The Gift Of Power | Wattys 2020 (Dance of Power Trilogy: Book 1)

Taboos and Terrors

It had taken some quick thinking and a little help from Toothless to keep Eret from running, screaming through the village. Once the initial shock had worn off, Hiccup introduced the family to Toothless. He was exceptionally glad that he had gotten them used to Sharpshot first or he doubted they would have handled it quite as well. It had still taken a fair few days for them to stop flinching whenever the night fury moved or made a noise. Eventually they did manage to relax around the dragon, and even come to enjoy the black beast's playful nature.

After Eret had seen him with Toothless, Hiccup had given up sleeping in the forest. He was exceptionally glad of this as the seasons began to change. Though the weather was milder than what he was used to, it would still have been very unpleasant to spend the nights on the ground in the woods. The villagers had been surprisingly accepting of the dragon. It was better than Hiccup could have ever hoped for. Eret senior had even cleared out a spot in the smithy for Toothless to sleep in after he had realized that the dragon was well trained. It also helped that he was quite good at heating metal in the forge in much less time than the traditional coal and bellows method.

Over the next moon, Hiccup continued to practice magic with Bríghid. He found he had definite aptitude for controlling the essences and took much joy from this. Though his most notable ability was in the mental arts. He excelled at shielding his own thoughts as well as breaking down the shields of others. The mental arts and magic combined gave him a sense of power and self-worth that he had never thought to achieve. He had never excelled at anything other than smithing before.

There was one particularly memorable evening that weighed on his mind however. He had been learning to summon the essence of fire and he had successfully created a glove of glowing green flame around his hand, while the skin underneath remained unharmed. The other members of the order had become eerily silent at seeing this display. After he had released the magic, Bríghid had called a stop to the training session. When they reached the village the other druids all hurried back to their homes after casting nervous glances at Hiccup. When he questioned Bríghid, she simply sighed resignedly.

"They are afraid of you. Or, more correctly, they are not certain if they should be afraid of you or not. The power and control that you continue to display has only been heard of in their legends. Not all of those that have power use their gifts for good. It does tend to bring out the very worst in us, regardless of our initial intentions. Remember this always, Little Shadow, for it may be the only thing that protects you from yourself or those that would use you for their own gain." She looked at him more seriously now.

"It is unclear whether your powers will be a blessing or a curse. Most likely they will be both. It is clear however that those closest to you will pay the price, no matter how steep. From this point I will be continuing your training on my own. For now, you need to get some sleep. I have much to teach you and I fear we do not have nearly as much time as I would like." Hiccup thought is was strange the way she had said 'their legends', as if she was not one of them. He figured it was best to leave it alone though. This night had already become uncomfortable and confusing enough.

Now that the Eret men understood why the high priestess had given him his new name, they had also taken to referring to him as Scáth Rothaí (meaning Shadow Rider). With all his new found free time, Hiccup had been able to complete his bow. It was a beautiful thing that curved first one way and then back on itself. After his first attempt had broken, he altered the design until he found one that worked. Made of multiple strips of yew and ash married together with pitch for added strength, the bow was lighter to draw than any other he had ever used.

Despite this, the arrow flew truer and delivered more force than he could normally hope to achieve with the traditional Viking longbow. Eret the younger had even begun to teach him archery from horse back which was much more difficult than just standing on the ground. Eret insisted that it would be of great use to know how to use his bow from dragon back since Toothless only had a limited number of his own shots. Hiccup had to agree.