”

“I understand completely. Hey, at least it won’t be as brutal as doing the trip on horse back. That Night Fury of yours can go across Skyrim in, what, two days?”

“If you don’t sleep, then yes,” Obsidian chuckled, “I have to go, but I’ll speak to you later, yeah?”

“Don’t be a stranger, my friend,” Eret gave the man a flourish of his hands and left him in the street, making his way towards the shop to do his own errands and meet the new people at port.

Solstheim was nestled in the wide gulf between the Kingdom of Skyrim and Morrowind, meaning it was a good hub for travelers to stay during boat trips between the two regions. As such, it wasn’t uncommon for fishermen of either region, soldiers from Morrowind, or refugees from Skyrim to stop by Raven Rock for drink and rest.

But one group of visitors that Eret was not expecting was a boat of four teenagers, a khajiit mage, and a red and black Monstrous Nightmare.

“Greetings, friends!” Eret started with his usual boisterous and friendly demeanor. If these people were toting around a Nightmare, he didn’t want to get on their bad side, even with the assurance of the silver dragon whistle Obsidian made, to call him in case of emergencies, “What brings you to Raven Rock?”

“Business,” the black-haired teen said, “Who are you?”

“Eret Trueswing, leader of this here mining colony,” Eret gave him good once-over. This kid couldn’t have been older than sixteen, with chubby cheeks, youthful determination in his eyes, and a sword that was clearly too large for him, “You’re a rather interesting bunch, I will say. Not many people can carry a Nightmare around unchained.”

“He’s a friend. Make any threats to him and I’ll rip your throat out,” the teen snarled. The Khajiit put his paw onto the teen’s shoulder, making him lose a bit of his tense aura.

“Fine by me. I know how to pick my battles. I’ll show you to the inn, unless you wish to sleep on the boat.”

“We’ll find our way around, we’re not staying long.”

“Alright, then. Good luck with whatever it is you’re here for, lads.”

Eret gave the rest of the group a good look, as he might have to keep an eye on them. The other teens were a boy and a girl, maybe twins, with blonde hair and wooly armor. Both carried a shield on them, though the boy had a mace and the girl, a short sword. The other teen was larger, taller than the others, with a heavy-set cloak around his shoulders and a belt of pouches around his waist. The brown-furred Khajiit just had dark purple mage robes that shimmered in the afternoon sun, possibly enchanted, and a strange wood-and-metal staff with a blue orb attached to his back.

Eret left their ship at the dock and made his way back to the village main road, walking down it in his usual manner, meeting with the miners before the next shift and greeting shopkeepers and the blacksmith. He had a strange feeling about those teens, and made sure to tell some of his guard to keep an eye out for trouble.

When the week passed, Obsidian and Sapphire stopped by for one final meal with the village and a heartfelt goodbye to Solstheim. Eret personally saw them off as they flew through the night towards Skyrim. He watched the black and blue splotches vanish into the star-studded night sky with a heavy heart, though he knew they’d be back.

~~~

Gods, was Hiccup glad to be out of there before the others.

As soon as Solstheim disappeared into the night, he and Astrid let out a collective sigh of relief.

“Did they follow us there?” He yelled to Astrid over the wind.

“Looks like it. Maybe that Nightmare told them how to find you?”

“I did recognize it from all those months back,” Toothless piped up, “They probably captured it and it gave them information in return to safe passage back home.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it. If my father heard I was in Solstheim, he’d immediately send the cavalry.”

“But, Hiccup, your father doesn’t have jurisdiction in Solstheim, it’s Morrowind territory.”

“Yeah. That’s probably why he sent Snotlout to do his dirty work,” Hiccup sighed and leaned back on the saddle, “Gods, I didn’t think he’d do that so soon after our deadline.”

“Don’t you guys have five more months on the deadline the other leaders set?” Stormfly asked.

Astrid gripped the saddle tighter, “Yeah, but we were supposed to be back in Whiterun a month ago.”

“Then return and call off the search.”

“No, Stormfly, Hiccup’s dad is the greatest dragon killer there is. He wouldn’t hesitate to have a Night Fury and Deadly Nadder mounted above his hearth,” Astrid shook her head as if the Nadder could see it, “We need a plan.”

“And I’ll think of one. Let’s just focus on seeing Paarthurnax again. He said we could find him in the mountains near Markarth,” Hiccup said.

After the stunt the Greybeards pulled on High Hrothgar, Paarthurnax left his position on the mountain to try and find out more about how the old heroes defeated Alduin. For all his capabilities, Paarthurnax still didn’t know how they did it, only knowing that it included an old Shout lost to time and an Elder Scroll. The former wasn’t known by any dragon, man, or lizard in the whole region. The latter was completely unheard of. Elder Scrolls were rumored to be records of events in past, present, and future. Their true nature is almost unknown, as no one has set their hands on a Scroll in thousands of years, to the greater knowledge of the common folk. Miraak didn’t even know what the specific Scroll was either.

Paarthurnax said he had his theories as to where the Scroll could be, but the Shout was completely different. The old dragon said that one would lead to the other, for all the good that did. Hiccup and Astrid took the time they needed to prepare themselves for whatever lay ahead, but Hiccup was getting the idea that it may not be enough. He hoped that Paarthurnax would have a better grasp of where to find the Scroll, as they were running out of time.

Hiccup planned to return to his father and to Whiterun right before the year deadline, but if they couldn’t find that Shout, they would never make it. Miraak was a great teacher during the six months. He seemed to be willing to teach Hiccup how to master his Dragonborn abilities, but as Hiccup refused to kill dragons, quickly learning the Shouts Miraak taught him was out of the question.

He eventually got the second word of the Pushing Shout, “Ro”, and was on his way to mastering the third word, but he doubted he could push Alduin off a cliff.

Another Shout he learned, the Disarm Shout, was a fun one to learn, as it involved literally taking Astrid’s axe out of her hands. The few weeks of practice he got with that were fun, and Toothless once dared him to do it to one of the Imperial guards in Raven Rock, leading to a month-long rumor of ghosts and specters on the island that disarmed any man they saw.

Hey, maybe Hiccup could disarm Alduin off a cliff. That’d be a fight for the history books.

With the help of Miraak, and the various dragons around Solstheim, Hiccup had built up a better resistance to the effects of Shouting. He could almost do two Shouts in a row now, able to push and disarm a foe with ease. He had hoped that he had enough to convince other dragons that he was a, for lack of better words, worthwhile investment to give their Shout knowledge to. The Dragon Aspect Shout was one he learned from one of the Gronckles on Solstheim, which gave his armor an extra magic film to prevent damage. Toothless was insistent on learning it himself to protect the rigging for his tailfin, which Miraak was glad to teach the dragon. Something about the student becoming the master.

The group’s flight to Markarth took a few days, as they stopped in Windhelm to rest before flying to the Whiterun outskirts and finishing their trek the mountains of East Skyrim.

~~~

Snotlout really regretted his decision to take this quest.

At first, it was cool! Riding his horse across Skyrim to make it to Windhelm and charter a boat to Soltheim was the easy bit. The lack of thieves, wolves, bears, and stupid wanna-be heroes was refreshing and calming. Of course, having a Monstrous Nightmare tailing them probably helped. And while Hookfang wanted to just take to the skies, Snotlout on his back, the two had guests and Hookfang couldn’t take all of them.

Fishlegs was told to go because of his extensive dragon knowledge and assistance to Snotlout’s dad. The twins were allowed to go because they were some of the best intelligence-grabbers of anyone in the group. Rumors, secrets, and pickpocketing had gotten them far. And then the Khajiit, J’Zargo, was one of Astrid’s friends, according to him. He was also a talented magic user, and the Jarl of Winterhold was happy to have one less mage in his village.

The team set, they all took to the plains, traversing Skyrim to Windhelm. The Jarl was quick to welcome them in and even quicker to get them a boat to Solstheim. Maybe Hookfang had something to do with it. From there, Solstheim was a day’s trip away.

The moment they landed there, Fishlegs noticed the dragons in the village. Gronckles and Quakens lived near the mines, and some Nadders and Nightmares helped at the forge. Then, half a day rolled by, and the questing group heard the screech of a Night Fury’s wings. Only Snotlout and Ruffnut were in the village that day as the dragon landed and a man dressed in black hopped off.

The man, if you could call that collection of toothpicks and tree sap a man, was covered in a black dragon scale armor and covered his face and head with a mask. Ruffnut pointed out the small bit of hair sticking from it, saying it was the same color as Hiccup’s, but Snotlout laughed her off. As if Hiccup the Useless could tame a Night Fury.

They watched the man talk with the village’s leader, Eret Trueswing, before walking to the forge. Snotlout kept watch over the course of the day, seeing the man trade weapons and dragon scales. He had an unnaturally deep voice, like he was clearly faking it, and he walked with an anxious confidence that Snotlout didn’t think was possible. Like he was keenly aware of his abilities as a fighter, but he was still wary of the place he found himself in.

It was just so Hiccup that after three days of observing the man, Snotlout didn’t know what to think.

“Guys, that’s not Hiccup. There’s no way he could’ve tamed a Night Fury,” Tuffnut was so sure of it that he bet his hair on it, “It’s probably some hermit who is insanely strong and dangerous.”

“If he’s so dangerous, then why is he hanging around Raven Rock?” Fishlegs said, playing with a piece of Gronckle Iron he bought off the blacksmith. According to him, the Iron was a special blend that the Night Fury rider came up with. Obsidian, they learned his name was, “Why would Eret keep him around?”

“Trueswing knows what he’s doing and if keeping Obsidian around was the best thing for his people, then so be it,” J’Zargo didn’t look up from his tome, “I wouldn’t want to piss off a man on a Night Fury either.”

“Yeah, and what a man Eret is for that…” Ruffnut said, a stupid smile creeping onto her face. Snotlout rolled his eyes and scoffed at the memory of having to pry her off the man the last time they met.

“Well, maybe we can get some answers from Obsidian directly. We saw him head further into the island last time we tracked him, so Hookfang and I can see if there’s a specific place they’re staying. If he won’t stick around long enough for us to talk, we might as well go to him.”

The plan was put into motion the next morning. Snotlout and Hookfang took to the overcast sky and watched as the Night Fury and its rider flew across the island towards a large circular arena-like temple that sat in one of the northern mountains. It was made of stone and looked like an ornate crown, with tall pillars jutting from the circular walls and circular openings in the pillars that would make perfect homes for gemstones, were the temple the size of an actual crown.

Hookfang circled the mountain and landed just outside of what he assumed to be the entrance. Snotlout removed himself from the Nightmare’s neck and walked into the temple. There wasn’t much in terms of living space in here, and apart from the bleacher-like steps up the walls and the weird pillar in the center, it was picked clean.

Snotlout approached the pillar, noticing the strange mask-like look of it. He reached out to touch it, but a voice echoed through the temple.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

Snotlout spun in place, trying to find where the voice came from. He saw a shifting black mass out of his periphery, but when he turned to it, it was gone. He drew his sword and kept it raised before him. Then, one of the walls moved. Out of the shadows of the temple, slithered a dragon black as night, and atop its back was Obsidian.

“What are you doing here?”

It took a bit for the Viking to find his voice, “I am looking for information on someone and thought you could help me.”

“No. Leave. Now.”

“Please, he’s my cousin and he’s been missing for six months,” Snotlout preferred his body un-charred and if being polite kept the dragon at bay, then so be it, “I just want to know if you’ve seen a teenager with auburn hair, green eyes, and a nack for finding trouble.”

The rider laughed, “That’s a few of the teens on this island. I bet there are ten of those in Winterhold alone. No, I haven’t seen anyone that looks like he could be related to you. Now leave.”

“Well, you’ve gotta help me more than that. He’s kind of important and I need to find-“

“If he was so important, you wouldn’t have lost him, now would you?” Obsidian said calmly. His face was unreadable past that mask of his, but Snotlout didn’t rule out the possibility of a shit-eating grin.

He gripped his sword tighter, but his fighter’s stance failed him and he loosened his arms. Snotlout put the sword back onto his back and walked towards the entrance of the temple. He stopped right before Hookfang and turned his head just enough to see Obsidian, “You know, if you’re willing to help these people, imagine what you could do helping Skyrim. I have no doubt that a Night Fury against Alduin would change the tides of this war.”

“Then clearly you know nothing.”

Then, Snotlout and Hookfang were gone. The Viking was so distracted with flying towards the ship that he didn’t notice Obsidian reach up and take off his mask.

And he didn’t notice the tears that ran down the boy’s face. 

The Viking and dragon landed harshly onto the Raven Rock docks. They boarded the ship and briefly greeted the others who sat in patient waiting for the news.

“He’s not here, but it wouldn’t hurt to take a few more days of searching the island. Maybe we can find more dragons to help us,” Snotlout rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hands then ran them down his face, “Obsidian is an asshole, by the way. Didn’t even give two shits that we are looking for someone.”

“Y’know…” Ruffnut gave her brother a look that Snotlout knew only ever meant trouble, “I overheard from one of the shop keepers that Obsidian and his little girlfriend Sapphire were gonna leave soon. We could, I dunno…” she made some movements with her hand that showed someone walking up to a wall and breaking it down, complete with a small explosion made by her twin’s hands.

“We are not breaking into a temple,” Snotlout crossed his arms and rolled his eyes, “We don’t know what curses could be in there.”

“Well, judging by the fact that Obsidian isn’t cursed, I think it’s safe to assume that the temple has no such magic in place,” J’Zargo said, “We could head there after the two leave, try and find something in the stuff they left behind. I doubt their dragons could carry everything.”

“But first, it’s a long walk there,” Hookfang settled himself on the opposite side of the ship, “I could try and find some other dovah who would be willing to help.”

J’Zargo sat up at that, “You mean more dragons?”

“We can ride dragons?!” The twins said at the same time. Fishlegs didn’t look opposed to the idea.

“If Obsidian can, so can we!” Ruffnut threw her arm over Tuffnut’s shoulders, “I wanna pick this bastard off the ground and throw him into the ocean!”

“I will try my best to find those willing, though it might take me all night,” Hookfang stood back up, making the ship rock in the water, “I’ll return sometime tomorrow.”

“Be careful, Hookfang.”

“I always am, Snotlout.”

Notes:

Ruffnut isn’t at all buying that Obsidian isn’t Hiccup, not bc of the whole Dragonborn thing, but because she’d recognize that skinny ass bitch anywhere.

Chapter 12: A Blade in the Dark

Summary:

Another fetch quest and a dragon hunter.

Notes:

Wooo the Dragon Masters are back in Skyrim and the plot can kick into high gear!

Posting this today bc I wanted to.

Markarth was the capital of The Reach. Built into the Druadach Mountains, it was on the furthest Western reaches of Skyrim and was lauded as one of the best naturally-defended capitals of all the Holds. It was the main miner and producer of silver in Skyrim, as their mines stretched the furthest underground and were the most fruitful.

Sure they got their mining labor off the backs of prisoners, but no one was going to tell the City of Stone to change. Jarl Igmund often said that it was in his people’s nature to never change. Stoick once told Hiccup that Markarth was as concrete in their ways as the mountains it was built into. Of all the capitals, it was the only one to retain the image of the old Dwemer, or the People of the Deep.

Hiccup and Astrid weren’t to land in Markarth, instead taking up residence at a dragon burial site right outside of the city. From what Hiccup could remember about the city, they weren’t exactly welcoming to outsiders, preferring their native-born citizens, so he wasn’t that interested in visiting. Even if they needed iron for their weapons or armor, it was better to find it in another place. If they were made in Markarth, things would get ugly really, really fast.

Stormfly and Astrid went ahead to scout the meeting spot, while Hiccup and Toothless set up camp in a rather large cavern.

“Are you sure they should be flying out in that storm?” Hiccup said, stoking the fire he had started. He glanced out of the cavern at the raging storm above. Sheets of snow fell onto the mountains and Hiccup couldn’t see further than a few feet away from the entrance.

“Hiccup, you forget what dragon and Viking combo you’re talking about,” Toothless gave him a roll of his eyes, “They couldn’t care less if it’s raining and thundering hard enough to awaken the remaining dov around here. All they care about is seeing how far they can go on one Shout.”

“True,” he grabbed his glaive and started to sharpen it with a whetstone, “Maybe we can head out once it lets up. I hate flying through storms.”

“Does your leg do the same thing as my tail? Where it starts to hurt with incoming bad weather?”

“Yeah, I think so. It makes it uncomfortable against the prosthetic and having to control yours makes it worse.”

The unsaid reason why the Dragonborn didn’t like flying through storms hung in the air. Their near-deadly encounter with Alduin that stole Hiccup’s leg didn’t leave him with only physical scars. Astrid was understanding of his hesitance, lucky that her dragon partner was the one to teach Hiccup how to clear the skies with a Shout. She took point on any recon missions through storms, while the Night Fury and the Dragonborn tended to fly over or around them.

They were fine with it, as the storms tended to mess with the rig of the tail fin and Hiccup’s prosthetic. The aforementioned pain was also a factor.

Toothless nudged Hiccup away from the wall with his nose and settled himself behind his rider. Hiccup raised a hand to scratch behind the dragon’s ears, an almost instinctual motion from the months of sitting like this. Had Hiccup known this would become a part of their nightly ritual, he would’ve spent less gold on a comfortable bedroll. He felt more at-home beneath his best friend’s wing anyway.

The sound of the whetstone against the glaive blade echoed in the cavern, a welcome calm against the raging storm outside. An hour passed, filled with sharpening blades and sketching new tail fin ideas in his notebook, before Stormfly landed at the mouth of the cave. Astrid swung herself off the saddle and put down her fur hood, embracing the warmth of the fire Hiccup prepared.

“Oh, that feels so nice every time,” she removed the heavier pieces of armor and her cloak as she placed them to dry against the fire, “We found Dragontooth Crater, by the way, it’s a half hour flight northeast.”

“Good, we’ll leave in the morning if the storm’s let up,” Hiccup closed his notebook and put it near his pack, “Paarthurnax said he’d have more news for us about the Elder Scroll. Hopefully it’s more than baseless theories.”

“Paarthurnax is the wisest of the Dovah after Alduin. If he knows something, he’ll help us,” Stormfly said and settled herself near the fire, adding her Thu’um to the flames with a soft, “Yol Toor Shul.”

Hiccup had yet to learn the Fire Breath Shout. Every time he tried, it felt like his throat was burning to a crisp. He was slightly jealous of Stormfly, though he knew the Nadder’s biology was just better suited for the Shout than his. Sometimes, Hiccup wished he was more dragon than human. He spoke some of the language, knew how to use his Voice, and flew with one of them. The least the gods could’ve done was made him an Argonian, or lizardfolk, but no, they decided to make him a basic-ass Nord. Hell, even a dark elf would’ve been better. At least they can see in the dark.

He knew that cursing the gods for making him the Dragonborn wouldn’t help them. Every night, the bad thoughts crossed his mind. What if he wasn’t the hero of prophecy? What if he never shot Alduin that night? What if he never met Toothless? What if his mother was never taken? What if he was taken with her?

“What If’s” were his mind’s way of escaping his current scenario. Instead of being a Nord boy, burdened with glorious purpose to save the world, what if he was an Argonian who studied magic? What if he was a Khajiit hunter, proficient enough with a bow to shoot a target across the region? What if he wasn’t even born in Skyrim? Would he still have been the Dragonborn?

Hiccup shook his head of the thought and focused on the here and now. The sharp howl of the wind outside, the warmth of Toothless’s scales behind him, the soft snoring of Astrid across the cave, the unconscious flicking of Stormfly’s spines, the scratches he left under Toothless’s chin… it all grounded Hiccup to who he was, to what he was. Hiccup was the Dragonborn, destined to free the dragon kind from Alduin’s clutches and bring peace to his homeland.

He had accepted his fate after a long talk with Hermaeus Mora about it.

Now, he just laid back against his best friend’s shoulder, his hand slowing in movement as Hiccup drifted off to sleep.

~~~

The storm let up later that night, leaving banks of fresh powdered snow across the Druadach Mountains. It was peaceful, this early in the morning, as the mining hadn’t yet started in Markarth and the snow prevented people from leaving their homes. For now, the quiet stony peaks of the Druadachs were the riders’ only neighbors.

They quickly packed up their camp and flew the half hour northeast, towards a jutting cliff on the side of the mountain. The usual dragon burial site ruins laid strewn about, as well as the large Word Wall that sat right at the edge of the cliff. The usual grey form of Paarthurnax sat within the Wall, not perch atop it, as he watched Toothless and Stormfly land on the ruins nearby.

“Welcome back to Skyrim, my young friends,” Paarthurnax said, “I hope the trip treated you well.”

“Eh, could’ve gone without the storm, but other than that it was smooth flying,” Hiccup climbed off Toothless’s saddle and walked down the ruins steps towards the Wall, feeling the power echoing from the alight word upon it.

“Solstheim was great, though!” Astrid called out. She reached into one of the saddle bags and pulled out the dull white Beacon of Meridia, chucking it into the air for Toothless to grab. Once she got far enough away from Stormfly, the Nadder joined the Night Fury in playing with it like a toy ball.

“Oh yeah, they were cool.”

“I trust Miraak has calmed down since I last spoke with him?” Paarthurnax eyed the familiar Beacon being thrown between the dragons, “He must have mellowed out in recent millennia.”

Hiccup shrugged, “Still an asshole, but he let Toothless into Apocrypha with me, so he’s changing. I hope.”

“Good to hear. You two have done excellently in furthering your capabilities as both mage and warrior. I suspect that you’re ready for this next assignment.”

Both dragon riders nodded.

“Then, I am sending you to retrieve for me a prized relic. Travel to Ustengrav and traverse the depths to find the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller.“

“Is there anything special about this horn?” Astrid asked. Stormfly then landed beside her and dropped the Beacon at her feet, spiked tail wagging like an excited dog. She picked it up and threw it to another part of the ruins, making the two dragons chase after it again.

“Not in particular, but it once belonged to one of the first Greybeards. My hope is that if we bring it to them, they will see you as allies once more,” Paarthurnax eyed Astrid, “Though I will say that you are in luck, as I happen to know a secret way into the tomb. So this is less of a fetch quest and more of a pit stop, as you say in your tongue.”

She gave him his well-earned laugh.

Their flight to the secret entrance in the mountain northeast of Morthal, another Hold capital, wasn’t as long as expected. The entrance was behind a small water fall, one that the dragons couldn’t fit under. Astrid grabbed her torch and held it up as they traversed the small cave to the false wall Paarthurnax described. Hiccup took the torch from her and she placed her hands on the rock.

Her hands lit blue and the rock suddenly shifted upwards, then down and out of the way. Astrid took the torch back and Hiccup stepped into the tomb, eyeing the long decorated box in the center of the room. He used his short sword to pry the lid off and open it. Inside was an armored skeleton.

And no horn.

They returned the way they came and told the dragons.

“It wasn’t there? Strange,” Paarthurnax’s gaze was distant, “I could have sworn it had been there for years.”

“There was a note,” Hiccup held up the small piece of parchment he grabbed from the tomb, “It says to meet whoever this is in the Sleeping Giant Inn in Riverwood and to ask for the attic room. Whoever took the horn knew we’d be here, and wants to talk to us.”

“Hiccup, we can’t assume they’ll want to talk to all of us,” Toothless said, “Maybe they wish for an audience with the Dovahkiin only. They did know that the horn would be here, and that it’s important to the Greybeards, so you’d be sent to retrieve it.”

Astrid nodded, “It could be a trap for all we know.”

“We must consider that a possibility. But I doubt that this person wants to harm you. They’ve ample opportunity. No, this person seems like the type who wants to help,” Paarthurnax sighed, “I do not see any other option if we wish to get the horn back.”

“Then we head to Riverwood. Hopefully this thief is more than they seem because if I have to explain to a dragon killer that I’m friends with some, then this’ll be harder than I thought.”

~~~

Okay, Hiccup really needed to learn to shut up.

It started off innocently enough. The team landed outside of Riverwood and Hiccup walked his way down the hillside to the Inn, requesting the attic room from the bald and burly man behind the counter. He was told they didn’t have an attic room, but he was welcome to take the room to the left, which he did.

Twenty minutes went by until another man, this one less buff and a bit older, came to speak with him. He led Hiccup into another one of the rooms and locked the door behind him. He walked to the closet on the far side of the room and opened it, then slid the back panel to the side, revealing a secret staircase into a basement.

Once inside, the man closed the closet and the false back and joined Hiccup at the table in the new room. This room was small, maybe originally built as a food storage, but it was covered in weapons, armor pieces, and maps. Some were marked with red X’s and crude drawings of dragons.

“Well, this was certainly a surprise. I put that note there almost six months ago and wasn’t expecting to wait that long,” the man said, taking his spot across from Hiccup. Here, the Dragonborn got a better look at him. He had on a simple tunic and trousers, had short brown hair, and some carefully maintained facial hair. He looked like any old inn keeper, not someone who needed all the swords and axes and hammers strewn about the room.

“You were waiting for me?”

“For someone to find the note. Whether or not I was waiting for you in specific remains to be seen.”

Hiccup resisted the urge to roll his eyes, “Do you have the horn or not?”

“Ah, things aren’t that simple. You must prove to me who you are, my friend. If I believe what you say, then I will return the horn to you,” the man smirked, “Tell me, what is your name?”

Now thankful for the mask over his face, Hiccup smoothly said, “Obsidian.”

“Not a usual name. I’m assuming it is not your birth one. Maybe an alias?”

“Does it matter? It’s the one I’m confortable sharing with a man who hasn’t even told me his.”

“True, but I doubt you’ll give me your real one after I tell you mine.”

“Gods, you talk a lot.”

“My name is Viggo. Viggo Grimborn.”

Oh, he has to be evil, Hiccup thought. He sighed and said aloud, “A pleasure to meet you, Viggo. Now, about the horn-“

The white and tan horn hit the table. It was simple, covered in a leather holder and carved and painted symbols. Hiccup noticed the dragon runes etched into it, mixing with the Norse runes alongside them.

“There. If you must know, I only stole it because I wished to speak with the Dragonborn.”

“And the Dragonborn you got,” he stared at Viggo, “Now, I will be going.”

“I need more proof than that. And I’m not talking about using the Voice.”

What proof did he need? Hiccup was sure his dad made sure that everyone in Skyrim knew his son was the Dragonborn. Why did Viggo need more proof? For his own sake, Hiccup humored the man and followed him out of Riverwood, to another village half a day’s walk from the town. Just outside of this other town was another dragon grave.

The two stuck behind in the forest and waited. Viggo smirked when they heard a low dragon cry and saw a familiar mass of grey. Alduin swept through the sky and landed at the grave, Shouting the resurrection spell into the skeleton and reviving the Changewing.

Once Alduin had spoken to the Changewing in the language of dragons (Hiccup wasn’t fluent enough to translate for himself, but he could pick out the words for “kill” and “humans”, so he knew Alduin was doing a normal, evil “join me” speech), he took to the skies again, leaving the Changewing to crawl out of the grave and rejoice in its new chance on life.

It wasn’t a few seconds before Viggo pulled out a crossbow and shot a green-tipped bolt into the Changewing’s scales. The dragon roared and tried to move, but the arrow was stuck in its leg, restricting that movement and risking more damage. Viggo chuckled to himself, “They make it so easy.”

Hiccup watched the dragon go down easy. Whatever was on that arrow had affected the dragon enough to put it out without killing it.

“What are you doing?” Hiccup asked as Viggo walked towards the dragon. The Changewing’s breathing heaved and it could barely open its eyes.

“Giving you an easily acquired soul. If you are the Dragonborn, this should be no problem.”

He was going to kill it. Hiccup’s eyes went wide with the realization and he ran forward, grabbed his glaive, and used the blade to trip Viggo. He took up the space between the man and the Changewing. With a quick glance at the dragon, he noticed the bolt lodged in its shoulder. It looked like a normal crossbow bolt, but the iron tip was doused in some substance, green in color and sizzling in the scales of the dragon.

Hiccup turned to Viggo and held his glaive up, “You will not hurt it any longer.”

The man stumbled up, hissing in pain at the slice across his ankle. Hiccup had hit him in a less armored location, “You really care about that thing? The same monster whose species has killed so many people?”

“It was just revived. It knows nothing of our time.”

Viggo laughed, “You really are crazed. Who are you, really? I know you aren’t the Dragonborn.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Hiccup took in a long breath before Shouting, “Zun Haal Viik!”

Viggo’s crossbow was thrown from his hand and Hiccup rushed forward. The man was quick enough to pull his sword and block the glaive attack.

“Oh you shouldn’t have done that,” Viggo sneered. He flipped his sword and went for Hiccup’s good leg. With a quick snap of the glaive, the wood-and-metal handle was able to block the sword. Hiccup kicked Viggo’s hand, making him stumble, then knocked the handle into his arm again. It hit Viggo’s elbow and forced his hand to drop the sword.

“And you shouldn’t have done that,” Hiccup said, kicking the sword away and into the deep chasm of the dragon grave. Viggo responded by grabbing Hiccup’s prosthetic and yanking the boy to his back.

Hiccup didn’t have time to react before his glaive was pulled from him and Viggo’s knee was at his chest. The Dragonborn’s eyes shot about, then landed on the quiver of bolts at Viggo’s side. He grabbed one and held it to the man’s throat, just as Viggo held the glaive to Hiccup’s.

“Well. Seems we are at an impasse, Dragonborn.”

“I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

Just as Hiccup said that, Stormfly swooped down and grabbed Viggo’s shoulders in her claws. The Nadder shot upwards, spinning through the air, before dropping Viggo on the other side of the mountainous clearing. Hiccup grabbed the dropped glaive and used it to stand up and walk over to the man.

Astrid and Stormfly landed right next to Hiccup, the Nadder’s spike flaring, “At your command, Obsidian.”

“Go help the Changewing. I’ll handle him,” Hiccup gave her his serious look and Astrid nodded. She hopped off Stormfly and ran to the Changewing.

Hiccup raised his glaive and held the handle to Viggo’s chest. The man had rolled onto his back and was starting to sit up, but stopped once the metal end hit his armor. Hiccup also suspected that the stop had to do with Toothless at his side, growling and letting out a low purple glow as he hummed the first word of a fire Shout.

“Oh, my friend, you really are the Dragonborn, aren’t you? That’d be highly disappointing. You were supposed to be the greatest dragon hunter of us all.”

“You choose what to believe. But I will tell you this: if you and I ever cross paths and I see that you’ve harmed another dragon, I will not hesitate to hurt you,” he glared at the man through his dark mask.

“Oh, then it’ll be inevitable that we have another fight,” Viggo smirked and laughed to himself, “You cannot stop the inevitable, Obsidian. Alduin and his army will fall, just as the legends foretell. And all of your little dragon friends will be next.”

Hiccup didn’t dignify Viggo with a response. He just hit the handle of his weapon against Viggo’s armor and turned to walk to the Changewing. Astrid had pulled the bolt from the dragon’s scales and was casting a healing spell on it, as well as giving it a cure disease potion. Hiccup looked down at the crossbow bolt he still held and sniffed the tip. It didn’t smell like anything he’d smelled before. Maybe Paarthurnax would know, if it was something capable of incapacitating a Changewing like this.

He glanced back at Viggo, who had accepted his position under the Night Fury’s deadly gaze. Wherever the man got these, they were professionally made. Either he was more skilled than Hiccup thought, or this was bigger than he realized. He walked back and patted his hand along Toothless’s shoulder, “That’s enough, bud.”

Viggo raised an eyebrow, “What, you wanna kill me yourself?”

“Nah, you just aren’t worth his energy. We have more important matters to attend to,” Hiccup glared at him, “Though do not take my threats lightly, Viggo. I will be watching.”

“And I, you,” Viggo quickly got to his feet and raced out of the clearing, disappearing into the woods.

“Why’d you do that? He’s a dragon hunter.”

“And yet he will not kill Alduin, try as he may,” Hiccup sighed, “I’ll have to see what’s on those bolts. Is the Changewing okay?”

“She’s as good as she can be, she just needs rest,” Astrid dropped her hands from where they were rubbing the Changewing’s nose.

Toothless repeated what Astrid said in the dragon language and nuzzled his snout against the Changewing’s side. The other dragon trilled happily, stretched her wings, then bowed to the Night Fury. More words were exchanged before the Changewing turned to Hiccup and pressed a claw to his chest. He saw a small bead of light dance across her claw and enter his soul.

“She has shared the Become Ethereal Shout with you: Feim Zii Gron. It’s the family Shout of the Changewings,” Toothless explained.

The Changewing gave Hiccup another trill before taking to the sky and vanishing.

“Where’s she going?”

“I told her that Solstheim is friendly and to head there. She also thanked you, Astrid, even if you didn’t understand,” Toothless bumped his snout against Astrid’s hand, “She’s gonna be safe.”

“Hopefully we can save more of them. I have no doubt that Viggo doesn’t work alone,” he raised the bolt to Stormfly, “Do you recognize this substance?”

The Nadder gave it a small sniff before wrinkling her nose, “Dragonroot. I thought all of it went extinct when humans gathered it all in the first war. It’s capable of temporarily getting rid of a dragon’s flight if ingested.”

“But the Changewing didn’t ingest it, it was shot into her,” Astrid held up the other, now blood-covered bolt, “He probably has tons more of these.”

“Which means there’s a supply chain to seek out. Another thing to add to the list,” Hiccup said, “At least I have the Horn. Maybe the Greybeards will be more… receptive to us now.”

“Here’s to hoping.”

The riders climbed aboard their dragons once more and began the trip to High Hrothgar, taking a wide berth around Whiterun’s territory and approaching the Throat of the World from the northeast.

The storm atop the mountain still raged, though it had been reduced to its normal size. Stormfly’s usual Shout was able to clear the way to the top of the mountain for the four. There, Paarthurnax sat at the Word Wall and watched them land. 

“Welcome back. The Greybeards should be arriving soon,” the dragon said. It took another hour for five black-cloaked figures to emerge from the snowstorm. Hiccup stood at the Wall with Toothless at his side and Astrid and Stormfly right behind him. He was glad his armor shielded out much of the winds from being up so high. Skyrim was a cold region by default, so he needed as much weather protection as possible.

“Dovahkiin,” the head Greybeard, Arngeir is what Paarthurnax called him, said. He removed the hood from his head, “I must express my regret for how our last meeting ended. Alduin’s control was too great for our Voices to break.”

“Yeah, I didn’t much appreciate being shunned by my supposed teachers, but I can leave that behind me,” he pulled the horn from his bag and held it out to the man, “I’ve come to make amends.“

“The Horn of Jurgen Windcaller…”

“I am told that the Greybeards know the location of someone who can help us locate the Elder Scroll. We need it to understand how to defeat Alduin,” Hiccup held the horn out for Arngeir to take. The man gently took it into his hands and turned it over.

“Yes, I know a man who can help. He lives in isolation on the ice flats near Winterhold, past the College. He is known as Septimus Signus,” Arngeir didn’t look up from the horn, “Though, I will warn you that he has gone a bit, ah… unwell in the head.”

“Great, he’s crazy,” Toothless whispered, at which Hiccup hit him in the shoulder with his metal leg.

“Thank you,” Hiccup said, “I hope you can be relied on in the future.”

“We will remain here if you need us, Dovahkiin.”

“Please, call me Hiccup.”

Notes:

Next time: The Gang’s All Here.

Chapter 13: The Gang’s All Here

Summary:

Hiccup broods and Astrid finds some assholes in the forest.

Notes:

A lovely Wednesday upload for my lovely readers.

Fun fact: my older brother has 1200+ hours in Skyrim so when I told him about this, he gave me some really funny ideas. So, don’t be surprised when we eventually see a BrotherBorg exclusive in here :)

Hookfang took two days to retrieve enough dragons for the crew.

He already had Snotlout as a rider, they’d decided, but Fishlegs, the twins, and J’Zargo needed their own mounts. No ordinary dragons would do, so maybe the other dragons of Solstheim would be willing to help.

The team took up residence in the Temple of Miraak, trying to find any indication that this Obsidian was indeed Hiccup, or maybe that Sapphire was actually Astrid. Hookfang was more successful in his mission than everyone else.

He had traversed the mountains first, as they would have the most burial sites. He found a Gronckle who said she had helped the miners after Obsidian freed her from Alduin’s grasp. Hookfang asked if she was willing to join the cause of the Dovahkiin and she was excited to have an important role. Hookfang assigned Fishlegs to befriend her. He thought they’d work well together.

And they did, as Fishlegs was immediately asking her questions about Gronckle culture. She indulged him, giving him answers about her favorite kinds of rocks to eat and tales about her family. The boy had given her the name Meatlug in the human tongue. It was no Hookfang, but the Gronckle loved it. Meatlug had no insight on the dragon-scale riders in Solstheim, as she had only encountered them after her family was asked to help clear a cave-in near Raven Rock. She still gave them plenty of information about the other dragons, for Hookfang’s sake.

Next, he found a Zippleback by the western beaches trying to scare some relaxing Raven Rock villagers. Hookfang let them frighten the villagers, but did reprimand them for such a thing, stating it didn’t help the Dov image. The Zippleback’s heads tried to argue that it did help in a way his old dovah brain wouldn’t understand, but Hookfang wouldn’t hear it. When they heard of Hookfang’s mission to help the Dovahkiin, they immediately asked to join.

“We want to prank the Great Destroyer!” They said at the same time. Hookfang rolled his eyes but let them follow him nonetheless. He assigned them to the twins, Tuffnut and Ruffnut. Maybe the joint chaotic energy would eventually mellow them out (spoiler: it did not). The twins gifted the two heads the names of Barf and Belch, for their gaseous and shocking shout they performed. Hookfang rolled his eyes at this, though he can’t really complain as his chosen rider was named Snotlout.

Lastly, the final dragon actually came to Hookfang. A Changewing, who said she was rescued by the Dovahkiin.

“Really? He saved you?” Snotlout asked once Hookfang and the Changewing returned to the temple.

“Indeed. I had just been revived by Alduin, but was immediately attacked by a human. The Dovahkiin and his friend saved me from the man and healed me,” Hookfang translated for her, as she didn’t speak the tongue of men, “I owe them my life and if you are helping them, I want to repay the debt.”

“What did they look like? Their armor, any other dragons-?” Fishlegs brought up.

“Young, like you, black scale armor on the Dovahkiin, blue on the girl. They had a Nadder and a Sunless Fire.”

“A Night Fury! That is the very same boy we are looking for. Obsidian is the Dragonborn and the Dragonborn is Hiccup!” Snotlout said, “We need to follow them, where did you last see them?”

“It’s been a day, but I took off from a town near the Throat of the World. I believe it was called Ivarstead?”

“Okay, then we head to Ivarstead and see if they’d seen anyone in black dragon scale armor,” Fishlegs decided, “We’re right on their trail.”

The Changewing, now named Flutter, joined J’Zargo, answering any questions he had about the dragon species, with the other dragons helping translate their language into one he knew. They took another day to work on makeshift harnesses to hold onto, then another to learn to fly, then they sold the boat to Eret and took off from Solstheim to update Stoick on the situation.

The newest Skyrim Dragon Riders had just found their mounts and they were gonna take the Old Kingdom by storm.

~~~

Hiccup sat on one of the many benches within High Hrothgar’s sanctum. He let his head fall onto the rough stone behind him with a sigh, taking in the past few days.

First, he and Astrid had just barely escaped Snotlout and his friends in Solstheim. Hiccup didn’t want to know if they were there of their own accord, the dragon being a good indicator, or if they were sent there by Hiccup’s father, the dragon also being a good indicator as Hiccup had encountered that very Nightmare months into his stay in Solstheim.

Then, they’d met up with Paarthurnax again who sent them to get the Horn of Jurgen Windcaller. The Horn was missing from Jurgen’s grave and replaced by a note. The note-leaver ended up being a man by the name of Viggo Grimborn, who wanted to kill an innocent Changewing. Hiccup and Astrid stopped him, of course, and the Changewing was well on her way to Solstheim by now.

Now, Hiccup has made peace with the Greybeards and was trying to think of the next course of action.

Of course they had to go find the Elder Scroll, that was a given. Then maybe they could stop Viggo and his apparent group of hunters? Hiccup didn’t want that sort of man running around while he was trying to help Skyrim make peace with dragons. Seeing Stoick again was another plan, though Astrid didn’t urge him for details after he was adamant about not telling her.

And Astrid… what would Hiccup do without her? For years it was just a little crush, with him thinking that she was so cool and so pretty. And she is so cool, with her fighting abilities and now her excelling magic, and she is so pretty, with her ocean-blue eyes and golden hair. Hiccup hadn’t thought a lot about this silly crush in the past few months, but now that he actually looked back on their friendship, it was clear it had grown into something more.

He really didn’t want her to get hurt protecting him, but then again he had never had anyone willingly protect him. It was always out of obligation because he was a Jarl’s son, or because he was the heir to such a prominent family and Hold, but before Toothless and now Astrid, Hiccup had never had anyone throw themselves in front of him like a human shield just because they cared.

Well, it did happen once, but it cost his mother her life.

But who was he, thinking about this at a time like now! Hiccup was the Dragonborn! He had a Night Fury for a best friend! He had a quest to complete! A quest that just so happened to include the girl he had been pining after for so long- yeah okay, maybe he needed to address this sooner rather than later. If something happened and he wasn’t able to tell her how he felt, he’d never forgive himself.

Surely he’d have time after the war. Or maybe on the way to Winterhold (again) to speak with that crazy guy. Hopefully Arngeir was actually right about this guy’s existence or else Hiccup was sure Toothless would kill a Greybeard. That dragon was the only one to rival Astrid in hating pointless fetch quests.

Hiccup ran his hands down his face slowly and groaned. Viggo and his hunters could wait until after the war. As long as they weren’t directly impeding on the current tasks, Hiccup would allow them to live, as much as he hated to say it. But the second Viggo even attempted to harm Stormfly or, Gods forbid, Toothless, was when Hiccup would shove his glaive into that man’s throat. Trappers were one thing, hunters were completely different.

He pushed himself away from the wall and began slowly walking down the hall, back towards the room he and Astrid had been granted. His right foot and prosthetic made an awkward thump-click-thump-click against the stone and he winced at how loud he was being.

He’d noticed the Greybeards liked their sanctum completely silent. Arngeir had said that the other four priests had made such an effort in learning the Way of the Voice that they’d forgotten how to not use a Thu’um when speaking. Hiccup was confused by this, but when the man explained that it was after years of training and that Hiccup had nothing to worry about, being the Dragonborn, the boy had loosened up a bit. All of that, of course, came to the Greybeards not speaking at all, unless it was to Shout. Arngeir had purposefully kept his Voice subdued as to remain the spokesman of the Greybeards.

So the only conversations Hiccup has had so far with these men was with Paarthurnax or Arngeir. Paarthurnax was an easy conversation, despite his big words and flowery language. Hiccup had made fun of the old dragon once or twice about his usage of the word “indubitably”, which only made Paarthurnax say it more often, just to annoy Hiccup. Arngeir, on the other hand, was the same, just in a crazy way. The man always spoke of a great truth and the Way of the Voice as if trying to convert Hiccup to a religion that hasn’t existed for years. It really just made Hiccup glad he found a way to learn about his Thu’um from the dragons themselves and not this old bag of flour.

Hiccup found the room he shared with Astrid and gently knocked before opening it. 

“Hey,” she said from her cot where she was undoing her braid. Her armor sat on the foot of the bed so she was just in her winter pants and black undershirt, “You done brooding?”

“I was thinking, not brooding,” he scoffed with a smile, “And yes, I am done. Where are the lizards?”

“Outside. Stormfly wanted to fly in the wind and Toothless needed a place to stay that wasn’t as cramped as this,” she said, now grabbing her brush to get out some knots, “You know the Greybeards weren’t that happy about them being in the sanctum.”

“Oh, they can get over themselves,” he rolled his eyes and began unbuckling his prosthetic as he sat down on his bed, “They fell for Alduin’s lies first. It isn’t my fault that I was resourceful enough to find another teacher. Or more teachers. Didn’t stop Arngeir asking me this afternoon if I would be willing to make a supply run for him.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, the 7,000 Steps are still gone so their normal courier can’t deliver their normal provisions,” he laid back onto his cot with a sigh, “So he’s asking the people with the dragons to go to Ivarstead.”

“Please tell me you told him no.”

He laughed, “No, I wish. I told him that I’d only go if Toothless wanted to and that Night Fury would rather do anything else.”

“As always,” Astrid finished putting her armor onto the floor near her bag, “We might as well. If you don’t want to fly in the storm, then I can grab Stormfly.”

“I figured I could make the trip early tomorrow, before the sun rose. Toothless and I blend into the night better than you and Stormfly.”

“Yes, you and your ultra-rare, hyper-sneaky Night Fury best friend will make a grocery run,” she gave him a pointed look, “Hiccup, I can go, it’s not that big of a deal.”

“If you insist, milady.”

They fell into comfortable silence as they finished getting ready for bed. As Astrid’s soft breathing echoed in the room, Hiccup found himself staring up at the ceiling. For all the teasing she gave him about it, Astrid was right about the brooding thing. And in Hiccup’s defense, he was really good at brooding. He got his best ideas while brooding!

He rolled over onto his side to look at Astrid. Her breathing had slowed in her sleep and her shoulders rose and fell with each one. She was facing away from him, so all he saw past that was her golden hair that fell behind her. He felt like a vampire watching her, but her steady rhythm slowly and surely lulled Hiccup to sleep.

~~~

With Astrid and Stormfly gone, Hiccup saw the morning as a great opportunity to adjust both his and Toothless’s prosthetics. The leg wasn’t as much of an issue as the tail fin had been in recent days, so Hiccup gave it a once over, as well as a needed oil, before turning to the red false fin. High Hrothgar had nothing in the way of a forge or even a proper workbench, so Hiccup laid everything out on a fur blanket on the stone outside as Toothless wandered the outdoors of the sanctum.

“May I ask what that is for?” Arngeir’s voice came from behind Hiccup, which startled him, but not as much as it would’ve if it were a few months earlier.

“Oh, it’s just Toothless’s prosthetic,” Hiccup returned to tightening one of the bolts, “It helps him fly.”

“On his own?”

“Y’know, I haven’t exactly figured that one out yet, but I’m getting there,” he moved on to another bolt, “No, I control this with one of the pedals on his harness. We fly as one.”

“Fascinating. I have only ever heard of one other dragon rider. She only stayed here for half a day, but she was an interesting woman.”

“Who was she?”

Arngeir shrugged, “She never gave us her name, nor showed her face, but she did have this magnificent teal and orange Stormcutter for a mount. The two were in sync, much like you and the Night Fury. She left as quickly as she came and I never saw her again.”

Hiccup hummed in thought, “Well maybe I can find her. Or she hears of the Dovahkiin awakening and comes back, if she left Skyrim.”

“One can only hope. She could be a useful ally should she return to our region,” Arngeir straightened himself and turned in his heel, “When you are done, I have a Shout I would like to teach you. Find me in the entrance hall.”

Hiccup didn’t watch him leave and instead put too much focus into playing with one of the buckles on the tail fin base. Yeah, Arngeir was not one for pleasant conversation. It made Hiccup only want to leave this place more, but without Paarthurnax guiding them out of his storm, it would be much more difficult. Hiccup looked up at Toothless, who was now stretching his wings towards the sky.

The Night Fury had gotten into the habit of doing these kinds of stretches. Since his tail fin wasn’t revived with him, he had to find other methods of making sure his wings didn’t cramp from lack of use. This turned into a daily routine of finding a place to stretch them and then finding a place to glide from. Despite what Hiccup had been told growing up, dragons were remarkably intelligent. Not just wise in their old age, but fast-thinking and even quick-witted. They were just like people. But unlike people, they made an effort to understand people like Hiccup.

The Dragonborn breathed in the cold mountain air and watched his breath condense as he let it out. He wished he could release the pressure building in his body just as easily. Since he and Astrid left for Solstheim, Hiccup had felt this ever-present anxiety about their future. He didn’t think it had anything to do with his prophesied fate, totally not!

He grabbed the tail fin from his lap and stood to retrieve Toothless. The Night Fury stretched one of his back legs behind him and it let out a loud crack, “Gods, bud, does that hurt?”

“No, it actually feels really nice,” Toothless shook his entire body, “Is it ready?”

“Yep, just made some small adjustments. We should be able to flip between gears faster now.”

The dragon sat down and wrapped his tail around for Hiccup, used to the routine, “Let’s test it, then. Maybe we can go for a quick fly around the peaks?”

“Alright, alright, let me get this on ya,” the familiar clicking of buckles and shifting of leather fell across Hiccup’s ears. He gripped the saddle and swung himself up as Toothless trotted around the courtyard like a show pony, “Practicing for the pageant, bud?”

“I just feel so stunning,” Toothless drawled and seemingly rolled his eyes, “You ready?”

“Of course.”

Then they were off.

