"Gobber, we need you out here. Now!"
Gobber turned from the small form in the corner of the room to see Stoic standing in the forge window, hammer in hand and his eyes grave, flickering with the light from the raised fires set. His friend looked worn, it was early morning and the village was experiencing the worst bout of raids that it had in years. Almost every night for the last month the village had been bombarded by dragons in numbers nobody knew existed. Stocks of food and supplies were dangerously low; they would be lucky to all make it through this winter.
"Leave her. We all have to make sacrifices for the village! She'll be fine"
It had been almost a year since Stoic had become chief but Gobber still wasn't accustomed to orders coming from his friend and he could see how chiefdom had aged the young man. When the great Chief Oswald had died, nobody thought that his young, burly son was ready for such a responsibility, what with his own child being so small and the recent loss of his wife, but he had proved them wrong when he single-handedly led the village though one of its most prolific summers in the three hundred years of vikings on berk. Stoic was celebrated by his village and held in the greatest respect. But everything had started to change when the dragons started to raid more and more, in numbers no chief could have been prepared for. Almost every night now was set ablaze by the onslaught of hundreds of dragons raining down on the island destroying homes and stealing all that they could. Many warriors had died trying to protect the village but it wasn't enough to prevent the beasts from taking their fill. Lack of food and livestock on Berk caused concern at the best of times, but the village was days away from the first snow of the winter when food gathering would be near impossible.
Gobber looked away from his tired chief to the small girl sat clutching a tie around her neck. Her head was down, her eyes clenched shut and Gobber could feel her squeezing his hand with her own. Did Stoic realise what he was asking him to do? Looking back at his friend he knew that he did. It was the same thing he had done every raid since Valka's passing. Gobber pictured his boy now, sat underneath the table of the chief's house holding on to the leg, listening to the screams and deafening roars that accompanied an attack. No six year old should have to face that alone, without a parent nearby to tell them it all would be ok. But Gobber knew that this time, his friend needed him to stand by his side to help him protect their home. Gobber nodded at Stoic in compliance and looked back to his daughter.
"I'll see you out there" Stoic muttered with a slight nod back
Gobber cupped the girls chin and gently lifted her face up until she was looking at him straight in the eye. They were blue, like his own, and sparkled with the threat of tears.
"Malie, look, I've got to go out and help protect the village for a while. What I need-"
As Gobber tried to rise from his kneeled position, he was stopped by small hands clasping onto his good leg, pulling him back.
"No, please don't leave me, I'll come with you, I can help!"
She ran over to the table and started to reach up on the tips of her toes to reach the small dagger resting on the edge.
"No, I need you to stay in here ok, and look after the forge, can you do that for me?" Gobber argued as he lifted her up and placed her on a bench at the back of the small room pulling her small winter cape around her.
Malie nodded.
"Stay right here and stay quiet," Gobber placed a finger over his lips causing the girl to mirror his actions.
I'll be back as soon as I can" Gobber explained as he kissed her on the forehead and enveloped her in a hug.
He stood up and grabbed an axe from one of the higher shelves in the forge. He looked back at the little girl and saw her big eyes watching him.
"I'll be back," he repeated before walking out into the battle.