The Cause {A Mericcup Novel}

Chapter 17

Power from the Northern Sea,
Teach blood of Sky to flow in she.
Only may the barrier be shed
Should the Sun and Daughter mend.

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With a squeal, Merida fell several feet (2 meters) before landing in a pile of hay. Dust clouded the air, and the smell of mildew filled her nose. Squinting, she rubbed her eyes and winced at the soreness of the impact in her rear.

"Merida!" Hiccup yelled, "Princess, are you hurt?" She looked above her and could see the Chief's head poking through the hole in the ground.

As she shook her head to assure him of her lack in injuries, she examined the space around her. Though the sunlight, which shone through the trapdoor above, brightened the scene, many glowing candles lit the cavern room. The expanse was large and circular, but the ceiling was low- the walls stood only six feet high (1 meter). And everything was stone.

Merida stood and brushed off the hay from her clothes. She then began to walk deeper into the cave when Hiccup called out to her.

"Princess, please wait until I may join you," he pleaded, sliding his legs over the side of the hole in preparation to descend.

"Me too!" Sop added. Yet Merida, being notorious for her resistance, proceeded into the underground room without them.

The walls appeared to have shelves carved into them, allowing for candles, books, and jars to be set. As she grew closer to a specific shelf, she noticed how the candle atop it was not lit with fire, but rather did its wax glow with a brilliant, white light. Surprised, Merida realized that most of the items had a natural glare about them- the titles of the old books, the jar lids, a few decorative crystals, and more. The further she distanced herself from the protruding sunshine, the brighter the surrounds glowed.

'How resourceful,' the Princess admired, 'I'd love to own a candle such as these.'

Both the Viking and the Scarecrow had jumped down the hole and landed on the piled straw. With groans of displeasure, Hiccup made his way to Merida's side, viewing the round room for himself. The dusty books were his taste of interest; he slid his fingers over the glowing titles until he came to one of 'Dunbroch Myths and Legends'. After he pulled it off the shelf, he turned around to notice Sop at the center of the room, standing over a round, wooden table. The bogle was staring down at a piece of parchment paper placed upon it.

"What have you there, Sop?" the Chief inquired, walking up to see the paper. The words glowed like most of the rooms components.

Sop shook his head, answering, "Me not know. Me cannot read." He stepped aside to allow Hiccup access to the unfolded scroll.

Merida joined them, tracing her fingers over the ancient letters.

"It's not of our Celtic or English language," Merida noted.

"It's written in Norse," the Viking stated. Merida startled.

"Why would it be nordic? We have no Viking's here," the Princess questioned. Hiccup sighed.

"Unless you actually do. My suspicion now is that this 'Old Man' may be a descendent from Bourk," he grumbled. Hiccup knew that if he was correct, it could endanger the Princesses' trust in him and his people. He couldn't afford to be misrepresented.

"Can you read it?" Merida asked. Nodding, the Chief cleared his throat.

"Of course, your Highness," he began, reading:

"Power from the Northern Sea
Is ye blood flowing in we.
Only may the barrier be shed
Should the Sun word be rightly read." (Hiccup read this aloud in his ancestors language.)

When he had finished speaking, the light coming from the trap door was blocked off as the hole resealed itself. Their eyes tried to adjust to the lesser light sources as they wearily searched for anything else that had changed.

"Did me say that Old Man enjoys tricks," Sop whispered to them, stepping back against the nearest wall. They shook their heads. Once again, they were annoyed by the lack of information from the tattie-bogle, but they kept the emotion to themselves this time.

A cracking noise came from the ground beneath their feet, and the room began to shuffle and shake. On the shelves, the candles jumped in place and a few books fell off. Dust fell from the cavern's ceiling. Then the table began to twist in place and rise from the earth.

Instinctively, Hiccup grabbed Merida around the waist and pulled her toward the wall to which Sop had retreated. He blocked both of them with his arms outstretched as the Princess notched an arrow in her bow. They watched the table unwind, like a screw, as it ascended toward the ceiling, revealing a doorway that had been carved into it's base. It's access led down a spiralling, metal staircase that glowed. Merida pointed her arrow at the entrance as they all waited for the minor earthquake to cease.

Then everything settled.

The Chief fiddled for his dagger, which was clipped to his thigh, unhitching it with troubled hands. When he managed to examine it in the glow of the candles, he pressed a hidden button that unleashed a thick, green gas. It hissed. Merida began to cough. With all his force, he sliced the dagger against stone which caused a spark to ignite the gas and light the weapon on fire.

Merida cleared her throat, and shouted, "That is wonderful!" Proudly, Hiccup held up the fiery dagger at her words.

'If she only knew how many times I burned my hair to create this,' he pictured.

"Now, Sop. Lead the way," the Viking ordered. And they followed their new friend into the unknown depths of the earth, to free a captive and defeat a wizard, fulfilling the normal routine of royalty responsibilities and the courting activities between Highlander and Norsemen. Or, at least, that was what both Princess and Chief thought as they descended the stairs case.

Author's Note:
*If anyone is willing to translate the spell from the scroll to the norse language, I would be most appreciative.

*I understand that Hiccup's dagger, described in this chapter, is unlike his sword from HTTYD2 and 3. However, I wanted to make this weapon more obvious and inconspicuous, something the triplets couldn't easily ignite with Zippleback gas, so that he would not be accused with violent secrecy. His movie-designed sword would have definitely revealed his dragon knowledge and Berk's inventive evolution. In this story, Chief Hiccup could not risk the Scots of having any reason to distrust him, due to the desired alliance.