Book 8 - Conquest for the Truth - Chapter 31 - Epilogue

Conquest for the Truth – Notes

Chapter 1

The World is Calling You, Part 1

            “Oh, come on,” I tell him as I reach into my pocket for a little bit of Dragon Nip, giving some to him; he had rotated his neck back to reach for it.  “It has been a year… Over a year, and every morning, you do the same thing.”  But I then rub his head, “Yet, you deserve every bit of it.”  I give the Titan a hug.

• Reference to Star Scream saving Annabeth in The Crimson Storm

            I lean down to tell Fredrick, “One minute she wishes we can leave together, the next, she says she would be disappointed if I wasn’t in this race.  Is Hiccup right about relationships?”

         Annabeth starts leading Anora out and answers back, “I heard that.”

• Subtle reference to what Hiccup says in Httyd 3 about relationships

            Annabeth and I were married about a year ago, last Snoggletog.  Every time Annabeth thinks about it or remembers it, she cries.  Not because she is now stuck with me for eternity, but for the moment that I created for her.  Also, because I write all of our adventures in a journal to keep for future generations, Annabeth will take out my short story I wrote of our wedding a reread it.  I have lost track how many times she has read it, but within the first few days of me completing the story, she read it eight times.  It never fails, every time she reads it, she ends up crying.  It is not like I expire in the end or something drastic, but if you ask Tuffnut, then it was one more loss of the single vikings to eternal bonds of matrimony.

• DragonsAreMyFriends, the creator of Annabeth Everdeen, after reading The Wedding cried.  Then she read it again and again for a total of eight times within the first days of me finishing the short story.  After that, I did lose track of how many times she has read it.  But every time she has read the story after that, she has cried.
• While the characters are their own characters, those of you who have submitted characters, I thought it would be a nice touch that they would do some of the things that you do.  I hope it makes them seem a bit more personal to you because these characters have been a part of my life for five plus years.  And I know Dragons feels the same way.

            Other gadgets would include various smoke bombs and arrows to be used.  Garth made a complete set of various arrowheads to be attached to an arrow.  They are less effective at penetrating armor or causing damage, but the ability to set something on fire, knock it out with a mixture of Zippleback gas and Dragon Root, freeze it using Flightmare gel, or the good ‘ol way of grappling to a target.  The smoke bombs are as follows:  regular smoke bombs, Zippleback gas bombs, Flightmare gel bombs, cracker bombs -these cause a noise distraction-, and Night Fury sticky bombs.  All of these arrows or bombs are available to all of my friends.  Some of them use it more than others and others not really at all.  But if ever in a situation that needed such a gadget, all of my friends have at least two of each.  Annabeth, Dawn, Cazi, Heather, Dagur, and I all have at least three of each.

         All of my friends have hidden blades just like what Annabeth and I have.  Those who use daggers as their main weapons, specifically Cazi and Ali, they have two hidden blades in each bracer.  But the mini bow-casters are still just on Annabeth and me.

• If you all are a video gamer like me, you cannot help but think of Assassin’s Creed after reading the above excerpt.  All of their tools is inspired from Assassin’s Creed, the first of which being the grappling hook from Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (My second favorite game, behind Odyssey).
• Since Hiccup has his flight suit, I wanted Jarl to have his own unique gadget.  So, I decided on the grappling hook.  But to further the reference to Assassin’s Creed, I then added the mini bowcaster from Assassin’s Creed Unity as well as the typical hidden blade.
• Are Jarl and his crew assassin’s in the same universe as Assassin’s Creed?  Maybe not the universe where the human race was created by the Isu, but the same universe that has everything else.  So, this would mean that you might consider Jarl a gray Assassin.  Yeah, I know, blending two different franchises.  A gray Jedi and an assassin.
• Getting off topic, but having an Assassin Creed game set in the future in a Galaxy far, far away with the force and lightsabers… That’s a cross over game I would pay to play.

            With the last couple of mysteries, we have found out that there was something in this archipelago that both Vixxen and Einar were after.  Einar is still a mystery, but what Vixxen was after turned out to be nothing more than a little Purple Death and a Shadow Mountain.  Einar’s motivations are still left as a mystery since The Crimson Storm.  To say the least, Annabeth and I have a score to settle with Einar when we meet again.

• At some point in the first few chapters of a book, I try to get the reader caught back up if this would be the first book they are reading.  Both with the story and with the characters.  Depending on the time jump, I may or may not do a review of where characters are, especially if nothing has changed since I last mentioned the characters.  A lot of this is writer preference but can add some nice touches to you writing stories.
• As a writer, in my opinion, it is good to review from you last book, especially with a chronological series, but you can be the judge on how extensive you need to be.  The bigger the time jump between books, the more time you should spend on catching the reader up to speed.  Calling back and referencing your last couple of books, especially if they directly impact your current book, is also a nice touch.  Keeping it a bit vague for those first-time readers but also put in enough references so the reader who did read those books can fill in the cracks and remember what happened.

            At this point in the season, all of the meetings are the same and are a bit of a formality.  Thinking back to a few seasons ago with what happened during with Ohmarr, going through the rules and checking all the equipment before a series of races begin is here to stay.

• Reference to Thoughts of Guilt

            When the meeting is adjourned, Astrid comes over to wish me and my team good fortune.  Yet, I get the feeling something other than racing is on her mind.  It seems as if she wants to talk to me alone, so I tell the rest of my team to wait outside while I put on my race paint.  I let Astrid tell me in her own time.

         I put the yellow and blue paint on my face in the shape of arrows.  A line under both my eyes and a line going down to my chin.  I do the same for above my eyes and to my forehead.  I fill the space under the lines with the yellow and blue to make a checkerboard look.

         A couple of minutes later, I show it off to Astrid and wonder, “How do I look.”