And all of Hiccup’s worries washed away.

~~~

Astrid tried to remember a time in her life when she was as… annoyed as she was now. Maybe annoyed wasn’t the right word. She certainly wasn’t angry, but it wasn’t bordering on a positive emotion.

Also, apparently, Ivarstead was just the place in Skyrim to overhear stuff you’re not meant to overhear. As Astrid gathered basic provisions for the Greybeards, she listened in on a conversation in the inn.

“Did you see that group of dragons land in the forest?”

“Of course, everyone did. We don’t see legions of mismatched dragons.”

“Yeah, it was like a Nightmare, a Zippleback-“

“I saw a Gronckle too, and one I didn’t recognize: wide body, ivy-like horns.”

“Strange. Do you reckon they’re part of the Dragon Master’s army?”

“Maybe. I didn’t get a good look at them.”

“Jewel at the wood yard said she saw riders on their backs!”

Astrid was out the door by then, so she didn’t hear the end of the conversation, but she had heard enough. She rushed down the inn steps and quickened her pace as she ran out of Ivarstead, towards the forest at the edge of town. Her feet carried her towards the clearing she knew was big enough for dragons and stopped short when she saw them.

A red Monstrous Nightmare, a green Zippleback, and a brown Gronckle spread out across the clearing, all accompanied by people in black cloaks, with their hoods down. Astrid’s heart sank into her stomach as she recognized each and every one of them.

Snotlout, Hiccup’s cousin, sat with his back to the Nightmare as he studied a map. Fishlegs stood near the Gronckle and was fixing a rope that was wrapped around it in a strange harness. The Thorston twins were arm wrestling, with the two heads of the Zippleback helping either one. They all seemed at ease with them, and the dragons reflected it. Astrid ducked deeper into the underbrush as she saw another dragon descend into the clearing. Snotlout shot the new rider a look as his map tumbled from his hands.

“Any news, J’Zargo?” He asked the rider. Astrid watched the hood fall from the familiar cat face of J’Zargo, the mage from the College of Winterhold.

“The staff was able to lessen it a bit, but the magic is too strong. Either the storm was made with a dragon Shout, or it was multiple mages working together,” the Khajiit slid off the dragon, which Astrid now recognized to be the Changewing she and Hiccup freed but a few days ago, “We would need to fly through or over the storm.”

Astrid sighed, a motion that shook her core, then walked directly into the clearing, her blue dragon-scale helmet still on her head and her cloak still covering her body, “You will do no such thing.”

Immediately, five people and four dragons jumped, and assumed a defensive group stance. Astrid didn’t let it phase her as she raised her hand towards them, “I mean you no harm.”

“Who are you-?” Ruffnut started, but she was elbowed by her brother.

“Idiot, that’s Sapphire from Solstheim!” he hissed, “You were just too busy making goo-goo eyes at Eret to see her!”

“I am Sapphire, but I will say,” she slowly removed her helmet and pushed her golden braid over her shoulder, “You know me by another name.”

“Astrid?!”

“You’re alive!”

“Yes, now does someone want to tell me what the hell you are all doing with a bunch of dragons?”

As Snotlout and Fishlegs told her about their trip to Solstheim, with many additions from the twins and Hookfang, Astrid found that curious and strange nameless emotion creeping back into her mind. She rubbed her temples as she paced the clearing best she could, as it was still filled with idiots, “So let me get this straight… you idiots somehow managed to learn where we were, then befriended some dragons, and now you are on your way to Whiterun to show Stoick “Dragon Killer” the Vast your new besties.”

The group all looked between themselves and nodded various yeah’s at her.

“I mean, there was a lot in between, but you’ve got it down, Ast,” Tuffnut said, “We couldn’t let you and Hiccup be the only Dragon Riders in Skyrim, now could we?”

“That’s the problem, Tuff. You shouldn’t be riders. You do realize what this means, right?” She stopped in her pacing and continued without letting anyone answer her rhetorical question, “You guys will be expected to help us fight Alduin. You know? The God of Destruction? The dragon that can resurrect and control other dragons? Bringer of pain?”

Ruffnut scoffed, “Yeah, we know. Again, we couldn’t let you two have all the glory.”

“Hiccup will have all the glory regardless-“ she remembered Hiccup’s words about trying to reason with stupid and attempted to calm herself, “Fine. We will go talk to him. But if anyone, and I mean anyone, tries to sell that they were the first dragon rider, I will chop their hands off.”

“Astrid, I’m sure that isn’t necessary,” Fishlegs’s hand never left where he pet the Gronckle he stood beside, “I doubt Stoick would appreciate that we left with one dragon and came back with four. This is better. If we do it this way, then we have Hiccup to show for it.”

“Hiccup and I have stuff to do before we go back to Stoick. Listen, I need to go back to High Hrothgar and I doubt the Greybeards will let you into the Sanctum,” she said, “I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but this is something Hiccup needs to decide. We’ll find you this evening, okay?”

She raised her fingers to her mouth and let loose a sharp whistle. Within seconds, Stormfly was landing in the clearing and lowering her body to let Astrid climb on. The Nadder then whispered to her, “They smell like you. Are they-?”

“I’ll explain on the way, Stormfly,” Astrid ran her hand along the Nadder’s neck and put her helmet back over her head, “Not now. I am so close to killing Snotlout.”

“When aren’t you?”

That evening, after a very productive conversation with Hiccup regarding the new riders, the Dragon Masters donned their helmets and dropped from the Throat of the World to the camp in the clearing. They were prepared for Astrid and Stormfly, who landed normally, but Hiccup decided to give them a show.

The Night Fury shot down into the clearing, his wings clipping through the sky, and a harsh piercing cry echoed through the dark. Then, Astrid felt Toothless and Hiccup land right next to her.

“Woah.”

Hiccup removed his helmet and shook his hair out of his eyes to face the people before him.

Snotlout stood next to the Nightmare Hiccup tried to learn the fire breath shout from several months ago. Fishlegs stayed close to a Gronckle who tried to wrap herself around him. J’Zargo sat in the shoulder crook of the Changewing from a week ago. Ruffnut sat astride the right head of the Zippleback while Tuffnut was sitting on the neck of the left head.

These people, people he grew up with (minus the cat man), who were raised to hate dragons, who were taught to kill them, stood so calmly next to thousand-pound creatures who could so easily turn them to ash. Even J’Zargo, who was nothing but a sheltered mage from a College in the north, was so naturally beside the dragon who trusted him enough to let him ride her.

It was nothing like Hiccup ever expected. Seven months ago, when he first befriended Toothless, he never imagined that he’d be seeing this. It only strengthened his belief in his mission: to free all dragons from Alduin’s wrath and spread a peace between dragons and Skyrim. It all started with these people, six Nords and a Khajiit.

“Hiccup, is that a-“

“A Night Fury? Yeah,” he smiled at Fishlegs. Of all the other teens, he was the one who was the best to Hiccup, “Guys, I want you to meet Toothless, my best friend.”

As Hiccup dismounted Toothless, the dragon stared at each of them, “Are we really calling them the first dragon riders?”

The Dragonborn rolled his eyes, hit Toothless’s shoulder lightly, then switched to the dragon language, “Mu laan niin wah med mu.”

“Dar ni Zu’u fen men niin.”

With another eye roll, Hiccup stepped away from Toothless to address the people in front of him, “Ignore him, he’s in a mood.” the Night Fury growled at him, which he returned, “I’m sure you all have questions, but first I have to tell you that what Astrid and I are doing is bigger than all of us.”

“And only with all of us working as one can it be achieved,” Astrid added.

“So, I ask that you try to keep an open mind about this as I tell you everything.”

“Start to finish?” Snotlout cocked an eyebrow.

“Start to finish.”

The tale was regaled with haste, as Astrid and Stormfly built a fire for them all. Hiccup hitched on telling some of it, but he tried his best to explain everything. Miraak was a real mystery to them, especially since they had searched the Temple and found nothing, a fact that Hiccup and Astrid yelled at Snotlout for as it was a breach of privacy on some levels.

Explaining his lost foot was also an ordeal. The twins eyed it from the moment Hiccup set foot in the clearing and the Dragonborn could tell that the look in their eyes was of nothing but scheming and plotting. He made the comparison to Toothless’s missing tail fin (“Peg leg!”), which eased it for Fishlegs. Describing how to learn how to use the tail fin found Hiccup rambling more than he liked. Getting to explain his contraption wasn’t something he got to do much recently.

Then Paarthurnax, the Greybeards, the Elder Scroll…

Soon, the fire was simply crackling in the silence left behind by Hiccup’s story. He stared into the flames, wondering if he could try that fire shout again to make it bigger. He opted to not making a fool of himself in front of everyone. Toothless nudged his face into Hiccup’s arms, as he always did when he felt Hiccup’s mood shift like this. The dragon was always so good at that, understanding him.

No one said anything. They didn’t need to in order to let Hiccup and Astrid know that they understood.

“So. That’s been our life the last seven months and two weeks,” the Dragonborn said, “Any questions?”

Tuffnut’s hand shot up, “It sounds like you need therapy.”

“Thank you, Tuff, for the thrilling insight.”

Fishlegs raised his hand next and Hiccup motioned for him to continue, “What are you gonna do next? The hunters seem serious, and you should probably go see your dad, but then you need that Scroll…”

“We were in the middle of figuring that out and then I found a bunch of assholes and J’Zargo in the woods,” Astrid said, leaning back against Stormfly, who let out a chuffing laugh, “So now, we need to make a plan. As a team.”

“She’s right. We can focus on the Scroll for now, as it’s more important than anything right now,” he nodded at her, “But we will need to make it known that those hunters aren’t to be trusted. I’ll try to find out more, maybe the people of Riverwood can help us identify them.”

“Oh, we can do that, easy,” Snotlout said, “As much as I would love to accompany you on a trek to a dangerous and legendary artifact, Hookfang and I can intimidate any man into talking.”

“You mean I can, Jorgenson,” Hookfang drawled without looking down at the boy, “You just say words and they eventually get that you want information.”

“Hey-!”

“Flutter and I can go,” J’Zargo spoke up, his paw not straying from where he scratched the Changewing’s chin. His claws probably made for a deeper pleasure in the motion, “We’re sneaky and I know spells to make myself match her cloaking. Plus, I feel like I need to contribute at least a little.”

“J’Zargo, you don’t have to-“ Astrid started, but the Khajiit raised his free paw to stop her.

“No, Astrid… you have all been kind so now I must return the favor,” his ears fell backwards, as if he didn’t like what he was saying, “I’m also a pretty decent tracker. I can go find out more, report back to you. Flutter and I can do this.”

“And I also feel the need to give more thanks to you, if you will have me,” the Changewing said. Hiccup never heard her speak the Skyrim language, so he assumed she couldn’t, but it was clear from the way the Khajiit encouraged her that he had taught her a few more words. She stumbled over them and they felt awkward coming from her mouth, but she looked proud of her ability to communicate after such a short amount of time.

“Mahfaeraak, Flutter. Fod hi laan daar, zu’u fen med fin aak,” Toothless said to her.

“Kogaan, Dovah Zeymah.”

He gave her a nod of acknowledgement and Hiccup ran his hand along his friend’s scales.

“Okay, you have to teach me how to do that,” Ruffnut said, staring between the dragons and Hiccup, “That’d be so cool to call Alduin a bastard bitch in dragon!”

Hiccup laughed a bit and put up a hand to stop her, “There are no direct translations-“

“Trust me, I’ve tried,” Toothless grumbled.

“But, we have found a few things that translate hilariously into dragon.”

Tuffnut’s smile grew, “Living among them for seven months has taught you many things, Haddock. I would be remiss if one of them wasn’t the many insults of the dragon language. We must workshop this for your big fight with Alduin.”

“Yeah!” Ruffnut said, now standing, “Imagine the scene, you show up to the great battlefield, atop your Night Fury best friend, glaive raised at Alduin! You look him in the eyes and scream your new shout: Kill Yourself Now! Thunder crashes as you descend on the offspring of lightning and Death itself!”

“No-no-no-no! He should use the ultimate Shout: Get Lost Ugly!”

“Oh, yeah!”

“You guys are going about this all wrong!” Barf and Belch said, “A shout needs to command the air, the world, the soul around you! You have to put focus into the specific words. Instead, he should say Kosil Hin Monah!”

The dragons all let out small snickers and Toothless whispered the meaning of the words into Hiccup’s ear. The Dragonborn sighed deeply and looked at all the confused dragon riders. He ran his fingers across the bridge of his nose, “Guys, I’m not gonna look Alduin in the eyes and say I fucked his mom.”

Snotlout, Astrid, and even Fishlegs broke out into laughter there.

“But imagine the power play! Staring at the God of Destruction and saying that!” Tuffnut tried to reason with Hiccup over this well into the night, with many unhelpful additions from Ruffnut.

Hiccup allowed himself to lean back and take in the night. He let his constant worry slip into the back of his mind as he listened to the fire crackle and the laughter of his friends. Maybe what he really needed was this.

He could worry about Alduin and the Elder Scroll and Viggo and his father tomorrow. Tonight was for joy and peace.

And who knows how long it’ll take to get it back?

Notes:

Next time: Dear Old Dad ((My favorite chapter so far.))

Translations:

Mu laan niin wah med mu. - We need them to like us.

Dar ni Zu’u fen men niin. - That doesn’t mean I have to like them.

Mahfaeraak, Flutter. Fod hi laan daar, zu’u fen med fin aak. - Always, Flutter. If you want this, I will accept the help.

Kogaan, Dovah Zeymah. - Thank you, Dragon Brother.

Kosil Hin Monah - Within your mother

Chapter 14: Dear Old Dad

Summary:

Hiccup gets to be a badass (as a treat) and Stoick tries his best.

Notes:

The first part of this was my favorite part to write so far. Enjoy!

Flutter and J’Zargo left the next morning for Riverwood to learn more about the Grimborn brothers. If he was lucky, the Khajiit would be able to dismantle the operation and buy Hiccup and the rest of the group much-needed time. For now, it was a blessing.

They took another day for Hiccup and Toothless to let the Greybeards know the current plan. The old men are happy to no longer share their sanctum with two dragons, and they make sure Toothless knows that, though they do give Hiccup their final apologies for how things went before Solstheim. The Dragonborn didn’t give them much assurance that he’d completely forgive them, but it was a start.

When he returned to Ivarstead, he grabbed everyone else and they took the half-day flight towards Whiterun’s capital city. Astrid and Hiccup stayed in the lead as the group of five dragons and six riders approached the city. They led them through a wide circle around it, making sure people saw every dragon of the group land in the training fields outside of the walls.

The guards below immediately called out, “DRAGONS.”

Some rushed to gather people into their homes and most grabbed their weapons and made a run for the field. None of the riders got off their dragons, as per Hiccup’s instruction, and neither he nor Astrid took off their helmets. Snotlout made fun of them for wanting a dramatic reveal, but Hiccup didn’t have the heart to say that it was to hide his own fear of his father. Stoick was never that bad of a father, but he certainly wouldn’t understand his son atop the Night Fury. He wasn’t the type of Nord to believe that people can change so suddenly.

Caius, the Whiterun Guard Captain, was at the head of the soldiers, bow raised and poised to shoot right through Toothless’s head, “State your name and business, demon!”

Snotlout yelled from where he sat on Hookfang, “Someone grab Stoick! We need to speak with him!”

A ripple of whispers shot through the soldiers and Caius leaned into one of the ones near him and whispered something. The soldier nodded and raced back to the city. Everyone stood in silence, the riders holding their hands open and near their heads. The dragons tensed with every bow string drawn or sword unsheathed, but none attacked. They knew that if something happened, their skeletons would hang in Dragonsreach for generations.

After what felt like an hour, the crowd of soldiers parted to let the Whiterun Jarl through to the front. He carried his trusty war axe at his side and eyed all the riders curiously. His eyes widened at the sight of the unseen Night Fury, and he traced the shape of the man clad in black scale atop of it. Hiccup almost shrunk in on himself under his father’s gaze.

“Jarl Stoick, they wished to speak with you,” Caius said, his bow still trained on the Night Fury.

“Snotlout? Is that you?” Stoick yelled into the flock.

The boy in question was raised into view by Hookfang, his hands still up in surrender, “Yes, sir. Can you ask the guard to stand down?”

“What? And risk something happening to my Hold?” He seemed genuinely shocked by the request, as if Snotlout wasn’t being held at arrow-point, “No. I will not let anything happen to my city.”

“Stoick, we can discuss this without the guard-“

“As if we will! Now speak, boy-!”

“Stand down!”

All eyes and drawn arrows shot to Hiccup. He breathed in a deep breath and slowly moved his hands to unclip and remove the helmet. As it slid off and his hair settled on his head, he heard gasps ring through the guard. He saw Caius whisper something along the lines of, “It can’t be.”

“By order of the Jarl’s son, stand down.”

Hiccup swore he heard Snotlout mumble “dramatic ass”, but he ignored him in favor of putting the helmet onto its hook on Toothless’s saddle. He caught his father’s eyes and straightened his spine, sitting tall on Toothless. His hand unconsciously drifted to his best friend’s head and his thumb rubbed one particularly smooth scale there, a nervous tick he’d developed over the last seven months, “Dad. We need to talk. Alone.”

Stoick just continued to stare. His mouth opened and closed as he attempted to find the words for whatever emotions lay beneath the surface. His hand gripped his axe tighter, possibly out of instinct and reflex, but Hiccup knew it was all his father.

Standing before him was a man who has spent nearly sixteen years fighting these dragons. Demons, he’d call them. Demons from the depths of Oblivion sent to punish men for a crime their ancestors committed. Stoick was never a religious man. He heard the preachers in the square, the other Jarls talk of their practices, the many beliefs outside of Skyrim, but he never committed himself to one God, much like how he never joined a side in the Civil War.

Hiccup took after him in that way, even with Meridia’s pestering about becoming her Champion. However the difference between Hiccup and his father was that Hiccup has carved his own spot out of this war. He assumed his father already knew what side Hiccup had chosen, so he trusted that his father would treat him as such: the Dragonborn, Dovahkiin, Dragon Master, leader of the Second Dragon Resistance.

Resistance. Rebellion. Revolt.

Army. Hiccup’s Army.

Hiccup cleared his throat when it was clear his father wouldn’t heed his want, “Jarl Stoick of Whiterun. I have come as the Dragonborn, general of the army against Alduin. I request an audience and conversation about the war. And I ask that you listen to what I have to say.”

He resisted the urge to add “for once” onto the end of that sentence.

Stoick didn’t move aside from shifting his weight. Hiccup recognized the stance of a readying axe throw, courtesy of watching Astrid practice hers, and drummed his fingers across Toothless’s scales. He felt Toothless shift beneath him, his wings raising in threat and alarm. The purple glow of a building Shout shone through the dragon’s teeth.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he sneered, “You have one chance at this, Jarl Stoick. Do not throw it away due to misconceptions and poor instinct.”

“You can’t be serious,” Stoick said, “You wouldn’t.”

“You’re right. I wouldn’t,” his hand patted the scales again, telling Toothless to stand down, “But he would, should you pose a threat to me,” he then raised his hand towards the other dragon riders, the gesture lingering on where he knew Astrid was to his left, “Or any of my friends, person and dragon alike. So I say again: stand down and allow us to meet on the Great Porch of Dragonsreach to discuss ending this war.”

The moment dragged on for several minutes. No guard moved, at least not to attack. They all anxiously shifted their weight, waiting for an order to follow. Then, one on the west side of the encirclement, a Breton man, sharply lowered his bow. He returned the arrow to the quiver on his hip and he dropped to a knee, his bow laid out before him, “I stand down under the orders of Hiccup Haddock, son of Jarl Stoick of Whiterun.”

Captain Caius’s eyes went wide and he moved to shout at the Breton, but then another soldier shouted from behind Caius, “I stand down, under the orders of the heir to the Jarldom.”

Other soldiers, one by one, then two by two, then groups by groups, all sheathed their swords, returned arrows to quivers, holstered crossbows, and fell to one knee, repeating the order given to them by the boy on the dragon. Hiccup saw Caius turn to Stoick. The men made eye contact before Caius dropped his stance and used his bow to lower himself to one knee.

“I stand down, under the command of my future Jarl.”

Then, Hiccup saw Astrid slowly jump from Stormfly’s saddle, her helmet already off. She stepped into Hiccup’s view to his left side and lowered herself to the grass, one hand behind her back, the other across her chest, “My general.”

The other riders and their dragons followed suit. Stormfly’s crown narrowed and her tail spikes rose ever so slightly as she lowered her head, Hookfang puffed a breath of hot air as his head and neck brushed the grass of the field, Meatlug tried her best to bow with how low to the ground she already was, and Barf and Belch’s necks joined by the spines and lowered as one.

“Un Dovahkiin.”

Hiccup felt his heart soar out of his chest. He almost broke into laughter at it all, but he kept his face as stoic as his father taught him. He gripped Toothless’s saddle tighter, sat up straighter, and sternly looked into his father’s eyes.

“What say you, Jarl Stoick?”

The man before him didn’t break eye contact, “I will accept the offer of peaceful discussion and meet you on the Great Porch. I trust you will have the answers to this war we have hoped for, General.” Stoick’s attempt at making the title the same as the other words he spoke was noticed, as he slightly faltered.

“I do, indeed,” Hiccup said, “The question is whether or not you will listen, my Jarl,” he turned to the other dragon riders and grabbed his helmet to put it back on, “Saddle up, we’re flying to Dragonsreach.”

Hiccup pulled at the saddle to make Toothless turn around and walk through the natural passage in the dragons. The Night Fury spread his wings right when the other riders were atop their mounts and took to the skies. Hiccup caught one more glance at his father as they circled the field and spiraled upwards into the blue. Stoick hadn’t dropped his gaze from the boy on the dragon, staring at the retreating form of the Dragonborn. Hiccup saw Caius be the first of the guard to rise, say something to Stoick, shout to his men, then turn and walk towards the city.

“Hey,” Astrid said from his left, “You okay?”

“Can’t believe it took me threatening my father for the guard to see me as the heir,” he cast a tired smile at her, “Sixteen years and it took a little light.”

“It would’ve happened eventually, Hiccup. You’re a natural leader, you just needed an opportunity to show it,” she returned his smile.

They flew in silence around the city before the five dragons and six riders landed on the Great Porch of Dragonsreach. Hiccup eyed the Porch and the dragon-trapping device it held. The stock was raised and seemed to be ready for the flick of a lever to activate the mechanism.

“By my scale, I do not miss that thing,” Hookfang said, maneuvering himself to sit near one of the wings of the Porch, “Though it did make me wonder how they would’ve accounted for a dragon other than one of my kind. It seemed to be made for us.”

Hiccup shrugged and turned to the Nightmare, “Nords, am I right?”

“I will say, H, that was one of the coolest things I think I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” Tuffnut said. He and Ruffnut took a seat on one of the catwalks above the Porch’s floor, with Barf and Belch right below them, “You commanded the very presence of the guard. I doubt they’ll mess with you now!”

“Yeah, and if they do, they gotta answer to that guy!” She pointed at Toothless, who had simply sat where he landed.

“And I would have done it, you know,” Toothless said, “For any of you, of course, but if they hurt you, Hiccup,” he crooned slightly, his animal body betraying the coolness of his voice, “I don’t think any of Whiterun would remain.”

Hiccup sighed into a thankful smile and walked over to his best friend. He reached his hand under Toothless’s head and scratched the dragon’s favorite spot, “Thanks, bud. You’re my brother, and I’d do the same for you,” he pressed his forehead against Toothless’s, feeling the warmth of his internal fire against his skin.

“I think we all would,” Stormfly said. She had settled herself against the Porch’s balcony opening, “You’ve shown all of us that the other species can be trusted, can be befriended. You’re changing Skyrim, and the world, for the better, Hiccup. It’s really the least we can do.”

“Yeah!” Meatlug wagged her tail, narrowly missing hitting Fishlegs in the process, “Alduin won’t know what’s coming!”

Hookfang nodded his agreement and Barf and Belch twisted their necks together and chirped loudly as one. Hiccup looked at them all, the only ones missing being J’Zargo and Flutter. He took and deep breath in and thought of everything he’d learned the last seven months. According to the other Jarls, Hiccup had five more months to prove himself, to prove he could take down Alduin. It seemed like an impossible task at first, but now, with his friends, his brother, at his side, Hiccup felt like he could take on the world.

And then he heard the Great Porch doors swing open and his father’s footsteps stop a quarter of the way into the room. Hiccup turned to Stoick and tried to keep his composure. The Jarl had brought Caius with him, as well as about two dozen soldiers, who all stayed behind the door, not crossing the threshold into the Great Porch.

Hiccup pulled away from Toothless and stepped a few feet in front of his friends, “Are you ready to begin?”

“Aye.”

Hiccup takes a few more steps forward until he and Stoick are in the middle of the Porch, at the table that normally sat out here. He tried not to notice how his father stared at the metal leg or how his father winced with every click it made when Hiccup took a step with it. The man would hear of how his son lost it soon enough, but for now, the war needed to be discussed.

They met at the table, each one taking a seat at either end. The guards remained in Dragonsreach and Captain Caius stood a few feet behind Stoick. When he took his stance, Astrid motioned for Stormfly to stay behind and she mirrored him on Hiccup’s left side, arms behind her back, feet in-line with her hips.

Hiccup pulled his main notebook from its compartment under his chest plate and opened it up on the table, “In case you haven’t noticed, things have changed.”

“I’d say so.“

He ignored the comment, “For the past seven months, Astrid and I have been gathering intel from dragons we free from Alduin’s grasp. We believe we have a way to defeat him, but it requires a specific item,” he pulled out a specific sheet of paper, one with a crude sketch of a golden tube. It was adorned with gemstones and had two white handles on either end, “One of the Elder Scrolls.”

“But the Elder Scrolls are nothing but myth. Why would you need one?”

“That still evades us. The Scroll will prove useful if we can find more information on the Shout used by the warriors who killed Alduin those thousands of years ago,” Hiccup said, “My allies at High Hrothgar know of a man who can help us. Astrid and I were planning on heading there tomorrow, but with the others also here, our plans will have to change.”

“Are you planning on taking all of them with you?” Stoick asked, “They still need to finish their training.”

“If they wish to stay, I will allow it. However,” he steeled his voice, “If their dragon companion wishes to stay with them, you will allow it.”

“And let it loose in my Hold?”

“These dragons are intelligent and aware creatures. They can speak our language, understand our culture, and respect your wariness. It would be like allowing a dignitary from another region to stay. Treat them kindly, and they will respect you,” Hiccup sat back in his chair, “I assume you’ve already realized that our greatest allies at the moment are the dragons freed from Alduin’s control. Consider it a trial run, should one decide to stay with their rider.”

“Fine,” Stoick made it seem like agreeing would bring the gods down to kill him, “But should anything happen, with them or the beasts, let it be known that your title is on the line.”

“Are you threatening me with disownment, Stoick?” Hiccup couldn’t believe his dad brought this card out. To strip him of his title was a serious thing, as it would mean completely removing Hiccup of the Haddock name. It would mean Whiterun wouldn’t have an heir, unless Stoick allowed it to be pushed to Snotlout. It would mean Hiccup wouldn’t have half of his power over the other Jarls.

It would mean losing his father.

“You could say that I am just assuring victory,” Stoick shrugged, “You gave us quite a scare when you didn’t return. We spent a month looking for you before today, even trusting the word of the Nightmare over there.”

“And I apologize for not returning, but as I said, things have changed. I want to return home, but I am not the son you knew. I have grown, my powers have grown, and I am trying to fight this war my way,” he lowered his voice, “I miss when things were simple, Dad, but I wouldn’t change who I am and live a lie. Toothless is as much me as I am him. We’re a package deal, can’t have one without the other.”

His father let out a breathy laugh, “Had I not seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. You’ve become a good man, son. I just wish it’d have happened differently.”

“I don’t. The only way I’d have become who I am is meeting Toothless. This is who I am.”

Silence permeated the Porch as Hiccup found himself looking down at his hands. His fate as the Dragonborn had given him plenty of reasons to hate how he’d spent his time as a child. Sure he had Astrid training him and he could use his Voice in battle, but had he focused more on the physical aspect of it all, he wouldn’t be having to prove himself more than now.

“Son, I’m trying to understand this all. I hope that, after this war, things can settle in this new normal of ours,” Stoick sighed, “Now, we must focus on defeating Alduin. I will send you with messages to give to the other Jarls. If they see you and the others on their dragons, then they’ll understand.”

“Okay. I’ll talk with the Greybeards about the Elder Scroll. It’ll take some time, but should the others maintain their promise, we have five months left to do this,” Hiccup looked up at his father, “And we need to do it together. I’m not saying you have to have a Stormcutter best friend by dawn, I just need your word that fighting dragons will only be done in self defense. Can I hold you to it?”

“I will try my best. I don’t understand everything, but if you have devoted such time to it, I will try,” Stoick said.

Hiccup smiled and stood up, “Then would you like to meet my best friend?”

~~~

The other Riders sat behind on the outcropping of the Great Porch. They couldn’t hear their leader and his father talk and expected Astrid to give them a full run-down later, but they could see Stoick and Caius’s faces shift between many different emotions. Caius always wore his emotions like a fancy scarf, flaunting what he was feeling at any moment, mostly anger and disappointment in his soldiers, but Stoick had that name for a reason. The man’s expression barely changed beneath his bushy beard and eyebrows, but even Snotlout could see that he was having trouble keeping everything in.

Eventually, Hiccup stood up and gestured behind him. Stoick followed him over and the Riders braced for impact. Hiccup lifted a hand to the dragons and said a single word, “Mulhaan.”

They all froze and backed away from the Jarl, leaving Toothless sitting at the front of the pack. He wouldn’t leave his rider.

“Dad, I want you to meet Toothless,” Hiccup waved the Night Fury over, “I met him the night we found out I was Dragonborn.”

Toothless sat before the Jarl and lowered his head in as much respect as he was willing, “Jarl Stoick Haddock. I’ve heard much from my zeymah about you.”

“And I’ve heard nothing about you. How did you come across him, Hiccup?”

“You remember that old quarry?” His father nodded, “Well I travelled down there with one of my latest inventions in hopes of capturing a dragon. I ended up finding Alduin, hovering above a dragon grave. I shot a bola at him and interrupted the ritual.”

Toothless pulled his tail around to the front, “And made me be brought back without half of my fins, rendering me flightless.”

“I couldn’t leave him like that, so I ended up building the prosthetic,” the red fabric stayed closed, but Toothless hoped that Stoick could make out the vague Whiterun-esque design that was painted in white.

“You gave him his flight back…” Stoick kneeled to get a better look at the fin.

“He didn’t deserve what happened. After that, we started talking. You were gone in Windhelm for that meeting, so I had plenty of time to myself between training sessions,” Hiccup ran his hand over his armor, “Everything else happened after Astrid and I left.”

“She knew?”

“He told me after Bleak Falls Barrow,” the warrior in question said, “I recognized the quarry on the map and insisted we go. Little did I know I’d meet my friend’s scaly brother. You should see them on a normal day, inseparable, like they’re joined at the hip.”

“Yeah, we’ve only seen them for a day and I think they rival us in clinginess,” Ruffnut said, punching her brother’s arm. He responded by punching her back, but before they could hit each other off the catwalk, Barf and Belch used their heads to push them apart.

“I wouldn’t call it clinginess,” Toothless grumbled. He stood up and walked around Hiccup’s side like he always did. Hiccup, as he always did, rested his hand on Toothless’s neck and leaned into him, “Just mutual respect.”

Astrid rolled her eyes, “Uh huh. Then what was it that time with the Speed Stingers?”

“Quick thinking,” the dragon responded.

“And with that bandit group?”

“Had to rescue those kids somehow.”

“And what about the time with the Gronckles and the Quaken?”

“Resolving a simple territory dispute, really.”

“Are you guys keeping a tally, what is this?” Hiccup asked, but it fell upon deaf ears as Astrid kept bringing up their adventures in Solstheim and Toothless kept having an excuse for why it wasn’t him being clingy.

Stoick just laughed at it, trying to ignore all the times his son almost died in the last seven months, and put a hand on his son’s shoulder. It was strange, the texture of his armor was indeed dragon scale, but somehow retained a silky smooth feel only interrupted by what Stoick assumed to be weapon marks.

“What is this?” Stoick asked.

“Oh, uh, when Astrid and I found out that Toothless and Stormfly often shed scales, we started collecting them. After a while we found out that if they’re crushed and mixed with the respective dragon’s saliva, it turns into a paint that can be put onto armor to make it fire resistant,” Hiccup rambled, pulling off one of his shoulder pieces to hand to his father. He pointed out which scales were real ones stitched with purpose and which ones were shaped leather pieces that blended into the all-black ensamble.

When Astrid and Toothless shelved their argument for later, under the guise of accepting to agree to disagree, the mage pulled off a piece of her own armor to show the Jarl. Of course the other Riders snuck over to listen. This turned into them discussing whether or not Snotlout was deserving of the third set of dragon scale armor.

The discussions left the Great Porch and entered the main hall of Dragonsreach. Stoick’s people were gathered, crammed into what space remained in the hall, awaiting answers to their many questions.

And he gave them the most shocking announcement of them all.

“My son has come home!”

Notes:

Next time: J’Zargo’s Thalmor Extravaganza

I’ve been playing this game called Tactical Breach Wizards so if any future chapters have any terminology of a Navy Seal busting down a door, blame that.

Translation:

Un Dovahkiin. - Our Dragonborn.

Chapter 15: J’Zargo’s Thalmor Extravaganza

Summary:

J’Zargo hates parties.

Notes:

DELTARUNE TODAY.

J’Zargo hated parties. 

Ever since he was a kid, the Khajiit hated them. It always had to do with the crowds, the overwhelming smell of alcohol, the loud noises, and the boring conversation. He avoided the house whenever his parents threw one, only showing up in the beginning to fulfill his scheduled five minutes of being talked to by adults he never recognized, and then retreating to either his room or the back garden to practice his magic. 

He was going to be the best mage of all time, and that required practice at all hours of the day. The parties and dinners his parents threw just got in the way of that. But sequestering himself to lonely nights was worth it, as he had been accepted into the College of Winterhold at sixteen, younger than any scholar or mage in the College’s history.

His parents wanted to throw a party to celebrate, but J’Zargo flat-out refused, claiming that he had to pack and get ready to submit himself to the grueling studies under the College. His father had yelled at him for not humoring his mother, so they left in a rather poor standing. J’Zargo let all of it go once he had arrived in Winterhold, though.

The College seemed to understand that parties held in the dorms and study halls, where students were conducting experiments and rituals that needed complete focus, could cause untold destruction. J’Zargo loved this aspect of the school, as it meant that as long as he stayed within its walls, he didn’t have to deal with any sort of party or state dinner or get-together or uninvited guests ever again.

But now, here he stood, in the middle of a party of elves, hating every decision he made to get to this point.

The first was joining the party of four teens and a Monstrous Nightmare that landed in Winterhold asking for the Jarl. The second was going with them to Solstheim. Everything after that fell into place like a giant line of dominos until J’Zargo was dressing himself in fancy robes and hiding a dagger in his boot to sneak himself into a party held at the Thalmor Embassy near Solitude.

He had started the search for information on this “Viggo Grimborn” in Riverwood, where Hiccup had originally encountered the man. There, he gained information on him and was told that there was a rumor that the Grimborn brothers (there were more of them?) were being chased around Skyrim by the Thalmor. J’Zargo only came to this party to try and find more about them, because if the Thalmor were hunting the hunters, then they must already have heaps of information.

The Thalmor were an interesting bunch. Consisting of elves that hailed from Valenwood and the Summerset Isles, the Thalmor were elven supremacists who only had eyes on taking Skyrim for themselves. They didn’t worship the same gods as the people of Skyrim and saw the elven people as the real rulers of the continent of Tamriel. J’Zargo found multiple records that covered the wrongdoings of the Thalmor, all of which had been swept under the rug due to the hole-filled status of “diplomatic immunity”.

J’Zargo thought it was a load of dragon shit, but who was he to complain? He came from a wealthy Khajiit family in another region of Tamriel, who moved to Windhelm when J’Zargo was a kitten. He experienced these kinds of people, even if the last memory he had of a party like this was when he was fourteen and had been dragged away from an interesting chapter on a telepathy spell to greet a woman he had never met and yet was told he should remember.

The clothes he bought off a guy in Dawnstar were helping with fitting in, as well as the invitation he snuck off a noble outside, who was clearly pre-gaming the party and had a little too much ale. J’Zargo used his magic to make himself appear older, adding a few grey furs to his ears and snout and a wrinkle or two under his eyes, and made it into the party without a hitch.

Then he remembered why he hated these things so much. Even within the Thalmor, the elves had split themselves apart in very easily-identifiable cliques. Everyone gave everyone a stink eye and J’Zargo stood out like a sore thumb as the only Khajiit in the hall. He tried to make conversation with the bartender, but the man just handed him a glass of what smelled like frostberry wine and waved him away to help the next person. He now stood with his back to a wall, claws gently drumming the still-full glass he carried.

“Some party, am I right?” The man sitting on the bench beside J’Zargo said, “Supposedly the hottest ticket in town, and it’s just a bunch of stuck-up assholes talking shop.”

“Yeah, it seems so poor for something so difficult to enter,” J’Zargo made his accent stronger to cover his nerves, “And I’d expected the drink to be better.”

“Oh tell me about it!” The man gestured to his empty wine glass, “Need more than this to be a party.”

“Indeed.”

J’Zargo’s eyes trailed back to the bar. He saw the tender grab what J’Zargo recognized as a bottle of hard liquor, reading the label, shaking his head, and putting it back to grab a different bottle. Just because College students weren’t allowed to party, didn’t mean they didn’t know how to wash away stress and worries about exams. J’Zargo had seen perhaps thirty different kinds of liquor bottles in his first semester at the College alone. He was never given any, as he was still “just a baby” according to his alcoholic classmates, but he did try it at a study session he attended a few years ago after he turned eighteen. This particular brand got its flavor from the copious amount of foreign spices used in it to balance out the burn of the alcohol. It wasn’t for him, but he once watched an upperclassman down half a bottle then jump off the College’s bridge into the freezing cold water below.

So if anything could stir up enough of a distraction for him to slip away, it would be the alcoholic man sitting next to him and the bottle of liquor the bartender just placed on the shelf behind him.

J’Zargo sank onto the bench next to the man and leaned over, “If I were to get you my favorite brand of booze, would you make this a real party?”

“I like what you’re sayin’, my friend. Just get me something other than this mulled wine and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

The Khajiit kept his eyes on the bottle and used his long sleeves to hide his left hand as he flicked his fingers towards the bottle and carefully used his mind to pull it off the shelf. It dropped to behind the bar and J’Zargo used his magic to teleport it to right behind his covered legs. He used his tail to open it, timing it with the opening of a new bottle at the bar, then dumped his wine into a nearby planter and “dropped it” to the floor to fill it with the new liquor. When he reached down to grab it, the scent of spice and alcohol instantly hit his sensitive nose.

He handed it to the man beside him, who watched the affair with wide eyes, “For you, my good man.”

The man chuckled and took the glass from him, “That was a better show than whatever it is I’m gonna do off this stuff. Leave the bottle there for me, would ya? I have a feeling I’ll like this stuff.”

“Understood. Have fun.”

“Cheers,” the man said, then downed the whole glass in one go. J’Zargo was impressed and almost forgot the whole reason he got the man that drink in the first place. He quickly stood up and made his way around the room to the door near the bar. Once the man began yelling and punching things, drawing the attention of every elf including the bartender, J’Zargo slipped into the kitchens and ran to the main servant hall doors.

The building was a maze, but he eventually found himself in what he assumed to be the guest hallway as a guard told him that his room was on the left. J’Zargo thanked the soldier for the unwanted help and slipped into a random room on the left hand side. It was decorated plainly, with a four post double bed, dresser, small fireplace, and a writing desk. He found nothing in the dresser and desk and a short once-through with a detect magic spell up told him that what he needed wasn’t in this room, but rather in the building across the snow-covered gardens.

This building was smaller than the Embassy hall and J’Zargo assumed that it belonged to Elenwen, the main Thalmor Ambassador. What he needed could be in there, but that required sneaking out the back door, across the garden, and into the secondary building, then getting past whatever lay inside.

He focused his magic around himself and sighed. A simple invisibility-silence combo would get him around most of the Embassy, and a simple distraction would get him through the garden. He hoped that it would be enough before Flutter enacted the plan she wished to use: fake a dragon attack.

J’Zargo was against it as they weren’t sure if Flutter could fight off all those soldiers and mages, but he wanted to make her feel included in this mission, as more than the Khajiit’s get-away dragon. So, he humored her and told her that if it reaches dawn and Flutter can see the first light seep into the cave they hid her in, she was welcome to come and kill as many Thalmor as she desired to get her rider out. It was still well before midnight by the time J’Zargo made it to the guest room, so he had time before a crazed Changewing would attack.

He cast his first spell and snuck out of the room and up the stairs to the second floor. There, he found a room with weapons and armor that was being lazily watched over by two Thalmor soldiers. They were talking about some group who had marched in that morning and the possibility of a dragon raid on the Embassy. J’Zargo just trusted his silence spell and snuck past them. A Thalmor wizard gave him some issues, but once he was past him and at the door to the gardens, J’Zargo’s spells dropped.

He cast a glance around the gardens. It had plenty of high hedges and stone statues to hide behind, but the second building was guarded by another wizard who looked powerful. J’Zargo could make out the shimmer of enchantments on their robes. The Khajiit lowered himself to a crouch and carefully made his way around the gardens towards the wizard. Running his hands along the stone, J’Zargo picked up a loose pebble and threw it over the hedge and into the center of the garden, where he then cast the spell to summon an earth atronach and ran into the second building upon the guards and wizard rushing to stop the wild magic spirit.

J’Zargo took the opportunity to race into Elenwen’s Solar. The guards inside had left the building in the commotion and J’Zargo simply found Elenwen’s office and shut himself inside. It was a plain room, long wooden desk covered in papers, bookshelves filled to the brim with reports, history books, and magic tomes, a woven rug on the floor, and several display cases of weapons and precious jewels. Working quickly, J’Zargo made his way to the desk and began filing through the books and papers upon it.

As expected, most of it was about Thalmor dealings. One entire book was on battle strategies for the Thalmor wizards should a dragon ever attack the Embassy. Others were on merchant vessels between here and Morrowind or caravans on their way across Tamriel. He tried to find anything on the dragons, thinking that maybe Hiccup could use the Thalmor’s findings to help the others he planned to release. J’Zargo pulled open another drawer and pulled out a red leather-bound book. He opened it and skimmed through it, only stopping when the name Grimborn crossed his eye.

“Viggo and Ryker Grimborn, the last surviving members of The Blades, have been a sword in my side for years now. They believe that poaching the beasts is better than capture. I respectfully disagree. We’ve been able to pin down Ryker, he is being held in Riften, but Viggo evades our grasp. If only we didn’t have this pesky Dragonborn to deal with, then our operations could go much smoother. Glory to the Thalmor will not be deterred by two men focused on reviving a lost art and a child who looks like he weighs less than a bag of flour.”

J’Zargo snorted at the description of Hiccup, snapped the book shut, and tucked it into a pocket on the side of his robes. Another search led him to discover a ledger and a more detailed map of dragon burial sites and breeding grounds than the Dragonborn had. J’Zargo figured that this would be the best he would get and carefully slipped from the office and up the stairs to a bedroom he knew had a balcony.

With one whistle, Flutter appeared below him and J’Zargo hopped onto her, squeezing his paws around her torso to let her know he was good. The Changewing beat her wings heavily and the two activated their individual cloaking to disappear into the night.

~~~

The Riders, Stoick, and Spitelout stood around the table on the Great Porch as Hiccup spread out every map, record, and ledger J’Zargo had acquired.

“So the Thalmor are hunting the hunters who are hunting the dragons who are hunting me,” Hiccup said as he reread one of the journal entries in the book the Khajiit brought, “Honestly, it sounds like we should just let the Thalmor deal with them.”

“But the Grimborn brothers know something that we don’t about how Alduin was defeated the first time,” Astrid added, “It’s why Viggo wanted to meet with you in the first place and when you turned out to be a dragon sympathizer, he turned and ran.”

“So we need to either find Viggo-“

“An impossible task.”

“-Or we need to find Ryker in Riften, if he is still being kept there.”

“Some people said that Viggo is looking to poach in the East near Solitude, but considering I just came from there, I’m not heading back,” the Khajiit said, “I don’t want to risk being recognized.”

“Understandable. You did a good job, J’Zargo,” Hiccup nodded to him. J’Zargo returned it and turned to leave the Porch and retire to where he would be staying in Whiterun, “I can send Snotlout and the twins to Solitude to deliver the letters to Elisif and Tullius. Then, they can hit Morthal and Markarth. Fishlegs and J’Zargo can take Falkreath, Dawnstar, and Winterhold. Astrid and I will head to Riften and Windhelm. I need to speak with Ulfric Stormcloak about his use of the Voice. Hopefully then we’ll get more answers.”

“And what of us in Whiterun, son?” Stoick asked, eyeing the map.

“I’m counting on you guys to continue to fight the dragon raids. However, right now we want to focus on capture and rehabilitation.”

Astrid walked around to face Spitelout, “I trust that you know some spells to clear an invaded mind?”

“Of course I do,” the mage said, “I’ve never thought to use it on a dragon before.”

“Then you should start. I’ll show you one that the Greybeards taught me, as it’s better for larger creatures like dragons.”

She and the mage left the Porch as well. Hiccup ran his hand over the pages of the ledger again. The Thalmor had been in the business of dragon poaching ever since Alduin returned nearly sixteen years ago. The elves saw the dragon as not only a way to bend Skyrim’s will but also a good money-maker. There was gold to be made in dragon scales, bones, teeth, horns, and meat. The dragons were never seen as intelligent beings, instead lauded as monsters given to the people of Skyrim by the gods as not only a punishment for the Civil War, but a reward for their devotion.

The elves only saw the reward aspect and looked down upon the helpless killing of the dragons. The beasts were worth more to the Thalmor alive than dead, as evident by the ledger. Elenwen seemed to be one of the few heads of the operation, meaning that even if she was taken down, there’d be another head to pop in and take over, like a worse version of a hydra.

Hiccup resigned to dealing with that after the war. Once all the dragons were freed from Alduin’s control and allowed to fly where their hearts desired, then the topic of seeing them as members of Skyrim’s population would be breached. For now, though, Hiccup had to find Viggo and get information out of Ryker. According to Stoick, the Blades had members who were Hiccup’s own ancestors, through his mother. She always spoke of her family’s past with disdain, as she always believed the dragons to be good creatures, even up until her death by their claws.

If the Blades were indeed as powerful back then as the records suggested, then they must know something about the Shout needed to defeat Alduin. Even if they cannot use it themselves, they had to have proof, a map, an old tome, anything. So Hiccup decided that he and Astrid would go to Riften and find Ryker. They’d leave within a few days, as Astrid wanted to catch up with her parents and Hiccup had to finish everyone’s saddles for the dragons.

“Son,” Stoick put his hand onto Hiccup’s shoulder, “Are you certain of this?”

“I’m sure. It’s just the way things have to be.”

“And if you get hurt again?”

“Occupational hazard,” Hiccup pulled away and looked up at his father, “I’m the Dragonborn. It’s my job.”

His father sighed before pulling Hiccup into a bone-crushing hug, “I’m proud of you, son. And I’m sorry. For not understanding you.”

“It’s okay. All I ask is that you try and that’s what you’re doing now,” he said as Stoick loosened his grip, “I gotta go talk to Gobber, but I’ll be back tonight, okay?”

“Okay. I love you, son.”

“Love you too, Dad.”

~~~

Stoick met with his Council the morning after he announced Hiccup’s return. Of course the men and women of Whiterun’s Council weren’t as happy to hear of their heir running off and returning with a dragon best friend, proclaiming to be the General of a dragon army, but Stoick did his best to silence their complaints. The six dragons were to be kept in Dragonsreach, only allowed out with Hiccup’s permission and not allowed to land within the city itself.

The Council also demanded updated information on the species that the Riders had befriended. Especially the elusive Night Fury that followed Hiccup around like a puppy and the Changewing that the Khajiit mage who had been speaking with Spitelout almost crashed into the town square. After quick introductions and hierarchy placings (Snotlout was mad he wasn’t even third in command, already accepting his place after Astrid, but shocked that Fishlegs was above him), the Council warily began to accept the dragons in the meeting. Toothless and Stormfly, the first released from Alduin’s grasp as far as the Council was aware, were mounds of useful information that they needed.

Hiccup and Astrid were also highly useful. The former was the Dragonborn, of course. His Voice would prove supremely useful and he had already proven his leadership skills when he got the twins to actually stop talking. He also had the most information regarding the Elder Scroll and the Shout needed. The latter was an excelling mage by Spitelout’s standards and had already mastered wielding her summoned battle axe. Astrid’s capabilities as a battle mage, a term she coined, was enough for some of the guards to ask her to teach them basic wards so they didn’t have to carry bulky shields and restoration spells so they could do on-site healing without a medic.

The two took to their short-lived duties like a fledgeling dragon to the sky, as Hookfang put it. Hiccup compiled all of what he knew about dragons into a second Book of Dragons with Fishlegs and Toothless while Astrid got to work on what was appropriately named the A-Team. She stood before twenty ready and willing Whiterun guards (and Caius) right after the first Council meeting to teach them a basic ward.

Three days flew by faster than a paranoid Viking could say “Night Fury”.

Soon, Snotlout, the twins, Hookfang, and Barf and Belch were on their way to Markarth. Astrid and Hiccup saw them depart from the Great Porch and their leader made sure to stay at his post until they all disappeared into the horizon. Astrid tugged on his arm to get him back inside, then left to go find Spitelout. Hiccup found his way around his home before deciding he should go to Gobber.

The man was still making weapons, but he had assisted Hiccup with making the saddles for the other riders over the past three days. They weren’t intricate like Toothless’s was, as they didn’t need to account for a prosthetic on a disabled dragon, but he made sure to give each their own flair for the riders.

Snotlout’s saddle had a mini flame stitched into the front of the seat and a fire-resistance enchantment from Astrid. Fishlegs’s had an extra sewn pocket for parchment, charcoal, and his dragon cards. Tuffnut had his initials on his, accompanied by a little chicken, while Ruffnut had her initials and a little boar. J’Zargo insisted that he didn’t need fancy stitching, but he did reveal he had gathered enough of Flutter’s scales for an enchantment to make the saddle invisible when she was. The magic of the Changewing scales was something Astrid had never seen before, but after thorough testing, she was certain that the saddle’s enchantment would stick as long as Flutter did and the saddle had enough charges.

Gobber was accepting of the help in the forge after all the saddles were finished, but he did introduce Hiccup to his new apprentice, a young lad in the village named Gustav Battle-Born. The boy was flighty, of course, seeing the man dressed in dragon scale without his left foot, but after Hiccup mentioned that he was only sixteen, Gustav lightened up. They chatted as Hiccup showed the boy nearly everything he knew as they assisted Gobber. Gustav was also hesitant but excited to meet Toothless, as the Night Fury chose to nap in the sun atop the forge roof.

After their work for the afternoon was finished, Toothless entertained Gustav by swinging his long tail, now shed of its prosthetic, off the roof and letting the boy try to catch it. Many times Gustav tried to reach for the tail fin and many more times Toothless yanked it away and let out a chuffing laugh. Gobber just gawked at the dragon, one he thought to be just a legend for some time, and watched him play with his apprentice like any adult would with a young child.

“Your friend there is truly remarkable, Hiccup,” Gobber said as he sat at the edge of the forge’s fire pit.

“People always say that and yet they don’t see how he isn’t a morning dragon, or how he loves this particular spot on his chin scratched, or how he pouts when he doesn’t get his favorite salmon for dinner,” the Dragonborn chuckled and shook his head, “He suspects that he died when he was fifteen. He’s my age, Gobber.”

“No wonder you two get on so well,” he remarked, “You’re practically brothers from what I’ve seen. Wouldn’t be surprised if Stoick adopts him into the family a year or two from now.”

“Toothless would need to find a spell to turn human first. I doubt the other Jarls or the Council would accept a dragon as the second-in-line for the throne of Whiterun.”

“Ah, they’ve got you,” the blacksmith elbowed Hiccup’s arm, a bit rougher than what the boy was used to since Gobber knew he could handle it now, “And I suspect you and that Hofferson lass will do just fine.”

Hiccup sputtered, “Astrid? Me and Astrid? Gobber, have you been day-drinking?!”

“Not at the forge! Do you seriously not see it, lad? The side glances? The way she trusts your leadership fully and inexplicably? What really happened in those seven months you’ve been gone?”

“Nothing happened, Gobber! We just became friends, is all. And she trusts me because she has to. My title as her future Jarl and the Dovahkiin made sure of that.”

“Nah, Astrid’s not the type to do that. I mean, she went against her Jarl’s orders and ran away with you. I wouldn’t’ve been surprised if you came back betrothed!”

“It’s not like that, I swear. She’s… well, she’s Astrid. Smart, strong, independent, beautiful, magically-gifted, and boar-headed Astrid. She’s way out of my league anyway. There’s no way she’d love anybody like me,” he slouched and ran his hands over his arms, “At least not the way I love her.”

Gobber straightened up a bit and put his hand onto Hiccup’s shoulder, “You never know until you tell her, lad. You’ve spent seven months getting to know each other. She knows you- the real you- and I have no doubt that she loves you too.”

“You’re putting a lot of faith in that, Gobber.”

“Listen, Hiccup, I know love. I was the one to get your father to finally stop being a dumbass and finally admit his feelings for your mother. I was the one to get Valka to accept his betrothal when she was scared she wouldn’t do well as a Jarl’s wife. I helped plan the wedding and was the one to stop your father from scaling down the Great Porch’s outer wall!” He laughed at the memory. It took seven guards and Valka’s father to pull Stoick back onto the Porch. The man was known as “The Vast”, after all, “And with all of that uncertainty, they were the happiest couple Whiterun had ever seen.”

“Until Mom died.”

“Yes, well, what happened to your mother was unfortunate. I don’t think I ever saw your father as devastated as he was after that night. But you know what he did? He laced up his boots and kept going for his Hold. For you, lad,” Gobber sighed, “But that love made him the most joyous I had ever seen him. He was giddy every time he referred to her as his wife. And she was the same to him, always blushing whenever she called him her husband.”

The blacksmith kept his hand on Hiccup’s shoulder, squeezing it assuringly, “Lad, your parents’ love was as genuine as they come. And I’m beginning to see that sort of thing in you and Astrid. You could wait until after the war, sure, but do you really want to wait that long when the future is so uncertain?”

Hiccup merely shook his head, too lost in the thought of losing Astrid to Alduin. If what happened before happened again, sure they’d be a bit more prepared, but Hiccup would rather cut off his right foot with a dull embalming tool than lose Astrid. He was so scared that he’d never see her again after Alduin blocked her from his view that day. The idea of losing someone so dear rocked his heart and his very core. If Hiccup lost his father, lost Toothless, or lost Astrid, he didn’t know what would stop him from finding Alduin within the hour and dragging the overzealous lizard, kicking and hissing, to the depths of the realm of Sheogorath, Daedric Prince of Madness.

“I mean it when I say that you shouldn’t wait for this, Hiccup. She’s right there, assisting and supporting you.”

“You’re right, Gobber. I’ll… I’ll think on it.”

“Good lad,” he grinned wildly. The moment was soon interrupted by Gustav gripping onto Toothless’s tail and being swung lightly before falling to the ground, both boy and dragon laughing.

This was what Hiccup was fighting for. His friends, his family, his people, and the dragons all depended on him. If he could give a child the chance to meet their other-species best friend, then he would fight tooth and nail for it to have the best odds of happening. It was fate that brought Hiccup and Toothless together. He often asked Hermaeus Mora what would’ve happened had he not found the Night Fury in the woods.

The Daedric Prince didn’t really respond, but he did once tell Hiccup something he’d never forget.

“The universe decided that it felt incomplete without the bond between man and dragon. There will always be a Hiccup and a Toothless, no matter what.”

Notes:

Next Time: The Fair and the Mad

Someone’s meeting another Daedric Prince ;)

Chapter 16: The Fair and the Mad

Summary:

Snotlout hates the twins, Fishlegs and J’Zargo bond, and Hiccup admits something.

Notes:

Fun fact: I had to rewrite an entire section of this chapter bc for some reason, it didn’t transfer to my google doc. I realized as such TWO HOURS AGO when I woke up and did a final check before uploading. So I hastily rewrote the whole section. Fun!!!!

Snotlout threw the satchel between Hookfang and Ruffnut’s side of the Zippleback, “You two understand your assignments, right? In and out!”

“Yeah, yeah! Find the blue-roofed castle and chuck the letter at the Jarl!”

“No, find the Blue Palace of Solitude and politely request a visit with the Jarl!” Snotlout groaned, “I’m starting to see why Hiccup doesn’t like you two.”

“You’re only realizing this now, Snotticus?” Tuffnut said, leaning forward onto Belch’s horns, “Cause it seems like you had ample opportunity to do so in the last three weeks.”

“Shut up, Tuffnut. Just go and give that letter to Elisif. And no side-questing! We have to be in Markarth by tomorrow afternoon!” The mage’s son glared daggers into the Zippleback riders before he motioned for Hookfang to fly east towards the base of the Imperial forces. Tuffnut watched the Nightmare gently circle the giant castle-like walls and land elegantly within them. He rolled his eyes and he and his sister guided Barf and Belch westward towards the sky-blue-roofs of the Blue Palace.

It was a very pretty structure, with tall stone walls and painted domed-roof towers. Ruffnut made a comment while they landed about just taking over and the dragon head she rode pointed out that it meant she’d have actual responsibility and that wasn’t for the Thorston girl. The Zippleback slowly came to a hover above the Palace and Ruffnut threw her hands into the air at the archers mounted on the walls.

“Woah, hey, we were sent by Stoick and Hiccup of Whiterun!” She yelled, “We got a message for Jarl Elisif of the Haafingar Hold!”

“Lies!” One of the guards said, tightening his grip on his bow, “You ride a dragon! You cannot be trusted!”

Tuffnut shrugged and pointed to the bag his sister held, “I dunno, man, we got official documents and Whiterun symbols to prove it! This is about the dragon war, so it might be in your Jarl’s best interests to meet us!”

The guards all spoke in hushed voices before a different guard said, “Land in the courtyard. We will inspect such documents.”

When they did land, it was at the chegrine of some of the guards. Tuffnut pulled out the necessary documentation, as well as the silver brooch Stoick had given them that was engraved with the Haddock family sigil. As was customary, if the Jarl themself couldn’t attend a meeting or deliver a message, then an envoy with their family’s crest would be sent instead. Ruffnut and Tuffnut knew this tradition well, as they’d sometimes met with traders outside of Whiterun for their father or Uncle Belethor.

Of course, the Thorston crest wasn’t as nice as the pure silver one of the Haddocks. Astrid made sure to give them a stern warning about losing it or selling it, which Hiccup and Stoick agreed on, but decided to leave to the Hofferson girl. She always was scarier, even with Hiccup’s Shouts and the dragon at his side. It was something about his nasally voice and not-confident demeanour that made the twins try not to laugh whenever he was serious with them.

The Captain of Solitude’s guard emerged from the Blue Palace and immediately snatched up the crest and the documents. He gave them an intent and careful examination before asking a mage to cast some sort of spell on them. When the mage repeated the spell at the Captain’s insistence, and whatever it was turned up empty, the Captain handed the bag back to the twins and pointedly said, “Should the Zippleback cause any issues, it’ll be your heads being sent back to Stoick.”

The twins both gave him very crude salutes. Ruffnut grabbed the bag from her brother and turned to Barf and Belch, “I’ll head in and talk to the Jarl, you guys stay out here and wait for me, okay?”

Her brother and the dragon heads nodded as she followed the Captain into the Palace. It had an intricate interior, clearly fit for a Queen, not a Jarl. She made her way up the stairs to the main hall and stopped before Elisif the Fair, Jarl of Haafingar. Elisif was in the middle of a conversation with what looked like a housecarl when the Captain leaned down and whispered in her ear. Elisif raised her hand to the housecarl, who bowed at the Jarl’s nod and strained a smile of apologetic acknowledgement.

“We will continue this later, my friend. Go rest.”

“Yes, my Jarl.”

Elisif turned to Ruffnut and eyed the girl up and down, “And who are you?”

“Ruffnut Thorston. My brother and I have been sent by Jarl Stoick to deliver a message to you, my Jarl,” she put on all of her mother’s teachings of politeness and sincerity. Despite her and her brother’s chaotic selves, Ruffnut had some amount of care around other people of power. She grew up respecting Stoick and she wasn’t about to let him down by getting arrested in a city across Skyrim, “We arrived on dragon-back, if you haven’t heard.”

“Dragon-back? Our meeting regarding the Dragonborn was a mere few weeks ago. How can Stoick already have dragon riders?”

“It’s a long story, my Jarl, but Hiccup has returned and he is conscripting an army made of dragons saved from Alduin’s power and dragon riders,” she retrieved the letter from the bag, “This should explain everything. There is a section from Stoick and a whole part from Hiccup about what he is asking of you Jarls.”

“And he expects us to obey?” The Captain asked.

“Quiet, Captain. We will listen to what Stoick and his son have to say. It is the least we can do for them,” Elisif motioned for Ruffnut to hand her the letter, which she did, “I will craft a response for you to deliver to Stoick. Come back tomorrow at dawn for it.”

“Yes, thank you, Jarl Elisif,” Ruffnut gave her a small bow once more. She turned and walked back down the stairs, but before she went for the door, she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She swore that there was a pale blue spectre standing beside a single door to her left. She completely moved to face the door, but the blue she saw was gone. The door was a deep red wood with gold detailing on it and was quite different from all the other doors in the Palace that she could see.

Ruffnut carefully stepped towards it, looked around to find no guards or maids nearby, then reached her hand out to the gilded doorknob. As soon as she touched it, her hand felt like ice. An attempt to open the door proved it to be locked and Ruffnut frowned slightly at the disappointment. Not that a locked door could stop her, but she wasn’t willing to push Elisif’s hospitality for a small peak at a possibly haunted wing of the Blue Palace. So instead, Ruffnut shrugged and made her way out of the Palace to her awaiting brother and their dragon friend.

Maybe they’d have time to come back later.

~~~

Snotlout and Hookfang landed within an encirclement of Imperial guards. The boy, already over this, threw his hands up and yelled to any one of them, “Someone get General Tullius! I have the crests of both House Haddock and House Jorgenson and I have an urgent message to deliver to him.”

It took the General five minutes to be pulled from whatever meeting he was having with another Imperial leader to meet with the boy and the Monstrous Nightmare.

“Snotlout Jorgenson? I recognize you from the meeting a few weeks back,” Tullius said, stopping a few yards away with his hand atop his sheathed sword’s hilt, “You’re the nephew of Jarl Stoick, correct?”

“Yeah, I am. And this is Hookfang, my friend,” the boy petted the side of the Nightmare’s face, “I have a letter for you from both the Jarl and the Dragonborn.”

“What was so important and yet insignificant that they couldn’t deliver this news themselves and yet sent a boy on a dragon?” The General tutted, “Truly a shame that Stoick cannot use simple messengers and couriers.”

“Sir, with all due respect, time is of the essence. And you will find that Hookfang and I can cover the distance most couriers take a week to travel, in about a day and a half,” Snotlout puffed his chest out and felt Hookfang preen at his side. He found that despite Hookfang’s age against the other dragons (while they were more-so the age of the other riders, Hookfang was several hundred years old), the Nightmare adored praise. He was as vain as they came, and Snotlout was eager to deliver compliments as long as they included him as well.

Snotlout held out the bag, “Come and take it, Tullius. Prove that you are indeed a fearless Imperial like you say.”

Tullius cast a well-hidden worried glance at Hookfang, who just sat there next to Snotlout, before steeling himself and marching over to collect the bag and the brooches. He examined each one methodically and turned over each brooch in his palm, “Seems to me that you are indeed telling the truth, Young Jorgenson. Fine, I will provide an answer for you to bring Stoick and I will expect you and that dragon out of the city by dawn. I will not tolerate the risk they pose, trained or not.”

“Trained?” Hookfang muttered in shock. He let out a small huff of smoke, but reeled in once Snotlout put his hand atop the Nightmare’s nose.

“Easy, Hookfang. Don’t let him get to you,” the boy whispered, then he raised his voice again, “Understood, sir. I will be back at dawn tomorrow.”

But before Snotlout could mount Hookfang again, Tullius cleared his throat rather loudly, “One more thing. Tell Stoick that he shouldn’t expect me to hear him out without speaking with the Dragonborn directly. The last time I saw that boy, he could barely keep himself standing. Now, I’m not sure if I should trust words on a page. These wars have taken a toll on all of us and I want to assure that Stoick hasn’t gone mad.”

“While I cannot speak for my uncle’s mental state, Tulluis, I can provide some peace of mind about Hiccup,” he couldn’t believe he was saying this, “My cousin has changed immensely during his absence. Give him a chance to prove it before you completely shun him from the conversation.”

“That is up for me to decide, Jorgenson,” the General said sharply, “Do not mingle with matters such as this. It’s unbecoming.”

The General turned on his heel and Snotlout watched him march back into his keep with the letter, leaving the bag behind. Snotlout rolled his eyes and walked over to grab it. He pulled out his own House crest and ran his thumb over the carved dragon longship that had represented his house. When his father took on a different last name to Stoick’s, separating the brothers to different houses, Spitelout was a traveling merchant. He specifically used a longship to travel between Skyrim and Morrowind and whatever regions he could reach through the Northern seas, as well as the rivers down the continent. 

But when the last court mage left after Stoick and Spitelout’s dad passed, handing the Jarldom to the elder of the brothers, Spitelout took it upon himself to study the magic he hadn’t manifested in years. The dragons returning only made the man kick his learning into high gear. Snotlout and Hiccup were born mere weeks apart from each other, with the Dragonborn being older. For years, Snotlout held it against his cousin. Everyone knew that if Hiccup wasn’t born early, Snotlout would’ve been older and had a better shot at being given the Jarldom.

However, the last few days had shown Snotlout that he wasn’t meant for such a position of power. He was good, sure, but his strength and skill can only carry him so far. From how he saw Hiccup conduct himself the day they landed in Whiterun to how the Dragonborn had been managing all the plans to get the Elder Scroll, Snotlout was confident that Hiccup was literally born for this role. He may say he isn’t and he may awkwardly laugh and say he can’t be Jarl, but Snotlout was going to be the first person (aside from Astrid) to vouch for Hiccup’s ascension.

Whiterun was going to be in good hands if they all survived this fight. Skyrim would be safe with Hiccup to protect them. All Snotlout needed to do was make sure his cousin knew this well. Confidence had to be supported by the people around you, after all.

~~~

Snotlout and the twins decided to set up their camp for the night in a small rocky alcove near Solitude. While it wasn’t good by any measure of standards for campsites, it would protect them and the thousand-pound war machines they called friends. He was just finishing with putting his supplies in his tent when he heard the tell-tale sign of the twins, their argument over something he couldn’t make out getting louder by the second. He turned to see them walk away from the path and towards the alcove.

