Exodus and Return-us

Chapter 26

Author's Note: Alright, this chapter is finally here. I've been excited to write this part of the plot for a while, because it is the entire reason that this second story arc was conceived. I feel like the story got to this point quicker than intended, but that's because Hiccup forgave Astrid more quickly than I planned. Just one of those things, I guess.

Hiccup's Letter POV

It was brash; I would have even admitted that at the time. Striking an opponent who possessed obvious capability unseen in anyone but myself? Normally, that would frighten any man.

However, I had been training against someone with talents such as these for a while. And I found that I was not as easy opponent. However, I hadn't quite considered the challenges that the others might face

Things had gone from deathly still to chaotic in only a matter of seconds. I say chaotic, because chaos was the only way to describe this. And I was loving it.

No one could keep track of me; without a unified front for either side, all you had were a mix of angry Romans, Dragons, and Dragon Riders. And then, in the middle of all of that, you had me.

"Bring the Beneficiarii! Do not let them escape with their lives!" Trajan was shouting from his throne. Off in the distance, I could hear the reinforcements coming, and knew that the time was now. Fortunately, I was small and quick enough to be easily lost in the commotion; by not spending much time attacking any one person, I was able to dodge, weave, flip, charge, and roll my way out of the cluster and approach the throne. Trajan looked smug, and four warriors stood side by side between myself and the Emperor.

"You may be the scourge of Vikings, but you have never seen the might of a Beneficiarius. Unlike my Legatus, who seem to be having fun with your friends, these soldiers are blessed by more than one God: Jupiter and Mars. They were bred for war, and hold immeasurable power. Do you think your pagan beliefs and dragons can save you?"

I drew from a pouch in my lower back two long, thin swords designed for speed and length; in essence, swords made to take on multiple opponents.

"They want have to!" I shouted as I rushed the four guards. They all took an almost identical defensive stance, with only slight differences to accommodate for their different sword styles. On the far left, you had a claymore, but left-middle held a longsword. Right-middle had a thin rapier, and far right held a broadsword.

I swiped in an upper-right direction with both swords, clashing with Rapier. I chose him first because he had the thinnest sword, which meant weakest defense, but also because he had the quickest sword and potentially threatened me more than the others. He blocked the attack, and launched his shoulder forward, knocking me backwards. He tried to stab at my unbalanced body, but I allowed myself to fall on my back and let the blade pass over me. Before I could react, the other three had sliced at where I lay: one at me, one to my right, and one to my left, in order to prevent me from rolling out of it. It was a smart, quickly executed plan, but I was quicker. I swung my legs over my head and hoisted myself into a handstand, allowing all three swords to hit the dust where I once was.

Now, I was doing a handstand with my back to my attackers, and Rapier tried to stab me in the back.

"No, not today" I exclaimed as I pushed off the ground and flipped over his sword. I used the centripetal force of my spin to whip my arms (and the swords the held) straight at Rapier's chest. I thought I had finally eliminated one of these men, but Longsword and Broadsword deflected my blows by reaching out with the tip of their swords and making contact with my swords. I landed with my swords embedded into the dirt, and myself down on one knee as I finished my flip.

Man, these guys work well as a unit. I can't even get my sword near them.

Good thing I don't need swords.

I was literally kneeling half a foot from Rapier, so I retracted my double swords and then quickly leaped at Rapier and drove my wrist into his chest. Protruding from my wrist was a hidden, spring-action blade modeled after something I had seen myself wearing in a dream. If I would someday use it, why not now?

Through the vertical columns of the Roman helmet he wore, I easily saw the surprise in Rapier's eyes. I quick glance around told me that the other three were just as shocked. I had figured out their weakness: closeness. They worked too well as a unit to try to defeat all four of them with swords, but once you got close to them and swords no longer were practical, they were weak.

I grinned; I was about to enjoy this.

^ALL DRAGONS! CUT OFF THEIR REINFORCEMENTS! WE WON'T LAST LONG ENOUGH IF THEY ARRIVE!^ I mentally screamed. I might be able to defeat four of them with daggers and punches, but I doubt that my Squad would come out unscathed should a legion of these soldiers arrive.

I felt the Dragons comply, and wondered if my people would have it easier or harder fighting with less clutter.

