This is Our Home
The last things that Stoick needed were more complaints from the village or another invitation to one of the tribes on the mainlands.
He got something even worse. News reached his ears from Hoark and a Viking scout. They arrived back on Berk with news. The doors from the Meade Hall opened. Stoick turned around to the sound of Hoark calling his name.
"Hoark, what is it?" Stoick asked. The looks on both Hoark and the scout's face looked dire.
Hoark gestured towards the far corner of the hall. Stoick followed hesitantly. "What's the news you have to tell me?"
"Twenty ships. Coming from the southwest. They're all heading towards Berk!"
Stoick was surprised. "Hostile?"
"They tried to shoot their arrows at us at first sight."
"Do you know who they are? Their insignias?"
Hoark thought about this for the moment. "The first half of ships had the insignia, S-P-Q-R. The second half of ships had insignias that looked like complex images of intertwined rope or knots."
"Romans? Gauls?" Stoick questioned in disbelief.
"I'm afraid so. The Roman ships had their own arsenal. Ballistas and catapults that are connected to their ships. Those could take down our homes!"
"We have the dragons now. Let's see if we can put them to good use," Stoick tried to say confidently. Though doubt crept up his mind he yelled commands.
"Everyone to their stattions! An invasion force is coming, so arm yourselves!"
Everyone in the Meade Hall scrambled outside to spread the word. Stoick picked up his hammer and sheathed his sword.
"Odin, help us," he muttered.
Hiccup was worried about the sudden arrival of the small invasion. Whe word reached him, he told all of the riders to spread out with their dragons and prepare for whatever what was coming. Most of the riders spread out, high in the air. They were still in earshot incase they were needed. Other riders were on the ground for close combat with their dragons.
Hiccup was in charge of air combat while Astrid fought with the others on the ground. Hiccup was joined by Fishlegs, Snotlout, and Treya while Astrid was joined by the twins and Brackish. That was going to be the plan unless anything changed.
For now, Hiccup was commanded by his father to call his half-Roman friend, Brackish Aurelis. A Roman officer and a small escort arrived near Berk's beach with a white flag. If they wanted to talk, Brackish would be needed to help and translate their language for Stoick to understand. Typical of a Roman centurion's overconfidence and upper class.
When Hiccup found Brackish, he was tightening the straps on Brazier's saddle and attaching a quiver of arrows to the leather.
"Your dad already calling me?" Brackish asked.
Hiccup nodded. "We better hurry. The centurion's getting impatient."
Brackish whistled to Brazier and held up a hand for the Night Fury to stay. He ran off with Hiccup to the beach.
Hiccup walked to his father's side while Brackish faced the centurion commander. The commander was tall-about six feet-but wasn't as tall as Stoick. His skin was pale and ears red because of the cold temperature. His blue eyes looked into Brackish's to intimidate him. Brackish dealt with some of these soldiers before. He stood his ground and just stared back.
Without leaving his eyes off of Brackish, he chuckled and said something in Latin.
Brackish told Stoick, "Apparently, he can't believe that a mere boy is our translator."
Stoick rolled his eyes. "Ask him about why he's come here."
Brackish's eyes flicked back to the commander. He repeated what Stoick said in his ancestral language.
The commander said something. Stoick and Hiccup both heard him mutter a name which was probably his own. 'Grachus Veril'.
"He says that he came here to find unexplored land and claim it for Rome," Brackish told Stoick.
Stoick glared at Grachus. "Would he like any terms of agreement or anything else to keep us from causing any casualties on both sides?"
The question was translated again for Grachus to understand. He replied something in a mocking tone. Hiccup could understand some of the words. He heard 'to make... interesting... how about... bet?'
Brackish relayed the words back for them to hear. "To make this interesting, how about a bet?"
Stoick nodded. The Roman commander smiled and explained everything to Brackish.
"This is his bet. If his men reach the Meade Hall, he will colonize Berk in the name of Rome," Brackish said trying to keep his cool.
"What do we do to win?" Hiccup asked
Brackish lowered his head. "Destroy all of his ships except for the main one and he won't tell his general about the location of us or any of the nearby tribes. He'll return in shame."
Hiccup looked around Berk. The only home he ever knew. The only home everyone ever knew. Would they give it up?
"Dad?" Hiccup asked.
They were Vikings. They had stubborness issues. Stoick said, "We accept."
Grachus understood those two words. He turned to Brackish and asked him in both of their own language, "You are the son of Vaticus?"
"Yes. What's it to you?" Brackish asked with heat.
