Hiccup, Arn and Toothless stormed their way out the front door of the hut, finding that the village was in utter chaos.
In the distance, they could see the far silhouettes of thirty raider longships - ten of which were grouped up and launching fiery boulders from their catapults while the other twenty had already reached the docks and cliffs.
As well as the town.
Though they had not yet hit the plaza, Hiccup could tell from the sounds of fighting and villagers running about that the raiders were spread throughout the village.
"Another raid..." he grunted. "When in the name of Odin will these raiders just stop!?"
"Most likely never. Not until we are all dead!" replied Arn, gazing down at the town which was now burning. "Do you perhaps have any ideas up your sleeves?"
"I think we should-"
As Hiccup was about to explain his plan, the two nearly didn't notice the sounds of large and quick footsteps coming up the hill towards them. Looking down near the bottom, they saw three raiders rushing at them, pushing aside and cutting down any villager who was trying to flee for the great hall.
And now they were next in line.
"LOOK OUT!" bellowed Hiccup as he, Arn, and Toothless tried to brace for impact. Unprepared however, it seemed like they were about to be crushed.
Were it not for a certain viking and his dragon who came running to their rescue.
Out of nowhere, Stoick came rushing in with Skullcrusher. The large Rumblehorn with his mighty and strong hoof-like feet ran over two of the raiders - crushing the brutes to death while Stoick went one on one with the third raider.
He swayed his axe at his foe, making quick and rough attacks while the brute tried to strike back and parry, but Stoick would easily overwhelm him. With a single cleaving strike he lobbed his axe into the skull of the helmetless raider, killing him instantly.
As the muscular body of the large brute fell to the ground, he turned back to Hiccup and Arn who stood there a bit shakened while Toothless stood his ground.
"Are you lads alright?"
"Y- Yeah," nodded Hiccup. "We just didn't see it coming. They nearly got us…"
"Good," replied Stoick. "Now if you would, help us repel the attack. We need all the help we can get. They've brought six hundred this time."
"Six hundred?" asked Arn. "Pah! I'm sure we can take them."
"Don't be so over confident," said Hiccup in a serious tone. "We still need Astrid and the others to help take them on. We can't fight them if we're divided… though speaking of which, where are they?"
Stoick shrugged, unsure as he turned his head back towards the village. "I don't know… but why do I have a feeling they are in danger? ...Unless they're-"
"Unless they are held up in their huts holding the raiders off with their dragons, alone," Hiccup added on, now quickly marching down the hill with his weapon gripped tightly. "We have to save them! Arn, Toothless, are you with me?"
"I'm with you," nodded Arn.
Toothless let out an encouraging growl, which Hiccup assumed was, "Always."
"Good. Now let's get moving!"
The two vikings and the dragon were now quickly moving, making their way down the hill and towards the town center.
Stoick watched as they ran off, giving himself a nod of approval before turning his attention back to Skullcrusher. "Come on, boy. Let's rally with Valka and Gobber."
Meanwhile as Hiccup and Arn along with Toothless ran down into the plaza, the blonde-headed viking asked, "So where exactly are we going?"
"Astrid's hut. She lives here in the plaza," he quickly replied with. "Her help is necessary if we're to push back these raiders. She's the best warrior that we-"
"Hiccup!"
The voice of Astrid immediately caught Hiccup's ears. As they neared her hut, they saw both Astrid and Stormfly standing in front of the doorway of her home, making their stand against nine raiders that cornered them.
Aside from that, Hiccup also noticed three corpses of raiders lying dead at Astrid's feet. Clearly she was holding the forefront like a true viking, but now she was about to be overwhelmed.
One of them laughed wickedly. It was a captain. "Haha! You maggot! You thought you could stand against us?! You've made a mistake by fighting back! Are you ready to die?!"
"Grah!" screeched Astrid, swinging her axe threateningly. "I'm not afraid of you, monster! I'll drown you in the blood of your little army!"
"Good luck with that! We will slaughter you, little girl - as we have had with countless other lives! KILL HER, MAGGOTS!"
Hiccup, Arn, and Toothless began to run faster as the raiders were about to close in on her, and as soon as they were able to reach her, Toothless fired a plasma blast at point-blank range from behind two of the raiders, setting them aflame.
For a moment both raiders screamed in pain from the flames that enveloped them as they fell to the ground and rolled in an attempt to put themselves out, but Hiccup and Arn immediately responded by stabbing their weapons through their melting chest plates, finishing them off instantly.
