CHAPTER 7: The Relic (End)

It was already dark, but the night was still young. The royal clock in the great hall indicated 8 o'clock, and its bells echoed through the silent castle. However no-one seemed to have noticed; for the castle was, in fact, emptier than it should have been. Every hall, every room, every kitchen, every storage room had been deprived from the liveliness provided by the many servants that usually attended the palace's needs. The staff had gone somewhere they could silence their worries and, somehow, keep doing their job as efficiently and impersonal as they were supposed to, but that was the problem: their worries could not be quieted.

And for that, the royal guest was glad…

"Did you hear?" a female servant with blonde locks questioned the lonely old lady that was dusting the shelves in the royal library. "…they said the King went to Cedric asking for help"

"From Cedric?" the old lady looked surprised and truly concerned "… he must be really desperate…"

"I know. Sally says he's in his tower working like a madman to find Princess Sofia… perhaps he actually knows what he's doing."

"It's a shame, let us hope her highness comes back safe and sound. I'm not so sure King Roland will be able to recover if he ever lost one of his children"

"I'll bring her back" a whispered promise was made from somewhere behind a door...

...

Hiccup lost his patience after the third time he got lost that night. Time was running out and he was lost in a labyrinth of beautifully architected walls! He sighed and grunted to himself as he finally decided to open a window and call out for his dragon who was already awake and ready to take flight. He came almost instantly (running like crazy since his rider was not on his back).

"So? What's the plan?" asked the dragon.

"Everyone is talking about the royal sorcerer and that he has a way to find her" The rider pointed, still formulating a plan. "They also said he had magic as well as that fairy. I think he'll be joining the king at some point to go against Nettle"

"And where is that person? The sorcerer, I mean."

"I— I don't know, but I can't just ask the queen, she'll make us stay in bed"

"Hey! I think I smell someone that can help us!"

"What do you-? WOAH!" Hiccup couldn't finish his statement as the dragon jumped and ran somewhere to find the help he mentioned.

...

"Come on Amber. You know it is Mom's job to be worried, not yours" James tried to joke. "…but, seriously, calm down, Mom is too upset already…"

"I know! I know, I just… Oh! When did I become the obedient daughter?!" She exclaimed, "I should have joined dad…!" Her twin placed his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eye.

"Amber, stop it! I know how you feel, believe me, but dad is right. We are not expert knights, and is Miss Nettle we're talking about. She's a fairy, she's got magic. Every battle between a wand and a sword is always going to be won by the wand. With Cedric they'll barely have an even match. And think about mom, we don't want her to worry more than she already is"

"Alright… I'll try to keep calm… breaking down is not going to help, is it?"

"Now, that's my twin" A loud noise resounded in the distance, making them both flinch in their place. "What was that?" the royal twins ran through the hall to a big window in the hall that had been abruptly opened.

i "Sorry, I thought it was locked/i the dragon apologized with a sheepish expression, more to his rider given that the other two who were not able to understand his language.

"…I think I hit my head…"

"Hiccup!" the young royals came running to them

"Why are you not in bed?"

"I heard the maids talking" the viking explained as he pulled himself to a standing position. "The king won't get to Sofia fast enough, Toothless is a better tracker than any human person." He paused "Also, I am responsible for Sofia's abduction, I must be the one to bring her back" The viking declared, being the hero he was at heart.

"You're hurt, and it wasn't your fault!" James started.

"We don't blame you" Amber firmly added. "You said she came out of nowhere, and you had no idea she had magic."

"I know you don't, but I do. Please, let me do something" the viking begged.

"Fine." Conceded Amber. "You can go, but keep yourself in one piece, ok? Now say, what is the plan?"

"I was hoping you could help me" The viking admitted. "I heard your royal sorcerer was working on a location spell in his tower, but I got lost in the inside. If you tell me how the outside looks, it will be-"

"Say no-more" James stopped the vikings words and neared the opened window to point at said place. "Can you see that tall tower with the green tiles over there?"

...

