Chapter Text
Quiet moments on Dragon’s Edge weren’t nearly as plentiful as the riders would have liked for them to be.
More often than not, the teens found their attention monopolized by an urgent need or threat that was looming just on the horizon. Keeping up with such things was all-consuming, forcing the group to table their own interests in favor of prioritizing survival.
Yet, on rare occasions there was a brief window of peace.
The riders had learned to take advantage of such periods – seizing the opportunities to pursue their passions, free of the stress and anxiety that plagued so much of their time. It often meant splitting up from one another, for each rider had a different priority.
Fishlegs largely dedicated his time to furthering his research, recording and organizing his findings in painstaking detail. Once caught up on whatever backlog had built up during less favorable times, he liked to get out into the field and observe the local dragon population found on the Edge.
In sharp contrast, Snotlout tended to use the time as a chance to abandon all of his responsibilities. Shrinking even his designated chores around the base, he slept late into each morning and chose to prioritize leisure above all else – sometimes not emerging from his hut for days at a time. If not for the frequent sight of the Monstrous Nightmare hovering around his hut, Hiccup might worry that his cousin had left the isle altogether.
Astrid threw herself into training most days, often focusing on incorporating new battle techniques that they’d learned from the allies they’d made throughout their travels. It was helping her to craft a more fluid and less predictable fighting style – a fusion of traditions, all blended into one lethal show of force.
The twins…well, Hiccup didn’t like to think too much about how they spent the time. When left to their own devices, they had a tendency to grow bored of the idleness – a situation that often led to explosive results. Still, he recognized their need to blow off steam and only stepped in when the Edge – or any of its residents – were at immediate risk.
Losing one watch tower had been bad enough.
As for Hiccup, he found the call to explore too tempting to resist. The adventures that they’d had outside of Berk had only heightened such feelings, for it seemed like there were endless discoveries to be made – possibilities that thrilled and enticed him in ways he couldn’t quite name.
It had become a staple for him in peace times, and therefore wasn’t a surprise to anyone when he announced his intent to be gone for the day.
After a few quick promises (“Yes, Astrid. I promise I’ll be careful” and “Of course, Fishlegs; if I find any new dragons, you’ll be the first to know”) he and Toothless were off, the Night Fury’s signature whistle slicing through the air as their final goodbye.
As had become habit, they stayed fairly local, sticking to the barrier islands nearest the Edge in order to ensure they’d make it home by nightfall. Hiccup didn’t see such a boundary as a restriction; how could he? After all, he felt as if he’d barely scratched the surface of exploring such places, and looked forward to uncovering more of their mysteries.
Hiccup turned the weathered compass over in his hands, tracing over the craftsmanship with interest. It was old, older than any compass he’d handled before, and constructed in a way that seemed almost primitive. Dozens of scratches marred the surface, and there was a deep dent in the back that his fingers sank into.
How long has this been here? He wondered, holding it up to catch the light.
It had been sheer luck that he’d found it – well, that Toothless had found it. The Night Fury had been rolling around in the sand, using the grain to address some sort of itch to his scales, when the compass had been unearthed.
Or rather, knocked loose.
While his dragon had shown a brief moment of interest in the trinket, it had mostly faded after a few quick sniffs. Toothless had opted to sun himself on the beach instead, humming happily in the warmth of the light.
Hiccup’s fascination with the gadget had not been so easily quelled. The compass was proof that, at one point in time, someone else had stopped on this tiny, unremarkable isle. He couldn’t help wondering about the details of that visit: who had it been and what had prompted them to stop here?
Why had they left this behind?
Hiccup narrowed his eyes, drawing the compass back down. He rotated it back and forth, watching the needle as he did. It struck him that while the needle was consistent in the direction it pointed…it didn’t point north.
Odd.
“I don’t get it…” He muttered, turning in a slow circle to confirm his suspicions. As he’d predicted, the compass continued its trend of pointing due east.
Hiccup had only ever heard of a compass disruption happening in relation to magnetic abnormalities. It had been a source of some intrigue when he’d been younger, and something he’d experimented with in his early days of inventing. The excitement had worn off when he’d failed to find a practical application for it, but he still was certain he understood the theory.
If the polarity of this compass was off…did that mean there was something unusual with this particular isle’s magnetic field?
