The Eternal Valkyrie: War of the Realms (HTTYD fic)

Part 45

Chapter 44

The group stopped momentarily to look between the curious chicken and Hiccup. "So can I eat her now?" Toothless asked which caused Chicken to let out a high-pitched cluck before ducking back down into the saddlebag.

"Don't you dare touch my baby!" Tuffnut shouted at the Nightfury. "She's the only woman in my life!"

"HEY! WHAT ABOUT ME YOU DOOF?!" Ruffnut was glaring daggers at her brother and then knocked him off the dragon when he said "I don't actually count you as a woman."

"Barf, Belch, let's go," Ruffnut said and the dragon started walking again.

"Hey, wait for me!" Tuffnut got up from the icy ground and tried to futilely climb back on the Zippleback.

The gang continued walking through the lower levels of the Palace afterwards. They were following the map that Hela had sketched, going down icy stairs and past long-forgotten chambers. When they reached the X marked on the map they ended up staring at a dead end.

"Oookay, so what now?" Snotlout asked with a frown.

"Yeah, where is that big lug of Thundery muscle?" Ruffnut asked and all eyes turned to her. "Whaaat???!! Oh please, like none of you were thinking it!"

"Doesn't mean you have to voice it!" Tuffnut whispered and then rolled his eyes. "What did mom do to ever get me saddled with you?!"

"She got laid doofus!" Ruffnut responded.

"OH MY THOR!" Tuffnut shrieked.

"Guys!" Hiccup called out to stop the twins from squabbling again. "We didn't go the wrong way. We need what's behind the wall."

"Oh," Snotlout said and then added "Any more explosives?"

"I'm all out," Heather told them. "All I have is......." She rummaged through her backpack and then said "One grenade, a gun, brass knuckles and chewing gum." When she looked up she saw everyone staring at her. "What? I like to be prepared!"

"Hiccup the ice walls here seem much thinner than the outer walls. Maybe the dragons can melt it," Fishlegs pondered.

"It's worth a shot. What do you say bud?" Hiccup asked Toothless.

"I say we let this wall have it!" Toothless proclaimed as he then proceeded to shoot three consecutive plasma blasts towards the ice. Hiccup and the others had to cover their eyes as debris flew and when they looked again they could see a hole now in the wall, leading towards another catacomb.

"My hunk of a dragon!" Stormfly cooed causing Toothless to shy away.

"This should be the passageway behind the throne." Hiccup said as he quickly poked his head through the freshly made hole. "Hela didn't have a map for this part so we are on our own here."

"I'm sure nothing can go wro-mffff!" Tuffnut was interrupted by his sister's hand on his mouth.

"Are you trying to jinx us?!" Ruffnut hissed as she glared at her brother.

"Mfff-muh-hhuummfff......." Tuffnut said but because Ruff's hand was still on his mouth no one could understand him.

"We are going to be behind schedule if we don't get a move on," Astrid stated and urged the twins and their dragon through the hole. Once everyone was inside the new area they came upon a set of stairs.

The stairs went down further than even the catacombs and when the Riders reached the end they came upon a dome-like room that housed a giant icy crystal. Within the crystal the outline of Thor could be clearly seen.

"Okay, we're here, Now what?" Snotlout asked as he looked around the otherwise empty room.

"We free Thor," Astrid stated while brandishing her axe.

"Astrid you think that's such a good idea?" Hiccup asked as his girlfriend walked towards the crystal.

"This axe doesn't get dull." Astrid tells Hiccup. "It's worth a try to break the ice with this." She took a stance much like a golf player would and swung her axe backwards. The group watched in bated breath as Astrid used all her might to swing the axe.

It impacted the ice with full force and Astrid looked to see if anything changed. But not even a scratch could be seen on the ice. She swung again, and again, and again but the axe didn't seem to be able to crack the ice.

"What is with this ice?!" Astrid growled as not even a dent was made.

"Maybe it's like the ice Johann used." Hiccup guessed. "It took both us and the dragons to break it."

"It's worth a try," Toothless added as both he and Stormfly added their powers to Hiccup and Astrid just like in their last battle on Earth. The two Riders were covered in dragon scales and outstretched their arms to form two fireballs in front of them.

"That is so cool!" The twins exclaimed and then looked at Barf and Belch. "You know, we should totally try that!"

The fireballs flew towards the ice crystal and Fishlegs covered his eyes since if this worked then Thor would be a crispy Asgardian. When the fire impacted there was a clanging sound and a release of steam and no one could see anything for nearly a minute. When they finally could see clearly once more they noted that the crystal had fallen from the pedestal and now lay on the floor with one side that looked partially melted.

"Are you kidding me?!" Toothless muttered angrily as the dragons separated again. "That fireball would have put a bigger dent in a mountain than this damn crystal!"

"Guys I hate to be the bearer of bad news........." Fishlegs interrupted "But we are running out of time. We came here with the theory that it was possible to break Thor out. If we can't then the armies are going to have to retreat."

"There has to be some way," Hiccup mused. "Ymir is drawing most of her power from here. If it's destroyed and Thor freed we stand a chance,"

"Hiccup does it need to be destroyed?" Fishlegs asked.

"What do you mean Fish?" Hiccup frowned.

"Just that Ymir kept this crystal awfully close to draw power. If we take it through the Bifrost....."

"It would possibly cut Ymir's connection!" Astrid exclaimed as she got what Fishlegs was getting at.

"Right, we cut off or weaken Ymir's power that way and we can find a way to break the ice on Asgard." Fishlegs relayed his idea.

"Honestly it's worth a shot," Hiccup thought aloud. "So far we haven't made much of a dent in this crystal. Fire isn't melting it, maybe Asgard has some type of acid......"

"Uhm, just a bit of a problem......" Snotlout spoke up. "How we get tall, muscular and stuck in ice to the Bifrost?"

"Well we have rope!" The twins spoke up and showed the gang thick rope they got out of their saddlebags. Chicken hopped out as well with a few clucks. "We could carry the crystal between dragons," The twins proposed.

"Are any of you guys forgetting that it will be a warzone outside?!" Snotlout argued.

"So Astrid and the twins will carry the crystal between them while we provide cover." Hiccup suggested just as Heather got out her gun.

"I don't know if this will help but I can try and cover you guys as well," Heather stated as she turned off the safety.

"Then let's get to work," Hiccup grabbed one end of the rope. He turned back towards the crystal to see Chicken pecking at it in curiosity.