Whoo!

Chapter 9: No Take-Backs

"AHH! AHAHAHA!" Dagur empties his lungs on his sporadic laughter. He bounced from the deck of his private ship and into the cabin. He could hardly stand. His limbs felt like cooked noodles, he swung them around, howled at the ceiling, and crashed onto the floor with heaving breaths.

He was high with joy and did not give notice to the stilled man sitting at the desk. His cold eyes were watching Dagur's childish display with wicked dislike, a malicious mask twisted the large man's otherwise pleasant features.

"I did it! I finally got rid of Hiccup!" Dagur squealed wide-eyed to the ceiling. He bounced back into a neutral tone as he jumped into a sitting position. "Of course, the body would have been nice, a severed head to take back home, but I'll take it. At least I can still hunt down that blasted dragon."

The man in the corner harrumphed.

"What?" Dagur shrugged. "What's gotten you so…gloomy? Now is a time for celebration!"

"You have crossed the bounds I set forth."

"What the hell does that mean?" Dagur narrowed his eyes. "Are you spouting nonsense? I hate when people spout nonsense…"

"The price of my assistance was that you would leave the two of them alone. Hiccup and Astrid were mine."

"So? The girl is probably still alive." Dagur waved his hand over his shoulder. He didn't have time for this. This madman was brining him down.

"You have broken our deal, Dagur the Deranged."

"Well, what do you want me to do about it now? It's not like I planned on him being blown up." he spat.

Dagur was not intimidated easily. So when the man stood from the desk, two heads taller and three wider, Dagur did not give in. He spread his shoulders and inhaled into his chest. He narrowed his eyes and waited for the big man to make his move. No one would tell Dagur the Deranged what to do. He listened to no one.

Not even the shady otherworldly types.

"You aren't as clever as you think."

"Oh?" Dagur reached for his trusted knife.

"I knew you planned to double cross me, you foolish boy."

Dagur raised the knife as the big man, who had refused to give his name, and took slow careful steps toward him.

X

The water was cold.

It had all happened so fast. He hadn't time to think before he acted. The fire had come, and he'd had seconds, literally. He had patted Toothless, and told him to go. But he hadn't listened. Stubbornly loyal dragon.

Hiccup had jumped into the water just as the ship was blown to pieces. His sleeve had caught fire but hadn't the time to singe his skin before the cold water rushed over him. He'd swam to the nearest ship that wasn't on fire. He'd climbed onto its deck. He had intended to call for help as soon as drowning wasn't a threat.

But as he fell onto the deck his plan changed. He watched the dragons retreat, Toothless crying in protest, the Berserkers shouting with what he assumed was Dagur's own war howl. He scanned the burning debris that he'd escaped and it hit him.

They thought he was dead.

Hiccup turned on heel, prepared to fend off the armored Berserkers, but they were motionless. He was right in their midst but they made no move toward him. The war howl they seemed to mimic came from nowhere, but everywhere, emanating from the ocean. Hiccup sat still, waiting for them to do something, but they remained still. He stood, slowly, and walked around to stand in front of one of the armored men.

They didn't move.

Hiccup scanned a nearby ship's deck. The armored Berserkers there were the same. Still as statues. Further down the blockade, just behind the others, he saw a ship more ornate than the others. That is where Dagur would be.

Hiccup walked through the still soldiers and climbed onto the side of the ship. He grabbed a rope and swung to the neighboring ship. He landed with a wet thud but none of the suits of armor moved. He copied his motions onto the next ship, and the next, until he was beside the ornate ship. Its wood was richer and its fixtures more decorative that practical.

Someone was laughing. Dagur.

Hiccup swung onto its deck and landed without worrying about disturbing the still crew. The captain's quarters were just ahead, where he'd hear Dagur laughing, but before that he needed to know something. Hiccup took careful steps to the nearest Berserker and reached out, hesitant, and lifted the armored mask.

He expected to see eyes but instead he was staring into the back of the helmet. The suit was empty. Hiccup stumbled backward. He went to the next Berserker and it was the same. They were all the same. They were empty suits of armor. Hiccup was in a panic. They'd been fighting nothing?

"What?" Hiccup ran his hands through his hair in frustration and confusion.

"I know, it was really ingenious. I'm surprised I never thought of it before. I supposed that punk wasn't as ignorant as I thought. It was his idea but I made it better."
Hiccup spun and found himself looking at Dagur the Deranged. But…something was off. He stood too still, too calm, too reserved. Even his voice…it wasn't his.

"Dagur?" Hiccup asked.