They rushed to Astrid's side, making ready for the raiders to attack as they adjusted their footing and prepared for combat.
"You're late!" exclaimed Astrid angrily.
"Yeah, well we didn't see them coming!" replied Hiccup, swinging Inferno threateningly at the seven raiders. "Either way, at least we can take them on!"
The captain of the group gritted his teeth at the sight of Hiccup as he tightened the hold on his two-handed axe. "Two more vikings and another dragon! Tell me, who do you think you are?!"
Hiccup took an aggressive step forward. "My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, heir to the Berkian Tribe and Midgard's dragon master! I am here to kill every single one of you!"
"Kill us?!" the raiders captain laughed. "Fool! You think you can defeat us back so easily?! Each time we have come back to your island again and again, and each time we come in greater size! What hope do you have standing against-"
There was a pause. The captain looked at Arn and his eyes widened upon inspecting the warrior. The scale mail and leather armor. The blue colors. The grey furs around his shoulders…
Now the raider's anger increased tenfold.
"An Alsworn runt?!" he bellowed out. "I never knew your kind would find its way here! Tell me Odin-worshipper, how goes the fight back at home against us?!"
Arn lowered his brows, gripping both hands on his sword. "You should have never come here, orc! I sailed here and followed you south for a reason, and it's to find a way to stop you and your kind for good!"
Hiccup rose one of his brows. "An orc? What the Hel is an orc-"
"Stop us?!" the orc laughed. "Fool! Our forces are legion! You think a few Berkians with gaudy and dull weapons can defeat us?!" he asked, motioning his hand towards Hiccup's blade Inferno.
"I would think so! Come at me!" taunted Arn.
Hiccup reached a hand out. "Arn, wait-!"
It was too late. His anger was boiling. Arn immediately rushed forward at one of the captain's guards without warning, and as soon as he entered combat, both Hiccup and Astrid along with their dragons followed.
"Let's take them on!" shouted Astrid.
Hiccup rushed for the orc captain, Astrid went for the guard on the opposite flank from where Arn was, and Toothless and Stormfly went for the four other orcs, each of them taking two at a time.
Now separated, the group could focus on their own opponents.
Hiccup being the expert warrior he was struck swiftly and maneuvered himself much around the orc captain. Though the orc struck as hard as he could, the young viking was able to dodge and counter every attack the brute gave. The key to beating him was simple; the orc was bigger and stronger, so Hiccup had to be quicker and think smarter.
And then his moment came.
The large orc brought his great axe down in an attempt to cleave Hiccup in half, but the young viking with a swift and decisive parry to the brute's weapon was able to strike it to the side which in turn knocked the orc off balance.
His axe impaled itself into the ground, and the captain struggled as he was unable to pull it out in time as it was then that he felt something hot and sharp stab through the back of his neck.
Hiccup dove Inferno deep into the orc captain, and with that he was able to take down the monstrous brute.
He pulled his blade out and quickly backed up from the orc as he kicked his lifeless corpse to the ground. Ready to assist Astrid and Arn he turned around with his blade gripped, but found they needed no help.
Astrid being the great shieldmaiden she was struck hard and precisely at the orc she faced. Her axe, though smaller than the raider's sword, was enough to parry and block his weapon. Using her strength and skill she was able to get a few blows on the orc before finally cleaving her axe into side of his chest.
Her strike was as well so great that the orc's chest armor broke, and her axe found its way to his flesh as it lobbed into him. Unable to handle it, the brute fell to his knees and onto his front as Astrid pulled her weapon out.
That was another down.
Then there was Arn. The Alsworn viking who managed to stand his ground like Hiccup and Astrid attacked with fury and strength. Though he was not striking as swiftly as he usually would, he was definitely besting the orc.
The raider found himself unable to match the lad's speed though, and with three swift but mighty slashes and strikes at the orc's right hand, Arn managed to chop it apart.
But that did not stop him.
Though the orc was now unarmed, he roared loudly in Arn's face as his green eyes glowed fiercely and brightly. His left hand tightened into a fist as he was ready to throw a punch at the viking.
Seeing how the raider was distracted and blinded by his own anger however, Arn took his sword and swiftly plunged it deep through the orc's opened mouth which came out through the back of his head before he proceeded to quickly pull it out.
Although it was a bloody sight, the orc was taken care of as his lifeless body fell back. However, Arn was left a little bit tired from the fight.
Hiccup however was left impressed by how the three of them performed. He approached Arn and Astrid and asked them, "Are you guys alright?"
Astrid nodded back at him. "I'm fine. Just a small bruise."
