Hiccup had no words for his discovery. He tried to speak, but he was just so lost for words. "Uh, uh," he stammered, bringing his fingers to his lips. "Wha-what did I just find?" He knew it was a map to Telemik but had difficulty believing that everything he needed to know about the Light Dragon was in the crystals.
Only about a minute later, the images projected on the wall faded. The ray of light no longer shone through the new cluster of crystals, and the map did not shine in Hiccup's face.
He stood silently in the dark, the only light coming from a dying torch in the room.
Eventually, thanks to Toothless's sniffer, his friends found him.
Ruff and Tuff, terrified of the creepy hallway before, glued themselves to Fishleg's shoulders.
Snotlout tried to hold onto Astrid, but she slapped his hand away. For his comeback, Snotlout glued himself to Toothless instead.
The dragon rolled his eyes but marched on.
Together, the seven friends stopped over Inferno and glanced at Hiccup, who stared at the blank wall.
"Hiccup?" Astrid asked. "What did you find?"
Hiccup did not move from where he stood. He looked like a talking statue. Without looking back at Astrid, he told her, "Bring me the Dragon Eye."
While Astrid was confused, she followed through with her friend's request.
As the friends waited for her to return, Fishlegs snapped Hiccup out of his trance.
The young man resigned to sitting with Toothless and pressed his back against him.
Snotlout laughed and picked up the new cluster of crystals he found. "Ho! Ho! I can buy my own island with this!"
"Snotlout, we're not buying anything," Hiccup sternly told him. "We'll add those crystals to our collection and start constructing the Crystal Crown."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Snotlout grumbled, dropping his arms.
"Believe me. It's not about who's rich and who's poor. It's about saving the world," Hiccup told him.
"Here you go, Hiccup," a voice spoke behind him. Astrid just returned to the room with the Dragon Eye.
"Thank you, Astrid." Hiccup took the artifact from her and told Toothless, "Hang in there, bud. Just one more small flame."
Toothless obeyed and opened his mouth.
As the map of Telemik displayed itself back on the wall, Hiccup told his friends, "Look what I just found, guys."
Curious, his friends approached him on either side and studied the magnificent view.
Snotlout's eyes widened. "No way."
"Is that—?" Fishlegs started, but Astrid went ahead and nodded.
"Yes."
"It's a map to Telemik," Hiccup explained.
"Telemik?" asked Ruffnut.
Tuffnut spoke right after her. It was a twin thing. "Yeah, sis. Telemik is the place where our dear Hiccup is going to have everything stolen from him. No problem, Hiccster. I will make a wonderful new leader of the Dragon Riders."
"Ha! Ha!" Hiccup sarcastically laughed. "You're funny, Tuff!"
From off to the side, Astrid said, "Uh, guys? This isn't just a map to Telemik."
Curious, Hiccup asked, "What is it?" He came within reach of her.
Astrid stood at the next wall down. Instead of Telemik, that one showed a circle of seven islands with a crown in its heart. The Light Dragon's heterochromatic eyes were behind it, as were the seven islands.
"The Crystal Crown," Hiccup said under his breath. As quick as a flash, he pulled out his notebook and pencil and sketched Astrid's find.
She pointed at it and questioned, "Do you know what this mirage is showing us?"
Suddenly, Snotlout cheered and raised his hands. "New islands! Now we know where to go when we abandon Berk!"
"Snotlout, we're not abandoning Berk!" Hiccup repeated. "You are way off." He slipped his pencil between his notebook's pages and pointed it at the mirage. "This image shows us where to find the crystals to construct the crown. The seven islands represent the seven dragon classes, and if you look closely, you see the Light Dragon behind it all."
His friends squinted their eyes to see what he was looking at.
"I see it!" Astrid said after a bit.
"Same here!" Fishlegs agreed, hopping up and down with excitement.
"Uh, not to be a burden, but what is this telling us about the Light Dragon?" Snotlout wanted to know.
"Yeah, I thought we would attack it head-on!" Ruffnut argued. "My bro and I will happily cause another avalanche."
"I see your point, Ruff," Hiccup explained, plopping down on a barrel before the wall, "but what is the point of causing an avalanche when we don't know what we're going up against?"
"What are you saying, Hiccup?" Astrid wanted to know.
"Don't you see?" he asked, glancing at each of his friends. "The Light Dragon is not just one dragon class. It is multiple."
"Multiple?" confusingly questioned Fishlegs.
Hiccup nodded. "Yes. His eyes behind the seven islands say it all." He lifted his hand and pointed to each of the seven islands. "Naga is a bipedal dragon who draws power from sunlight. When I see him in my dreams, he always hides behind a mass of light. He is very stealthy and sneaky, like a dragon from the Mystery class." Hiccup glanced at the twins. "Last I checked, aren't Barf and Belch a Hideous Zippleback?"