“I told you, we should try it out on Tullius!” Tuffnut said, grabbing for whatever it was they were passing between their hands

“And have the Imperials out for our heads? I don’t think so,” Ruffnut pushed her brother away with a hand on his helmet, the object now held away from Tuffnut and towards the sky.

“Uh, guys?” Snotlout said. It snapped them both out of their argument. Those never really lasted longer than a few minutes, “What is that?”

He pointed at the object. Now that it wasn’t being waved around like Gothi’s stick when someone mentions her height, Snotlout could get a better view of it. It was a staff, enchanted most likely, with a long, twisting metal-and-wood handle. The head of it was all wood, and carved into it were four open-mouthed, bearded faces, each one looking like the same man in different stages of pure agony. The inside of their mouths was hollow, allowing Snotlout to see the red glow of magic within.

He couldn’t tell the exact type, though his father’s and Astrid’s destruction magic always seemed to start off as a red glow, then become the actual spell a second later.

Tuffnut took the opportunity of the stopped fight to sneak behind his sister and grab the staff, “What do you know of the Daedra?”

“Besides the creepy door in the basement of Dragonsreach and Hiccup’s mention of the one of Fate in Solstheim?” He gave it a second more of thought, “Next to nothing.”

“So what if we told you that THIS-“ Ruffnut grabbed the staff again, “-was an incredibly amazing, terrible, brilliant Daedric artifact?”

“Of which Daedra?”

The twins locked eyes, “Sheogorath!”

Oh. Just his luck. Of course it would be them. What other set of siblings, in all of Tamriel, would be able to meet the Daedric Prince of Madness and come out alive and with his artifact. Honestly, Snotlout wasn’t denying that it could’ve happened, he’s just denying that the twins left without being cursed for appearing more mad than Sheogorath himself.

“Okay? And what should it do?”

Ruffnut reached into her bag and pulled out a small silver cup, no doubt stolen from the Blue Palace. She gripped the staff in her hands and held it up to the cup that she had placed on the ground. The red glow inside the staff went bright before a small beam of white light shot out of one of the mouths and at the cup. At first, nothing happened, but then the cup suddenly became a small, purple rat.

“What.”

“That’s a new one!” The female twin exclaimed, “Write down transmogrification!”

“Already on it!” Tuffnut produced a small notebook from somewhere and began writing something down. Snotlout looked over the twin’s shoulder and watched him write it down under a list of twenty or so other things.

He read through some of them, “Explosion, ice wall, lightning, fire atronach? Okay, what is this?”

“It appears,” Tuffnut put on his best impression of Hiccup, “That this staff, the Wabbajack our Prince called it, can cast a random spell when used. We are going to categorize all of them!”

“If it’s every spell, then that’s gonna be a very long list.”

“We know!”

Snotlout took another glance at the Wabbajack and the cup-turned-miscolored-and-confused-rat in Ruffnut’s hands. He had to get that thing away from them, if it was the last thing he did.

How would he explain this to Hiccup?

Hell, how would he explain this to Astrid?

~~~

Fishlegs and J’Zargo were much more efficient than the twins and Snotlout. This was, as always, to be expected of the boy whose plans dictate his anxiety levels and a College student. Two days after they’d left with supplies, their new dragon saddles, and the letters for the Jarls of Falkreath, Dawnstar, and Winterhold, they’d settled in an inn in Winterhold.

And they’d also sent dragons to Whiterun. The forests near Falkreath held many kinds of dragons, specifically Deathsongs (they found an injured one and told it to head East to find the Dragonborn), Terrors (of course, those things were like rats), and Timberjacks (by the Nines, those things were big). Both Riders, studious and intrigued by each species they found, were sure to follow in the footsteps of the Dragon Masters. The rehabilitation of dragons, as well as the recruitment, was easier said than done, sure- most dragons were just happy to be free from Alduin’s control- but when the Dragonborn was brought up, all of them said the same thing.

“He’s awoken?”

“He’s building a second dragon army?”

“He’s helped by a Sunless Fire?”

“Where? I wish to assist.”

By the time their delivery in Winterhold was a success, the Nord and the Khajiit suspected that they’d sent around fifteen to twenty dragons to Whiterun. Meatlug had even spoken to some Nadders around Winterhold and they all said that they were looking for a missing flockmate who wasn’t conscripted into Alduin’s army. If they could reunite a family with a missing flockmate, Fishlegs would call the whole mission a success.

Ultimately, the next morning rolled in and the Jarl of Winterhold came to personally deliver his response to the Riders. Fishlegs let him meet Meatlug and Flutter while J’Zargo grabbed some books and a few items from the College library. Something about mind control spells and an eye? The boy wasn’t as well-versed on magic as he would like to be, admittedly.

After the Khajiit returned, they took to the skies and began flying south to bank around the Throat of the World and head back to Whiterun. It would have been a smooth flight, but flying over the Hold of Eastmarch gave way to more trouble than either of them wanted. It started out simply enough, with Fishlegs feeling an odd sense of danger. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, almost anything scared the boy, but this gut feeling gave way to panic as a large net launched into the sky out of the forests and wrapped over and around the Gronckle. Meatlug’s tiny wings instantly failed as she tried to right herself. The net won and soon both dragon and Rider were falling from the sky.

“Shit! Hold on, Fishlegs!” J’Zargo angled Flutter towards them and tapped her hide twice. At the same time, he activated the saddle’s cloaking spell and his own. Invisibility took over as soon as it could and Flutter dove down to catch the rope in her jaws. It slowed the descent a decent margin, but it wasn’t enough to prevent injury as Fishlegs and Meatlug fell through the tree cover into the middle of an encirclement of five men with crossbows.

The Changewing and Khajiit stayed above the trees until they found a suitable landing spot and could run over. Still invisible, both of them ducked behind some tall shrubs and a large tree trunk right as the men surrounding the other Rider pulled him from the net.

“Look at what we got here, boys! One of those Dragon Riders that Viggo told us about!” The largest of the men said. He held up his crossbow and shot a green-tipped bolt into Meatlug’s hide. The dragon roared and collapsed to the forest floor, “The Gronckle will fetch us a pretty penny, but maybe this lad will get us the real prize.”

“Real prize?” J’Zargo muttered under his breath. The name Viggo immediately set off alarm bells in his head, as it was the name of the hunter after Hiccup. Maybe they wanted the Dragon Master’s knowledge?

“Isran, do you think this Gronckle can make us that new metal blend Viggo mentioned?” Another hunter said as he tied the wrists of Fishlegs. The boy was shaking now, mumbling something that not even J’Zargo’s cat-like senses could make out.

“We’ll have to take it back to the Fort and see Gunmar. Maybe he can make the beast listen,” the big man, Isran, gestured to the other three hunters, which were made of a wood elf, a Nord, and an orc, “Beleval, Ingjard, Mogrul. Get the boy onto the cart and shut him up. We’ll drag the Gronckle. Remember this day, my friends, as the day the Dawnguard regained its glory!”

“Yes sir!”

J’Zargo motioned for Flutter to stay quiet until the group disappeared down the trail in the forest, then pulled a piece of parchment from the book on his hip. He quickly wrote down a note and clipped it to Flutter’s saddle, between the front of it and her scales.

“Make sure this gets to Hiccup, okay girl?”

“Will you be alright?” Her eyes were filled with worry and she shifted uncomfortably on her paws. This Khajiit was one of her very first friends. Leaving him would feel like torture.

He pressed his forehead to the Changewing’s, “I’m not sure, but I’ve been known to get out of things like this okay. Just go, quickly, before they come back looking for more game.”

Flutter nodded, pressing herself against J’Zargo in what could be seen as a hug, then her wings spread and she was cloaked in her invisible scales before she made it to the sky. J’Zargo turned in the direction that the hunters went and booked it through the forest after the men who took his friends.

~~~

The night was beginning to take hold over the city of Whiterun.

For all of Hiccup’s time in Solstheim, around Skyrim, and in crypts and tombs, nothing could compare to watching the dusk fade to twilight then to nightfall from atop Dragonsreach. Usually, he made his perch on one of the railings for the balcony at the very top, the one connected to his father’s bedchamber. This balcony overlooked all of Whiterun, from the fountains in front of the castle, to the stables just outside of the walls. As night fell on them, the lanterns around the town square instantly went alight, burning low. It was a simple enchantment done by Spitelout from before Hiccup was born that had stuck around the twenty or so years since then.

From here, Hiccup could watch the mini feast happening in the square to celebrate… something. Maybe some kid in the village finally got an apprenticeship, or maybe someone found a missing item, or maybe some people were just really bored. One thing Hiccup learned pretty early on in life is that Nords will find any excuse to get drunk and party like there’s no tomorrow. He suspected that the people down there would be regretting this when they wake up tomorrow missing a shoe or curled up around a food vendor’s stall.

He folded his arms and leaned down on the rail. It was truly a beautiful night. The stars poked through what little daylight remained and Hiccup could see the endless expanse of the world outside of this planet. His father always said that the stars were gateways to Sovngarde, the realm of the dead, and that Hiccup’s mother used them to check on her son during the night. It helped with the nightmares he’d sometimes have as a kid and it made the nighttime his refuge.

Now, he had the embodiment of night as a best friend. Hiccup didn’t fail to see the hilarity in it.

Toothless was almost a god-send. Had Hiccup not found him, not discovered the truth about the dragons, that they could be befriended, he probably wouldn’t have become as powerful as he is now. Or confident. Or strong. Or fast. His father had been saying that the dragon unlocked something in Hiccup, like Toothless was the final key needed to open the chest of secrets.

The twilight slowly faded into shades of purple and orange as the day ended. Hiccup could now hear the music from the town square and the cheers of whatever it was they were partying over. He should probably go down and join them, as he could see the hulking shape of his father with everyone. He wasn’t that difficult to spot in a crowd.

“Hey, mister broody-pants. Your dad said you’d be up here.”

Hiccup flinched and turned to see Astrid close the door to the balcony behind her. She had her usual cloak over her shoulders and her hair was down again. It was said that her name meant Divine Beauty and Hiccup would be the very last person in the world to say that she didn’t embody that very title.

She walked over and sat against the railing next to him, “The view from here is gorgeous.”

“Yeah, it is,” he said, not looking away from her. Astrid’s eye caught his and she scoffed, looking away and nudging his arm with her elbow.

“Was that flirting, Haddock?”

“What’d you do if I said yes?”

“Tell you that you’re an idiot,” she smiled and turned back to the city, “Were you gonna go down there?”

“I probably should, Jarl’s son and all, but we have an early morning tomorrow,” Hiccup fiddled with a loose string on his shirt, “Toothless is already passed out in my room.”

“How did Stoick take to him sleeping there and not the Porch? I doubt he was okay with it.”

“Surprisingly, he understood. What about your parents? You haven’t really told me what they said to you when you went to go see them.”

That was true, she hadn’t. The day they returned to Whiterun, after Hiccup’s discussion with Stoick, Astrid had gone down to her parents’ place to say hello and explain where she’d been. They were, understandably, very upset and Astrid came back to Dragonsreach with a red face and puffy eyes. Hiccup hadn’t asked her what exactly happened that day, as he knew better than to ask her in the moment.

Astrid sighed and stared blankly at the city, “They hate her. When I walked in, my dad was furious that I hadn’t returned. And the word of me being one of the dragon riders got to them before I could. I tried to tell them about her, that she wouldn’t hurt me whatsoever, but they wouldn’t listen.”

The pause she left permeated in the air, “They told me about my uncle.”

“Your uncle?”

“My uncle Finn. They told me how he actually died. I thought it was from sickness, but… it was when we were seven. The dragon raids that year were apparently disastrous. My uncle went to save someone and a-“ she swallowed, “A Nadder got him. They said he was ripped in two.”

Hiccup didn’t respond. He instead moved next to her and put his arm around her shoulders. He felt them shudder slightly as tears threatened to fall. Astrid welcomed his embrace, tightening her arms around herself and leaning into him. They stayed like that for a good while as the sun fully set and the lights of the room behind them slowly filtered to the balcony.

“I understand why they didn’t tell me,” she whispered, “But things have changed. I know Stormfly wouldn’t hurt me, but they don’t want to take that chance. My dad said it was either her or my family name.”

She collapsed into him, her tears finally falling. To be told it was either your best friend or your family… Hiccup fully expected it from his father, but the Hoffersons? He said nothing, his arms around her still. How do you confront something like this? He was able to convince his father because he showed his strength alongside the dragon. But Astrid’s parents could rival Stoick in terms of stubbornness. She had gotten that, but her kindness and compassion and resilience shone through.

“Astrid, they just need to be shown,” he said plainly, “I get their nervousness, but once they see you and Stormfly in action, they’ll know why it was unfair to make you choose.”

“And if they don’t? What if they never understand and I lose my family?”

“You still have me,” he turned her face towards him, “You have me and Toothless and Stormfly. We may not be related by blood and two of us may be dragons, but we are still family. Solstheim proved that to me.”

She nestled her head in the crook of his neck. Gods, Hiccup wanted to kiss her. So bad. After his talk with Gobber, he realized his little crush from the last few years had blossomed into a full-on love and appreciation for her. The months they spent traveling together only amplified it, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her. It was never the right time, never the right atmosphere, never the right moment.

It was never perfect. And Astrid deserved perfection.

He resorted to rubbing his hand along her shoulder and gently pressing a kiss to her head, “We’ll figure this out, Astrid. We always do, as long as we do it together.”

“You’re right. Can we… stay like this? A little longer?”

“Anything for you, milady.”

Hours passed. The night fully took hold of the sky and Hiccup began to point out the constellations. He spoke softly and guided her eyes gently to each group of stars. It was a welcome distraction and soon enough, Astrid’s head was dipping and her eyes were dropping. Hiccup sighed with a smile and turned to gather her in his arms, one across her back and one under her knees. He made his way down to one of the guest rooms and laid her across the bed, taking extra care to throw her cloak over her.

He knelt down next to her and pushed a strand of hair away from her tear-stained face, “Goodnight, Astrid.”

“I love you,” he added with a whisper. He pressed another kiss to her forehead and walked out, taking another glance at the sleeping girl.

Hiccup walked down to the Porch to check that every dragon there had settled for the night, when he heard a distressing cry from the East. In a flurry of wings, Flutter the Changewing landed heavily on the stone of the Porch’s terrace and bounded after Hiccup once she saw him.

“Dovahkiin! Nust gahrot rok!”

He raced over and held his hands up to calm her, “Hey, hey! Flutter! Calm down, what happened? Where are the others?”

“Gone. Taken. Note on praal,” she gestured to the saddle that still lay across her back. Hiccup did a once-over before he found a piece of parchment stuck between Flutter’s scales and the front of the saddle. He put another hand on her snout as her body shook and she whimpered.

“It’s okay, girl. Go get some food and water, then head for your bed,” he said, “I’ll handle this.”

She nodded tiredly. If dragons could cry, Hiccup was sure Flutter would be bawling. He watched her shrink into her corner of the Porch and use her wings to cover her face. He turned away and opened the note, wondering what exactly happened. He slowly read it. Then he reread it. A third time proved that the words weren’t changing or a distraction or his brain playing tricks. No, the ink on the parchment stayed.

“Come to Fort Dawnguard.

The Dawnguard are working with Viggo.

They took Fishlegs and Meatlug.

-J’Zargo”

Hiccup nearly dropped it as he ran from the porch and to town to retrieve his father. If they took Fishlegs, who knows what they’d do to the other riders. Hiccup couldn’t let anything else happen. He had to go save them.

Notes:

Next time: Riften

Those of you who have played the Dawnguard quest may be seeing where this is going, but I just wanna say that we will be seeing some familiar faces soon ;)

Btw, giving the twins the Wabbajack was my older brother’s idea.

Chapter 17: Riften

Summary:

Dawnguards and Jarls and Vampires, oh my!

Notes:

Dawnguard!! I’ve only ever done this quest once and I immediately sided with the vampires!

“I heard they were reforming the Dawnguard,” Stoick said, “Vampire hunters, or something, in the old fort near Riften.”

Hiccup continued his pacing in Dragonsreach’s great hall. He had received the letter a mere thirty minutes ago and already his mind was racing. He pulled his father from the town square (he was still sober, miraculously) to tell him, so the two were in the hall to discuss. Astrid was still asleep upstairs and Snotlout and the twins weren’t scheduled to be back until the following afternoon. He only had Flutter’s account and the letter to go off of.

“But if they’re vampire hunters, why are they working with Viggo and hunting dragons?!” He said, “It makes no sense!”

“Easy,” his father said, “Money. Viggo probably mentioned his business of hunting dragons and selling parts, so maybe they’ve split off from Riften and are still using the old fort.”

“So I need to go to Riften and ask Jarl Laila to speak with them. She’s supposedly in charge of them now.”

“And while you’re there, you can ask about the other Grimborn. Hiccup, you need to go and rest before tomorrow. I suspect it’ll take a toll if you don’t sleep tonight.”

Hiccup stopped his pacing, “Dad, they could be hurting Fishlegs and Meatlug! They could’ve already found J’Zargo! I need to leave now before anything happens to them.”

“Son, you’ve been dead on your feet all day. You haven’t slept in nearly two days, and don’t try to pretend you didn’t sneak out before dawn today to fly with Toothless,” his father raised his hand when Hiccup tried to speak a defense, “You haven’t rested properly since you returned. I understand you wanting to go save your friends, but you have to trust that they’ll be okay. If you pass out during Fishlegs’s rescue, who will actually need rescuing?”

The boy clenched his fists and looked down at the wood floor of the hall. Stoick was right, as he almost always was. Something like this needed intricate planning and decision-making, something Hiccup wasn’t able to do currently. He had woken up before dawn, been at the forge all morning, had meetings with the council all afternoon, and then spent his evening tending to the dragons who had shown up on the Porch looking to assist the Dovahkiin in the fight against Alduin. His eyelids felt like stone and his foot ached, longing for rest from running around Whiterun all day.

Stoick stood up from his seat and walked over to Hiccup, “Go and rest. I’ll inform the council tomorrow morning after you’ve left. Then I need to speak with the Ingerman’s. They should know.”

“Okay,” Hiccup nodded weakly. He let his head fall to his father’s chest, “Thanks.”

“Anything for you, son,” Stoick ran his hand over Hiccup’s hair, then turned to let the boy walk past him and head for the stairs to his room. Hiccup sluggishly took each step until he made it to his bedroom. He carefullly stepped over Toothless’s tail and readied himself for bed. He underestimated how little sleep he’d actually gotten because once his head hit the pillow, Hiccup was out like a light.

~~~

The two riders silently prepared the dragons for the flight to Riften, each prepped buckle and shifting piece of leather filling the Porch’s stale morning air. Hiccup had told Astrid about Fishlegs once she got down from her room. She was, understandably, upset that he had waited. He let her know that it wasn’t his decision and that he knew if he had left without her, she’d be even more upset with him.

Neither of them spoke about the night before, either. Hiccup asked her quietly if she was feeling better once she got down, to which she responded with a shrug. He didn’t push or pry further, figuring that Astrid would let him know when she was ready. He still felt her skin on his lips from when he kissed her goodnight. The warmth of her just being in his arms lingered and he savored every bit of it in the chill of that morning.

Hiccup had also seen to Flutter that morning. The Changewing was exhausted from her flight and the worry about her friend, so she elected to stay behind in Whiterun and only go back to Fort Dawnguard should the team not return with J’Zargo within a week. Toothless gave the Changewing a headbutt in comfort before she returned to her bed on one of the upper catwalks of the Great Porch.

Soon, an hour before the first Council meeting of the day, Stoick emerged to the Porch, “Are you two ready?”

“Yeah, we’ve got everything in line,” Hiccup strode over from where he stood next to Toothless, “You know what to tell Snot and the twins?”

“Of course. You four be careful. The Dawnguard were vampire hunters, so they know how to take down a couple of human teenagers.”

“Well, they haven’t taken down two angry teens and their dragons,” Astrid said, still fiddling with a strap on her dragon scale armor, “They should’ve known better than to take Fishlegs. He’s like the nicest out of all of us!”

“Show them Oblivion, kids,” Stoick said, “If you need assistance, just send a message and I’ll be there with my diplomatic immunity and the A-Team.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Hiccup gave his father one last hug before he ran back and jumped onto Toothless’s saddle, “If we’re fast, we’ll be in Riften by midday.”

“Good thing we like going fast,” Stormfly chirped. She lowered herself for Astrid to get on. Both dragon riders gave each other a nod, then nudged their mounts. Stormfly’s massive feet slammed against the stone as she ran towards the edge of the terrace, opened her wings, and took to the sky. Toothless followed suit, his wings launching him and Hiccup further up than Stormfly’s initial jump.

They fell back into the usual formation of the Night Fury ahead and the Nadder a bit behind on their left. Hiccup found his internal compass again and pointed the pair eastward. Their flight was as silent as that morning. Hiccup tried his best to not cast anxious glances back at Astrid, but the one time he did, he only saw her hollow face and tired eyes. Had the night before really taken that much out of her?

He didn’t blame her, really. His mind went back to one of the days in Solstheim when everything had hit Hiccup all at once. He was just preparing their evening meal when his emotions caught up with him and he found himself sitting against the table with unstoppable tears falling down his face. Astrid came back to the temple at that moment and hurried to be at his side. Hiccup remembered crying himself to sleep eventually, held in Astrid’s arms. He couldn’t function for a full day after that, unable to leave Toothless’s side and feeling empty when Astrid’s hand left his.

She was his rock then, and he would be hers now. He had a debt to repay and he wasn’t looking to gather interest on it. Hiccup decided to leave the conversation for after they saved Fishlegs and got to the safety of Windhelm. Hours passed until they landed right outside of Riften as the sun reach its peak in the sky. Two Riften guards walked forward, spears raised at the dragons.

“Who are you?” one yelled, “What is your business?!”

Thankful for not having his helmet on, Hiccup spoke with his hands up, “I am Hiccup Haddock, the Dragonborn. I come bearing a message for your Jarl from my father, Stoick the Vast of Whiterun.”

“And the girl?”

“She is to come with me as my right-hand warrior.”

The guards whispered among themselves before one ran back to the gate and entered the city, leaving the other to move his spear slowly between both riders. Soon, the other guard returned with Jarl Laila Law-Giver. She held her hands behind her back as she strode forward, her blue-gem diadem sparkling in the rare clear-skied afternoon. She was flanked by ten guards, all equipped with swords and crossbows who looked just about ready to pounce on the Nadder and Night Fury.

“Hiccup Haddock, what a surprise,” she said smoothly, “My guard says you have a message from your father.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he slid off of Toothless and gave the dragon the sign to stay put as he reached into the saddlebag and retrieved the small bundle of parchment from Stoick, “He and I thank you for your assistance, Jarl Laila.”

She motioned for a guard to grab the bundle. Hiccup assumed she just didn’t want to risk getting near a dragon known to be born of lightning and death.

“The people of the Rift are happy to offer their assistance to the war against Alduin. We suspected that Skyrim’s strength as a people wouldn’t be enough to vanquish the beast, as we failed those thousands of years ago,” she said, “My court mage said a few years after Alduin returned that our best chance would be on the backs of dragons. I never thought that it would actually happen.”

Hiccup shifted on his feet, “Well, things in this world are always changing. I do have a few more questions, my Jarl, if you will humor me with answers?”

“I will try my best.”

“I’m assuming you are familiar with the gathering of the Dawnguard, correct?”

She nodded, “Of course. They were organized by my court, after all.”

“Then I am willing to bet that you have been made aware of their shift from being vampire hunters to being dragon hunters, all now under the command of a man by the name of Viggo Grimborn. Were you aware of this?”

Jarl Laila’s eyes went wide, “Dragon hunters? No, the Dawnguard is exclusively for vampires, as we’ve been having issues as of late. Why would they defy orders?”

“Ask them that when we drag them here,” Astrid said from where she still sat atop Stormfly, “They have captured one of our fellow riders and the dragon he befriended. Another rider came to us to say that the Dawnguard now work for the dragon hunters.”

“No, that cannot be right. They are lead by one of my most loyal housecarls! Isran would never-!”

“Gold tends to supersede basic loyalty, Jarl Laila,” Hiccup said plainly, “I wouldn’t be shocked if Viggo offered them a payment thrice the amount you gave them to protect you from vampires.”

She turned to one of her guards, the one who collected the message from Stoick, and whispered something to her. The guard gave her Jarl a nod before rushing back into the city, “I will send you with two of my best warriors to handle this situation. Isran must be returned to Riften alive to answer to me about his sudden change.”

“We make no promises,” Astrid said, “If we find that he has hurt our friends, then he will be punished.”

“As long as I can still imprison him for such a breaking of my trust,” Jarl Laila sighed deeply, “My warriors will meet you just outside of the mountain pass. It would not be wise to approach from the sky as they’ve been trained to be on the lookout for flying vampires and will likely do the same for dragons. Return Isran to me and I will compensate you greatly.”

“I thank you for your kindness, Jarl Laila.”

“You can thank me by ending this war, Hiccup. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have urgent matters on my hands.”

Hiccup bowed his head in respect as Laila turned on her heel, her blue and red dress billowing behind her. She walked back through the gate of Riften and Hiccup lost sight of her as the guards closed it behind their Jarl.

“She’s quite the character,” Toothless mumbled, “And she was fast to believe us.”

“We have no reason to lie to her. The vampires aren’t exactly helping with the war and if the hunters turned to hunting dragons, then Laila’s Hold is at risk,” Hiccup said as they took back into the sky to head northeast towards Fort Dawnguard, “We have to get them to stop, save Fishlegs and Meatlug, and head to Windhelm before anything else happens.”

“All while trying not to get cursed by vampires or captured by dragon hunters,” Astrid pointed out, “Honestly, the dragon cult was less trouble.”

“Didn’t one almost cut your hand off?” He shot her a look, eyebrow raised.

“Yes and I returned the favor by doing it back to him. Now, these guys have taken a friend and I intend to do the same thing,” she said it so matter-of-factly that Hiccup was convinced she could make the entire ordeal go exactly as planned just by speaking it into existence. He didn’t doubt that she could. Astrid was strong like that.

They flew the small distance towards the Fort in relative silence, only calling out if the other had spotted their Khajiit Rider. Hiccup noticed a small campsite just outside of the mountain pass and motioned for Astrid to land near it. When they did, they saw J’Zargo pacing in front of a dead fire, his small amount of supplies just barely enough to keep him on his feet.

“J’Zargo!” Hiccup called out, making Toothless land on the other side of the fire.

“Oh thank the Nine, you’re here,” the Khajiit’s shoulders slumped with the release of tension in his body, “They’ve taken Meatlug to the Fort, but I don’t know where exactly. Is Flutter here?”

“She’s back in Whiterun, the flight was rough on her,” Hiccup put his hand onto his friend’s shoulder in assurance, “But she got to us unharmed, only a little shaken.”

“Good, good. I’d be remiss if something had happened.”

“Understandable. Is the Fort further in?” Astrid asked.

He nodded, “Yeah. It’s pretty small and kind of damaged, probably due to its age. But there are like fifteen or twenty hunters in there.”

“We’ll have to sneak in and do recon. If you’re uncomfortable with it, J’Zargo, I can head inside. The hunters don’t know my face,” she gestured to the helmet that still say on Stormfly’s saddle.

If Hiccup were being honest, the masks were made on a whim. He didn’t look that much like his father and Astrid was only really known within the city that they couldn’t have been known by their faces in a place like Solstheim. But when Hiccup started fiddling with the mask and goggles combo he and Astrid used for storm and high-altitude flying, he got the idea to just combine the two. They were the most intricate pieces of armor in their ensamble, needed multiple passes and fittings to look and feel just right. They didn’t need them all the time, but the helmets soon became so well-known that they decided to use them whenever they weren’t in the privacy of the Temple of Miraak.

Hiccup turned back to Astrid, “If you’re certain. Looks like Asta is making a comeback.”

“And she will be the ultimate spy,” Astrid let out a genuine laugh that Hiccup found himself smiling at. She slid herself off of Stormfly and began to gather a cloak from the saddlebag, “I trust that you’ll be on the lookout for my distress signal?”

“Of course. A firebolt to the sky.”

Astrid removed a few of the more recognizable armor pieces, then threw the black cloak over herself. Her usual braid was taken out and she pushed it back into a high ponytail, just in case. Her axe hung on her back and she tested its fire enchantment on a nearby stump, immediately casting an ice spell when the stump went alight.

“Okay, I think I’m good.”

“Cool. What’s the cover?”

“I am a student of the College of Winterhold who overheard news of a recently formed group of dragon hunters in the fort near Riften. I am angry and want to join despite being sixteen. If they ask for proof of combat ability, I pick out the biggest guy and take him down.”

“Just like prison,” Hiccup joked. Astrid grabbed a small bag of provisions then left the camp to make her way through the mountain pass and towards Fort Dawnguard. Hiccup then set to helping J’Zargo make a better camp (this was a privileged Kahjiit son-of-a-noble who went to a fancy mage college, he didn’t know shit about making a fire). They were situated behind a pile of rocks beside the path to the Fort, so unless you were looking, it wasn’t noticeable to passersby.

By the end of the afternoon, the warriors promised by Laila arrived. They were both Nord men, one named Harrald and the other named Unmid Snow-Shod. They both seemed strong and not at all interested in rescuing a dragon and her rider.

When night hit, Astrid returned, now bearing a crossbow in her hands, “Okay, quick rundown- who the hell are they?”

“The warriors Laila sent,” Hiccup pointed to each of them in turn, “Meet Harrald and Unmid. Guys, this is our eyes on the inside, Astrid.”

“A pleasure,” Harrald said from where he sat by the fire.

“I’m just here to take Isran. You can deal with the other stuff,” Unmid mumbled. He leaned against a nearby tree, clearly uninterested in anything but getting the Dawnguard’s captain to prison.

“So,” Astrid ignored the harsh greeting, “I found where they’re keeping Meatlug. There’s a forge just inside of the entrance to the Fort, and they have her chained and muzzled. Fishlegs must be deeper inside.”

“If they are keeping Meatlug alive, then they probably want to use her to make Gronckle Iron,” Hiccup said, “And they know that if they hurt Fishlegs, then she’d go ballistic, so they’d keep him alive but out of the way.”

“There was a way to look down into the lower levels from the ground floor, so I could see what looked like cages, possibly for vampires.”

“Then they’d be enchanted to hold such people,” J’Zargo added, “It isn’t an easy enchantment, I’ll say that much. Vampires can blink between shadows, so you’d have to account for it.”

“So we get in, find the key, get Fishlegs out, then grab Meatlug and fly out of there,” Hiccup noted, “Simple enough, but knowing us, it won’t be.”

“Where do you want us?” Harrald asked.

“We’ll take you in as ground support. Say you are coming to check on the Fort’s vampire hunting and their strength to report back to Jarl Laila. Astrid will be in there with you and Toothless and I can be in the sky in case things go south and we need to pull you out.”

Astrid cracked her knuckles, “Be prepared for a fight. Isran said that the dragon-hunting was supposed to be secret, with the vampire-hunting as a cover. If anything slips and you let him know that you know, he won’t let you leave alive.”

“Then he’d better be bloody good,” Unmid said, “My sword is itching for his blood.”

“Good to know you’re eager,” Hiccup said, “We’ll rest up tonight and head in tomorrow morning, got it?”

A mutter of “yes sir” and “got it” came from the Riften soldiers.

~~~

Astrid took the mountain road again with Unmid and Harrald at dawn the next morning. Their cover was simple: she met them on her way back from Riften and decided to walk with them on their way to collect information regarding the vampire huntings.

The mountain pass opened up and Astrid caught sight of the tall towers and adjacent stone building that made up Fort Dawnguard. It was said that this Fort was built to specifically hold the cursed son of an old Jarl of Riften. As such, the Fort was built far into the mountain, with only one easily-accessible entrance in and out of it. The path ran through Dayspring Canyon, with small offshoots to various other abandoned camps around the mountain.

It stood proudly, though, as if it wasn’t being sullied by men lying to their Jarl. The trio made their way to the main gate and Astrid yanked on the circular door knobs to open them enough to let them in.

“Asta, welcome back!” Another hunter, one by the name of Beleval, said as Astrid lowered her hood, “And I recognize the greatest warriors in Riften, Harrald and Unmid! Welcome to Fort Dawnguard!”

“Good to see you too, Beleval,” Harrald said, “We’ve come for Isran. Is he in?”

“He’s up in his office. Let me take you,” the wood elf stood from where she sat and waved her hand for the two men to follow her, “Asta, head down to the armory and make yourself useful, if you would, please.”

“Of course,” Astrid nodded and watched them leave before she took the path through the Fort to the armory. She sidestepped another hunter she forgot the name of when she entered. The armory was just a large room filled with crates of crossbows, crossbow bolts, swords, axes, and war hammers. It wasn’t necessarily organized, but it had an offshoot to the Fort’s forge at the back of it. Maybe she could take a peek at Meatlug and assure her that she’d be out soon?

Astrid risked it and went to the door. It wasn’t locked and it luckily didn’t creak at her opening it. The indoor forge was smoky and hot, and towards the back, near the fireplace, was the tied-up silhouette of Meatlug. She was still chained and muzzled, and her eyes widened at the sight of Astrid.

The Nord girl stalked forward and held out her hand to the dragon. She could barely move, but her body shifted in a way that showed she desperately wanted the touch of a familiar human. Astrid placed her hand onto Meatlug’s chin and scratched gently, “Hey girl. I can’t undo the binds, but Hiccup, Toothless, and I are here to get you and Fish out. I’ll be back for you when I can.”

Meatlug let out a low rumble at the contact and whined slightly when Astrid pulled away.

“I promise we’ll get out soon,” she nodded at the Gronckle and slunk out of the forge. She busied herself with the impossible task of organizing the armory, just to make it seem like she was doing something useful. She slightly slowed when she heard the Dawnguard blacksmith come back. He was grumbling something about “idiot men” and “stupid dragon” when he left to return to his forge.

Then, Harrald gently slid into the armory, “Asta.”

She met him halfway and he whispered something in her ear that made her blood run cold.

“They’ve taken your friend to a vampire den.”

He shoved a piece of parchment into her hands, “Use this to get there with Hiccup. You’re faster, so you can launch a front ambush on them. They said that whatever is within the den is important enough to need a prisoner.”

“They openly said they’d sacrifice him?”

“Tried to convince us that he’s a thief who deserves it. Now run, girl,” he pushed her towards the door, “They cannot know that you know.”

Astrid stepped past him and bolted out of the armory. She fled through one of the many side exits and through a thicket of trees near the path down the mountain. Her legs moved as fast as she could force them and soon she emerged ahead of the initial party and into the campsite, “Hiccup! They have-“

“Woah, okay, take a breath,” he stood from the ground and walked over. He straightened her back to stop the restriction of airflow to her lungs, “Deep in, slow out.”

She was breathing normally within a few seconds, “They took Fishlegs to a vampire den with Unmid. They lied and said he was a thief who needed to prove he was useful before they let him join them,” she passed him the piece of parchment, “We have to go now. Harrald and Unmid are gonna flank them and we’ll ambush from the front.”

“Did they say why this den in particular?” J’Zargo asked as he went to join Hiccup near Toothless and Astrid climbed onto Stormfly.

“No, just that it was important.”

“Might be worth checking out after we get Isran to Riften.”

“For now, though,” Hiccup said, “Let’s focus on getting Fishlegs out of there. J’Zargo, can I trust you to go get Meatlug?”

“I’ll do my best, my friend.”

He nodded at the Khajiit and then he shot into the sky, Astrid and Stormfly not that far behind. As soon as they were in the air, Hiccup spotted the group of hunters walking down the path from the Fort. He suspected that it would take them another hour or two to walk to the den marked on the map, so he and Astrid had enough time to set up their ambush.

It took no time at all to scout the cliff on which the den entrance sat, find a proper place to lie in wait, and plan out how to take down the warriors. They’d done this plenty of times in Solstheim, dealing with the dragon cult of Miraak. Sometimes, the First Dragonborn would use what little power remained in him from Oblivion to cast himself to his followers and scare them in the middle of a fight.

Hiccup found himself almost enjoying the thrill of the hunt. Sure it was a simple ambush, with the dragons playing support and Hiccup and Astrid on the ground, but he missed it when they could go crazy on the cultists back on Solstheim.

The hour passed quickly and Hiccup could hear the thumping of feet and the clinking of armor as the group of hunters escorted Fishlegs to the den. They walked up the path of the cliff and settled just outside of the cave mouth.

“Alright, men, send the lad in first,” a man Hiccup assumed to be Isran said, “We’ll be out here for support.” Despite looking like a normal man, the last sentence dripped in venom. Sending a teenager in as bait for vampires, what an honorable man they were dealing with.

Hiccup lifted his helmet a bit and raised his fingers in a whistle. As soon as he did, Astrid and Stormfly jumped from their hiding spot on the mountain and swept down to grab two of the hunters. She shot back into the sky and tossed them somewhere down the path.

“What the-?” Isran barely got two words out before Hiccup launched himself out of his spot and batted the back of the man’s neck with the end of his glaive handle. The enchantment instantly sent Isran flying forwards, away from Fishlegs.

Hiccup ran to his friend and used the blade to cut the bindings, “Hey, sorry we weren’t here sooner.”

“No, I’m just glad you’re here at all!” Fishlegs said. He rubbed the spots of his wrists where the ropes burned him.

“We’ll have Astrid look at those later. Harrald, Unmid! Protect Fishlegs!” He shouted to the Riften soldiers, “Astrid and I will get Isran!”

“Yes sir!”

“Take him alive, Haddock!”

Hiccup nodded and ran over to meet Isran further down the path. The man had regained his balance and shifted his weight to lunge at Hiccup, who turned on his right foot to dodge the blade. He raised his glaive and swiped at Isran. The Dawnguard captain dodged as well, jumping over the swipe meant for his ankles. Hiccup pulled back a few feet and began to circle around to find an opening. Isran held his sword in his right hand and kept his left on the crossbow on his back. He didn’t draw the ranged weapon, possibly due to lack of opportunity. Hiccup had to make sure the man never got it.

Isran lunged again, this time turning to swipe his sword at Hiccup from the right. The Dragonborn was barely able to avoid it and the blade scratched the armor on his left arm.

“Quite an impressive set you’ve got. I wonder how much it’d go for on the open market!” Isran said, lunging again to stab through the armor on Hiccup’s chest. Hiccup flew to the left and grabbed Isran’s wrist, the one holding the sword, then moved his hold of the glaive to right below the blade. He shoved the blade through the strap holding the crossbow to Isran’s back, then used his metal leg to kick it down the mountain.

Releasing the man’s wrist and falling back, Hiccup only laughed, “Trust me, this armor is priceless. The second you kill me for it, you’ll blink and find yourself in Sovngarde.”

“And why is that?”

Instead of answering him, Hiccup just gave him a wicked grin. Isran’s face went from angry to confused, but then he was yelling when a mass of black scales launched itself at him from the air. Toothless’s claws pinned Isran to the ground and he let out a sharp roar in the man’s face. The purple light of a building Shout resonated in the back of Toothless’s throat and Hiccup only laughed.

“Because of him,” he answered plainly.

“Get this- this beast off me!” Isran yelled. Why he was trying to intimidate a Night Fury was beyond Hiccup.

“Only if you agree to go back to Riften and answer to your Jarl. Laila was very disappointed to hear of your switch to dragon hunting,” Hiccup said, “She thought she could trust you and your men to protect the Hold from vampires, and yet…”

“Fine, imprison me for all I care! Just get this dragon off of me!”

“Hey man, you agreed to it,” the Dragonborn kicked the sword further away. He reached into one of Toothless’s saddlebags and pulled out a length of rope, “Get off him, bud.”

The Night Fury lowered his head first, “Try anything funny, and I will take you into the sky and drop you from above the clouds.”

Isran’s eyes went wide in shock and Toothless slowly backed off. Hiccup rolled Isran to his stomach and tied his arms behind his back. Another kick and roll brought Isran to a sitting position. A few minutes later, Stormfly flew up and dropped two tied-up Dawnguard members right next to Isran.

“Nice work, milady!” Hiccup called up to Astrid.

She huffed, “Little bastards kept trying to get away. We had to pin one of them to the mountain!”

“Well you know what they say about desperate men,” Hiccup walked over to Stormfly and held out his hand, “Hey girl, wanna give me some help?”

The dragon brought her tail down and let loose a single spike, which landed harmlessly in Hiccup’s hand. He turned it over and walked to Isran. The man was still eyeing the Night Fury that was glaring at him and his men, but he looked over to see Hiccup kneel in front of him and press the spike’s flat side to the side of his neck.

“Now, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way,” Hiccup said, “What is in that den?”

“As if I’d-“

Hiccup turned the spike around and held it closer to Isran’s neck, “What. Is in. The den?”

“We heard rumors,” one of the men next to the leader said, “About a vampire princess who was around during the first dragon war. She could command the dragons and she helped some man create an army.”

“Did you think she could be used to gather more dragons for sale?”

“If we kept our mouths shut, yes.”

“See, now, you are a great interrogation victim,” he turned to the other hunter, the spike still held to Isran’s neck, “So you were going to use my friend to, what, lure the princess out of hiding?”

“Yes.”

“Fat lot of good that did. If this vampire princess really does exist, maybe she should be given a choice in the matter? Maybe she’d want to travel through this world of the future.”

“Or maybe she’d kill your asses for entering her home uninvited,” Astrid said.

“Whatever she’d do, I doubt it’d include working for you. Now, why are you working with the dragon hunters?”

“Grimborn came to us and told us of the den in exchange for a dragon rider,” Isran said, “He knew we’d do it, keep up our end of the bargain, so he gave us the information freely.”

“Did you not think he’d have something else planned? What if you went in there and he instead killed you for daring to step on his toes?” Hiccup asked. He watched the cogs turn in Isran’s head, like he’d never thought of that, “You really are just a brute, huh? Did he say where he was going?”

“Something about a Ratway. Didn’t say much more.”

“Well, thank you for your time,” he spun the Nadder spike in his fingers before impaling it into the ground between Isran’s legs. The man squealed in shock, then looked down to see no injured bits, “I’ll leave you three to Harrald and Unmid. If I hear anything about you trying to hurt more dragons, you’ll answer to him,” Hiccup jabbed his thumb towards Toothless, who just let out a low rumbling growl on-cue.

Hiccup didn’t wait for them to respond before standing up and walking out of the way of the two Riften soldiers. He watched them gather the three hunters and begin the trek back to their Hold capital. He really hated being mean, but when innocent dragons are at stake, Hiccup would do anything to protect them.

“Do you think what they said is true?” Astrid asked him.

“Only one way to find out.”

“We’re seriously not going into a supposed vampire den, right Hiccup?” Fishlegs poked his head out from behind Stormfly. The Nadder took on a habit of stepping in front of those she wished to protect and Fishlegs didn’t know her well enough to ask her to move so he could see what happened.

“I will. If she was a friend to dragons, we can use all the help we can get. Plus, it’s been thousands of years, I bet she wants to at least stretch her legs or something,” he shrugged, “I just know that us letting her out is better than them doing it. And if word gets around and she’s actually there, I don’t want someone getting hurt when I could’ve stopped it.”

“And you still don’t believe me when I say you’d make a good Jarl,” Toothless rolled his eyes and bumped his nose against his brother’s arm. Hiccup rested his hand on Toothless’s head, rubbing the warm scales.

“I’ll believe it when I see it, bud.”

Notes:

Next time: Vampires!!!

A cookie to whoever can guess who the vampire princess is. No it isn’t Serana (my sister yelled at me when I told her I replaced her).

Also: this is now my longest fic! Ever! Yay?

Chapter 18: Vampires!!!

Summary:

IM A VAMPIRE IM A VAMPIRE IM A VAMPIRE

Notes:

Say it. Out loud.

“You know, Hiccup, you really take me to the nicest places,” Astrid said, eyeing the fourth decaying vampire corpse on their path through the vampire den.

“Only the best for my right-hand lady,” he said from across the room. They’d stumbled upon the main living quarters of the vampire den and started looking for more information regarding the so-called ‘vampire princess’. Fishlegs took to trying to find if any of the ruined books were salvageable while Astrid was carefully removing enchanted pieces of armor and weapons from the corpses that littered the ground. If she was gonna be in the place that smelled like death, she was gonna get something out of it.

Stormfly and Toothless hung behind, with Hiccup telling them to go help J’Zargo with Meatlug and moving camp to just outside of the den’s entrance. Toothless wasn’t pleased to leave his rider, especially since he’d have to run the whole way back to the original camp, but Hiccup promised him a hefty prize of salmon when they got to Windhelm, so the Night Fury was less miffed about leaving.

Now, they creeped through the den’s caverns. What Hiccup was expecting, he didn’t know, but he knew that if there was a secret kept, it would be further in than this. He found himself wandering down another tunnel and finding more living space, some vampire weapons, and plenty of bodies.

The den- no, this couldn’t be just a den- the crypt opened up to a larger arena-like space and more dead bodies. Hiccup tried not to look them in the eyes as he walked around. He heard Astrid and Fishlegs behind him and turned to see Astrid had the other boy her axe and summon her magic-based one. Further and further they ventured into the crypt.

The tunnels opened up once more. Where Hiccup was expecting another living area or another arena, he instead found a large circular platform in the center of the cave. Stone pillars were strewn across tracks on the platform and Hiccup had to be careful, lest his prosthetic catch one and he falls. He walked up to one to see the purple reflective gem nestled on top of it. The pillar was a bit unsteady, but that was due to the fact that it could be moved.

In the center of the platform, though, was the main thing that caught Hiccup’s eye. Where the other pillars were just up to the boy’s waist, this one was taller than him. The cylindrical stone structure was covered by the carved gargoyle-like statue of a dragon that Hiccup had never seen before.

It was made of stone, but the plating of the scales more closely resembled metal armor. It had a long body, neck, and tail, and its head was smoother than any other dragon he’d encountered. It had its eyes closed and the tail wrapped around the pillar protectively as it stood atop it.

“Woah,” Fishlegs said as he and Astrid finally caught up, “What is this place?”

“I don’t know. Fish, do you recognize this dragon?” Hiccup stepped back to allow the boy a closer look.

“Well, it’s hard to make out details in the stone, but I think it could be a sharp class from the plating alone. I’ve never seen a Razorwhip, they tend to stay to the southwest, but this looks like it could be one.”

“Hiccup, what’s with this light?” Astrid said from Hiccup’s right. He looked over to see Astrid’s hand running through a soft purple light that ran from one short pillar to a random spot in the maze-like indents on the floor. It looked like an aurora borealis, with the way it danced and waved from where it rose.

“Well whatever it is, it looks like it’s important,” he followed the light to where it stopped. It ran across the lines to a circular indent. Hiccup looked between the pillar in its path and the indent, then walked over and pushed the pillar. It budged with a loud scraping sound and then slotted into the indent where it met the light. Immediately, the crystal on top shone purple and a new aurora was summoned, this time hitting a different indent on the other side of the platform, “Fish, go move that other one.”

The boy did as told, shoving another pillar in the way of the light. It, too, summoned another aurora and the pattern continued until every pillar had been moved to meet the aurora’s corners. Astrid and Fishlegs stepped back to the edges of the platform as Hiccup pushed the final pillar into place. The light merged with the original point and the purple faded to a bright white. It fell to the lines on the platform just as the central pillar, the one with the Razorwhip around it, rose out of the ground with a spin, like a corkscrew.

It spun until it was seven feet taller and an opening had been revealed.

An opening and a girl.

A girl whose blood-red eyes bolted open and mouth sucked in a deep breath. Her hands fell from where they rested, crossed on her chest, and she gripped the sides of the opening for stability. As she stepped into the light of the chamber, Hiccup got a better look at her. She had shiny black hair pulled into a braid, spiny black armor that gleamed red when she moved, and a golden capsule attached to her back, along with a double-headed axe.

She raised a hand to rub her temple before she looked up and made eye contact with Hiccup.

“Who… are you?” She asked, the fangs in her mouth causing a slight lisp, “How long has it been?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Hiccup tread over to her carefully and gave her his hand to use as a crutch as she walked away from the pillar.

“The dragons… Alduin… my brother-“ suddenly her eyes went wide, “Windshear!” She let go of Hiccup’s hand and turned back to the pillar. It had now lowered itself back into the ground and the dragon statue remained the same. The vampire’s hands trembled as she lifted them to caress the statue’s face, “Oh, Windshear, what happened to you?”

“Did you know that dragon?” Fishlegs asked, now letting the vampire know that there were two other people in the crypt.

“She was like a sister to me. She was alive when I went under,” the vampire said, “I don’t know what magic did this, but it needs to be reversed. I cannot live without Windshear.”

Astrid stepped up, letting Hiccup fall back next to Fishlegs. She put a hand on the vampire’s shoulder, “Hey, let me see what I can do.”

“I doubt anything. If my brother did this, then it’s the most powerful vampire sealing magic there is.”

“We should still have hope,” Astrid gave her a reassuring look then turned to the dragon statue. She ran her right hand along the stone, the fingertips igniting a brilliant golden glow of restoration magic. Then, she lifted her left hand. This time, it gave off a red shimmer of destruction magic. Astrid turned both hands to the dragon’s face and the gold and red spun together along the stone nose. The colors morphed into a deep orange that spread across the stone dragon.

Hiccup reached for the arms of the vampire and his friend when the stone started to crack in a lightning pattern. The light ignited a flash of white and orange and Hiccup moved to cover his eyes. When he looked back, the stone dragon was no more, instead replaced by a metal Razorwhip on the floor with Astrid now giving it a regular restoration spell.

“Windshear!” The vampire tore from Hiccup’s grasp and slid beside her fallen friend. The dragon was weak, but it had just enough strength to raise its head and place it into the vampire’s hands. The vampire let out a small sob as she pressed her forehead against the dragon’s nose, “Oh, Windshear. My favorite girl.”

The dragon crooned softly.

“She’ll be alright. It might take a bit,” Astrid said softly. She then stood up and let the two be, walking over to the two boys, “It’s a Razorwhip alright, and she’s just getting used to moving again.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Do you think she’ll answer my questions when she’s recovered?” Fishlegs whispered just loud enough for the two to hear.

“Let’s get them to safety before we get too scholarly,” Hiccup said, “Trust me, I wanna know more too, but we have to make sure we have a safe place for them. We’ll leave and stay in camp until Windshear recovers.”

“I’ll go see if J’Zargo is back with Meatlug and the others,” Astrid volunteered. At Hiccup’s acknowledging nod, she raced back through the crypt and out to the mountainside once more.

It took about an hour for Windshear to feel okay enough for her to stumble through the crypt. Hiccup and the vampire girl were on either side of her, with Fishlegs at the rear, as they stumbled across the mountainside and to the now-larger camp where Astrid, J’Zargo, and the dragons were resting.

Meatlug immediately ran for Fishlegs, who just wrapped his arms around the Gronckle. Stormfly was nestled with Toothless by one of the tents, but she was snapped out of her sleep by the Night Fury leaving their cuddle pile and meeting his rider at the Razorwhip’s side.

“Is that her?” J’Zargo asked.

“Yeah, they just need a place to rest,” Hiccup said. He helped guide the dragon to a secluded spot of the camp, then turned to the vampire, “We never did get your name.”

“Oh, I’m Heather. Who are you guys?”

“I’m Hiccup, and that’s Astrid, Fishlegs, and J’Zargo,” he turned to the dragons, “And we have Toothless, Stormfly, and Meatlug with us as well.”

“I’ve never seen other people who were friends with dragons. I thought it was just us,” she ran her hand along the metal plating of her dragon friend, “Dragon riding wasn’t accepted back then, so I doubt it is now. How long has it been since the Dragon War?”

“Long enough for Alduin to return.”

She looked panicked, “He’s back? I thought they killed him!”

“So did we. Instead, they used some spell to shunt him thousands of years into the future. To our time. Now he’s back and we have to stop him,” Hiccup shrugged, “We are the only battalion to work with dragons to stop this war.”

“I have so many questions.”

“And we can give you answers,” Astrid said, “But right now, you two need to rest and let yourselves get accustomed to living again.”

“Living,” Heather snorted a laugh. It was quiet, but Hiccup heard due to his proximity to the vampire. He stepped away to give the two more privacy as Heather turned her attention to her dragon.

Toothless walked up beside him, “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, bud. I’ll be fine.”

“You and I both know you don’t mean that,” the dragon sat beside his brother and raised his wing to shield him from the group, “What is it?”

Hiccup sighed and cursed the fact that this dragon could read him better than anyone else in Skyrim, “She’s from the first war. For all she knows, it could’ve been raging for the past thousands of years. Did we… make the right decision in waking her up?”

“Hiccup, you said it yourself. If we didn’t, then someone else would have and used her lack of knowledge of this time to their advantage. Just like a dragon trapper could do with any of us revived. If I were her, I’d be glad that I was awoken by a group of nice people who are friends with dragons. Astrid was powerful enough to break the spell on Windshear!” Toothless pulled Hiccup closer to him, “If anything, we were her best bet at getting out free, alive, and with her best friend.”

“You’re right.”

“I know I am.”

“Okay, you don’t have to gloat,” he laughed weakly and allowed himself to be fully hugged by Toothless’s wing, “We’ll fill her in tomorrow and then head back to Whiterun. I’ll have the others go ahead, just to get Fishlegs home and J’Zargo back to Flutter.”

“Good plan. You know I’ll stick with you.”

“Thanks, bud.”

“Anytime, brother.”

~~~

The next morning brought plenty of questions and plenty of answers over breakfast. From things like “Who rules Skyrim” to “have you figured out indoor plumbing”, Heather was a wealth of curiosity and she just so happened to be sitting before the four most intelligent dragon riders. Windshear was also recovered enough to ask the dragons some questions. Hiccup wasn’t surprised that the Razorwhip knew the common language of Skyrim, but he was shocked to hear that she wasn’t as fluent in the Dovah language as the others.

“That’s probably my fault,” Heather explained when he asked, “I found her when we were both little. My father wasn’t as attentive back then, and my brother was off killing who-knows-who, so all I really had was Windshear. I couldn’t find any other Razorwhips and the other families of dragons wouldn’t answer my pleas for help. So she only knew the Shouts instinctive to her and the language I spoke.”

“We can teach you more, if you want us to,” Stormfly offered.

“I’d like that. As much as I love this language, it did seem a bit off at times. Like I was missing something deeper,” the Razorwhip said, “I wish to be able to speak with my brethren.”

“Then we’ll start as soon as we are able,” Meatlug gave Windshear an affectionate bump with her head, “We have a Changewing who cannot speak the language of men, so we’ve taught her all we know.”

“Sounds like you’re good teachers. I’d be honored to learn from you.”

Heather smiled at her friend and the other dragons, “Sounds like she’s getting along great with them.”

“Yeah, the dragons we know are all very friendly. Well, minus the Zippleback, but they’re just chaotic,” Hiccup said, “You can meet them, if you want. We’re stationed in Whiterun. It’s just around the mountain to the south.”

“I don’t think I’ve been in that direction. Though, I would like to go see my brother back home. Do you think we could stop there first?”

“I’ll ask the others, but we should be heading back. This was originally a rescue mission after some hunters kidnapped Fishlegs.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Long story. All you need to know is that unless you know what to look for, you’re an easy target in the sky,” he explained, “We’re pretty well-known in the hunter space so it brings on the dichotomy of them being both too scared to take us out and too confident to not want to lose such a big prize.”

Heather hummed at his words, “How long have you been riding?”

“Only about seven or eight months. Toothless and I were… an odd meeting.”

“Enlighten me.”

“I interrupted the revival ritual. Alduin was there, almost done, when I used something to make him go down. He got away and Toothless was brought back missing his left tail fin. He couldn’t fly. When I met him, I promised to return his flight and I did. We’re like one dragon in the air.”

“I’ve only ever seen one man be as in-tune with a dragon as you. And he failed to kill Alduin all those thousands of years ago.”

Yes, Hiccup remembered that story.

Miraak only told him after Hiccup mastered the Unrelenting Force Shout. The man told the Dragonborn about his own friend. Miraak hadn’t yet succumbed to his “kill all dragons” mentality, though he would soon. He had befriended one dragon, a Thunderdrum, and had wanted to work together to take down the Elder Brother of Dragons. The Thunderdrum did fly into battle with Miraak, but was quickly taken back by Alduin. Thinking it was a betrayal, Miraak swore to kill every dragon he could. This ended up being the death of him.

Heather continued, “Are you sure it’s wise to do the same thing now?”

“Eh, even if it isn’t, I’m from a long line of rock-brained Vikings. This is the least I could be doing with a dragon at my side.”

“Apparently.”

“Besides, being the Dragonborn helps.”

That just unleashed a whole new round of questions. By the time the morning rolled into the afternoon, the other riders had broken down camp and prepared Stormfly and Meatlug for the flight to Whiterun and Windhelm. The plan was that Fishlegs and J’Zargo on Meatlug would go back and tell Stoick what happened, Astrid and Stormfly would fly to Windhelm to meet with Ulfric Stormcloak, and Hiccup and Heather, along with Toothless and Windshear, would fly north to Heather’s home.

Hiccup wrote a quick note for his father, gave it to Fishlegs, and watched the Gronckle fly off. When they disappeared around the mountain, he turned to face Astrid. Right before she got onto Stormfly, he grabbed her arm, “Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure,” she let herself be led away from prying eyes and listening ears.

“I just wanted to thank you. For- for everything,” he said, “I realized I haven’t exactly been doing that recently. You’ve been by my side since the Barrow and I wanted to let you know that I greatly appreciate it.”

She just gave him a knowing smile and slowly leaned in to kiss his cheek, “You’re welcome. And thank you. For being yourself.”

“Where did you learn that spell, by the way? Haven’t seen anything like that.”

“Just a little resuscitation spell. You’re not the only one who learned a thing or three from Miraak, dragon boy,” she winked at him, making his face go red, and spun on her heel.

He watched her leave, say a quick goodbye to Heather, climb onto Stormfly, and fly east to Windhelm. Hiccup couldn’t look away, even as she disappeared from sight. He resigned to tearing down the rest of camp with Heather, then following her lead towards her home.

Maybe she’d join their cause after reuniting with her family. Hiccup wasn’t one to try to predict the future, but given his track record, and his insane ability for gaining unlikely allies, he doubted that Heather could leave his side and stay home while a dragon war waged just outside of her doors.

It remained to be seen.

