"Snotlout! You and Hookfang were supposed to look after Hiccup and Toothless!" Astrid shouted at the cowardly Viking back in the ruins.
"It's not my fault! Hookfang fell asleep on the job!" he argued back.
As soon as he said that, Hookfang shuffled next to him and growled in a way that said, "I did not!"
Astrid did not fall for Snotlout's excuse. She merely crossed her arms and tapped her foot.
Within another minute, Ruff, Tuff, and Fishlegs hurried to the arguing friends with their dragons close behind.
Tuffnut looked proud and yelled, "Yo, Riders! You'll never believe what I just found!"
Astrid immediately lost her glare and became interested when he said that. "What?" she curiously asked. "Is it Hiccup? Toothless? Another crystal?"
Tuffnut shook his head. "Nope. It's something even better!"
"What?" Astrid was now incredibly interested. So were the other Riders.
Ruffnut crossed her arms and chuckled. "Oh, you'll love it!"
In an epic voice, Tuffnut explained, "So there I was, standing at the edge of the trench. I thought about the chicken alone on Dragon's Edge. How much he must miss me, and how much I miss him. My eyes wandered. I saw something. Something that extends well beyond the boundaries of dragon taming. I never thought I would find something as majestic as it. As charming and as frightening. As regal and cruel. As—"
"Oh, for the love of Thor! Just get to the point already!" Astrid yelled.
Tuffnut looked slightly offended. He stomped his foot and clenched his fists. "How dare the little lady interrupt a ruler of Thorstonton II! But if you say so. I give to you"—Tuff wobbled toward one of the broken huts and reached behind it—"another Night Fury!" Except, it was only Toothless he pulled out from behind the ruin.
Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Astrid stared. At the same time, they did a facepalm and shook their heads.
"Isn't it an amazing specimen of a dragon?" Tuffnut asked.
Ruffnut spoke right after him. "Who knew Toothless had a twin? No longer are we the only ones! Look! It, too, has a prosthetic tail!" She picked up Toothless's prosthetic tailfin and waved it at the Riders.
Tuffnut pointed both hands at Toothless's saddle. "Finally, someone other than Hiccup has tamed a Night Fury!"
Astrid dropped her hand from her face and yelled at them. "You two muttonheads are unbelievable! That's Toothless!"
The twins froze when she said that. Together, they studied Toothless up and down and, finally realizing their mistake, said, "Oh yeah."
Ruffnut waved at him, "Hey, Toothless."
Tuffnut mimicked her. "How's it going?"
Toothless scoffed and rolled his eyes.
Eventually, everyone recovered from the twins' "amazing" discovery, and Astrid approached the Night Fury.
"Here's Toothless," she observed, "but where's Hiccup?"
Another flash of worry washed across Toothless's face, and he turned in the direction where he last saw Hiccup—the trench. He led the Riders and their dragons to it.
When the friends reached the trench, they peered into the narrow opening and looked for their friend.
Astrid brought the side of her hand to her mouth and called, "Hiccup?"
***
Hiccup was already too deep in the trench to hear Astrid. He followed the mysterious oracle to a narrow tunnel where he had to weave around rocks to keep up with her. He rested his palm on the wall and used his other hand to push one rock a half inch closer to the wall. Unfortunately, when he tried climbing over a huge rock, his metal leg slipped, and he fell. The prosthetic crashed into a crack in the floor, leaving the young man stuck again.
He glanced at it and groaned. "Uh oh. Not again." On the bright side, at least it was his metal leg in the crack and not his other one, so it didn't necessarily hurt him. However, he tried to think of a way to release it without removing the prosthetic, but it wasn't easy.
Hiccup grabbed it and pulled it as hard as possible, but his leg refused to move. He jerked to the point that what he had left of his left leg did start to hurt. Before he could strain himself even further, the luminary came to his rescue.
She appeared over the struggling young man and gently tugged his leg out of the crack.
Hiccup did not feel her fingers around his leg. He only felt the warm light her body gave off. Did she even have hands, or was she technically just a blob of light that somehow came to life? On the other hand, beyond all his questions—now that she was close to his face, he could finally see her facial features. She was stunningly beautiful and had silvery-waving hair, but her eyes confused him. Like the Light Dragon, they were heterochromatic.
As she moved away from Hiccup, she again placed her hands on her chest and told him, "Now you are free."