         With no emotion, she replies, “Terrifying.”  She then sighs asks what is on her mind, “How do you do it?”

         Not exactly what I thought she might ask, “Do what?”

         “How do you balance being a Dragon Racer, solving mysteries, and being with Annabeth?” Astrid questions.  “You two and the rest of your friends are going off to the far north to help Garth and his home.  But how can you go into such a situation?”

• Through the rest of this chapter, I highly reference the beginning of Httyd 2.
• But in this section, I try to dive a bit deeper into what -to me- were some of the underlying storylines in the beginning of Httyd 2 coming off of Race to the Edge and looking forward to Httyd 3.  With Astrid, the big question of dealing with her relationship with Hiccup yet how to also deal with everything else they do.
• Bring some depth to the already established characters of the Httyd world was a chance for me to dive deeper into some of the storylines and give some backstory depth to the characters.  How do I keep in line with what Httyd 2 did yet how do I add too it?
• With Astrid seeing Annabeth and Jarl get married, Jarl still solving mysteries and racing while Annabeth still helps him and also races, how do the manage to stay a couple?  Then Astrid’s next logical step to think about is what is taking so long with Hiccup and their relationship?  Is there something she needs to do to be worthy of being Hiccup’s bride?
• Because she is the logical one of the group, the common sense one, but sometimes she can be a bit hesitant in acting on the logic and common sense in a normal circumstance.  But when it becomes time to lead, she takes charge and makes the hard decisions.

         I turn around to face Astrid and answer her question, “Annabeth and I were a team before we were married, and now we are one.  Annabeth and I do everything together, much like you and Hiccup are doing.  But as with the unknowns in life, life will sometimes do everything it can to tear down both of you.  No matter what comes your way, you will always have Hiccup, and Hiccup, you.  As long as you two work together as one, there is not anything that you two cannot do together.  No matter what you and Hiccup will have to deal with, just being there for Hiccup in any situation or decision will be invaluable to him.  I do a lot for Annabeth, but I give up a lot of my own self for her.  What I give up, Annabeth makes up for to give to me.  What she gives up of herself, I make up for in what I give to her.  It’s a cycle.  You give all that you are to the other and then they will reciprocate the gesture.  Let me ask you this.  Would you follow Hiccup to the ends of the world?”

         “Of course,” Astrid quickly responds.

         I then walk up to Astrid, lay my left hand on her shoulder and seriously answer her initial question, “Then do not hesitate to fly off with him if he does what her normally does in those situations.”  I then walk back over to Fredrick to then walk Astrid out of The Great Hall.  “You and I are much alike.  We both want to do the right thing, we both want to do it the right way, and we both respect any authority over us.  But sometimes you have to make a decision which is more important.  Standing by the one you love or letting them stand by themselves.  The difference between the good choice and the right choice may seem unclear, but you already knew the answer to this before you asked me.  You would do anything for Hiccup, so show him that you will help him no matter what.”  I mount Fredrick as I finish.

• A lot happens in these paragraphs.  Not only do I foreshadow and set up Httyd 2, but I foreshadow and set up Conquest for the Truth.  The moral to Conquest for the Truth is, “Doing the right thing no matter what, but doing it together with the one(s) you love.  You may think you are strong by yourself, but when you are with the ones who love you, it makes your power unbreakable.  Together (key word of the entire book) nothing can stop you, but are you willing to go the distance and put your life on the line for those you love and for doing the right thing?  Being willing to go that far for the other as well as doing the right/good thing for them is true love.”

         Astrid then whistles for Stormfly and mounts her, “I guess I did already know that answer.  You and Annabeth have been an inspiration to me and Hiccup.”

         “Us?” I echo.

         “Yes, mutton head,” Astrid says.  “You’ve showed us what it takes to be a leading couple, now we just have to figure out it will take to take the last step together.”

         “I’m sure it will come soon,” I tell her.

• While I was writing this sequence, I had never realized until then the comparable aspects of Jarl to Astrid and Annabeth to Hiccup.  The demeanors, the personalities, the aims in life, almost every fundamental thing of each character, Astrid is like Jarl and Annabeth is like Hiccup.  So, because I realized this while writing, I had gone back through to make this sequence more meaningful to both Astrid and Jarl.  These kinds of parallels were unintended, but if there is anything I have learned about writing this series, there are a lot of parallels, especially in character backgrounds, that can bring a lot of realism and depth to the story.  When they are unintended it, it makes them much more satisfying and crucial to the story, strengthening the bond between characters within the story.

         Cazi takes the early lead, followed by Dawn, and the rest of us.  One lap around the course and the sheep are let free.  As much as I love Dragon Racing, I have to feel for the sheep.  They thought they would not have to worry about any dragon attacks anymore after we finally got them to feel safe around dragons.  Then we come up with Dragon Racing, and they huddle again in terror for every race.

• While re-watching Httyd 2 for my homework, it dawned on me what the sheep have to deal with after remembering the first few episodes of Riders of Berk.

            Ruffnut then scores the sheep, Stoick then commentates on the lap, he chuckles in excitement as he gets up from his chieftain chair, “That’s nine for the twins.  Astrid lags with three.  Fishlegs and Snotlout trail with none.  And Hiccup is,” Stoick pauses as he sits back down.  “Is nowhere to be found.”

         Gobber then leans in, “Scared him off with the big talk, didn’t you Stoick?”

         Stoick ignores his best friend, but definitely heard what Gobber said.

         Stoick goes on to say, “I thought that maybe he would at least show up for this race, seeing how it is the final one of the series.”

         Spitelout adds, “So much for your future daughter-in-law.  She can’t even out race my own son as he vies for the Thorston Twin, Ruffnut.  With Fishlegs out in front, in position for the Black Sheep, there is no way Astrid is going to win.”

