Meeting at the Crossroads

Chapter 30

Hiccup groaned. Every step he took made his head pound as if it was being hit by a sledgehammer. His good leg wobbed violently. Hiccup just wanted to sleep and not wake up for a long,long time.

"Grab a chain," he told Merida. They had reached the orb. He positioned himself infront of the chain he had touched before and Merida went to the other.

Before either of them could grab the chains, shadows descended apon Merida in a swirl of darkness. She screamed as they began dragging her from the orb, towards Pitch Black. Hiccup barely hesitated before grabbing his chain and pulling his all his might. For the third time, the blinding light filled the room. The Bogeyman and shadows alike, fell back from it in fury and pain. With a snap, the third chain, broke and the helpful light faded.

He lay on the ground, feeling as if he could never get up again. He saw Merida struggling to her feet as Pitch Black himself crept up on her. He wanted to warn her but his voice failed him. Jack was helping Rapunzel to her feet. Her left arm hung uselessly at her side, broken. Even from here, Hiccup could see that Jack was pale and shaking. This was the end. They were not going to make it.

"Help," he whisphered to the ceiling, but to who, he didn't know. "Help us, please."

A bright, golden light filled the room. Hiccup sat up in amazement as golden sand swirled around the room. The others, including, Pitch, stared as a little golden man appeared in their midst. He really was small, hovering a few feet above the ground. He seemed to be made of the sand he created and his skin actually was the color of gold.

Pitch Black sneered. "What are you doing here, Sandman? Are you here to help these children? With your dreamsand, maybe?"

The jolly face of Sandman, darkened. He formed two long whips out of sand and attacked. The Bogeyman formed a long blade out of shadows and intercepted the whips. Golden sand and bits of shadows flew everywhere, surrounding the two, light against dark, in a ferocious swirl of battle. Will the little Sandman win?

"Merida!" he yelled, suddenly remembering. "The last chain!"

Merida turned. Instead of running, she drew an arrow and fitted it. She shot it at the chain with deadly accuracy. The final chain snapped.

The orb burst, freeing all the shadows from Pitch's control. The Bogeyman screamed as his blade disolved in the Sandman's grasp. He fell at the little man's feet. Sandman hovered above him glowering. He pointed to a tunnel, indicated that Pitch should leave. The defeated man meekly crept toward the tunnel.

Right before he vanished inside it, he turned to the five watching him and yelled, "I'll return one day! It could take over a hundred years, but it will happen! You and all your friends will see!" Pitch Black vanished.

Hiccup realized that last part was not for them, but for the Sandman. They started to thank the golden man for saving them but with a gesture of his hand, he urged them to leave. A golden cloud appeared and they all gathered on it. They floated up, up where Toothless would be and they would be safe. Hiccup grinned at his friends.

"Come on, let's go home."