"Tha-Thank you," he stuttered. He rose to his feet, but his eyes did not leave the oracle's eyes. He found it very strange that they were heterochromatic like Naga's.
A feeling surged through his body. Could he trust her? Astrid was right. In difficult times such as these, not only with the Light Dragon but also in the Middle Ages, it was challenging to figure out who you could and could not trust.
***
Hookfang, Barf, Belch, Meatlug, Stormfly, and Toothless did not appreciate that they could not fit into the narrow trench and follow their Riders.
Considering they were the skinniest dragons, Hookfang, Barf, and Belch tried to squeeze through the opening, but they got stuck, and their Riders had to pull them out.
Toothless started clawing again at the trench's walls, but he did not open the gap. He never went on a single adventure without Hiccup, which was entirely new.
One at a time, the Riders hugged their dragons and told them they would be back soon.
Fishlegs, considering he loved Meatlug as much as a parent loved their child, glued himself to her leg, and Astrid had to pull him off. "I can't leave you, girl!" he told his dragon, and Meatlug roared with agreement.
"Fishlegs! You'll see her again!" Astrid said. She gave Fishlegs a slight push, and he tumbled into the narrow trench, where he joined Snotlout and the twins. Unfortunately, he landed on Snotlout's back and almost crushed him.
Astrid was soon the only Rider still standing in the outside world. After saying goodbye to Stormfly, she grasped either side of Toothless's head and pulled it close to her. The two bumped foreheads, and the young woman told the panicked Night Fury, "Don't worry, Toothless. We'll bring Hiccup back to you. I promise."
"Please make sure he's safe," Toothless growled quietly.
The two pulled their heads away, and Astrid gently patted him. She fell to her knees, grabbed the edge of the trench, and started climbing down into the deep, dark unknown.
Once again, Toothless approached the edge of it and watched her.
Just as Snotlout pushed Fishlegs off him, Astrid hopped down from the wall, and her eyes rolled up to the dragons. "We'll be back! You can count on it! Take care of yourselves. All right, Riders." She turned to face the others. "Let's march!"
With the dragons still watching, the Riders stood straight and started their journey in the Chamber of Mystery.
Behind, Toothless growled sadly and lay down. He rested his head on his paws and watched the teens walk away. "Oh, Hiccup, I miss you," he seemed to cry.
***
As Hiccup and the oracle traveled further into the Chamber, the walls eventually opened, making it significantly easier for Hiccup to keep up with the mysterious figure. No longer did he have to climb over so many rocks. However, he did notice that the deeper he and the oracle roamed, he saw a faded, blue light at the end of the tunnel. What was it? Where was the oracle taking him?
She stopped flying and turned to see him struggling as he attempted to climb over another large rock.
While Hiccup managed to reach for the top, he kept sliding down when his legs got involved. "Where are you taking me?" he asked as he did so. "Honestly, I don't know why I'm still following you. I don't know if I can trust you."
Eyes glowing gently, the oracle did not answer his question. She approached him and pushed him back to help him over the rock.
Hiccup ended up doing a small flip, and he landed on his butt in the dirt. He used the rock to help him stand and continued to chase after the luminous figure. "Are you not going to answer any of my questions? I thought you said you would help Astrid and me with our fight against the Light Dragon."
"Astrid?" the oracle finally asked. "Oh no." She shook her head and met Hiccup's eyes. "Sure, you and Astrid are the Two Heroes meant to find the Light Dragon's crystals, but at the end of the day, the final battle narrows down to just you."
"What?" Hiccup froze in his tracks. "Are you saying I must fight that multi-classed dragon beast myself?"
The oracle nodded. "Sure am." She backed away from him. "Pain will guide you, son. Your busted leg is only a clue of what you'll face."
"Okay, and how is this supposed to make me feel better?" Hiccup shivered at just the word "pain". "What pain do you mean?"
The oracle ignored him. "Ah ha, here we are. This, son, is the Crystal Chamber."
"Crystal Chamber?" Hiccup climbed over one more rock and hurried to the tunnel, where he saw the blue light from the other end. "First, we have the Chamber of Emptiness, then the Chamber of Mystery, and now the Crystal Chamber? How many more chambers are in this place?" However, Hiccup's eyes widened at what he saw laid out before him, and his jaw dropped.
The luminous oracle led him to a place of wonders.