         Stoick ignores Spitelout.  Spitelout has a smirk probably relishing in the fact that Astrid is not going to win.

         Stoick simply chuckles and tells Gobber, “It’s time.”

         “Righty censored,” Gobber answers and then signals for the Thunderear.  “Last lap!” he announces.

         The thunderear sounds and the crowd erupts in anticipation of the last lap.

• I could have copied the whole last part of this chapter, but I’ll just select a couple of paragraphs.
• I thoroughly enjoyed writing this part because you get to experience the start of Httyd 2 from another perspective and another vantage point.  The race within the race, if you will.

         The thunderear sounds and the crowd erupts in anticipation of the last lap.

         The crowd waits as Gobber now takes the Black Sheep to the launcher.  Moments later, the Black Sheep is in the air.  Astrid is able to pass the Twins and Snotlout to aim for the final sheep, but Fishlegs still had enough of a lead to grab the Black Sheep out of the claws of Stormfly.  Fishlegs in turn tosses the Black Sheep to Ruffnut.

         Dawn sighs, “Pfft, typical.  Men trying to out do each other just for the hand of someone else.  Just get a rid of the other one so you don’t have to have the competition.”

         Explod states, “It looks like the Twins are going to beat everyone.”

         “Not over yet,” I point behind the Twins.  “Look!”

         Astrid comes up behind the Twins who have slowed down.  The two Thorstons are fighting over who gets to score the sheep which lets… Astrid to jump off Stormly, run across their Zippleback.

         Stoick exclaims as he stands up, “Get ‘em Astrid!”

         Astrid jumps off Barf and Belch, side flips into the air, and grabs the Black Sheep right out of the Twins grasp, then lands back on top of Stormfly.

         Stoick jumps up and Spitelout just lets out a sigh as he slumps.

         “Well played!” shouts Stoick and then shove Spitelout in the side.  “That’s my future daughter-in-law!”

         I add, “That’ll show them that they should never doubt a Hofferson, let alone Astrid.”

         When it looks like the tide has finally turned to Astrid’s favor, Fishlegs and Meatlug out of nowhere shove Astrid and Stormfly to the side as Snotlout and Hookfang come the opposite way.

         Snotlout reaches for his hammer and stands up in his saddle saying, “Uh huh, excuse me.”

         “Stormfly!” yells Astrid.

         At the last possible moment, the Deadly Nadder dives down, but Snotlout follows through… Right into Fishleg’s face.  The crowd grimaces.

         Astrid and Stormfly barely miss flying under the start finish line, twirling as they go.  Astrid holds on as Stormfly levels out for a brief moment, but then twirls into a reverse loop and flies back around and up to the start finishing line.  Still twirling, Astrid dunks the Black Sheep into her basket!

         Game over!

         Stoick is overjoyed, “That’s thirteen!  Astrid takes the game!!

         Winning both the race and the game against my team, Astrid circles around for a victory lap, celebrating, waving to the crowd, and leaning over to slap some high-fives of her adoring fans.

         “Well,” Dawn comes over and forcibly slaps me on the back.  “Better look next time.”

         All I can do is shake my head.

• Okay, so maybe I ended up copying the rest of the chapter anyway.  I thought there was going to be a little bit more.
• But what was extremely challenging was to figure out what the rules of the race would be because this form of Dragon Racing is different from the Dragon Racing in School of Dragons.  And since Battle Royales are all the rage nowadays, I thought, “Why not?  The objective fits.”  Then the next part was to figure out the points system, making Jarl’s race epic and awesome while making the race Astrid won in all of its awesome epicness from the movie.
• Probably the hardest thing to figure out, out of everything, was the timing of this.  How do I put the Dragon Race from Httyd 2 into words while giving some in between dialogue not seen on screen from the movie and adding in my characters and asking the question, “Where are they?” when watching Httyd 2.

What I ended up with Chapter 1 was epic, but as you all can now see, this was only the tip of the iceberg.  You as the reader and I as the writer while then go on a wild ride to watch unfold what turned out to be my favorite book in the series and the most epic and awesome one of the series too.  The Clue of the Missing Socks still has a special place in my heart because it started it all, but Conquest for the Truth turned out to be so much of what I imagine and a lot more I didn’t think possible.

I will continue doing these reviews of the chapters every so often.  I probably won’t get through this thing until I start the next book, but we will see.

(I feel like I shouldn't directly reply to it so you can edit the work you put into that.  XD)

Thank you.  This has been an adventure getting to this point, in more ways than one, but I would do it all again... Though I don't know if I could remember everything that happened in the book because I got to nearly everything I wanted to add for this book.  So, in a way, I don't want to go back and have to write this book for the first time because it may not be the same.

I won't.  I know you better and you know me better.  I would know you know to for you to know how to understand your where your input is coming from.  Now, others may not know that we know what we previously didn't know, but we knew we would soon know what we now know about each other.   I'll stop... XD

Even if I was talking to my best friend, I would still set the record straight about what I am intending, especially in text which is hard to emotion from just chatting and talking about stuff.  So, while I say you don't have to say it for I'll understand where you are coming from, I completely understand why you would do it anyway.

Alright.  It is an option for the readers, but I would highly suggest you listen to some of the mixes as you write or just in general.  I knew I liked epic music before, but I didn't know there was so much out there.  Finding a mix that fit the mood of the chapter was easier at first, but while I was trying to find different mixes for each chapter, some mixes first songs did while the rest of the mix didn't.  Had to mix and match a few times, but finding the music also helped me work on what the mood was for the story to try and stick to it.