Then I remembered that I still had my blade in someone's chest. I kicked Rapier's abdomen hard, and withdrew my blade. He suck backwards until he lay flat on the ground, with blood pouring from the whole in his heart. He would be lucky to last 30 seconds.

Claymore tried to attack me from the side, but I stepped to him, reached upwards, and caught his wrist before he could bring his blow down. With surprise evident on his face, I gave him a hard knee between his knees, and he crumbled straight down; my wrist met his neck on the way down, and left a large, wristblade-shaped hole in his neck. He would be dead in 45 seconds, tops. I gave him a roundhouse kick, with my foot colliding into the side of his head and sending him sprawling to the ground.

I felt footsteps behind me, and I spun to face my attacker. As I did so, I redrew my double-swords; my attacker, Longsword, had lunged forward in an attempt to ram his blade into the middle of my back. As I spun, my nearside blade went under his blade then went upwards, deflecting his attack and leaving Longsword thoroughly exposed. As I continued my spin, and Longsword continued to barrel towards me without any defenses, my far-side blade whipped around me and firmly lodged itself into Longsword's stomach; I suspected that I hit his belly button, because I perfectly hit dead-center. Normally, this wouldn't be a killing blow, but I kept a firm grasp on my sword and Longsword fell face first because he tried to tackle me (missed, thanks to my spin). As he fell, I kept my sword firmly held in front of me, and his force caused the blade to cut all the way from the middle of his stomach until it sliced a way out of his side, leaving a huge hole that would bleed out in 20 seconds at the most.

I retracted my swords, and all of the blood and grime that the blades held was wiped off. I had recently added a blade cleaner, so that retracting the blade also wipes it off. It came in very handy at a time like this.

I looked up at my one remaining foe: Broadsword. We circled each other, standing about ten feet away, and I drew my normal, ever-flaming sword. Before long, we both charged each other, and our blades met with a loud ring. We exchanged blows and blocks, with his movements almost as fast as my own. While he was a 275lb monster of a man, I was a lightning quick, agile, and small target who was covered in the blood of other 275lb monsters.

As I deflect his oncoming attacks, I spun around while still blocking a potential blow. It was a slightly risky move for the unexperienced, but when practiced it set up a powerful spin attack that would make even the biggest opponent cringe while blocking. Broadsword recognized my intention, and performed a drop-spin just as I turned back around. When one drop-spins, he drops to one knee and spins around, hoping to slice (if not cut off) the legs of his opponent. Seeing as I didn't have any desire to lose my feet, I front-flipped over Broadsword. He tried to stand up and knock my flip off-balance, but narrowly missed, and I landed right behind him, with my back to his. Before he could react, I had already spun my sword around and jabbed at him between my body and my arm. I felt the impact as my sword penetrated his armor, and I felt his body go limp as my flaming blade pierced his heart. I retracted my blade, and violently spun around, severing Broadsword's head.

He'd be dead in…well, he is dead. No waiting for him.

I took a moment to survey the surrounding chaos. Off in the distance, I could hear the dragons assaulting Trajan's reinforcements. They must be doing a good job, because there hasn't been another Beneficiarius show up. That seems to be the only thing that is working.

I looked back to where the others were fighting, only to see bodies everywhere. Looking closely, I could tell that no one from either side had died, but everyone had succumbed to wombs and subsequently fallen. All, save for Astrid. She was running up to me, with desperation in her steps. She was saying something, but for some reason I couldn't hear anything.

And then I looked down to find a sword protruding from my heart.

POV BREAK (Astrid, Battle's begin)

Oh, damn it, Fin! We had what we needed! Why did you have to take what I said to heart!

Fin had just shot the Roman Legatus, the one apparently blessed by their thunder-god, and everything went silent. Slowly, the Legatus got back up, and gave a furious roar.

And just like that, all Hel broke loose. Dragon fire was everywhere almost instantly, but none of it ever seemed to hit its mark. The warriors that charged us were fast, almost as fast as Fin is. Everything was cluttered, and the split second it took to recognize friend from foe could be your last.

I was extremely thankful that Hiccup forced me to use a shield now. I originally objected, thinking that it would slow me down; all I needed was Mjöl, the special axe that could shift into a Broadsword in under a second. I didn't understand how the mechanics worked, but Hiccup had made it and I was intent on using it; what good would a bulky shield do me?