Just looking at it, all of Hiccup's worries washed away. He stood in a small, shallow river. All around him were walls covered with beautiful blue crystals. Crystals even covered the ceiling. They acted as mirrors, so aside from the mystical, blue light they gave off, multiple Hiccups were reflected in the walls, roof, and river.
Just seeing all of them caused his head to spin. "What the—?" he mouthed to himself. He had to be dreaming. Berk did not have such a wondrous tunnel under his village's forest.
The oracle chuckled and landed on a crystal rock beside the riverbed. She placed her hands behind her back and watched the young man slowly approach one of his many reflections.
Slowly lifting his hand, he reached for the reflection. "Lu-Luminary," he told himself, placing his palm on the crystal mirror. However, he snapped it back when his reflection came to life.
Hiccup looked in the mirror, placed his hand on his hip, and asked, "Why do you look so surprised?"
"Ahhh!" the real Hiccup screamed. He backed away from the mirror but tripped over his foot. He landed on his hands and backside in the shallow river.
Reflection Hiccup laughed and admitted, "Oh! You're so easily startled! I like it!"
Shaking from head to toe, Hiccup rose to his feet and stumbled back to the wall. He punched it to ensure it wasn't a prank, and sure enough, it wasn't. His reflection was talking and moving on its own. If that wasn't strange enough, his other reflections came to life.
One reflection from the other side of the riverbed called, "Wow! You're taller than I thought!"
Another one said, "However, in a way, you are still the skinny boy you were three years ago."
"What in the name of Thor is happening right now?" Hiccup asked Reflection #1.
"Hiccup!" a familiar voice shouted at him. Astrid! Thank Thor! His friends found him!
Astrid, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff sprinted through the blue river water, and their reflections joined Hiccup's.
Reflections of teenagers now filled the whole Chamber, and just like Hiccup's, theirs came to life, too. Except, each teen had a different reaction to them.
Snotlout yelped and tried to run away from his, but he could not escape it.
"Aw, come on. Don't you want to be friends?" his reflection on the other end of the tunnel asked.
Again, Snotlout yelped, and he ran all over the place.
Fishlegs's reflection fascinated Fishlegs, unlike Snotlout. They quickly became friends.
"It's so nice to have someone else to talk to," Reflection Fishlegs admitted, and Fishlegs laughed like a little kid.
"Oh! This is fascinating!" He slapped his palms against the mirror and kissed his reflection.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut also quickly became friends with their reflections. They competed to make the most ridiculous faces.
Ruffnut rubbed her chin and told her reflection, "Oh, that's pretty silly, but can you beat this?" She stuck out her tongue and lifted her eyelids with her fingers.
Her reflection responded by making a similar face, except hers looked like she was dying.
Between Tuffnut and his reflection, they each had a very goofy expression. Tuffnut's expression looked like a cross between a serious and not-so-serious face.
His reflection went beyond. He puffed out his cheeks, smacked his lips together, and went cross-eyed. For the finale, he put his index fingers behind his ears. It was hard to say who won the competition.
Astrid did not stop to say hi to hers. Instead, she hurried to Hiccup and asked, "Are you all right?"
"Ye-Yeah," he stuttered. "But how did you guys find me? Where are the dragons?"
"They stayed behind. They couldn't fit down here. Poor Toothless was devastated. We just followed your footprints in the dirt. We..." Astrid's eyes started to roam. "What is this place?"
"The Crystal Chamber," the mysterious oracle answered before Hiccup could. She hopped up from the rock she rested on and soared to the two friends.
At the sight of her, Astrid yelped and leaped behind Hiccup. She took his shoulder and hid behind it.
It wasn't long until the oracle floated before the two friends, and she again placed her hands on her chest. Nodding at Astrid, she said, "Hello, Astrid. Welcome. While two heroes are needed, only one will succeed."
"Who are you?" Astrid sternly asked. When she recovered from her scare, she dove from behind Hiccup and threatened the oracle with her axe. "If you plan on hurting Hiccup, you're going to have to go through me!"
"Whoa! Whoa!" Hiccup sarcastically laughed. He grabbed the axe and told his friend, "Let's lose this accessory," taking it out of her hands.
The mysterious being's heterochromatic eyes flickered, and she backed away from the friends. Her arms flapped like wings, and she stopped before the rock she was resting on.
Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff, and a terrified Snotlout rushed to their friends and grabbed their arms.
Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and Fishlegs tried to get them to meet their reflections, but Snotlout asked, "How do you get out of this ridiculous Chamber? Is there any way I can get rid of my reflection?" He tugged Hiccup's arm and dragged him toward the tunnel's entrance when he saw his reflection waving at him. "Let's get out of here!"
"Not yet." Without looking back at his friend, Hiccup removed his hand and turned to face the oracle again.
She clenched her fists and told the friends in her wondrous voice, "I am the oracle of this chamber. A champion, a hero who sought you out to help you." Although, as soon as she said that, her blue body flickered, and very faintly, a light yellow light engulfed it.
Astrid, unsure if she could trust her, touched Hiccup's chest and gently pushed him back. She heard the same voice in the forest. The voice was the voice that she told her friends not to follow. Moreover, what did Hiccup do? He followed it!
Another feeling that made Astrid uncomfortable was a slight feeling of jealousy. She did not like how Hiccup looked the oracle in her heterochromatic eyes. Seduction. Astrid felt like she was seducing him.
"Hey, Hiccup!" a voice spoke beside them. With a smile, Tuffnut pointed at the crystal walls and ceiling and guessed, "We have everything we need right here! We don't need to travel to those seven islands after all! We can make the Crystal Crown out of all these crystals instead!"
"It won't work," spoke the oracle, inching closer to Hiccup Horrendous Haddock.
Seeing that, Astrid pushed him back another couple of inches. She tried to take the axe out of his hands, but he pulled it away. The bruise on his temple started to glow again, which alarmed the young woman even more.
"These crystals do not belong to me," the oracle continued. Her eyes roamed the chamber, but then they landed on Hiccup again. She seemed to stare into his soul, and he stared back as if falling under a spell. The luminary figure edged even closer, making Astrid even more uncomfortable.
She narrowed her eyes and ripped her axe out of Hiccup's hands. Shoving him with her back, she leaped before him and pointed the weapon's tip at the figure's heart. "Get away from him!"
"Astrid, stop!" Hiccup yelled at his friend. He tried to pull the axe from her hands again, but Astrid pushed him with her boot.
"I feel your anger," the oracle told the furious young woman. "But there is something I must discuss with him myself. Only then will I give him his gift."
"Gift? What do you mean 'gift'?" Not only did the oracle make Astrid nervous, but they also made Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruff, and Tuff.
They also reached for Hiccup and started pulling him away from her.
"Guys, quit it!" the young man snapped. "We can trust her!" He freed his arms from his friends' grasps and headed toward the oracle.
"Hiccup, stop!" Astrid yelled. "Stop! She's seducing you! I think she's Naga!"
"Naga? What gave you a ridiculous idea like that?" There was no way the beautiful oracle was the Viking's greatest threat.
Astrid, Ruff, Tuff, Fishlegs, and Snotlout rushed after their friend, but the oracle sensed them coming.
As quick as a flash, she looked over her shoulder, and her heterochromatic eyes glittered. As soon as they did, a light wall shaped like a bubble appeared around the friends. The oracle trapped them.
The friends gasped and glanced at their reflections, who waved and smiled menacingly.
"Oh," Snotlout sobbed, "we're all going to die down here!"
Astrid punched the light wall's surface with the side of her fist and yelled at her friend. "Hiccup! Run!"
"Please don't fear me," the oracle begged. "I don't want to hurt him. I just need to speak with him. Alone."
"We're not falling for your lies, Naga!" Astrid snapped. "Hiccup is smarter than you think!" Again, she glanced at her friend. "Hiccup, listen to me! You need to get out of here! We'll be okay!"
"Okay?" Snotlout yelled. "You're kidding, right? We're trapped in a light bubble with haunted reflections laughing at us!"
"And here we are," Tuffnut spoke next. "Trapped in our own kingdom."
"It seems we were still causing chaos just three hours ago." Ruffnut sighed.
Hiccup gasped as a light yellow light flickered in his green eyes. However, he still did not run. Maybe he should have listened to Astrid.
The oracle offered him her hand and said in a sweet, seducing voice, "Take my hand, kid, and I will escort you to the heart of the Crystal Chamber."
Hiccup's eyes landed on the hand, and he stared at it. His eyes continued to flicker, and he blocked out the yelling of his friends.