Things you really liked:

1.  I think it is my favorite plot twist too.  While I had from the very beginning had Fredrick being trained by someone else, I didn't know who, why, and where.  Once Vixxen was introduced, I knew who I wanted it to be.  Though, a book later I forgot about it.  But when planning for Book 8 came around, I remembered it again.  That's when I started writing down more stuff, even the things I thought I would remember.  >.<

For the reason I had planned this from the beginning makes this plot twist even more memorable and meaningful to me.

2.  I guess I could have made it a bit more clear in the beginning, but this book was like an "Avengers... Assemble!" kind of book where all of Jarl's friends he has made came with him to Izar.  I did want to do more with them, but with so many characters it is very difficult.  I have my core characters, so I didn't want to just abruptly abandon them, but maybe I should to change things up.  Another thing to work on.

3.  I will definitely do more of this.  I found it a nice change of pace but also a new challenge of trying to write to their personality.  Especially the one chapter from Vixxen's PoV when she was still a villainess.  At the time, this is what I was thinking, "If I am going to eventually turn her good, how do I make her seem still evil but relateable?  Relateable in the sense what she believes is righteous and what Jarl believes is sin, what Viggo once said (And remember, Vixxen was once business partners with him, so that's where she got it and why she said it.) but then make Einar seem like Vixxen's villain and opponent.  Make her have her own problems to deal with and question why she is doing what she is doing.  Because if so many people are against her, simply asking herself the question, 'Why?' is something I want to bring out."

4.  And I think what helped it be obvious in a good way was the chapter from her point of view.  But being the writer I am, I wanted to play with and make you all question if she really did change or if it was all part of the plan.  Side note with Vixxen, I came extremely close to killing Klarp off, making him do a sacrifice play to save Vixxen.  As much as that would have been a great moment for the story in general, what I wanted to do in the series after this would have caused it to not be the same.  That chapter of them rescuing Klarp I had rewritten in my mind several times before writing it.

5.  Well, maybe you had a doctor who game you medince with instructions: Take the medince daily, but skip the fifth dosage.  (The original joke is of a comedian, Red Skelton, comes skipping out to start his show.  When he asks the people why he did it, he said his doctor told him to take some medicine and then skip a day... So, that was his day to skip.)

6.  This is an interesting point to why I did it as there are a few layers.  When asking Garth what you had planned for his stories and what I needed to do to set up his future stories (as in his stories are in the same timeline and he has stories planned that come after my Book 8), he gave me three endings for Garth.  Jarl and the crew wins and Garth chooses to stay.  Jarl and the crew wins and Garth goes with them, only to return to Izar several years later and most likely stay.  Or have Einar killed and Garth goes with them.  More on Einar being killed later.

7.  Not until you said it.  XD

8.  And with this, I hope you see I took one of your previous suggestions from The Crimson Storm.  :D  I listen to all suggestions, it just make take me a bit to set it up.  One of the other storylines was Jarl dealing with his morals and the consquences for his decisions.  While his decision for him and his friends may be good and right for them, are there unintended consquences that creates trouble for someone else.  Jarl wants to help everyone, but (to make a real world application for us) satan will do all he can for you to fail in anyway he can.  Some of his plans don't work, but he is still the prince of this world.

So to have Jarl lose and lose several times back to back, how would Jarl deal with it?  More on that later.

9.  It was an interesting side quest.  And if you liked how dark it got with the Eels and Theo, you should have read Winged Warden's original backstory about that.  (Btw, I will upload my jumbled up mess of notes that I use for my series.  Just wondering if I should explain the mess as I go or let you all read it in its unorganized glory?)  It was a lot darker, both figuretively and literally.

Side not on why I didn't spend more time on it (because I did want to), throughout this whole book I wanted to work on pacing.  This book could have easily surpassed 40 or 50 chapters.  But after The Mystery of Shadow Mountain, I knew I needed to work on my pacing.  How to create an epic story with few chapters?  First thing... Extend the chapter word count from 2,500 to 3,000 - 5,000.  Book 8 is technically one of my shorter books chapter wise, but the word count is on par for what I am averaging, excluding The Mystery of Shadow Mountain.

10.  Go right ahead.  I knew there would be one I would get you on.  :P  I went a little further than I normally do with the puns because I had a sub moral to the story for doing it.  The whole running joke of Jarl's puns being contagious is part of the moral.  When we are who we are to people, we start to rub off.  So, if we are a good person, we will rub off on everyone including our foes.  They just have to be willing to be honest with what they are doing.  For me personally, being a Christian, everyone will know I am a Christian by what I do.  I don't have to say anything.  Just me trying to be the example of Christ to everyone, it will "rub off" on others and may create an opporunity for me to talk to them about Christ.  And that is all I ask for, an opportunity to help them.

So, when Vixxen comments that something else rubbed off on her, she means that she was finally honest with what she was doing and realized she was in the wrong the whole time.  And acting on her mistake, she tried to rectify it.  (I saw rectify in my story while looking through to see what you were talking about in Chapter 26 and I was like, "I need ot use that word more."  XD )  Early on, I wanted Jarl to pressure Vixxen into questioning what she was doing, but it wasn't until halfway through the book that I started thinking about turning her good and using this as the way to do it.

In the future, there may not be as many puns, but they will still be there.  Because if it worked with Vixxen, it might work with others, Jarl is thinking.

The things that did not work fantastically

(Aka... A nice way of putting... The things that were bad... Insert Grog slapping his hand on the wall saying, "And died.")

Being funny, btw.  (See I still do it, wanting to clarify a statement.)

Come one, give it to me.  The 'ol honey and the hatchet routine.  Give them what they want to hear and then surprise them with what you want to say.  Not exactly what you meant by your whole post, but that is the reference I thought of.