Spurred on by the hunch, Hiccup began to follow the needle inland. “C’mon, bud,” he called over his shoulder.
A direct path east quickly proved impossible, with the duo forced to swerve around all manners of boulders and overgrown vegetation. Though delayed by those side ventures, the compass made it easy for the pair to reorient and continue to make their way towards the island’s center.
“Woah.”
Tucked at the heart of the isle was a waterfall, spilling into a small lagoon. The trees around it were tall and thick, creating a dense web of foliage that nearly blocked out the sun entirely.
The deep shadows cast the water in a darker light, adding an almost sinister quality to it – as if the lagoon were full of ink, instead than water. It seemed to absorb the few rays that broke through the trees, rather than reflecting them.
The space was quiet, with any outside noise muffled by the thickness of the surrounding brush. It made the crash of the waterfall feel all the more powerful, seeming to echo in a continuous rhythm.
It was loud enough that Hiccup could swear he felt the hum of it in his bones.
Incredible.
In all his travels, Hiccup had yet to see anything like it. The space felt surreal – almost as if it had been untouched by the hand of time. There were no tracks in dirt – human or animal – nor were there any visible signs the place had been visited before, with vegetation growing thick and tall throughout.
Hiccup found himself rooted in place, suddenly feeling unsure. His curiosity was bubbling over, but he also felt the strangest sense of trepidation – as if he ought not disturb the area.
Toothless did not share that wariness, siding around his rider and moving towards the pool. His tail swished lazily behind him, flattening large chunks of the foliage as he walked. Crouching at the edge of the pool, he bent down and began to lap at the water.
Hiccup cringed, watching each disturbance of the place with a locked jaw. Though he couldn’t pin down why…something deep in his gut screamed at him that they shouldn’t be there. It was as if the air itself were thicker, housing an unseen force of power.
Odin. It made his skin crawl.
Something wasn’t right.
“Toothless,” he called out, feet remaining rooted outside the treeline, “I think we should go.”
The Night Fury grumbled, wings twitching once to show he’d heard his companion, though he continued to drink his fill from the lagoon.
Hiccup swallowed hard, taking a few tentative steps into the clearing. Almost immediately, the feeling of wrongness escalated.
Could Toothless really not feel that? Judging by the dragon’s calm demeanor, Hiccup guessed not.
“Alright,” he said, reaching the edge of the lagoon. He lifted a hand, wrapping it around one strap of the saddle. Tugging lightly, he directed, “let’s get out of here–”
Just as Hiccup was turning back towards the woods, something in the water caught his eye. In the gaps of the waterfall, he could see something shining – something distinctly metallic.
Hiccup stilled, eyes trained on the waterfall. After a few long moments, he was certain he wasn’t imagining it. There was something there.
Why would there be metal in a place like this?
His feet were moving before he had time to consider if it was a good idea, skirting the edge of the lagoon until he was as close as he could get by foot. The view wasn’t much better, still too obstructed for a proper look.
“What do you say we take a quick dive, bud?”
The area beneath the waterfall exposed a new secret: it opened up into a small cavern with a sizable air pocket.
When they’d breached the water, Hiccup had been hesitant to inhale. Though he could feel them leave the water, he could see nothing; it was pitch black, save for one small pinprick of light that came from somewhere far above. It was only when Toothless lit a plasma blast low in his throat that Hiccup let himself relax.
The purple glow cast a dim light around the space, illuminating a small trove of treasures. Gold and silver pieces littered the ground like fallen leaves, while a multitude of chests were stacked against the far walls of the cavern.
Despite the ivy that grew over much of the walls, Hiccup could make out the intricate lines of a series of carvings that dominated the walls.
“What is this place?” Hiccup whispered in awe, carefully dismounting.
A whirring noise caught his attention, coming from within his pockets. When he withdrew the old compass, he was startled to see that the needle was now spinning rapidly in circles, much like a propeller.
It seemed he’d found the center of the magnetic anomaly; he only wished he knew what that meant.
Answers weren’t going to find him, he reasoned. He’d need to do some hands-on digging if he hoped to uncover the mystery of this strange cavern.