~~~

Hiccup wasn’t sure what he was expecting at the castle of the Vampire Lord.

Sure the man was nicknamed “The Deranged”, but that could be because of so many different things. Maybe he defied tradition, much like Hiccup, and didn’t drink blood like the other vampires. Maybe he just raised his voice one time and the others thought it would be funny to name him after that. Maybe he just really thought it was ironic, like Toothless’s name.

Heather gave no hints as to how her family was. If they were anything like her, and Hiccup hoped to the gods they were, then they were level-headed, loyal, and cared deeply for those around them. Heather said that there was a chance her father was gone, given the thousands of years she was asleep, and that her brother Dagur (the people of Skyrim were no stranger to strange names) had likely taken the seat of power over the vampires in her family.

When they landed on the docks outside of the ginormous castle, Hiccup felt himself shrink at the towering shape. It sat on an island in the Sea of Ghosts, just northwest of Dawnstar, and was only accessible by boat or flight.

Castle Volkihar, Heather said, wasn’t as inviting to outsiders as she made it seem, but it was her home for as long as she could remember. They stepped across the giant bridge that led upwards to the steel gate and wooden doors. Another vampire behind the gate stepped up and yelled, “Halt! Who goes there?”

“Calm yourself, it’s me and Windshear,” Heather rolled her eyes and gestured to Hiccup and Toothless, “These two are with me.”

“Oh, Lady Heather! It’s so good to see you again!” The vampire lowered his hand from where it rested on his sword’s hilt and moved to open the gate, “Come in! Lord Dagur’s been expecting you for hundreds of years!”

She stiffened at the mention of her brother. Hiccup assumed that the man was a sore subject, especially given the venom she spoke about him with. He just followed her into the castle, Toothless not far from his side. The entry hall was big, with three massive doors on every side, but the main hall was even bigger. It was about the same size as the Great Porch, but the Porch was big due to the large opening to Skyrim’s skies at the back. This place was just big.

Tall ceilings covered in candle-lit chandeliers, walls covered in tapestries and reliefs, shiny marble floors that has suspicious red stains on them, the whole hall was clearly meant for intimidation and showing of power. As if the massive tables on either side of the hall, covered in a feast of bloody flesh and animal carcasses wasn’t enough to make Hiccup want to jump on Toothless and fly out of there.

The rich copper stench of blood hit his nose and to him, that was the worst part. The vampire feast he could look away from, and the imagined feeling of flesh in his mouth he could ignore, but the smell lingered in his nose and soon he could taste it down his throat. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it was for the incredible senses of a Night Fury.

“Heather!” A voice called from the back of the hall. A man dressed in silver armor, with a large axe on his back, fire-red hair, and a lot of tattoos and scars on what skin Hiccup could see, flashed a fanged smile at the girl next to him, “How I have missed you, my dearest sister!”

“Not enough to come get me yourself, clearly,” she shoved his face to push him away when he attempted to hug her, “What the Nines, Dagur! Dad said to wake me up after a few hundred years, not several thousand!”

“Oh, Heather, Heather, Heather,” he tutted and shook his head, “You simply don’t get it! It was better this way, and besides, I knew someone would retrieve you. Eventually.”

Dagur turned to Hiccup, his eyes flaring wide with curiosity and desire once his eyes landed on Toothless. Hiccup instinctively moved to step in front of his brother. Dagur’s eyes shifted to a near-fury before he slapped himself in the face and laughed loudly.

“And who are these two?! Don’t tell me you’ve brought your betrothed?”

Hiccup and Heather glared at him while Toothless let out a warbling laugh behind his rider. Hiccup reached behind himself to flick one of the dragon’s ear flaps. Toothless responded by scratching a claw on the metal of Hiccup’s prosthetic.

“No, Dagur, he just saved me and Windshear from that crypt, which you put us in, by the way,” she pointed her finger accusatorially at him, “His name is Hiccup and he had half a mind to take me home because he’s nice. And his friend released Windshear from that spell you put on her.”

“Really? That spell was supposed to be unbreakable,” Dagur said, “Seems like I’ve got a mage to speak to. Well, whatever, you’re home and that’s what matters. Please, get to know the new members of the family!”

He turned and walked away, possibly to speak with an aforementioned mage. Heather’s shoulders slumped and she angled herself to look at Hiccup, “Sorry about him. He’s crazy.”

“I think that’s an understatement,” Toothless kept his gaze on the Vampire Lord. Dagur had just found one of the robed vampires and was now dragging them across the hall by the ankle, towards one of the many offshoot doors at the back of the room, “Is he always like this?”

“I think he got worse without me here, but he had the makings of a man known as the Deranged even when we were kids,” she shrugged, “But you can’t change your family, only change how you see them. And right now I need to not see Dagur before I kill him. Would you guys like to see to a guest room or are you okay with flying off-island.”

“I think that, no offense, I’d rather not stay in a giant castle with a bunch of vampires,” Hiccup said, “So we’ll either set up camp back on the mainland or you can meet us in Whiterun, if you still wanna join us, that is. We’re headed to Windhelm for a bit, but we’ll be there soon.”

“Oh, I do wanna join you. It’s not every day you’re given the opportunity to join the Dragonborn, his dragon, and their quest to kill the God of Destruction,” she flipped her braid of raven hair over her shoulder, “I’ll meet you down there in a few days, I think. I’ve gotta handle some stuff here before I go galavanting with Windshear.”

The Razorwhip nudged Heather with her head, “Come on, we should rest. It’ll be a long night of dealing with your cousins.”

“You’re right,” she rubbed the metal of her friend’s nose. The dragon returned the gesture with a purr of gratitude, “Well, you two have a safe flight.”

“You stay safe, Heather.”

“I’ll try.”

She turned and walked through the hall to a group of vampires who seemed to have been awaiting her arrival. Hiccup watched her jump into their conversation with ease. It almost made him envious. Before he could let his mind wander, though, he nudged Toothless back towards the stairs and out of the main hall. Once they were out of the castle, Hiccup stopped.

Dagur stood in the middle of the bridge down to the docks, arms folded and bloodied, “So, if you’re not my sister’s betrothed, then who are you?”

“She told you, my name is Hiccup, and this is Toothless. We’ll be off your island in just a second,” he steeled his voice, but took a step back when Dagur stomped forward.

“Listen here, dragon boy, I will tolerate a few attempted coups or an attempted murder or five, but if you harm my little sister, or her pet,” he spat, “I will show you what it’s like to feel real fear. You will be hunted and no matter where you are in Tamriel, I will find you, and I will kill you. Got it?”

Hiccup tried to avert his eyes from the blood red of Dagur’s. They weren’t even that red, but a bright amber color, his rage just emanated so immensely that Hiccup thinks it resonated into his eyes. Hiccup swallowed, “Loud and clear.”

Dagur’s expression immediately changed, a wide smile plastered across his face, the orange back in his eyes, “No need to look so gloomy, brother! My sister is home, this is a momentous occasion!”

Then, the man clapped a hand on Hiccup’s shoulder and walked around him to head back into the castle. The Dragonborn just stared ahead of him into the Sea of Ghosts and blinked his eyes a few times out of shock.

“Well damn,” the Night Fury said, catching a glance of his brother’s face, “He is certainly Deranged.”

 

Notes:

Next time: Damn Stormcloaks.

Eyyyyy Heather and Windshear are here!! The gang is complete now. I call them the Flock of the Dragonborn, as they’re like this weird little family now that’ll get closer as the final months of their year progress.

Chapter 19: Damn Stormcloaks

Summary:

Ulfric’s an asshole and the Ratways smell like shit!

Notes:

So i went to see the live-action httyd on Saturday and I gotta say,,,, holy shit did I love it. It only ignited my adoration for this franchise even more and I will not accept anything less than Cate Blanchett as Valka in the sequel.

Also: I turned 21 yesterday. Aging, it gets us all in the end.

Out of all the Jarls in Skyrim, all the rulers of the individual Holds of the High King, Astrid understood Jarl Ulfric Stormcloak of Windhelm the very least.

The man was the leader of the Stormcloak Rebellion, the very figurehead of the Nords of Skyrim and their traditional ways. The Civil War had been waging for fifteen years, after Ulfric challenged the High King, claiming that the Empire had gotten weak due to the bloodline of the King. He stood upon his right as a Nord and Jarl, and challenged the King.

He won. Then was branded a murderer.

The High King was dead and the crown was passed to Jarl Elisif, his wife. Ulfric rightfully fled from Solitude, meeting his people in Helgen to cross the border, but was stopped by an Imperial caravan. Rumors surrounding Ulfric and his mens’ eventual escape vary, some saying they just overpowered the Imperial soldiers, others saying that he wasn’t actually captured and that it was a ruse by the Imperials to keep the Civil War going.

Astrid heard a different story, one carried on the wings of dragons that she and Hiccup saved. These dragons all said the same thing: Alduin stopped Ulfric’s execution.

Helgen was razed, the town and its people decimated by the Great Destroyer’s fire. Many men, women, and children lost their lives that day, but by some miracle, Ulfric Stormcloak and the Imperial General Tullius were able to leave with only a few scratches and burns. As Helgen was in his Hold, Stoick sent soldiers there, as well as people to help find survivors, or, in many cases, bodies.

Then the man, against everything Astrid would have done, returned to Windhelm? Honestly, she ignored how he gained the Jarl seat through his father, or how he explicitly hated any person who wasn’t a Nord. She ignored how he made her deeply uncomfortable. Not in any reasonable way, just from the way he stood and spoke. The way he eyed the Nadder at her side. The way one of his loyalists asked how much Astrid was taking for the dragon.

Stormfly nearly killed him, only held back by Astrid’s arm and axe.

“Ask that again and you won’t live to see the next sunrise,” she said to the man. Ulfric said nothing, even though she was clearly threatening a soldier of his, in his Hall, in his city, in his Hold. He gave her a room, one with a balcony so Stormfly could sleep near her rider. He accepted that Hiccup had to speak with him.

After all, the High King was beaten through use of the Voice. Ulfric had studied under the Greybeards some thirty years ago. He never got it down for the most part, as he only stayed for a few years, but he learned enough to use it to gain an advantage over the King, then finish him off with a sword.

Ask any Imperial loyalist, and they’ll say Ulfric beheaded the King with the Shout and that he should be given the same fate.

Ask a Stormcloak rebel, and they’ll say Ulfric is now the true High King of Skyrim, through the Nord tradition.

And while the Civil War was still on hold to deal with the dragons, Ulfric and Tullius couldn’t wait to resume their fighting. Astrid assumed that the men only wanted Hiccup to get better, to find his Voice, so Alduin would be defeated before a decision was made about the Civil War. Hiccup had once told her that he didn’t care what happened to either faction, that the lands were once rightfully passed on to the strongest warrior, but that the Empire’s switch to the Imperial bloodline system was so ingrained into the being of Skyrim’s people that they’ve forgotten history.

He only ever said that he wanted to stop Alduin. If he accidentally brought the Civil War to a screeching halt, then so be it, but Hiccup didn’t care. Whiterun was the only neutral Hold in the kingdom, taking neither side despite the leaders’ attempts at swaying Stoick. He intended to keep it that way.

“In my opinion, if you want to hear it,” he had said one night three months ago when the topic came up, “Traditions are there for people to stay rooted and never change. But tradition changes for those in power. It can be whatever they wish it to be. That’s what happened. Both bloodline and challenge ruling are tradition, just from different Eras. If you asked me who should become High King, I would say leave it to the people. Let them vote on who to lead them. It’s only fair.”

And they never discussed it again.

Astrid spent most of her first day in Windhelm observing Ulfric. The man cared for his people, no doubt about that, but he also carried himself with an oafish confidence that Astrid had only ever seen in Snotlout and Tuffnut when he was impersonating Snotlout. Ulfric spoke of battle plans freely and openly, not even worried that someone might be listening in. He asked his mage if they’ve any new ideas on how to get Falkreath or Morthal. He’d eat and laugh with his soldiers, even if some of them treated him like a King already.

After her evening flight with Stormfly, Astrid landed in the small courtyard in front of Windhelm’s Hall.

“Quite the impressive control you’ve got there, my friend,” she turned to see Ulfric walk up to her, his bear-skin cape trudging along the ground behind him.

“It isn’t control, it’s trust,” she said plainly, “She and I just know each other well.”

“Does she have a name?”

“My name is Stormfly,” the Nadder said. Her crown of spikes and the spines on her tail shifted and tensed at the idea of speaking to Ulfric. Not that Astrid blamed her.

“A pretty name for a pretty dragon,” he nodded to her, “Miss Hofferson, when will Haddock be joining us?”

“I think sometime early tomorrow morning. He’s pretty fast on Toothless, especially if they’re flying alone.”

“This Toothless is the Night Fury, I assume?” At her hesitant nod, he laughed, “No need to be a stranger, Miss Hofferson. You and I both know that we are together in this war on Alduin.”

“Forgive my… reluctance, sir. My fellow rider told me that you saw Hiccup as a traitor to Skyrim,” she absently rubbed Stormfly’s nose, “All because he showed a little compassion.”

“I admit, I was quick to say that he betrayed his people, but after reading that note from Stoick, I’ll admit that it’s remarkable what the dragons can do. Especially if they’ve trusted someone enough to let them ride them.”

“Like I said, it’s all about trust. And I don’t trust you.”

“Your honesty is appreciated, Miss Hofferson.”

Again with the “miss” thing. She had been working alongside the General of the Second Dragon Resistance, as they were now called, and she was still just a girl in this man’s eye. And she was, only having turned sixteen last month, on their second-to-last day in Solstheim, a few weeks after Hiccup turned sixteen. She was still a teenager, a child, someone too in over her head. But she had proved herself, time and time again.

Back at the council meetings in Whiterun, Hiccup had named her his official second-in-command. If he was General Haddock, then she was Lieutenant General Hofferson. If he was to be Jarl, she was Captain of the Guard. The council members had started treating her as such, going to her with any questions they had about dragons, magic, dragon magic, or anything about Solstheim and the Greybeards. Even if Hiccup was right there.

The people tended to be split on who to lean towards. Hiccup, the previous Bane of the Hold, or Astrid, a teenage girl with a fierce demeanor. Spitelout would go to her first, but Stoick went to his son. Some council members defaulted to who they thought would make the better leader, and they were split between the two. Astrid and Hiccup decided, after a short discussion one night, that they were essentially splitting the role of General. It seemed like the best option anyway.

And, in the grand scheme of it all, there was one person who could call her any sort of nickname and that person was riding in on his Night Fury soon, ready to call her the word that made her heart flutter and her face flush even the tiniest bit.

“I don’t trust you,” she repeated, “But that doesn’t mean I will not allow you to join our side. Work with us.”

“What’s in it for me?”

“That’s something Hiccup will have to discuss with you, but I think not losing your kingdom to Alduin is a pretty good bonus. I just want you to know that the offer is on the table. Don’t choose the losing side in this war,” as she and Stormfly walked past him, she heard him chuckle lowly.

“And what makes you think you’re the winning side?”

She paused, glaring down at the stone and dirt beneath her feet. Astrid breathed in deeply and turned to the man. She put on her best ‘I want to fucking murder you’ smile and said, “Because Hiccup’s the only one who could do it. You simply don’t have the guts.”

~~~

At dawn the next morning, Astrid’s eyes traced the clouds in the sky. It was overcast, the grey masses swirling overhead, threatening rain and thunder. She just hoped that she would see the black dot fly out of them before the storm started. The boy and his dragon hated storms.

She kept her eyes trained before she saw the very familiar shape dive out of the sky, and she heard the very welcome screech of Toothless’s wings cutting the air he passed through. She smiled, eyes glancing over at the now-alert Ulfric Stormcloak.

“That is the best sound ever,” she whispered. His flinch told her that he heard.

Within seconds, Astrid saw Hiccup and Toothless land in front of her, the former’s helmet sliding off to face the rebellion leader.

“Ulfric Stormcloak,” he called, “A pleasure to meet you face-to-face.”

“Hiccup Haddock. Let us continue discussions inside,” he nodded his only greeting to the boy, though his gaze was trained on the Night Fury. He sharply turned and returned to his Keep.

Astrid rolled her eyes and sighed, “He has been a pain in my ass since I arrived.”

“What did you say to him?” Toothless asked immediately.

“I said nothing!”

“Not true, she called him a coward,” Stormfly said.

“Astrid!”

“Okay, I said that, but that was it!”

Hiccup sighed, swinging his leg over Toothless and getting off the saddle, “Okay, I’ll let it slide. He was kind of an asshole according to Snotlout.”

Astrid shot both dragons a death glare, “See?”

“Let’s get in there and talk. I trust he’s read my dad and I’s letters?”

“Yep. He even quoted one to prove it. The child did his homework.”

Hiccup laughed, “Of course.”

Their meeting in Ulfric’s war room consisted of Ulfric explaining what he had to offer, Hiccup giving him the boundaries for their alliance, and Astrid and the dragons glaring and growling at any soldier, housecarl, or warrior who stared too long. Astrid and Stormfly were on one corner of the room, while Toothless decided to be difficult and wrapped his body around Hiccup’s legs as he stood at the central table.

The Dragonborn didn’t seem to mind and almost welcomed the proximity to his dragon brother. Astrid recognized the move and dubbed it the “Cat Support”, where Toothless would literally hold Hiccup up during difficult times by contorting his body like a cat in a vase to wrap around Hiccup’s legs and the legs of the table or chairs nearby. Astrid once asked Toothless if it was planned, to which he responded, “It just happens. It’s actually very comfortable and he seems to appreciate it.”

Now that she has a better view of the Cat Support, she noticed the even smaller things. The way Toothless opened up the tiniest bit when he felt Hiccup shifting, or when Hiccup used his metal leg to scratch a spot on Toothless in comfort.

It all happened so naturally. The tiny gestures, the small touches, the minute details of Hiccup and Toothless’s brotherly bond shone through when Astrid barely expected them to. It went on through the whole meeting, even after Astrid walked up to join Hiccup at his right side. The Night Fury simply opened a spot near his tail and wrapped it around where she stood. She gave the tail a soft glance when it landed across her feet, then shot the dragon a knowing smile.

He simply huffed and returned to watching Ulfric.

They talked for a few more hours regarding the Stormcloaks, their outposts around Skyrim, and, eventually, Ulfric’s usage of the Voice.

“I don’t know much, just the first word of Unrelenting Force,” he admitted, “The story that I decapitated the High King with my Voice is wrong. I made him stumble, then stabbed him. The fight was won with a sword.”

“Still doesn’t change the fact that the Greybeards wish to see you punished for misuse of such a power,” Hiccup leaned in, “Though if you ask me, they need to get over it. How did you last so long in their sanctum without going insane?”

“I assume you stayed with them?”

“That’s a stretch,” Astrid said, “We tried to talk to them first, then they sent us away which resulted in Hiccup losing a leg,” the boy lifted the limb in question, “Then, we returned and stayed a day or two with them.”

“Worst days of my life and I spent two months in Apocrypha,” the Dragonborn mumbled.

“Damn, and I thought my year of being a monk was bad. You guys have been all over the bloody place,” Ulfric huffed and folded his arms, “You’re just kids. How’d two sixteen year olds and their reptiles become the saving graces of Skyrim?”

“We have names, you know,” Toothless’s head poked up from under the table, “Though most of your men see us as mindless beasts, we are capable of intelligent thought and speaking your language.”

“It gets really annoying having to explain this,” Stormfly added.

“Fine. How’d two teenagers and their two dragon best buds become the saving graces of Skyrim?” Ulfric corrected, “Honestly, you four have done more in seven months than all of us Jarls and our mages could in fifteen years.”

“I mean, it kind of helps that we are assisted by Paarthurnax, take no shit from people, and are just faster, in both a mind sense and a traveling sense. You’d be surprised how much gets done when you eliminate travel time,” Astrid shrugged, “Even when the Night Fury goes too fast and has to wait for you.”

Hiccup shook his head, “It was one time, Ast, and we said we were sorry.”

She glared harder, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

“Hiccup, your father said in his letter that you two are planning a meeting in Whiterun for all the leaders of Skyrim. I assume this means the dragons will be in attendance?”

“What else would it mean?” He asked, “Toothless is as much of a General as I am. Astrid and Stormfly are my right-hand man and right-wing dragon. We will have Arngeir and Paarthurnax of the Greybeards, as well as a few other allies we have made.”

“I assume you won’t tell me ahead of time?”

“No, as any preconceived grudges that may prevent someone from coming need to be avoided and buried as soon as possible,” Hiccup said, “I’m close to ending this war, but to do so, I need the support of every leader in the kingdom. Your fight for our traditions is overshadowed by the destruction Alduin will bring if we do not stop him. This is more than the Civil War.”

“I understand that, Haddock, though do know my apprehension for working alongside the Imperials. I will do so for the time being, but once Alduin is in the ground, I will show no mercy,” Ulfric reached to his left and grabbed a small scroll, “This is for your father. He will know what I mean.”

Astrid took the scroll and left the huddle to drop it into her “important items” saddlebag, alongside Meridia’s Beacon, one of the Black Books, a replica Golden Claw, and some other personal treasures from their travels. She kept these items separate from the others out of convenience. Mainly because the Beacon was much easier for Toothless to grab when it was the largest item in the bag.

Hiccup and Ulfric finished their formal pleasantries and once the final word left the Stormcloak’s mouth, they both visibly, physically relaxed. Hiccup gathered the remaining maps and note sheets to place them into his armor, “Hey, one last thing, just as a general question.”

“What is it?” Ulfric removed the diadem from his head and placed it on the table. Either it was uncomfortable or it was symbolic of the more personal chat.

“What are the Ratways? One of our leads mentioned it and I’m looking to follow up.”

The Stormcloak sighed, “The Ratway is a sewer and tunnel system just south of here that holds the government-sanctioned Thieves Guild. Nasty work they do, killing Imperial opponents, running spy networks, and doing the dirty work that the Empire wants their hands clean of.”

“Wait, if it’s a Thieves Guild, then why do they work for the Empire?” Astrid asked.

“That’s the thing, they both think the other works for them. The Empire supplies them with illegal substances, government secrets, trafficking routes, and piles and piles of funding in exchange for a cut of profits by the way of bribes,” Ulfric explained, “The Guild isn’t a secret by any means. End up on their bad side and you’ll be in Sovngarde before you can draw your blade.”

“A government-sanctioned crime guild,” Hiccup whistled lowly, “Just when you think you’ve seen it all.”

“Trust me, if you’re only learning of the Guild now, just wait until you see the rest of what Skyrim has to offer. She’s a vast land and her secrets are aplenty.”

“Oh, I know,” Hiccup eyed the map to his right, one of the waters between Morrowind and Skyrim, where Solstheim rested, “Where are the Ratways in particular?”

“Under Riften,” Ulfric’s face shifted. He seemed annoyed by the fact that the tunnels were within the bounds of the city, “It’s Imperial-loyal, Laila has made that clear, so she allows the Guild to operate as if she isn’t aware. In exchange, she gets paid by the Empire for her ‘loyalty’.”

“How could an up-standing Jarl do that?”

“Especially when her people are at stake? I’m unsure. Laila cares for the Rift, I know that, but sometimes the Guild seems more trouble than it’s really worth. I would be lying if I said I’d be okay with it.”

Astrid snorted a laugh, “Okay, but you’re not okay with anything to do with the Empire.”

The man laughed as well, “Can you really blame me, my friend?”

She turned to the map of Riften that was pinned to the wall. The hunter said that Viggo mentioned going to the Ratways after his encounter with the Dawnguard, but he didn’t say why. Astrid’s mind ran through her memory to try and remember if there was any reason why he’d be going. Then, like a crashing dragon, it hit her.

Her hand flew to Hiccup’s upper arm, repeatedly slapping his armor, “Oh my god, he’s going after his brother.”

Hiccup instantly understood her pronoun-game sentence and his eyes went wide, “Which means he’s probably already gone.”

“Or they’re both still there.”

Both dragon riders made eye contact, sky blue meeting forest green. Had this been any other circumstance, Astrid would have more to say on their eye colors.

“We need to go. Now.” They said at the exact same time.

~~~

Not an hour had passed before Astrid and Hiccup were sneaking into Riften by the cover of dark cloaks. The guards didn’t notice the black-scale-covered boy slink between the early morning shadows, nor did they notice the girl land on a Night Fury, dismount, then send the dragon to flee through the city and over the walls. Both of them had their weapons firmly attached to their backs, their masks up, and their helmets down. Hiccup approached the door Ulfric said was the entrance to the Ratways and waited for Astrid to appear next to him.

“Ready?” He whispered. She nodded a response and carefully, one after another, the two stole away into the Ratways.

The first thing Hiccup noticed was the smell. Ulfric wasn’t wrong about these things being old prison and sewer tunnels. It was rancid and though the masks helped, Hiccup was already planning a deep cleaning of their armor once they returned to Whiterun. Maybe make use of scented soap with lavender this time, or flowers. Astrid liked the roses from a few months back.

They wandered through the stone sewers, careful to not step in anything that looked like it’d leave a stain or unsavory smell. It took a while, and it was dark, though Astrid’s hand was alight with a flame spell as a makeshift torch and Hiccup’s glaive gave off enough of a glow from its various enchantments to light the way.

What felt like an hour came to an end as a steel door appeared in their way. With a test of the handle, Hiccup noted that it was unlocked and carefully moved to open it. As he did, the cavern opened up and he and Astrid slid into what Ulfric called “The Ragged Flagon”.

The Ragged Flagon was a large circular tavern-like area that surrounded an open vat of water that was crossed by some wooden bridges. On almost every side were various entrances and exits of the Flagon, as well as barrels of supplies, sacks of food, and weapons galore. Near the far end of the room, on the other side of the largest of the bridges, was a bar and a set up of some tables and chairs.

Hiccup noted the orc and the Khajiit that seemed to make direct eye contact with him as he walked in, both clearly sizing him up to see if he was worth it. He just kept his head held high and returned his glaive to his back, not looking for a fight.

The bartender, a black-haired Nord man, looked up and waved slightly to the visitors, keeping his eye on the various leather-wrapped patrons around him. He resumed polishing the silver cup he held, as if he didn’t want to maintain eye contact with the newcomers dressed in dragon scale.

Hiccup’s eyes scanned the area again, this time on the lookout for Viggo, or maybe a man who looked like Viggo. He intentionally avoided eye contact with the other patrons of the tavern, though that didn’t stop him from noticing their glares of confusion and intimidation. When they didn’t immediately pop into view, he internally cursed and turned to Astrid, “I don’t see them.”

“Could be further in?”

They looked over to the various openings in the walls around them, then caught sight of another closed steel door. The tunnels further into the Ratways were overgrown and broken, with some letting in the dirt and stone of the ground they resided in. Hiccup did his best to keep himself upright, but a rock or three would get the better of him and his prosthetic would catch. Astrid never laughed, like the others would, as she caught him every time.

Soon, they came across old abandoned cells, guarded by some Thalmor guards. Or they would have been, had the Thalmor not been on the ground. They had small throwing knives embedded in their throats and slashes all over their bodies. The elven armor did nothing to prevent their deaths and Hiccup just hoped they went painlessly.

Of all the cell doors, only one was open. A peek inside told Hiccup that there was no one, so he entered. It was simple, with a bed and desk and barrels of necessities, though what drew Hiccup in were the various books, journals, and loose pieces of paper scattered around.

Someone had clearly tried to mess up the place on purpose. Things were thrown around in such a deliberate way that it was organized chaos, like Hiccup’s workshop or his room in Miraak’s temple. Someone had tried to make it look like Ryker left either in a hurry or unwillingly.

Astrid whistled when she leaned against the doorway, the visor on her helmet pushed up, “Wow, they didn’t make it easy for us.”

“No they did not,” Hiccup eyed the journal on the desk before opening it, “It’s like they wanted us to find this stuff.”

“What if they did?”

“Then we should be careful,” He quickly skimmed a few pages of the journal before reading, “Viggo’s last letter wasn’t hopeful. The Dragonborn, a dragon sympathizer? How anyone can side with those monsters is beyond me. He said he’d be here quicker than he thought. I can only hope my brother has alternate plans to find Aduin’s Wall. If we don’t have the Dragonborn, we cannot enter the sanctum.”

“Alduin’s Wall?” Astrid leaned in, her shoulder brushing Hiccup’s.

The Dragonborn flipped between multiple pages, trying to find more mention of the Wall, “Come on, come on.”

Then he found it, “Alduin’s Wall, once thought to be myth, is the final piece of the puzzle in defeating Alduin. It is said to tell the story of how the ancient heroes defeated him, and it resides within the hidden Sky Haven Temple. The Temple is surrounded by Karthspire and the accompanying Forsworn forces. Viggo wishes to go speak with them and gain access. I know it will not work, as the Thalmor have been in discussions with them. I do not know how much longer my brother plans to not use force. It’s worked well for me.”

“Karthspire? That’s near Markarth,” Hiccup muttered, his eyes closing to access his mental map of Skyrim, “East of there, I believe. If they’re heading to Karthspire, then we need to go now. They have a head start, we with the dragons, we can be there before them-“

“Hiccup,” Astrid grabbed his arm before he could leave the cell, “We have to get the others first.”

He turned to look at her, and their eyes met for the billionth time since that day in the quarry. The girl could always find the essay he wanted to speak with his eyes, the emotions he couldn't show. She always knew what he was thinking, what he wanted to say. It made them such a great team. His face remained full of worry and he knew it only worried her back.

Astrid pulled him into her arms, “We’ll get there. Let’s go get the others.”

“Y-you’re right,” he wrapped himself around her, taking in her warmth, “Gods, Astrid, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“You’d have your head in the clouds and think you need to carry this all on your own,” she whispered, “We’ve got this. We’ll find that Wall, find the Elder Scroll, find that Shout, then take Alduin down. We’re dragon riders.”

He just pulled away and let his face fall into a smile, “Thanks.”

“Now, let’s get out of here and head to Whiterun. We gotta catch the others up before we go to Karthspire,” she held her hand up to her nose, “And maybe a bath, because oh my gods, it reeks in here.”

“Imagine how Ryker must smell.”

She smacked his shoulder, “Do not put that image in my head, Haddock!”

He only let out a loud laugh.

Notes:

Next time: Alduin’s Wall

I hope you’re all ready because with chapter 20, we’re in the Endgame now. Things will start picking up and (smacks Hiccup) we will be fitting so much fucking guilt into this fishbone.

Chapter 20: Alduin’s Wall

Summary:

Beaconball is invented, Astrid meets a crazy man that isn’t Tuffnut, and Hiccup hates Viggo!

Notes:

*Professor from Futurama voice* Good news everyone! It’s update day!

So this is 6700 words,,, give or take. I considered cutting the beginning 1500 words but it’s gonna be mentioned later and I figured I keep the humor here before the ANGST.

When the dragons say they can keep themselves entertained while Hiccup and the team handle the logistics of their next mission, the Dragonborn is inclined to believe them.

These are giant creatures, with wings and tails and the tendency to spit fire, who all died thousands of years ago and were only recently brought back. They all had their own interests, hobbies, and senses of humor. All in all, if you ignored the teeth and the claws, they were exactly like the humans that, up until now, wished to push them to extinction once more. Toothless was the best example of this, with Astrid often making comments about how he was born in the wrong time.

However, for all those realizations, all those jokes about the Dragonborn and the Night Fury being as though they were related by blood, Hiccup never once thought that the dragons could be… like this. But as he stared from the Great Porch’s terrace out into the field behind Dragonsreach, he realized that the dragons loved doing stuff “for the bit” as much as any other Nord his age.

This was made very much apparent when the white orb of Meridia’s Beacon shot through the terrace opening of the Great Porch and landed directly at Hiccup’s foot, accompanied by two Terrors. The unbreakable godly artifact cracked the stone it landed on and the Terrors were yelling words in Draconic. Hiccup heard himself trail off as he looked down at them.

“Do I want to know…?” he said in the dragon language.

“Sorry, Hiccup!” Stormfly landed on the stone wall of the terrace, “Hookfang got a bit overzealous!”

The Nightmare in question landed right next to her, “I was doing this thing called winning, young one.”

Hiccup sighed and reached down to pick up the Beacon, “What are you guys doing with this? You do know it’s technically important, right?”

“Oh, Toothless and I finally tacked down the rules of our new game, Beaconball!” The Nadder’s tail flicked in anticipation as she eyed the white orb in Hiccup’s hands.

“Beaconball,” the Dragonborn laughed, “Damn, I didn’t think you were serious. And I assume you’ve pulled the others into this game of yours?”

“Of course. It’s quite entertaining,” Hookfang’s tail was yanked on and he looked behind him at what Hiccup assumed to be the other dragons, “Just a minute, your brother has the ball.”

Hiccup looked down at the Beacon. He didn’t know why they kept it around, if he were to be honest. Meridia gave up getting the Dragonborn and his friends to return her Beacon and “slay the evil within” months ago, so it just became a weight in Astrid’s saddlebag, slightly glowing and vibrating but not present enough to be a disturbance on their missions.

He sighed and shook his head, walking over to the terrace wall, “One second,” he looked over it at the expectant Night Fury that was about to climb the stone up to the Porch, “You seriously play with this?”

“Oh don’t be such a spoil sport, Hiccup!” Toothless yelled at him, “Just chuck it back into play!”

“Fine, but only if you’re careful to not hit it back into Dragonsreach, okay? Now, get ready!”

Toothless yelled to the other dragons and raced to meet a few on one side of the now-trampled grass field. Hiccup now noticed the two Y-shaped goal posts made of torn tree trunks at either side, each one with a dragon hovering in front of it. The others were spread out across the field, limbs and wings and tails twitching in excitement for the next round of the game.

Hiccup gripped the Beacon in both hands and threw it back down to the dragons waiting below. Hookfang and Stormfly instantly took off towards it, as did the Terrors who finally got their sense of self back. He watched the orb be thrown around by the dragons, trying to make sense of the game before him, but gave up after about thirty seconds when one of the Terrors screeched “FOUL” in Draconic and the game paused.

He laughed to himself and returned to the Porch proper, a new-found spring in his step from the antics of the dragons behind him.

Later that morning, after the meeting with everyone and after Heather showed up with Windshear, Toothless bounded toward the Razorwhip. Hiccup was in conversation with Heather and didn’t notice the two dragons slip out of the Hall and run to the Porch. He did notice when they ran from the Porch out of the Hall, as Toothless almost knocked Hiccup off his feet.

“Woah, bud, what has gotten into you?” He grabbed the dragon’s harness, pulling him to a stop, “You’re so excitable today!”

“Sorry, but Windshear agreed to learn Beaconball!” He gave no more explanation, “Wanna come?”

He thought through how his day could’ve gone. He had just finished with the final meeting of the day, had already eaten, and was about to go see Ruffnut and Tuffnut about their recent scheme that almost set the Western watchtower on fire. He decided that learning a dragon game was better than any excuse the twins could give him, so he swung himself onto the saddle and clicked the tailfin into launch position.

They flew up and over Dragonsreach to land in the field and Hiccup slid off Toothless’s saddle as the Night Fury gave him the saddlebag with the Beacon in it, “Come on, I’ll explain the rules to you!”

The game was simple. Get the ball through the goal to get a point. If you carried it, it was worth one point, but throwing it through got you three points. There were some rules about not using your fire Shouts, but all the others were on the table. If the teams were made entirely of dragons who could fly, then wings were allowed. If not, then the only flying dragons were the goal keepers. Terrible Terrors were the referees, as they couldn’t play safely due to their size.

“We offered them their own Terror-only matches, but since there’s only a few of them, we haven’t had an actual game yet,” the Night Fury explained. He expertly ran the Beacon across his wings, like a human would a ball across their arms and shoulders between hands, “Wanna watch a match?”

“I don’t have anything better to do. One match, then we have to head back.”

Hiccup stayed the whole afternoon and by the end of it, was cheering so loudly from the sidelines that a few citizens of Whiterun and some of the other Riders had made the walk down to watch as well. Maybe after the war, this could be a kingdom-wide affair. For now, though, Hiccup was glad that this generation of dragons had something of their own. Even if it came at the cost of a god’s heavenly artifact.

When he and Astrid finally returned the Beacon, he doubted Meridia would let them leave un-smote.

~~~

The team in charge of finding Alduin’s Wall and the team sent to find Septimus Signus split the Dragon Riders down the middle.

Hiccup, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Heather were to go and gain access to Sky Haven Temple in West Skyrim. According to Ryker’s notes, the temple needed to be opened by the Dragonborn. How that worked was beyond even the Grimborns, but Hiccup wasn’t about to send his Riders to a fight that ended with them at a door that wouldn’t open for them. They would find and study Alduin’s Wall and hope to the Nines that it had the answers they sought.

Astrid, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and J’Zargo had the longest flight. They had to fly past Winterhold to the ice flats of Northeastern Skyrim. Apparently, the man that resided in an igloo on an iceberg out there was the leading expert on Elder Scrolls, though his mind was a bit jumbled from all the ancient magic he was exposed to during his study. This Septimus Signus would have an idea on how to find the Scroll they need. The teams would converge at the opening to the caverns, then head inside together.

Hiccup watched them all prepare to leave Whiterun, sticking back in the room adjacent to the Porch with his father. He watched Fishlegs’s mother talk to Meatlug, and Spitelout lecture his son, and J’Zargo make sure that Flutter’s ivy-like horns weren’t being trampled by the others. He leaned back on Toothless, “Never thought I’d see the day.”

“Aye, you’ve really changed our lives in such a short about of time, son,” Stoick said.

“Can you imagine if I interrupted the ritual and then turned out to not be the Dragonborn? How awkward that would’ve been?” He asked, “Like, I’d have no reason to leave other than I wanted to.”

“Would you have left?” His father turned to him, “I mean, you did, but you had good reason to, and I understood once you told me. But had you not been the Dragonborn, would you have left?”

Hiccup ran the question around in his mind, “Maybe? If the pressure of keeping my best friend a secret got to be too much, then yeah. I didn’t expect you to readily accept the change, to be honest. I just saw that Snotlout and the others had made friends with dragons and hoped you could too.”

“And you were right, even if it took me a few days to process it.”

“You once told me that the only way a dragon was entering this Hall was its skeleton hanging above your seat,” Hiccup laughed to himself, “And now we house dragons in the very Porch we built to capture them in.”

“Seems poetic to me,” the Night Fury below Hiccup muttered, “None of it could’ve happened without you, brother.”

“You do realize that you were literally half of it, right?”

Toothless bumped his head against Hiccup’s thigh with a low warble, “Gods, can’t you ever take a compliment? You’re the worst at it.”

“I get it, I need to be more egotistical,” the Dragonborn scratched Toothless’s chin with a laugh, “We really should get going. Long journey ahead of us.”

Stoick put his hand on his son’s shoulder to turn him to face him, “You’ve got this. I’m so proud of you, Hiccup,” he reached his arms around the boy, “You’re my son, through and through.”

“Excluding the Vast part,” Toothless chided.

“Thanks, Dad,” Hiccup pulled away, “We’ll be back as soon as we can with the Scroll.”

“Good luck, my boys.”

Dragon and Dragonborn gave the Jarl one last nod of acknowledgement just as the twins’ parents had exited the Porch. Hiccup walked down the open pathway between his Riders and dragons towards the terrace. Each Rider was stationed next to their mount, standing at an attention he never asked them to keep. They must’ve listened to their Lieutenant. He turned around to face them and gave Astrid a knowing nod, which she returned with a smile.

He put on a brave face, “Alright, ladies and gentlemen! This is the last leg of our preparation for the coming battle. We will complete our tasks swiftly and meet at Sky Haven Temple in three day’s time. Is that clear?”

“Yes, General!”

“Then let’s saddle up and move out!”

~~~

“Sixty-four bottles of mead on the wall, sixty-four bottles of mead,” Tuffnut drawled, now fully leaning against his dragon’s horns, “Take one down, throw it around, sixty-three bottles of mead on the wall.”

“Sixty-three bottles of mead on the wall-“

Astrid tuned out the emotionless singing about twenty bottles of mead ago, when they wrapped around the Throat of the World and passed over Ivarstead. She had turned and eyed the mountain, now able to see the upper parts of the 7,000 Steps.

The initial relief efforts from those months ago had made quite a dent in the issues on the path. Stone steps were recut and replaced, the stone tablets were re-carved, and the new gaps in the mountain were covered by temporary rope bridges. It was by no means perfectly fixed or as good as new, as evident by the strange wrap-around bridges built into the side of the mountain, but it was good enough for those seeking the Greybeards, which coincidentally only really happened to be two people. And those two people had dragons to fly up on anyway.

By the time they hit Winterhold, Tuffnut and Ruffnut were down to negative forty bottles of mead and they both welcomed the change from flying to ground travel, collapsing into the snow of the courtyard of the College of Winterhold. Astrid stayed with them while J’Zargo raced into the Hall of the Elements to find the headmaster and get permission to stay for the night.

When she got the go-ahead from the Khajiit, she walked over to the fallen Riders, “Guys, come on, we have a room to stay in,” she kicked Tuffnut’s side then nudged Ruffnut’s arm.

“Gods, Astrid, how does Hiccup love you, you hit like a Gronckle!” Tuffnut squealed. She didn’t dignify him with an answer.

They stayed the night, humoring the few College students who came up to ask questions about the dragons. Astrid did her best to answer whatever questions they had about Stormfly and other Nadders, but when one of them asked about breeding patterns, Astrid had to shut it down. Tuff and Ruff ended up regaling the students with their epic tale of the Wabbajack (how she hasn’t taken that away from them yet is beyond her), while J’Zargo caught up with some classmates he recognized. The evening passed by quickly and soon Astrid was passed out in the room she shared with Ruffnut.

And the song began again on the flight to Septimus Signus’s place.

“Ninety-nine half-pounds of beets on the wall-!” Astrid rolled her eyes as the twins carefully counted down different quantities of items that fit the rhythm of the original song.

“Ninety-two liters of ham on the wall-“

“Liters isn’t even the right unit of measurement for ham.”

“Shut up, J’Zargo!”

Luckily for Astrid’s sanity and J’Zargo’s patience (which he somehow had a lot of), they landed just outside of Signus’s igloo before the twins could reach eighty-seven gallons of piss on the wall. She jumped off Stormfly and rapped her hand against the door to the igloo.

“Septimus Signus? My name is Astrid, we’re here on behalf of the Dragonborn! Could you open the door?” She yelled into it. When thirty seconds with no reply went by, she tried again, “Signus, open up!”

“Maybe he isn’t home?” Tuffnut supplied.

“No, a man like him is a hermit,” J’Zargo said, his hood pulled around his ears and his hands gently flickering with a small flame spell, “He wouldn’t dare leave his home unless absolutely necessary. Trust me, a lot of mages and scholars who go crazy are like this.”

“Yeah, but then wouldn’t that mean he’d’ve answered by now?” Astrid turned away from the door the moment a loud bang was heard from inside. Her head snapped back around and she crept back to the door. There was no lock, only a flimsy hinge made of sticks within the ice that kept the door in place. Astrid grabbed the handle and pulled it open to reveal a downwards set of carved snow stairs.

She looked back at the group, then summoned her battle axe, “Twins, stay up here with the dragons. J’Zargo and I will be right back.”

“We will?” She shot him a glare, “I mean, yes, we will. We will be right back.”

Astrid tied her cloak a little tighter as she stepped into the igloo. The snow steps were somehow worn and had natural grooves in them, so her feet caught on pretty quickly as to where was a safe landing spot. She held herself as close to the wall as possible when the small entry tunnel opened up.

“Oh my gods,” the Khajiit behind her said.

The stairs continued to hug the wall but the main chamber of this igloo was larger than she thought. It extended another fifteen feet downwards and at the very bottom were mechanisms and machines that Astrid had never seen before. They had golden plating and large crystals that gave the whole chamber a light blue glow, though it was amplified by the blue ice surrounding them.

“Hello?” Astrid tried again, “Septimus Signus?”

A series of grunts and harsh breathing was the accompanied by, “Oh, Talos! The spirits warned me that today would bring challenge!”

As Astrid and J’Zargo landed on the final steps, Astrid got a good look at the Imperial scholar. He was much older and shroud in many layers of fur and cloak, with a mage’s robe on top.

“Are you Septimus Signus?” She asked.

“Depends on who’s asking, though, what other Septimus Signus’s are there in Skyrim? Unless-“ he looked around, suddenly worried, “-the changeling is back.”

“Uh, no, no changelings,” J’Zargo put up a hand to calm the elder, “Sir, we are looking for information on the Elder Scroll, the one with regards to Alduin.”

The old man looked away in thought, “Yes, yes, that scroll was last seen in Blackreach, under the ruins of Alftand. A powerful weapon it was, not only on the dragon, but you could hit someone upside the head with it and send them to Sovngarde like that!” He snapped his fingers. Signus gave the room another look, “Now, let’s see if I still have them.”

“Have what?”

“The things to get into Blackreach, of course! I could never make the trek, those lands never liked me, but you are young and spry and don’t get called crazy when you enter town!”

“That’s debatable, being a dragon rider isn’t the most welcome thing in the world,” Astrid mumbled to the Khajiit, who just laughed, “Honestly, I could write a book with Hiccup and I’s nicknames.”

“Here they are!” Signus held up two items and waddled back over to the mages. One was a golden sphere with an intricate, unrecognizable design on the top. The other was a golden cube, with raised corners and the same design as the top of the sphere, “The Attunement Sphere and a blank Lexicon. You will need both to get through Blackreach. How, I cannot say, but I know they are both important.”

Astrid took the sphere in her hands while J’Zargo took the Lexicon, “Thank you, Signus,” he said, “Will we be seeing you back in Winterhold soon?”

“Ah, the College holds such fond memories. If only your bitch of a librarian accepted my help. I mean, really, who organizes books by author? It makes more sense to do it by content!”

The elder began rambling about books and organization techniques and Astrid gently pushed J’Zargo back towards the stairs. Maybe the crazy wasn’t contagious, but Astrid didn’t want to take that risk. They slowly crept out of the igloo and returned the door to as it was before Signus finished his rant. What greeted them was Ruffnut hanging upside down from Stormfly’s claws and Tuffnut wrapped in Flutter’s ivy tendrils. Both were yelling at each other over something and both weren’t letting up.

“Well, at least he wasn’t as bad as the twins,” she said as Stormfly dropped Ruffnut into a nearby snowbank and Flutter retracted her tendrils to make Tuffnut spin in place and fall to the ground a dizzy mess.

~~~

Camp Karthspire was only on one of the maps in Spitelout’s horde. It was nestled within a river gorge within a mountain East of Markarth and when Hiccup did a cursory fly-over, he saw why. The mountains and grassy knolls around the camp made for excellent natural defense, plus the waters allowed for difficult stealth. The Forsworn in the area did a good job of making it their camp.

Landing in the mountains nearby, just to the west of the encampment, Hiccup and Toothless tried to get a better look. They could see the entrance to the ravine in the ground, but it was covered by wooden bridges and huts where Forsworn patrolled and plotted. Why they needed control of such a site as Sky Haven Temple wasn’t known, but Hiccup assumed nothing good.

“Okay, we can make a distraction on the far side of camp, then fly down and get into the temple.”

“And if they chase off the distraction and rush us?” Toothless asked.

“We take that chance. We’ll wait a bit and try to spot the Grimborns. If they aren’t seen by sundown, then we fly in and ambush,” Hiccup turned to Heather and Snotlout, “Are you two up for being as loud and annoying as possible?”

“You really should’ve brought the twins if you wanted that,” Snotlout said, “But yes, Hookfang and I are master distractors. We’ve got this.”

“You four will work together to make them give us an opening. Be loud, shoot fire, just don’t hit us as we fly in and go through the ravine,” he turned to Fishlegs, “I trust you tried to find more on Sky Haven?”

The boy in question nodded vigorously and reached into a saddlebag to pull out his thick leather notebook, “Yeah, it was built as the main base of operations for the Dragonguard, the original Blades. When Emperor Reman II ended a siege that took place, he called for the construction of Alduin’s Wall, a massive mural depicting the banishment of Alduin. Soon, without the dragons here, the Guard fell into obscurity, as did the Blades.”

“Nothing on how to get in?” Heather asked, looking over Fishlegs’s shoulder to read what he’d written.

“Just that there’s a powerful magic seal on the entrance that is only openable by the Dragonborn.”

“Which is why I’m here,” Hiccup said, “Fish and I will head in and hopefully open the door before the Grimborns can show their faces-“

“A bit too late for that, Haddock,” Snotlout said, peering through one of Hiccup’s spyglasses at the camp below. Hiccup rushed over and took the offered equipment, following his cousin’s finger to a tent down below. A very familiar Viggo and a man who looked just like him, only with less hair, stood talking to who Hiccup assumed to be the captain of this group of Forsworn. The men then stopped talking and the captain took them further into the ravine, past two guards.

“Damn it, I thought we had a day on them,” Hiccup said sharply.

“Do we want to change strategies?” Toothless asked.

“No, we stick with the plan. Maybe the distraction will lure them out of there and we can sweep in without much trouble.”

“When should we strike?”

“Dusk. They’ll be off their guard with the nightfall. Target the huts and draw them to the far side. If you down a few, then that’s less we have to worry about,” he snapped his fingers, “Oh, also, keep an eye out for arrows and bolts. Not only can they damage a wing, but they’re poisoned with Dragonroot.”

“Dragonroot?” Heather and Windshear tilted their heads simultaneously. Had it not been for the dire circumstances, Hiccup would’ve laughed, “That still exists after all this time?”

“Yes and it’s still just as dangerous. Avoid it at all costs. No dragon deserves to get their flight taken away.”

With one final rundown and a quick rest for energy, dusk was upon the group. Hiccup and Fishlegs positioned themselves on the northern side of the mountain, while Heather and Snotlout took the south side. At the agreed upon signal (Hookfang lighting himself on fire), the Nightmare and the Razorwhip launched into the sky and shot several blasts across the camp. Hiccup watched as about ten Forsworn left their beds and huts to find the dragons flying overhead. Before some could rush in to grab armor or weapons, Hookfang dove above the huts and unleashed a torrent across the three of them. Warriors screamed and guards yelled commands that were heeded by no one as Windshear launched a blue-white fireball at the main wooden dock outside of the ravine.

And that was the next signal. Meatlug went low and Toothless went high. The Gronckle was better suited for disguise against the stone of their mountain hideout, so she started her trek downwards. The Night Fury’s prosthetic clicked for high altitudes and he burst into the sky, then arched down towards the ravine. The two guards from before still stood there, but the captain from earlier had stepped out to see what was happening. The three men and one woman screamed as a purple plasma blast hit them directly and threw their bodies to either side of the ravine entrance.

“Nice shot, bud!”

The Night Fury tucked his wings in to get through the ravine entrance, then extended them again to lose speed as Hiccup maneuvered him through the rocky interior.

Hiccup lowered himself further onto the saddle, then whispered, “Tidd Klo Ul.”

As the last word left his mouth, the world began to slow around him. The ravine walls grew more detailed, even at the intense speed that Toothless was going. One Shout that Hiccup was glad he mastered was the Slow Time Shout. It only worked on him, and Toothless hadn’t seemed able to fully grasp the first word yet, but it was helpful for their current situation.

He recalled their test flight of this Shout from a few months back. A Monstrous Nightmare taught him when Hiccup asked how she was able to fly through the many sea stacks around the island without hitting them. One of the words he already knew from Labyrinthian, when he and Astrid went to get the Staff of Magnus. The Nightmare taught him the other words and soon he was able to guide Toothless through the rock formations with such ease that Astrid thought he had spent all night practicing.

Now, he used the Shout to help him fly through the overgrowth and jagged rocks of the ravine, careful to not clip a wing on anything. Toothless was already missing a tail fin because of him, he didn’t need any more damage to his flight than that.

The Shout wore off right when the ravine opened up and Toothless pulled down to land on the cracked and broken floor. The stone walls rose up another fifty or so feet to the cracked openings to the sky. Tree roots and thick ivy trailed down, threatening to cover the ravine in a forest of its own. Hiccup swore he could see wildflowers within the green, which were much rarer than the usual mountain flower he saw on the paths through Skyrim.

The floor he and Toothless stood on seemed to be the first part of a collective path through. It came to a stop a third of the way through, then twisted onto a bridge that ran into a cave mouth in the wall on the opposite side. Hiccup strained his head to see further, finding the second cave entrance and the rope bridge that brought the path back to the original side. He couldn’t see further than that, so he urged Toothless to walk to the first bridge and then fly up to the second landing.

This part of the ravine was flatter and more clear than the previous sections. The foliage still grew, but it stopped short of a large carved seal in the floor. The larger circle was cut into three rings and there were two horn-like lines that extended from the middle to the back of the chamber. Hiccup’s eyes then trailed up to the carved wall and the giant stone head that lay in front of what he assumed to be the Temple’s entrance.

As he climbed off Toothless and walked forward, though, he heard two sets of heavy footsteps behind him and quickly turned, putting himself between his brother and the men he dreaded to see.

“Well, it’s an honor to see you again, Hiccup Haddock,” Viggo Grimborn said, “I’m sure you’ve yet to meet my brother, Ryker, right? After all, we left the Ratways before you could properly meet.”

“It’s not too late to turn and leave, Viggo,” Hiccup said, his hand twitching for his glaive. His back felt lighter, which meant he had left it on Toothless’s saddle. And that meant it was difficult to grab as the Night Fury’s wing blocked the view of the glaive’s holster, “You don’t have to do this.”

“But I do, Hiccup. You’ve proven yourself worth of being the Dragonborn, but when it comes to actually killing the beasts?” Viggo shook his head with a chuckle, “You fall a bit short. What, do you expect Alduin to listen to you? I may be a conversationalist, but even I know that the Great Destroyer will stop at nothing to burn Skyrim to a crisp.”

Hiccup and Toothless stood their ground as Viggo walked forward, his hands behind his back and his brother just off to the side.

“You know nothing of this world, Hiccup. You’re, what, sixteen? You haven’t seen the world through grown eyes yet.”

“I’ve seen enough to know that everything we knew was wrong. I have brought change to this kingdom, change that we wouldn’t have expected thousands of years ago,” Hiccup said, hand on Toothless’s shoulder, “My brother and I will end this war, our methods be damned. As long as Alduin’s stopped, it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh, keep thinking that and you’ll find that it matters a whole lot. What happens when you kill the Elder Brother of the dragons? Do you think they will all accept his death and turn to your side?”

“No, actually. Dragons are more like us than we ever gave them credit for. I expect resistance from them, just as I expected it from my people.”

Viggo had stopped walking, placing the seal on the ground between him and the boy with the dragon, “You do know that we are at an impasse?”

“We tend to do that, it seems.”

Hiccup was ignored by the hunter, “You are standing within my ancestor’s old Temple, making you two trespassers. However, I need you to open the door.”

“Are you proposing a truce?”

“Something like that. How about you open the door and we explore together?”

Hiccup tried to keep his eyes trained on Viggo, but when he noticed the Gronckle (damn, he forgot about Fishlegs and Meatlug in the haste to get here) fly in behind the Grimborn brothers, they flicked. Viggo somehow noticed this movement and raised his hand in a fist. Ryker instantly grabbed the crossbow from his back and loaded a bolt in record time, aiming it directly at Meatlug.

“Or, you let your friend fall. Your choice, Hiccup,” the man gave him a stupidly arrogant smirk. The Dragonborn’s body tensed at the sight of his friends at bolt-point. He knew that if he moved  for his glaive or spoke even one word of a Shout, the Gronckle and the boy on it would fall deep into the ravine with no hope of getting out unharmed, or even alive.

Hiccup’s eyes flicked between the crossbow, Viggo, and his friends. How to do this without letting anyone get hurt? How to do this without letting them into Sky Haven Temple?

His fists clenched at his sides, “Fine. I will open the door. But you are to not attack my friends so long as all of us are within the Temple. Got it?”

“A wise choice,” he muttered a ‘stand down’ to Ryker, who just gave his brother a sharp glare but responded to the order by lowering his weapon. Viggo produced a small knife from his belt and handed it hilt-first to Hiccup, “It’s a blood seal. Only the red of the Dragonborn can ignite the spell.”

Hiccup gently took the knife from the man and turned to Toothless, “Go stand with Fishlegs, bud. I can handle myself.”

The dragon only responded by nudging his head against Hiccup’s hand and padding over to where Meatlug had landed. The Night Fury still placed himself between their friends and the hunters, acid-green eyes trained on Ryker.

Removing one of his gloves, Hiccup held the knife to his wrist and gently pressed down on the skin. It stung like hell, but a gentle trickle of blood started falling onto the blade. Hiccup held his hand downward and allowed it to gather in his palm.

“Here goes nothing,” facing the door, Hiccup placed his hand on the center of the seal. The rings went alight with red magic as the blood seeped into the stone like it was a sponge and not rock. He stood back up and wiped the knife off on his pant leg before returning it to Viggo, “I trust you’ll wash that off. You aren’t one of those weird adversaries.”

Viggo chuckled, “Oh you wound me so, Dragonborn.”

The light faded quickly as Hiccup stepped back and the large head-for-a-door slowly slid backwards and up into a slot in the entrance’s ceiling.

“After you, my good men,” Viggo motioned for Hiccup to go first. His prosthetic clinked against the stone and he felt as awkward as he did nearly a year ago, barely avoiding getting killed each dragon raid. Sure he’d matured in the months since realizing his destiny, but Hiccup was still a lanky and lean 16-year-old boy. He hoped he’d grow into his title, but with only four months left of their year, he doubted that he’d become as Vast as his father.

The tunnel opened up more as he stepped up the stairs into Sky Haven Temple. The light from the ravine had faded and a new torch light took its place. At the top of the stairs were two giant steel and wood doors that Hiccup had to use his shoulder to open.

The Wall was just ahead.

“Incredible,” he wanted to say at the towering walls and high ceiling of the Temple. Giant stone arches encompassed a higher walkway on the wall where a mural rested, and Hiccup could see more stairs and doors to what he assumed to be the outside world. He walked up to the upper platform that stretched across the Temple, where the mural he’d been searching for lay.

Alduin’s Wall.

Proof that the Wall even existed had been as lost as the way into Sky Haven Temple. Historians believed that the old Greybeards thought it too important to lose, so they sealed it away. Hiccup watched Ryker walk to the doors on the upper level and push one open. Dusk filtered into the dark Temple and Ryker yelled down to the group, “Looks like the spell was lifted with the undoing of the blood seal. You can access this place from the outer courtyard now.”

“Which means we can access it with dragons,” Hiccup whispered to himself.

“Hiccup!” Fishlegs called to him, “Come look!”

The Dragonborn turned his attention back to the mural. It looked like it was in pristine condition, as the stone hadn’t aged a day in several thousand years. It was easily twice the height of Hiccup and five times his height in length. The left depicted a large dragon spitting fire at a city, with others flying about in the sky. Warriors fought and fled from these dragons. The right also had a fire-breathing dragon, though this one had more fighters surrounding what looked to be a temple, the symbol of Oblivion, a broken arch with a dot in the middle, hung above a masked man with a sword and shield who faced the rightmost dragon head-on.

“Miraak, is that you?” Hiccup’s fingers traced the stone effigy of his teacher, the First Dragonborn. Of course the man would be on this mural, it was about the very war that killed him.

Hiccup turned back to the very middle of the Wall, to the depiction of the terrifying Alduin standing above a mage with two warriors at his side. The names of the ancient heroes were lost to time, as was everything from thousands of years ago, but Hiccup still recognized their faces from the stories. The magic and power of the heroes mixed under Alduin as he screamed from behind the portal to the current time.

It was jarring, if Hiccup were to be honest.

“This is remarkable,” Viggo ran his hand along the carved scales of the left-most dragon, “Alduin was Shouted forward in time it seems.”

“Yeah… but how? And why let him return now?” Hiccup felt a very familiar nudge from Toothless on his side and let his hand run across his brother’s head.

“Hiccup… look,” Toothless said, his tail hitting one of the dragons on the left side. Hiccup walked over, mindful of the gap between him and Viggo, and traced his eyes over the carved shape of a very recognizable dragon.

A Night Fury soared through the sky over the screaming warriors, terrorizing the village below it. Hiccup eyed its tail, as both tail fins were carefully carved into the stone. He didn’t know what he expected, as he was the one to rip the fin off his best friend, years after this Wall was carved. Maybe he was hoping for solace, that he didn’t actually mutilate his best friend. But the gods offered no such closure.

“Is this you…?” Hiccup asked.

“If it is, I don’t remember it,” the Night Fury said, tail now wrapped around his front paws, “I don’t remember anything from the first war.”

“I think it’s best you didn’t,” Meatlug said, “You Sunless Fires were sought out by Alduin himself and raised under his wing. Your family, however small it was, led every assault on the humans. It soon became known that if you heard the screech of a Sunless Fire’s wings in the sky, you had to prepare to fight. I wouldn’t want you remembering that.”

“But pretty much all of my life is gone, Meatlug. I only remember what’s instinct and what I’ve relearned with Hiccup from other dragons. And we still haven’t found another Night Fury!” The dragon stood and walked over to the Gronckle, ear flaps flat against his head and eyes half-lidded in shame, “I am no Dovah. I am simply… toothless.”

“Bud…”

“I can’t even fly. What family would want me?”

Hiccup felt his heart be ripped from his chest. His fists clenched and he blinked away the angry tears that threatened to form. Toothless’s wings drooped as he stood and walked away from the Gronckle. Meatlug and Fishlegs gave each other matching looks of worry, eyeing the retreating Night Fury as he pushed past Ryker to one of the courtyard doors.

“Such a sad tale. Belonging to a noble family, only to be rid of the very thing that makes you great,” Viggo said, emotionless, “Makes you wonder how he lost it to begin with. A trap he couldn’t escape from? A lucky hit from a Viking? I doubt he would’ve survived much longer on his own.”

“Shut up, Viggo.”

“A dragon who can’t fly. How shameful he must feel.”

“Be quiet.”

“Or is the shame shared? Judging by your reaction, you had more to do with this than I initially thought,” the hunter laughed, “Well, no matter. I kindly ask you to leave my ancestral Temple, Haddock.”

Hiccup glared at the hunter, then spoke without breaking eye contact, “Are we done here, Fishlegs?”

“Y-yeah,” the boy stuttered, “We are.”

“I’ll allow you to come back if needed, though I do ask that you uphold our truce within these walls,” Viggo said smugly, “Have a good day, Hiccup Haddock. May we meet again.”

“If we do, it won’t be as calm as this,” Hiccup spat, then turned to follow where his brother went, up the stairs to the courtyard. The Night Fury had shrugged open the doors and was now sitting under a roofed training grounds off to the side of the yard, “Bud? You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Toothless said, not looking at his rider, “Just call the others. We’ll meet Astrid halfway.”

“… if you say so, bud.”

Notes:

Up next: Finally, Blackreach

How do we think this’ll pan out, vote now on your phones!

Chapter 21: Finally, Blackreach

Summary:

A journey through the Alftand ruins yields surprising results.

Notes:

BLACKREACH!!!! Same as Bleak Falls Barrow, I had to replay the ENTIRE QUEST to make sure I had an accurate portrayal of my hatred for Blackreach. Like, seriously, in my most recent playthrough, I glitched through the Alftand Lift to get down early.

“Are they usually this quiet?” Heather whispered to Snotlout as the two hung at the back of the four-person flying formation. Fishlegs and Meatlug were to the back right of Hiccup and Toothless, who’d been silent the whole time, save for an order to meet Astrid’s team halfway to Winterhold.

“No, it’s… actually really strange,” Snotlout said, still staring at his cousin. The two and their dragons had missed whatever happened in the Temple, instead meeting them in a courtyard behind it that certainly wasn’t there before. Fishlegs explained the gist of the Wall, but didn’t go into exact details. Instead, Hiccup had told them that they were flying to meet Astrid and then they’d head to get the Elder Scroll.

“Well, whatever happened, they need to get it together. I doubt them being distracted will bode well for wherever this all-powerful Elder Scroll is.”

“You try telling Hiccup that. If brooding was a competition, he’d win every time,” Snotlout laughed, “I’m sure whatever it is, they’ll figure it out soon. It’s almost like those two can read each other’s minds, they’re so in-sync.”

“If you say so.”

Another few hours of flying brough sight of a familiar crew of a Nadder, a Changewing, and a Zippleback. The group merged and flew around before Toothless came up to hover next to Stormfly.

“Did you find it?” Astrid asked.

“Yeah, but the Grimborns got there and kicked us out, claiming they had ancestral rights,” the Dragonborn rolled his eyes and huffed, “Did you find where the Scroll is?”

“It’s in a place called Blackreach, under the ruins of Alftand. We’re a hop, skip, and a fly away.”

“Lead the way, we’ll camp there for the night, then head inside at dawn.”

“Yes, sir.”

Just as Astrid said, by the time it turned midnight and the aurora was in full bloom, the group landed in a large snowbank filled with ruined houses and tents. Climbing off their dragons, the riders found themselves in front of a large tower embedded into the snow. It was made of smooth grey stone and had golden gates and a golden roof.

There was no way to unlock it from the outside, or Hiccup didn’t find one from his cursory glance, but he bet that a dragon could melt the gate to get them inside. Not that he would ever promote destroying ancient buildings in the name of breaking and entering, but if they didn’t find another way inside, then it’d have to work. He turned away from the gate and silently began to make camp.

The ruined houses around them were still somewhat standing, so a quick layer of furs tacked to what remained of the roofs was enough to keep out the snow. The dragons were content with their little huddle right outside of the house where their riders spread out their bedrolls and prepared a night watch for bed.

Hiccup volunteered to take the first watch and wasn’t surprised when Astrid offered to stay up with him. They sat together in the open doorway to watch the stars while their friends slept behind them.

“Fishlegs… told me about what happened. At the Wall.”

He sighed, “Of course he did. What about it?”

“Do you still feel guilty about that?”

“Of course I do-“

“You shouldn’t,” she moved to face him, “He has made it quite clear that you have repaid this make-believe debt you think you owe. Toothless has said you shouldn’t feel guilty.”

“Well, a few kind words can’t give him a new tail fin, Astrid.”

“But you did,” she continued before he could say something stupid, “You made him a new one. You gave him his flight back.”

Hiccup drew his knees closer to his chest, “Yeah but he needs me to work it.”

“Would you have it any other way? You two are so close, it’s amazing that you’re different species. Toothless has forgiven you. Isn’t that enough?”

She put her hand on his back, then moved it to grab him closer. He let himself be pulled into her arms and rested his head on her shoulder. This was Astrid. He couldn’t hide much from her for long.

“Sure he’s forgiven me…” he whispered so quietly that he wasn’t sure that Astrid even heard him, “But I haven’t forgiven myself. You should’ve seen him when we saw him on the Wall. He misses normal flight and I’ve been reaping the rewards of him losing such a vital part of him. Is that not enough for anyone to feel guilty, even months after the fact? He said… he said that no family would want him. But I do, Dad does. He’s already got a family.”

She tightened her grip on him, her hand wandering to play with his hair. He really needed to cut it, but as she gently weaved a braid behind his ear, he very briefly debated keeping it this long. As long as she kept doing that.

“Your father still feels guilty for the way your mother died. But he doesn’t let that stop him from being the best damn Jarl in Skyrim and accepting the dragons in his home,” she said, “You may still feel this about Toothless’s tail, but you can’t let it stop you. You should talk to him. He’d understand. And, he’d also understand that what he said hurt you and apologize. He’s your brother.”

“You’re right.”

“To take one of his lines: I always am.”