Cedric's tower was very different from the rest of the magnificent building, Hiccup could see that from the very outside. The whole structure seemed to be an unexpected addition later in time to the construction of the royal palace, the style was not as neat, and the interior was a lot more rustic. Perhaps it had to do with a matter of practicality, as the young heir could see many tall bookshelves and drawers on each wall. Actually, his first look at the sorcerer was that of him climbing down a very long ladder with a small red bottle in hand.

The viking had arrived just in time to find the royal sorcerer mixing the final ingredients into the brew that would, somehow, help to find sofia. Now, he needed to talk to the man, but how? The window was very small for Toothless to fit in, and he was at least five meters above the ground. The sorcerer was too engrossed in mixing the potion that he didn't even seem to notice the crow cawing angrily beside him ("Morgana's Mockingbirds! Why are you even helping her? She's not a friend. She's just an annoying little girl that ruins your plans! I can't believe this! You're a fool, Cedric. The foolest fool that's ever lived in this foolish world!"), nor that he had been murmuring something while working, like a monk would with a mantra. Hiccup was just about to call him when someone knocked on the door and broke the mystical silence in the room.

"Come in." The sorcerer raised his voice, and an armored man came in.

"Sir, the king has sent me to retrieve both you and the potion". The knight declared.

"Yes, yes… I just need to take my wand and off we go" Cedric talked as he filled an empty bottle with the pearly-lilac mixture fresh from his cauldron, and hid it in his robe's pocket.

"If you don't mind me asking, how is this potion going to help?" The knight questioned with a pinch of scepticism in his tone. Cedric, was too upset to even pay attention to this, which would have been very insulting to him any other day.

"This is a tracking potion" Cedric explained in a fast pace. "Most tracking spells are not powerful enough to cover great distances, thus, inadequate to find a person; in order to increase its range, a longer more specific sub-spell must be made for whatever-it-is-that's-been-looked-for, for which we don't have time. This potion just needs something that belongs to the one you're trying to find." The knight was taken aback by Cedric's response and the resolve in the sorcerer's demeanor. "Are we going, or not? Wormwood, come here!" Cedric called him, while exiting the door, and the knight left with them.

As soon as the room fell into silence once again, Hiccup reached for one of the shelves closer to the window. A five meter fall would be dangerous; a meter-and-a-half fall, at must, just painful.

...

The cave was engulfed with the eerie light from a magic circle the fairy had drawn with her wand. Rosie's wounds had been attended, but the sentient flower had been visibly weakened and retracted to rest inside of a protective pot, leaving Nettle to work wicked fairy, in the meanwhile, recited incantations in an unknown language, more fitting for a sorcerer or a witch than a fairy.

"What are you doing with my amulet?" The girl questioned with traces of fear leaking in her voice. The fairy did not respond until her chanting was done.

"It's not about what I'll do with your amulet, but what your amulet will do"

"My amulet?"

"The amulet is a very ancient relic" The fairy spoke, not looking at the princess, as if talking more to herself than to her young prisoner "...its origin is still uncertain. However, you might have noticed the many kinds of magic it is capable of. Concedes powers, like speaking to animals, seeing ghosts, healing; it also serves justice, curses with metamorphosing the owner, depriving them of some ability, trapping them in a time loop… the possibilities are endless." The fairy, then eyed the princess. "It is also proof of it possessing both knowledge and sapience"

"Knowledge and sapience…?"

"Did you think all magical objects were just that? Objects? Dead things just waiting for someone to give them a purpose?" The Fairy laughed mockingly. "Demeter's Dalias, you sure are naïve. The amulet obviously possesses a consciousness, which must be taken care of…" A strong wind started to blow from inside the magic circle, as if it wanted to break the cave's ceiling and to the exterior. No. It was like the wind from the storm outside was originating there.

"B-but, what do you want it for? Why do you want to destroy it…?"

"I never said anything about destroying the amulet, just about removing its magical mind…" she, once again, turned her gaze away from the princess "...so that a bigger power to use it for a greater purpose…"

...

