AN*
Hope you enjoy this chapter! Was done yesterday, but was out all day fixing grandmas pool so late update. Hope this is worth the wait. If not let me now so i can fix any future chapters.
Chapter 2
Welcome to the Highlands
Some say our destiny is tied to the land, as much a part of us as we are of it. Others say fate is woven together like a cloth, so that one's destiny intertwines with many others. It's the one thing we search for, or fight to change. Some never find it. But there are some who are led.
In Scotland a proud kingdom stood. The king of the land ran a fair and just land with his queen. The pair had four children, three young triplets by the names of Harris, Hubert, and Hamish. The oldest a young woman, around the age of 17 named Merida. The King and Queen sat on either end of a long table with their triplet boys in the middle.
The Queen sat in a normal sized chair and had a stunning green dress on. Her brunette hair went down past her back. A tiara with an emerald in the middle sat atop her head. Her head was held high as she slowly ate her food in the manner demanded by a queen, slow and steadily. Her husband on the other hand...
The King sat in a large chair with a plate full of meat in front of him. He grabbed a turkey leg and took a large bite out of it, hardly chewing, and swallowed ravishly. The entire spectacle would have sent shivers down anyones back who was not accustomed to such habits. He had on a blue, purple, and green kilt on with a huge leather belt on. Around his chest he wore leather armor with chainmail around his shoulders. His hair was red and he had two massive wristbands rested on each wrist as the king waved his arms about, obviously telling a tale. "I saw something that day, something I'll not forget. It stands 12 feet tall, with razor sharp claws. Its hide littered with the weapons of fallen warriors. Its face scarred with one dead eye."
At this one of the triplets mocked the king word for word, motion for motion; including widening one of his eyes and pointing to it. Another had fallen asleep and had his head rested inside of a bowl. Another played with his food, bored from a story told a million times. Each one of them looked identical towards the other. Each had on a kilt resembling their fathers and had vibrant red hair and blue eyes. "I drew my sword and-"
"WHOOSH!" A redheaded teen yelled as she appeared between two of the triplets. The last being startled awake and falling out of his seat. The triplets were now wide awake and looked excitingly at their sister. She had on a blue dress that showed she was a princess of the clan. Her fiery red hair and stunning blue eyes told all that she was an independent being. A bow strung along her back showed that she was no ordinary princess. "One swipe his sword shattered then CHOMP! Dads leg was clean off! Down the monsters throat it went. " She said, now standing beside her dad and taking up a seat on the other side of her brothers.
"AWWW! That was my favorite part!" King Fergus whined sounding disappointed. "It wouldn't be until years later, that Mordu the demon bear would fall. Not to some warrior though. Instead he would meet his demise at the hands of the Queen as she protected her children." Merida said sitting down, glancing towards her mom. She looked from her brothers to her father and smiled. "Sorry dad." The King smiled softly at her and nodded his head. "Its ok, I think my new favorite part is when your mom killed the beast." The king whispered to her, covering his mouth with the remnants of the turkey leg. "I heard that." Queen Elinor said looking up from her dinner towards her husband.
The front door burst open and in ran a guard covered in armor. "Your highnesses! The dragons! They've returned and are attacking the farms!" Fergus immediately stood up. "Gather the men! Put the castle on lockdown. Elinor! Take the children to the tunnels until I come and get you." A loud boom rocked the great dining hall. The chandelier above them rocked side to side as dust fell from the roof. The castle had now become part of the dragons attack.
Elinor stood fast and grabbed the triplets. "Maudie! Help me take them to the tunnels!" A maid ran in, her face panicked and her hands shaking. She scooped up two of the boys and held them in her arms before rushing off. Elinor grabbed her last child, Harris, and ran over to her daughter. "Let's go Merida!" She grabbed Merida by the hand and began to pull her along before Merida stopped. "I can help though! Just give me a chance and I can help dad!"
"It's too dangerous! Them beasts have already killed a dozen of our soldiers. The battlefield is no place for a princess." Elinor said tugging Merida again. Merida knew she was right and with a depressed sigh, followed her mom.
King Fergus stood in the center of the castle square. His booming voice rang clear throughout the chaos. Dragons flew above them. A large explosion sent splinters flying into the air as a dwelling was hit by a fire ball. Soldiers clambered in armor ran to the roaring fire that used to be a house. Archers stood atop the towers and walls of the castle shooting countless arrows at the dragons. The dragons tough skin didn't budge as the arrows simply bounced off. "Get the animals to the woods!" Fergus yelled as a dragon swooped down and grabbed a goat before flying off into the sky. Fergus growled in anger as another goat was snatched. They had very little experience fighting dragons and the ferocity of the attacks stunned the scots.
A loud explosion caught his attention and he turned around to witness a few stones falling from one of the towers. A dragon had flown and shot at the archers there. A scream redirected his attention and he saw two archers jump off the tower as a large shadow landed on top of it. The shadow suddenly ignited and was covered completely in fire. With a mighty roar the dragon soared off into the sky. An eerie silence followed, the attack was over.
Everyone stood in stunned silence as they looked around at the damage caused by the sudden attack. A soldier ran up to Fergus and kneeled before him. Fergus sighed and looked over at him. "How bad is it?" The soldier stood and sighed before wiping a bit of blood off his brow. "Three dead, nine injured, two houses burned to the ground, six cattle taken, three goats, four chickens, and the furnaces in the forge are badly damaged. Campbell is one of the injured so we can't expect the forge to be up and running anytime soon." Fergus sighed heavily and looked towards the forge, sure enough a large hole was in the roof and a few of the furnaces were thrown about and destroyed. Campbell was the head blacksmith and ran everything involving the smith. The lost of the forge would be crippling, the inability to produce weapons or repair things could be costly in the long term. "What about Alan? Couldn't he run the forge?" Alan was a young apprentice of Campbell, no older than 14 but showed extreme talent in blacksmithing.