1.  (Well, Einer is fake anyway.  He doesn't exsist.  Einar with an "A" on the other hand does.  :P )  Einar not killing throughout the first wave of attack, only taking prisoners, and not killing Asvord was going against what he would normally do.  But that was the point.  Einar knew Jarl knew he was a killer, so to get inside Jarl's head, he did the opposite of what Jarl expected him to do.  Jarl thought the first wave at the beginning of the book was going to turn out like the final battle, some not making it.  Einar tried to exploit Jarl's "Weakness" by playing to what Jarl wanted to get him to do what Einar wanted to have happen.  Vixxen recommended he go this route to have Jarl do all the work for him so he could swoop in take what Einar wanted all along.  She did this because she has done this before, but part of her didn't want to see Jarl killed.  So much so, Vixxen saved Jarl's life during the initial battle when Jarl protected Annabeth.  Einar was going to finish the job, but Vixxen stopped him.  Though Einar was planning all along to betray Vixxen, he did respect her and her stance on how to deal with Jarl and the crew.  Vixxen had much more experience with Jarl and the crew than he did, so he would use Vixxen to get what he wanted in the end.

When Vixxen did stop Einar, Einar found it strange and that was the first moment he knew Vixxen was going to try and stop him.  Then Einar became curious as to what Jarl would do if he let Jarl live.  So, Einar let Jarl live as well as Annabeth.  Einar is smart and cunning, but he is also curious too.  Had Einar finished the job... My series would have ended right there.  Insert Game Over screen when he make a poor choice, miss a quick time event, or hidein battle.

Einar didn't hypnotize Asvord, Vixxen did.  It was Vixxen's idea and Einar let her do it.  He was still questioning if Vixxen was still evil or not, so he used this opportunity to test Vixxen.  He has his plans yes, but he will get a rid of anyone who will not be loyal to his cause.  He knew Vixxen had her own agenda, but she had always given in to him because she had thought giving him what he wanted would solve everything.  Again, Einar is curious and in fact had a secert goal for letting this happen.

I did want to play with the readers emotions as to if Asvord died or not, but I was setting up Vixxen's turn to the good side through all this.  Never mentioned it because I did it more for me to remember to have her turn, but wondered if anyone else would catch on.  Letting Vixxen plan to do this actually ended up covering his escape to regroup and go get his Bewilderbeast, so that is why he followed up on it and made it look like his idea... Because it worked.  But because it also worked, he further tested Vixxen.  They both knew Annabeth would try to rescue

Asvord, so they both purposely tried to let it happen.  Einar wanted it to happen so he could kill both of them and make Jarl futher mad by not keeping up his end of the bargin, saying, "Well, had they not tried to escape, they would still be living."  Blame it on them not what actually happened.  Vixxen on the other hand was starting to think she was in the wrong and knew Annabeth needed to escape because Vixxen didn't want anything to happen to Annabeth or Asvord.  But at this point, Vixxen was going to do it on her own with Klarp and their forces to bring down Einar from the inside... Which was one of the main things she trained for as a sentinel.  Though something was telling her it would have never worked.

When Vixxen had the fight with Annabeth, Vixxen intentionally made mistakes for Annabeth to get the better of her and escape with Asvord.  As well as Vixxen tried to play, Einar was convinced at that point that Vixxen was no longer on his side and would soon get a rid of her.  She still had her uses, but the thought of his own backup plan to have Skygge kill Vixxen became his course of action at that point.

All of this would have been nice to write, but I wanted there to be questions and you to ask, "Why did Einar do this?"  Well, I hope this answers why.  The story within the story.

2.  Upfront, while reviewing this part of the story for this reply, I have come to a conclusion.  I was trying to mash two ideas together:  Even fight between Annabeth and Jarl and Einar.  And then an inescapable situation where Annabeth and Jarl want to capture Einar but are outmatched and outnumbered.

This is what I wanted.  Looking back and hearing you, this is not what it turned out to be.  I do find I try to do a lot of things, I should probably have just picked one idea and ran with it.  But I really wanted them to have a one on one moment before the climax.  However, I should have gone with the 2nd idea because that is what I wanted.

So, how I will rewrite it is have multiple vikings appear with Einar and Annabeth and Jarl are outnumbered.  Annabeth and Jarl are either nearly killed or nearly captured before one in their crew comes to the rescue or part of the fight ends up on the ship and creates a chance for them to escape.

This is what I wanted to have happened, but tried too hard to have two ideas come together which ended up not making sense.  This is a prime example why I greatly appreciate any type of comments on my chapters and stories so I can either correct it as I write the story or go back and rewrite it.  All of my stories as they sit right now are first drafts.  While I will eventually go back and get a second draft of each, not much will change.  Unless there is something glaring as this, I would go back and change it.

Having Annabeth and Jarl outnumbered and nearly killed while something happens that creates an opportunity for them to escape, having the rest of the story pan out the same but with the improved idea that Annabeth and Jarl had to let Einar go because Annabeth and Jarl would have been captured or worse; does this sound better than what is there now?

Another thing I found about Chapter 26 is I messed up halfway through with the structure of the chapter.  I started out writing it as PoV from Annabeth, but halfway through I used Annabeth in the third person and then suddenly Jarl appears.  The chapter as a whole will probably need to be re-written to make sure the PoV stays the same and consistent and to make Annabeth's situation more dire that she had to let Einar go or she would get captured or worse.

I wanted it to be like the villain was almost captured but planned for it and caused the heroes to make a grave mistake because of the consquences of the last battle.  Hopefully this explains what happened and brings to light my mistake.

3.  While I wanted Jarl to feel in over his head sometimes, I as the writer felt that way a few times but not to the point I wrote myself into a corner.  I wanted Jarl to think he could be a jack of all trades and do everything.  But when he did everything, have him lose almost everything.  Then he let's those good at war strategies do that part while he does focus on the mystery.  No one knew what was at the end of the mystery, but by every indication, it was something that could wipe out the island no matter what they did to try and stop it or solve it.