"Rumors said that you would be here. The famous half-Roman. The legions would like to have your head."
Brackish glared at him. "Anything else?"
"Though the legions despise your dead father's existence, the caesar still respects him. The caesar and his son knew him well as if he was a close family member. Even if he was a traitor of Rome for sleeping with a Northern bi-"
Grachus caught the fist going for his face. He folded the boy's arm behind his back and locked an arm around his neck
Brackish yelled in the common tongue, "Don't you dare desecrate the memory of my parents!"
The commander just grinned. He spoke in the common tongue also, but with a heavy accent. He looked at Stoick and Hiccup and said, "The bet is still open. I've sworn a pack to our god."
He said this while gesturing to both himself and Brackish.
Hiccup yelled, "Let go of him!"
Grachus replied, "Witness the first casualty of this battle."
The Roman took the knife from Brackish's belt and stabbed it into the boy's side. Brackish yelled in pain. Grachus ran back to the end of the docks and signaled his ships for battle.
"Coward," Stoick muttered. "Spitelout! Spread the word of the damned Roman's bet. Prepare for battle!"
Hiccup carried Brackish up the hill while Stoick used a shield to cover them from arrows.
"Hiccup, get him to Gobber. He might be able to stop the bleeding. I have to move on and prepare everyone for whatever's coming."
The chieftain ran off towards the middle of the village. Hiccup looked at his friend. Brackish's blood stained his own shirt. The Roman ripped a piece of his sleeve off. He gave it to Hiccup who immediately knew what to do.
Hiccup dashed Brackish to the forge. Gobber wasn't that surprised about what happened.
"Brackish. Take the ripped cloth from Hiccup and clench it with your jaw. Once I start taking the blade out it will hurt like Hel. Hiccup, I want you to put a rag on the wound once the blade is out. Get Ready."
Gobber grabbed the handle of the knife. "One. Two. Three!"
As Gobber ripped the knife out, Brackish yelled in horrible agony.
"Put pressure on the wound, Hiccup!"
Hiccup pressed the rag against Brackish's wound. Gobber walked towards the worktable and pulled a few bandages out.
"I'll help him to sit up," Hiccup said.
Brackish groaned as Hiccup Put one of his arms over his neck. He tried to sit up quickly but Hiccup told him, "Easy. You're gonna cause the blood to come out again."
Gobber tended to the bleeding wound with a bandage.
"Hiccup, you should go on and get all of the riders ready."
Hiccup nodded and started to leave until he heard Brackish say, "Not without me."
"No. Ye' ain't going, Brack," Gobber said.
"Listen to Gobber, Brack. You're in no condition to fight," Hiccup decided to add.
Brackish lowered his head. He wanted to help in the defense of Berk, but this happened. He felt so useless at that moment. Hiccup knew that he couldn't say anything to calm Brack, so he decided to leave without a word.
Hiccup could hear his father yell, "Launch another round!"
He saw the projectiles from the trebuchets and catapults fly over the village and hit one of the landing ships.
Vikings near the defenses at the docks and beach were fighting off the first wave of enemy forces. The Gauls were sent in first by Grachus because he wanted to see and observe any weaknesses the Vikings had. The Gaulish soldiers were soon taken care of until an explosion hit the line of defenders. The enemy ships were already launching their ballistas.
A group of Nadders and one Monstrous Nightmare charged at the next wave of soldiers. The next wave were a small bunch of Romans in a tortoise formation. Their spears lunged out from gaps between the shields. When one of the archers in the Viking defenses shot at them, but the arrow deflected off of ther shields.
The Nadders went after the second ship and crushed it to pieces. The rider on the Monstrous Nightmare urged his dragon towards the tortoise formation. The Nightmare swiped at them and caused them to disperse. He burned any survivors that tried to fight back.
Hiccup ran to the Meade Hall. At his arrival at the base of the steps, everyone was alerted.
"Everyone has to get ready!" Hiccup shouted. "Once everyone is in place, we have to wait to be called by Spitelout."
An explosion ignited near the markets. Everyone cringed at the sound.
"How do you expect us to win this Roman's bet?" one of the tall riders asked.
Hiccup responded loudly for everyone to hear. "Berk is our home. The place that we've lived in for most of our lives. Heck, it's the island our ancestors lived on for three hundred years. Whatever we do will change the outcome of this battle."
The riders started to mount on their dragons. Some of the dragons roared and were excited for battle.
"Everyone ready?" Snotlout yelled. "Fire Brigade! On me! We'll be the skirmishers for now. Let's go!
