Defenders of Central City, Book 1: Journey to Icestorm Island

Chapter 9 Stone Tablets and Petroglyphs

"Come on, Mildew!" Shannon pleaded, a few minutes later. "You don't need it for anything. The most useful thing you could do with it is use it as a decoration." Mildew glared at her. "But I found it, alongside this island, before you Dragon Riders did. Fungus and I moved out here because of your stupid dragons." Shannon sighed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "Look! My poor Fungus is scared of your beast." Mildew spat. "It's all our fault." Shannon looked at Fungus. He did indeed look terrified. Shannon walked over to him and placed a gentle hand on Fungus' head. "Hmph. Fungus seems to like you." Mildew started in confusion. "He doesn't react like this with anyone. I guess I can trust you if Fungus does. He's never led me astray before. I suppose I would be willing to do a trade." Shannon looked at Mildew. "What sort of trade?" She asked. "If you help me out, then I suppose I would give you want." "Deal." Shannon replied immediately.

She didn't like it, but it was her only shot. "This island gets very cold and it's terrible on my old bones. And poor Fungus can barely sleep at night. I want you to build me a fire. You can start by gathering four wood logs from the trees by my house." Shannon walked over to the trees behind Mildew's house, chopped one down, and gathered some wooden logs. "I hope this will be worth it." Shannon thought as she gathered the wood. She walked back over to Mildew. "Looks like you remember how to do things instead of relying on you dragon all the time. Vikings these days have forgotten how to do some honest work, not like in my day." Shannon dropped the wood in a small ring of rocks. "Spare me the lecture. What would you like me to do next?" "I would like you to start the fire for me." Mildew said grumpily. Shannon pulled out two knifes and struck them together which lit the fire. "Doesn't it feel food to accomplish things without relying on your dragon all the time?" Shannon shrugged. "I guess." "Maybe there's hope for you after all." Shannon sighed. "Alright then. I've held up my end of the deal, Mildew. Now its your turn." Mildew sighed grumpily. "Fine. The treasure is yours. I left it behind my hut."

Shannon walked behind Mildew's hut and sure enough, there it was. "There, now you've got what you wanted. Now leave me in peace!" Came Mildew's voice. "Glady." She thought. Shannon mounted Nightshade and flew back to camp. Skulder was talking with Hiccup, discussing one thing or another. "I hope this is worth what just happened, Skulder." Shannon said, giving him the petroglyph piece. "My friend, this is amazing!" Skulder took the petroglyph from her, starring at it in awe. The new petroglyph depicted a Viking with a orb-like object. He seemed to be placing it in the wall. "We are getting closer and closer to solving this, my dear friend. I know it."

Later that day, Shannon and Hiccup brought in a telescope from Berk, similar to the one they have at the Edge, so they could see approaching ships. They were preparing for the worse case scenario. Everyone on the island did their best to avoid Mildew at all costs. Especially when they were flying on their dragons. Shannon was flying on Nightshade up, up, up into the air. She loved being high up. With no one but Nightshade. It was a beautiful view and Shannon had her best friend by her side. She couldn't ask for anything more. Then she saw something on the island. It looked like a wrecked house. Nightshade dove down and hovered near the land. Close enough so Shannon could jump off. She walked into the house with her sword drawn.

The house appeared to be empty. Shannon then saw something in the chimney of the house. Another stone tablet. She quickly removed in from the chimney. It was covered in soot. She knew how to fix that. She remounted Nightshade and they flew down by the coast. Then suddenly, Nightshade flipped over so Shannon's face went into the sea. The shockingly cold sea. Shannon was holding the dirty stone in her hand. She watched as the water washed the dirt away. Nightshade pulled up and Shannon took in a huge breath of oxygen. She landed back at camp and looked around. Skulder was nowhere to be found. Neither was Hiccup. No one was there. She looked around and with great relief, both Hiccup and Skulder were at the telescope. Shannon flew over to them. "Hey guys." Hiccup and Skulder both looked up. "Hey Shannon." Hiccup said. "I'm teaching Skulder here all about the telescope and how it works." Skulder looked at Shannon and mouthed 'save me'. Shannon laughed. Hiccup looked at Skulder and he smiled at him. "I found another clue." Shannon said, breaking the silence. She handed it to Hiccup. "Why is it wet?" Hiccup asked. "I had to wash it. But that's beside the point. We found the next clue." "Have you looked at it yet?" Skulder asked. Shannon shook her head. All three of them looked at it. All three of their mouths dropped. The Viking statue in the ice caves wasn't out of place after all. It was an entrance to a tunnel.