Trust No One

Chapter 28

Astrid's POV

I was running. I had found them, but I knew it was too late.
Hiccup was standing over Mathias, laughing, blood dripping of his chin and hands. He was saying something, but I couldn't tell what it was.
"STOP!" I yelled, worried that there would be a death.

Hiccup turned, looking at me for a second, emotionless. Then, turning his attention back to Mathias, he put a hand to his throat, which kickstarted something, waking him up.
I could see dark magic flowing across Hiccup's hand fluidly.
"Mathias. Wake up." His tone was terrifying, because it wasn't anger, but... sadness. He had a knack for that. Sorrow was kind of his thing.

"Ugh... what?" Mathias groaned, then his eyes widened to the environment around him.
"Woah, woah, WHAT IS HAPPENING?"
He struggled out of Hiccup's grip, but was unsuccessful.

"Mathias, what tier are you?" Hiccup was gazing at him, showing nothing on his blank face.
"Um... 83. Blue," he answered, confused.
"Hmm. Surprising," Hiccup commented.
What happened next changed a lot.

Omniscient POV

Pulling a purple-blue orb from his jacket, Hiccup muttered two more words:

"Goodbye, Mathias."

But before he could hand his target the Sorrowstone, there was a sharp, black pain through his chest. Inky black filled his vision, and he shouted in pain.
Astrid gasped and ran over to help, but there wasn't much she could do to help the dark mess of void.

The shouting stopped, and, to the horror of Astrid, who had stepped back in caution, a figure of void rose up. The first thing it did was end the struggling body next to it. Mathias was useless now for this story anyway.
There was a terrible gurgle, and the Void Demon roared deafeningly.

Astrid's POV

So it was him. And now I was in trouble. Activating my ability, I took a defensive spell, creating a barrier between me and it. It couldn't get through... right?
It seemed The Void Demon had other ideas. Charging carelessly, it broke the barrier apart as if it was paper.

I dodged its charge but it spun round immediately, its hand connecting with my shoulder, sending me backwards, and I fell heavily, but recovered quickly. For what it was - a tier 100 darkness representative at full power and angry (anger can boost strength but makes anyone less careful).
Then I realised something.

The place where I had been hit was covered in an inky substance, which began to spread across my body gradually.
I had to heal to get rid of it, but there wasn't enough time for that.

The Void Demon roared, so loud the ground shook. It was standing over me, as it was much taller than anyone.
Picking me up by the neck, I began to choke as it held me up. I could feel more void fluid spreading over my body.
"Hiccup!" I choked, trying my best to move away his hand.

Omniscient POV

They say everyone has a stronger side.
Astrid Hofferson, struggling in the clutches of the Kyronalim - or ' The Void Demon' as the humans called it - finally realised, after all this time, she could use her stronger side.
Because after all, she had been friends with a tier 100. It is said anyone like that can unlock an ability that everyone has, but it is just hidden.
Most people never unlock it.

Astrid began to glow bright blue out of her eyes, mouth and nose. Her palms became bluer, joining in the glow party.
The Kyronalim continued strangling her, seemingly oblivious to what was happening.
And with that, Astrid exploded.

Thrown backwards, the Void Demon landed on its feet, and roared yet again in anger and confusion.
A powerful blue Phoenix rose out of the smoke, screeching even louder than the Void Demon could roar.
It froze in mid air, its wings not moving.

The Ink Demon jumped, incredibly high, right into the Pheonix. At the same time, the great animal unfroze and fired a single bolt of blue fire from its midnight-black beak.
Everything went boom, again, but more destructively this time.
There was a cry of agony, but it wasn't from the Pheonix.

In the smoke lay a body. The body of a girl, with blue eyes and blonde hair.
Next to her lay a lump of ink, that bubbled away, before sinking into the ground.

And that was all there was of The Void Demon...