Heart of a Berserker: Faith (School of Dragons)

Chapter 3

"Wars spring from unseen and generally insignificant causes, the first outbreak being often but an explosion of anger." - Thucydides

Chapter 3

Eventually, Skulder and I organized the bones into their correct piles. Fishlegs then promised he would put them all back where they belonged. Skulder and I rejoined Snotlout, who waited for us impatiently.

"Yeah, those bone piles look right as rain, and I'm glad you guys got it back right, blah blah blah," Snotlout said. "We have to talk about the real threat that's looming over our horizon: Stormheart."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "Of course."

"She's here, she's ahead of us, and it should be just as apparent to you as it is to a genius like me that she's here with a purpose. If we don't stop her... who knows, maybe she'll bring about The End of the World."

I lifted my eyebrows. "I doubt that. There's no profit in ending the world."

Snotlout frowned. "Or maybe not. There's got to be a better way for us to get one step ahead of Stormheart. Believe me, I want to get the drop on her and pay her back. We're never going to catch up if we're just chasing her footsteps! Skulder, do you remember anything from when Stormheart kidnapped you?"

Skulder had already started scribbling on a piece of paper. "Indeed! It all happened so quickly that I don't remember much. Thankfully, we have been on several adventures now, Brennda, and your with and courage seem to be rubbing off on me! I scribbled down some of the symbols I spotted on her map."

"Oh, that's great!" I said. I gave him a minute to finish his writing.

"There." Skulder handed me the paper. "I hope you can make heads or tails of it."

I took one look at the paper and felt my heart drop all the way to my feet. "Oh no..."

"Have you ever seen these symbols before? They seem familiar to me but I can't pinpoint why."

I recognized them all right. Skulder had drawn sketches of the full grown Luminous Krayfin... and also Stormheart's insignia. Everything finally started to click into place.

"What is it?" Snotlout said.

"Uh..." My throat had gone dry, and my mind could not formulate words.

"Perhaps we should seek another opinion," Skulder said, mistaking my silence for ignorance. "Fishlegs and I share all of our knowledge amongst each other, and there is no one I trust more. Can you find him and ask what he thinks?"

I nodded. It might not be a bad idea to get a second opinion. Perhaps Fishlegs could assure me I wasn't going crazy. I stashed the paper in my bag and hopped on Bolt. I found Fishlegs riding Mealtug and hovering above Lumie. He smiled when he saw me.

"I can't get over how interesting it has been to watch this young leviathan on Vanaheim, decades earlier than the trip he'll make at the end of his life," he said. "Oops! um, sorry... shouldn't mention the E-N-D in front of Lumie. How rude of me!"

"Yes, that's great, Fishlegs," I said. "Can you check this out? Skulder drew what he remembered from the translation he gave to Stormheart." My hand trembled as I held the paper out to him.

"Sure, Brennda, let me see if I recognize anything." He held the paper close to his face while I held my breath. "Oh! Oh! I know where I've seen this before! Do you remember the labyrinth on Impossible Island? The Dragon Bloom room was covered with decorations for the Luminous Krayfin. The scrolls along the walls looked a little bit like this."

The knot in my stomach grew larger. "I thought that looked like a Krayfin..."

"But what could Stormheart possibly know about the Luminous Krayfin? Lumie is the only one in the archipelago. She definitely won't find another; believe me, Hiccup and I searched far and wide for any trace of Lumie's kind. No luck."