"These lifeless chunks of metal are just shells. Those Berserkers barely knew which end of the sword to hold. But these beauties, they're practically indestructible."

"What are they?" Hiccup asked. He took a step back. Something was very wrong here. He didn't want to be any closer to Dagur.

"When called, angry spirits from the sea will come forth and become an unstoppable force. They are already dead, so they can't be hurt. They will fight, and fight, and fight, until there is nothing left to fight."

Dagur's usual twisted grin was gone. His face was blank. His dark eyes were wide and alert, clever and mean. The smooth voice that came from his mouth made the hair on his neck stand up. Dagur took a step toward him and Hiccup took two backward. Without Toothless he was unarmed. He might be able to wrench one of the swords from the suits of armor but he wasn't sure if he could even lift it, let alone swing it.

"Was this your secret weapon?" Hiccup asked. He could keep him talking. He could figure out what to do. "How…how did you pull this off? Why attack now? What do you think you'll accomplish?"

A crooked grin slowly stretched across his face. His head was held high and his posture was proud and superior. It had been a while, but Hiccup remembered Dagur as leering, sneering, and always ready to rip out the nearest throat.

"Dagur the Deranged, as he called himself, was the perfect vessel."

"Vessel for what?"

"Revenge. He was so consumed by his own thirst for revenge that he would give anything to achieve it. Even his own soul."

"What are you talking about?" Hiccup felt his chest tighten. The way Dagur was looking at him sent a chill down his spine, not unlike when the dead had climbed onto this ship, spilling onto the deck. It was the same when he'd looked into the empty armor.

"He was so driven by his own revenge, another could easily leave the dirty work to him, and when the time was right, could push him out of the way."

"What? …Dagur?"

He laughed. "Dagur? Don't you recognize me? You throw me into hell's blackest pit and you don't even bother to remember the sound of my voice?"

Hiccup felt the worst dropping sensation in his stomach. Was there still a ship underneath his feet? It couldn't be him.

"…Richard?"

"That'd'a boy, Hiccup." Dagur's face was twisted into a dark smile.

"What…what did you do to Dagur?" Hiccup shook his head. It wasn't like he liked Dagur, but it seemed like a horrible way to go. And between Dagur and Richard, he'd take Dagur.

"Oh, I am glad you asked." Richard inhaled with his nose in the air. He threw his arms out and gestured to his body, Dagur's body. "This is a little trick I picked up some time ago. Living forever works for a spirit, but a body gets old, it dies and decays. So I've had to jump around quite a bit."

"What? Did you kill him?"

"Hm? No, he's very much alive. It's more of…borrowing. I'll find another when I'm done with this one." Richard shrugged like he was talking about the weather. "I was quite fond of my previous one but it was destroyed, no thanks to you."

Hiccup felt his panic return. Faced with this new problem, he would kill Dagur if he had to. He didn't want to, but that wasn't the point. If Richard didn't have a body to go to then he would die, wouldn't he?

Richard lunged forward suddenly, with Dagur's agility and strength, and Hiccup threw himself to the side to avoid a deadly strike with a too-shiny knife. After missing, Richard threw the knife into the water below. It made a small plop and for some reason Hiccup felt worse.

"Don't you want to talk it out?" Hiccup said. He wouldn't win this fight.

"No." Richard shook his head. "We talked. You ruined everything."

He lunged forward and Hiccup bounced off of a suit of armor in his attempt to dodge. He rolled and pushed himself up. He could feel a bruise starting on his side where something had jabbed him.

"And now, I've got the upper hand." Richard gave no motion but with his words the suits on the deck began to creak and moan, their joints rusty at first but soon fluid beyond that of a natural man.

They all came at him at once. Hiccup tried to get away, to jump in the water, or something, but they were too many. Hands reached for him and latched onto his limbs with iron grips. They forced him into the center of their masses. Try as he may to escape, he couldn't wrench himself free. One of the suits balled his metal fingers into a fist and plunged it into his stomach.

Hiccup coughed as the air flood out of him. A stinging pain seared through his chest. Each breath after ignited it anew. The suits pinned him to the deck. Richard hadn't lifted a finger.

"Now what?" Hiccup spat through the pain. Maybe he could get him to talking, to ranting, distract him.

"Now nothing." Richard said. "You'll die, she'll die, and I'll sleep sound."

X

I know, I know…but GROAN - I love a cliffhanger. They're like…the cocaine of writing. You read one, you want more. You write one, you want to write more.

Anyway…thanks for the reviews and positive feedback! Thanks for reading!