A Dragons Tale; The Dragon Queen

Into The Dark

"This better be worth it," Freya growled out pushing through the thick foliage that surrounded her.

"At least you have two feet, I've got one leg and a tree," Hiccup growled back. The girl glanced down to his prosthetic leg and let out a snicker. An arrange of shrubbery and vines had become entangled in the metal making it exceedingly difficult for him to walk without tripping. They had been walking through the dense forest for almost an hour now and Freya was beginning to think the hunters were leading them in circles.

"Oh, stop complaining you two," Viggo huffed at the two as they bickered, "it can't be much further,". He shook his head and sighed as Freya turned and stuck her tongue out at him. She was only two years younger than he was yet here she was pulling faces at him. It was strange for him to see such a childish demeaner on the girl. He was so used to the dangerous warrior that he and his men had to face that her sudden change of personality had stunned him. He had almost forgotten that she was still human. The tales he had been told as a child about the shapeshifting dragon family regarded them as bloodthirsty monsters that would kill without mercy. He had believed that when they had first met, the way she manipulated him and tore his men apart, but watching the girl in front of him pout and joke with her comrade made him rethink what he had been told. Memories of the two of them fighting in his tent surfaced. Despite them being enemies, she had warned him about his men's plans to assassinate him and had inevitably saved his life after he was unable to sleep with her words ringing in his heads that night and had heard his assassins approaching. He would eventually have to thank her for that. He was so deep in thought he hadn't realized that the greenery had began to thin around him. He continued to walk until he bumped into his brother. Ryker shot him a strange look.

"What?" he questioned in confusion.

"Where here," his brother stated still watching him carefully. It wasn't like Viggo to be so distracted on a mission, especially one in which he was alone with a major threat. The dragon riders also gave him a sideways glance at his odd behavior. He supposed they had never seen past the tough dragon hunter exterior he put on although he was sure Freya had spotted his abnormal manners at the end of their meeting yesterday. He was grateful she hadn't brought up the subject. Another thing he had to thank her for.

"Viggo?" his brother questioned him again.

"Yes, yes alright," he hummed back looking around at the side of the mountain for any sign of an opening. The others followed in sute. It was Hiccup that eventually found the entrance after attempting to lean on what he thought was a solid wall covered in vines and falling straight through. Freya brushed the vines away to reveal carvings of the same symbols that were on the map in the sides of the doorway.

"What do they say?" Ryker asked coming to stand next to her. Freya ran her fingers along the stone.

"Ruffly the translation means, beware of the dangers that lurk inside. A beast of power lays hidden away and only when enemies turn to allies can the treasures be found,"

"That's oddly specific,"

"And terrifyingly accurate,"

"Well there's no point in waiting. Let's go,"

The four of them walked into the darkness. Hiccup lit his sword and the hunters lit their own torches. Freya simply lit her palm and let the flames dance around her fingertips. Viggo lifted a brow and Ryker looked almost impressed at her display of power. They walked for a bit longer, somehow a peaceful silence surrounded them despite the uneasy alliance. As they walked more carvings lined the walls making the small group anxious. They showed pictures of dragons and Vikings fighting each other in a bloody battle. Freya shuttered at the images but kept an eye out for any writing that could come in handy but all that was written was the names of dragons. It almost reminded her of how the Berkiens had created the book of dragons. Her focus was taken of the walls as Viggo pointed ahead. A beam of light shone from the roof and across their pathway. Cautiously, Ryker stepped forwards and put his sword through the stream of light. A deep rumble sounded throughout the walls as he did so and hundreds of tiny darts shot from the walls. With barely enough time to prosses what was happening they dropped to the floor, the darts narrowly missing their heads. Only after the rumbles that had started came to a stop and silence once again surrounded the group did they dare to stand up. Viggo inspected one of the darts that had landed close to him.

"Andella pollen, a very old and very powerful poison. We were lucky the mechanism was loud enough to warn us otherwise we would have been dead in minutes,"

"Well at least we know there's something down here," Freya said with a shaky voice that surprised even herself. Hiccup gave her a sideways stare making her chuckle. "There are only two reasons you build a trap. One your protecting something or two, you're the twins,". Hiccup chuckled with her muttering something about them being mutton heads under his breath.

"That's great and all but how do we get through without setting the trap off," Ryker grumbled. The four of them thought for a moment.

"Is there anything on the walls that might help us Freya?" Viggo asked looking around. Freya scanned the walls for any writing or clue.

"The only thing written is the name Flightmare under a drawing of the dragon being attacked by hunters, does that help?" The four of them were quiet until Hiccup began muttering to himself.

"The door said enemies had to become friends, right? Then the hunters have to work with the dragons. What would hunters use a Flightmare for?"

"Its freezing mist is helpful in catching other dragons," Ryker offered turning and shrugging to his brother for a suggestion. Viggo nodded thoughtfully before an idea came to him.

"But that's not all that we used it for. There's a connection. The trap is triggered by light and the Flightmare's fire was so bright it was able to burn the protection from the dragon eye,"

"So we have to light the rest of the tunnel enough to counteract the trap," Freya finished, understanding what Viggo was thinking, "Everyone get behind me,"

They did as she asked and moved behind her as she took as step forwards. She concentrated on her fingers, sparking a flame that grew larger and larger. Soon her entire arms were ablaze lighting the tunnels enough to not be able to see were the trap had been. She took a breath and walked forwards squeezing her eyes closed as she did so. She let out a shaky laugh and reopened them after not feeling any attack from the darts.

"It worked, come through,"

The boys crossed the lighted area quite quickly making Freya chuckle. Once they were past her, she let her flames die down leaving only a small flicker in her hand. They continued forward keeping their eyes out for anything that could potentially be a trap. Their next obstacle was much easier to overcome as all it required was for the group to keep their balance while walking on a narrow path. Very cliché. Freya would have been laughing if not for the walls around her slowly becoming more and more narrow. Memories of her falling into the ocean and freezing in ice started to resurface making the fire in her hand grow, trying to subconsciously rid her body from the nonexistent cold she could feel. The other's exchanged worried glances as she began to shake. Had it not been for her distraction then perhaps they would have noticed the walls come to be more crumbled and fragmented. Perhaps they would have seen the way the rocks had become even more corroded or how their footsteps had started to shift the lose dust between the stones. But they had not. No one was prepared for the roof to cave in the way it did. The rumbles in the walls sounded nothing like the first trap had. Its sound was like thunder crashing around them and it made Freya's blood run cold. Dust burnt her lungs and she could hardly see the rocks falling around her like daggers. She could hear the others yelling out for each other and she tried to run towards where the sounds were coming from but the echo's made it sound like they were coming from every direction. She barely registered a hand wrapping around her wrist pulling her away from a larger bolder before the world went black.