"Same," replied Arn. "But I'm a bit breathless. It's been a short while since I've fought these brutes… though I will say that I am surprised you managed to easily take out that captain. I always have trouble with them."
"Yeah… though I wonder how Toothless and Stormfly are holding up-"
Hiccup's answer was instantly given. The sound of explosions from off to the side caught his attention as the four other orcs that Toothless and Stormfly fought were set aflame and blasted apart.
The three vikings for a moment flinched, but then stared back at the two victorious dragons who ran towards them, ready to move on.
Hiccup placed a hand on the Night Fury's head, petting him. "How are you doing, bud?" he asked.
Toothless huffed warm air from his nostrils, nodding his head. "I am doing good," he warbled in dragonese, which Hiccup surprisingly understood. After all, he was learning quite fast.
"Alright. If there are no objections - I say we should get moving and look for Fishlegs."
"Agreed," replied Arn.
The three vikings and their dragons quickly began moving, making their way towards the path leading down to the lower levels of the town near the cliffs.
Fishlegs being the fisherman he was liked living near the sea. His hut was set up along the cliffs near where the bleachers for watching the dragon racing events once were before they were destroyed during a previous raid.
Despite the town being larger than it once was though, Hiccup still knew where he lived.
As they ran through the burning streets of the village whilst passing by brawls and fights between the orcs and their warriors, Hiccup looked at Arn with a questioning look. He could not get his mind off of what he said earlier.
"Arn. You called the raider captain earlier an orc... What exactly are they supposed to be?"
"All I can say right now is that an orc are what these beasts are," he replied to him. "But I'll tell you more later! Keep running!"
His mind was now flooded with more questions about the race that the raiders were. Orcs - that's what they were. But what exactly was their origin? Where did they come from? He did not know.
Still, Hiccup did not allow these thoughts to distract him from the mission at hand.
They continued running through the streets, cutting down any orc that got in their way - until they soon reached Fishlegs and his hut.
It was burning.
Although the hut had a great view overlooking the ocean, the orcs were still able to climb the cliffs leading up to it, and like with Astrid they had Fishlegs surrounded and cornered.
The Ingerman stood in front of the door of his hut, wielding both hammer and shield whilst standing his ground with Meatlug as he fought off his foe.
But from Hiccup's point of view it looked like he did not need any help.
The twelve orcs that cornered Fishlegs were without a leader, and rather than charging the large viking as a group, they foolishly charged him in pairs.
And the viking and his Gronckle fought as one.
What Fishlegs and Meatlug lacked in speed they made up with strength. The orcs were literally rushing towards their doom as the Ingerman and his dragon bashed them aside.
One came at Fishlegs, attempting to bring his sword up and around at him towards his left arm, but the lad was quick to block with his shield, and with a heavy strike across the orc's face he shattered the brute's skull.
Meatlug as well was standing her ground like a true Gronckle. Using both her bludgeoned tail to bash the orcs away while also spewing forth lava blasts at them, she managed to wipe out half of the group on her own while Fishlegs dealt with the other half.
And the outcome was gruesome.
Burnt and bashed corpses laid around Fishlegs as he slammed his hammer into the head of an orc nearby who was struggling to get up, but like the first orc before him, his skull was crushed.
He looked around him, shouting out, "Anyone else!?"
There was no other orc nearby to challenge him. Only the jaw dropped Hiccup, Astrid, and Arn who watched him and Meatlug take them on alone.
He truly was a pack of muscle.
Hiccup made his way forward to Fishlegs, smirking. "I see you're battle-ready more than ever, Fishlegs."
"Why wouldn't I be?" he asked almost aggressively. "Hiccup, they burnt my hut down!"
"Don't worry, we can fix it later. For now we have to find the Twins so we can push these brutes back! Have you seen them?"
He shook his head. "No. But I did hear from someone that they were both down in the docks fighting back the raiders... as well as doing whatever they usually would."
"Tuffnut and Ruffnut," sighed Arn. "Always up to no good, eh?"
"Nope," replied Astrid. "Still, we have to get in there and help them out! Hiccup?"
"Agreed! Let's go!"
Once again the riders got moving, this time with Fishlegs and Meatlug at their side. Now things were about to heat up…
…
"Haha, you can't get us!" sang Tuffnut, flying around atop Barf and Belch with Ruffnut.
"Grr! Take them down, maggots! Fire the catapults! Loose your arrows! KILL THEM!"