~~~

The next morning brought gentle planning and a further search of the ruins. The main chambers that the towers led into were covered in snow and fallen mountain, with no windows or other means of entry from the outside. Everything was smoothed stone and metal. Usually, Hiccup would admire such remarkable craftsmanship. The old society that built this place was clearly skilled and refined, especially with how the metal was not only structural but decorative.

Fishlegs kept rambling about what could be inside and what he had heard about Blackreach, the land beneath the ruins that they needed to get into to find the Elder Scroll. Apparently it was a place of great power and was said to once house a dangerous dragon.

“Well, luckily we’ve got the Dragon Whisperer with us!” Snotlout said, leaning back on his saddle.

“I doubt Hiccup can control a dragon like that, Snot.”

“I was talking about me.”

Then, it was actually the twins who were useful. Well, as useful as they can be, with their tendencies to fall down cliffs. What alerted Hiccup to actually look when Tuffnut called his name was the fact that they landed on the wooden walkway around one tower. He met them on the platform and pushed Ruffnut out of the way to find an opening in the glacier, with plenty of sighs that it had been important.

“Wow, you guys really found it,” he muttered, his hand running along the blue-green ice walls of the tunnel inward.

“Of course we did, we’re awesome,” the Dragonborn ignored the sound of their helmets smacking against each other.

“It’s too small for a dragon to get in,” he said to the group that was now gathering, “We’ll have to head in alone and keep the dragons out here for defense.”

“You’re trusting us with that, Hiccup?” Hookfang asked.

“You guys can handle yourselves, you’re dragons,” he nodded to Astrid, “We’ll head in, divide and conquer. I doubt Blackreach is that big, but considering the size of these ruins, I’m not willing to leave any stone unturned. We’ll split into pairs. Fish and Snot, Ruff and Heather, Tuff and J’Zargo, me and Astrid. Try not to make a mess of things, please?”

“We make…” Tuffnut threw his arm around J’Zargo’s shoulders, who instantly stiffened and moved to detach himself from the teenager, “…absolutely no promises.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” the Dragonborn sighed, “Guys, listen, I know we tend to be a bit blasé about things, but with this, it’s important we stay focused. I want everyone on their best behavior, okay?”

Not waiting for a response, Hiccup turned into the glacier opening and walked inside.

The tunnel started out as any normal tunnel in a glacier would. The ice soon gave way to snow-covered floors and wooden stakes keeping the roof from collapsing. Crates were buried in the floor, broken carts sat abandoned, barrels seemed to have been smashed to bits. Whatever happened here happened long ago and Hiccup believed they wouldn’t see any bodies, at least not in these parts so close to the surface. The snow then slowly disappeared further into the tunnel as the ice on the walls opened to reveal intricately carved walls of stone.

There were normal staircases and pillars that lead downwards, where the glacier ended and the ruins began. The snow sat atop known Dwemer ruins that supposedly protected the outside world from Blackreach. When this was constructed wasn’t a fact any of the riders knew off the top of their heads, but judging by Heather’s little “this wasn’t here before” when they landed the previous night, it was after the first Dragon War.

The ice was fully gone twenty minutes into the ruins. The twins had started comparing J’Zargo’s and Heather’s fangs, Fishlegs was trying to note everything he saw, and Snotlout was complaining about something. It seemed like a regular mission with the gang to Hiccup. He just marched in ahead.

But then he heard the scuttling. He slowed ever so slightly at the noise, ears straining to hear it again, “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what, Ruffnut ask Heather to bite her?”

“No, no…” his distractedness immediately sent Astrid on-edge and she snapped her attention to his face as he looked around the tunnel. Hiccup’s ears heard the scuttling again and he whipped around to the next staircase down. When he got to the top of the stairs, he saw a small golden circular door embedded in one of the walls. It let off a bit of steam as the doors opened.

Hiccup immediately drew his glaive and motioned for the team to stay behind him, bar Astrid. They crept forward, taking each step slowly. A small metal leg slowly emerged from the opening. Then another, followed by four more and a small rounded body that clicked and whirred like Windshear. It looked like a mechanical spider, though the single-orb body was made of gears and metal plates. Hiccup could see past these plates at a small magic engine inside.

“Is that a…” Astrid’s question was cut off by the spider turning to them and hissing. It ran up the stairs with a grace Hiccup had only seen in a few dragons, and jabbed its clawed leg into Astrid’s foot. It didn’t go through the dragon scale but it did leave a noticeable dent. She gasped in offense and kicked it down the stairs, returning the gesture with a small fireball that hit it directly in the middle, “God, I think these are gonna be worse than frostbite spiders.”

“Well let’s expect more in here. And also expect larger ones. I doubt these ruins are only protected by mechanical bugs,” he made sure the others had seen, “Stay on your guard.”

The tunnels soon became more intricate with more carved pillars and murals on the walls depicting people and the sun. The walls were also covered in metal pipes and tubes that emerged from the walls and went into the floor and ceiling. Hiccup wondered what they could be carrying, maybe more mechanical creatures? They pushed through more metalwork spiders until they opened a set of large metal doors. It took both Astrid and Hiccup to open them to a catwalk on the sides of a long room that led to another door on the other side. 

Hiccup turned to the right down the catwalk, but paused at an intense hissing sound. He tightened the grip on the glaive, but hesitated upon seeing three big pistons move out of the wall and back into their cylindrical openings. The hissing returned with a puff of steam and the pistons moved again, blocking, then unblocking, the catwalk.

He timed his movement with the pistons and made it to the other side with relative ease. Turning to the others, he said, “Just take it slow. Those things could probably knock you off.”

“Do you think this some sort of steam-work, Hiccup?” Fishlegs asked when he made it through after Astrid, “It looks old, but it’s not like we have any of this on the surface.”

“It’s gotta be old enough to have been around when they needed a place to house the Elder Scroll, but recent enough to still be functional.”

“It could be a mix of metalwork, steam, and magic,” J’Zargo said from behind Snotlout, “I heard of such mixing, one of my classmates was going to do her dissertation  on such possibilities and even made a small mechanical cart model for her presentation.”

“Well whatever it is, it’s powerful and still running,” Astrid said, “It’s probably in charge of controlling the mechanical creatures, which means there’s probably a main control room where we can deactivate them.”

“Do we want to deactivate them, though?” Fishlegs asked, “They’re in charge of protecting this place. Should we rid it of its defense system just to make it easier for us?”

“We’re destroying them anyway, Fish.”

Whatever Hiccup was about to say was interrupted by the twins doing exactly what he said not to do and getting pushed off the catwalk into the larger room below by the pistons. He didn’t even turn to watch them hit the stone and instead felt his shoulders raise and fall in a deep and long-suffering sigh.

“Oh, I am hurt! I am very much hurt!”

“Astrid.”

“On it.”

The next few chambers were all covered in pipes and pistons and many different piles of rubble. How the inner sanctums of a glacier-covered ruin were collapsed in on themselves without the whole building coming apart was something Hiccup wondered. Eventually, their party made it to the Alftand Animonculory.

The chamber was easily several hundred feet tall and descended down with giant towers sticking out of the walls and a series of platforms and walkways interconnecting the various stop points along the walls. Hiccup leaned over the edge of the walkway the team was standing on and saw a small group of four goblin-like creatures with long ears, leather armor, and strange weapons. He reached behind him to tap J’Zargo on the shoulder, knowing the mage had some answers.

“Falmer,” he said simply, “I’ve encountered approximately two on my travels. Their ears are widely-known potion ingredients.”

“So we can either bust through them or take this slowly,” Astrid said.

“I have an idea. See that ledge?” He pointed at a small walkway at the bottom of the chamber that lead to a closed metal door, “I’ll use a Shout to get down there, then lure them away. You guys take up positions on the walkways where you have line of sight of them and take them out from a distance.”

“Hiccup, I hate to be that guy,” Ruffnut interrupted, “But that fall is gonna kill you.”

“Have you forgotten who you’re speaking to?”

The seven other riders gave him looks of confusion. Hiccup leapt to his feet, whispered “Feim Zii Gron”, then turned to the edge of the walkway. He eyed the maze of stone below, then jumped. Astrid put her hand out to stop him, but was unable to grab his armor in time before Hiccup fell through the Animonculory.

The wind from the fall hit his ears and before long, Hiccup was crouched on the very bottom floor of the chamber, surrounded by confused Falmer. He slowly rose to his feet as he felt the Become Ethereal Shout fade from his body, “Surprise.”

By the time Astrid and the others got down to the bottom floor, Hiccup was pulling his glaive out of the back of the final Falmer. He swept the blood off his armor, thankful for its liquid resistant properties. He ignored her words as he walked past and into the next chamber. After opening more gates and fighting two much larger mechanical guards, they came across two human corpses. They both had Imperial armor on and according to a book Snotlout had found outside, were a part of a survey crew meant to find something here. Hiccup eyed the console in front of him. It was a golden platform with indented circles and two glowing blue spots in the middle. On one side of it was a spherical receptacle.

“Hey, Astrid, can I see that attunement sphere?” He held his hand out to retrieve the device that was dumped in his hand. He spun it around a bit before slotting it into the receptacle. The stone panels around the platform began to lower as soon as it clicked into place. The group stepped back as the final whirring and shifting of stone sounded through the room.

“Woah,” Tuffnut said, “What is it with the ancient people of Skyrim and their godsdamned puzzles?”

“It’s almost like they want to keep things hidden,” Ruffnut elbowed him.

Hiccup descended the newly-formed stairs and came up to one more metal double-door. He placed his hands against the material and drew in a deep breath, then he pushed them open with the twinge of metal-on-stone.

His eyes shot open wide at the very first view of Blackreach.

The vast underground expanse felt like an alien world. Where there should only be rocks and more rocks, there was instead giant glowing mushrooms with natural tendrils that made them look like jellyfish. The rocks all had specks of a glowing substance he couldn’t immediately place and there were glowing spores from the mushrooms flying around them. He saw Ruffnut wave her hand in them and they danced around her fingers, as if they were alive. Hiccup couldn’t see far into it, as a fog seemed to take hold deeper into the cavern.

He turned to everyone behind him, who looked just as awe-struck as he felt. He swore he saw tears well up in J’Zargo’s eyes.

“This…” the Khajiit began, “This is a mage’s dream.”

“Guys I think J’Zargo’s about to bust-“

J’Zargo smacked Tuffnut over the head, “Do not ruin this for me!”

The twins laughed and Hiccup turned back to the cavern, but he paused at the sight of a strange tower that reflected the ones on the surface. Without thinking, he used his Whirlwind Sprint to get himself closer.

“He does know we can’t do that, right?” Snotlout asked as Hiccup landed right in front of another Falmer and took it down.

“I have to remind him every day. The thing he did back there, with jumping off a high place, was not the first time he’d done it,” Astrid rolled her eyes and started her walk towards the tower, that now had open gates and an awaiting Hiccup.

“Sorry, but I think this connects to the one on the surface,” he walked around the inside, around the lever in the middle of the floor, “Worth a shot?”

"At least take someone with you.”

The lift, as it turned out, spit them out a little ways south of the upper Alftand ruins. There was a lever on the inside of the tower to keep the gates open for easier access into it. Hiccup allowed himself a few moments of fresh air and the piercing cold of the northern region of Skyrim. It was a welcome change to the surprisingly warm underground world of the ruins. Fishlegs, who was chosen to go with him, eagerly marked the location on his personal map, just in case he and J’Zargo ever wanted to come back here.

They returned to Blackreach, where they shared their findings. The team rested for a bit before they split up to search around. More Falmer and a few larger mechanical guards littered the paths through Blackreach, but none of them were a match for Astrid’s lightning and Hiccup’s amazing ability to throw them into water with his Voice. He heard other sounds of fighting as the other pairs found their own troubles in the echoey cavern.

“Can I be honest, for just a second?” Astrid said after they had finished clearing their fourth Falmer camp.

“Anything, Ast.”

“I hate this place.”

“Is it to do with the constant feeling you’re being watched or the fact that it’s claustrophobic as hell?”

“I think it’s both,” she winced at all the green blood on her axe, then walked over to the near-by river to wash it off, “Also, the constant tiny screaming from those plants.”

“That too.”

Hiccup looked out across the river, eyeing the structure they’d come across. It looked like an outpost on the surface, with stone walls, tall towers, and patrolling Falmer, but the giant caged orb that hung from the cavern ceiling and gave off a deep orange glow was ever so slightly unsettling. To the left of it was another one of those lift towers that extended up through the cavern. If Hiccup had to guess, it was the final place they needed.

He and Astrid took a path around the outpost, finding that everyone else did too. Apparently they all hoped that one of the other teams would brave the Falmer outpost. Maybe it was an adventure for another day. Hiccup motioned for everyone to follow them up the stairs to the doors of the tower.

“Hey, wait,” Fishlegs stopped Hiccup from opening the door and ran his finger along some runes etched into the metal, “What do these say?”

Upon closer inspection, Hiccup found Draconic runes, “They say ‘The Tower of Mzark’. Must be what this place is called.”

Opening the doors revealed another lift, which thankfully was able to take all eight of them. This one, though, didn’t go directly to Skyrim’s surface like the one at the main entrance (and reportedly, other ones scattered in Blackreach). It instead moved up into a common room. There were stone chairs and tables scattered about, with various Dwemer artifacts on old shelves next to ruined books, some torn and rotting rugs and tapestries, and vials of potions of unknown origin.

Hiccup moved to the doors at the end of the room and flung them open to reveal a massive golden metal ball, covered in blue crystal-like gems and runic designs. He walked around it to find a walkway that led to above the ball, where a platform rested around the upper quarter of it. He eyed the tall walls with bevels that opened the ceiling more to a large dome. Embedded in the dome were rings that held up blue-green glass mirrors.

“Jumping jackasses,” the twins said from behind him.

“Hiccup, look!” Astrid pointed at the middle of the mirrors to a gemstone hidden among them. He could barely see past the golden arms of the machine and the glow of the gem, but inside was a golden capsule exactly the shape and size that the Greybeards described.

“The Elder Scroll,” he breathed, “We found it.”

“Come on, let’s see what these do,” she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards another upper walkway. This one stopped just above the metal ball’s top and had a golden console with four buttons and a strange pedestal. Astrid reached into her bag and pulled out the cubed Lexicon, “Here goes nothing.”

She slotted the cube into the pedestal and it instantly let out a bright blue glow. The arms of the pedestal pulled the Lexicon apart and it hovered in the air, the corner pieces now floating around it. As it did, several streams of light came from the middle of the machine on the ceiling, casting spotlights on small areas around the room.

“What’s it doing?” Snotlout asked from below the platform Hiccup stood on.

“I’m not sure…” he placed his hand over the right-most button and slowly pressed down on it. The machine whirred to life and the giant curved arms of the ball in the center of the floor spun in place, with some flipping entirely as they did. The next button in the line started glowing the same blue as the first, so once the cogs were in place, Hiccup moved to press it. With more whirring and clicking, the ball’s cogs moved again and the third button lit up.

Astrid pressed this one. The arms that held the various-sized mirrors shifted now, catching the lights and moving them to certain points on the ball’s top below. The Lexicon on the pedestal was now glowing brighter and the pieces were floating further apart. The arms settled with a loud shifting sound and both Dragonborn and Shieldmaiden made eye contact, their hands held above the final button that glowed in anticipation.

“Whenever you’re ready, General,” she whispered to him. Hiccup held eye contact a bit longer, relishing in Astrid’s eyes that seemed to glow just as bright as the crystals around them. He let himself indulge in her, just this once, and leaned in to plant a kiss on her cheek.

“Thank you, for coming this far with me,” he lowered his hand onto hers and pushed them against the fourth button. With more clicking, the arms moved reflect the light once more, then shifted outwards. With the hinged arms in the middle now unblocked, the machine slowly lowered the crystal to the top of the ball.

Hiccup walked to meet it as the crystal was removed from the golden cage and opened. Inside was a long cylindrical tube, with handles on either side, made of gold and covered in crystals of various sizes and types. Hiccup’s hand shook as he reached in and removed the glowing Scroll from its place of rest for the last several thousand years.

It was heavy, and yet it felt as light as a feather all at the same time. It was cold to the touch, but the glow it seemed to naturally emanate made Hiccup’s hands flush with warmth. The Scroll was a confusing hodgepodge of magic, both new and ancient. He held it in his hands with a reverence usually reserved for very few things like dying dragons or fragile mechanisms. This was an Elder Scroll, an ancient relic of a time long ago where all of the answers lie.

He was meant to find this. He was meant to read it.

Just not here. It didn’t feel right.

“Let’s head back to High Hrothgar. Paarthurnax will know more about what steps we should take,” he steeled his voice, as the leader he was, “And I just want to say, gang, thank you. For being here with me.”

“We’re with you every step of the way, H,” Tuffnut said, eyeing the Scroll his leader held.

“What he said,” his twin nodded seriously.

Fishlegs and J’Zargo gave each other a knowing look and smiled. The Khajiit folded his arms over his chest and said, “Us scholars have to stick together. And you and Astrid are some of the most reckless people ever. Adventure is bound to happen.”

Snotlout simply threw his arm over Hiccup’s shoulders and ruffled his hair, earning a yell from the older boy, “Listen, cuz, you’ve got one crazy-ass destiny. I’m just glad I get to show all of Skyrim who the Snotman is!”

“And I’m just glad I got a second chance,” Heather said softly, “We’re with you, no matter what.”

“Come what may,” Astrid said.

Hiccup looked between these people, his Dragon Riders, and felt every bit of pressure on his shoulders lessen. He still has this destiny on his back, this Scroll in his hands, and the weight of Skyrim’s future on his mind, but these seven people— five Nords, a Khajiit, and a vampire— they made this weight of his lighter.

He thought back to the Hiccup of nearly nine months ago. Had he gone back in time and sat that boy down, wanting to explain all of this, he doubted that he would even listen. Nine months ago, Hiccup met Toothless. Eight months ago, they and Astrid left for their own quest. Seven months ago, they became the saviors of a small mining town on Solstheim. Just a few weeks ago, Hiccup returned to Skryim, returned to his village, and showed his father just who he was.

He was now Hiccup Haddock: the Last Dragonborn. General of the Second Dragon Resistance, rider of the Last Night Fury, Friend of Dragons, and now the holder of the Elder Scroll of Alduin’s Defeat. He had braved Apocrypha, helped stop the Eye of Magnus, pissed off Meridia, and now traversed through Blackreach. His accomplishments would make himself of nine months ago faint.

And he wouldn’t change it for the world.

Hiccup latched the Elder Scroll to his back with a spare piece of rope, “Alright everyone, let’s head out and make our way to High Hrothgar. Tomorrow, we learn the true meaning of Alduin’s defeat. Tomorrow, we finally figure out how to end this war.”

Then, a piercing cry resonated from the world below.

“What was that?” Astrid asked, looking around as the cry ended.

“Oh no,” the words came from Heather, who looked just as if someone had told her that Windshear was dead. Everyone’s eyes locked onto her, “I know that roar.”

“What is it?” Hiccup put his hand on her arm when she shuddered in response, “Heather, what was that?”

“The very thing my brother has been searching for for years,” she raised her head and her blood-red eyes met Hiccup’s forest green, her face filled with worry and fright.

Another roar shook the room and everyone but Heather and Hiccup moved to cover their ears.

“The Skrill.”

Notes:

Next Time: The Elder… Skrill.

I couldn’t pass up the joke of a lifetime. Next chapter is gonna be an avalanche of fun. Gonna have some catastrophic consequences. Gonna be a rockslide of suspense.

Chapter 22: The Elder… Skrill?

Summary:

Underground dragons, surface ruins, what’s next? Old rolls of paper with a window to the past??

Notes:

Slight CW: minor character death

The room shook with another loud shriek from the dragon just below the tower.

“What’s the Skrill?” Hiccup asked Heather.

“It’s a very powerful family of dragons. Akatosh only made two, a sibling duo who were as big as Alduin, Titan Wings we called them,” she said, her words catching on her anxious breathing, “Rumor had it that the brother of the duo got jealous and sealed the other Skrill down here. I thought it was a baseless lie!”

“Can’t we just leave it?” Snotlout asked, barely able to stay upright.

“No, we can’t. If it keeps causing this much trouble, it’ll bury us alive,” Hiccup clenched the rope that tied the Elder Scroll to his back, “Ruff, Tuff, take Heather out and get the dragons to safety. Use Hookfang to get Toothless out of here.”

“On it, Chief!” Ruffnut grabbed both her brother and the vampire and booked it for the lift to the surface as another tremor hit the room.

“The rest of you are with me. We need to calm that dragon down before it buries Blackreach in hundreds of feet of rock,” he turned to walk out of the room, the others behind him, “Legs, tell me about the Skrill species.”

“Oh, okay, um-“ Fishlegs pulled out his cards and shuffled through to find the correct one, “Lightning attacks, lots of spikes, very fast. Prefers to stick to storms to harness the lightning in them.”

“It must be angry from spending so long underground,” Astrid said, grabbing the axe on her back and walking in-step with Hiccup, “Maybe if we help it get out, it’ll calm down.”

“I need to get to it to talk, so that’s our priority,” the Dragonborn yanked the doors for the Mzark lift open and steadied himself against the shifting platform, “We’ll try to corner it as best we can.”

“Can’t you just scream it frozen? I bet there’s an ice Shout,” Snotlout said.

“I could, but that’d be like holding a crossbow to an already-wounded stag. It isn’t gonna like it. Besides, my ability with that Shout is barely enough to freeze over a small pond,” Hiccup nodded for Astrid to pull the Mzark lift lever and take them back down into Blackreach, “If anything happens, focus on escaping with your lives, okay?”

“Oh, please, you’re the Dragonborn, Hiccup,” Snotlout punched the boy’s shoulder rather roughly, “If anyone can do this, it’s your scrawny ass.”

“I can never tell if you’re being serious or if you want more opportunities to make fun of me.”

“It’s just my love language.”

The lift shuttered to a stop at the bottom of the Tower and the doors were shoved open. Hiccup could see the Falmer outpost from where they stood at the foot of the Tower and his eyes went wide at the sight of the dragon before them.

Atop the giant caged light above the outpost was a massive dragon. Roughly the size of Alduin, it was long, with two back paws finding purchase near the chain that held the light to the ceiling and two giant clawed wings keeping it from falling off its perch. The bottom of the cage was blown open and the light inside was just finished diminishing with the escape of the dragon. Its head was flat and narrow and the torso was covered in long lightning-rod like spikes.

It leaned over the edge of the cage and roared once more into the outpost. Its long tail thrashed against the top of the cavern, sending more dust and bits of rock to the floor below.

“Come on, we have to get it down from there,” another Whirlwind Sprint took him across the bridge at the bottom of the Tower and he hit the ground running.

Once he was just outside of the outpost, he hid behind a nearby mushroom for his friends to catch up.

“Hiccup, I hate to be the one to say it, but how by the Nines do you expect us to calm that-“ J’Zargo’s claw was very much pointing to the Skrill, who let out another ear-shattering screech, “-down?”

“Yeah, that thing is as big as Alduin, there’s no way we can get it to calm down enough for a chat!” Astrid eyed the dragon that had now slunk downwards into the outpost and her face scrunched at the sounds of Falmer screaming.

“What if we give it what it wants…?” Fishlegs started. When the group turned to look at him in confusion, he continued, “I mean, you guys know lightning bolt spells right? What if we give it what it wants and promise more if it calms down enough to let us take it to the surface?”

“Like feeding a starved animal to treat its wounds…” Hiccup said, “It could work. Astrid, J’Zargo, how good are your lightning spells?”

“As good as they can be without hurting myself,” Astrid shrugged.

“Masterful,” the Khajiit said, a small white light flickering across his paw.

“Perfect. Lout, Legs, you guys come help me lure it out of there. We’ll convene there,” he pointed down the stone path at a strange sitting area near the river, “We’ll get it in the water and shock it to Oblivion and back. That should be enough for it to-“

“STRUN BAH QO.”

The Shout resonated in the cavern, soon followed by more screaming. Hiccup felt his spine shake from the pressure the Shout created around him. The cavern shook more violently this time and Hiccup pulled Astrid to her knees to keep her from falling and hurting herself.

“What was that one?” Snotlout asked.

“Storm, wrath, lightning?” Hiccup translated the Words of Power rather quickly. He didn’t know this Shout, but recognized it from Paarthurnax creating the storm around High Hrothgar, “Why is it trying to use a Storm Call Shout underground? It won’t be able to reach it from here.”

“I think we’ve established that this dragon isn’t in its right mind, Hiccup,” J’Zargo said, “We should leave. It’s gonna bury us in Blackreach if we don’t.”

The Dragonborn took another look at the Skrill, who was now climbing over the walls of the outpost and trying to reach the ceiling of the cavern by flying to one of the nearby giant mushrooms. It wasn’t speaking any words besides the Shout, instead choosing to shriek and cry out. Then, he saw it. The giant gashes and scars across its back and legs. Its wings were in even worse condition, with one missing its giant claw at the elbow.

“It’s in pain, and probably has been for years. Adding the lightning withdrawals and the lack of open sky, this dragon has been… tortured. It was imprisoned here,” Hiccup said, eyes not leaving the Skrill, “You guys go. I’ll handle this.”

“Hiccup, no-“

He turned to Astrid and pulled the Elder Scroll from his back, “You take this to High Hrothgar.”

“Hiccup.”

“I am trusting you, Astrid,” the heavy Scroll was pushed into her hands, “I’ll be okay.”

He saw her move quicker than expected as she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Her hand trailed to caress his face when he returned the kiss with equal force. It felt right, like any other actions weren’t what the universe dictated. They moved in-sync as Hiccup’s hands moved along Astrid’s arms. Gods, this was a long time coming.

Astrid pulled away and breathed heavily as their foreheads touched, “If you die, I’m killing you.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, milady.”

She rolled her eyes and gave him one last kiss, then turned to the other boys and yanked them to their feet and started running for the Tower of Mzark again. Hiccup watched her, his girl, retreat to safety with the Scroll. If he didn’t make it out, there was a chance that the Scroll taught her the Shout needed and she could go in and defeat Alduin. If there was anyone who was going to defy prophecy, it was one blonde-haired, blue-eyed Valkyrie with a magic battle axe and a mean right hook.

Hiccup braced himself against another violent lurch of Blackreach and he saw the Skrill soar overhead. He locked his gaze onto it and took off after it. It banked left into a Falmer tent, screeching and crying out in pain. Hiccup sheathed his glaive and used the Whirlwind Sprint to get even closer. From here, he could see the dragon in more detail. The Skrill’s scales looked very similar to Toothless, though with the added purple coloring.

“Hello?” He called out in Draconic, “Are you alright?”

“Who’s there?!” The long tail whipped around, nearly striking Hiccup in the face, “Stay away!”

“I’m a friend!” Hiccup put his hands up in a placating way, “Please, I want to help!”

The dragon thrashed again, pulling itself to its legs and one good wing, the other pulled tightly against itself, “I said stay away!” The words melted into another Shout, “Strun Bah Qo!”

The Storm Call Shout failed again, much to the chagrin of the Skrill, but it did succeed in shaking the cavern once more. Hiccup tried his best to stay on his feet, but when he looked up to see a giant stalactite fall above him, he had to dive out of the way with another Whirlwind Sprint. He fell to his side, landing on his right shoulder with a sharp pain. The Skrill crawled away from the barrage of rocks as it collided with the floor of the cavern.

“If you keep doing that, you’ll bring down the whole cave!” Hiccup yelled at the dragon, trying his best to keep his voice level in the non-native tongue, “Let me help and we’ll both survive!”

“Lies! Odahviing, I will not fall for your trickery again, brother!” The Skrill tried to fly away, but the hurt wing refused to work, sending it careening further down the path. Hiccup finally stood up and limped over. He ignored the pain shooting up from what remained of his left leg.

“I do not lie. I only wish to help,” he tried again to show he meant no harm.

“Then why do you wear the skin of my brethren, Dovahkiin?” The Skrill said, in Common this time.

“It’s painted leather from shed scales.”

“You speak our language.”

“A friend taught me.”

“You have a Thu’um.”

“Kind of hard to not when you’re the Dragonborn.”

Hiccup ignored the cavern shaking again and the loud noise of more rocks tumbling from the walls and ceiling. He heard loud splashes from the direction of the lake, which was closer than he’d like. At least he was getting somewhere with the dragon.

“You confuse me,” the Skrill’s eyes narrowed at him and its lip curled in a low snarl.

Hiccup laughed, “I tend to do that. Now, can we get out of here before we’re buried with no way out? I have a friend who can look at that wing.”

The pupils within the yellow eyes of the Skrill widened, “You swear it?”

“I do. We just need to leave,” he held his hand out, palm facing the Skrill. He had used this as a sign of respect and trust to many other dragons. In fact, it often worked so well that Astrid ended up teasing him for ‘The Hand Thing’. She had a tendency to point out small habits he had and give them stupid-yet-affectionate nicknames. To Hiccup’s surprise, the Skrill gently placed its head against his palm and visibly relaxed.

The calm was interrupted by another violent tremor and more stalactites falling around them. The Skrill jumped forward and threw its wing over Hiccup’s head to block some debris.

“You’re right. We must leave now,” there was an obvious twinge of pain in the dragon’s voice. Hiccup looked at it in worry, but once it caught his eyes, it shook his head, “There should be a way out near the front.”

“Lead the way.”

~~~

The second lift out of the Tower of Mzark dropped Astrid and the others out into the middle of a giant lightning storm. Wind buffeting their faces, she guided them to where they saw the others take shelter under a nearby alcove. Heather was shivering under two cloaks, her vampire blood making her colder than the other felt, while the twins were arguing with Toothless. The other dragons must’ve flown off with the arrival of the summoned storm.

The Night Fury stopped listening to them and bounded over once he caught sight of them, “You have the Scroll, but where’s Hiccup?”

“He sent us out-“

“And you let him stay down there?” He demanded, “Astrid, whatever’s happening up here is making things worse down there. This storm is-“

“Caused by the Skrill down there trying to summon lightning, we know.”

“And that’s only going to cause a cave-in!” The dragon’s front paws slammed against the ground and he turned to pace the small area of safety, “Gods, Hiccup, why are you like this?! We have to get them out of there before this storm buries them in hundreds of feet of glacier and mountain.”

Astrid went to put the Elder Scroll down, “I’ll come with you.”

“No, we can’t lose you, too,” Toothless put his tail onto her hands, the ones still holding the most sought-after treasure in Skyrim, “Stay here. I’ll be back.”

“Toothless, no!” She called out after the Night Fury, who had already disappeared into the storm. Astrid couldn’t see past the wind kicking up the snow and ice on the ground and she watched as the Night Fury’s footprints and tail trail disappeared.

~~~

The rocks fell more and more as Hiccup and the Skrill limped slowly through Blackreach. He was glad his friends were as thorough with the combing of the cavern as they were because he didn’t want to deal with mechanical guards and Falmer on top of helping a wounded dragon through a collapsing cave. He occasionally used his Unrelenting Force to shove tumbling rocks away from them, and the Skrill shielded him from the smaller debris. When they got halfway through, the whole Earth shuddered beneath them and Hiccup fell to his knees.

“We are almost there, Dovahkiin!” The Skrill said.

“I know, I know,” Hiccup held a hand to his bloody knees and the pain at the end of his leg. He tried to do the same restoration spells he had been taught as a kid and honed as a teen, but he always relied on Astrid for healing, so they weren’t helping. This could’ve also been because of the amount of Shouts he had done in a short amount of time. Sure using one Word of a Shout made it easier to recover, but he had needed the full Force Shout to move some stalactites.

When the doors to Alftand came into view, Hiccup breathed a quick sigh of relief and steeled himself to make the rest of the trek.

Then, the Earth shook again. This was the most violent tremor yet and it threw both boy and dragon to the floor of Blackreach. Hiccup put up a minor ward, but the Skrill was faster to put its wing over him against the flying rocks and collapsing mushrooms. The dust cloud was immense and Hiccup screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to keep it from damaging his sight.

When the loud rumbling of falling stone quieted and the dust settled, Hiccup moved the Skrill’s wing from where it rested. He wiped a trickling stream of blood from his face and stared at the pile of rock and ice before him.

The latter half of Blackreach had just collapsed.

And most of it was right on top of the Skrill.

~~~

Astrid heard the sound of a thousand lightning bolts crash into the Earth.

She felt the tremor of the entire world shake beneath her feet.

She saw the storm subside and the snow that rested outside of their alcove shrank into the ground like a sinkhole had opened up.

The dragons who had taken refuge lower on the mountain could be heard overhead as they circled the wreckage of Alftand. Stormfly landed just next to Astrid as she left the protection of the alcove and walked out into the shining midday sun.

“Ast, we have to go searching,” the dragon urged. Astrid simply nodded and put the Elder Scroll into one of the saddlebags, then climbed atop the dragon in an almost-mindless motion. The Nadder took off into the sky and joined the circling dragons, who had one by one started picking up their riders to aid in the examination of the sinkhole in the mountain.

What once was a wide plateau on this mountain was now a large opening in the rock and stone. Some of the lifts that led down into Blackreach were destroyed, the tops pulled from the rest of the towers. Astrid could make out the Mzark lift in the wreckage, now just a pile of metal shingles and stone.

There was no sign of either Hiccup or Toothless.

~~~

Hiccup placed his hands against the Skrill’s body. He felt the faintest heartbeat against his palms and breathed a shuddering breath.

“I’m sorry,” he said, “I can’t save you.”

“You tried… that’s what matters,” the Skrill opened one eye weakly, “You were the first person to help me in thousands of years. All I wanted was to see the sky again. And I can.”

Hiccup followed its eye to a small crack in the ceiling of Blackreach where the sunlight seeped through.

“I wanted you to fly through it again,” he said.

“I will fly through the skies with our father, Akatosh. For I have died a hero, protecting the Dovahkiin.”

“At least tell me your name.”

“They called me Stinol’krein.”

“Free as Sun…”

“Let me give you one last gift, my friend,” the Skrill lifted its head and Hiccup took the sign to put his forehead against its own. He felt the too-familiar feeling of the fire of a Shout entering his body, “Use my family’s Words well, Dovahkiin.”

“I will.”

The dragon’s breathing slowed to a stop and Hiccup felt the heartbeat disappear beneath the scales. He shut his eyes as the fires of the dragon consumed its flesh and burned it away. He felt the roaring heat slam into him and he doubled over, his body curling around Stinol’krein’s bare skull.

And… he cried.

He cried for the loss of a dragon who didn’t deserve it. Another dragon he was unable to save. One who was trapped underground in a cage for thousands of years. One who only wanted to see the sky and taste the freedom of flying again. He failed this dragon.

And he would fail so many more if he remained down here.

Then, he heard a voice shout his name.

~~~

“Hiccup! Toothless!” Astrid yelled into the opening they’d found in the Earth. It was too small for any of the dragons besides Toothless to fit into, so Astrid assumed that it was where the Night Fury had disappeared.

The other dragon-rider pairs had scattered to find a lift that still functioned. Hopefully, with enough determination, they’d find one. Meatlug said that she approximated that a good half of Blackreach was now buried and that it was possible, with the amount of time they had, that Hiccup had gotten to the non-collapsed half in time to come out of this relatively unscathed.

The Gronckle’s words only lifted Astrid’s worries a little.

~~~

Hiccup turned from his spot near the Skrill to see Toothless bound towards him, his black scales covered in dust and snow.

“Toothless?” Hiccup muttered when the black dragon slowed to a stop and nuzzled his head under Hiccup’s arms, “How did you-?”

“It doesn’t matter. I assume this was…” the Night Fury eyed the dragon skeleton and the faint wisps of white light that surrounded his brother. He took in the damage done to it and the wing that was still propped up in a defensive manner, “I see what happened.”

“I did it again. Another dragon can’t fly because of me. At least the others are still alive,” the Dragonborn buried his face into Toothless’s shoulder, “I didn’t want to absorb its soul.”

“Hiccup, I don’t think you can control when that happens. I think it’s for the best you keep it safe, lest someone else use it inappropriately.”

“It died protecting me. All because I… I couldn’t help it.”

“Hey,” the Night Fury pulled away a bit and used a paw to lift Hiccup’s tear-stained face to him, “Let’s find a place on the surface to bury it. Did you learn its name?”

“Stinol’krein.”

“Free as Sun,” Toothless translated, “Though, I know now that it is freer than that. In the end, it still is flying through the sky. Probably as high as the stars. It’s okay, Hic. You did the best you could and I’m so proud of you for that.”

“But, what if my best turns out to not be enough?”

“It will be,” his voice was dripping in strength and assurance, like he could tell the future, but couldn’t say as much, “Hiccup, I know it will be, not only because of the prophecy, but because you aren’t doing this alone. You have the seven Riders under your command, your father, the whole of Whiterun, and more dragons than I can count on my claws. One dragon’s death isn’t indicative of your weakness, it only highlights your strength of heart and will of mind. You wanted to save it, right?”

Hiccup nodded.

“And it saw that and decided to save you instead, returning the favor. You inspire others. You are a leader. And you will continue to be a leader, as our General, our Dragonborn, and my best friend,” Toothless’s wings gathered around the boy and Hiccup let himself be pulled into the dragon’s paws, “You did what you said you’d do: you freed it. And I know that it is taking to the sky, relishing in the sun.”

Hiccup let the tears fall again, his arms wrapped around himself inside the black-scale cocoon. The Skrill wanted to live, and it gained its freedom in death. Was that really the true ending for it? There was no way Hiccup could reverse time or revive it like Alduin did to his army. So what other way to move forward was there?

Acceptance?

Moments passed like hours.

“I wanna get out of here,” Hiccup whispered, “There’s a lift to the surface over there.”

“Then get on and we’ll leave. We’ll come back to give it a proper send-off.”