Jarl made a lot of mistakes and he isn't used to making mistakes.  He's used to planning for all those mistakes and fixing them as they go.  But when he does that and the mistakes are worse, he had to figure out what to do next which at times made more mistakes.

Going through your choices for Jarl:
a) destroyed one of the herbs.

 -  Jarl thought that he could use the herbs to get to the Heart of Izar to make the decision then.  Either take the power for himself and use it against Einar, or use the power to self-destruct the Heart of Izar so that no one could use it.  Jarl really didn't want to use the power because he felt he would be just like Einar especially when The Prophecy set it had the chance to corrupt.  He really didn't want anyone to use the power, but was also curious to what the power of the Heart of Izar would be.

But all this said, what I thought of the herbs is that if one of the herbs die, they all hideand are useless.  Each of the herbs were different types of herbs were grown together and benefited from each other, also couldn't spend an extended time away from the other three.  Also, if one of the herbs were destoryed, it lost its healing capabilities.  Jarl was thinking that if they all got out of this, these herbs could significantly help the knowledge of medicine, once learning what the antidotes could do from Aiyana.

b) destroyed the puzzles

 -  Jarl hardly ever thinks of that because his whole job is to solve mysteries, not destory them.  But in doing so, what are the consquences?  Do all mysteries need to be solved?  He is the Mystery Conqueror, not the Mystery Destoryer.

Not to mention, the biggest reason why is the subtle thing of the puzzles being Izarian history.  Tradition and remembering the past are big things for the Izarian people.  I would say Garth and Jarl had an understanding that destorying these puzzles would create tension with the Izarians and they would think Jarl would only be out for himself, not respecting their ways.  Meaning, if these puzzles are here they are meant to be solved, not destoryed, regardless of the consquences.  The Izarian people are very set in their ways, but at the same time have no problem dealing and letting the consquences take them even if they know they won't make it.  They'll do it anyway.  Through what I have gotten from Garth's story is that the Izarian people will do whatever it takes to save their land.  But to others, it may not be the best or smartest, but its their way of doing it.

c)  find and destroy the lightning cannon

 -  Same thing with the puzzles, but especially with the Lightning Cannon.  Garth did not want to destory the cannon because of the icon it is for the Izarian people.  It one day helped the islands in their darkest times, if it went down, the Izarian people may lose hope.  I may have to rewrite why they didn't use the lightning cannon in the final battle.  It still may be destoryed just by firing it, but the trap Garth set could have been for control room for the controls to not work.  Since it is a fixed installation, it has its limitations, though its range is quite large.  But the lightning cannon did not fit into the plan Jarl had so it wasn't used.  Einar was too focused on using his power and the Bewilderbeast to do it.  Not some ancient weapon.

One other thing about the lightning cannon, it was only meant to be fired once into the Heart of Izar.  It was fired twice by Vixxen's order.  Vixxen knew something from the history of the Heart of Izar from what she learned from her studies back when she was growing up to be a sentinel.  Basically, if the Heart of Izar was supercharged, it would negate the mythical power that was in the Heart of the island.  So, by supercharging the room it negated the power which the herbs gave Einar.  But the only way to do this without releasing the toxins which are in the herbs which can do the things which Aiyana informed about, is to supercharge it with electronic blasts from Skrills directed and focused from the lightning cannon.

Not to mention, firing it twice, it was not part of Einar's or Jarl's plan.  Because had Einar gotten up with the full strength of the herbs, he would have decided to end it right there.  But because of the second blast, Einar knew it would not be the same.  And after seeing Annabeth and Jarl stand up with the Skrill bolts not effecting them, he was fearful that they recieved some type of power.  For a brief short amount of time, Einar was scared to death and didn't know what to do.  He was so caught up with the power, that the second blast interrupted so much it put him on edge and caused him to make the mistake of leaving Annabeth and Jarl.  Though, Annabeth he didn't see and Jarl was off to the side.  He was too worried about himself to make sure he lived than to check and finish off Annabeth and Jarl.  Him looking back on it, he knew it was a mistake.  From that point on, from what I was trying to portray, Einar was starting to lose ground and have to catch up.  Something he has never had to do.

d) find and destroy the Heart of Izar.

 -  Jarl and the crew didn't know where the Heart of Izar was.  Even if they had put all the clues to figure out where should have been, they still didn't know if that was actually where the Heart of Izar was.  Had they have been able to go on their own, Annabeth and Jarl, they would have thought of the decision to destory it.  But since Einar was still ahead of them on that -as he knew where the Heart of Izar was and how to use it, he didn't know all that he needed to get to that point- he went there ahead of Annabeth and Jarl.  Then after showing what he could do to their dragons, Annabeth and Jarl played with the idea of stopping Einar right then and there.  If it had to be they trapped themselves in the dome to stop Einar, they would have done so.  Annabeth and Jarl wanted to see if the power was actually something to be stopped or was it something else.  But they thought they would have their dragons and could then use Einar to get at the power.  But not knowing what he did to their dragons and what Einar might do with his own against them, Annabeth and Jarl knew they had to get Einar alone to do anything.  But then their dragons would still be in there with them, in the big chamber.  The Rumblehorn could have picked them off.  So, Annabeth and Jarl were struggling with what to do in the situation they were in, they had to go with what happened and make the best of it.  While Vixxen having the lightning cannon fire twice into the Heart also allowed Einar to escape, it also negated the power he recieved.