Eventually, I let Hiccup make me one. That was still during our awkward faze, and he threw himself into his work as if it was a great relief. What I received was very similar to his shield, minus the Ice powers. It consolidated into a wrist-guard, but would extend into a full shield. Unlike Hiccup's spinning shield, this shield had two semi-circles that would pop out at different directions, forming a full shield. As soon as I found out that the shield was lighter than my old wrist-guard, I was onboard the bandwagon.

And thank Thor, because I've been saved by this thing so many times already. Fin taught Nir and I how to charge the Amethyst in my axe, allowing me to fire short bursts of electricity when needed. I decided to save that, seeing as I could easily hit another Rider.

And suddenly, Fin's voice came into my head.

^ALL DRAGONS! CUT OFF THEIR REINFORCEMENTS! WE WON'T LAST LONG ENOUGH IF THEY ARRIVE!^

He's taking the dragons? We need them! I don't know how long we can hold without them! It's not like we were all given superpowers immediately.

The dragons complied, and soon the fighting stopped as the two sides collected themselves. This whole time, few people were actually struck, and no one is dead or even unable to fight. The Romans lined up across from us, and everyone seemed to have their opponent before them. I looked at mine: tall, powerfully built, and not a scratch from the previous scuffle. His armor bore a name in Latin: Mars.

Mars? I know that. My Latin isn't great but I still know that from somewhere. It has to be one of their gods, and from the Legatus' demeanor, it may be an important one.

Before I knew it, my opponent had rushed me, jump-starting everyone's battles. Bold, and rushes into combat I noted.

His weapon of choice, a spiked mace, crashed into the ground where I was standing. I rolled out of the way, and struck back with an upper-diagonal swipe of my axe. He tried to duck, but hadn't anticipated how fast I could swing my axe, and I put a minor slice on the back of his shoulder; apparently, no one else has discovered metal like Hiccup uses, and it gives us a significant advantage.

I pressed my advantage by switching to my sword and going for a jab. Mars…that sounds so familiar. What even are the biggest Roman gods?

He had recovered, as if my strike hadn't even fazed him, and knocked my sword to the side with his mace. With myself unbalanced and both our weapons to our sides, he leaned back and kicked me squarely in the chest. My sword was knocked out of my hand, and I landed on the ground with a thud.

Jupiter is the main god. That's where the lightning came from earlier. The Roman walked towards me, with my own sword in his hand. Before I could roll away or crawl, he firmly planted his boot into my stomach.

"Formidable speed, but reckless. It was a nice try, I suppose." He raised my sword over his head, preparing to strike.

The next important one is the god of war...Mars! I frantically looked around, hoping to find something…anything…that could get me out of this.

I can't die yet! Not like this! Not when we are finally so close!

I noticed the Amethyst in the hilt of my sword, and how it still glowed with the power that Nir had put into it. Strange things have happened recently, and I can still feel my connection with Nir even though he isn't next to me, so maybe it's not crazy to suggest that I can still use his power.

The Roman began to swing the sword down, and everything began to move in slow motion. I closed my eyes and focused with everything I had, but I didn't know what I needed to focus on. A thought crossed my mind, about how we are always the most powerful and dangerous when we succumb to our emotions. Fin once wiped out half of Berk effortlessly; maybe all I needed was a spark of something more.

Inch by inch, the sword made its way from behind the Roman's head. I shifted my concentration to the darkest, most hurtful things I could remember, hoping to enrage myself and release something. I let my memories take over, and all of them seemed to surround Hiccup in one way or another.

I remembered the rage I held for Hiccup back on Berk.

I remembered the utter despair I felt after causing Hiccup to leave.

I remembered my humiliation, and the fierce determination I had to find Hiccup's 'killer.'

I remembered every drop of blood that Fin split that day on the island; I remembered every gory detail as Fin easily dispatched the largest collection of troops in Archipelago history.

I remembered I was utterly torn inside when I first found out that Hiccup hid behind Fin's mask. I remembered exactly how his eyes looked through that mask, and how I was paralyzed by them.

I remembered the injustice I felt when Berk was put on trial, and the confusion that accompanied it as I realized that Hiccup wanted that.

