The Arcane Evil (httyd-fic)

Chapter 5

AN: Wishing all my readers a Happy Valentines day. As such here is an extra 3 chapter update for all of you. I hope you'll all enjoy. 

 Snotlout's party, following Ruffnut's directions, had made it to Rutivik late at night. They had expected to see a slumbering town but the flurry of activity surprised them. Men were carrying torches as groups spread out searching for something.

"What is going on here?" Snotlout asked as the group rode through the town. "Ruffnut are you sure this is the right place?"

"It should be." Ruffnut answered.

"Excuse me sir." Fishlegs asked stopping one of the men in the street. "What is going on here?"

"We're searching for that damn witch!" The man snarled.

"Witch? What witch?" Tuffnut asked looking quite confused.

"You mean the Dark Queen?" Fishlegs asked as he came to a conclusion.

"Aye" The man said. "We almost had her and then that man had to help the damn woman escape."

"So she isn't here anymore." Snotlout stated. "Do you know which way she went?"

"No, why do you think we're sending out search parties. We won't rest until she is dead. Who knows what curse she might have cast onto this town!" That was all the man said before he ran off after the others.

Snotlout sighed and muttered. "We're too late."

"Snotlout seriously. That isn't the most important part." Fishlegs stated.

"And then what is?"

"You can't be that stupid." Ruffnut mumbled to herself.

"The Dark Queen had help!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "We thought we were chasing her only, but she had reinforcements."

"Who would be dumb enough to help her?" Snotlout muttered.

Snotlout and the others had found a stable to house their horses as well as sleep. The owner of the inn did not want anyone entering the rooms above too afraid that it might be cursed.

"They are awfully superstitious aren't they." Tuffnut said as he laid back on the hay. "We could all be resting in a nice bed but nooo.... There might be a curse."

"It's because of the locust plague three years ago." Fishlegs said. "Iliest was hit the hardest with almost all of their crops dying. So many starved and died during that time. The neighboring kingdoms offered aid but it wasn't enough."

"I still don't understand. What does that have to do with them being so superstitious?"

"During the plaque, King Edrun of Iliest proclaimed that the Dark ones were responsible for the slaughter." Fishlegs elaborated. "The citizens became fearful."

"Did they have any evidence?" Ruffnut asked from where she was sitting.

"I don't know." Fishlegs admitted. "But that proclamation led to the even more relentless persecution of Dark ones."

"We should get some sleep." Snotlout mumbled. "There is no way that we'll find anything out tonight."

With that the group settled down for the night. They were awoken by a rooster, sitting on the window sill, at the break of dawn.

"Damn bird." Ruffnut muttered as she tried to bury herself in the hay.

"Egh" Snotlout said as the rooster kept up its morning call.

"We might as well get up." Fishlegs groaned. "Doesn't look like that bird is going to stop soon."

"But I don't want to!" Tuffnut whined. "Can't we just roast that bird?"

"Get up Tuff." Snotlout said as he tiredly rolled off the hay. "We have a quest to continue."

The group slowly got up and made their way outside. There chaos still reigned as the men hadn't given up the search.

"Persistent aren't they." Snotlout stated.

"We might get more information out of them today." Fishlegs said and then noticed that everyone was now looking at him. "What?"

"Good luck Fishlegs!" Snotlout said while clapping him on the back.

"Wait what! You want me to find out the information on my own?" Fishlegs asked perplexed.

"Well you are a cleric." Tuffnut now said. "The people would be more willing to talk to you."

"You guys are actually serious." Fishlegs said as he looked at the group.

"It might be better if you do the talking Fish." Ruffnut murmured. "These people having no love for dark magic would probably feel more relieved with a cleric present."

"I'm not going to do it alone." Fishlegs muttered and crossed his arms. "Let's at least split up and meet back at the barn in a couple of hours."

They had agreed and went their separate ways. Fishlegs headed towards the inn while Snotlout went to question the men in the search parties. Ruffnut and Tuffnut began wandering through town and questioning the other town folks.

It was three hours later when they all came back to the barn. Tuffnut frowned when he saw Snotlout biting his lip.

"I'm guessing you found something?" Tuffnut queried.

"Yeah" Snotlout said and then turned to Fishlegs. "You go first."

"I went to the inn and you were right Ruffnut. The owner let me in immediately to check the room." Fishlegs said getting a smile from Ruffnut. "The room which the Queen stayed in was in shambles. I could still sense the magic but nothing malicious. It was likely she only used it in self defense."

"We spoke to the towns people who didn't join the search." Tuffnut continued. "They were mostly women and children who refused to leave the house today out of fear. They hadn't seen anything but some mentioned that the Queen entered the town with a man and then they went their separate ways. They heard the fighting at night but were too afraid to step outside."

"Well what I got is a bit more interesting." Snotlout stated. "Apparently someone recognized the Queen from a wanted poster and then the men began racing up to the room to apprehend her."

"So they each wanted the reward?" Fishlegs asked. "The first floor of the inn looked like a battleground." But Snotlout shook his head.

"They weren't even after the reward." Snotlout explained. "They just wanted the woman dead. The brawl started when they each wanted to be the first one to kill her."

"Wait so they just wanted to kill her?!" Ruffnut now shouted. "I thought those search parties were formed because they wanted the reward money."

"This town really doesn't like Dark ones." Fishlegs mumbled. "I'm assuming that the Queen had no choice but to come here. It was probably the closest town."

"What do we know of the man she was with?" Tuffnut asked. "It doesn't sound like he's a knight or he would not have left her side."

"We only got a general description from the townspeople." Ruffnut added. "Tall, auburn hair, slim build."

"That's all?" Snotlout asked. "Not even a name?"

The twins shook their heads. "All they know is that he helped the Queen escape and now they are out for his blood as well."

"There is something else as well." Fishlegs continued. "The inn owner said that they had sent a messenger hawk out to summon this kingdom's knights to help hunt down the queen."

Snotlout groaned at that. "More competition!"

"They'll most likely now avoid the main roads and it will be harder to catch them." Fishlegs stated.

"But don't worry you got me!" Ruffnut exclaimed. "Speaking of. I have that feeling again."