The only thing Paul could see was darkness.
He could feel a grainy rocky floor under him, but that is as much as he knows of his surroundings. He could feel Asia’s feebly arms wrap around his and his father’s calming breathes nearby.
He could see a dimly lit lantern, slowly lighting up the tunnel. The keeper of the lantern, he dreaded to see for the air got very cold. As the lantern got close, he could see that they were in an ancient jail cell.
“Hope you enjoyed your stay,”the keeper rasped.
“Using the executing cell. Pretty cliche don’t you think?”his dad spat back sarcastically.
Then a horrible molten hand . . . no claw, reached out and brushed his father’s shoulder. He slowly fell to the ground, immense pain shown on his face.
Asia screamed and gripped Paul’s arm tighter.
What just happened? Paul thought, frozen in fear.
“I prefer you to keep your mouth quiet,” the keeper rasped.
Then Paul and Asia could see the figure turn towards their direction, though they couldn’t see his face since the hood of its cloak shadowed its eyes.
“I could do the same for your children,” he continued.
“Who are you?” Mr.Haddock panted.
The man lifted the lantern towards his face. Paul wished that he didn’t do that at all. It looked like the man’s skin was melted and then cooled liked used wax. He had only one lone yellow eye and a void socket. There was no mouth but another void hole on his face that would give anyone the creeps.
“I am the Skeleton,” he rasped.
Mr.Haddock looked shocked.
Then, the Skeleton let out a laugh, well, as close as he could get to a laugh.
“I never died. Demons never die. They can be killed though.”
“What do you want?”
“What I alway wanted. Starstuff.” then he knelt close to Mr.Haddock’s face, “Where is it?”
Mr.Haddock looked at him straight in the eyes, well, eye.
“I don’t know.”
The Skeleton growled and swiped his hand across Mr.Haddock’s arm, leaving him crying in pain.
“You will tell me soon enough. Or every single one of your children will die, just like your wife. Though what a tragedy of how she died, pity,” he rasped in Mr.Haddock’s ears.
Mr.Haddock’s eyes widened as he remembered that vivid memory. A memory that wasn’t that long ago. So vivid, it felt like yesterday.
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“Kie!”Dreki yelled, in the swarm of Vikings.
There was another raid from the Traitorous, but this one was more war then raid.
Dreki lost his wife and children in the sea of fighting Vikings.
Soon enough, he found his two of his children, Paul and Asia. He grabbed then and ran for cover in one of the nearby houses. He clutched them tightly for a moment.
“Never leave my sight again,”he scolded.
He left his children in the safe haven, going back out to find his wife and their youngest children, Ender and Estelle.
He looked around feverishly, knocking down anyone trying to attack him.
“Aim . . .,”he heard a familiar voice say. Then he turned and saw his father and his troop aiming fire catapults towards a big Traitorous ship. Then he remembered where his wife went. She was held captive on the Traitorous ship.
“No! Dad!” he screamed, running towards his father.
His father seemed oblivious to his cry,”FIRE!”
Then Dreki could see the glimpse of his wife and his children as they stumbled out of the doors in the ship. But it was too late.
As if in slow motion, he saw the ship bomb and sink very rapidly, engulfed in flames.
He couldn’t think or speak. Just feel his hot tears streaming down his blood stained face.
In anger, he walked up to his father and yelled,”HOW COULD YOU?”
“How could I what?”he answered coldly.
“How could . . . how could,”Dreki said, trying to get his words in other,”take out that ship and knoxw that my wife and children were on that ship?!’”
There was no reply.
“You see, Dreki, there is a choice of a chief between his tribe and his family. If you want your tribe to survive, you have to risk your family.,”he replied.
Then he pointed to the retreating Traitorous tribe.
“Besides, you have enough kids. Paul seems to be a good heir, what was the use of the others?”he continued.
Dreki couldn’t believe it. How could his father be so cold? So cold at heart?
“Why? Why don’t you care about family anymore? Is it because we lost mom?Or is it because you lost Toothless? What is it? Why make me suffer? Why? TELL ME WHY?” Dreki ranted.
When his father just stared down at him, no emotion at all, Dreki couldn’t help but blurt out the words in his heart,”You are no better then the Traitorous. You are a traitor.” He tried his best to bite back the tears,”I’m leaving. I never want to see you or think of you again.”
“Dreki . . .,”he started, sounding like his voice was . . . breaking?
“Don’t you dare call me that. For now on, my name is Calvin. I am no longer your son and my children are no longer associated with you.”
Then Calvin walked away.
---------------------------------------------------
Calvin and his children walked up the peak.
He knew that there was a bridge to a different time. A time far from this time.
He held up the locket that was given to his family by the people of the future. A locket he stole from his father so many years ago, when the dragons disappeared from the face of the Earth.
Soon they were in the cave with a special device.
He gripped his children’s hands tightly.
Then he looked back at Berk.
“Goodbye,”he whispered.
Then he flicked the locket open and all went white.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Tears came to his eyes as he was forced to relive the memory that he tried so hard to erase from his memory. So hard to forget because every time he looked at his children, it kept reminding him.
“Your father wasn’t all what he seemed to be. Gave into the coldness that slowly creeped into his heart. What was him name again?” the Skeleton rasped.
“Please . . . no . . .,”Calvin pleaded.
“Oh, yes. Hiccup, wasn’t it? Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, the greatest chief in the archipelago, until his dragon disappeared. Probably that’s what he was trying to teach you. Teaching you to not hold your love ones so dear because you will fail. Fail because of them,”he continued and knelt down to Mr.Haddock,”So he killed your wife and kids.”
“STOP! PLEASE STOP!” Mr.Haddock screamed, wanting the Skeleton to stop replaying it in his mind all over again.
The Skeleton backed off, clearly pleased on how much he broke Mr.Haddock.
“Stop hiding. There is nowhere to hide anymore. It’s the end of the line.”
Mr.Haddock just stared at the ground, tears in his eyes.
He looked towards his kids who were also brimming with tears. In shock that their dad never told them before. In shock that they didn’t belong in this time. In shock that their admired hero was their mom’s murderer.
“You know where it is. You used it. I will give you time to think,”the Skeleton said.
At that, he blew out the lantern and the darkness returned.
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