The other ten enemy longships had now docked into the harbor, filled with twenty orcs each along with one catapult per ship. The Twins flew about on their dragon, causing explosions of fire with Zippleback gas to distract the raiders that fired upon them.
And with every shot they launched at the Twins, it was a miss.
"Are you guys even trying?!" laughed Ruffnut. "Get a better aim!"
Deciding that they needed to take a better and more offensive approach, the orcs began to port their longships near the piers, and by the dozens they came off - ready to fight.
And with them came their commander.
The large orc brought his ship onto the main center pier of the docks. He carried a large warhammer and was protected by heavily black-plated armored orcs who marched with him, thirsting for battle.
But despite their heavy numbers, the Twins were not alone.
Down below, Stoick and a hundred of his warriors had rushed in to aid them, lining up in defensive positions at the ends of the five piers the raiders landed on - opposite from them, yet it seemed that the Berkian chieftain was about to go head on with the enemy commander.
Both sides stopped, glaring down each other. Although Stoick was outnumbered, he was ready to give the commander a good fight.
The large orc grinned wickedly. "Look at you," he began. "You are all alone while your allies fight my forces above in your stinking little town! You think you can stop us, Berkians?!"
Stoick lowered his brows as he stepped out from the ranks of the twenty warriors that guarded him. "I'll have you know that I am the chief of this island! You come into my home, threatening my people and thinking you can defeat us?! You have not won yet, brute!"
The commander let out a gargled laugh as he increased his grip against his warhammer. "Do you not see that you have already lost?! Our forces are legion! We will keep coming back even if you beat us here! You cannot-"
"Dad!"
Hiccup's voice bellowed throughout the harbor, loud enough to interrupt the orc which caused Stoick to turn around and eye his son coming towards him.
He spotted the lad running down the ramp into the harbor with the riders and their dragons following, and the viking warriors behind Stoick reacted quickly as they made room for them to make way to his side.
"Well it's about time they showed up," said Tuffnut, still watching them from above.
Hiccup, Astrid, Fishlegs, and Arn came to a halt as they stood by the chieftain, holding their weapons out towards the orcs.
"You came just in time, son," said Stoick with a proud smirk. "Are you ready for a fight?"
"Like I haven't had enough, dad. I say we show them what happens when they mess with the wrong vikings!"
Hiccup's words were loud enough for the commander to hear, to which the orc stepped forward from his ranks, now facing the young viking and his riders eye to eye.
"So," he wickedly cackled, "It is not the chieftain's mighty vikings, but a group of scrawny children and a fat keg who comes to his defense - along with their scaly winged gits! Have you come to die, then?"
"I did not come here to die," responded Hiccup. "I came to bury you here and send you down to Helheim where you belong! Your don't deserve to live!"
"And you believe you can defeat us?! Listen maggot, many voyages from this island beyond your fetid Archipelago, more of us stand ready to sail south to deal with you and the rest of Midgard! What chance do you stand against our legions?"
"They stand more of a chance than you do," spoke Arn as he stepped forward and made an appearance to the orc. "Not expecting to see me here, were you?"
The brute's gritted smirk turned into a look of dreaded anger. If there was anything they hated the most, it was anyone that came from the lands that they too came from and invaded to conquer. That included the Alsworn tribe.
"An Alsworn git stands before us all alone without his tribe and allies? You are weak without them, maggot! You sail south away from Valnr, only to come and die!"
"That is where you are wrong, orc," spat back Arn as he spun his blade provokingly. "I may not stand with my tribe, but I am not alone! Look around you! You are fighting yet again against both dragons and vikings!"
The word orc coming from Arn's mouth caught Stoick and some of his warriors nearby off guard. The chieftain gave a glare. How did he know what they were? Where did they even come from?
"Well to be fair, it's more of us here than dragons," added on Tuffnut randomly from above. "But this Arn dude, I'm starting to like him! Not as much as Hiccup... but still!"
The orc commander merely replied with a laugh as Tuffnut went off topic, and it was a hard laugh. Though to Hiccup, he was now beginning to question not just the orcs now, but Arn as well. More words were also beginning to come back to him from the vision.
Especially that one word; Valnr. What was it?
Eventually the orc stopped laughing as his eyes turned away from Arn and onto Hiccup. "Have you and your tribe ever considered why we are here - or even how we got here? It is thanks to your friend that we have traveled south!"
All of the warriors including Stoick now gave faces of confusion. What was he talking about?