“Okay.”

~~~

Astrid heard the clanging of metal come from one of the Blackreach lifts, the one that wasn’t completely destroyed by the collapse. She guided Stormfly down to the open gates and waited for the platform to reach the surface.

If she said that it was a relief to see a familiar boy and his dragon emerge from the tower, then she’d be understating exactly what she felt in the moment. Astrid slid off Stormfly’s saddle and raced forward to envelope Hiccup in a crushing hug. One hand snaked around his waist and the other found itself in his hair, holding his head close to her shoulder. She turned to plant a reassuring kiss to his cheek, then kept her hold on him still as he let out shaky breaths.

“I’m here, Hiccup, I’m here. You’re okay,” she whispered. She felt Toothless’s head bump her side and she released a hand to press it against his nose, “We’re all here.”

“I’m sorry, Ast. I’m so sorry.”

“You worried me, but I’ll grow past it. You being alive is all I care about right now,” she closed her eyes and whispered, “I love you, too.”

His grip only tightened on her, fingers digging into her armor. Astrid carded her fingers through his hair and returned the hand on Toothless to Hiccup’s back. At this point, she was practically carrying him. She accepted it. That was her job, to support the ones she loved in their time of need. And Hiccup really needed her at the minute.

They stayed like that for a while.

Soon, Hiccup was good enough to walk to their new camp, just a little walk down the mountain. Astrid let him fall asleep in her lap, as she knew he wouldn’t do so otherwise. The group was silent the whole night, both man and dragon gathered to support their leader the best they could. Astrid was grateful when Fishlegs did a wellness check, and when Snotlout and Hookfang gathered wood for a fire, and when the twins set up everyone’s tents with the help of Barf and Belch, and when Heather and Windshear gathered fish for dinner, and when J’Zargo and Flutter did the first night patrol.

Her teammates were quick to realize that Hiccup needed their help and decided to do so without asking. Sure the boy was asleep through all of it, but she was gonna tell him how lucky he was in the morning.

With a quickly whispered “thank you” to the Riders, Astrid moved to lay beside Hiccup for the night, her hand resting on his chest. If she felt him squirm in his sleep from an assumed nightmare, she wouldn’t say a word to anybody. If they woke up to find their limbs entangled and Hiccup’s chin resting on her head, no one was inclined to comment on it. Really, they feared Astrid’s wrath, but the Dragonborn’s power was nothing to scoff at. The two would confess it fully in due time, all the team had to do was wait for their General and Lieutenant to stop beating around the bush.

And if Stormfly owed Toothless five fish for winning their bet on who would kiss who first, that would stay between the two dragons, Meridia, and Miraak.

Notes:

Next time: Remembrance.

So. That Hiccstrid kiss huh?

Also: Happy 100,000 words of Sunless Fire, guys!!! Can’t believe it’s gotten so long. Thank you everyone who’s left such kind words and supported my little brainrot for every word.

Chapter 23: Remembrance

Summary:

Hiccup Crashes Out: The Chapter

Notes:

CW: Mentioned suicide.

This one’s pretty heavy.

There was one thing J’Zargo and Heather had in common: they were outsiders in this dynamic.

J’Zargo only knew Astrid for a few days while she stayed at the College of Winterhold. Then, the whole Eye of Magnus situation happened. While the Khajiit had little in terms of helping stop the Eye, he was one of the few people who had interacted with her before the near-destruction of the College. He joined the team because he had a sort of kinship with the girl, and wanted to make sure she was okay. Call it older brother instinct.

Heather was awoken a week ago. She had been a dragon rider during the first war and when her father put her to sleep to protect her, she didn’t refuse, trusting her father to retrieve her before long. Instead, she was found by some kind children (in comparison to Heather’s hundred- thousands? it was kind of confusing- years, they were kids) and safely delivered with her dragon sister back home. She wanted to stop this war, so she eagerly left home again to join the fight.

It wasn’t any wonder that the two people who didn’t grow up with the other six would become fast friends. It also helped that they both used magic, had strange dragons, and a bit of a language barrier with said dragons. Flutter and Windshear, though, got on like a house on fire. The two dragons were near-inseparable, about as close as Toothless and Stormfly. They’d practice their languages together and would often fly next to each other in the formation they’d figured out.

Easily, the four were close.

But their place in the Rider dynamic was a bit more difficult to figure out. They both knew that Hiccup, Astrid, Ruffnut, Snotlout, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs grew up together. They knew that Hiccup and Astrid had some sort of romantic tension, even if the two didn’t want to admit it (until their moral peril in Blackreach, according to J’Zargo). They knew that the twins were insane.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Heather said the day after the Blackreach incident, when the two were sent for firewood, “I truly don’t see them growing up together.”

“How do you mean?” J’Zargo broke another longer branch and placed them onto the pile between Flutter’s wings.

“I mean that the dynamic they have is like ‘five of us grew up together and one was recently brought in’, y’know?” She shrugged, “I just can’t figure out which one was left out.”

“Well, it wasn’t the twins, they go everywhere together like they’re attached at the hip.”

“And Tuffnut is close enough to Snotlout that they wouldn’t ignore him.”

“Then Fishlegs brought up that incident from when they were twelve that they refuse to go into detail about,” the Kahjiit started counting on his claws.

“And Astrid seems like the type to stay near Ruffnut as the only other girl her age.”

“So that leaves…”

“Hiccup,” she made a face, “I always hated his name. Not in a way that’s like, bad, or whatever. Just…”

“It’s weird to call your son a hiccup?”

She gestured wildly with her hands, “Exactly! Why would you willingly call your son a mistake? I can see someone naming the runt of the litter that!”

“What if he was?” J’Zargo shrugged and kept looking for fallen tree branches, “We know that he was supposedly too small for the Jarls to have any faith in him being the Dragonborn and that he’s made considerable progress in nine months.”

“But is that a reason to kick someone out of a friend group? Them not being able to kill a dragon at fifteen?” Heather shook her head, “In my clan, if a vampire is weak, we work together to strengthen them. A chain is only as strong as the weakest link.”

J’Zargo nodded, “I agree, but we’ve met his father, that man is easily ten Hiccups stacked on top of one another. I wouldn’t put it past him to see his scrawny son and give up on him at ten years old.”

“Is parental love not unconditional?”

“In Nords, it seems. Their Viking ways are… strange to other races. Growing up in Windhelm taught me that well.”

“Sounds like things only got worse since I last saw Skyrim.”

They fell into silence. How do you confirm that your other teammates ignored your leader growing up? Snotlout was enough of an asshole to prove that they had some sort of rivalry as kids, but Heather knew cousin interactions and the constant banter was normal. Then the twins would know how to push Hiccup’s buttons, though they probably never went as far as to make him snap out of fear of the Night Fury that rode with him. Fishlegs would geek out about dragons and mechanical stuff with Hiccup, but it seemed like they only did it because they were the only ones who understood each other. Astrid and Hiccup were the only ones who seemed to have developed an actual friendship over the past few months.

The more Heather thought on it, the more it seemed like there was more to their dynamic as Dragon Riders and friendship than they were letting on. Like there was some unspoken rule against mentioning anything before Hiccup met Toothless.

“Do you think… they were part of the problem?” Heather said, stopping at the tree line before the two mounted their dragons to head back up the mountain to camp.

“That they helped in bullying him and making him feel inferior for his weakness?” She nodded to J’Zargo’s question, “Yeah, I do. But I doubt they’ve actually talked it through as a group. I think they’re choosing to ignore it and the only people who’ve worked through it are Hiccup and Astrid.”

“Same.”

“Should we ask them?” He said.

Now that was the kicker. If they asked any one of them, it’d probably be the first time they were hearing of it. If it was as strained as an issue now, then the realization would probably tear them apart. Spending fifteen years terrorizing a boy only to then serve under his leadership to stop a war was one hell of a power dynamic.

But it wasn’t like Hiccup was using this dynamic to force them to work for him either. He was just a good leader, from what Heather had seen. He was outspoken, tried his best to seem immovable but not infallible, and found his strength in his friends and his brother. Hiccup was born for this and that wasn’t just because he was the son of a great Jarl. He was the Dragonborn. It seemed like he was just destined for greatness.

The other Riders seemed to agree with that notion.

“I don’t know…” was all Heather said.

The team spent a few days recovering from Blackreach’s collapse. Hiccup had some damage to his leg that he needed to fix before he could fly Toothless. Luckily it was something that could be temporarily fixed without a forge, but if he wanted to make it as good as new, they’d need to head back to Whiterun. Astrid stayed by his side the whole time, the two talking in low whispers and always keeping each other in arm’s reach.

Fishlegs and J’Zargo took small expeditions through the working Tower lift back to the non-collapsed part of Blackreach for study. Despite the large area now covered in mountain, there was a massive amount still unburied and open for study. There was even a salvageable old mage’s home with an enchanting table that Astrid used to recharge their armor and weapons with the soul stones they found in the Alftand ruins.

Snotlout and the twins also began moving the bones of the Skrill to the surface. It took many trips up the lift, but eventually they’d gathered them all atop the mountain and the Riders held a short funeral for the dragon that saved their leader. Hiccup held onto Astrid and Toothless the whole time as Stormfly and Hookfang gently used their fire Shouts to reduce the dragon bones to ash in the pit they’d dug. It was then filled in and Hiccup placed down a memorial stone carved with “Free as Sun” in Draconic runes.

The rest of the days of rest passed by in relative silence. After about a week and plenty of tests with the semi-fixed leg, Hiccup determined himself ready to fly to High Hrothgar. The Throat of the World came into view faster than he expected.

“Stormfly, I’m letting you take point!” The Dragonborn yelled back to the Nadder, shifting the tailfin for him and Toothless to slow down. She nodded and flew ahead to take over. He then turned to the other Riders, “We fly through the storm! It won’t hurt you!”

The others looked hesitant, but trusted him to guide them. When Stormfly did her Clear Skies Shout, and the storm split, all of them visibly relaxed and they flew through the gap in the storm with ease. The group circled over the Throat of the World and the awaiting Paarthurnax and Arngier.

The dragon atop the Word Wall stiffened when he caught eye of the boy on the Night Fury and slowly lowered himself to his eye level, “I sense a somber air around you, Dovahkiin. What happened?”

“Half of Blackreach is buried and a Skrill is dead,” Hiccup said plainly, “It died protecting me.”

“Then it died for good cause. I trust you gave it a proper goodbye?”

“Its ashes rest easy, facing the sun,” Stormfly said for the Dragonborn, “Also, you owe Toothless ten salmon.”

“Damn, I thought I was betting well.”

“I’m sorry, time-out, what was this bet about?” Astrid asked, her hand halfway into the saddlebag with the Elder Scroll in it.

“Oh, we bet who would kiss who first,” Toothless said, his shoulders turning up in a draconic shrug, “I was right in saying you would.”

“How did you-?”

“Snotlout.”

Astrid shoved the golden Scroll into Hiccup’s hands with an offended gasp and began to march over to the boy in question. He had just gotten off of Hookfang, so the dragon left him to face the wrath of Astrid Hofferson alone. The other Riders stared in confusion as she punched his shoulder and dragged him off by the ear.

“And what were the sides?” Hiccup hesitantly asked his dragon.

“Stormfly and Paarthurnax were sure that you’d cave, but I know you better than anyone else, so I knew you’d wait until you were bleeding out to do it because you’re dramatic as shit and live for hype moments and aura.”

“What in Tamriel does that even mean?”

“I don’t know. It just felt right to say.”

Hiccup sighed and shook his head when Snotlout’s pained screech echoed across the mountain peak. The twins were cheering for Astrid and J’Zargo and Heather were carefully prepping a few health potions for the boy and a healing spell for Astrid’s knuckles. She was yelling something about privacy and not gossiping. Hiccup was sure she just wanted an excuse to punch him. Another minute or so passed before she marched over. Luckily her fist wasn’t a bloody mess, but Tuffnut did need to set Snotlout’s nose as J’Zargo pressed his golden glow onto his face.

“Alright, are we good to continue?” he gave her a look. She nodded and shook out her hand and he just laughed, “Got it. Where should we…?”

“The Scroll was scribed with the final events of the First Dragon War,” Paarthurnax said, “Meaning it will only show you what it says atop this mountain. I suggest both you and Toothless read it, as it might be beneficial for both of you to learn the Shout.”

“Okay,” he gripped the Scroll and planted himself on his knees in the snow in the center of the group. Toothless wrapped himself around his rider, eyes narrowed on the Scroll. The other Riders stood around them, next to their dragons, who all waited patiently for their leader. Astrid stood with Stormfly to her back, the dragon’s nose nuzzled assuringly on her shoulder. She gave him a nod of affirmation.

He returned it, took a deep breath, then held the Scroll up. He grabbed the part that held the paper inside and pulled, the parchment unfurling and leaving the golden capsule with a single tug. At first, nothing happened. The parchment was blank and the Scroll still felt as heavy as ever.

Then, a small shimmer emanated from it. A circle of white light was traced into the paper, followed by lines that ran across the circle. More smaller diagrams and draconic runes etched themselves into the parchment and Hiccup felt the world darken around him at the sudden influx of light. The sounds of wind and his friends died down instantly and he closed his eyes and braced against a full force that slammed into him.

He opened his eyes and he was still on the Throat of the World, though the sky was blood red and he saw the runes from the Scroll cover the edges of his vision. Toothless was no longer at his back, an unwelcome absence in the unknown. Unidentifiable dragons flew around the mountain peak and Hiccup’s head flew from side to side in search of a familiar one. He didn’t have much time before he heard voices behind him and he spun around to see three people run up the path to the Throat.

“We’re running out of time!” A male warrior with red hair, heavy iron armor, and a battleaxe yelled to the other two.

“Daar sul thur se Alduin vokrii!” A dragon landed heavily in the snow next to one of the warriors, “Today, Alduin’s lordship will be restored! But I honor your courage. Krif voth akrin. Die now, in vain.”

The warrior charged the dragon, yelling something along the lines of, “For Skyrim!”

He spun his axe around in his hands and it landed among the dragon’s neck scales. The dragon reared and let loose a fire Shout. The warrior dodged it and sliced at the dragon’s wing, chopping into it like a sturdy oak tree. Another yell was heard from behind them and a second warrior, a woman with heavy armor with a sword, ran forward. She climbed atop the dragon’s head and wrangled it with one of its horns.

“Know that Gormlaith sent you down to death!” She yelled before plunging her sword into the dragon’s head. It yelled and fell forward into the snow, dead. As she jumped off and scattered blood across the mountain, she turned to the other warrior, “Hakon! A glorious day, is it not?”

The male warrior, Hakon, scowled at her, “Have you no thought beyond the blooding of your blade?”

She laughed, her eyes following Hakon as he walked to the edge of the peak, “What else is there?”

“The battle below grows ill. If Alduin does not rise to our challenge, I fear all may be lost.”

“You worry too much, brother,” Gormlaith said, crossing her arms, “Victory will be ours!”

He ignored her, “Why does Alduin hang back? We’ve staked everything on this plan of yours, old man.”

Hiccup turned to the other side of the peak where an older, wisened man sat. He was dressed in traditional mage robes, with long white hair and a long beard, and yet he carried a broadsword on his back. The more Hiccup stared at the three standing beside each other, the more he recognized them. Then, he realized. They were the three warriors on Alduin’s Wall, the ones Shouting him into the portal to Hiccup’s time. These guys ended the First Dragon War.

“He will come, he cannot ignore our defiance” the mage said, “And why should he fear us, even now?”

“We’ve bloodied him well. Four of his kin fell to my blade alone this day.” Gormlaith said.

“But none have yet stood against Alduin himself. Galthor, Sorri, Birkir…”

“They did not have Dragonrend. Once we bring him down, I promise I will have his head.”

“You do not understand. Alduin cannot be slain like a lesser dragon. He is beyond our strength,” the mage reached into his robes and pulled out a familiar golden Scroll, “Which is why I brought the Elder Scroll.”

Hakon turned back to the two sharply, “Felldir! We agreed not to use it!”

“I never agreed. And if you are right, I will not need it-“

“No, we will deal with Alduin ourselves. Here and now.”

“We shall see soon enough,” Gormlaith pointed into the blood-red sky at a steadily-growing black shadow, “Alduin approaches!”

“So be it,” Hakon gripped his axe tighter as Felldir drew his sword. An all-too familiar grey dragon swooped downward from the sky and landed with a resounding crash atop the Word Wall, his wings folding over the jagged stones and carved runes.

“Meyye! Tahrodiis aanne! Him hinde pah liiv! Zu’u hin daan!” Alduin yelled down to the warriors, summoning his Fire Breath Shout at the end.

“Let those that watch from Sovngarde envy us this day!” Gormlaith said.

The three warriors took steps forward and inhaled deeply at once, their Voices colliding with Alduin as he took to the sky.

“JOOR ZAH FRUL!”

A large blanket of white magic wrapped around the flying Alduin. His wings caught on the sinewy strings that surrounded him and he fell from his place in the sky to the foot-trodden snow of the Throat of the World. He thrashed wildly against his binds as it cut into the membrane of his wings and tail.

“Nivahriin joorre! What have you done?!” Alduin screamed, now under attack by the weapons of the three warriors. He snapped his mighty jaws at them, though that only brought more slashes upon his body, “What twisted Words have you created?! Tahrodiis Paarthurnax! My teeth to his neck! But first,” he glanced about at the warriors who had taken steps back from his ground attacks, “Dir ko maar. You will die in terror, knowing your final fate… To feed my power when I come for you in Sovngarde!”

Gormlaith gripped her sword tighter, “If I die today, it will not be in terror! Skyrim will be free!”

She raced forward and slid on her knees beneath Alduin’s left wing, her blade finding purchase in the grey membrane. She pushed herself up and gave the dragon more wounds along his rough grey scales at his flank. Alduin roared and used his tail to try and crush her. Gormlaith ducked beneath it and ran to his right side. While she dodged another slash from his tail, she didn’t see his head come around the other way.

Gormlaith screamed as his teeth plunged into her torso. Through her pain, she smacked the hilt of her sword against his face, but her strength was quickly leaving her. Alduin shook her around, then threw her into one of the peak’s nearby cliff faces. Gormlaith landed against it with a sickening splat and slid down, leaving a trail of crimson on the stone.

“No! Damn you!” Hakon screamed after his fallen friend. He rushed the dragon’s right side, his axe meeting scales in bloody combat. Alduin also tried to grab Hakon, but the warrior tucked and rolled, using the momentum to swing his axe into the tough skin around Alduin’s neck, “It’s no use, Felldir! Use the Scroll! Now!”

Felldir dropped his sword into the snow and reached back for the Elder Scroll. He held the capsule aloft and began to recite a prayer, “Hold, Alduin on the Wing! Sister Hawk, grant us your sacred breath to make this contract heard! Begone, World-Eater! By words with older bones than your own we break your perch on this age and send you out!”

A faint white mist gathered around Felldir, circling him and casting a gale about him. Alduin didn’t notice, too busy slashing his wing-claws against Hakon’s leg to see the magic whipping around the mage as he continued the spell.

“You are banished! Alduin, we Shout you out from all our endings, unto the Last!”

Hakon stumbled in the snow and Alduin slammed his tail against the warrior’s back, sending him careening to his side. Hiccup could see him breathing heavily and pressing a golden hand to his chest. Alduin went to Shout at Felldir, but the magic around the mage whisked into the sky and began writing a runic circle around the dragon.

“Faal Kel..? Nikriinne…” The magic went a pale green in color and grabbed Alduin by the wings and neck. The dragon roared and screamed against his binds as the light turned into a large dome that covered him completely. The snow beneath Alduin disappeared under a wide swirling portal and the green chains yanked him downward.

“Curse you! I will return for your soul!” Alduin yelled, still thrashing, as he was slowly pulled through the portal. The magic faded with the loud sound of rushing wind and the portal closed.

“You are banished!” Felldir finished, lowering the Scroll in his hands.

“By the gods…” Hakon slowly sat up, “You did it.”

Felldir sighed, “Yes, the World-Eater is gone… may the spirits have mercy on our souls.”

Hiccup watched the two retreat, then his vision stretched as the magic of the Elder Scroll faded away. The runes from the parchment blinded him once more and he felt the same force as before hit him like a crashing dragon. He squeezed his eyes shut and stumbled backwards. The feeling returned to his body and he felt a very familiar warmth behind him. He slowly blinked his eyes open to see Toothless and Astrid beside him.

Her arm was on his shoulder and he finally registered his surroundings. The sky was no longer bloody and the snow was as fresh as it could be with as many dragons and people that were on the Throat of the World at the moment. He felt the heft of his armor, grounding him to the current time, and the feeling of Astrid’s calloused yet soft hands brushing through his hair.

“Hey,” her voice came through soft and gentle, “You with us?”

He slowly nodded, “Yeah… I-“

The Shout he witnessed. Dragonrend. He knew it.

“I can’t do it again…” he whispered.

“What?”

“I can’t, Astrid!” He shot up to his feet and stumbled away from her and Toothless, away from where the Scroll lay abandoned in the snow. Where her face was filled with worry and concern, Toothless’s eyes only conveyed a deep sadness. He had seen the same vision, right? He knew that Hiccup couldn’t do it again, “I won’t do it again!”

“Hiccup, you’re not making any sense,” Heather tried to say, but Hiccup’s reaction of gripping his head in his hands tightly made her back off.

“I can’t do it again, Astrid! You know I would never!” He screamed, turning to Paarthurnax, “Why did it have to be that?! Why does it have to be me?!”

“You were chosen, Hiccup,” the old dragon said slowly, “We cannot control fate, only how we react.”

“I refuse!” He stomped his prosthetic into the snow, “I refuse to do it again!”

Astrid tried to stop him as he turned and ran from the group. Her hands came up empty when he booked it past her, through a gap in the dragons, and down the mountain path towards High Hrothgar. She watched his retreating back in confusion, tears welling in her eyes. All of the Riders and dragons turned to the lone Night Fury, waiting with his head drooping for everyone to bombard him with questions.

“Toothless,” Astrid started, “What did you see?”

He sighed and shut his eyes, his ear flaps flat against his head, “I was there, that day. The day Alduin was banished. It was a bitter battle, with many of us dying to Skyrim’s armies. I was one of the few trusted with the attack on the Throat of the World.”

The silence was only broken by the wind of the storm above, so the dragon continued.

“I watched him land in front of them, Gormlaith, Hakon, and Felldir. The Warriors Three, responsible for banishing Alduin. I did not understand their power, nor the Shout they had crafted using the Dovah language,” he opened his eyes, “It was one none of us knew, one we dared not try to understand, for it accomplished what we believe to be a punishment worse than death.”

The dragons around all shifted uncomfortably, knowing immediately what was about to be said. Astrid eyed them all, unsure whether or not this was due to instinct or the fact that they knew this whole time and refused to say anything.

“What are you saying, Toothless?” Astrid asked when no one else did, “What does the Shout do?”

The Night Fury raised his head to face her, acidic green eyes filled with a rage she had never seen out of him before. His tail thumped against the snow to his side, the prosthetic in plain view.

“It rids a dragon of their ability to fly.”

Astrid’s hands covered her mouth as she gasped. For Hiccup’s saving grace, the Shout to have helped defeat Alduin, be one that did such a thing… she couldn’t imagine the turmoil in his heart. He promised Toothless, all those months ago, that he would never do it again. He would never put another dragon in such a situation where their flight was taken from them. And now, that very thing was what stopped Alduin the first time.

“No…” she whispered, her hands shaking, “Permanently?”

“Against Alduin? No. He’s too powerful. But against any one of us…” he glanced at the other dragons, “It would tear our wings and tail fins, rendering us flightless dragons within seconds. It is called Dragonrend and it is the only Shout that we Dovah should fear.”

“And now he refuses to use it,” Snotlout said, “Hiccup is still so guilty over your fin, Toothless.”

“I’m aware,” the dragon faced his rider’s cousin in annoyance, “I’ve told him, over and over and over, that he shouldn’t feel guilty, that Alduin is responsible for not finishing my ritual. And yet he refuses to listen to me when I say I forgive him.”

“He hasn’t forgiven himself,” Astrid admitted, “He thinks he is reaping the benefits of you needing him for the fin to function.”

“If he merely thinks, then it isn’t true,” the Night Fury stood and walked in the direction his brother ran, “I’ll go speak with him. You all stay here.”

~~~

Toothless found Hiccup on the front steps of High Hrothgar.

The boy sat on the bottom step, his hands fidgeting with the brooch of a Night Fury he had made a few months ago. He stared off into the distance, watching the sky dim as the evening crept towards twilight. The embodiment of night slowly padded towards Hiccup and sat down beside him, staring in the same direction as the boy.

He opened his wing and wrapped it around his brother.

“I promised, Toothless…” Hiccup’s voice was hoarse and pained, “I promised I wouldn’t do that to anyone else.”

“I know,” Toothless said, just as quiet, “But you didn’t do it the first time. Alduin did.”

“But I interrupted it.”

“And he refused to finish it. I know you feel guilty for it, but you don’t need to. Do you know when I forgave you?”

Hiccup looked away.

“I forgave you the moment you strapped this on me,” he brought his tail around and rested it in Hiccup’s lap, the red false tail fin slightly opening across the Dragonborn’s knees, “And gave me my flight back. The minute I felt my body rebalance and my tail be whole, because of you, I forgave whatever you did. And I know you’ve been trying to create an automatic one, that follows my organic fin, but no amount of solo flying could replace flying with you.”

“But you’ll never be truly whole again.”

“Hiccup, you fill the gap,” the Night Fury’s paw nudged the boy’s arm, “You’ve made me feel more complete than I ever did during the first war. That Scroll did more than teach us Dragonrend.”

Hiccup’s head snapped to Toothless, “You mean, you… remember?”

“I think it unlocked something inside that had been sealed away when the ritual didn’t finish,” he nodded, “I remember my family. I remember our position in Alduin’s army. I remember seeing… my mother. Dragons were born of the dragon god, Akatosh. We have the means to find love and mate, laying eggs and waiting for them to hatch, but the original dragons were from long before me. I was the son of two such original dragons. I remember them now.”

“What happened to them?”

“My mother… she was shot down over the Pale and killed right in front of me. And my father, in his grief over losing a dear friend, led an assault that was not sanctioned by Alduin. He got himself killed,” Toothless said, eyes flicking as he tried to find anything else about the two dragons, “I know that they cared deeply for each other. And they cared for me. When Alduin was banished, I… I couldn’t go on without them.”

Toothless felt Hiccup lean into him and the dragon’s wing tightened on the boy’s shoulder.

“I landed in that quarry, and in my own grief and misery… shot at the rocks. The wooden beams fell and I-“ he sighed, “I didn’t want to even try to move out of the way. So I didn’t. I killed myself.”

Hiccup’s breathing hitched at the admission. The two had always assumed that Toothless was killed during the war by some Hunters or a lucky shot from an archer. Since Toothless was so young when he died, any number of accidents could’ve made him another casualty of war. But for the Night Fury to remember such an event so clearly… was it really any good that he remembered the other aspects of his life before now? Was the cost of knowing about the other Night Furies understanding his own demise?

Hiccup eyed the many scars across his brother’s body, then he remembered the one that they had found along Toothless’s back.

“I can’t remember where I got this scar, but I bet it isn’t as crazy a story as that,” Toothless gestured to one of the few faded marks on his body. It was situated between his wings and was only a few inches long.

“You were pierced with one. That’s where it came from.”

“I remember the pain,” Toothless confirmed, “It wasn’t long before death found me. But unless a dragon’s soul is taken in by another, it cannot truly die. I was buried by the humans who found me, resulting in the abandonment of the quarry. Then, thousands of years later, Alduin comes in and revives me.

“It wasn’t pleasant, not knowing who I truly was, but at least I could live with the prospect of creating new memories, with you and Astrid and Stormfly. Now, though, I’m glad I remember. Because I can honor those who cared for me during war. The Night Furies live on in me and I refuse to let them down.”

Toothless’s wing shifted a bit as Hiccup pushed himself closer to his brother. The cocoon of wing and tail kept Hiccup warm against the bitter cold of the mountain and he was grateful that the dragon had sought him out. He was glad that Toothless trusted him with this and he knew that the dragon needed this kind of closure.

Hiccup’s hands brushed the false tail fin again. The way Toothless had gotten so used to it so quickly, the way he refused to take it off sometimes, and the way that he often said that he and Hiccup were matching souls made Hiccup not want to feel guilty over the dragon losing it. They were kindred spirits, alike in disability and pain. Both of them lost something important, they both lost a mother, they both feel too small for the shoes they must fill.

Dragon and Dragonborn. If Hiccup never discovered Toothless and still found out about his destiny, he doubted that he would’ve stayed in Skyrim much longer. He can’t imagine a world where he kills even one dragon, much less the World-Eater, Alduin.

“Do you remember what your name was?” Hiccup asked softly.

“Yes, but I will not go by it now. That name died when I did,” Toothless said, “It was… Vulonmaar.”

The Dragonborn laughed a little, “Can’t believe you were called Night Terror.”

“As if Toothless is any better,” he said. Toothless moved his head to rest atop Hiccup’s head, “But it’s who I am now. I am Toothless, brother of the Dragonborn and the Last Night Fury.”

“We’re more similar than I thought. Left leg, left tail fin. Dead parents, big shoes to fill. I’m… worried.”

“And you don’t have to do it alone,” the dragon finally settled around his rider, body circling around the boy, “Just tell the others that we won’t be using Dragonrend.”

“And if they demand it?”

“Stand your ground. You are the general of our army, you make the final decision. It’s not exactly the greatest use of power, but they should trust your judgement. You are the Dragonborn and understand what it’s like to be flightless.”

“Alright,” Hiccup nodded to himself and wiped the tears from his face. It by no means got rid of the shadowed pain under his eyes or the redness of them, but he looked better already. Toothless hated it when his brother cried, “We’ve got this.”

“We’ve got this!”

“We’ve… got this,” their own little mantra, one normally used to convince Astrid that something would go well, now only reassured themselves. Hiccup gave Toothless’s neck one last, long hug, which the dragon accepted and returned the best he could. Humans were cold, and in the low temperature of the mountain, it wasn’t really a welcome sensation. However the blood that ran through Hiccup’s veins, and the dragon soul within him, made him as warm as a summer day. So Toothless relished in his brother’s arms.

“Toothless?”

“Yeah?”

“For the record, I want you to be my family. I don’t care how broken you think you are. You’re my brother through and through,” Hiccup whispered, “If you weren’t a dragon, I bet you Dad would adopt you the minute we defeat Alduin.”

“I’d like that. Maybe he can use his status to do it.”

“You mean abuse the power given to him by the High King? What a great example we’re setting.”

They watched the storm roll overhead. The clouds shifted as if they were moving around High Hrothgar in a ballroom dance, changing partners and swinging arms. The snow and hail followed the magic, barely reaching the steps the brothers sat upon. Maybe Hiccup would one day be powerful enough to summon such a storm. Maybe he’d use it to protect his people, his family, his friends. That’s all he really wanted, to protect. To lead. To live a happy life with his dad, his dragon brother, and the girl he loves.

“Wanna head back?” The dragon whispered.

“We probably should. I need to talk with Astrid anyway.”

“Yes, go talk to your girlfriend.”

“She’s not my-“

“Hiccup and Astrid sitting in a tree-!”

“Oh fuck you!”

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“Where did you even learn that?! You’re a dragon!”

~~~

Astrid paced the area within the Word Wall, waiting for the Dragonborn and dragon to return. The other dragons had gone for a flight to speak on the usage of Dragonrend and the Riders had found themselves places in the snow to rest. Heather and J’Zargo studied from one of the Khajiit’s spell tomes, with Fishlegs off to the side to talk about potion ingredients. Snotlout and Ruffnut were trying to see how high of a stack of daggers they could make without it falling like a house of cards (seriously, how did they get that many in the first place?). Tuffnut simply sat to the side, occasionally grabbing a handful of snow and throwing it at his sister.

She kept looking to the sky, hoping that a black dragon would appear with a certain Dragonborn. They needed this, she knew, but the anxiety was killing her. She knew about the guilt he carried, making a dragon flightless, and now having been protected by a dragon against a danger like no other. Toothless was the only one who could alleviate that pain, that guilt, and help Hiccup carry the world’s weight. The two were responsible for ending this war, as neither could do it alone.

It’s why they were brought together, it’s why they were like brothers, it’s why their eyes were so similar. Astrid didn’t believe in soulmates. She didn’t believe in predetermined destinies, just really good predictions and the idea that someone could take words to heart and make them a reality. As a kid, she always said that it could have been fate to become a great warrior, but that she’d still work just as hard as the others to do so. Now, though, she believed in the Song of the Dragonborn. She believed that the bards of old were correct, that the Dragonborn would bring about new peace and prosperity.

Astrid believed that people can be tied by more than blood or friendship or love. Hiccup and Toothless were soulbound, a relationship that could only be crafted by two beings completely in-sync. Had Hiccup not been the Dragonborn, it would’ve been harder to explain, but even if he didn’t have the power of the Voice inherently, the boy would still have the soul of a dragon.

She paused her pacing and looked to the sky as a Night Fury swooped down and kicked up the snow with his landing. Astrid raced forward to greet Hiccup as he slid from the dragon’s saddle. Her fist met his arm in one of her usual punches and he reeled back, rubbing the sore spot.

“Is it always going to be this way when I-“

Then, she grabbed the front of his armor and pulled him into another kiss. He melted into her warmth and Astrid made a mental note that this was her favorite part of them: his absolute trust in her to catch him. She pulled away and watched him recalibrate himself, “I could get used to it.”

“Are you feeling better?”

He pat Toothless on the head and smiled, “Yeah. We talked and we both agree. We won’t use Dragonrend.”

“It’s gonna be difficult to defeat him without it.”

“I don’t care. We can meet him in the sky. It’s no longer just his domain. It belongs to us all,” he gestured to the gathering group of Riders, “We will bring the fight to him. All we need is a dragon who can remember where his base is.”

“And I have the perfect one,” Toothless said, “We need to find the dragon Odahviing, Alduin’s right-wing. He is trusted enough that he is following Alduin willingly, not under his control. So he won’t forget where Alduin is, like the rest of us freed from the control.”

“So we capture Odahviing,” Hiccup said, staring out to the west, towards Whiterun, “And I know just the place.”

Notes:

Next Time: One Day of Peace

That feeling when knee surgery is tomorrow. Like, actually. If things slow down it’s bc of that. Apologies in advance.

Chapter 24: One Day More

Summary:

One day of peace before the storm.

Notes:

So my surgery went well. The past few days have just been me sitting in bed and rewatching RTTE. This chapter is just a small filler one before we get into the final parts of the story.

Returning from High Hrothgar, Hiccup expected many things. He expected his father to greet them and barrage them with questions about the Scroll and the Shout. He expected Spitelout to yell at them for collapsing Blackreach. He expected more dragons in Whiterun. He expected a long Council meeting to discuss the usage of Dragonrend.

What he really, truly, honest-to-Talos did not expect whatsoever was to land on the Great Porch and see his father on top of and talking with a giant green-and-red Rumblehorn. Gobber stood by, helping make sure the straps on the dragon’s saddle were snug. He turned to the Porch terrace and instantly lit up, “There’s the Dragonborn!”

Stoick looked up from the Rumblehorn, “Hiccup! Toothless! Come meet our newest addition!”

Hiccup swung himself off Toothless, eyes still running over the scene before him. His father slid off the saddle and landed with a dull thump on the stone ground, then waved the boys over with an excitement Hiccup had never seen from his father. Ever. Stoick, to the average person meeting him for the first time, was emotionless. Growing up, Hiccup only ever saw a fraction of this kind of excitement when teens graduated Dragon Training. Now, his father was giddy like a kid on their birthday.

Toothless must’ve noticed Hiccup’s confusion and nudged the boy’s back lightly with his nose, “Come on, dude.”

Hiccup’s brain seemed to right itself because he followed Toothless up to the Rumblehorn, “Hi? I’m sorry, when did you show up?”

“About a week ago,” the dragon said, “Alduin planned a raid for this area of Skyrim and I had heard rumors that it was the home of the Dovahkiin. I wanted out, so I came here to warn them and meet you.”

“He saved us and the dragons Alduin sent here,” Stoick confirmed, patting Hiccup’s back and looking the saddle over again, “When we told him about you guys and the other dragons, he offered to be a mount as well. So I am learning to fly.”

“My dad. A Dragon Rider,” Hiccup gaped, “This is unprecedented, unexpected, and…”

“A miracle?” Toothless supplied.

“Sure.”

“I get it, I never thought myself up for this, but we were about to go on our first flight, if you want to join us?” Stoick looked between Toothless and Hiccup expectantly. The dragon and the Dragonborn made eye contact, an entire conversation happening between swaths of green, “You boys really have to learn to have spoken conversations. I almost believe you can read each other’s minds.”

“Trust me, sir, it doesn’t get better on the road,” Astrid said, walking past the group with Stormfly’s saddlebags on her back.

Hiccup looked up to the Rumblehorn and held his hand up. The dragon was confused at first, but he eventually did press his large horned nose against Hiccup’s palm.

“Do you have a name, my friend?”

“Mun’Kloval.”

Toothless muttered lightly to himself before letting out a small breathy laugh, “Man, head, destroy. I think a good translation for his name would be Skullcrusher.”

“Do the other dov have names in the language of men?”

“Yes,” he nodded, “I am called Toothless, I’m sure Stoick has told you.”

“Yes, the zeymah of his son. I was confused the first time he mentioned you, as he spoke so highly of you as if you were his own flesh and blood,” Skullcrusher’s throat rumbled in a low laugh, “It took about a day before he mentioned you were dov.”

“Yeah, we get that a lot,” Hiccup said, ignoring how awkward his father looked and how he nervously fidgeted with his hands, “Let us go settle in first, and we’ll meet you back out here soon.”

Stoick reached over and pulled Hiccup into him with one arm and wrapped the other around Toothless’s neck, “I’m glad you’re back, boys. We have much to do, but it can wait.”

“Air, Dad-“ Hiccup hit his father’s bicep twice. The man released him immediately, also letting go of Toothless with one final pet to the dragon’s head, “Yeah, it can wait. We’ll tell you after the flight, okay?”

“You two go rest, I’ll meet you here at sundown.”

Both brothers nodded and walked back to Hiccup’s room. The Dragonborn peeled off his armor, haphazardly tossing it onto his work bench. The collapse of Blackreach had damaged significant portions of it, including completely crushing his helmet. Which meant he needed to make a new one, which probably meant he’d want to design and make a full new set of armor. Whiterun’s forge and armory was a lot better than the small one from Raven Rock, he’d say that much. For a mining town, they didn’t use their ores much, just refined it and sold it to traders from Morrowind.

Hiccup opened his bag and pulled out his old notebook, laying out the original schematic for the armor. It was simple, really a proof of concept for Astrid to know what he was doing. Her set was a surprise for her sixteenth birthday, as it had happened during their Solstheim visit. Actually, the twins’ birthday was coming up soon, and Fishlegs’s birthday was a week before the year anniversary of Hiccup’s awakening as the Dragonborn. And if he made them sets of armor, he’d have to make Snotlout one too. Then maybe even a smaller chain piece or some bracers for his father.

“I know that look,” Toothless said from where he lay beside Hiccup’s bed, “You’re being hyper-creative and are about to burn yourself out.”

“No, I am not. And that isn’t a look I get! At least not often enough for you to call me out on it,” he spun in his chair to look at his dragon, “Honestly, I’m just thinking.”

“Which you tend to over-do. What is it this time? New blade for Inferno? New way to modify the fin?”

“Actually, I was thinking… what if I made dragon armor for everyone?”

“Hicc, that’d take so long.”

“Not full sets like mine or Astrid’s, but like… Fishlegs could use a new helmet or the twins could get matching bracers or Snotlout could get gloves to help with when Hookfang ignites, you know?” He grabbed his notebook and pointed to each of his own sketches for the individual armor pieces, “Maybe a new belt for my dad or an invisibility cloak for J’Zargo. Something that says that they are my most trusted advisors or whatever. Present them at the meeting to make it all official.”

The Night Fury nodded along, “If it doesn’t push you too hard, then I don’t see why not. You’d have to work on it in secret and you know how bad you are at that.”

“Hey, I kept you a secret.”

“For a month and then you told Astrid,” Toothless raised an eyebrow and stared at Hiccup, who scoffed and leaned back in his chair, “I’ll help you get the scales, but that is the extent of my help.”

“And that’s all I need,” he picked up his pen and walked to sit in the crook of Toothless’s shoulder to sketch. Their usual lazy afternoon, for however many of those they got, consisted of this. Toothless would nap 17 hours like a cat and Hiccup would let his mind wander and run free. When Toothless woke up, he’d find a full schematic for a new invention, or maybe even beginnings of the invention itself.

A few hours passed before Hiccup looked up and saw the beginnings of the setting sun. He removed Toothless’s tail from his lap and reached for his prosthetic (he took it off two hours ago). While he was clicking it into place, he felt Toothless shift behind him and Hiccup fell backwards as the dragon stood up to stretch.

“Do you have to do that every time?” The Dragonborn didn’t sit up until the Night Fury stepped over him with over-exaggerated movements.

“Hey, it wakes you up fully. And it’s funny,” Toothless nudged the door open and padded down the hall, not even waiting for Hiccup to finish putting his stuff away and grab his riding gear.

Back down on the Great Porch, Toothless had already laid out his prosthetic and the saddle for Hiccup. The tail fin was first, being buckled snugly against the scarred tail. Hiccup ran the control cord up the dragon’s body and through the full-body harness that wrapped around Toothless’s back spines and wings. He pushed the cord into position then grabbed the saddle. It had its own special locking mechanism into the harness and the stirrups.

Once Hiccup finished tightening the final buckle, he looked to see the doors fly open and his father walk in with Skullcrusher. How that dragon could walk through Dragonsreach without breaking anything was beyond Hiccup’s understanding. He was tall, wide, and long with armored plating that could stand up against actual rock. He was like a rhino with wings and the body mass of a whale.

“Just around the Hold, then we’ll be back before night patrol starts,” Hiccup said to his father, “We’ll start slow, get you used to the feeling.”

“I can handle a bit of jostling, son. I’m not that old!”

“No, you’re not as old as Hookfang-“

“I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT YOU DIMWIT.”

Toothless rolled his eyes, “But you still want to be careful. That goes for both of you. One cannot control the other. You must work in tandem for this to work at all.”

“It’s a bit more complicated with Toothless because-“ Hiccup gestured to the entire rig on the Night Fury with a wave of his hands, “-but you’re both smart and know how to work together already.”

“We’ve got this, eh, Skullcrusher?” Stoick patted the side of the Rumblehorn’s head. Skullcrusher only responded with a gutteral rumble and a roar, “Aye, we do. Now, let’s get in the air.”

Hiccup and Toothless were in the sky first, gently following the Rumblehorn as he pushed upwards. Stoick was practically white-knuckling the reins. They stopped just above the highest point of Dragonsreach and Hiccup shifted the fin to hover to make sure his father and Skullcrusher were still behind them.

“How is it so far?” Toothless asked the other dragon.

“Strange to have extra weight, but it’s still balanced.”

“When you start moving in tandem, it goes away. A rider starts to feel like an extension of yourself. Just give it time.”

“Easy for you to say, lad,” Stoick looked around them at the city of Whiterun, “This is incredible.”

“Just wait until we get higher,” Hiccup laughed, “Once you almost touch the stars, you never want to land.”

They continued around the Hold at a decent height, always keeping the city in view. The reds and oranges of the sky receded as might took hold and they decided to land for Stoick’s sake. Hiccup saw a familiar dent in the trees and mountain below and guided the group down into the all-too-familiar quarry. Hiccup noticed how Toothless’s eyes glaze over the area, seeing it now under the lens of what happened all those years ago. He ran his hand along his brother’s scales comfortingly.

“It’ll only be a bit, bud,” he whispered and dismounted.

“I’ve never known this to be here?” Stoick said, taking small steps around the flooded and abandoned quarry. He stopped in front of the stone burial site, now devoid of a dragon and collecting dust, “Is this where…”

Hiccup walked up to meet his father at the edge of the grave, “Yeah. I found him here the next day, unable to get out. It holds a lot of memories.”

“Good ones, I hope. I don’t want this place to have been included in the places where you got injured, son.”

“Well…” Hiccup trailed off and glanced back at his brother, who was sitting just a bit away. Toothless seemed to have been listening, his dragon senses letting him hear them even from far away, and he gave Hiccup a small nod. This man was Hiccup’s father, so the dragon knew he could be trusted with the truth, “Actually, it’s a lot more than it was when I found it.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Alduin didn’t finish Toothless’s revival ritual, he not only left him without a tail fin, but without his memories as well. He didn’t remember his family, his place in the first war, or how he died. We built him up from nothing,” Hiccup’s prosthetic scraped against the stone runes of the burial site, “But we found the Elder Scroll and Toothless and I read it together. It not only gave us what the ancient heroes used to defeat Alduin, but it unlocked something in him, giving Toothless back his memories.”

“I’ll ignore the part about the Scroll, I’m sure your friends will fill me in tomorrow, but what did he remember?”

“His family. His mother was shot down and his father ran himself into the ground. Toothless was the last Night Fury and… he couldn’t live up to it. He landed here, and-“ Hiccup’s head snapped to attention when he finally found what he’d been passively looking for since they landed. A large wooden beam, carved into a stake, lay abandoned halfway into the pond that made up a good chunk of the quarry. He walked towards it and ran his hand along the rotting wood. It crumbled a bit under his touch and he pulled his hand back. The stake’s sharp point was damaged and splintered but there was an unmistakable stain on it. Crimson seeped into the wood and discolored it enough for Hiccup to screw his eyes shut at the sight.

That was his brother’s blood. From when he shot the quarry’s scaffolding and didn’t move. Wouldn’t move. Hiccup turned away to face his father, “He died here, was buried here. Thousands of years later, he’s awoken, incorrectly. Then befriends the very thing prophesied to destroy his people.”

Stoick simply put his hand on his son’s shoulder, “Sounds to me you both have courage. Knowing all that and coming back here, seeing it as a place of love and celebration instead of a place of grief. And I don’t think he was brought back incorrectly. I think he came back just as he was supposed to, for if he didn’t, you wouldn’t have met. And Skyrim would be worse off because of it.”

When Hiccup didn’t respond, his father continued, “You two found family in each other. Son, you are, what’s their word for it? Dovahkiin? Dragon kin. You have the heart of a Jarl and the soul of a dragon. You were destined to meet him, bond with him, and defeat Alduin with him. There’s more to it, I know, but you will accomplish this task. Who else is crazy enough to ride a dragon?”

“You are, you flew here,” Hiccup laughed through the tears that had started to fall. He reached up and wiped them away, “Thanks, Dad. It’s been a rough week, I guess.”

“And I’ll be here when you’re ready to talk. Keeping it in isn’t healthy.”

“Yeah, Astrid’s told me as such.”

Toothless finally padded over and nudged his head under Hiccup’s hand, “You ought to listen to your girlfriend.”

“Girlfriend?” Stoick seemed genuinely surprised at the word.

“Oh for Talos’ sake, she isn’t my girlfriend!” Hiccup shoved his brother’s head away. The dragon simply laughed and moved to circle Stoick instead.

“I dunno, that kiss you shared on the Throat of the World told me otherwise,” he jeered, much to the chagrin of his brother.

“Hiccup and Astrid…”

“Great, you broke Dad,” Hiccup waved his hand in front of his father’s eyes, “The lights are on but nobody’s home.”

“I think he’s finally realizing that there’s a chance he becomes a grandfather.”

“Or he’s in shock at the idea that someone likes me back.” Hiccup seemed to finally register Toothless’s words, “And I’m not even thinking about that right now, Toothless! Don’t put the image into my mind!”

The dragon gave him a look, “Oh, please. You and I both know you’d be a good dad and I’ll be the greatest uncle on all of Tamriel. Your kids will wish I was their father instead, they’ll be so pampered and spoiled.”

“Grandkids…” the Jarl muttered, clearly thinking so far ahead into the future that Hiccup was sure he’d see their family seven generations from now.

“And now we’ve got a broken Jarl of Whiterun on our hands. Skullcrusher, come help me get him home!”

~~~

Astrid stood across the street from her family home, staring at the front door like her father would know she was there. Her magic crept along her hands with her nerves. It wasn’t a tic she was the proudest of, but she realized that when she was worried or scared, her magic would often surge, even the tiniest bit. Sometimes it was a small fire that luckily didn’t catch on her cloak, or a frost that made her chill to the touch. Today, and more recently though, it seemed like her magic chose to expel excess lightning of all things. Her Sparks spell was making her hair stand on-end and every time she touched someone, she accidentally gave them a small jolt of electricity.

She hid her hands against her legs and sharply turned away from the house, towards Dragonsreach. She tried to avoid main thoroughfares but the castle of Whiterun only really had one entrance. Astrid avoided wandering guards, some kids who were playing, and some Terrors on her way up the fountain steps. Honestly, she’d never seen Whiterun so active, so energized. The fact that the raids weren’t really an issue, with the mind clearing spells being so effective on most dragons, made the whole city come to life.

If her childhood was covered in desaturated colors, the present day was so bright and colorful it nearly blinded her. She pushed open one of the massive doors to the castle and slowed when she looked up towards the Jarl seat. Hiccup sat there, Captain Caius at his side, going over some maps and drawing lines with some symbols.

“And we’ll put Winterhold and Windhelm here,” he said to the Captain, “That’ll leave enough room for any extra people they may bring, as well as keep Ulfric and Tullius separated.”

“A solid plan, sir. I’ll make sure we have soldiers there to control the crowd and keep them to their areas,” Caius took the maps from Hiccup and rolled them, tucking them under his arm, “We’ll stagger their arrival to make it easier.”

“If you would. Thank you, Caius.”

“Of course. It’s good to see you take the initiative, Hiccup. You’ll be a good Jarl.”

Caius gave Astrid a small nod as he passed her on the stairs on his way out of Dragonsreach. She returned it and walked up the rest of the stairs to see Hiccup still in his father’s seat, now going over some book she couldn’t make out the title of.

“Don’t tell me you held a coup without me,” she joked, stopping just in front of him.

“Ast, if I were to overthrow my father, you would be the first to know,” he looked at her like she had just dragged the stars down for him. He always looked at her like this, or like she was the sun after a hundred years of night. It made her heart flutter every time, “No, I’m handling some planning stuff for the meeting of the Jarls soon. Dad’s upstairs, broken.”

“Broken? I thought you guys went on an evening fly with Skullcrusher?”

“Yeah, and he did great! But we decided to rest a bit in the quarry and jackass over there-“ he pointed at the corner where Toothless was napping, though Astrid could see his ears shift, “-mentioned our kiss on High Hrothgar and my dad just… broke.”

She gaped and scoffed in fake offense, eyes trained on the dragon, “Last Night Fury or not, I’m gonna kill your brother.”

“Go ahead, milady, just keep the blood off the tapestries.”

Toothless immediately sat up and stared at the shield maiden now stomping towards him. His body arched like a startled cat and he let out a hiss before he bounded away. Astrid was quick enough to grab ahold of his tail, latching onto the prosthetic’s leather bands for extra grip. The dragon jumped and used his wings to push up towards the large log rafters of the Hall and landed heavily, shaking the chandeliers that hung from them.

“Hiccup, get your girlfriend off my tail!” Toothless yelled down to the boy who couldn’t be less interested in their petty squabble.

“Come here, I won’t hurt you!” Astrid laughed, now climbing up the scaly black tail like it was a sleek tree, “You’ve avoided my punches for long enough, dragon!”

“Astrid, I don’t deserve this! You’re punching a one-finned orphan!”

“OH THAT MAKES ME WANNA PUNCH YOU MORE.”

She saw Hiccup sat back in the chair and laugh maniacally. Astrid jumped from the tail to the rafter, then hooked her hand onto Toothless’s saddle right as he jumped to another log. Her right foot caught on the stirrup on the saddle and she shifted her hands for a better grip as she swung herself onto it.

“Gotcha, you little demon!” She yelled when she finally got her arms around the dragon’s neck and started playfully punching the area around his shoulders and front legs.

“No!” He drawled, gliding down to the lower level and using every dramatic bone in his body to flop onto the wooden floor like a dying animal, “I’ve been betrayed, absolutely destroyed, completely bamboozled!”

“I swear, you just make up new words and phrases,” Hiccup said, meeting them in their dragon-shield maiden pile.

“Who’s to say they didn’t- ow- exist when I was alive the first time? Maybe it was some new age slang back then- ow,” he winced at another punch, albeit with much over-exaggeration, “I think ‘totally tubular’ needs to make a comeback.”

“I know you just want me to ask Hookfang if these are real and embarrass myself when he asks me what the hell I’m talking about,” he folded his arms. Astrid stopped her punches and slid off the dragon, to the ground. Hiccup immediately gave her his hand and pulled her to her feet, wrapping an arm around her waist, “What say you, milady?”

“Oh, all I know is that your dragon’s a dumbass.”

“If this is gonna continue to be Bully the Orphan Day, I’m gonna leave,” Toothless said, standing up and walking towards the stairs up to the Great Porch, “Stormfly wouldn’t treat me like this.”

Before the dragon’s tail fins were out of view, Hiccup turned to Astrid, face falling a bit, “Is everything okay, milady?”

“Yeah? Why do you ask?”

“You shocked me,” he said plainly, “Wanna go upstairs and talk?”

She didn’t even need to nod, as her welling tears let him know her answer. He gently grabbed her hand and led her to the stairs, then through the doors to the chambers of the Jarl’s family. She was being sat down on his bed with his arm around her shoulders before long.

“I went back again.”

He didn’t need to ask where by this point. Every time they stopped in Whiterun, Astrid would go to her parents’ place, hoping that she’d have the courage to finally knock and ask to talk. But every time, she’d wimp out and come back to her room in Dragonsreach. Stormfly had heard about her issues with this plenty, but Hiccup had really only heard about her worry that they would never accept her and her dragon.

“And?”

“Nothing. I almost did it today, but I psyched myself out.”

“Maybe tomorrow?” He was always encouraging her to be strong, be brave. She loved him for it.

“Actually, I was gonna ask if you wanted to come with me? I think it’d be better if it wasn’t one against two.”

“You know I’d do anything for you, Ast,” he pulled her closer and kissed her hair, then rested his chin against the top of her head, “And if you want me there, then I will be. You’ve supported me for so long, it’s quite literally the least I can do.”

“So…” she pulled away a bit, her hand now clenched in his. She felt the electricity from her magic fade as he tightened his hold on her. This was what made her calm, just his presence and his words, “Tomorrow morning?”

“If you’ll have me,” he looked deep into her eyes.

She smiled and leaned in, “I will always have you.”

“Come what may,” he closed the gap, pressing his lips softly against hers. He pulled away with a smile, “Though I will say, when Toothless called you my girlfriend, neither of us really corrected him.”

“Did you want to?”

“Of course not. I’d be the luckiest Viking to get to call you mine,” his hand found a place on her face and his thumb ran across her cheek, wiping away a stray tear, “And if I hear you call me yours, I’d about die.”

“Well, we can’t have that. Though, I will call you my koor,” she smirked as his face went deep red, “My summer.”

“Does this make you my strun? My storm?”

She looped her hands around his neck and pressed a short airy kiss to his lips, “I guess it does.”

~~~

Toothless found Hookfang on the Great Porch, staring out into the northern night of Skyrim. The Nightmare was often here. Being the eldest dragon of the current team, he found himself wanting to go rest later than his peers, always making sure they were safe and comfortable before he flew off to rest near the Jorgenson’s home. Hookfang said he only watched over Snotlout because he felt responsible for him, but Toothless knew that Hookfang had some sort of family instinct for the boy. Like how Toothless was Hiccup’s brother.

“You about to leave?” Toothless called out, yet still stayed quiet. Flutter and Meatlug tended to be asleep by now and he didn’t want to wake them.

The Nightmare nodded slowly, expelling the tiniest puff of smoke, “Yes, the night grows old and I find myself unable to stay awake at this time.”

“Well, can I ask you a question? Before you go?”

“Anything.”

“Did you know my parents?”

Hookfang lowered himself into the stone to be more on the Night Fury’s level, “Yes, I did. Your mother, Gaff’Vonun, was a fierce warrior and your father, Kulaansil, was no weak adversary. Your kind was made by Akatosh for speed and power, and your parents showed it well.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Did you wish to keep it from me forever? You knew I was the last one, it shouldn’t have been that hard to figure it out,” the words came out harsher than he expected them to. Hookfang was old, so he had the highest chance of knowing Toothless’s parents personally. However, he wondered, after he regained his memories from the Scroll, why Hookfang refused to bring them up, to ask if Toothless remembered them and to tell him when he said he didn’t.

“I was never entirely sure. Your mother often spoke of her sister, a fellow Sunless Fire who resided away from Tamriel, not interested in the war Alduin was brewing with Skyrim,” the Nightmare said strongly, “I wondered if you were that sister’s son, but I see now that I was wrong. And I am sorry.”

Stupid wise and benevolent Monstrous Nightmare who was really good at apologizing. So much so that Toothless practically felt the tension leave his body as soon as Hookfang said the words.

“And I’m sorry for the accusation, but you must understand my perspective.”

“I cannot, only you can truly know your life. Toothless, I do not want anything to come between us. I am glad to follow your lead in this war, and supply whatever help I can. If that is just moral support and stories about your parents, then I will oblige,” Hookfang blew a small ring of smoke around Toothless, who shook his ear flaps to disperse it when it reached him.

“Thank you. I’ll let you get to bed, then. We don’t want our resident old man getting up cranky,” the Night Fury flicked his tail at Hookfang’s fake offended look.

“Low blow, my friend. Even for you.”

“I learn from the best,” he nudged the Porch door open and walked the familiar halls to Hiccup’s bedroom. He froze when he saw the extra body in the bed and slowly crept forward. Hiccup’s arms were wrapped around Astrid’s waist, slightly pushing up her shirt and she had a hand lost in his hair as they faced each other. Toothless blinked, then shook his head. It seemed his brother was getting bolder.

Deciding to leave the lovebirds alone, he slunk back out and entered Stoick’s room instead. He found a nice out of the way corner and circled it before laying down and covering himself with his wings and his face with his tail fin. Toothless thought of his family, his parents, his brother, and all of their adventures as he slowly and gently faded into the realm of sleep.

Notes:

Next up: Odahviing

So I know that technically what happens next in the main quest is Season Unending and then Odahviing but I hate Season Unending bc I don’t care for the civil war (and you can quote me on that). Also it doesn’t make sense for Hiccup to have to convince Stoick to use the Porch bc,,, that’s his son? I did try to write it, but it really didn’t turn out well.

Chapter 25: Odahviing

Summary:

Reflection, adoption, DRAGON TRAPPING.

Notes:

Okay.

So y’know how i said my knee surgery went well? Turns out it didn’t and I’m updating this from the ICU bc I passed out and fell over last night lmao

Almost died but y’know. Shit happens.

After word of the recovery of the Elder Scroll spread to the other Jarls, they expected a quick and concise end to the war. What they got instead was more dragon raids and more destruction. It was never known how the dragons learned of the recovery, or why they amped up the raids across the whole region, but the Jarls knew that the one person who could to save them was in Whiterun.

Stoick immediately called for the sending of the Riders across Skyrim, a decision Hiccup vehemently refused to acknowledge. His father wanted to remain in the other Jarl’s good graces, but Hiccup knew there was something more to these raids than Alduin getting desperate.

“If that vision taught me anything about this dragon, it’s that he doesn’t get desperate. Even if he is actively dying or being sent across time, he will curse your bloodline, try to kill you, or worse. He will go out fighting, not begging for his life,” Hiccup said one day after the first calls for aid came in, “This is something more, something we need to investigate.”

“But we can’t leave our allies in the dust, son,” Stoick said, eying the red and blue flags strewn across the map. He may not have ever participated in the civil war, but he still kept track of who belonged to which faction. He tried to remain updated on every skirmish, every battle, every change of leadership as it affected his Hold. His family and his people came first.

“And I get that. We’ll send them how to do the mind-clearing spell, so their mages can help free more dragons. I’ll also ask Heather if her family can learn the spell and be dispatched to Dawnstar and Solitude to help,” the Dragonborn said, “If they can’t handle it after that, then we’ll send the Riders. I don’t want to risk them when we’re so close.”

“And you’re sure that this spell will work on them? According to the reports, these dragons are more aggressive than any others we’ve seen.”

“We have to have hope, Dad. It may seem pointless or contrived, but that hope can be powerful. I’ll ask Astrid to write the spell down for me, then send them on some Terrors. It’ll be faster that way,” Hiccup placed both his hands onto the table with the map and stared at all of the markings of increased dragon raids.

Solitude, Winterhold, Dawnstar, and Markarth were the main targets of them, all of their letters hitting Hiccup’s hands within hours of each other. They were the furthest from Whiterun, each taking several weeks on horseback or a few days on dragonback. It made sense, to Hiccup, why Alduin would target these cities in particular.

“He’s trying to draw me out of Whterun so he can raze it,” Hiccup said, “He wants me away from home so he can destroy it and make the people not believe in me.”

“Like a tyrant would. If it were under other circumstances, I’d applaud the strategy. Distract the leader and take the rug out from underneath them,” Stoick added, “Everything falls down after that.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think he’s accounted for the fact that I’ve realized. We stick to the plan, sending the Terrors, then we advise that they fortify defenses and create evacuation plans. We should probably resettle Helgen and fortify Bleak Falls Barrow, as evacuation points for us and Riften. If one Hold is destroyed and unsafe, make the others take in survivors. Have them work together. For once.”

“Aye, it’ll be a warm day in Winterhold when all of them start doing that.”

Once the Terrors were sent with the letters and assignments, Hiccup made his way down to the forge to get a headstart on his friends’ gear. He decided that making six brand-new, full sets of dragon scale armor was going to kill him, so he settled on smaller, yet enchanted, pieces of armor that would reflect their status as Riders and their individual strengths. He tacked up the first design and began his work.

Meanwhile, Toothless was across the city, asking other dragons about Odahviing, and if they remembered seeing the Skrill at all in recent memory. The Night Fury doubted that any one of these dragons would know his current whereabouts, but there was a chance one knew about his plans. The increased raids only meant that Alduin was pulling out all the stops, using his most powerful dragons for the attacks.

It made the leader inside of Toothless sick, how Alduin was using his soldiers for such things. For anybody to be under your leadership and command, they must place a certain trust in you and to abuse said trust to get what you want wasn’t what a true leader should do. Odahviing was, according to the dragons who could remember his temperament and anger issues, a loose cannon. He fought whoever, whenever, wherever, not caring for the destruction he caused. This made him incredibly loyal to Alduin’s cause, as the Great Destroyer’s plans to wipe Skyrim, and possibly Tamriel and the whole world, from existence needed dragons who could kill hundreds with a single Shout. And that was the bloodshed Odahviing desired.

In a way, somehow, he reminded Toothless of the stories Heather told of a younger Dagur. According to her, he once tried to wage a war between the vampires and the Argonians because once, an Argonian child looked at him funny. Oswald, Heather and Dagur’s father, sent him away to another region with another vampire clan to “calm down”. If the fact that Heather had more stories about after her brother’s return was any indication, then the supposed vacation failed and Dagur only returned worse than when he left.

What a sight that would be, Dagur and Odahviing. The man was looking for a Skrill companion and had been obsessed with them ever since he was small. Heather declined to tell her brother about what happened in Blackreach in their weekly letters. However, Toothless silently decided to himself that maybe if they turned Odahviing to their side, then Dagur could be an honorary Dragon Rider. Just honorary, as the man still had the vampire clan to run, and Hiccup probably would kill him before he even got on the dragon.

For all the chaos and entertainment that he’d expect from that team-up, Toothless hoped it wouldn’t happen. He already had his hands full with the twins and their Zippleback, he doubted his brain could handle the migraine of a deranged vampire riding an insane Skrill.

It’d match up with the other bullshit they’d dealt with the last nine months, Toothless would be the first to admit that. As he padded away from the Porch’s terrace, he pushed open the door to Dragonsreach and came face to face with Stoick.

“There you are,” the Jarl said, giving the dragon a nod.

“Hey, sorry. Leads had to be followed up on. Where’s Hiccup?”

“Said something about going to see Gobber. Probably got an idea during our meeting,” Stoick laughed a little, then suddenly turned serious. It unnerved the dragon, “Actually, lad, there’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”

Toothless walked around to sit near the table, facing Stoick. His ear flaps twitched in confusion, “Okay?”

“I know you and Hiccup are as thick as thieves and despite what anyone else says, you two are practically family. Well, I wanted to make it more official.”

The dragon’s eyes went wide and he stared in disbelief. Was this man seriously talking about adopting a fucking dragon? Yes, the Haddock family of Whiterun: a mountain of a Jarl, a fishbone of a Dragonborn, and a whole-ass Night Fury. Truly a family gifted by the gods, one of prophecy and determination. What would Valka say if she saw them now?

A family Toothless found himself in and at no point in the future, wants to leave behind. Hiccup was his brother and Stoick, while being a mentor-figure, had taken to treating Toothless like he was as flesh and bone as Stoick. As if he was the Jarl’s own blood. Some of the people in Whiterun even started referring to the two as family, often asking Toothless where his brother was or how their father had been.

And as much as he saw the dragons in their team as his flock, a mismatched group of dragons he could see as family, the Haddocks had filled the gap his parents left behind. Stoick reminded him of the blurry memories of his father. Hiccup was as kind and strong as his mother. Everything with them felt as right as they did all those years ago. He was fighting alongside his family at both points of time.

“And you’re sure the council agrees with that?” Toothless asked.

“They’ve made it a bit difficult, but I simply told them to try and separate you two after the war. They’d have to put up with an angry Night Fury, an even angrier Dragonborn, and a furious Jarl,” the man kneeled in front of the dragon, his hand resting under Toothless’s chin, “If my son calls you brother, I will call you son. No amount of species difference or lack of blood relation will change that. Ever.”

Toothless wanted to cry, but his reptilian form wouldn’t allow for it, so he opted to throwing his paws around Stoick’s shoulders and burying his head in the man’s hair, knocking his helmet to the ground.

“Thank you. I would gladly be apart of your family,” the dragon pulled away and bumped his head against Stoick’s chest as the Jarl ran his hand along Toothless’s forehead.

“Anytime, lad. Our family is already strange, what’s a literal dragon on top of it?”

“Imagine being the first Jarl, or person ever really, to say that your sons are the Dovahkiin and a Night Fury.”

“Well, I tend to make the impossible possible,” Stoick laughed, “I’d say ‘welcome to the family’, but you entered it several months ago. So, welcome, officially, to the Haddocks. Go tell your brother, we’ll celebrate later tonight.”

With another affectionate bump of his head to the man, Toothless bounded down the stairs and out of Dragonsreach. He practically glided across the city, even if he couldn’t do it for long on account of his imbalance. The guards and shopkeepers he passed waved to him with wide smiles and he kept up his momentum all the way to Gobber’s forge, where his brother was focused on bending a specific piece of metal.

He lingered back a bit until Hiccup finished with the piece, setting it aside and grabbing another one. Toothless slunk around in a wide berth, keeping to the shadows cast by the houses in the mid-morning sun. He circled around one of them and started creeping behind Hiccup. His claws made very little noise against the stone street that ran through the city, but he still kept them as retracted as possible as to not give away his position.

He smirked and wiggled his body to get a better vantage, but Hiccup’s hammering on the metal paused for just a second, “I can see you there, Toothless. If you’re planning on pouncing, at least wait until I’m not holding molten iron in my hands.”

Toothless physically deflated and walked over, resting his head on the workbench, “You’re no fun.”

“Well excuse me for not wanting to be severely burned,” Hiccup ran his hand along the dragon’s head with a small chuckle as he walked to a different part of the forge to grab a small tool, “You really have it out for me.”

Toothless shrugged, “I have to, it’s in my contract as your brother.”

“I don’t recall that clause.”

“Maybe it’s in the revised version. I’d understand if Dad didn’t tell you yet.”

Hiccup paused, forgetting about the tool he was just about to grab, “Repeat that, Toothless?”

“I’m just saying that you haven’t exactly read the newest contract regarding our brotherhood. But I’m sure Dad will fill you in tonight.”

“You mean it? He did it?!” Hiccup’s eyes were as wide as saucers. Toothless puffed his chest out proudly.

“You are looking at the newest addition to the Haddock clan, your official brother in both paper and soul.”

Hiccup dropped everything and launched himself at Toothless, wrapping his arms around his neck so tightly that the dragon was sure his head would pop off like a children’s doll. The dragon’s wings wrapped around his brother tightly.

“Oh my gods, he did!” Hiccup all but screamed into Toothless’s scales, “And the Council allowed it?!”

“I’m sure that if they didn’t, they’d have every Dragon Rider on their ass,” Toothless said with a rumbling laugh, releasing his brother, “Besides, he’s the Jarl, he can do whatever he wants.”

“Then I am all for him abusing his position of power for this specific thing. I can’t believe we’re the first and only Hold in Skyrim to have a dragon in the line of ascension. Really makes you realize just how much has changed.”

“Imagine you don’t have any kids and I take the throne. Well, actually, I’d imagine it’s more likely for you, now that you’ve got a girl.”

Hiccup scoffed, “I don’t have her, she has me. It’s like she saw this pathetic wet cat sitting on her porch and felt bad enough to let me in. I’m lucky to have her.”

“I know it’s more than pity, what she feels for you, Hicc. You just gotta see the worth in yourself first. As I see it, as Dad sees it, and as she sees it. Come on, I thought I beat the self doubt out of you months ago.”

“Ah, it’s the gift that keeps on giving. Now, can you relight the forge, I need to finish the base of Fishlegs’s helmet by tonight.”

“Don’t you know the fire Shout? And you still use me like common billows.” He asked and still used his Thu’um to reignite the dying embers of the forge.

“You know it tastes weird.”

“It’s an acquired taste!”

“Yeah, well, you’re kind of reptilian and need to be accustomed to it.”

“It just sounds like a skill issue to me.”

“WILL YOU STOP WITH THE FAKE PHRASES-!”

If the guards that sat at Whiterun’s main entrance just a hundred feet from the forge laughed at their Jarl’s sons’ antics, it was kept between them and their humored eye contact.