Hiccup started with what he could see out in the open, examining the mixture of coins that blanketed the ground. Though there were some currencies that he recognized, there were far more that he’d never seen before – etched with a runic language that he couldn’t read.
Pocketing one to bring back to the Edge for closer examination, Hiccup turned his attention towards the chests. They weren’t locked, but the moist air had caused the wood to swell, making it a chore to force them open.
The scrolls in the first chest offered a key clue: though Hiccup could not read the runes, the illustrations that accompanied them were clear enough. It seemed these riches were intended as offerings to some sort of sea deity, though not any one that Hiccup was familiar with.
From the hips up, the deity appeared to be a strikingly beautiful woman. Long, dark hair tumbled over her shoulders in loose waves, preserving her modesty. Yet, in place of legs, a pattern of golden scales began to take root at her hips. From there, a long sinuous tail twisted downwards before branching off into a wide fluke.
Above her head, a crown of stars hovered. Rays of bright light spilled forth from the stars, haloing the creature.
A mermaid, his mind supplied.
Tales of merfolk had never been very popular amongst the viking tribes, usually dismissed as mere fantasy for children. Still, a lack of interest was hardly a barrier strong enough to keep traders from sharing the fables that they picked up in their travels. Hiccup had heard a slew of the stories over the years, just by virtue of needing to trade.
None of those stories had portrayed the creatures in such a reverent, regal light.
“You see that,” he asked, holding the scroll out towards Toothless. Chuckling, he jabbed a finger at the illustration. “Looks like whoever built this place believed in fish people – can you imagine?”
The Night Fury only blinked back, unphased by the discovery.
It was the one downside of exploring on his own; whenever Hiccup found something especially interesting, there was no one around to appreciate that interest. Unless they somehow happened upon a pile of fish, he doubted Toothless would care much for their find.
Hiccup sighed, rerolling the scroll and returning it to the chest where it belonged. At least when he recounted the tale later, he hoped Astrid would share in the humor of it all. They’d commiserated plenty of times over the ridiculous stories they’d had to endure from the traders.
Most of the chests contained additional scrolls, though a few contained more luxe offerings to the mermaid deity. Never before had Hiccup seen so much gold stored in one place, nor such a wide array of jewels. Everything seemed fit for a king, save for a single bronze piece buried in the final chest.
It was the lack of splendor that caught Hiccup’s eye, and he took care to free it from the parchment it had become tangled around.
Holding the necklace up in his palm, Hiccup examined it critically. Every inch was covered in tiny, nearly interlocking runes. At the very center there was a glass sphere, filled with an inky substance that he didn’t recognize. It caught the light strangely, with an almost oil-like sheen.
What could that be?
Hiccup stepped backwards, intending to bring the necklace closer to the light of the plasma blast. Instead, his prosthetic slipped on a small pile of coins.
Feeling himself start to tip backwards, Hiccup frantically tried to right himself. With arms flailing, he leaned forward – only to realize seconds later that he’d overcompensated. Instead of regaining his balance, he tumbled forward against the stone floor.
Smash!
Pain tore through Hiccup’s hand as the glass of the talisman shattered on impact, shards digging deep into the flesh of his palm.
Cursing, Hiccup lifted his hand, releasing his hold on the remains of the necklace. He twisted his head, taking stock of the damage. Rivets of bright red and dark black ran together in a grisly mix, leaving lines of color streaked across the glass splinters that had wedged their way into his skin.
Toothless whined nearby, hot breath rustling his hair. The light faded, plunging them into darkness.
“Can you give me another plasma blast, please?”
The Night Fury grumbled, but soon the light returned.
Hiccup squinted at the mess of his hand. Though the red was clearly blood, the black substance was harder to identify. It took longer than he’d have liked to make the connection: the strange liquid that had been inside the talisman.
Seeing the foreign substance now mixed into his open wound was alarming; he could only hope that it wasn’t some sort of poison. He knew that he’d need to address it, but first he’d need to remove the broken glass.
Hiccup shakily sat up, feeling Toothless press up against his back for support.
“Can you help me out with some more light, bud?”
The purple glow flickered for a moment before brightening. As Hiccup pulled the first shard from his palm, he reminded himself to be grateful that he’d been holding the necklace and not wearing it; a wound to the palm was far better than one to the neck.
Things could have been worse.