The orc continued talking. "If your Alsworn git had not led us to believe that there were more lands south of where we came from, we would have never been able to discover more maggoty vikings than we could have imagined - or even those git-face dwarves and pointy-earred elves! And now at long last, Midgard will burn!"
Without another word, the orc rose his warhammer up in the air and let out a loud almost ear-piercing roar as he shouted, "CHARGE!"
And with that, the orcs charged at the lines of vikings that stood across from them; with all of them bracing for impact. They were after all outnumbered.
But Hiccup refused to brace. Instead, he rose Inferno up into the air and with a loud voice shouted, "Toothless, plasma blast!"
The Night Fury in response fired his plasma blast at the oncoming orcs ahead of them, and the front rank immediately bursted into flames - setting alight nearly half of them.
The commander however still stood.
This as a result slowed down and nearly halted the orcs' charge, and that's when Toothless's anger took over as he let out a loud and bellowing roar which echoed across the area. He had had enough of not just the orcs, but the raids as a whole.
Everything suddenly went quiet. From what Hiccup understood coming out of his mouth in dragonese however, he heard Toothless shout, "Dragons of Berk! Your alpha calls for you!"
What then followed was a great flocking sound of wings, and as Hiccup looked towards the skies he saw many winged figures come into view. It was the sight of half a hundred dragons, coming to aid their alpha.
It was by this point that the orcs had actually stopped their charge as they stared at the sight of the dragons flying above them with their mouths lit, ready to blow them into smithereens. No more viking blood would be spilled tonight.
Hiccup then snapped his fingers, and that's when it happened…
"Attack!" shrieked Toothless.
From all around, the dragons began blasting forth fire at the orcs, setting not just their forces aflame but as well as their longships so that they had nowhere to run.
And in a frightened reaction, the orcs turned around and began running.
All except one…
The orc commander looked all around him as his forces tried to flee for their ships, only to watch as they were burnt alive and blasted apart.
"Stand and fight, maggots! You cowards!" he shouted, but it was far too late.
He looked back at Hiccup who walked forward amidst the burning corpses of his forces, adjusting Inferno as he spun it in a taunting manner. Clearly he too was sick of the raids.
This night, none of them would escape.
The orc gripped his hands tightly on his warhammer and swayed it in the air like a literal maniac. If anything, he was angrier than a dragon.
Hiccup's voice then rose up to the raider. "It's just you and me!"
"DAMN YOU," he shouted beastly. "If I die tonight, then I am TAKING YOU WITH ME! GRAAGH!"
The orc raised his weapon to his right shoulder, now charging Hiccup who alone was now rushing him as well. The two combatants had their weapons up and out - ready to strike, and that's when they both finally clashed…
The two fought with their own unique styles. Like before, Hiccup struck quicker and used his intelligence to think smarter and outmaneuver the orc. The raider in comparison to Hiccup however used brute force and heavier attacks to take him on, and the orc even managed to get a few bruises on him. But with every strike that Hiccup was able to parry and dodge - the smaller viking simply struck back and counter attacked.
As a whole, things were looking even for both of them... until the orc commander rose his hammer up and prepared to bring it down heavily in an attempt to crush Hiccup's skull, but the lad already had a plan up his sleeve.
Though everyone was tempted to help him out, they understood Hiccup wanted this to be a one on one… for now.
With swift speed Hiccup dodged the orc's downward strike from his warhammer, causing him to miss as he swung Inferno at an exposed part of the brute's right arm. His flaming blade came around in a cleave, and in a quick but decisive attack he made a grievous cut across the orc's upper arm.
But that was not enough to stop him.
The commander turned his head to Hiccup who now stood on his right. He firmly grasped his warhammer with both hands and swung it around repeatedly with brute force, hoping to successfully hit the scrawny viking - and although it was close, he still missed.
Hiccup dodged to the right, now standing behind the orc in a defensive position, but the commander was not about to let his assault down. He continued attacking Hiccup head on, once again bringing his hammer down from above.
In response, Hiccup quickly backed up - just enough for him to miss as the orc's warhammer struck the floor of the pier beneath them, strong enough to where Hiccup could feel vibrations underneath his feet.
Now he was in trouble.
"Astrid, Arn, come help me out! Toothless, prepare to fire!"
The two Vikings without question immediately rushed for the orc commander as Toothless flexed his wings out and prepared to ready another plasma blast. It seemed Hiccup had a clever plan up his sleeve to take down the orc.
Both Astrid and Arn roared as they engaged the orc whose back was turned to Hiccup at first, but when he finally spun around to face both vikings he suddenly realized that he was being attacked on all sides.
