Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 17: Jack

"What do you mean? Where did Astrid and Hiccup go?" Elsa had demanded, arms crossed.

"To retrieve something to help stop the snow. Though it looks like you've taken care of that," Stoick had replied. "They'll be back soon."

Jack had exchanged a look with Elsa. We can wait, she said down the bond. If they don't show up soon, we'll go looking.

Deal.

Except, two hours later, they were still waiting.

"I know two hours is a miniscule amount of time in the grand scheme of things," Jack began, "but I think it's been long enough."

"You're right," Elsa conceded. She turned to Anna, who was sitting next to her, dozing away.

"Hey kiddo," Elsa nudged her awake. "Jack and I are going to find our friends. We'll be right back."

Jack leapt to his feet, feeling the familiar pulse of excitement when they did something remotely dangerous. It wasn't that he enjoyed high-risk situations, but they always made you stay on your toes. There was no room for intensive, philosophical thinking. You had to be on full alert, constantly aware of any dangers.

"M'kay," Anna answered, curling up on the bench and falling back asleep. Elsa lovingly pulled a blanket over her.

The two of them hurried outside, and without another word, Jack looped an arm around Elsa's waist and they shot into the air. 

Elsa gripped him tightly. "Don't you dare drop me."

"I wouldn't dream of it, Snowflake."

They shot north, following Stoick's directions to the cave. The wind whipped and curled in Jack's face, but he wasn't the slightest bit bothered by the cold. Neither was Elsa.

"Down there!" Elsa shouted over the roar of the wind, and Jack felt her panic through the bond.

Glancing down, Jack faltered and stared in shock and confusion.

The familiar silhouettes of Toothless and Stormfly greeted them, as well as Hiccup and Astrid's faint figures, but something wasn't horribly wrong. Where they were standing, it seemed like the land had been bleached of color. The four of them were gathered in a circle with perhaps a thirty-foot diameter and had been leeched of life. The grass was gray and lifeless, the trees were white and devoid of color.

Jack touched down at the edge of the circle; he and Elsa sprinted for their friends.

Astrid was lying unconscious on the ground as Hiccup stood over her, shouting her name.

"Hiccup! Astrid! What's going on?" Elsa demanded, skidding across the grass to kneel next to them.

Hiccup was inspecting her stomach where a faint glow was protruding from Astrid's side. "I'm not entirely sure. She got stabbed with a dagger shard."

"Not that I'm an expert on stab wounds," Jack said, "but why is it glowing?"

"I'm not sure." Elsa winced. "Sorry about this, Astrid." She grabbed the edge of her shirt and yanked it upward exposing the wound. 

"Okay. What the hell?" Jack exclaimed, gaping at it.

There were a few smears of blood where the shard had entered, but for the most part it appeared that the wound had completely sealed over. It was glowing with a pulsating light, and Jack could have sworn—

"Did the shard somehow burrow inside of her?" Hiccup demanded, confirming Jack's fears.

"It would appear so," Elsa murmured. Gingerly, she used the edge of her sleeve to wipe away the blood.

Where the shard had entered her, there was a scar in the shape of a sunburst. Jack noticed the silhouette of the dagger beneath her skin, pulsing with golden light.

"What do you know about the dagger shard?" Elsa asked Hiccup.

"Something about being Goldred's plaything. Angel's Dagger. Kynes also arrived. He called it an aegis."

"Wait. Back up. An aegis?" Jack remembered the conversation he had with Sandy about Imora, Annalise, the Immortal Sword, and the aegis.

Sandy mentioned it. It's a magical dagger. One of the very few. Elsa's thoughts drifted down the bond. Why would Kynes and Pitch be after it? And more importantly, is it hurting Astrid? 

Jack didn't have an answer.

Tentatively, Hiccup checked Astrid's pulse and felt her forehead. "Everything seems to be fine. She's breathing, her temperature's normal, and I can feel her pulse."

"And her wound is glowing," Jack offered.

Elsa nudged him with her elbow. "Think we can shock Astrid awake? Maybe sprinkle snow on her or something?"

"Way ahead of you," Jack replied, already summoning up a snowball several inches above Astrid's head and promptly dropping it on her face.

Astrid gasped and spluttered before sitting up. Jack, Elsa, and Hiccup practically crowed in delight.

"What happened?" she asked, bewildered.

"Thank the gods you're alright," Hiccup burst out. He cupped Astrid's face in his hands and kissed her soundly.

Astrid made a noise of surprise and then reached up to kiss him back while Jack and Elsa exchanged bemused looks.

They broke apart, Hiccup looking embarrassed and Astrid vaguely pleased and shocked.

"We're still here," Jack muttered.

"Right. Where were we?" Hiccup mumbled.

"You were stabbed," Elsa said bluntly. "How do you feel?"

"Different," Astrid admitted, pressing a hand to where her wound was. "Almost as if..." she trailed off and held her hand out.

For a moment, nothing happened, and then her hand began to glow, with same pulsing light. She clenched her fist and it winked out.

"What the—" Jack began. It wasn't possible. But then again, there was a magical dagger inside her.

"The aegis," Hiccup breathed. 

Jack glanced at the lifeless grass. The ashy pallor of the leaves. Light and life. Just as dark and death went hand in hand.

Wordlessly, Astrid unclenched her fist, and the light bloomed around them, a beacon in the dark, torch against the night. She executed it easily, as if wielding the power was like breathing.

What had the aegis done?