"The troops have been deployed, Your Majesty." One of the generals informed King Roland as soon as he climbed down his horse. They were standing right where they had recently found the fallen dragon, and the troops were just ready to cover the forest grounds, despite the evident signs that the worst of the storm was just about to come.

"Your majesty" Cedric's voice called. From up above, Cedric was mounting Wormwood, that was now big enough to compare to Sofia's horse, Minimus. "Do you have what I asked you…?" The sorcerer approached as soon as he dismounted the giant raven, as he went back to his original size in a poof.

"Sofia's coat" The king answered as he passed the piece of cloth to the wizard, who opened a bottle and poured its contents on it. The cloth seemed to glimmer and then it flew away as fast as a wild rabbit, leaving behind only a light path of light that quickly dimed into the dark.

"Follow it!" The King ordered. "Do not lose the trail!"

"Let's go, Wormy!"

The knights charged after the floating piece of cloth, unaware of the sound made by a dragon that passed at high speed, following a glowing object.

...

"It's late…" the princess pointed out as she looked at the upcoming storm forming in the outside.

"Calm down sis, Hiccup said he could find her…"

"I know, I know… but it's almost midnight and…"

"Yeah… But, we should probably go to bed now… I bet they'll be back in the morning, you don't want to sleep in when you should be preparing a fancy hero's welcome, do you?" The prince tried to cheer her sister. He knew how she was feeling; moreover, he also knew he could trust Hiccup and Toothless.

Thunder roared in the outside and he could feel a slight chill climbing up his spine.

The growing storm was definitely not helping calm anyone's nerves.

...

The fairy's eyes reflected the strange ghostly light coming from the circle as the eyes of a wolf would with the moonlight. Despite her intense chanting, her concentration was focused on the amulet. Her face seemed to contort a little every now and then, as if she was in the middle of a silent conversation with another creature, which became more evident when a second voice resonated in the cave, reciting a new chant in the same strange language. As the voice's volume increased, the wind inside the cave, blew more violently with every passing second. The dust itself felt like tiny knives against the princess's skin as they were swiped from the ground.

It was because of this wind that the pot where Rosie had been resting all this time was thrown against one of the cave's walls, abruptly awaking the magical plant.

"What in the name of Madame Cardamome is happening?" The flower spoke and used whatever strength she had left to root herself into the ground in order to not be blown away by the wind. "Netty?! What are you doing?! Netty!" The flower tried to call the fairy, who was still chanting spells in that strange language, apparently lost in her concentration. The flower seemed distressed just by watching the one in yellow.

"She can't hear you!" The princess spoke to the plantae, who used her roots to carefully move forward.

"How long has she been like this?" Rosie asked as soon as she reached the princess's side.

"A while" She responded with a mix of fear and worry on her face. "Why?"

"Girl, she's going to get herself killed. Look at her wings!" Sofia turned her head in the magical being's direction. In an instant, the girl understood what the enchanted flower was referring to: right behind the twisted fairy, a dark silhouette had began to form, like an armor made of black smoke, but it possessed a strange light inside, as if burning coal filled its mysterious interior, and it might as well have been a fire creature, since the fairy's wings seemed to be slowly burned by its presence.

"What is that?" the princes whispered in awe and concern.

"Something bad, for sure."

"How do you know that? What's going on?"

"After you kicked us out of Enchancia, we wandered, looking for a place to stay. Then, she found a strange golden book, and she never told me anything more. She kept plotting half-baked plans until she finally decided on one. I don't know how she got the power to create that hurricane, or how she suddenly became a fairy-sorceress. I just know this is not right!" The rose pointed while her gaze turned to Nettle, whose face looked ashen and more rigid by the minute. "One thing is to conquer a kingdom in vengeance, and other is mingle with dark forces!" She finally exclaimed, more to her mistress's deaf ears than the well-intentioned child. "You need to get your amulet back!" Rosie spoke with a sprint of realization and freed the princess from the vines that still held her. "No amulet, no plan. We save her, you go home. Ow!"