The two warriors lashed out at the brute who responded by raising up his weapon to block their strikes, putting them in a weapon lock. But that's when he felt something leap on top of him.
Hiccup jumped atop the large orc's back, causing for him to break the weapon-lock with Astrid and Arn as he started shaking and moving around in an attempt to get Hiccup off of him.
But then he felt pain as something sharp and burning stabbed through his upper-back near the back of his neck.
While the commander was shaking Hiccup around trying to get him off of his back, the viking plunged Inferno as deep as he could into the orc, melting through the back of his chestplate, and this in turn started to slow him down.
Hiccup leaped off the orc as he struggled to strike the lad with his heavy weapon, but once again the brute felt a sensation of pain hit him, this time in both of his arms.
Astrid and Arn both took the opportunity to stab their weapons through the exposed upper part of the commander's arms, rendering him completely useless and unable to fight back as he dropped his hammer to the ground. Now it was time to finish it.
As the orc fell to both knees, Hiccup looked at Astrid and Arn and shouted, "Back up! Go go go!" to which the three of them then retreated back to Toothless's side. While they had fought, the black dragon had been preparing his finishing move for the orc, and now he was ready.
Hiccup looked down at the Night Fury, giving him a nod. "Finish this, bud."
"Gladly."
Toothless's mouth lit up with purple flames as he began to tread slightly closer to the orc who was on both of his knees. He watched as the Night Fury came closer, and closer, and closer…
Until he was but a couple of yards away from him. And then he let it all out.
The Night Fury unleashed his plasma blast at the orc at almost point-blank range, and in a bright purple light the orc was sent hurling off into flames. The impact of the blast alone however was fatal.
After that, the only thing the riders heard was the sound of a large splash as the commander's body landed in the water of the harbor as it started to sink.
Everyone stood silent. They could no longer hear any fighting up above in the town...
…
No raider escaped that night. But again, the cost came heavier than what anyone anticipated.
Hiccup and the riders walked through the town center of Berk, gazing at the corpses of vikings and orcs that were scattered around. How much more blood had to be spent over a single raid?
As a matter of fact, Hiccup did not know whether to consider it as a raid anymore. It was more like a siege.
The warriors who wandered the streets were especially disgusted by the damage. Out of the three thousand people they had on Berk, two hundred villagers - as well as a hundred more warriors, laid dead.
Hiccup looked back at the others with much disappointment in himself for not being able to save their fallen. "Let's hope that's the last of them. These raids are costing too much for us."
"If only that were the case," sighed Arn, gazing down at the corpse of a nearby orc. "I've fought with these brutes before, Hiccup. Back at home. You don't understand how many of them there are or what damage they can do. Compared to Snotlout and Clan Jorgenson, they are-"
"Legion, as you say? Are they really here because of you?"
There was a pause. The riders looked off to the side towards the general direction of the great hall as they saw Stoick approach them with an unpleasant look on him. He was not happy at all with the outcome.
Hiccup rose one of brows. "Dad? What are you talking about-"
"Silence, Hiccup..." interrupted Stoick angrily. "I have little time for words. Right now I want all of you to rally to the great hall along with the war council. Get the hall emptied out."
"A war council?" asked Hiccup. "Dad, what are you saying? That we are going to war-"
"I said SILENCE!" bellowed Stoick loudly. "I am not in the mood for talking! Do you not see what cost was brought to us tonight?! I've had enough of it!"
The riders all had bewildered and shocked expressions in their eyes. Stoick's anger had clearly begun to show as a result of the events that had transpired, but they did not know why they were unable to speak their minds.
But it was then that Stoick pointed a finger towards Arn. With a low voice he said, "And you. If you say anything back to me, I will have you cuffed in chains. You know what these… orcs are, so I expect an explanation from you as soon as we begin our meeting for war…"
Before I end this chapter off, I want to clear up some confusion or concerns from that last scene that some of you may have, as you are probably wondering why Stoick is angry from the loss even after all of the raids Berk has had, especially towards Arn.
To answer that, it is simply because Stoick considered what the commander had said, that were it not for Arn, the orcs (as we now call them) would not have made the decision to sail south from where they came from. As to why that is the case, that will be answered in depth next chapter.
Also just as a side note, Arn's importance as a character alone is to not just to help Hiccup out but to also give some lore behind the threat they face and as well as other things our characters might question, just like how I did with Magnus in my other story No More. This will help set up the future plot.
Other than that however, I would like to thank you guys for reading this chapter!
And until then, to be continued...