Heart of a Berserker: Faith (School of Dragons)

Chapter 2

"Strength and courage aren't always measured in medals and victories. They are measured in the struggles they overcome. The strongest people aren't always the people who win but the people who don't give up when they lose." – Ashley Hodgeson

Chapter 2

It did not take us long to reach the ship graveyard. The place still gave me a creepy feeling. Aparently, Snotlout felt the same way, for he muttered, "It's quiet. A little too quiet..."

"Come on, Snotlout," Fishlegs said. "This place is always creepy. Let's spread out and look for Johann's cache, and be careful when you step on any shipwrecks."

Bolt silently flew to the nearest shipwreck. I remained on his back while scanning for any sign of a cache. Then I moved onto the next ship. Before I could search for a third, something caught my eye. There was a Viking standing on a large rock. The others spotted him too, and we all flew closer.

"Oh, it's Skulder!" Fishlegs said as if it was the most naturally thing in the world to find him standing alone on a rock in the middle of a creepy ship graveyard.

"A little too Skulder..." Snotlout said.

I rolled my eyes at his joke. Bolt landed on the rock, and I hopped off to greet my friend. "Hey, Skulder. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine now," Skulder said. "I'm glad you stopped by. I didn't have any chance to send word before Stormheart snatched me from Mudraker Island! She brought me to this accursed place and ransacked it to find a treasure trove. Then she just left me here! If you hadn't stopped by-"

"You're welcome. We're actually here because we were looking for Stormheart. She kidnapped Mala, and we helped Dagur rescue her. Mala told us to come here because Stormheart was looking for Johann's cache."

Skulder nodded. "She was looking for something alright. Strangely, she ignored the jewels to find a small map filled with strange symbols. She made me translate it and left once I was of no more use to her. I don't remember the directions well, but I believe the map led to a place called... Vanaheim?"

"Oh no!" Snotlout said. "Vanaheim is a place where dragons go to die. It's a creepy, creepy place filled with dangerous dragons. We can't go back there again."

"Wait, Snotlout!" Fishlegs said. "Vanaheim isn't a creepy place; it's a sacred place where dragons can live out their lives in peace! Who knows what sort of damage Stormheart could do if she's allowed to just traipse through the island?"

"Agreed," I said. "We have to stop her."

Snotlout crossed his arms and looked away.

"Look at all the dragons she poisoned with Grimora venom," Fishlegs said. "She clearly doesn't care about dragons! She could destroy it, leaving even Hookfang without a place to go at the end of his life!"

Snotlout's eyes widened. "Like I said, we need to stop her!"

"We need to - well, there's a small problem."

"What is it, Fishlegs?" I said.

"I... noticed this earlier, but I need to take a pit stop at Impossible Island. Look: Lumie is here with us. I think he's following Meatlug. It's a bit before his time to go to Vanaheim..."

"No, Fishlegs, you were right," Snotlout said. "There's no time. Stormheart has a head start on us and we need to book it if we want to catch up. Bring Lumie along! He's supposed to be a leviathan, right? Maybe he'll finally show us some of his power."

"He's got a point," I said as I watched the Krayfin in the water. "I'm sure it'll be fine." However, something else nagged at me. It was like my mind was trying to piece together something important but was missing a central piece.