The Fire Brigade were the first to fly out down to the beaches.
Berk was their home and they were all willing to save it.
Snotlout beckoned Fireworm to release a row of magma onto the Roman's line of shields. "Fire Brigade, spread out and try to take out any enemies that are already in the village!"
Two of the riders saluted to him and started shouting orders. Snotlout continued his bombardment. Looking up Berk's hills, he saw the Thorstan twins and their Zippleback create a flammable gas to blind a group of Gauls nearing some houses. Astrid wasn't on her dragon and was fighting with Treya against a band of Romans. Both of their dragons protected them as they hacked through. Fireworm grabbed Snotlout's attention when she charged through a whole line of enemy troops. So many more of the enemy were coming in. They needed Hiccup and Brackish, but Spitelout (Snotlout's father) had to signal them first and Brackish was injured at the beginning of the battle.
"Catapults!" The Romans unleashed a huge volley from their catapults. They were fired to the nearest markets at the village square. A few archers on their dragons tried to shoot at those controlling the ballistas and catapults. A few shouts from the ships obviously meant that the arrows struck them down. A sudden bolt from a crossbow hit one of the riders. The Deadly Nadder who saw its own rider fall, went berserk and attacked one of the ships. It's ember-like fire reached the powder on the ship causing to explode and the Nadder with it.
Fishlegs and his Gronckle were at the base of the Meade Hall along with most of the other riders, picking off any stragglers who were trying to run up the hill. A group of Romans marched up the hill. They were all seperated and unorganized, giving an advantage for Spitetlout and Gobber to charge. Spitelout blew a deep horn signaling Hiccup and Toothless to fly out.
"Gods, there's too many of them," Hiccup muttered.
Toothless snorted as if saying, we can take them.
Hiccup patted his friend and directed Toothless to start shooting at a whole battalion in formation. The Romans had a whole formation up. They made a shield wall for their archers and their javelins were jutting out of spaces between the shields. The first plasma bolt flew through the air along along with the dissipation of air.
"Night Fury!" Someone yelled.
"Get down!" said another.
The Gauls and Romans didn't understand what was happening and were caught by suprise with Toothless's first blast. It burned them, and the shockwave forced the ones that were nearby down.
"Again, Toothless," Hiccup urged. The Night Fury swooped down with another blast, grabbing an enemy soldier at the same time. The Gaul started yelling curses in his own language until Toothless let go of him. The soldier fell on top of one of the roofs and slid down.
Hiccup urged his dragon for one more volley and Toothless obliged, sending one more streak of plasma and fire down towards the scrambling formation. "Good job, Toothless."
He suddenly heard orders being shouted between the enemy ships. Then the sudden jolt of mechanisms. Hiccup saw the larest volley of enemy projectiles. A Roman centurion yelled, "Unleash Hell!"
Arrows flew through the air along with ballista and catapult fire. They landed in the mid-region of Berk. The continuous sound of firing went along with horrified screams.
Hiccup and Toothless flew to the fleet as fast as they could. Toothless kept firing at the ships without dive-bombing. Their streak was ended by a sudden shockwave caused by a projectile that exploded near them. Toothless lost the air he needed to fly, causing them to fall into the center of the field. A group of Romans and Gauls saw them and charged.
Toothless growled, roaring at them to back away. Hiccup unsheathed his sword and got ready. They were all fighting a losing battle, but they kept on going. Just when the enemy soldiers were about to clash with Berk's Viking's, a bolt of fire and plasma landed on the formation. A of magma-like fire seperated the two armies to temporarily stop them, and a few arrows and spears came raining down. Hiccup looked up and saw their dragons already attacking the main army. He smiled when Astrid and her Nadder landed near them.
Astrid brought up her axe when she saw three Roman soldiers pass over the fire by jumping through with their shields. Hiccup brought up his sword but was as surprised as the three Romans who had found arrows sprouting from their chests. They fell to the ground, not moving. Hiccup looked up again as he saw where the source of the previous plasma bolt and the arrows came from. Brackish waved at him from atop of Brazier and urged his dragon towards the remaining ships.
Hiccup looked at Astrid and asked, "You think you can handle the remaining enemies?"
Astrid smiled, "I have a whole army of Vikings and dragons behind me. I'll be fine, Hiccup."
The future chief of Berk smiled and sat on Toothless's saddle. "Go Toothless."
Toothless roared in triumph and flew into the air. As Hiccup and Toothless flew towards the remaining ships, he looked at Berk.
'This is our home,' he thought. 'We will never give it up.'