"Rosie!" The rose stopped talking when a pebble hit her straight in the face, making her instinctively close herself into a seed-like form. That gave Sofia an idea.

The princess looked around her and tried to locate stones big enough to throw, maybe that way she could knock her wand off of her hand and get her to stop whatever dark ritual she was doing. Unfortunately, the wind inside the sea cave was too strong for her to move around freely, so she ended up with just four stones. She would have to make every throw count.

The wind almost knocked her to the ground many times as she closed the gap between her and the possessed-one. When she finally reached a position close enough The first rock went over the fairy's head; the second went through the dark figure… just two left —if only she could come any closer...! — Sofia threw another rock just as the ark figure turned around and stopped it, taking the possessed fairy's attention.

"Well, well, what do you think you're doing, princess?" The fairy spoke with a voice that was not her own.

"I'll stop you" The girl responded as firmly, not really knowing what she would do next—especially with the fairy's eyes now tainted blood-red.

"Oh, honey pie, you can't" The fairy's voice emulated a falsely-sweet tone. "We are now the most powerful being in enchancia." With that, the wind inside the cave came to a halt and the dark figure seemed to call the amulet through the possessed fairy's hand extending in its direction. The amulet's jewel had become a much more darker shade of purple and it's iridescent shine was barely noticeable and diminishing as it came to rest on the ex-teacher's hand.

BOOM! The cave's ceiling fell somewhere in the nearby tunnels.

"Sofía!" The viking's voice called with urgency. The violent winds almost pushing him and the mighty dragon out.

"Hiccup! Toothless!" She called, part hopeful and part concerned for her friend. Hiccup almost felt relief when he saw the girl was safe, but the image of the dark figure behind Nettle and the raging storm inside was certainly enough to put him on edge.

"What is that thing?" Hiccup murmured to himself.

"Stay back, little viking!" Nettle spoke, but it was the figure the one to raise a hand, with which a flaming wall raised in front of the dragon and his rider.

"Hiccup can't go through, but I sure can!" The dragon declared and his rider climbed down to allow the dragon to proceed, but as soon as he pawed at the wall he retracted his paw in pain, many scales falling off and leaving a sore grayish spot on it. "What is this?"

"Toothless, no! We need to find another way…" The viking declared and went back on the saddle and they elevated from the ground . The viking thought about the possibility of going back outside and attack the… creature from a different angle, but it seemed like the creature controlling Nettle had anticipated the strategy; a second wall raised behind them and the two seemed to fuse, trapping them in a tight flaming sphere.

"Not even you can go through, dragon, so don't stop flapping —unless you want to die." Nettle said with that voice again.

"No…" Anguish invaded Sofia. She could not let this creature uses her amulet, she could not let her newest friend in peril, and she couldn't just not save Miss Nettle. Sh still had one rock left, maybe if she could knock the amulet out of her hand, or the wand...!

She lifted the rock over her head, but strangely she couldn't move her arm. No! She couldn't just abandon right now. Her fear was not supposed to defeat her.

"Aww… What is it princess? Are you going to stop me?" Said Miss Nettle with a mocking tone, seemingly partially back to her older self as she placed the necklace around her neck "Oh! Poor unfortunate soul!" She said and paused her errant fluttering around the cage "Oh! Hahahahah! Did you hear that? Poor unfortunate soul~! I should use it for a song." She kept repeating that again and again in between bursts of maniacal laughter "…Yes! You are a poor unfortunate…" The sentence was not finished, for in that moment the dark figure seemed to be in pain, it doubled and directed its hands to its chest as if trying to take off the amulet, as Nettle stayed still, paralized.

"What is this?!" The voice that was not Nettle's furiously screamed. The wind picked up once again, this time it seemed to try to rip away the ashes and smoke that formed the armored figure and, as soon as the last piece of smoke was taken away, it spiraled as if trying to absorb the evil creature's remains. The amulet's jewel flashed in red for a minute before it floated back to the middle of the magic circle and dropped to the floor, creating a wave of magic that knocked the Fairy's still body and the girl off.