"Hm, although I hate to admit it, you may have a point," Tuffnut thoughtfully spoke.
At the same time, he and Ruffnut curiously tapped their chins and said simultaneously, "The Mystery class defines Barf and Belch."
Hiccup pulled his attention away from them and focused on Astrid. "Astrid, Stormfly is a Deadly Nadder, right? She uses her acute sense of smell to track down enemies. That puts her in the Tracker class. Now, Naga is a bit different, but he tracks his victims down by psychologically torturing them. Trust me. I know. So no doubt about it, Naga has a little bit of Tracker in him."
"Hm." Astrid also lifted her hand and tapped her chin.
"And, Fishlegs." Hiccup's eyes moved over to the curious Fishlegs. "A Boulder class dragon, like Meatlug, is associated with the earth, and what we heard in the Chamber of Mystery, Naga lives on Telemik Island, where he feeds off the high cliffs. His body consists mostly of prisms, but it is tough and not easily broken. Doesn't that sound like Meatlug to you?"
"It does," Fishlegs agreed. "Oh, Meatlug. I miss you already, girl."
Snotlout was the next friend Hiccup called out. "All right, Snotlout. Your dragon is Hookfang, a Monstrous Nightmare from the Stoker class. Stokers have the nickname 'hot-headed fire breathers'. When the Monstrous Nightmare feels threatened, it sets itself on fire. As I mentioned before, Naga draws his power from sunlight, and according to my astronomical studies, the Sun is a ball of fire floating in outer space. Therefore, when Naga feeds off it, that fire builds up inside his body, which can cause devastating attacks."
"And here I thought Hookfang was just a dragon," Snotlout grumbled.
"Now, let's think about Heather." For that description, Hiccup met eyes with all his friends. "Heather's dragon is Windshear, a Razorwhip from the Sharp dragon class. All Sharp class dragons have sharp body parts, such as spikes, to launch at their enemies. I noticed in my dreams that Naga also has sharp body parts. Most of his body is prisms, and he has spikes on his tail and a mouth filled with razor-sharp fangs. He launches spikes at his enemies whenever possible, just like Windshear and Stormfly. I'm sure.
Curiously, we do not have any Tidal class dragons in our group, but I can go ahead and tell you that Naga is also part Tidal Dragon. Do you remember when we were in the Chamber of Mystery? Dad said the Vikings found him in a massive lake in the island's heart. Tidal Dragons thrive in or near water, so why was Naga in that lake if he had never adapted to watery conditions? Finally, Toothless."
When Hiccup said his dragon's name, Toothless stopped lighting the Dragon Eye and approached his friend's side.
Hiccup scratched him under the chin and explained, "Toothless is a Night Fury, a Strike dragon. Strike dragons are mighty, which already sounds like Naga. They can navigate their environment without difficulty and launch incredible attacks. Most of these attacks are pinpointed with accuracy. Strike dragons also have mighty jaws. When I saw Naga in the Chamber of Emptiness, he launched a Strike-like attack at Toothless and me. It looked like a lighter version of Toothless's Plasma Blast. Therefore, with all this said, I think it's safe to say that Naga is a little bit of everything."
Tuffnut looked a little bit jealous of Hiccup's fabulous explanation. He crossed his arms and asked, "How do you know this, Hiccup?" His eyes moved over to Fishlegs. "I thought Fishlegs was supposed to be the most knowledgeable about the dragon classes here."
Hiccup rubbed his nose and said, "For your information, Tuff, I've seen Naga more than you think. I also listened to the story my dad and Gobber told us in the chamber. Since this morning, my mind has just been on Naga."
"I'm with him," Astrid quickly said before the two argued further. Approaching Hiccup, she rested her hand on his shoulder. "I've also seen the Light Dragon and agree it is a little of everything. After all, Hiccup and I each had a dream about it."
For comfort, Hiccup put his hand on Astrid's as he explained the plan. "So, this is the plan. We need to travel to these seven islands and find the missing crystals of Naga. I'm sure each crystal holds some of his multiple dragon classes. Think about it. Seven islands, seven dragon classes, and Naga is in the heart of it all. The mirage proved that."
"Where should we start?" Astrid wanted to know.
Hiccup's mind returned to the Chamber of Mystery, where he saw the sparkle in the pillar. That was an excellent place to start. That sparkle had to be essential, and Hiccup was eager to figure out what.
With that in mind, the young man hopped to his feet and faced his friends. "Mount up, Riders. We're going to the Chamber of Mystery."
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