***
In the ruins at the top of the narrow trench, Toothless felt his best friend was in danger.
Roaring, he leaped to his feet and showed his teeth to the moon.
Meatlug, Barf, Belch, Hookfang, and Stormfly watched bewildered as he started clawing at the trench's wall again.
Backing away, he opened his mouth and shot a Plasma Blast at it. The attack only succeeded in dumping more rock and debris in the trench.
Continuing to roar, Toothless opened his wings and tried to fly, but he fell to the ground on his side. His tail. Without Hiccup on his back, there was no way he could fly. Did the dragon give up, though? No, he did not.
He rushed around the ruins and searched for another way to enter the chamber.
His dragon friends helped him. They also had a feeling that something had happened to their Riders.
Toothless dove nose first into a larger crack of the trench but became stuck. Pulling his nose free, he stomped the ground and shot numerous Plasma Blasts into the tunnel.
As he was giving up hope, he heard Barf and Belch roaring, "Over here!" They found something. It was a massive clearing under one of the broken-down huts. The clearing consisted of a tunnel large enough for dragons to squeeze through. Where did it lead to, though? Would it take the dragons to their Riders?
***
In the Crystal Chamber, Hiccup reached for the oracle's hand.
By now, all his friends banged the light wall and shouted at him. "Don't do it, Hiccup! Don't do it!"
"Take my hand, Hiccup," the oracle sweetly told him. "And I will take you to a place that will change your world forever. It is a place of awe. A place where the faeries dance under the moonlight."
"A place where the faeries danced under the moonlight." That sounded quite nice. It was very serene, but it did sound like seduction.
Things took a twist there. Just before Hiccup and the oracle's fingers touched, the sweet oracle suddenly changed her personality.
She lifted her other hand and snatched the teen's upper left arm, his dominant hand and arm. As soon as she did, she burned it.
A burning sensation overtook Hiccup's upper arm, and he yelled, "Ow!" pulling it away.
"Stop!" Astrid again punched the bubble's wall. "You're hurting him! I thought you said you didn't want to hurt him!"
The oracle refused to listen to her.
As Hiccup cradled his burned arm, he backed away from her.
Unfortunately, her sweet voice drew him right back into her trap. "You can trust me. Forgive me. I didn't mean to hurt you. Please. You are so close to receiving your gift. Only a little more to go."
Just before her seduction succeeded with Stage 2, a roar came from the end of the tunnel—the roar of a Night Fury. Barf and Belch saved the day. Not only did the tunnel they found lead to the Crystal Chamber, but it was also a shortcut.
As quick as a flash, Toothless leaped over the light bubble containing Fishlegs, Astrid, Ruff, Tuff, and Snotlout and rushed toward his friend.
At the sight of him, Astrid shouted, "Toothless! How did you get down here?"
Not answering, Toothless tackled Hiccup with his forehead and pulled him away from the oracle.
The young man landed hard on his back and yelled.
Toothless hovered over him and growled at the enemy.
Sitting up, Hiccup clutched his arm and glared, too. If there is one thing one should know about the world of dragons, do not mess with him and Toothless.
Looking at them, the oracle felt their connection and told herself, "A Night Fury. Fine." Standing up straight, she faced the group of friends. "If that's the way you want to play."
Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, Barf, and Belch stopped at the light bubble and pawed at their riders.
Now glaring, the mysterious, luminous oracle backed away from the group and planted herself in the heart of the river. "I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice."
At the same time, Hiccup and Astrid's satchels glowed up as the crystals inside them gave off an excessive amount of light energy.
The walls and ceiling of the Crystal Chamber glowed a bright yellow, and light rays bounced off them. They made their way to the oracle, and she sucked the energy in.
In the bubble, Ruff, Tuff, and Snotlout yelled and hugged each other.
As the oracle sucked in more and more light energy, her body started to change. She grew taller, her arms changed into wings, and claws appeared on her feet. Before long, she grew so tall that her head almost touched the chamber's ceiling. A pair of razor-sharp fangs appeared in her mouth, which changed into a bill. Her head took on the form of the Light Dragon's head. However, her eyes stayed the same—heterochromatic.
The teen's reflections faded from the wall as she stole all the light from the Chamber's crystals, and that was it. An enormous, thirty-foot-tall, bipedal dragon replaced the beautiful, magical oracle. Naga!
ns 15.158.61.8da2