When the princess could stand up, neither the fairy nor the satient flower were there. The cave was silent, and the amulet was glowing and still floating over the , another light illuminated the cave.

"Sofia" Hiccup called, now free from the fiery sphere, his clothes slightly charred. "Are you okay?" The boy walked towards her, the dragon walking beside him with an open mouth and a blue flame's light coming from his throat.

"I'm fine… how did you find me?"

"Your wizard made a potion I just had to add something yours." And he showed her a piece of the chain that had snapped days before. "We're lucky Toothless found it"

"How could I not? It's pretty!" The dragon growled, and then opened his mouth and came to rest his head gently against Sofia's. "We were so worried about you, princess!"

"Sofía… look" The teen indicated. From the magic circle, drawn with light, the image of a flaming eye was very clearly seen by them — and to be seen by that gaze, gave what was most probably the same feeling an ant would have watching the sun through a magnifying glass. From the circle, a sinister voice spoke in a language neither could recognize, but they would never forget it. The amulet shone, Toothless wrapped a protecting wing over the humans, and the light seemed to deflect the, the mysterious eye, that closed and disappeared. The amulet, then, fell to the ground; back to its usual lilac color. Toothless opened his mouth once again to illuminate the place.

"What was that?" the reptile said as best as he could. Sofia seemed like her brain was trying to put together a part of a big complicated puzzle.

"For each deed performed, for better or worse, a power is granted, a blessing or curse". The princess slowly said the words embedded in the amulet as she processed what had happened. "The thing controlling Miss Nettle wanted to use the amulet for itself to reside in it, it used Miss Nettle to steal it; and tried to corrupt it. In the moment it made her put it on, the creature had no option but to submit to the power of the amulet and its judgement… The amulet's magic most have cursed it!" The princess looked around. "And since Miss Nettle never was not the one behindit all, the amulet must have judged her too… that's why she's not here. The amulet surely transported her somewhere far away."

"Well, whatever 'it' was, it's hopefully gone now." The viking smiled. "Toothless." Instantly, the Night Fury shot a plasma blast to the ceiling of the main cave, letting the moonlight come inside. The seacave's location had been in the middle of the storm's eye, and once the wind stopped blowing inside the cave, the outside seemed to regain the calm. When they were half away from the castle, they swore thunder roared loudly as it had never done in forever.

Until a glowing piece of cloth almost hit Toothless in the face.

"Is that my coat?" The princess then looked down and they realized the 'thunder' was actually the hooves of the knight's horses echoing in the distance. Toothless planned down to the ground, meeting face to face with Kind Roland and the knights.

"Hiccup? Sofia?" The king was confused but relieved to see them both.

"Dad!" Sofia ran to hug the man that had climbed down off his horse and met her halfway. Cedric dried a tear that left his eye —which he would not admit or speak off again for years— his apprentice was fine —not like he saw her as a daughter or something, and she absolutely did not reminded him of his niece, Calista.

"And how did you ended up out here, young man?" The king started, ready to give the teen a sermon like only dads can and usually do, but the little girl saved her friend from it.

"Dad, 'm tired..."

"It's ok, sweetheart, let's go back home…" Hiccup and Toothless followed the King as he carried Sofia and went to his horse.

At the pace the horses were galloping, they would arrive at the palace by down.

...

It took a couple of days for the skies to finally clear and the hurricane to die down. The weather was, once again, beautiful and perfect for playing outside, maybe even fly; unless you were the guest of the royal castle in that moment. From the moment he stepped inside the castle two days prior, direct orders from the king and queen —and the royal physician— established that Hiccup had to stay in bed and rest —for which he did not complain—, so him and Toothless spent that day's afternoon with the royal kids in the game room.

"...and that's how a cannon works!" James excitedly said, proud of his deep knowledge in such things. Sofia silently clapped, admiring the most knowledgeable part of her brother, while Amber smiled softly, her twin was a dork.