Jarl was focused on solving the mystery to see if that fixed the problems, but he found there were several things out of his control and needed to be given to others to make those decisions.  The Izarian people wanted to be on the front lines, they wanted to fight Einar, they wanted to make that sacrifice.  Not saying they intentionally threw their lives away, but the reason they wanted to be on the front lines is because they knew Einar would throw everything he had at the island to destory it.  The Izarian people finally changed and were thankful about all that Jarl and his crew had been trying to do for them.  Instead of them taking the initial wave in the final battle, the Izarian people volunteered to take the first wave.  Anyone who wanted to join them with the knowledge they probably won't make could join them too.

Some of the realization of the consquences of Jarl's actions is after the Bewilderbeast almost took out his crew.  He finally realized a lot of this is his fault.  He did what he thought was right, but sometimes when doing right others might get hurt.  It doesn't have to be that way, which Jarl tried to avoid.  But taking the line from Kung Fu Panda 2, when someone goes down the path to avoid their destiny, they seal it for them.  Jarl kind of knew this to be a fact, but he thought maybe this one time would be the exception and he could out think and figure out a third option.  Sometimes, there is no third option.  Even if you make a third option, it turned out no better or worse than just chosing the second or first option.

4.  From me writing Jarl, a lot of myself is in Jarl, trying to put myself in those situations, I asked myself, "What would I have done?"  The answer is kind of what you are describing but with a different reason.  Jarl in the tough moments of these books is not showing a lot of emotion for a few reasons.

a) It hadn't hit him.  He knew the stakes in this fight, but he thought he could prevent any loses.  Maybe so much so he started fooling himself.  So when it did happen, it was like a dream he couldn't wake up from, like it was actually happening.  I'm not sure what I would have done in those situations.  A couple of people I looked up to in the course of my life had passed on.  Some of which I was very close to.  But in that whole time, the biggest thing I did was cry when it finally started hitting me.  Other than that, I didn't hardly show any emotion.  I wasn't happy, I wasn't angry.  I was as neutral as a person can get.  Because I didn't know how to feel.  Even know, I still don't know how you are supposed to feel.  Jarl reverted back to what he knew best, solving mysteries.

b) Jarl was looked to as the leader of the Edge of Mystery's crew, so he put up a front to have it not look like it was effecting him when it clearly was.  This was more for Jarl than for me, but if I was in a position of leadership and someone actually did pass, I would have done what Jarl did.  Even some of the Izarian's at that point looked up to Jarl because all the talk about him being so great.  Jarl was trying to live up to that by trying to be brave and continue on with the work.  In his own mind, he thought that if he showed any kind of emotion two things might happen.  First, he may not be able to control it and do something he regrets.  Second, if he lets it get to him, who does everyone look up to?  Jarl would then consider he failed his friends, family, and the Izarians.  He tried to set the example of being the tough guy and continue the work to tell the others, "We've still got this.  Let's do this for them."

c) What would Asvord had wanted Jarl to do?  Because Jarl believed Asvord to be dead and lost his Heart, the love of his life, as like a last request sort of thing, what would Asvord had wanted Jarl to do if she could have said something before she died?  Asvord would have wanted Jarl to move on without her, grieve for her later, because he had work to do.  If you're the leader of the group, then act like it and do your best to fix the problem.

Me in general, I'm a procrastinator in everything, even showing emotion.  Most of the time, but it depends on what I am doing and the situation, I will tell myself to get mad later because I am wasting time to solve the problem.  I wasn't like this for the longest time, but until a couple of years ago, I forget what it was about I think it was something I got in trouble for and I wanted to cry and get angry at myself.  Then I was like, "What am I doing?  Figure out the solution first and you won't have to be made, you'll have no reason to be mad and you can move on."  Shortly there after, I think either that day or the next couple of days, I was working on a woodworking project for 4-H.  A lot of stuff was planned out.  But when one key thing turned out to be a terrible idea, it stopped everything and my dad started getting frustrated in the moment because it needed to be done in a couple of weeks.  Instead of joining in on the, "It should have worked."  I implemented what I was saying before and procrastinated on showing emotion.  Instead, I thought of an idea that might work, drew it out, and my dad said it might work.  Which it did and, long story short it won Grand Champion and is now a dog house for me beagle basset hound mix to lay in when she goes up at night.

Circling back around to my point, Jarl wanted to honor those last requests that Asvord and others would have made because he knew what they would have said given the chance.  So, he tried not to show emotion, be an example to others, and get back to work in order to make their sacrifice not be in vain.

Now, if Jarl knows everyone is safe and something terrible still happens, then Jarl may show some emotion and get angry, which is like me.  Out of everything, I get more mad, angry, and frustrated at myself than I do other people.  A lot of that I do internally and don't show it, but sometimes it sneaks out.  The understandable human emotions I/Jarl don't neccesarily try to surpress, we just show it in our own way.  And if the problem is fixed, then we don't have to get mad in the first place.  No reason to.

James 1:19-20  19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;  20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness that God requires. 

Quick note:  Jesus did get angry in the temple when He found people selling stuff, but he had a righteous anger and did not sin.  I try to be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.  And if you ask my sister or parents, I am slow in a lot of things, like slower than I probably should.  But I try to be quick to hear what they are saying and get faster at getting things done.  I'm laid back and easy going, going with the flow, but to a point where others need to spur me on to go faster.  So, Jarl and I are slow to anger and if we can figure out the problem, we won't have to be angry.

5.  Einar never did reach his Final Form, and that was the point.  What Einar thought was the power of Izar was something completely different.  Power does not have to be something impressive like moving a mountain or instantly training a dragon to your own will, power is in the one looking at their situation.

The Prophecy:

“At the proper time, all will come to pass, all will be made clear.  The Heart of a storm will rise with the winds of the sky and the depths of the ocean will return to its origin.  The power that waits to beheld, can punish, corrupt, or be the savior to a land that was once lost.  A land which is home to healing, to wisdom, to strength, to immortality.  Only the storm will survive.  A storm is coming.  A storm is here.”