~~~

Heather and Snotlout were the Riders chosen to head to Castle Volikhar to gather vampires and mages for the other cities’ protection. The only one that didn’t need an extra mage was Solitude, as Heather personally knew their court mage, that just so happened to be a distant cousin. Somehow. Stoick’s only response to the former High King’s mage being a vampire was a deep and heavy sigh that Hiccup physically felt in his bones. And his missing leg.

While they were off, Hiccup ran routine drills with the other Riders. Sure it was seven dragons and eight riders against the world, but it wouldn’t kill them to learn to fly in formation or do proper flyby’s. Caius was a big help with figuring out the best spots for each dragon and how best to plan overhead attacks. The Captain was already one of the best military leaders in Skyrim, as evident by his status in Whiterun, so Hiccup knew he could be trusted with such a thing.

The other dragons that resided in the mountains and fields of Whiterun also helped. Some Gronckles and Timberjacks had taken to helping the smiths and carpenters fortify the city’s defenses. A family of small Scauldrons had taken refuge upwind in the river that ran through the Hold, so they helped fish when the fishermen came to collect a haul to sell. Nadders provided their spines to act as nails, Nightmares gladly provided a good supply of gel to use for the weapons Hiccup had taught Gobber and Gustav to make, and some Zipplebacks had taken refuge in an old giant den on the mountain and helped warn the city below of any raids.

As Hiccup watched it all change before his eyes, with his family at his side, he wondered how his mother would react to everything.

Valka was of the unpopular-at-the-time opinion that the dragons could be communicated and reasoned with. She often found herself trying to stop the useless bloodshed, but it only made the Hold see her as weak and a bad fit for their Jarl. If Hiccup existed as he was, but sixteen years ago, he wondered if he could have saved her.

No one knew exactly what happened the night she was taken by the Stormcutter, just that she hesitated to kill it and it was the death of her and the cause of the scar on Hiccup’s chin. Stoick kept the sword she dropped in a locked case in his room. The first time Hiccup asked about it, his father only said it wasn’t a toy and to leave it be. When he was twelve, after he started his apprenticeship, Stoick finally told Hiccup that it was the last thing she touched, so Stoick kept it locked away to preserve what little of her lingered on its handle.

“Your mother’s heart was bigger than anyone else’s. She was kind, loyal, and brave. But the dragons took her from us,” his father had said, “Which is why when we finally put aside our petty squabble and rise up against the dragons, I will make sure every one of them is put back in the earth where they belong.”

The sentiment had changed, of course, if the fact that Hiccup was no longer an only child was evidence, but he often found himself wondering what would have changed had his mother not died. Would she be proud of him, of his destiny, of his power? Would she approve of him not using Dragonrend? What would she think of Toothless, of Stormfly, of the other dragons on his team?

Astrid said once, “Your mother would be so proud of you. You have accomplished so much and have started the peace between Skyrim and the dragons. I know that she looks after you from Sovngarde and that she is so proud to point and say that you are her son.”

Hiccup didn’t quite believe her, but he only responded by saying Astrid was right. And she probably was, but every bit of doubt Hiccup had told him otherwise. Valka would probably see him as the Dragonborn, destined to kill all dragons. It was never prophesied that the total annihilation of the dragon species was going to happen, but since everyone took Alduin’s defeat as the defeat of every dragon in the Old Kingdom, she probably did as well.

It’s not like he’d ever know. She was dead. And if she was still alive, she wasn’t coming back. She hadn’t returned in fifteen years, were she alive, so Hiccup didn’t exactly have high hopes she would ever return.

He didn’t even know what he’d say to her. The “why” wasn’t enough, the “how” was self-explanatory, the “when” was known, the “where” was everywhere but with him and Dad, and the “what” didn’t have any other words attached.

No singular question he could ask her would satisfy his need to know, his want to understand. So he resigned to believing what everyone else did.

Valka Haddock died in the dragon raid fifteen years ago, survived by her widowed husband and her only son. And that was as good of an answer as Hiccup was ever going to get regarding his mother.

He turned away from the retreating forms of his friends and walked down the barren Great Porch. His brother sat on the terrace wall, eyes trained on the sky for any sign of the dragon they were hoping to capture. Astrid, J’Zargo, and Spitelout all sat above him on the catwalks, with Stoick, Fishlegs, and the twins ready in case anything happened.

“Alright!” He snapped his fingers above his head to draw everyone’s attention, “We are as ready as we could ever be! Who wants to trap a dragon?!”

The team cheered and Hiccup felt the resounding echo run down his spine. He drew his glaive and turned back to the terrace. He gave Toothless a nod and the Night Fury took in a deep breath.

Most dragons had names made of three words in the dragon language. Coincidentally, every dragon Shout was also three words, with very few exceptions. This meant that, should one need to, they could use the Voice to Shout a dragon’s name into the sky. According to dragon tradition, this typically was reserved for official challenges and summons from higher-class dragons. A dragon could not back down from a Shout summon. The Riders were going to use this prideful nature to get Odahviing exactly where they needed him.

Toothless’s Voice shot through the air as he used the words of Odahviing’s name. Hiccup kept his ears open as seconds turned to minutes. Then, a loud roar echoed through the sky. A large red mass flew past Hiccup’s eyes and he spun around to see a giant red dragon land on the side of Dragonsreach.

In body, he looked like the Skrill from Blackreach: a lengthy wingspan as front legs with sharp claws, long barbed tail, plenty of lightning rod spikes, and a wide face. His scales were instead a bright red and orange, with a shimmering pattern across the back. Odahviing screeched out a roar at the offending Night Fury.

“Sunless Fire. You summon me here, knowing you’ve brought our elder brother shame and misfortune with your actions! You are no dov!” Odahviing sneered from his perch.

“I am not here to reclaim any shame Alduin brought upon himself. You made a mistake, using force to claim your position!” Toothless said, “I am only bringing an innocent dov justice!”

“You claim I have made a mistake, but you refuse to see your own!” Odahviing jumped from the side of the castle and to the terrace, between the Haddocks and the interior of the Porch, “You’ve already lost.”

Odahviing’s Call Storm Shout was building in his throat, as shimmering blue lightning ran between the spines on its head. Hiccup held his hand up for a blue Deadly Nadder to swoop down and grab him. Stormfly threw him upwards and caught him on Astrid’s saddle, taking a wide berth around the terrace and hovering right above Toothless. Just as Odahviing let out his magic, Hiccup and Stormfly jointly used their Clear Skies Shout.

The clouds that had started circling overhead dissipated and the Skrill’s eyes went wide, the lightning vanishing from between its spines, “What? You traitorous spine-tail! How dare you fight against your elder brother?!”

“It wasn’t a difficult decision,” Stormfly trilled, “He left me to die. I will get my revenge.”

Toothless stepped forward, wings wide and eyes narrowed, “Stand down, Odahviing. You are outmatched.”

“By two children? I think not! How many of you traitorous dov have chosen these weaker beings?! Akatosh grant me strength!” Odahviing launched himself towards Toothless. He was about three times the size of the Night Fury, but the blind rage granted Toothless more control of the right. His lithe body darted between the Skrill’s claws and he used his hind legs to launch himself onto Odahviing’s back, wrenching him backwards under the roof of the Porch.

Hiccup summoned his Voice to use Unrelenting Force to aid his brother. The two forces resulting in Odahviing being shoved further into the Porch. As soon as Hiccup and Stormfly followed, the mages on the catwalk shot their hands out to the wide entrance and closed it with a massive combined ward spell.

“It’ll only hold for a bit, boy!” Spitelout yelled down, “Capture that damn dragon!”

Hiccup gripped his glaive in his hands and swiped it down, a stream of fire emerging from the blade and lashing Odahviing. The dragon screeched again with another Shout attempt, but Stormfly launched her spines across Odahviing’s shoulder in response. Toothless jumped away from the thrashing dragon, his claws covered in inky black blood, and launched his family Shout towards the Skrill’s hide.

Odahviing backed away further, accidentally herding Stoick and the others towards the stairs of the catwalk, “You insolent fools! Do you not know how Alduin will respond?!”

“You walked into this challenge of your own accord, Odahviing,” Toothless said, eyeing a Tuffnut by the lever to drop the stock that hung from the ceiling about halfway into the Porch. The boy gave the dragon a nod and wrapped his hands around the lever, “You now must reap what you sow. NOW, TUFF!”

Tuffnut used his whole body to yank the lever downwards, the stock violently falling and catching on Odahviing’s head and wings. The Skrill thrashed against his binds with screeches and curses. Stoick and Fishlegs raced to one side while Ruffnut and Hiccup met at the other. The chains attached to either side of the stock were tightened, keeping it level with the stone floor and preventing most of Odahviing’s movements.

“This is a mistake, Dovahkiin!” Odahviing spat as Hiccup circled back to his trapped head, “Alduin will kill you, then he will devour every soul and destroy this realm! A hapless child is no match for the Elder Brother of the Dovah!”

“You are in no position to argue with us, Odahviing,” Hiccup held his glaive up, blade pointed at the Skrill, “Where is Alduin’s temple?”

“As if I’d tell you!” He laughed, “I am not ruining what we spent thousands of years waiting for! You will fail and you will die. There is no avoiding destiny!”

“You know not my destiny. You know not my future, for you do not know me,” Hiccup took a step forward, “I am the Dragonborn, born of both man and dov. I am your brother, your kin. We need not fight, Odahviing. You only have to trust me.”

“I will never. You say you are my kin, and yet to place me in this embarassing position! You know not the pain of being trapped!”

Hiccup’s face and voice softened, “I do, actually. Being trapped in a world that doesn’t accept you. Being stuck as someone you can’t be, not for lack of trying, but because your soul is incorrect,” he lowered himself to a crouch, hand still on his glaive on the ground, “I was a boy raised in a dragon-killing city, expected to kill dragons, and I still couldn’t kill one when the perfect opportunity presented itself.”

He let go of the glaive and kicked it to the side. Ruffnut grabbed it when it landed at her feet.

“I wish to end this war, to free us from the cycle of bloodshed and death we have been going through for sixteen years. I doubt anyone expected the Dovahkiin to want to save the dragons from the blades of men, but here we are. You can be free from Alduin.”

“Such freedom is a myth. He is our ruler, our king!”

“It isn’t. I have experienced the freedom of the sky. What a privilege it is, to fly higher than the clouds and to see the world as a dragon. My brother and I fly as one, it is a freedom we allow each other. You can be as free as us, Odahviing. That’s what I promise you.”

The dragon seemed to consider his words, hesitating with his retort. His wings slumped and his whole body was still, “You cannot promise that. He will not allow it.”

As Hiccup got closer to Odahviing, he slowly raised his hand, “I can. Please, I beg of you. Help us and you can be free again.”

His hand was now barely a few inches from Odahviing’s nose. The Skrill’s deep black eyes stared at Hiccup and his breathing shuddered. He lay limp, his fight extinguished.

“That’s all I want. I wish to be as free as the wind, like the name I gave up to serve Alduin. Akatosh did not give me the name Odahviing, but the name Stinolven,” the Skrill said, “Like my sibling, whose soul I sense within you, Dovahkiin. I only ask… did they die peacefully?”

“As peacefully as I could make it. Their injuries were too great for me to heal, as they died protecting me.”

“Then they went out proudly. Thank you, for protecting what remains of them. You fight the good fight, Dovahkiin. I bow to you, and offer my knowledge,” Odahviing gently leaned forward, his warm scales hitting the skin of Hiccup’s palm. The Dragonborn smiled softly and ran his hand along Odahviing’s nose slowly.

Hiccup nodded, then looked up at Tuffnut, “Release him.”

The chains at Odahviing’s side loosened and the stock was slowly pulled off his neck. The Skrill pushed himself to sit back on his haunches, head still low to face Hiccup, “Alduin resides in Skuldafn Temple, south of where I believe the city of Windhelm resides. The mountainous region and the height makes it impossible for man to traverse it on foot, making flight a necessity.”

“Good thing we have a surplus of them,” Hiccup said, “Would you want to remain here? I doubt Alduin would be happy to see you aiding us.”

“He will not be there if we stage an assault. When I left, he was close to finishing his next goal. Once he does, your settlements will be mercilessly attacked by his remaining army. He has sent out scouts already to weaken them, but he has not yet shown their true might,” Odahviing huffed, “He has only alluded to his next part of the plan, but what I do know is that he is not going to be stoppable after he succeeds.”

“What’s he doing?”

“If what he has told me is correct, then he plans to open a portal to Sovngarde using an ancient ritual and consume the souls of warriors that reside there. Then, he will be powerful enough to shred this realm to pieces and go after the gods. After that, he cannot be stopped, not even by the Nine themselves.”

“So we stop the ritual, and if that doesn’t work, we follow him to Sovngarde. How long do you think we have?”

“A moon cycle at most. The magic will be strongest under the light of a new moon, so he plans to do it then.”

“Less than a month. Three weeks,” Hiccup steadied his breathing, “It’s doable. Earlier than I planned, but doable.”

Toothless found his way around the dragon and to his brother, “If that’s all we have, then we have to kick it into high gear. I’ll organize more countermeasures with the others and finalize the Terror system.”

“And we’ll have to finish the spells for everyone, as well as evacuation orders and safe houses,” the Dragonborn closed his eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the tension grip his mind, “We’ve got this.”

“We’ve got this.”

“If you wish to leave, you can, Odahviing,” Hiccup told the Skrill, “We will not stop you.”

“I think I will visit my sibling’s final resting place. I will be back to guide you to Skuldafn Temple,” Odahviing walked towards the Great Porch terrace, wings twitching for the sky. He lowered his head to nudge Hiccup’s shoulder, who ran his hand along the dragon’s cheek scales assuringly, “I will see you when I see you next, Dovahkiin.”

“Goodbye, my friend.”

The Skrill spread his wings and took off, circling Dragonsreach with a celebratory cry, then disappeared from sight.

Notes:

This is my last prewritten chapter so don’t expect a weekend update. Idk if I’ll be out of the hospital by then.

Chapter 26: The Assault at Skuldafn

Summary:

The battle before the end.

Notes:

*tumbles out of a portal, slightly on fire*

Okay, sorry about that. Things kind of got crazy and my mental state has been all over the place.

Take this 7700 word apology and the knowledge that I’m planning weekly updates until this is done.

WRITE AND EDIT UNTIL IT IS DONE. WORDS FOR THE WORD GOD. ANGST FOR THE ANGST THRONE.

A black blur raced past Skuldafn.

It let out no noise, didn’t shift the wind, and no fireball accompanied its arrival. The mass of black scales, intricate metal wiring, and leatherwork hid behind the greying clouds that surrounded the temple.

Nahkriin made no move to indicate that he had noticed it.

If the scouts’ reports were true, then the Dovahkiin wasn’t anything to truly worry about. No amount of questing, traveling, or collapsing of ancient ruins will turn a boy into a man strong enough to defeat even a Flame-Scale. Nahkriin waved his hand over the portal’s gate once more, his staff trembling at the pure magic of the rite.

The Dragon Priest stepped away from the portal and down the steps that led to it. He adjusted his mask as the wind picked up around him and billowed his cloak. The majesty of Alduin landed beside Nahkriin, who slowly lowered himself to the ground, then to one knee. His hand trailed down the staff, keeping it upright as to not let the image of Alduin that rested atop it meet the ground.

“Nahkriin,” the dragon spoke in a low voice, “I trust that the rite is ready?”

“Yes, Master. The magic is pure and strong. All we need now is to wait for the moon’s youngest face on the morrow, and all shall be set for your ascension into Sovngarde.”

“Good. Those pesky followers of the Dragonborn have decided to rid me of my greatest ally. Curse that Odahviing and his easily-turned heart,” the Great Destroyer growled, “I will have his throat if he dares show his face around here again.”

“If he does, then my magic shall bind his wings and leave him at my master’s mercy, your lordship,” Nahkriin looked up at the dragon, “I trust you brought… them?”

“Indeed. They await you in the antechamber. Call for me when they are prepared.”

“Yes, my lord.”

Alduin’s wings beat heavily as he took off into the dark sky. Nahkriin waited until the dragon was out of sight before he stood and made his way down the temple’s winding stairways to the central antechamber. When one of the other lesser dragons proposed this idea, Alduin took on the responsibility himself. If that Sunless Fire was to betray his own kind and make himself an enemy of the greater species, then he would have to pay the price of his arrogance.

Nahkriin opened the doors with a wave of his skeletal hand, then smiled at the sight before him. Two incomplete Sunless Fire skeletons sat within the chamber, separated between the two beings they once belonged to. The Priest carefully walked around the bones, taking inventory of what was and wasn’t there. The pesky humans had pilfered what they wanted as trophies after Alduin’s banishment all those years ago, so most of the claws, teeth, wing bones, and back plates were gone. Even the entire top part of one of the skulls was missing. Oh well, they still had one complete skull.

With a tap of the staff against the skull, it lifted gently into the air and hovered around the center of the chamber. Nahkriin made sure there were no outstanding damages to the bone and when he was satisfied, went on to the neck bones. These parts were more abundant, as who would want to have one as a trophy, so Nahkriin ended with more spares after he reconstructed the neck. Maybe they could be used as decoration?

The wings were a different story. Dragons needed strong bones between the membrane to carry their majesty gracefully through the sky. If Nahkriin was a liar, he’d say he didn’t attempt giving himself wings to represent his gods. The bones that remained of the Sunless Fires’ wings were sparse and damaged. The wing tips crumbled under his grasp, no matter how gentle he was, and the fingers, for lack of a better term, were as fragile as a weak hatchling.

With a mutter of curses for the ancient Nords and their desire to be remembered, Nahkriin gently lifted each wing bone into the air, cast a small restoration spell, and slotted it into place in accordance with proper Sunless Fire anatomy. Nahkriin considered himself lucky that he didn’t need to pull from other dragons bones for the wings to be completed. If other bones were used, then the spell would be unstable and the resurrection wouldn’t be possible.

He moved on to the tail and back fins as he worked his way across the spine. Unlike that bastard Sunless Fire accompanying the Dovahkiin, these dragons still had their tail fins. Nahkriin lifted each piece up with the want to have a smug smile under his mask. What cruel irony.

With the placement of the legs and a copious amount of iron replacement claws, Nahkriin moved the remaining pieces from the floor and lowered the finished skeleton. As he left the antechamber, he chirped a command to a nearby Tiny-Scale to fetch the Great Destroyer, for Nahkriin’s work was complete and the fruits of his labor shall soon come to bear.

After the spell was complete, and the finished dragon blinked the death from their eyes, Alduin placed a claw onto their forehead and gave them a name.

“Bein’silviing.”

A fitting name. Truly the best for the foulest of natures that flies upon the foulest of wings.

~~~

“Alright, bud. I think we’re good to turn back.”

Toothless banked North and narrowed himself towards Windhelm. Skuldafn was completely unreachable without dragons, just as Odahviing had said. The mountain was too steep, too rough, and in some places, too unstable for any mountain climbing. Hell, even a Speed Stinger, with their expert maneuverability and lightweight bodies, would get stuck on some outcroppings or ledges. A sky assault was their only option.

They’d also seen what the brothers assumed to be the beginnings of the portal to Sovngarde atop the temple’s highest point. Guarded by dragur, skeletons, other undead, and some dragons, had Hiccup been on his own, it would’ve been nearly impossible to get through the temple and up to the portal. But with everyone else behind him, he bet that he wouldn’t need much force to get to Alduin.

The Nords guarding the Windhelm city limits spotted Hiccup and waved towards him as he and Toothless circled the city and landed in front of the Jarl’s homestead. It had been heavily fortified since Hiccup last saw it and the Stormcloak soldiers were much more organized and uniform. They even had matching crossbows. All with the same bolt type! Riften had an over-abundance of them after the Dawnguard fiasco, so Laila offered to share.

It wasn’t the only case of inter-Hold kindness. Luckily after the raids started picking up, it kind of sent every Jarl into the mindset of “why the fuck are we fighting, we have dragons to save”. Hiccup got the first Terror mail from Mala of all people saying she and Dawnstar had finally set up evacuation protocols with the nearby vampires, as they were a simple boat-ride-across-the-Sea-of-Ghosts away. Solitude also started upping their defenses, and Elisif said she started using her spare rooms (and the haunted wing, surprisingly) for care stations for refugees.

Markarth, Morthal, and Falkreath entered a tentative agreement about evacuations, and Whiterun’s welcoming of dragons had spread to other Holds. As far as he knew, Winterhold was now protected by a flock of Deadly Nadders recently freed from Alduin’s grasp. Stormfly and Astrid were happy to help Jarl Korir get them settled.

“Who do you think that mage guy was?” Hiccup asked Toothless as they landed within the city. He slid off his helmet and nodded to the guards, as if they needed that confirmation of his identity. Who else would be riding a Night Fury?

“I think it could’ve been one of the old Dragon Priests. They revered us as gods and ruled the mortals in Alduin’s stead while he had control of Skyrim,” the dragon nudged the door to Ulfric’s home open, “That one was probably one of the high-ranking ones, just more… undead?”

“Well, it’s clearly in charge of creating the portal, so it’ll be one of the lines of defense. Maybe even the last one so it can complete the ritual,” Hiccup sighed, “We’ll add it to the list of things to watch out for.”

“Which right now includes tons of dragons, the God of Destruction, some Dragon Hunters, and now a crazed dragon-worshipping mage that’s back from the dead!”

“Quite the list indeed,” the Dragonborn muttered and moved to meet everyone in the war room Ulfric so-helpfully cleared out for them. What once contained his plans on defeating the Imperials during the Civil War now contained everything Hiccup and the Riders needed to plan the fight at Skuldafn. 

Astrid was the first to notice him, lifting a hand to wave at him with a wide smile on her face. He noticed the glistening ring on her finger (left ring finger!) and just about melted. Of course he made it for her and gave it to her a week ago, but the warmth from seeing her actually wear it was still so new.

By the time they’d captured Odahviing, Hiccup had his friends’ armor pieces planned and started. Fishlegs was gifted a helmet that resembled the skin of a Gronckle with two finned horns, lined with Meatlug’s scales, and enchanted with a protection enchantment. Snotlout had a pair of fire-red Nightmare scale gloves with a charged fire spell.

The twins matched with pairs of green-and-red Zippleback scale bracers. The right arm had mechanic Zippleback gas canisters courtesy of their dragon, and the left had a charged Sparks spell to light it. The dragon scales meant that they’d be protected from whatever fires they caused. Honestly, Hiccup expected them to run out of gas rather quickly, but they picked up on using their dragon to refill it. It was when they approached Astrid to recharge the Sparks that she just handed them a bag of soulgems and told them to “have fun figuring it out”. Hiccup assumed this was also where they learned to charge the Wabbajack on their own, as that too had run out of charges weeks ago.

Heather was rather pleased with her gift: a silver diadem made of Windshear’s scales lined with blood-red rubies that had what was basically a fire-protection enchantment on skooma. It allowed her to be in the sun for longer and still protected her from everything fire-related. J’Zargo was in the same boat, as Hiccup had given him gold earrings of mana restoration. Both of them got very practical gifts, for two practical people.

Though, Astrid’s gift was a little different. It had taken Hiccup three straight days and Spitelout to get the enchantment to work. But by the Nine he did it. Her ring was a black silver, with a ring of lapis lazuli blue in the middle, topped with a golden yellow gemstone. The gem was a mini soul gem that could contain the magic and power of a single Shout. Right now, it was charged with Whirlwind Sprint, as Astrid liked the boost of speed Hiccup often boasted, but it could be charged with the words of any Shout he knew, so long as she knew them as well.

By far, it was the most intricate thing he’d ever made. And he finished Toothless’s automatic tailfin the next day.

When his friends were presented with their gifts, Astrid was the most stunned. Ruffnut made some comment about “being betrothed after a week of dating”, which didn’t help with any of the rumor mill of Whiterun. Astrid had almost knocked Hiccup off his feet with her barreling hug.

So, yeah, seeing his girlfriend with the ring he made her (again, left ring finger!!) made Hiccup feel like Hookfang lit up next to him.

“Hey,” Astrid said, meeting him at the door, “How was your super special brother bonding scouting mission?”

“Good, we found the temple and I have some ideas,” he shook his head and pulled out his usual notebook. He laid down the small sketch he made of Skuldafn’s upper levels, “The portal is here, protected by a rotating patrol of Nightmares, Singetails, and a Death Song. Not to mention the weird mage guy we saw.”

“Real funny calling the undead Dragon Priest a weird mage guy, but who am I to judge,” Toothless commented.

“Thank you, peanut gallery. Anyway, the portal is controlled by the Priest and the weird staff he had. He spoke with Alduin before retreating into the temple, possibly on some sort of task before the opening.”

“So we have to get that mage away from the portal, maybe even get the staff to close it afterwards,” Astrid said, eyeing the map analytically.

“We could cause a distraction!” Ruffnut supplied, “A big enough explosion to draw all the dragons away, and then Astrid can square up with the guy in some kind of mage-on-mage showdown for all the marbles.”

“A distraction would be useful, but I’d have to ask Hookfang about the Priests. Maybe they’re too powerful for us to handle,” Hiccup considered it and filed it away in his mental cabinet, “We’ll have to get the Singetails away from it as fast as possible, those guys are dangerous.”

“Not to mention the Death Song,” Fishlegs said, “We’d be trapped in their amber-spitting Shout before we could even get Alduin out of their mind. And the other dragons Alduin probably has guarding the place.”

“His army is already stretched pretty thin, to be fair,” Astrid said, “We may not need to worry about them if they’re too busy attacking the other Holds.”

“Wouldn’t we want to keep the dragons away from the other cities?”

“Not if it aides us here,” Hiccup shook his head and looked up at their Gronckle rider, “The vampires have spread themselves out enough to help with the mind-clearing spells and the final court mage has been taught it. Right now, they’re focusing on capture, evacuation, and rehabilitation. Since no one has reported any outstanding or abnormal casualties, we’ll take the victory.”

“So when do we fly in and kick Alduin’s ass?” Snotlout asked.

“Tomorrow morning. You guys and your troops will head in right when we see the sun start to rise. Toothless and I will join when the sun is two hand-lengths from the horizon. That should give you guys enough time to clear out the dragon defenses,” Hiccup began drawing small markings on the map, beginning with his first initial, then Astrid’s. Soon, the whole crew had been placed around the temple in various locations. Next to their marks were multi-colored rocks to represent the different types of dragons that would be meeting them there from Whiterun. Every marshal would have their fleet to guide across the battlefield.

“Our main goal is the portal,” he placed a petty soul gem there to represent it, “If we get there before they open it, then we need to prevent it. But if they’ve figured out how to do it before we can stop it, then the next priority is stopping anyone from entering.”

“And if we get there and Alduin’s gone?”

Hiccup breathed through his teeth, “Then Toothless and I go through and meet him in Sovngarde. After that…”

His eyes caught everyone’s.

“Akatosh help us all.”

~~~

Was it bad for Ulfric to say he’d gotten attached to the little shits?

He stood outside of his war room, leaning against the doorway, listening to these six teenagers, one adult, and one vampire plan their final assault against Alduin, something that eight adults and one elf haven’t been able to figure out for actual years. Sixteen, in fact! Sixteen years and these dragon-riding, magic-wielding, scale-wearing children with parental troubles, too many canisters of Zippleback gas, and a fucking dream were what was gonna do Alduin in.

It was poetic, if Ulfric called back to his literature lessons under his father. In his youth, he saw no reason for such things, preferring to swing a sword and kill whoever doubted him. His father, though, believed in more complex politics, manners of the heart, and accepting differing opinions. It’s why dear old dad sent Ulfric to High Hrothgar for ten years. He hoped it would mellow the man out.

Clearly, it didn’t work.

But as Ulfric sat here and watched the kids discuss their positions, advantages, disadvantages, contingencies, and extra plans, he couldn’t help but finally feel the grief of his father’s death return. This is what he probably should’ve been doing as opposed to whatever he was doing before his trip to the monastery.

Hiccup methodically placed small pieces across the map, like he was playing some sort of game. Ulfric heard that the lad was fond of one such game called Maces and Talons, a Whiterun specialty. Maybe after all of this, Ulfric could ask for a game. The Dragonborn eyed each of his allies, and his dragon, as he explained each plot. He looked just like his father, minus the vast-ness. And beard. And practically everything but the hair and eyes.

Everyone else stood there, watching the pieces move across the board, understanding every move, every precise placement, even if it took some extra explaining from no-sugar-Hofferson. They all pitched in, make no mistake, with how their dragon could provide covering fire or extra attack. Ulfric’s smile faded, though, at Hiccup’s words.

“Akatosh help us all.”

If the kid was gonna get himself killed, it wouldn’t bode well for his future. From Ulfric’s experience, dying is quite bad for your health. Like a true leader, though, the Haddock lad said it with as much sincerity as he could. Hell, if the kid made it to adulthood and took over his father’s place, Ulfric wouldn’t be mad if the others voted Hiccup as High King. That, though, was years away.

Hopefully.

~~~

Astrid’s hand was caught right before she and Stormfly leapt into the sky. She looked down at Hiccup’s face, filled with the kind of worry that he only really reserved for her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She whispered. She felt the ring on her finger spin, and noticed his thumb spinning it around so the stone was facing upwards. Hiccup moved in and pressed a faint kiss to the rock, then muttered three words. A small force of white was sucked into the stone.

“Astrid, I want you to stay safe.”

“And I will-“

“As safe as possible,” his green eyes were full of pleading, “I’ve given you Dragonrend.”

She tried to suppress her shock, but her wide eyes and loss of breath evaded her attempt.

“Should you ever need it,” he urged, “You’re stronger than I ever could be. If it is needed, use it.”

“Hiccup,” Astrid planted her foot into the left-side stirrup where he stood and let herself fall over the side, staying on the saddle with her hands clenched around the handles, “We’ve got this. I won’t need it. We will win this war without ever using it, I promise.”

She didn’t let him speak another word as she pressed her lips to his. He relaxed into the kiss, lifting one hand to brush her bangs out of her face as he pulled away.

“I’ll see you on the battlefield, milady,” he said.

Astrid pulled herself back into Stormfly’s saddle and tugged the handles, guiding the dragon to the ready circle of Riders. Whether her face was flushing from the cold Eastmarch air or from the looks Ruffnut and Heather gave her, she wasn’t sure. Her axe weighed heavily on her back as she turned to face the others.

With another nudge of her foot in the stirrup, Stormfly’s wings unfurled, her large claws scraping against the stone below. She gave a loud squawk and pushed into the sky. As the Nadder leveled out, Astrid glanced behind her at the others and checked their formation. The other Riders had fallen into a very wide V-formation as planned, but were slowly but surely splitting apart as the path to Skuldafn shortened.

She heard a familiar Zippleback cry as the twins cut off completely to circle the mountain and meet their troop on the other side. Snotlout and Fishlegs also split off, but in the other direction, as indicated by the Nightmare roar. J’Zargo and Flutter vanished from Astrid’s view, and Heather and Windshear dove down to blend their silver selves in with the stone and snow below.

“Alright, girl, time to summon our troops,” she patted Stormfly’s neck and the Nadder nodded. She took in a deep breath and Shouted.

“Mid Vur Shaan.”

Seconds passed until a colorful flock of dragons appeared at Astrid’s side: Two young Rumblehorns, a Rockstomper, two other Deadly Nadders. Astrid looked to the right where the Rumblehorn flew beside her, “Are you guys ready?”

“Yes, we are,” the Rumblehorn was a dark red, almost maroon, color, and it had smoother plating with less horns, “I assume the others are as well.”

“Just waiting on the signal,” she confirmed and turned her eyes back to the center of the wide encirclement. She eyed the other side of the mountains that were slightly lost in the distance between them. Stormfly slowed to a hover as they waited.

Then, a tall spiral of fire blew into the sky from where Snotlout and his Stoker Class troops were, possibly from one of the Typoomerangs. To the right of that, following the mountains in a clockwise rotation, was a large explosion of fire, then the faint glow of magma, a piercing screech, a blue fire blast, and the audible rumble of the earth around the mountain.

“It’s go time.”

Stormfly’s wings snapped closed and dragon and rider fell through the air. Astrid clenched the handle and pressed herself into the saddle as the Nadder’s wings unfurled and they shot towards Skuldafn.

The mountain region that separated the eastern side of Skyrim and Morrowind was nearly un-trekable by human feet. There were few safe mountain passes that had been carefully maintained to remain that way, but any attempts at climbing over the region had to be done lightly and by experts at the craft. Usually, the peaks were daunting. Astrid could see them from the southern roads of Whiterun, where it bled into The Rift. Now, though, the jagged snow-covered peaks blended together into one as she flew over them.

The mountains opened up slightly and she saw the valley where Skuldafn rested. Surrounding it was an army of dragons, mainly the tougher Nightmares, Singetails, Zipplebacks, and others she couldn’t name. Astrid’s hands clenched on the saddle again and Stormfly shot forward into the fray. She ducked and weaved around the dragons approaching with expert precision, even hitting a few off course with her spiked tail.

Across the valley’s wide scope, Astrid also saw the other Riders. Fire blast fly-by’s, large explosions within clustered dragons, and the occasional Shout of force or speed echoed through the mountain range. The troops behind Stormfly also broke off to circle the surrounding army. The task of the extra dragons accompanying the Riders was control and containment, which they executed perfectly. One Nightmare was caught in an encirclement of the other two Nadders, which gave the best opportunity for Astrid’s secondary task.

“Alright, time to change some minds,” Astrid whispered. She lifted one hand and held it close to her chest. She felt the blue mana of her inner mage’s heart burn brightly and she extended her hand towards the Nightmare. A series of thin blue circles emanated from her palm and shot down to the dragon. It roared and shook its head midair, the pupils going from thin slits to wider dots.

One of the Nadders slowed and spoke to it in their language, gaining a roar of what Astrid assumed to be appreciative words from the Nightmare. It joined her small flock and began to either knock some dragons out long enough to relinquish control or capture them well enough for Astrid to swoop in and cast the spell.

The dragons in Alduin’s army still flew all around her. Even with the effort from the Riders, they couldn’t keep this controlled for long. She glanced at the rising sun, hoping that it was high enough for Hiccup and Toothless to be on their way, “Come on, guys…”

Her words were cut short by the arrival of a familiar sound. She spun her head around to see the black scales of a Night Fury cut through the air. Her sigh of relief, however, wasn’t warranted as she didn’t see the harness or the red prosthetic. No, this Night Fury had two whole tail fins. And no scrawny rider.

“Is that…” Stormfly asked, trailing off.

“He did say he’d find them,” Astrid sneered. She tried to keep her eyes on the new Night Fury, but they were too slow for the faster-than-sound dragon. She shook her head and started for where Fishlegs and Meatlug were, as the new Fury had come from their direction.

“Guys!” She waved a hand to get their attention, “Did you see the extra Night Fury?!”

“Yeah! We even got too close for comfort!” Fishlegs said. He then extended his hand where a mini charged staff was and released another Nightmare from Alduin’s control, “Whatever that thing is, it isn’t fully alive.”

“I suspect Alduin combined Toothless’ parents,” Meatlug yelled, “It’s nasty work. We need to get them out of the sky. Now.”

The silver ring sat heavily on Astrid’s left hand. Still charged with Dragonrend, she could use it now. But what if Toothless could talk them down? What if they still recognized their son? She huffed and moved to turn Stormfly away, casting off another mind-freeing spell at a falling Singetail.

“I’m gonna go warn Hiccup, you guys keep this up!” She didn’t allow them to respond as she and Stormfly took off to the northwestern region of the valley. As if speaking them into existence, the more familiar shape of Toothless entered her vision just as a Night Fury-typical plasma blast set off behind her.

Hiccup’s face was covered in confusion as they converged, “Was that a-“

“Another Night Fury? Yes, yes it was,” she said, “Fish and Meatlug got a better view, but it ain’t pretty. Turns out multiple dragons can be used with the resurrection ritual.”

Toothless’s eyes went wide, “No, he wouldn’t. Alduin may be a Destruction God, but he’s above that!”

“Evidently not,” Stormfly said, head turned to the side to see her Fury best friend, “Will you be okay with… them on the field?”

“This is the final battle, I have to be.”

Hiccup rubbed his brother’s neck, “Whatever you say, bud. We’ll face it together.”

Just as they were about to rejoin the fight, a shockwave of white magic struck them, sending the dragons off balance for a few seconds. Both Riders angled themselves to see the temple alight with a spiraling white glow. Astrid strained her eyes to see a robed figure standing in the middle of the top-most part of it, holding aloft a staff of some kind. The black scaled dragon of Alduin stood next to the mage, yelling commands into the sky at his army.

“Shit, they’re starting it now,” Hiccup said, “Ast, do you think you can distract the Priest long enough for Toothless and I to get the Night Fury out of the sky?”

"I can try, but I’m already kind of spent mana-wise.”

“Use everything you’ve got. If we can close that portal, Alduin can’t complete his plans and we win this war.”

“On it.”

~~~

Hiccup eyed the second Night Fury flying overhead, “Alright, bud. Time for the worst family reunion ever.”

Toothless surged into the sky after the new dragon, following it past the little cloud coverage. His wings beat furiously to keep up with the larger Night Fury, but Hiccup’s control of the second tail fin gave him a bit more energy to put towards catching up. They got a break when the dragon began to circle them in the sky.

“Drem yol lok!” Toothless called out to the dragon, “Monah! Bormah!”

The Night Fury seemed to shake its head at his words and roared wordlessly. It slowed to a still hover that allowed Toothless to fly up alongside it and for Hiccup to get a better look at this… monster.

It looked like a standard, albeit older, Night Fury, with the pitch black scales, lighter grey markings, lithe body, flatter face, and moving ear nubs, but the general composition of the body was different. Skin stretched in weird places and one of the back legs dangled like it had been yanked out of socket. Some places on the body were missing scales completely, just exposing a pale and sickly flesh beneath the open sore. Some of its claws were metal, and some of its teeth weren’t the sharp nubs that retracted with the others.

But what unnerved Hiccup the most were the eyes. While Toothless’s eyes were a solid, acidic green, the eyes of this unholy creature were a mixture of a pale yellow and a rich cerulean. The pupil didn’t exist, as he didn’t see the usual black slit in the eyes, nor did he see any replacement. There was just an endless void of blue and yellow, swirling together like two potions that didn’t mix due to their different viscosities.

The ears of this Night Fury shifted and it opened its mouth in a low snarl, teeth exposed to the sting of the cold air this far up.

“Monah?” Toothless tried again, “It’s me.. Vulonmaar.”

The dragon snarled again, its head whirling to the side.

“I don’t think they understand you, bud…" Hiccup whispered, “Their brain… brains are too melted together.”

“No, there has to be something,” Toothless moved back away from the approaching mixture of his parents, “They have to know who I am.”

The dragon’s snarls turned into guttural growls as a building Shout quickly lit up in its throat. Toothless let himself fall just in time for the blast to fly past him. He snapped opened his wings again and took to circling the other dragon, letting out his own Shout at its side. It screeched and attempted to right itself, but Hiccup then let out an Unrelenting Force and knocked it further through the sky.

“Whatever that thing is, bud, it’s not your parents. Don’t see it as them.”

“You’re right,” the dragon shook his head with a resolute warble, “Let’s focus on getting it to the ground.”

“Atta boy.”

~~~

Astrid landed harshly on the stone of the top of the temple and summoned her magic battle axe, immediately throwing it towards the robed mage, the Dragon Priest. She watched him side step it as the ethereal axe vanished. Alduin whispered something to the mage before jumping into the white pillar of light, his body evaporating and disappearing into the sky. The aurora that was normally so present at night pulsed in the morning sky against the sun’s wishes. It ended right as some storm clouds began gathering, no doubt from one of the dragons in the battle.

“Los dar fin pruzaan hi dreh?” The Priest said, “Nahkriin mindok pruzaan hi, kiir.”

“Nahkriin. I knew I recognized that ugly-ass mask,” Stormfly said, her tail’s spikes bristling like an anxious cat’s neck fur, “He’s powerful. We take him together.”

“As always,” Astrid grabbed her physical axe from her back and took a few steps forward, “We won’t run away.”

“Mey, ney do hi,” Nahkriin seemed to laugh as he turned, but no facial movements gave it away. As Stormfly said, he was wearing a mask of a stoic face with a thin mouth and half-lidded eyes. It glistened with magical energy and Astrid could feel the power coming from the mage. He held the staff towards her and shot out a lightning bolt, which she rolled to the left to dodge.

Stormfly went right and launched a few spikes at the Priest. He threw a hand up and cast a minor ward to block them, but he couldn’t cast another in time to block Astrid’s fireball. It landed right next to him and blasted him off the stairs and to the lower level. The Nadder summoned her fire Shout, but the magic was again blocked by a ward from the staff. When Stormfly’s Shout ran out, Nahkriin swirled the staff in the air and muttered lowly.

He gripped it tightly in both hands and rammed it onto the stone with a sickening crack like thunder. A small storm cloud spun downwards in the space in front of Nahkriin and gained shape. It was feminine and humanoid, hovering a few inches above the ground. Astrid recognized a storm atronach from J’Zargo showing her how to make one. She never got it down, claiming she didn’t need to rely on it.

The atronach’s body was made of condensed purple lightning, with metal decorations around the ankles, hips, and chest, and a silver diadem on the head. Stormy clouds billowed from its head like a cascade of curly hair. It opened its mouth, a void of bright white light, and screamed at Stormfly. The Nadder returned a roar.

“Distract it, Stormfly!” Astrid said, replenishing her diminishing mana with a spare elixir that hung from her belt. She gripped her axe and ran the long way around the swirling portal, listening to the new fight between the storm atronach and the Deadly Nadder. As she came around the corner, Nahkriin’s back was to her.

He was watching the fight from behind a prepared ward, staff held tightly to him. Maybe if she got that staff away from him? Her hands shifted her axe and she raced over as quietly as she could. At the last second, Astrid jumped and heaved her axe above her head, poised to bring it down right onto the Priest. It did strike him, right in the left shoulder. Her feet hit his back and sent Nahkriin to the floor, the staff clattering from his hand.

“Mey! Mey! Uznahgaar zu’u!” Nahkriin squirmed, not even registering the axe that threatened to split his left arm from his body. Or what was left of his body. Beneath the new tear in his robes, Astrid saw nothing but bone and the faint misty shimmer of magic. This man was nothing but a walking corpse, the remains of a man who died years ago.

The original Dragon Priests were the human side of Alduin’s rule over Skyrim during his reign. Could he also revive humans? And had he also revived the other Priests? Maybe after this, they could go on a Priest hunt to make sure.

Astrid pulled her axe out of the mage and stepped off of him. He scrambled to his feet right when she kicked the staff away. She glared into the mask and she assumed, had he still had human flesh under it, he would be returning the glare tenfold.

~~~

The battle had slowed to a crawl for Hiccup as he once again used his Slow Time Shout to guide Toothless through a cloud of dragons as they chased the Night Fury.

His friends had done their best in releasing the other dragons from Alduin’s control, but there were still tons of dragons surrounding the temple. Even some who were sent away to conduct raids on the other Holds had heard the battle and made their way over. New and larger waves of dragons began swooping in and getting caught in the fight. Their magic and evasive maneuvers could only do so much.

It didn’t help that the Dragonborn was being led around by the horrifying reanimated corpse of his brother’s birth parents. They did use the spells to free some dragons, but their main focus was on getting this dragon, who had already injured and downed some of the freed dragons in the Resistance, out of the fight. They still sat on the unspoken solution, but when both brothers refused to use such a thing, it made it difficult to find other ways to get this dragon to the ground.

It wouldn’t listen, Toothless was sure it didn’t speak any language due to the melted brains, nor would it understand visual cues. It seemed to be the perfect soldier: blindly following the orders given by Alduin, fast, powerful, and unable to give any coherent thought to another way out of this.

Eventually, the Night Fury was chasing them. Hiccup glanced behind him at the dragon hot on their tail fin and growled lowly, “This thing is just a distraction.”

“Well I think-“ Toothless rolled to the right to avoid an attacking Singetail, “-we knew that from the start. We need to get it off the field.”

“But how?” Hiccup ducked down close to the saddle as the Night Fury let loose a shockingly hot plasma blast, “Gods, I can see why Alduin wanted your parents.”

The dragon beneath him grumbled to himself, then he twisted his head to smack Hiccup with his ear flap. At the boy’s offended yelp, Toothless looked down at the mountain, “Maybe we can use the twins’ toy?”

Hiccup leaned over the side and gazed down at the twins. Atop of Barf and Belch, Tuffnut drove the dragon while Ruffnut held aloft the Wabbajack. She let the red light build before launching it at the rocks. On cue, the loose boulders on the mountain shot upwards, their gravity suddenly reversed, and knocked a large group of dragons out of the sky. The resulting crash of wings and tails released them from the mind control spell and the twins landed to allow their Zippleback to ask for the dragons’ help. Some began to flee the mountain range and others joined the fight on the side of the Resistance.

“Think it’ll help?”

“Random spells with no predictability? Only one way to find out,” Toothless tucked his wings in and dove down, letting the air clip around his sleek body and create the signature cry. He opened them again to soar around the twins and flapped them to come to a hover above them.

“Hey!” Hiccup called to them, gaining the attention of Ruffnut. He pointed at the Wabbajack, “Mind if we borrow it?”

The twins looked between themselves (and the weird purple rat atop Ruff’s shoulder), before the female twin smiled widely, “Only if you agree to do some pranks with us after this! I have some ideas for that Voice of yours!”

Hiccup resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead said, “I do know a Throw Voice Shout!”

“That’s even more than we need!” Tuffnut grabbed the staff from his sister and threw it to the Dragonborn. Toothless caught it in his mouth, then let Hiccup grab it from there, “Use it!”

“Wisely?” Toothless cocked an eyebrow.

“Hardly!” The twins responded, smiles wide.

~~~

Astrid’s magic axe took the brunt of another lightning attack, shattering into more purple shards. Nahkriin hadn’t retrieved his staff yet, but he was still as powerful as ever, shooting off more lightning attacks at the girl. His atronach had chased Stormfly to another part of the temple, but she could still hear the sounds of their fight.

Nahkriin had begun talking, too. Not in anything but Draconic, but he was talking. Astrid kept picking up small words like articles and certain nouns, but some were beyond her.

“Hi ni mindoraan. Ful goraan…” he said, waving a hand stiffly. A whip of lightning rose from the ground and jumped at Astrid, striking her side, “Ful sahlo.”

She knew that word, “I am not weak.”

Her voice clipped as the burn from the lightning sent a jolt of pain through her when she moved to dodge another spell. Nahkriin’s other hand flicked and another bolt hit Astrid’s other side. She was knocked over, landing on the first burn and letting out a short scream. As she tried to push herself up, Nahkriin slowly floated towards her.

“Ol zu’u mindol… sahlo,” he sounded too smug. Astrid eyed the fallen staff behind him and urged her arms to move again. She pushed herself to her hands and knees, breathing heavy. Her physical axe lay abandoned behind her in favor of crawling past the mage. He seemed to realize what she was doing because he used a skeletal foot to kick her side. The burn flared yet again and Astrid wrapped an arm around her midsection.

“Astrid!” Stormfly’s voice came quickly and Astrid turned just in time to see her dragon, bloodied and battered, slam her full body into Nahkriin. The mage was shoved back into the stairs and the sound of his boney body cracking and breaking echoed across the stone of the temple.

The girl didn’t waste any more time. She crawled as Stormfly used her claws and what remained of her tail spikes to rip the Priest’s robes and attempt to rid him of his mask. The staff was barely within reach when a large blast of magic erupted from the mage. It flung Stormfly off Nahkriin and she landed heavily on a lower level of the temple, unmoving.

He stood, his robes shimmering back to as good as new. Nahkriin’s head sharply spun towards Astrid and right as he began to approach, she got ahold of the dragon head staff. Clutching it in both hands, Astrid snapped her body towards him.

“See you in hell,” she coughed. A blinding red light emanated from the staff and the electricity that danced along her skin made her wounds ache. A lightning bolt only rivaled by Odahviing’s Storm Call or Paarthurnax’s lightning spell shot out of the staff’s head and through Nahkriin. He shook violently, the bolt acting like a physical harpoon and creating a giant hole in the mage’s side. His bones shriveled and his robes melted. Nahkriin fell to the stone, nothing but a pile of dust and a mask.

Astrid’s chest hurt like hell as she heaved a few breaths to slow her beating heart and looked up to spot any of her friends in the fray. Hiccup needed to get here. Her attention shifted to the portal behind her. With the mage holding it open dead, it began to shake unsteadily and small pieces of magic started to fall off it.

Clutching the staff, Astrid heaved herself to her feet and up the stairs. She placed the staff to the ground and summoned all of her magic to her hands. She didn’t know this spell, but she could understand the basics of the magical energy.

They’d run out of time, but by the gods, Astrid was gonna slow the clock.

~~~

The Dragonborn and the Night Fury led the horrific amalgamation through the dragons of the battlefield, a strange wooden staff clutched in the boy’s hand. He and his dragon broke free from the highest level of circling dragons and rushed further and further into the gathering clouds.

The Night Fury behind them roared, a sickly and ear-splitting sound that echoed over the battle. The cloud cover broke and the three were alone, circling each other above the new storm clouds summoned by one of the many dragons below. The aurora, against all magic and science, was fluttering against the bright blue sky. It pulsed and flitted like a newly dead body.

“Alright, bud, let’s do this,” Hiccup whispered to his brother. Toothless grunted a response and snapped his body to circle the other Night Fury closer.

The dragon responded with a blast, but Toothless avoided it, ducking beneath the clouds and emerging at the Night Fury’s side. It spun around to let off another blast, but Toothless was already gone. Like a dolphin, Toothless repeated the action, emerging from and diving into the clouds. The Night Fury kept firing off blast after blast, more than Hiccup expected it to be able to let off.

When it failed to launch one, Toothless shot up behind it and Hiccup stood up in the saddle. He held the Wabbajack aloft and summoned its magic.

“Please don’t fuck me over, Sheogorath,” he whispered.

The red light inside the staff’s head shot through one of the open mouths carved into it, right at the Night Fury. It shrieked and tried to launch another blast, but it failed again, smoke billowing out and choking the dragon. The red light of the magic flew around the dragon in thin ribbons, wrapping around the tail first, then the legs. When it got to the tail fin and the wings, the dragon fell from the sky.

Toothless followed it the best he could, but against the heavy dragon’s weight as it fell, he wasn’t as fast. When it got to the middle of the circling dragons, Toothless roared. Some of the dragons on their side heard it and got the message. Two Nightmares instantly shot forward to catch the wrapped dragon together and lay it gently against the stone of the mountainous temple.

Once they were sure the Night Fury was secure, the brothers turned to the temple once more, shooting up the inclining structure and landing right at the base of the stairs leading to the portal. Stormfly lay to the side, unmoving but breathing, with a faint golden glow from the healing spell that was enchanted into the saddle covering the massive wounds she had along her body.

At the top of the stairs was Astrid. Nahkriin’s mask sat on her belt and the Dragon Priest staff was held up to the portal. The magic wasn’t as smooth now, with wisps peeling off like tree bark and falling upwards into the sky.

“Astrid!” Hiccup called, riding Toothless up the stairs to meet her.

“I can’t hold it much longer!” She yelled at him over the sound of the portal, “Get in there and go destroy that bastard!”

She didn’t have to tell him twice. At Hiccup’s command, Toothless crouched and launched them into the portal. They spun around to face her as they hovered there for a moment.

“I love you,” Hiccup said to Astrid.

Her face shifted to a strained smile, “I know.”

The Dragonborn’s body began to peel apart as he and his brother were torn from the mortal plane of existence. Their souls rose together and they ascended as one into the realm of Sovngarde

Notes:

Next time: Sovngarde.

So you may have noticed the overall lack of the Hunters recently,,, this is bc the Blades suck in-game and don’t do much (like a platypus). Which means I now have to make a conclusion to that part of the story on my own. This comes after the defeat of Alduin. Be patient, I will throw Viggo off a cliff soon. That is a Hamborg promise.

Chapter 27: Sweet Old Hereafter

Summary:

The trip to Sovngarde brings about old memories and past mistakes certain people would rather forget.

Notes:

DEAD PEOPLE PLACE.

Sidenote: chapter title is taken from The Old Therebefore from that one hunger games movie bc it’s been the theme song of my other au that I’m debating posting. Immortality and dragon magic don’t exactly make a happy Hiccup in that one.

The first thing Hiccup felt when his consciousness came back was an unnatural sting of cold all over his body.

His eyes opened and he saw first a brilliant light and what looked like a cascade of clouds that followed a gradient of other-worldly colors with no names. It spiraled down, as if he sat within the eye of a storm, and eventually faded away to a night sky along the borders of the horizon. Stars dotted what of the night sky Hiccup could see, with a faint aurora shimmering in the starry backdrop. Hiccup sat himself up from the stone path he was lying on and rubbed his eyes and face to rid himself of the remaining tingling sensation.

“Toothless?” He called as he pushed himself to his feet and grabbed the glaive that had dropped beside him. At his single word, a fierce roar shook the ground and Hiccup was forced to take in his surroundings.

Where he stood was the faintly lit end of a stone staircase that rested along the side of a tall mountain. The steps were uneven, carved from the mountain itself, with many breaks and cracks in their surface. The path had tall stone statues of mages and braziers filled with white fire along it and led down the mountain to the edge of a mystical green forest. It continued into the woods, the sight only blocked off by a thick layer of silver fog.

He called his brother’s name again and was met with more silence. Hiccup slowly walked  down the steps to the edge of the fog. It opened up a bit as he got close, but it didn’t budge when he lifted a hand to press onward into it. Hiccup stepped back and drew in a deep breath, then used his Clear Skies Shout.

The fog dissipated and the forest was made clear. Hiccup began running along the path, knowing the Shout wouldn’t keep the fog at bay for long. He saw more mage statues and heard a faint roar echo across the valley. Alduin must be searching for him. The Shout was just enough to get him to what seemed to be a good stopping point, at a stone pillar with another white fire burning atop it.

Beside the pillar was a man, dressed in Stormcloak blue. He turned to the Dragonborn, a resigned and mournful look across his face, “Turn back, traveler! Terrors await in this mist! Many have braved the shadowed vale, but vain is all courage against the peril that guards the way.”

“Who are you?” Hiccup asked, feeling the fog finally creep up against his back. The fire was holding a small area where it couldn’t reach.

“That matters not. All you need to know is that you will not make it far in this place,” the soldier’s shoulders shuddered, “You must turn back.”

“I’m looking for my brother,” Hiccup felt his Voice return and moved to push past the soldier and to the next bit of fog he could remove with the Shout, “Follow me, I can get through here.”

“No, you can’t-“

Another Shout proved the soldier wrong and he was quick to follow Hiccup to the next checkpoint in the valley. They both were thrown off balance when a roar came from above them. A shadowed dragon, no doubt Alduin, circled the area and blasted fire into the fog. The next length of cleared mist brought an Imperial soldier, who put up with the Stormcloak for the promise of making it to the other end of the realm after death.

One more Clear Skies Shout brought the three to the end of the path, at the bottom of a tall hill. The soldiers moved to get ahead of Hiccup, leaving him in order to save their own souls (literally). Alduin swopped overhead again, ignoring the Dragonborn to grab the soldiers from the path with his claws and carry them off.

“Well that was fulfilling,” Hiccup muttered, not mourning the loss of them in favor of running up the hill and reaching the next length of the trek to the end of Sovngarde, the Hall of Valor.

Before him was a massive chasm that ran across the whole realm. The mountains surrounding the valley came around to circle it, like in a loose hug, but they tapered off towards the chasm, ending just where the ground shot downwards. It wasn’t impassible, though, with a giant bridge made of the bones of a giant creature. A dragon, Hiccup assumed. He only wondered what kind of dragon existed for this bridge to be made. The bones looked to be the spine and ribs of the dragon, so it had to have been hundreds of feet in length. 

As he got closer, he noticed a large male warrior, carrying a battle axe. He was tall and broad, wearing little in the way of actual armor, exactly the type of soldier who would guard the bridge to the Hall of Valor. He caught sight of Hiccup and stepped to meet him halfway, “What brings you, wayfarer grim, to wander here, in Sovngarde, souls-end, Shor’s gift to the honored dead?”

HIccup’s grip on his glaive tightened and he planted his feet in the ground, straightening his spine and lifting his head, “I seek entrance to the Hall of Valor.”

“No shade are you, who usually here passes, but living. You dare traverse the land of the dead,” he wasn’t sure if the man looked confused or impressed by Hiccup’s presence in this realm. To be able to tell that the boy was still alive, here on a mission, instead of the mere lost soul must’ve created a whole slew of questions, “By what right do you request entry?”