"I see… uhm… is it safe to use it inside?" The teen asked when he noticed the flame in the boy's hand.

"Nope" He flatly responded, successfully scaring the viking at the same time he lit the very short fuse and, instantly, with a loud boom, the cannon let out a bunch of confetti. "Oh my gosh! your face!" he laughed. Hiccup didn't seemed amused, but laughed anyways.

"And now I know who's the evil twin" Hiccup declared as Toothless tried to catch the still floating pieces of paper before they reached the floor.

"You want to see evil…?" The boy then took a cushion and proceeded to hit the older boy with it. "En guarde!" Hiccup blocked his "attacker" by using a bigger cushion as a shield. A couple of minutes later, a full-on pillow fight had unfold and they were laughing on the floor.

"Excuse me, my royals…" Baleywick entered the room, getting everyone's attention. The man was struggling to stand straight, given the reptilian creature running around his shoulders, and climbing up and down his back and torso. "I opened the windows in the throne room and this little-one came in… May I ask some assistance from our guest-? Oh!" The small dragon then jumped from the top of the man's head and in the direction of the viking who sat on the floor.

"Sharp Shot? What are you doing here?" Hiccup received the little dragon in his arms, impressed with the presence of the Terrible Terror.

"Isn't it obvious? I'm bringing the mail to you!" Sofia heard the small dragon who, in fact, had a piece of paper tied to its paw.

"You have a message?" Sofia prompted Hiccup to take a look at the paper (which he did) and read its contents.

"Apparently so." The teen noted. "Did you track me all the way from Berk?" The small dragon smiled proudly.

"Yeees" The reptile growled and then went to see what Toothless was doing near the 'colorful things on the floor'.

"It's from my father…" His eyes moved around the page.

"Did something happen?" Amber questioned, coming to stand next to the viking, to try and read over his shoulder.

"He says they're calling off the quest… "

"Really?" James questioned.

"Apparently, Kitala, the great seer, had a vision…" He looked back to the letter "...it says that she saw something about a 'mystical tear being like poison to the evil winds' and then 'dissolving in a pond of light…'?" His gaze glided to the end of the page. "So… yeah, he wants me back home as soon as possible."

"What do you think the chiefs will tell the people about the heroic contest?" Sofia asked.

"Probably that we were forced to return by Thor" He looked to the window. "Hm… maybe…" The three royals turned their eyes to where he was looking. "It should be easier to follow the stars, now…"

"Wait, you say you're leaving?" James asked with a groan. "Like… right now?"

"Most probably tonight, when the stars are fully out…" James pouted at his response

"Maybe the chief is worried after the storms, James" Amber apeced her twin. "You might want to look into some star charts first,'' she suggested. "Come, I have very detailed maps of the sky in my room. They're the latest update."

"Thanks Amber. Toothless…" The dragon got up from his spot on the carpet, where the terrible terror made himself a place for napping. "...stay here. Keep an eye on Sharp Shot" And, with no further ado, the dragon curled on the floor next to his smaller friend as the kids left the room.

"Are you sure you have to go now?" James insisted.

"James, we can't just keep him, he's not a pet" The elder sister spoke. Hiccup snickered.

"Can you imagine, though?" James joked, although he did seem to be considering the idea. Sofia wondered then proceeded to imitate her brother:

"Look, Zaddar, this is my dog, this is my monkey, and this is my viking!" Hiccup laughed at the silliness.

"Yep, that would be weird..."

"Totally a James-thing to do"

"Amber, you're so mean!" James crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'm not mean, I'm just addressing a fact…"

The rest of the afternoon was spent exchanging information about the stars, constellations and the legends about them. Naturally, the royal kids seemed a little disappointed at the prospect of their interesting guest's departure, so they did everything to make the most of the remaining hours they had left; and Hiccup, wondered if this was how it felt to have younger siblings —the closest thing he'd ever have to a little brother was, well, Toothless.

...

