The Voyager and the Rogue

Chapter 48

The return to New Berk would only take roughly a week, so I wasn't terribly concerned about timing. It would give me more time as Riptide's rider and bond with him more.

One day, I noticed that Riptide's course had changed. We were no longer flying west; instead, we were flying roughly northeast.

"Riptide? Where are you going? We're supposed to be going the other way." He growled at me, maintaining his course. Eyarr directed Cliffire to follow.

"Where's he going?"

"I don't know! He refuses to change his course. I think he wants to show us something?"

"I can't fathom what he wants to show us. Most of the islands northeast are barren or uninhabited." I shrugged.

"Let's find out."

It was mid-afternoon when I saw an island rise from the horizon. Tall, sharp mountains were the main eye-catcher, with sea spires and stacks surrounding the main island.

I did notice two crumbled statues in the sea, the old rock having become smooth over decades of crashing waves. I could faintly make out the old carvings on the barnacle-covered rock. But I still couldn't fathom why Riptide led us here.

My interest was piqued by the sight of the old village we approached. We landed the dragons in the village square, and I took it all in.

Towering houses, many of them nothing but rotten and burnt husks of former homes. I could see decades-old paint peeled or chipped off, and the carvings were in worse shape. Everywhere you looked, it was a disaster. Every home was burnt to a crisp, and anything leftover or survived had rotted away or become overgrown with moss, mushrooms, and lichen. The stone paths were cracked and splitting, and the dirt paths were in the same condition; old and overgrown.

Eyarr and I both had the same thought: "What happened?" There was little evidence of the people that used to live here, but based on some surviving structures, I could conclude that dragons once lived here as well.

It was depressing just at the thought that people once lived here with their families and simply left.

I looked around for Eyarr and saw him making his way up a massive stone staircase with Cliffire behind him. Riptide and I ran to catch up with them, approaching the massive double doors. As we made our way up, I gazed at one of the statues on my left. The face looked familiar... but time had worn away at the stone, making it difficult to pick out discernible features. The other statue looked to be of another figure that I didn't recognize, but I decided that, for now, it didn't matter much.

I joined Eyarr's side as he stood before the massive wooden doors. It was intricately carved, but many of the carvings had become worn down with time and slightly overgrown with the village. I ran my hand over it, feeling figures of dragons and Vikings.

"This village lived with dragons at one point." I pointed out.

"I noticed that, too. Makes me wonder what happened." He rested his gloved hand on the door next to mine, and we took it in. The feeling of being here was sad, knowing the generations that grew up here.

Eyarr attempted to push in the door, but it wouldn't budge. Even Cliffire's draconic strength couldn't push it down. So Eyarr took out his sword, chipping away at the aged wood, and Cliffire assisted with the massive claw on his wing. After a few moments of hacking and chopping at wood, they finally made a hole big enough to peek inside but not enough for one of us to get through. Cliffire gently pushed Eyarr to the side as he tore down more wood so we could get in.

After the sound of wood breaking down reached our ears, I grabbed a decent-sized chunk and let Cliffire light it for a torch, Eyarr following my lead.

We crawled in, and I immediately reacted to the intense musk in the air.