That caught him. He had no right, as Hiccup wasn’t dead. All he was here to do was kill Alduin, no big deal, but without any actual accolades or big accomplishments to his name, he reserved no right to enter the sacred Hall of Valor. This man was going to challenge it anyway, Hiccup could feel it. He hated using his titles for any reason, mostly because they never felt right coming from him. The only exception was his return to Whiterun, and even then it made him nauseous and slightly embarrassed, especially with the guards’ reaction to his reveal.

He swallowed his grief over the idea, because another roar came from the fog below and Hiccup had no time to ponder whether or not this was a good idea. He needed to enter that Hall and find his brother.

“By right of birth,” he said, looking up at the warrior intensely, “For I am the Last Dragonborn and leader of the Second Dragon Army.”

The warrior just smirked, “It’s been too long since I faced a doom-driven hero of the dragon blood.”

“May I enter the Hall?”

“Living or dead, none may pass until I, Tsun, judge them worthy by the warrior’s test.”

Of course.

Tsun stepped backwards and drew his sword. As he charged, Hiccup held up his glaive to block the sword’s downward attack. Thanks to the metal reinforcement on the handle, the sword didn’t carve it in two. Hiccup shoved it off, swinging the glaive over to get enough momentum to stab it at Tsun.

The man dodged it, jumping to the right and using the first word of Unrelenting Force to knock Hiccup back. He then surged forward and swiped again, aiming for across Hiccup’s chest. The Dragonborn ducked under it and maneuvered himself to hit the handle of his weapon against Tsun’s abdomen and use Whirlwind Sprint to cause him to fall to his back.

Hiccup then pulled his glaive up and slashed the blade against Tsun’s exposed arms and stomach. He didn’t bleed and instead emanated a shimmering golden glow where there should have been wounds, probably a side effect of actually being dead. The blade pressed against the man’s neck.

“I yield.”

“Was that good enough?” Hiccup asked, returning his weapon to its sheath on his back, “It wasn’t that much.”

“For a child who somehow entered the realm of the dead, made it past the mist, and has the ability to use the Voice, it was plenty,” Tsun cracked his knuckles and neck loudly and gave the boy a toothy grin, “Welcome to Sovngarde, my friend.”

Hiccup nodded and turned to the massive bone bridge connecting the two sides of the realm. It didn’t sway, nor did it shift or crack when he pressed his foot onto it. He gripped one of the vertebrae and pulled himself fully onto it. As he carefully shuffled down the bridge, avoiding any gaps in the bones and ignoring distant roars from behind him, Hiccup saw the Hall of Valor come into better view.

It was, to put it simply, a Viking’s dream afterlife. The triangular main hall shot upwards into the starry sky, with two larger wings off to either side. A towering roof decorated with warrior-shaped end caps and dragon-like statues rose even further. The windows were tinted yellow from the firelight inside and Hiccup could hear the faintest of music and cheery voices as he got closer. The Hall was bigger than anything he’s ever seen, not even Dragonsreach itself could match it. It was maybe the size of both his childhood home and the Blue Palace combined.

The bridge tapered off as the spine vertebrae turned into the creature’s tail and eventually ended at the other side of the chasm, held to the edge of the rock by a series of thick ropes and wooden posts. Hiccup looked back to see the black shadow of Alduin soar over the valley again and steeled himself to enter the hall. Up more steps, he came to the door that was three times his height and shoved it open with his shoulder.

He was hit with the instant temperature change from the icy and brisk exterior to the warm and vibrant interior of the Hall of Valor. The firelight from the giant central hearth was more intense than it was outside, washing everything in a yellow glow. Though the fact that everyone had such a glow to them anyway, because they were dead, probably aided in the light’s intensity.

Massive tables stretched the entire length of the Hall, covered in a wide variety of banquet-style foods and drinks, half of which Hiccup didn’t even recognize. He stepped down into the main area and cast his eyes around for any sign of his brother. Toothless might’ve been dropped closer to the bridge, or maybe even at the Hall itself. He just hoped that the warriors here held no grudge against the dragons, lest Toothless be their first chance at killing one in hundreds of years.

His search was interrupted by a man in the most regal of armors walking up and calling out to him, “Welcome, Dragonborn! Our door has stood empty since Alduin placed his soul snare here. By Shor’s command we sheathed our blades and ventured not the foul mist.”

“None of you have tried to stop him?” Hiccup asked, turning to him.

“A few attempted it, however their spirits were snatched away by Alduin, never to celebrate in this Hall again,” the man sighed, “Though a few have tried to go out and face him, but the strangest of appearances have asked them to await your arrival.”

“Was it a black dragon with a red tail fin?”

“Precisely,” he turned to gesture to the far end of the East wing, where in the corner sat four warriors, a Stormcutter, and a Night Fury, “They await your command, Dragonborn.”

Hiccup gave him a quick thanks and bolted towards the corner. His brother was quick to notice him and stood to approach him. Toothless bounded over and placed his head into Hiccup’s hands. The Dragonborn responded by pulling himself into as close of proximity as he could and pressing his forehead against the dragon’s.

“Took you long enough, you idiot,” Toothless lowly warbled.

“Not all of us could have been thrown right in front of the Hall, brother,” Hiccup pulled away and turned to the other people and dragon, “I assume you’re who I was told about?”

Sitting at this table were three heroes he recognized and one female warrior he didn’t. Hakon, Felldir, and Gormlaith from the Elder Scroll’s vision sat together. Gormlaith looked the exact same as she did when she died atop the Throat of the World that day. Hakon and Felldir looked a bit older, if that was even possible for the mage who was already greying in the vision.

“We are,” Hakon said, “Thousands of years have come to this, our final battle in Sovngarde against the God of Destruction.”

Gormlaith folded her arms and glared in the direction of the front doors, “He only delayed the inevitable, for he shall fall to my blade tonight.”

Felldir was the one who was quiet, taking in the Dragonborn and the hand he kept on the Night Fury’s neck. It was clear he wasn’t so sure about the boy and the dragon, questioning if this was truly the Dragonborn destined to stop the monster that ravaged the outer reached of Sovngarde.

“If I may,” the female warrior spoke up, pulling Hiccup’s attention towards her. She was in a wilder armor than the others, as it was rough leather, some teal dragon scale, and some iron mixed together. It looked as if she made it while on the run from something, but a quick glance to the teal Stormcutter behind her answered what exactly she could have been running from. She had an angular face, wide green eyes, and long auburn hair tied back in a multitude of braids held together with various strips of leather and white cloth. Sitting on the bench next to her was a teal mask, not unlike the helmet Hiccup had made, with slits for eyes and six thin, winding horns. She kept her eyes on Hiccup, scanning his face, “We wish to join you.”

“And who are you?”

Her eyes glazed over a bit and she gently caressed the mask, “No, I suppose you wouldn’t remember me… as you were only an infant…”

He trained his eyes across her once more. Her hair glistened in the fire light just like his. Astrid said his eyes were a rich forest green, which reflected in this woman’s own eyes. The dragon, the scale armor, the staff weapon that was slung from her back, all of it resembled his own armor and weapon.

“But a mother never forgets.”

Oh. That’s why.

The apple never fell far from the tree after all. It’s just that the tree had been uprooted when he was young, so he could never seem to understand why he grew to be so different from his father.

“Valka wants to help, Hiccup,” Toothless said, nodding to the woman and the other dragon, “She and Cloudjumper.”

“He speaks truth,” the Stormcutter - Cloudjumper - said, “Alduin rid us of our lives once before. We must stop him now.”

“I’m sorry, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this,” he pressed a hand to his temple and closed his eyes, willing the confusion from his mind, “You didn’t die that night? But you’re still dead?”

“Correct. Cloudjumper was sent by Alduin to track down and kill the Dovahkiin. When he found you… something happened and he was released from Alduin’s control,” Valka explained, “When I found you two, playing and laughing, I couldn’t believe it.”

“The command to kill you seemed… barbaric. You were nothing but a hatchling,” Cloudjumper’s owl-like head came to rest at Hiccup’s eye level, eyes filled with an emotion Hiccup couldn’t read, “I couldn’t kill you. So I grabbed Valka intending to pose her as the Dovahkiin and offer to take care of her myself. I didn’t go through with it.”

“He and I traveled Tamriel for nearly six years, seeing everything and helping so many people. When we returned, it was with the intention to stop Alduin ourselves… but we couldn’t do it,” she sighed, shoulders slumping and hand tracing the battle marks on her armor, “I wanted to return to you, but with your father the way he was and knowing the truth I knew, I couldn’t. Believe me, it was never my intention for you to grow up without a mother.”

‘Too bad, that’s what happened,’ was what Hiccup wanted to say. He wanted to bring up how horribly everyone treated him, how he was always the smallest, always the weakest, how people believed his father to be telling a joke when he announced Hiccup’s awakening as the Dragonborn. He wanted to demand a true reason as to why she decided to abandon him and go on a six-year joy ride on the Stormcutter that was believed to have killed her. Hiccup so desperately wanted to yell for hours about how had she stayed, had she still been alive, he probably wouldn’t have had to repress so much from his younger years.

It might not have happened if he had both parents, if Stoick hadn’t grown cold and distant for a while, if Hiccup wasn’t half-raised by Gobber, if she was still there.

But nothing could change the past. Nothing could make Cloudjumper leave Valka there and lie about killing a baby Dragonborn. Nothing could make the pranks and bullying go away. That was written in stone years ago, never to be changed. Hiccup doubted he wanted it to be changed at this point, considering all of it led to him meeting his brother, but by the Nine he would’ve appreciated it if it was just a little bit easier.

“This is… not the revelation I was expecting to have today,” Hiccup ran his hands through his hair and let out a tense sigh.

Valka nodded absently, “I know. And I’m sorry, for what it’s worth. I know it must’ve been hard, but seeing who you are now… I hesitate to think of what would have been different had I stayed.”

“What’s done is done. And all we can do now is learn from it and grow past it. For now, we have a dragon to stop.”

Felldir stood up from where he sat at the table, “Then let us depart. We’ll use Dragonrend to-“

“No.”

The three heroes sharply looked at the Dragonborn, who had a sharp resolution in his eyes.

“What do you mean, no?” Hakon asked slowly.

“I mean, we will not be using Dragonrend unless it is absolutely necessary,” Hiccup said, “Toothless and I can meet him in the sky. Should we find a way to bring him down, then you guys jump in. But under no circumstances am I using Dragonrend.”

Gormlaith slammed her hands on the table. Hiccup was sure it startled some of the dead warriors behind him, but he didn’t care to check, “That was the only way we defeated him last time! Using Dragonrend is what made the fight even.”

“It made it even because he was brought down to you,” Toothless said, pupils thinning a bit as he looked at the female sword-fighter, “It is still an even fight, as we can go up to him. You just have to trust us.”

“Trust? We spent years fighting the dragons, and only in the past decade have learned to tolerate this one’s presence in the Hall,” Hakon’s finger not-so-subtly pointed at Cloudjumper, “We are not entrusting this to a boy who won’t use his most powerful weapon against a dragon.”

“Then don’t trust me and see how far you get,” Hiccup crossed his arms over his chest and glared at the man, “I have spent almost a year figuring out how to be the Dragonborn without killing dragons. And by the gods, I did it. So fight it all you want, but it’s my destiny to defeat Alduin, however that happens. With or without your help.”

He ignored his mother- Valka’s stare as he stood his ground against three dragon-killing warriors who could probably blow him over like a house of cards. This was his fight, not their’s. The Warriors Three had their chance, several thousand years ago, and they decided the best way to handle the dragons was to offload their problem to him, the Last Dragonborn.

But now, for whatever reason, they didn’t trust him and his brother to take down the Great Destroyer.

Hiccup bit back another long-suffering sigh and turned away from them, “Every second I stay here trying to convince you, another batch of worthy warriors experience a second death in that mist. I’m going to stop Alduin. You can join us if you can stomach the thought of not killing a dragon.”

“You know not the game you are playing, boy,”

“And you don’t understand that times have changed, Hakon.”

“They’ve killed hundreds of us!”

“And we’ve killed thousands of them!” Hiccup spun back around on his heel, arms wide and glaring daggers into the man who dared argue with him about this, “You have only known bloodshed, not diplomacy. I am the son of a Jarl, the leader of the dragons who wanted to fight alongside me, and the one who will end this unnecessary war. Now you either stand with me or not at all.”

His words echoed in the grand Hall of Valor, making every warrior go silent behind him. The only sounds that reached his ears were that of the fire and the roars of Alduin outside, still on his hunt for souls and still terrorizing Sovngarde.

Hiccup didn’t have time for this.

“Come on, Toothless. We’re finishing this here and now.”

He ignored the yells for him and his brother to stop as he walked away. Hiccup approached the doors of the Hall of Valor and shoved one open, feeling the coldness of the outer Sovngarde on his skin once more. Alduin still circled the valley, still fishing souls out of the mist and crushing them in his claws to devour their power. Hiccup swung his leg over the saddle and flicked the tail fin open.

 

“Here and now, brother,” Toothless said.

 

“Here and now. Together.”

Notes:

Next Time: Alduin’s Bane

THAT MOTHERFUCKER IS GONNA DIE!

Chapter 28: Alduin’s Bane

Summary:

Astrid considers Nahkriin and Hiccup and Toothless fulfill a prophecy thousands of years in the making.

Notes:

So. Penultimate chapter.

Once the remnants of Hiccup and Toothless shot into the sky, Astrid allowed her arms to fall. The Dragon Priest staff clattered to the ground and she fell to her knees, breathing like she’d just run a million miles. Her magic was depleted, her arms were heavy, and her entire body was on the verge of shutting down completely.

But she had to keep going. The portal to Sovngarde slowly thinned, until it was nothing but a faint white line going from the base to the sky. Above her, the clouds dissipated and the midmorning light shone down onto the temple of Skuldafn. She turned to see countless dragons soaring above the mountain, landing on the temple, and flying away once their control was loosened. Some still fought, under the residual command of Alduin, but they were quickly subdued by others, brought to the ground so the Riders could cast the spell.

“Astrid!” Fishlegs called out to her as Meatlug landed heavily on the top of the temple. He raced up the stairs while the Gronckle hobbled over to Stormfly, “Are you guys okay?”

“I’m-“ she tried to stand, but her legs immediately failed her, “I’m fine. They made it.”

“That ritual took a lot out of you. You have to rest,” he helped her get down the platform and sit on the last step, “Our fight ends here.”

“No, it won’t end until every dragon is free. I just need to catch my breath.”

“Careful, you’re sounding like Hiccup and I don’t think that’s a good thing. Stay here or I will have Meatlug sit on you.”

She watched him turn and begin to tend to Stormfly. 

As Astrid’s head slowly fell back to hit the steps behind her, she closed her eyes and thought back to everything that has happened to her. Hiccup often told her that he wished he could warn the him of months ago about this. He said that if he could go back in time a year, he would just mentally prepare the other him of what was going to happen. Astrid found herself thinking the same thing.

Skyrim, as they knew it, was now forever changed. All because of one reckless and compassionate Dragonborn. All because one boy couldn’t- wouldn’t- kill a dragon. All because he had the heart to prove that people and dragons weren’t that different. Astrid had seen many things over their quest and planned to see more when all of this was over.

She wanted to talk with Heather more. She wanted to perfect her magic. She wanted to check in on her friends in Solstheim. She wanted to see the whole region from the air. She wanted to travel past the Old Kingdom’s borders and see Tamriel as a whole. Astrid wanted many things after this war was over, even if she was still technically too young to even be thinking about traveling the world atop a dragon she saw as one of her best friends.

It could be useful, though, to go between the other regions with the dragons, sharing with the other rulers the gift of flying and companionship. They were truly amazing, grand creatures that had brought so many people together. Even if the hunters and trappers that resided in Skyrim made things difficult. But what is life without hardship? What is living without the threat of fiery apocalypse, acid melting your skin off, or explosion from magic overuse?

Really, explosions build character!

Astrid opened her eyes to see the now-clear sky, devoid of clouds and filled with dragons. She helped bring this about. She was the Lieutenant. Her magic tingled beneath her skin and she sighed at the familiar feeling of her mana slowly restoring itself within her. She lifted a hand to her head and slowly let out a healing spell. She felt the cut on her forehead close and stop swelling. The golden glow faded and she lowered it back down to the mask that hung from her belt.

It was a strange relic, really, she thought as she lifted it up to take a closer look at. It was completely smooth save for the carved lines and thin slits for eyes. There was a single thick line to represent the mouth with other ritualistic lines extending from it. Nahkriin completely crumbled when she launched that attack at him, leaving only this mask behind. It felt powerful in her hands, and it gave off a feeling of intrigue.

Maybe this was her prize for her efforts, a mask left behind by a dead Dragon Priest. But as she stared at the mask, all she felt was anger.

This man fought her, almost killed her. He almost killed Stormfly with that storm atronach. He helped create the portal for Alduin and possibly had a hand in crafting the horrifying amalgamation of Toothless’s parents. No, this mask didn’t represent power, it represented misguidedness, greed, and insanity.

She tore it out of her sight, returning it to her belt. Maybe it could be useful later, should they need such a relic for something, but for now, Astrid was just going to put it with all the other items she’d accumulated along this quest.

This mask belonged with the Elder Scroll, Meridia’s Beacon, and the Black Books. She’d need to open a damn museum at this point.

Maybe that weird door in Dragonsreach was a room that could house them all.

She’d have to ask Stoick about it when they got home.

~~~

All he had to do was go in there and— he ran his mind through his mental checklist— defeat Alduin. Without Dragonrend and preferably without killing him. No big deal! Really, no problem.

Hiccup latched his glaive to its spot on the saddle, clicked his and Toothless’s prosthetics together, then nudged for Toothless to get into the air. They flew straight upwards, cutting the air as they ascended. Alduin was on the near side of the valley, close to the Hall. He swung at unseen figures in the fog and roared. When he caught nothing, he moved to another area. The fog stayed as thick and settled as Hiccup had seen when he arrived and it seemed to have no intention of disappearing, even with his Clear Skies from earlier.

Toothless hovered for a moment above the Hall of Valor, awaiting Hiccup’s declaration of a plan. Too bad for him, his brother didn’t have one. Eh, they’ve done better with less. Really, the College of Winterhold was a fluke and they got lucky with Windcaller’s Horn and Viggo. Hiccup leaned forward on the saddle as Toothless soared over the gorge to Alduin. As they moved to pass over him, Hiccup tapped his finger twice and Toothless followed the command to launch a blast at the Great Destroyer.

Alduin’s flight buckled at the hit to his back and he twisted around to see who dared fire upon him. When he caught sight of the two, he unleashed the loudest roar Hiccup had ever heard from him. Toothless banked around the dragon again, leading him away from the Hall. There was no going back from this. From now until he was gone, they were fighting.

The two dragons flew across Sovngarde. Toothless weaved through the sky, dodging the blasts of fire Alduin shot towards them. The fire lit up the sky and nearly got them both a few times. Hiccup trusted Toothless to find his own way as he cast glances back at the giant dragon that chased them. Alduin was feared for a reason.

“We need a place to disappear,” Hiccup muttered to no one. He suspected that this place didn’t really have storms, as Sovngarde was supposed to be a non-stop party for warriors, so he couldn’t could on the weather giving him something to work with. The only clouds were the ones that created the tunnel effect through the sky, but those seemed impossibly far and not viable for hiding a Night Fury.

Any storm they called upon wouldn’t last long enough, and could be dispelled by Alduin. He doubted that any invisibility spell he knew was strong enough to cover Toothless. That was always Astrid’s specialty.

Hiccup’s mind flashed back to when he and Astrid were escaping High Hrothgar. The terror and bone-chilling feeling of being watched was proven right by Alduin’s appearance. The dragon had knocked him down, tore him from Toothless’s back and was the reason there was metal and wood replacing his left lower leg. He shifted the tail fin to allow for Toothless’s dive downwards. The Fury spread his wings again right over the silver fog, careful to not touch it. Had Hiccup not known the ground was there, he would have assumed it went down for miles.

It may not have been miles, but that fog was easily a hundred feet tall at some points. And he knew the vague layout of this valley, most of it being flat in the center with rocky extremities. They could use it. He instinctively shifted the tail fin to lower them closer to it.

“What are you doing?” Toothless eyed the fog warily.

“Testing something.”

“Is now really the best time?!”

Hiccup didn’t say a word as he leaned over the side and ran his hand along the fog’s edge. It reacted like water, his fingers catching it and causing ripples and small shifts in the air. It swirled around his hand as they flew over it and when Toothless finally pulled up and took Hiccup with him, the misty feeling remained on the rider’s hand, along with a faint shimmer.

They could use it, whatever it was. The fog was just a deterrent and both Hiccup and Toothless were flesh and blood, not the souls that got trapped inside.

“Do you trust me, bud?” He whispered, preparing to drop them into the mist.

“Always.”

“Down.”

The Fury’s hesitance was understandable but he lowered himself just enough to where his dangling feet touched the fog. Then, he completely dipped into it. Hiccup pressed himself flat against the dragon’s back, then whispered his Shout, “Mul Qah Diiv.”

The fog’s thickness lessened as the Dragon Aspect Shout wormed its way through his senses. He had learned this one in particular from Miraak in Solstheim. The Shout was supposed to shift his skin to be more dragon-like, with tough scales to fend off blades and fire. But the way Miraak taught him it, it instead shifted more for enhancing his senses. He didn’t like using it that much, as the sudden wave of stimuli that accompanied the use of this Shout made him sick.

But now, it made his sight pierce through the fog he and Toothless flew through. Hiccup looked back for a moment to see Alduin stop and hover where they once were. He turned back and used the saddle to guide Toothless around the valley and forest, over the rolling plain and behind Alduin, who was still hovering and looking around for them. The dragon glared into the mist and roared.

At that moment, Hiccup flicked the tail fin and sent the pair into the sky right behind Alduin. Once they were far enough above him, Hiccup summoned his Voice once more, the magic swelling in his throat and mouth. It tasted like ash.

“Krii Lun Aus!”

Kill. Leech. Suffer.

Hiccup never really liked the words the Marked for Death Shout was made of. He only ever used it once, against a monster of stone and magic that tried to kill Astrid. He learned it from a particularly nice Whispering Death, though, so he couldn’t complain about the addition to his arsenal.

The magic flew from his lips in a slithering form, taking on a sickly green color. Like snakes, they wrapped around Alduin’s neck and sunk into his scales, giving off a faint yellow-green glow. Alduin snarled and tried to shake off the effects of this Shout, but couldn’t. His wings faltered and he began to fly away, either trying to wait out the effects or get out of dodge before he was attacked.

Toothless was faster.

A loud blast was accompanied by an explosion right at Alduin’s shoulder, at the base of his wing. The dragon screeched and moved again, this time to check the damage done by the blast. It wasn’t much, but it had to have hurt enough for that pained sound.

Hiccup nudged Toothless back away from Alduin. They flipped in the air and shot downwards into the fog once more.

“Cowards!” Alduin yelled, “You’d rather use these weak tactics than actually fight! You know in your hearts you cannot defeat me!”

“Gods, I need him to stop talking,” Hiccup’s voice came out scratchy and hoarse. He flicked the tail fin to avoid a rocky slope, then steered Toothless to shoot out of the fog and land at the steps Hiccup awoke at, towards the top of the furthest mountain of Sovngarde.

“You’ve used your Voice a lot today, Hiccup, I can barely hear you,” Toothless said, “Let me take over.”

“No, we need your fire,” Hiccup reached behind him to pull a healing potion from one of the saddlebags. It wouldn’t reduce the slight cooldown on his Voice, but it soothed the fire in his throat and fixed the ache in his back from flying for so long, “Also, what’s the point in having the power if I don’t use it.”

“I think Whiterun would rather have a Jarl that can speak, but that must be just me,” his brother shook his head near-violently, his ear flaps smacking against his cheeks. One of the flicked Hiccup’s face and he reeled back to avoid another hit. Toothless stretched his legs and wings again with the usual sick popping sound, “What’s next?”

“Try to repeat what we did, try not to die?” The Dragonborn ran through more ideas in his head, “Honestly, we just need to get him to either stop long enough to talk or weaken him enough to force him to land to retain strength. Then, we let the dragon-killers go ham.”

“Surprising that even killing him is on the table for you.”

A sigh escaped Hiccup, “Well, when it’s against a dragon that wants to enslave your people and burn your home to the ground, it’s not that hard to choose.”

And the dragon that killed his mother. Hiccup didn’t say that because while Valka seemed remorseful for abandoning- for staying away, she still didn’t even attempt to contact him, to make things right between his father and the dragons. It took thinking his son was dead or about to kill him for Stoick to turn sides, but if he was really as in love with Valka as Gobber said, then maybe it wouldn’t have taken so damn long.

He shook the thought from his head. What’s done is done, he needs to focus on the here and now. Alduin still raged across this valley, determined to rid himself of this Dragonborn pest that seemed to enjoy ducking and hiding as a form of combat. Which wasn’t exactly wrong, per-say, it was just rude for him to call such a plan cowardly and weak.

If there was anything Hiccup was, it wasn’t weak.

He flexed his leg to open the tail fin again, the stretching of the leather reaching his ears. Dragon Aspect had run out, but Marked for Death still plagued Alduin.

“Go in fast, don’t let him catch us,” he directed as they shot into the sky. Toothless nodded in acknowledgement and let his wings carry them further up. The starry ring of the sky bled away to sunrise-like oranges and yellows as they climbed and climbed. Thankful this was the realm of the dead, Hiccup took in a deep breath and braced himself for the lurch of Toothless’s dive.

Night Furies are known mostly for their powerful plasma Shout, but the other thing that makes up their reputation is their speed. Sure, their bodies are built to reduce drag and maintain high speeds across long distances, but if Hiccup’s flights on Toothless taught him anything, the Night Fury speed mainly came from their lovely habit to fall from the sky and keep the momentum up as they settled into glides.

This technique was on full display as the brothers dropped and Toothless steadied himself to fly straight at Alduin. He let out another fiery Shout and bolted upwards. Then, another fire was shot at Alduin and Hiccup, for a moment, thought that Toothless had somehow fired twice in a row. But he knew his brother better than that and his suspicions were confirmed when a large four-winged dragon pulled up behind them, a leather-covered rider holding onto the giant horns.

Cloudjumper gave a draconic roar at the pair, which Toothless returned, though his was filled with more confusion than anything. The two dragons circled around with Toothless slowing down for the Stormcutter to catch up.

Valka lifted the front visor of her mask and gave Hiccup a look, “Tell me you have a plan!”

He did, but it didn’t account for this. He looked back at the Hall where the three warriors stood at the valley end of the bone bridge. Gormlaith looked about ready to just grow wings and kill Alduin herself, but Hiccup knew she couldn’t. He ran it all through his mind. If they could stop Alduin for just long enough…

“Go grab the melee fighters and get them onto Cloudjumper- have him carry them if he needs to- and fly as far up as you can while staying close to Alduin, then wait for my signal,” Hiccup felt his Voice return as he spoke, “We will get him to stop just long enough for you to drop them onto him.”

“So you want sky-diving Vikings, an ambush in the air, and a crash land to the ground?”

He gave her a wild grin, “Precisely.”

Cloudjumper seemed to be running the idea through his head, his second pair of wings twitching and his eyes blinking slowly, “I’ll admit, it wasn’t what I was expecting.”

“That’s Hiccup for you,” Toothless copied his brother’s smug look, “Now go try and convince those guys to ride with you.”

“I bet Gormlaith will love the bragging rights she’ll get from this,” Valka shook her head and hooked her staff onto Cloudjumper’s horn again, guiding the dragon away from the Night Fury and to the ground where the others waited.

“So how much of that was off the dome?”

Hiccup flicked one of Toothless’s horns, “You know godsdamn well that all of it was made up just now.”

“Knew it.”

They banked right to avoid another fireball from Alduin, who had shaken off the Death Mark and was now flying after them again. Alduin was fast, but a big dragon. While he could somehow move his body fast enough to rival a Monstrous Nightmare half the size, he could never maneuver well enough to be as nimble as a Nadder or a Night Fury. Stormfly would be flying circles around the thing if she were here.

Toothless fired off another blast at Alduin, barely missing his thinner, more wounded scales on purpose. Alduin shouted a torrent of flame at them, then beat his wings downwards to catch up to their already high altitude.

“I will tear your flesh from your bones and use it as a nest! Then I will feed your meat to my followers and they will use your bones as toothpicks!”

“Uh huh, well I bet Alduin needs toothpicks, don’t he?”

If Gobber were here, he’d laugh until he had a coughing fit.

The two dragons spiraled around each other, the larger one letting off roars and blasts of fire at the smaller. Toothless awaited Hiccup’s command, then tucked his wings in tightly. They fell from the air and dove straight towards Alduin. Hiccup rose up a bit in the saddle and summoned his Voice once more.

“Iiz Slen Nus!”

The already cold air of Sovngarde dropped another twenty degrees as the Ice Form Shout weaved through the sky and wrapped itself around Alduin’s left wing, freezing it solid. The ice stuck to the scales and membrane and Alduin’s flight immediately failed yet again. He roared and clawed at the ice with his free wing’s upper claws, but it was no use against the magical ice.

Toothless copied the roar and ducked to the side as Cloudjumper rose behind him. Hiccup turned to see the Warriors Three jump from the Stormcutter’s claws and land onto Alduin, on his back, his tail, and directly behind the giant horns on his head. The frozen wing, plus the addition warriors, made Alduin sink like a stone. He squirmed against the constant attacks from the warriors, but his attempts to rid himself of the ice or the crazy dragon-killers aboard him only aided in his plummet.

Once they were close enough to the ground, all three warriors spoke their Become Ethereal Shouts and only Alduin took the brunt of the crash.

As Toothless landed and Hiccup slid from his back, the Warriors had subdued him to the ground. The ice still hung off his left wing, but his right now matched it, with an ice rock that was greener and spikier than Hiccup’s. Alduin thrashed wildly, but each time he went to Shout at Hiccup, he was met with a swift hit from Gormlaith’s sword. Not a slash, but a blunt jab to remind him of his current position.

“How dare you…” Alduin sneered as Hiccup stood before him, “You join forces with dragons but you do not join our cause. You could have been King, had you listened.”

“But that’s not what I want. I simply want peace,” he urged. His metal leg scraped against the ground as he took another step forward, “You can be a part of that, but I know you won’t join us.”

“You’re right. You’re too weak for me to even consider it”

“You keep saying that word, but you know not what it means.”

“Lacking strength, lacking power, lacking,” his eyes trailed Hiccup’s lithe and small form, “Everything, in your case. You are weak. And while the heathens that bind my wings are still weak, they are far more powerful than you.”

“You’re right. Who would’ve thought that the three warriors who’ve trained their whole lives and afterlives to fight would be stronger than the teenager with too big of a destiny?” Hiccup said. He reached for his glaive on Toothless’s saddle and walked closer to the dragon, holding it up and pointed at Alduin, “But I am still strong.”

“Because you’ve somehow convinced that traitor-“ he thrashed again, now glaring past Hiccup at Toothless, “-to join you! He is most of your strength and tactics! Should you lose him, you lose it all!”

The Night Fury in question just growled lowly, “Wrong. I only helped him see the truth, that we Dovah are just like them. He was the one to grow into his power, not me. You can’t force that kind of growth.”

“Then do it,” the dragon seemed to laugh at his own demand, “Kill me. Claim my soul for your own. I know you can’t.”

The glaive’s blade gently touched between Alduin’s eyes, Hiccup’s face unchanging from a neutral determination. The determination to do what, he didn’t know. The three warriors that held Alduin down with their magic yelled for him to finish the job. Valka and Cloudjumper seemed to disagree but looked ready to take him out if necessary. Toothless probably wanted Alduin dead, but was waiting for his brother to make the decision.

But Hiccup couldn’t- wouldn’t- kill a dragon. He never has, he never will, and he certainly didn’t want to start that now. The weapon was tossed to the stone to his right and he gently knelt down in front of Alduin’s head, hand hovering over the great dragon’s nose.

“Please. We don’t need to do this,” he whispered. Alduin’s coal-like eyes bored into him, to his soul, “I only wish for peace.”

“Peace is a fickle thing. Even if I stop my rightful conquest, there are others who wish to claim your homelands for themselves. There will be more war, more death, and more bloodshed. You are not saving your people from anything.”

“I’m saving them from unnecessary war. You dragons are remarkable and powerful creatures. You have your own culture, language, magic, and beliefs. I’ve learned so much with Toothless at my side and I know that if we stop this fighting, you can learn so much, too. We have the answers, back in Whiterun.”

Alduin’s eyes closed as the dragon’s head rested against the stone beneath them. He was breathing heavily, but his body stilled and his scaled brow furrowed, like he was genuinely considering it. Had Hiccup done it? Had he convinced the Great Destroyer to at least listen? His hand still hovered over Alduin’s face, within distance for Alduin to come to him. This would end soon, he’d make sure of it. He turned back to look at Toothless, who eyed the still dragon warily.

Then a little voice in the back of Hiccup’s mind told him to move.

“Never,” Alduin’s response was short, succinct, and final. Hiccup didn’t notice the magic building in Alduin’s throat. He didn’t hear the Shout that the dragon let out at him, nor did he feel anything but cold after it happened. He hadn’t even had time to turn to run away before his entire body was encased in ice.

All he heard was the screaming of people outside of his blue prison. All he saw was the void of darkness that surrounded him, one so reminiscent of his time in Apocrypha. But at least there, he felt a pull, he felt the darkness, he felt Miraak in his mind. Here, all he could feel was cold.

But then he felt warmth.

And he heard a magical build-up.

And he saw a brilliant blue glow reach his eyes.

Then the ice around his body disappeared. He fell to the stone ground, body catching up on the breathing he couldn’t do inside the ice. His chest heaved and he finally looked up at the wing of his brother that shielded him from the now-free Alduin. Toothless’s body gave off a faint blue glow and Hiccup saw small crackles of electric magic flow across his scales.

The Night Fury glared at the dragon that dared attack his brother and roared.

“We’re finishing this,” Toothless whispered, nudging Hiccup in the side, “Here and now.”

“You got it, bud,” he pulled himself into the saddle and flicked the tail fin open.

“Get him, Dovahkiin!” Hakon yelled at them as they rose into the sky and met Alduin among the clouds once more. Toothless flew around the dragon, who kept his eyes trained on them the whole time. Hiccup allowed himself to grow angry. Sometimes, there is just no saving people. With another use of the Marked for Death Shout, his final and most daring plan could be put into action.

He reached into his bag and pulled out a blue and red grand soul gem, an empty one about the size of his fist that was part rock, as it had been forged from a broken-open geode, and called upon one of the souls of a dragon he attempted to save from poison, but couldn’t. The soul seeped into his own and he used it to boost his own mana. Then, he called upon the magic in his veins and forged it along the surface of the crystal. It was one he learned to assist Astrid in her enchanting: Soul Trap.

Toothless tucked his wings in again as he flew past Alduin and launched a blast directly at the membrane on the left wing, the same area weakened by the ice Shout. It began a fiery hole in the wing. Alduin screeched, but was cut off as Toothless banked to the right and repeated the process on the weakened right wing. The Great Destroyer tried to catch him in a fire blast, but an enraged Toothless was faster than the blink of an eye, even with a scheming human atop him.

With another pass, Hiccup used Unrelenting Force to knock Alduin off his already precarious balance in the air, and Toothless launched yet another blast at his black-silver wings. The Night Fury flew them upwards, directly above Alduin, and dropped.

With one last blast of fire, Alduin was shoved towards the ground, the weakened membrane on his wings tearing as he struggled to stay in the air. Hiccup held out his right hand, the soul gem in his left, and shouted the incantation for the spell. A green glow covered Hiccup’s hand, carving the runes for the spell into his palm. The light shot out at Alduin, mixing with the embers of the cindering flesh and scales. Mid-air, Alduin’s body began glowing and burning, his scales vanishing starting at the tips of his wings and tail.

“No, no! This can’t be the end!” He yelled with what little strength he had remaining. He still fell towards the ground, wings finally failing as his torso and legs tried to take the brunt of the fall, “NO!”

Right before he hit the ground, the horns on his head began peeling into white light and his face froze in a shout of pain. Alduin’s bones clattered to the stone, his skull nearly shattering on the impact, and the pure magic of his soul flew towards the still-falling Dragonborn. It was enough of a force, one he hadn’t felt since he first absorbed a soul, to knock Hiccup off the saddle. The tail fin failed and Toothless began flailing to catch his brother.

Hiccup just held on tightly as he repeated the spell as much as he could. He would not absorb this soul, even if it killed him. He wrapped his whole body around the now-glowing geode as Alduin’s soul flew around him. He then felt a different kind of magic hit him, like a gentle breeze among the rushing storm around him. He felt his body get lighter and his mind began to clear as everything around him went white.

On that day, for the second time in Hiccup’s life, the Dragonborn fell from the top of the world.

And all of Skyrim saw the skies break above them.

Notes:

Next time: Homeward Bound

I know that Soul Trap doesn’t work in dragons in-game, but I figure an overpowered Dovahkiin with a surging dragon soul would be able to trap one in a grand soul gem. Really, I think it’s lack of creativity on Bethesda’s part (joke).

Also: LAST CHAPTER NEXT WEEK!!!! Then I have an epilogue planned. Stay tuned for more info on that next week ;)

Chapter 29: Homeward Bound

Summary:

The Flock returns home and then they throw a RAGER.

Notes:

Just wanna say thanks to everyone :)

Even if I got stuff wrong (fully acknowledge that, the Skyrim canon is my little acrobat), or some stuff didn’t make sense, this fic has been a lot of fun. More in the end notes, but for now, enjoy the final chapter of Sunless Fire.

“I will say, that was rather impressive.”

The darkness faded once more and Hiccup looked over at Miraak. The man’s mask was as expressionless as always, but he stood on the edge of his place at the top of Apocrypha, looking out at the green sea of dread and terror. Hiccup still had his armor, still had his weapon, still had the grand soul geode in his hands. It pulsed with a faint red glow, like it was breathing.

“So I did it?”

“You certainly did, you and that Night Fury,” the first Dragonborn turned to him, “You did what me, a dragon army, and several hundred of Skyrim’s greatest warriors couldn’t do in thousands of years.”

“All I did was kill a dragon,” the geode weighed heavily in his hands.

“No, you brought peace,” Miraak’s gloved hand came to rest on Hiccup’s shoulder, “You saved everyone. Avenged your mother. You, a scrawny sixteen-year-old who has only known how to use the Voice for not even a year. Again, it was quite impressive.”

The older man then tapped the crystal in Hiccup’s hand, “And you trapped a dragon soul. Not normally done, as the soul goes to any living Dragonborn host, not a soul gem. But if it’s staying there, then there should be no issue.”

“So that’s it? I go home, continue living my life knowing I peaked at sixteen?”

“I never said that. You become someone worthy of being hailed as a hero. You may not have any other enemies of destiny, but you do have the small things. I recall some dragon hunters who wanted to kill your brother? Maybe make amends with the village in Solstheim. Who knows, the point is, Hiccup,” Miraak turned Hiccup to face him and lifted his head up, “You have a long life ahead of you. Use those years and your power to become the person you want to be. Not what Skyrim needs. You know you’ll take over as Jarl one day, but that’s a long ways away. You can become someone you can proud of in that time.”

Hiccup’s downtrodden face didn’t change, and he only looked down at the soul gem. It had changed in the time he had been holding it. Where the crystals once grew towards the center of the gemstone, they now grew outwards, leaving only a little bit of the grey rock left and making it about the size of his head. The crystal was red and gold and the magic of the dragon soul within it swirled and shifted. Hiccup didn’t want to absorb this one, he didn’t want to have that power imbued into his body, onto his soul forever. No one deserved that kind of power, least of all Hiccup.

Miraak’s words echoed in his mind. Maybe one day, he’d see himself worthy enough to take on the power of the Great Destroyer. One day he may be Jarl of Whiterun, a man his father can be proud of. One day he may be a husband, a father, a leader.

But today is not that day.

Today, when he returns to Skyrim, will be a day of celebration. It will be a day of reunion, joy, and the realization that the last sixteen years of war and bloodshed and fire were over. Skyrim could live in peace with the dragons that chose to stay in the region.

He held the geode close to his chest, “Okay. I’ll try.”

“That’s the boy I trained. Return to your people, your Riders, your girl, and tell them the good news. I’ll be here in Apocrypha if you ever decide to visit.”

The darkness that overtook Hiccup once more was lighter. Usually it was impeding and pressured, but now, it gently washed over him like the gentlest of magics.

The soul gem thrummed lightly against his chest and he only tightened his body around it.

Darkness. So kind, yet still so daunting.

~~~

They all felt the tremor before they saw the surge.

Astrid had finally gotten to her feet and made her way to Stormfly, checking her friend over again in case Fishlegs missed something, when she heard a distant rumbling and raised her head to the sky. The other Riders, as well as some straggling dragons who didn’t leave the region or head to Solstheim or High Hrothgar, had gathered around the top of the temple, expecting Hiccup and Toothless to emerge where they entered Sovngarde from.

And they were right, but it wasn’t exactly to the caliber they expected.

The pit where the portal’s runes and essence once sat went alight again, glowing a faint white light in the afternoon sun at the top of the mountain. The thin beam of light that remained from the first spell grew larger and a surge of magic shot directly into the sky. As it reached the point where Astrid couldn’t see it anymore, it sent a shockwave across the bright blue, cloudless sky. She had noticed the faintest poking through of the nighttime aurora when the portal opened, but it had remained even after the closure.

That aurora, though, grew brighter. She couldn’t see the blues in it, as they blended in too well with the sky, but the purples, pinks, greens, and reds of the brilliant blanket of stars shone through like a dreadful mixture of day and night. Every Rider dared not look away, even as another surge of magic sent fractures across the aurora. Like glass, the sky cracked and Astrid heard a faint creak as she saw it bow where another surge collided with it.

Then it shattered.

The glistening aurora broke into a billion pieces, a wave effect from where the portal’s beam touched the sky, all the way past the bounds of which Astrid’s eyes could see. Nothing fell, nothing but shimmering specs of magic and mana. Like fallen snow, it littered the ground and dusted Astrid’s hair in glitter that slowly melted away. She looked back up to the now-normal sky and saw two all-too-familiar shapes plummeting through the air.

“THERE!” She yelled, pointing up at them. As if she gave orders, Snotlout and Hookfang, as well as Heather and Windshear took to the air. Besides Stormfly and Toothless, they were the fastest of the group. Hookfang flew towards the larger shape Astrid knew to be Toothless, catching the Night Fury in his claws and slowing to gently bring him down. Windshear was quick to fly under Hiccup’s form and allow her rider to catch him. Astrid ran towards the Razorwhip as she landed and took the unconscious Dragonborn from the vampire, laying him next to Toothless on the stone floor of Skuldafn.

Both dragon and rider were breathing, though they were not responding. Hiccup’s face and hair were dusted with frost that she gently wiped away with her hand as she checked for any injuries or damage to him. The only odd thing about it was the crystal cluster that was still in his hands. She dared not remove it, but she recognized the magic coming from it. He didn’t…

Whatever she was thinking was instantly pushed to the side as he coughed and jolted upwards. Astrid helped him stay upwards as Hiccup steadied his breathing and looked over at her. His green eyes (oh how she loved those eyes) went wide and he dropped the crystal to his lap to pull her into a hug. His arms wrapped around her like a lifeline.

“Where’s my brother?” Was the first thing he asked. Toothless was still unconscious next to Hookfang, so Astrid helped pull Hiccup up and sit him down next to the Night Fury. He reached over and put his hand on his brother’s head with a soft, “Oh, bud.”

Toothless didn’t respond, but he did let out a small croon in his unconscious state. Hiccup’s face went melancholy as he looked down at the crystal he still held.

“Hiccup…” Astrid said, eyeing the other Riders and dragons that remained close but gave them space, “What happened?”

“We did it,” he said with a small exhale, like he didn’t believe himself. His eyes began watering as everything set in, “We did it.”

She hugged him again as the other riders let out sighs of relief and cheers, “Let’s head to Whiterun and tell your dad. Toothless will wake up soon.”

He just nodded as the Riders prepped for the flight home.

With Toothless unconscious and Stormfly injured, Hiccup and Astrid split up between other dragons. Hookfang was able to take the Night Fury again, so Hiccup flew with Snotlout for the flight back. Flutter was able to take Stormfly, but Astrid chose to ride with Heather on Windshear to let the Changewing focus on carrying her friend. As they flew away from Skuldafn, the other dragons also dispersed.

What Astrid didn’t have the heart to tell Hiccup in the moment was what happened to the amalgamation of Night Furies. With Alduin gone, the magic that held them together fell apart. Two bodies and two minds were never meant to be merged, meaning Alduin being alive was the only reason they stayed afloat. Now that he was dead, their flesh melted away and their souls vanished into the sky, finally free from his reign.

The twins already discussed returning to properly bury them together, a final goodbye to Toothless’s parents. Astrid would tell them when he woke up, whenever that was.

As they flew over Riften, they heard cheering. Astrid leaned over the side as they passed and watched the people of the Rift applaud them. Jarl Laila stood right outside her home, eyes trained on the dragons that carried their heroes. For the slightest second, she and Astrid made eye contact and the Jarl gave her a small nod.

The Throat of the World passed by and soon Astrid saw Whiterun. The people were gathered on the guard’s walkways and towers, as well as the steps up to Dragonsreach. The group did a circle of the city, taking in everyone and every dragon, including Stoick on his balcony. He immediately turned to assumingely meet them on the Porch.

Only after he reunited with his father and oversaw Toothless’s treatment did he say what happened. Alduin’s soul would remain in that soul gem until it was needed by Hiccup to learn a Shout or increase his power. Other than that, it was to remain a secret, one kept by the Riders and the Jarl of Whiterun, and remain in Dragonsreach’s guarded walls. The people were to be told Alduin was completely destroyed in Sovngarde.

Hiccup was the first of them to consider and go through with not killing a dragon. To absorb the soul of this one felt wrong to him, a sentiment Astrid understood and supported. He was already strong- a strong leader, able to win battles and wars- he didn’t need the soul of a deadly dragon to prove that.

~~~

Hiccup bit down the urge to sigh in annoyance as his father adjusted the cape again. Stoick’s eyes were analytical and he was determined to make his son look as strong and leader-like for the celebration today. Said son, though, didn’t know why his father bothered. Honestly, he and Astrid would much rather wear their armor to the party, but the moment Stoick presented Hiccup with a ceremonial outfit fit for a son of a Jarl, Hiccup couldn’t find it in him to say no to his father.

He was given black pants, a pearl white tunic with bell sleeves, a golden and black vest, and a white cape that matched the lining of the ceremonial fur one his father now wore. It was clasped to one shoulder by a golden buckle engraved with a Night Fury, while another buckle at his waist had the Haddock crest on it.

It was fancier than anything he ever wore, and he felt his metal leg kind of ruined the whole look of it. Gobber assured him that a simple polishing of the metal would do, as the pants hem hid the unsightly wood, but Hiccup was already drawing up plans for a more sophisticated foot that wasn’t cobbled together from a fallen tree and spare metal found in Miraak’s old temple. He couldn’t carry his glaive, as it interfered with the cape that Stoick insisted on, so he instead had a sword hanging from his belt. He wasn’t as good with this weapon, but it completed the look.

Toothless was no help, the only preening he did was a usual wash and a polish of the harness and saddle. Hiccup did make him a new tail fin with Whiterun’s colors and emblem, enchanted with the usual fire resistance Astrid gave them, but other than simple grooming, the dragon wasn’t as tied to the traditions as the human son of the Jarl of Whiterun. If Hiccup had anything to say about it, his brother should be lassoed and given the same treatment, but Stoick hadn’t told the other Jarls of the development yet, so the dragon was off the hook for now.

“Alright, I think that’s perfect,” his father eyed the braids in his son’s hair, “Who did these?”

“Astrid,” Hiccup shrugged, “I’d like to keep them.”

Stoick’s eyes were filled with something akin to pride and joy, “As if I’d make you take them out. You have no idea how proud I am of you, son. I know your mother would be too.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

With the news of Alduin’s defeat spreading across Skyrim, and even to the far reaches of Tamriel, the Jarls and some other leaders of nearby countries and kingdoms expected a celebration of the Dragonborn and his allies. And a celebration they got. Hiccup proposed a gathering on the one-year anniversary of his awakening, a month and a half after Alduin’s death.

As he entered the upper part of the Hall, Toothless parting from him to get the other dragons ready, and Hiccup looking down at the gathering of Jarls and dignitaries, he felt all of his anxieties about this gathering come to the forefront of his mind. Exactly a year ago, these people held every doubt about him, unable to say whether or not he was even worthy of his title as Dragonborn. He clenched his fists on the railing he stood at, trying to slow his breathing and stop the stream of questions that bombarded his thoughts. What if they didn’t believe him and his brother defeated Alduin? What if they still doubted him, even after everything? What if they started attacking the dragons? What would he do then?

“Hey.” Hiccup turned at the very familiar and welcome voice. Astrid, the goddess she was, approached in her formal wear. While she still had her silver shoulder armor and her axe at her back, she had a floor-length blue dress that had long flowing sleeves and Stormfly’s scales stitched into the hem. The gold accents of the bodice and skirt shimmered in the candlelight of the Hall below and it was one of those rare days where she let her hair down, falling around the leather band she always wore on her head.

“Honestly, I didn’t even know you owned a dress,” he laughed.

“I don’t, or at least I didn’t,” she shrugged, a blue and gold shawl moving with her shoulders, “My mom gave it to me. She wanted me to wear something other than my armor tonight and well… she and Stormfly are getting closer. I doubt they’ll be best friends in a year, but Mom knows that Stormfly’d never hurt me. My dad is warming up to her, as well.”

“Glad to hear it. Gods, you look stunning,” he snaked his hand around her waist and pressed a small peck to her temple.

“Don’t look too bad yourself, dragon boy. Your dad asked me to come find you. We’re starting.”

“Is everyone else on the Porch?”

“Yes, and I’ve even confiscated the Wabbajack,” she leaned in and whispered, “They wanted to use it on Tullius.”

“Well, if he continues to be an asshole, I will allow it. Forgot they even had that.”

“I think the author did too.”

“What?”

“Anyway, we’d better get down to the Hall. I think your brother’s gonna pace a dent in the floor,” she looked over at him, eyeing his face, “What’s wrong?”

He sighed, arms resting on the railing, “These people, the jarls, the generals, everyone… they all doubted me. They underestimated me and now that I’ve saved them, they just celebrate me? Just like that?”

“Well, it wasn’t like I took too long to join you,” she said, “Really, I spent a week traveling with you and one midnight flight and I was ready to defy everything I knew to follow something you believed in. People are complex and their whole lives can change with the flip of a coin. We have to move on, grow past it.”

She moved to put her hand over his, her fingers tightening with his, “And you’re right. They underestimated you. Which means what they saw is not what you are. You are more, more than anyone gave you credit for.”

“Thanks, Astrid.”

“You’ll always have me here, babe.”

“Let’s get down there, my dad looks about ready to drag me down himself.”

Stoick met them in the meeting room in front of the Porch and a staircase up from the main hall of Dragonsreach, nodding at Astrid as she descended to join the party. He held a hand out to Hiccup and stopped him from joining her, “Son, wait.”

The Dragonborn paused and looked at his father expectantly.

“Hiccup, when you walk down those stairs, you are more than my son. You are a hero, my heir, and the hope of this kingdom,” Stoick put a hand onto his son’s shoulder, “You will start being seen as such, start being expected to act like a future Jarl. Are you ready for this?”

The boy- no.

Hiccup wasn’t a boy. Not anymore. He had seen too much, done too much, accomplished too much to simply be the same boy everyone saw. He was still sixteen, but he had grown up. His hands were calloused from more than forge work, his prosthetic leg didn’t creak, but it made the wood beneath it scuff, and his shoulders sat naturally straighter on his body. He wasn’t the same boy who cowered in his room every dragon raid, who caused more destruction than an angry Monstrous Nightmare, whose main reaction from the people was an awkward glance and a shuffle away.

No, Hiccup wasn’t the same. Now, he was a warrior, a hero who brought peace to the lands he was born in and helped bring about a new era, where dragons and Skyrim’s people lived and worked together to protect their lands.

This warrior, this young man, was ready for whatever people threw at him. And it all began the night his Dragonborn side was discovered, the day he started all of this, the day he met his brother. That night, Hiccup began the journey to being the Heir of Whiterun, the Hope of Skyrim, and the single most powerful teenager the kingdom had seen in a very long time.

So, Hiccup looked up at his father, all of his experience and all of his determination on his face and in his eyes.

“I’m ready.”

The Jarl nodded and descended the stairs to greet his people, fellow Jarls, and other esteemed guests of Dragonsreach. When Hiccup heard his name, he followed his father’s voice and emerged from the stairway with his head held high, his shoulders squared, and his walk as strong as he could make it with a metal leg.

The people before him cheered, though he swore his friends and Astrid were cheering louder than anyone else in that Hall. He saw his brother to the side, wings twitching in the anticipation of joining his family at their seats. He saw the generals of the Civil War, sharing a drink over a job well-done. The War was put on the backburner when they finally found a way to defeat Alduin, but the Jarls were on the edge of coming to an agreement to rule as one collective body, giving the choice of High King to the people after a few years of not having one. Tullius was to return to the Imperials and report the development, though the man resigned to sending a letter with the Terror Hiccup assigned to him and challenging Ulfric to drinking contests whenever they met (the Stormcloak won every time as Tullius was a surprising lightweight).

He saw J’Zargo and the new Headmistress of the College of Winterhold. After the issue with the Thalmor ambassador, the Headmaster had stepped down and vanished. They originally wanted to give the College to those who saved it, Hiccup and Astrid, but they declared they already had too much on their plates, giving it to Master Ervine.

He saw Heather and Dagur, enjoying a suspiciously red drink on the other side of the hall. The vampires were a surprisingly easy integration into Skyrim, but the veil of mystery surrounding that ease was lifted when Heather reminded Hiccup that one of her cousins was one of Elisif’s closest advisors. The old High Queen wasn’t aware of this, of course, as she was never really prepared for her station as the High King’s wife, but Heather swore Hiccup to secrecy. What Elisif didn’t know wouldn’t kill her, right?

 He saw Eret, casually speaking with some of the other Jarls. Hiccup had reached out to the man after Alduin’s defeat, explaining who he really was and that he wanted to include the man who housed him on his island in the celebration. Eret had expressed confusion at Hiccup’s reveal, but he simply laughed it off, proclaiming that he had known there was so much more to the guy that rode a Night Fury like a common horse, dispatched a whole dragon cult with only one other person, and lived in the old temple to the First Dragonborn. Stoick even established trade for Raven Rock’s new production of Gronckle Iron, and helped introduce Eret to the other Jarls. The man was determined to make his mining village known and this party was certainly a way to do it.

But when Hiccup’s mind’s eye wandered to the back of the hall, where the specter of a familiar leather-clad woman stood, then promptly vanished, he could only weakly smile. Valka was watching over him, that much he knew. Whatever thoughts he had about her weren’t worth the fact that she helped him in the end. His mother had wanted to support him and she did. That’s all he really wanted from her. Valka’s memory would live on in her contribution to Alduin’s defeat, even if Hiccup hadn’t yet told his father about it.

The party bled into the night and across the city to the various taverns and market stalls for extra alcohol or food. The Riders and their dragons showed off in the sky a few hours after sunset, using the Shouts to entertain people, rather than destroy the city. After, they gathered enough dragons to play a few matches with the Beacon. Hiccup watched the show and the games from his father’s balcony, a content smile spread across his face and, despite his new responsibilities, a huge weight off his shoulders.

For Hiccup’s whole life, he was expected to be a carbon copy of his father, down to killing his first dragon at the age of six months. But Hiccup became something similar: a good leader with a strong heart and enough power to topple a city if he knew how to apply it. The Dragonborn carried with him now the expectation of being what he has been. He will remain a good leader, a good brother, a good man. He will protect his people until the very end and he will do it with his Night Fury brother, his friends, and the dragons at his side.

Hiccup Haddock, the heir of Jarl Stoick the Vast, loved his life, now that he finally realized who he was. It had everything to do with the end of a war, the new peace, his friends, his brother, and the new trust and belief his people had in him. So far in his sixteen and a half years of life, he had stopped the Great Destroyer, befriended a Night Fury, kissed THE Astrid Hofferson, and went to Sovngarde and came back alive.

To say he was excited for the years ahead was an understatement, for Hiccup knew that as long as he had his friends, he’d be okay.

As he stared out at the people he would soon lead and lead beside, he felt Astrid’s fingers lace with his. He felt Toothless’s head push under his other arm. He looked between his girlfriend and his brother, their smiles only making his brighter.

Yeah, Skyrim would be just fine. They would be fine.

For the Dragonborn had come home.

Notes:

And that’s a wrap, folks!

My god, I never expected to write something like this, but here we are. The support has been something I never expected and I genuinely appreciate those who left kind words. I haven’t written (or finished,,,) a fanfic in a few years, so this was just the emotional support I needed right now. Thank you everyone who stuck around until the end of this, it genuinely means a lot. Also, shout out to my sister peri_grine, who sat through my brainrot over this series and this fic the past few months. If you like Cyberpunk2077, go read her stuff! She’s genuinely really good!!

Really, HTTYD came at me like a full-on collapsing mountain (or collapsing Blackreach) and I knew I had to write SOMETHING to help curb the hyperfixation. Tbh, most of this was just what I wanted to see or what I found funny. Was really tempted to write an Epilogue of the twins convincing Astrid and Hiccup to use Alduin’s soul to make the Wabbajack’s power unlimited, but that seemed too unlikely given how I ended this (maybe a non-canon crackfic down the line? Who knows.)

But there will be an epilogue! Posted separately most likely!!

So,,, Next Time: A Grimborn Fate!

It will release when it’s ready and no sooner. In the meantime, I have a backlog of other HTTYD au’s I wanna finish up and release at some point, so keep an eye out for those if you want! They came to me in my dreams like visions from an angry god and who was I to say no!

Notes:

Those who know me know that I don’t have an upload schedule. It may be two days until the next chapter, it may be two weeks. Who knows at this point.