Well into the night, the royal family joined their guest in one of the gardens, most specifically, Sofia's favorite spot. The night sky was filled with stars and not single cloud was around, the only other lights that could interfere with Hiccup's navigation were the waning moon and the fireflies that were dancing around him and Toothless.

"Are you sure you have everything you need?" The queen inquired, feeling motherly worry for the teen about to travel.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. " The teen responded while mounting the reptile. "Amber and James gave me enough provisions to last a month".

"But you can come back if you run out of them." James intervined.

"James, Hiccup has a home to return to." The King spoke. "He can't just stay here forever, his family is waiting for him". James pouted, he was having a hard time accepting their new friend's departure.

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll see him again." Sofia assured her brother.

"It's ok, James, if you need to talk about your crush, I'm here." Amber teased him in a whisper.

"It's not a crush" James whispered back, cheeks going pink. The twins walked a few steps further while bickering, giving Hiccup and Sofia some space to not be heard.

"I know what you're going to say: Kitala's vision sounds a lot like what happened with your amulet"

"Yup…! Actually. I wanted to thank you, for finding me"

"No, thank you, Sofia" Hiccup responded, and Toothless added:

"If you and James hadn't found us that day..." The dragon growled and came to gently lick the princess' face "You and your family took care of us; you made us feel at home". The princess smiled, pleased to know they enjoyed their stay.

"It's strange" she reflected "You've been here for barely two weeks, but I feel like I've known you forever."

"You are-" King Roland started to say, but his youngest daughter stopped him.

"Dad, please!" She interrupted. "Let me say it" He eyed Miranda, who looked just as surprised and pleasantly confused as him, and nodded."You're welcome to return to Enchancia whenever you want."

"Thank you, princess" The teen answered, moved by her resolve and sincerity.

"It's so good to know you are our friends" The nightfury purred.

"Come on, bud, we must go" Hiccup indicated and Toothless walked away in the direction of a certain group of stars. to the northwest.

"I really like her... and her family. I think I'll miss them" the dragon's low growl and whine sounded.

"It's alright, bud. We'll surely see them again" Dragon and rider fluttered some meters above ground and waved the royal family one last time. "Bye everyone! By Sofia!"

"Bye-bye!"

The night sky witnesses so many events, it would take it several lifetimes to tell its favorites if it had a voice to speak; and surely, this would be among them. As the viking rode the dragon flew away, passing over mountains, rivers, valleys and grasslands until they found the sea, the teen and the nightfury recalled every moment of their stay in Enchancia, and how they bonded with the royal family. And then, Hiccup recalled a certain think he heard Kitala say during the reunion of the chiefs:

"'Falls not them who true friends help on their way'" He told the reptile. "Do you think she was talking about us and the royal family of Enchancia?"

"Maybe. Who knows?"

The night was silent, save for the constant burst of wind against their bodies. However, a mysterious music seemed to resound in their minds, and Hiccup found an unknown song wanting to be heard surging from his soul and he would happily let it come out:

A lonely wolf goes proud and free

on adventures through mountains,

howling loud and trudges all by himself.

But when it has trudged enough,

the wolf runs back to his pack

There it is, both warm and safe tonight

Meanwhile, as the enchancian family walked through the castle's gardens, Sofia too felt a great joy, and sang the same song as her newest friend, having the nightsky as the only witness to this:

And when life gets rough and hard

it's good to be together;

for together, we are more

And nothing can take from me

the strength that I know.

Together we can move mountains,

for you and I are friends.

You and I are friends.

THE END [?]

Yami-Horus: Hello, everyone! I hope you've had a happy holidays x3. I just wanted to say: Yes, I'm STILL ALIVE!! I hope you can forgive me the long time it took me to upload this, sometimes it takes a long time and a small drill to get out of a writer's block xP.

If tou were wondering:

1) Yes, I borrowed Sauron as the true villain of this story xP.

2) I also borrowed Kitala, from The Vikings (not the series, the 1958 movie, search for it in YouTube). Kitala is actually a minir character, but everyone respects her word.

3) The song is a translation of the song Venner (Friends) by Alexander Rybak. :)