The soldier's face fell and he looked down towards the ground. "One of the dead your highness." Fergus blood ran cold and he looked once again towards the forge. He had personally known Alans parents and pushed for him to be a blacksmith. He couldn't help but feel guilty at the lost of someone so young. "Who else…?" He whispered looking back towards the soldier. "Henric and Norra." Fergus cringed again at the names. Henric was a watchmen at the north end of town, a faithful soldier and loyal to the crown. Norra was a shepherd, most likely died trying to defend her flock.
"Alright. I'll be back at the castle. I need to speak with the Queen about these matters." The soldier nodded and left, leaving the King alone to reminisce in his thoughts, and silently mourn. Merida and Elinor weren't going to take the news lightly, they never did.
"Mum. The fightings over, we could come out now." Merida whined pacing back and forth. Anyone not involved in the fighting had taken refuge in a tunnel system beneath the castle. It was dark and cramped, not like the open grassy plains Merida was accustomed to. "Your father said to wait here. And here shall we wait." Elinor said her head still hung high, even though they were beneath the castle at the moment. "But mum! You can't expect us to just sit here!" Before the queen could replay a loud scream drew their intention. Maudi was running towards them with a look of horror on her face. She ran past them and didn't even give a second glance. A few second later Harris, Hubert, and Hamish came running behind her; Hamish holding out a rat and chasing her with it. "Hamish, Harris, Hubert! Drop that rat this instant!" The queen yelled, now standing up and glaring angrily at her sons. She rarely lost her temper, but their was a time and place for their mischief. The tunnels weren't one of the places.. The trio stopped mid motion and slowly glanced towards their mom. Hamish gulped and slowly lowered his hand and released the rat. "Now, when Maudi calms down from her panic attack I want each one of you to apologize to her. Understood?" The triplets nodded their head in understanding. "Good. Now, run along." Elinor waved her hand out gesturing for them to go play, hopefully without the mischief.
"The wee devils they are." Merida said smiling as her brothers ran off to go terrorize some other poor soul. "Aye. I wonder where they get it from." Elinor smiled knowingly at her daughter. Merida caught her smile and looked surprise. "Hey! Don't blame that one me!" The queen smiled and sat back down. At that moment the door leading into the tunnel swung open and King Fergus walked in. "Dad!" Merida yelled before running up and jumping on the large man. Fergus smiled and wrapped his arms around his daughter. Elinor stood up and looked at her husband over Meridas shoulder. The look she gave him asked him how bad it was. Fergus face fell and he couldn't look her in the eye. She knew people had died tonight. A pain came at her heart but she subdued her emotions. A queen can not let her emotions get the better of her.
Merida felt the tension take hold of her dad and let go of to stare at his sullen face. "How bad was it?" Merida said, an unsettling feeling stirring in her stomach. Fergus looked from his daughter to his wife, unsure if he should actually tell her. Elinor seemed to debate this idea for a moment before nodding her head 'yes'. Fergus looked at Merida and took one of her hands. "We lost a lot of animals in the attack. The forge is all but destroyed and Campbell is injured. Nine others, including him, are also injured." He paused, debating on whether or not to say the next bite of news. Swallowing back any bit of hesitation, Fergus continued. "Henric, Norra, and Alan died in the attack." Fergus lightly sighed at this, glad to have got it done and over with it.
Merida stared in shock at her father. "Are you...are you sure dad?" Merida whispered, slowly absorbing what he just said. He nodded his head. "Bu-but dad! Alan was just a boy! He-he had no reason to just...die! He was young! Full of life!" Tears began to collect under her eyes as she realized she would never see the smiling boy in the smith. She saw him as a cousin that she could play with and talk to when her younger brothers couldn't. Norra...the thought of not seeing her made her fully cry now. Norra had given Angus to her when he was a wee calf. She constantly checked up on the pair and Merida saw her as an older sister. Then there was Henric. When she would sneak out of the castle it was alway under his watch. He'd give her a small wink and tell her to be back before midnight and never said a word to anyone about it.
These attacks were getting out of hand now. Each lost was heartbreaking and was like losing a family member. "Dad…" She whispered now crying onto his chest as he held her tight. "Shhh...it's ok Merida. Everythings going to be fine." She pushed herself away from him. "No its not!" People are dieing everyday now and we still don't know why! Those barbaric vikings are no help either! They tell us to take 'precautions'. When we ask for them to send a rider they tell us to try something else!" Fergus looked sadly at his daughter. "I know Merida. I wish we knew how to combat these flying demons. But we simply have no idea how."
"Then let me participate in the defense!" Merida said tears still streaming out of her eyes. Fergus eyes widen at the thought. "Arrows do no good against them. We've tried. They simply bounce off their skin."
Merida straightened herself, her eyes turning from anger to determination. "That may be so! But they never had an arrow shot at them from me!"
"I'm sorry sweety. But I'm not going to allow you out there with the chance of you being killed is so likely." Merida growled in anger before storming off past her dad. "Merida!" Elinor called following her daughter before a large hand stopped her. "Leave her by Elinor. She needs time to cool off." Fergus said, his face sadden by the argument. "Do you think they'll come to help?" Elinor asked, still looking at the direction her daughter ran off in. "Stoick may not look it, but he is a kind man. He's probably arguing with the others to send someone. Probably doesn't believe we're under attack." Elinor nodded her head sadly, hope still being present that help would arrive, and soon. With that, they pair returned back to the comfort of they castle.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Chapter 3 is in progress at the moment.