“You are that storm.  Only you can look to their origin to choose whether to punish, to corrupt, or be the savior.  Only you with the heart of a Gale Storm, the knowledge of a Sand Wraith, and the might of The King of Dragons will have the spirit to conquer the truth.  You may rise or you may fall.  But only you can decide who you will be for eternity.”

The power to Izar is in the second half of the "Prophecy", which was more just a fancy word for scaring people into thinking it was something else.  The way in which to become a Dragon Mage is the knowledge of what a Dragon Mage is.  A Dragon Mage can use their power how they please, but it all hinges on what they think the power is.  Is it like a superpower as we might understand it, or is it something you work for gaining knowledge, strength, and skill?

To better explain, I asked Garth the question, "How can one become a Dragon Mage?"

This is what he answered:

---

One can become a Dragon Mage in one of 4 ways

Alpha Methods: 1. Force: the force route of the Dragon mage involves keeping an alpha class dragon under one's control using fear, intimidation, or other such methods. This is the quickest way to become a dragon mage however this type of control is dependent solely on the beast not turning on it's master and as such usually cannot be passed down through the generations. Example: Einar, Drago (HTTYD2), Grimmel, etc.

2. Inherited/Bestowed: Occasionally an alpha class dragon will allow itself to be willingly commanded by an individual or a certain lineage. This is the case of the Alpha's Hand, with this one enters into a mutual relationship with the Alpha much in the same way a dragon and rider pair bond. Example: Kaya

Scientific methods:

3. Study: Much like a wizard would learn magic through long study one can learn the secrets of dragons in a similar manner. This is where the term "Dragon Mage" comes from. A person using this method must be kind and empathic in order to get close to and understand dragons. Using this knowledge a person may be able to make a tool that allows them to use their knowledge to control and influence dragons. Example: Valka, Hiccup, Lyra.

4. Apprentice: A person may also learn the secrets of dragons by studying under another who has learned the secrets of dragons. This is much the same as how any apprenticeship works. Example: Saga

---

To actually become a Dragon Mage, the Heart of Izar was not needed.  There are other ways to become a Dragon Mage.  The Prophecy was set up to hide some of the things I went into in the book, but also think of it this way.  If you say you have a power to do what The Prophecy says and many people come to you, you have an opportunity with each one of them to teach them what it truly is to be a Dragon Mage and teach them how to do it right.  Those who come to take the power, you can spot them and take them out.  It just so happens that the latter sparked an entire war lasting years.

The kind of moment I was trying to build up to was a Kung Fu Panda 1 moment... "It's blank."  Breaking a Dragon Mage down to the bare bones is what that moment was in the first movie:  How to be a Dragon Master?  Look at yourself.  How to be a Dragon Mage?  Look at yourself.  What you think of something can make all the difference.  If you believe you can do something, you can do it.  If you believe you can't do something, it is near impossible to do.  it is all how you look at it.  If Einar thought something happened to him, then he could do more stuff.  But he could have done that before because he had already studied how to be a Dragon Mage just from the Bewilderbeast he had.  But how I described in the last paragraph what The Prophecy was supposed to do, it is all about perspective.  How I tried to word The Prophecy is how I was trying to form the main moral to Book 8.  If you believe in yourself and your friends, work together as a team, there isn't anything that can stand in your way.  You don't need anything special to make you special.  If you have a goal to attain like becoming a Dragon Mage, you will work to achieve that goal.  If that goal turns out to be not what you thought, look back on what you have done to get to this point.  While having goals and dreams are important, it isn't the most important thing.  Being in the moment, cherishing those around you, and having fun is what can make just being a normal, average viking feel like a Dragon Mage.

To reiterate, the second blast from the Lightning Cannon voided what the herbs gave to Einar without letting the herbs explode and release the bad toxins by just frying to a crisp dust what the herbs were.  But more importantly, The Prophecy was to give the person a choice between themselves and something else.  Do they want the power or what they gained by getting to that point?

Not sure if it is just me or if I'm trying to over explain the moral, but I hope it is making sense.

No hurt feelings at all.  I'll definitely remember them moving forward.

Your questions and suggestions:

1.  He is still alive and may make another return, but there is someone else you should ask.  What plans do Garth have for Einar in his story that takes place after my Book 8?  I'm asking that question too because I don't know.  Well, I do know a little bit about the story that takes place with Einar after Book 8.  So, the things with Einar I was doing at the end of Book 8 was setting up Einar for Garth's stories going forward.

2.  What are they doing indeed?  Always like to leave a couple of loose ends at a story to use in the next book.  So, we will see what is in store for Theo, Skygge, Throst, and Aberdeen is his name.  Lot of potential for all four together or individual.

3.  I need to do that.  I get excited to post that I just want to get it posted.  I try to edit as I go, but obviously, things still get past me.  Doing one read through before I post would no doubt greatly help.

4.  Maybe I could do a chapter from Skygge's PoV.  That would be very interesting... Especially if I want to use him in the next book.  ;)

I think I did a pretty good job with the different PoV and what is around them.  So, what I can focus on getting better is the person I am writing about.

5.  When I come up with a Title, that will be the first teaser.  The timeline I can answer right now.  Takes place soon after Book 8, but maybe a month or two afterwards.  Depending on how the story goes, I give the ending time no later than right before Httyd 3.  Not sure about the cover art, but while thinking about this over today, I thought what would be cool is to draw more than just a cover art.  A movie poster for the book with a few more characters and the title.  That would be more work, but using my college "need to get portfolio ready" brain, that would be an interesting and maybe eye catching piece to put in my portfolio.  One, advertising my books, but two, showing what I could do with my own material to create a movie poster.

I have a general idea what I want to do, I need to figure out the mystery to be solved.

No problem.  Thank you for typing it all up.

 - Drums