Chapter 14:
Alvin threw his spear towards Stoick and jumped overboard into the water. Stoick dodged the spear just in time, but the head of the spear still created a scratch on his arm. There was no splashing of water as Stoick had expected.
"See you next time, old friend," Alvin yelled at Stoick.
A small boat picked Alvin up and headed towards another ship with the Outcast symbol on the port side. Stoick tried to jump onto Alvin's boat from the ship, but archers on the boat launched arrows at Stoick and forced him to fall back and look for cover.
On the small boat, Alvin picked up a bow and shot an arrow towards Stoick. His arrow-shooting ability was way better than his men. The wooden arrow with a sharp metal head sliced accurately down Stoick's beard, not making any blood.
The beard was one of the most important symbols a Viking could have, and the beard was as important as the Viking helmet. No Vikings could withstand the stigma of losing his beard. Stoick froze for a second, and then he reached his hand to his jaw, trying to feel the beard that he had when he was just a teenager.
Nothing. Stoick could feel nothing but his bare skin. Then he looked down, his brown, thick beard was lying on the deck. Stoick's face gently turned bright red due to extreme anger.
"You pathetic skinny jellyfish! One day I will chop all the Outcasts into pieces of shit !" yelled Stoick, "You will regret this!"
But Alvin and his men totally ignored Stoick's swearing, they pointed at the beardless Vikings and burst into laughter.
Stoick threw one of his axes towards the small boat. The axe rolled like a wheel when it flew across the air. But Alvin's boat was too far from Stoick, so the axe landed into the sea and created a small splash of water.
"You really need to do some exercises, Stoick the Vast," one archer shouted.
As Alvin boarded another Berserk battleship, the Cosmos 5 started to retreat into the dense fog. When the Berserker soldiers jumped back to their own ships, the ballistas and catapults provided covering fire for them. Even though some Berkians tried to board some Berserker's ships, but only to get pushed back.
"They are leaving?" Gobber said as he covered himself with a shield. An arrow stroke the wooden shield right after he lifted up the shield
"Seems like it," Spitelout responded. These two Berkians fought shoulder-to-shoulder during battle.
"We need to pursue and attack them. They need to pay for their action," Stoick commanded.
"Oh, there you are, chief," Gobber said, then he paused, "Wait, where is your beard."
"Alvin cut it off with an arrow."
"Alvin? He is working for Dagur? I didn't picture that," said Spitelout.
"Yeah, I guess we are on our own. Now we need to catch up with that running-away fleet and chop them into pieces," Stoick said.
"But they are about to enter the fog, and we won't have any advantages in the fog," suggested Gobber.
"So you have a better plan? Just look at how many Vikings we lost," Stoick raised his tone.
"Carry the seven…"
"Thirty-five."
"The number doesn't matter. We lost a lot, and the Berserkers and Alvin have to pay for their action," Stoick said as he jumped onto "Thundercloud" and set the sail, "Let's teach them a lesson in killing."
Gobber and Spitelout looked at each other, then they turned to the Berkians that they were leading. Arguing with Stoick when he was mad wasn't a smart idea. Stoick could turn into a monster when he really got provoked.
"Stop! Dad, don't!" Hiccup yelled as Toothless and Stormfly landed on the deck of "Thundercloud".
"What, son?" Stoick questioned his son.
"This is a trap. I bet that the Berserkers are begging you to pursue them into the fog so that they can ambush you," said Hiccup.
Other Riders and the Nadder Team landed behind Hiccup and Astrid. They just came into the battle, so they missed the main fighting scene. They only sank one battleship before the Berserkers could go into the fog.
"If we don't wipe them out here, they will keep coming and endanger Berk," Stoick objected.
"They aren't the only fleet that Dagur has. Another fleet is waiting to ambush you in the fog, or maybe two," Astrid supported Hiccup.
"Then we can destroy those ships as well," Stoick said as he swung his axe in the air.
"No, the dragons will lose their accuracies in the fog. Without the assist from us, you won't win the battle." Fishlegs said.
"Well, we pushed them back without you guys just a couple of minutes ago."
"Because they wanted you to think that they couldn't defeat you. So that you will follow them into the fog."
"I don't think so. It is my obligation to protect Berk, and I want to decrease the possibility of losing Berk as much as possible. We should attack them and end the Berserkers once and for all."
"Dad, just listen to me, you can't win this one. Just let them go, and we will have another chance to revenge for our lost… and your beard," Hiccup begged.
Stoick glared at the fog in front of them. The fog was way too dense that they couldn't see a thing in it. He thought about Hiccup's words for a minute. Hiccup said the similar sentence to him about five years ago, after Toothless showed up during Hiccup's final dragon killing exam. And Hiccup was right at that time, the Red Death nearly wiped out all the Berkians.
An arrow landed on the deck of "Thundercloud". Someone shot it from somewhere in the fog. The head of the arrow was buried deep into the wooden deck due to its strong impact. The arrow carried a small letter with it.
Stoick bent down and picked up the letter. He scanned through it, and his face slowly turned red like fire. Then he exploded.
He tore the letter into pieces and threw them into the sea and yelled and cursed.
"You want to be a jerk? Then I will be a jerk as well! You disgusting pests! " he shouted at the fog.
Gobber was stunned by Stoick's reaction. Stoick never acted like that. Gobber knew Stoick's mad mode, and it was way milder than this time. Stoick's yelling was similar to the sound of Thor's lightning.
"Ready the ships. We are going to kill those pieces of craps!" yelled Stoick as he threw his arms in the air and started cursing at the Berserkers and the Outcasts again.
"Uh, dad, no matter what was in that letter, you really need to calm down," Hiccup said to Stoick.
"Gobber, you and I will lead one dozen of ships as the vanguard. Spitelout, you lead the remaining ships as back-ups," Stoick assigned the mission disregarding Hiccup's advice.
"Common, dad, you know I'm right. Don't let your emotion control you," Hiccup chased behind Stoick.
Berkians started preparing for another battle even though some of them still had injuries from the previous battle.
"Gobber, I want those sails fixed. Spitelout, bring more catapults," Stoick went through the fleet on the back of Skullcrusher, "I want those ships to be ready in ten minutes."
"Let's get started, you heard the man," Gobber said as he reloaded a crossbow.
After realizing that it was impossible to stop his dogged father from charging into the dense fog, Hiccup climbed up to Toothless' back and turned to the Riders and Nadder Team.
"Well, Hiccup, that's what happened years ago," Stormfly walked towards Hiccup with Astrid on her back.
"I know, but I won't let him take the risk alone," Hiccup said, "We will act as their air support."
Sorry for the late update. Hopefully you enjoyed reading my story. Please leave a review below. Thank you.