I remembered how lost I felt after the trial, and how conflicted I was when Fin attacked Berk.

I remembered how distraught Hiccup was that I was chosen to ride Nir, meaning that he would never be able to escape me.

I remembered how much it stung to know that Hiccup resented me, and how much more it hurt when he wasn't afraid to say it to my face.

I remembered all of the pain that Hiccup had brought about; the sword had moved an inch, still not over the Roman's head yet.

I also remembered how much I missed Hiccup, and didn't know why, when he first left.

I remembered how much pure joy it brought me knowing that Hiccup was alive, even if he is Fin.

I remembered when I finally got over myself and decided that I would make it all up to him; I remembered that I deserved more pain than I received, and made it my goal to keep Hiccup from pain.

I remembered how conflicted he was, and how hard it was for us to even talk.

I remembered how much progress we made, and how much I still had left to make. There were things I needed to tell him; I couldn't die here.

The one thing I don't remember is exactly when I fell in love with him, but that won't matter if I can't do something here.

I opened my eyes, with the culmination of everything I had ever felt about Hiccup fueling my will to live. For all I know, my eyes were on fire when I opened them; they felt like it to me. I could feel an extremely powerful energy within me, and I knew that I could do something.

Before I even realized it, I had violently thrust my hand towards the Roman's chest. I couldn't reach the Roman's chest, but out of my fingertips a burst of lightning shot out, and caught the Roman in the chest. The Roman's body froze, tense from the electricity, and my sword fell out from his hands behind his head.

The Roman's body had been paralyzed temporarily from the blast, and he started to fall towards me with his hands still rigidly held above him. As he fell, I spotted a dagger in his boot, and grabbed it. Why didn't I notice this earlier? With the Roman's body stiff, I was able to through off his balance and cause him to fall to the side. I scrambled over, and jabbed the dagger into his heart much more violently than necessary.

I scrambled up, and then looked up to Hiccup. He had just started engaging the last of Trajan's four guards. Without even looking around me to find everyone (friend and enemy) in bad shape on the ground, I started running to him. I was shaking internally, and all of the emotions I had stirred up had turned into a raging storm that was tearing me apart from the inside. I was losing my composure, and could already feel a few tears running down my face.

I watched as Hiccup flipped over his opponent, then decapitated him. Once that enemy fell, we locked eyes for a brief moment before my eyes went wide with terror.

"HICCUP! BEHIND YOU!" I shouted with everything in me. He didn't seem to hear me.

His battle had apparently been sporadic, but his final flip had left him next to Trajan's throne, with his back to it. I wasn't far away, but Trajan took Hiccup's distraction and thrust a sword straight through Hiccup's heart.

Instantly, I felt an indescribably pain shoot through my own heart, and my stomach flopped over and died. Dread overcame me, and I ran forward and kicked Trajan back into his throne. He hit the throne hard, knocking the wind out of him and buying me a little time. I didn't even notice; I was already at Hiccup's side.

Once I realized that there was a sword in the middle of my chest, I felt the pain. It was excruciating, and felt almost identical to how it felt to be killed in my dreams. The only difference was knowing that this was for real made it sting even more.

Suddenly, Astrid had kicked my attacker. I fell to my hands and knees, and before I knew it Astrid had helped me lay on my side so as not to aggravate the sword. My mind was racing, and my eyes were having trouble focusing, but I fought through it to see Astrid crying more tears than I had ever seen in my life, from everyone I had ever seen cry.

*^No! No, Hiccup, you can't go! N-Not now!^*

I feel like there's something I should remember, but it is alluding me. Something about this situation tells me I am forgetting something. From behind Astrid, I see Trajan getting back up.

"Beh-hind…y-you" I forced out, and Astrid turned her head just in time to dodge a blow from Trajan's dagger.

My world was falling apart, and I was in no shape to walk, much less fend off Trajan. I narrowly escaped a killing blow when Hiccup warned me, and now I'm fighting to see through my tears. I don't have anything but my shield and my fists, and I'm steadily losing ground. Slowly but surely my dodges are getting sloppier, and I don't have any fight left within me. I feebly attempted to spin around Trajan's jab and deliver an elbow to his face, but I couldn't muster enough strength for the blow to do anything. Trajan didn't even flinch, and reached around me with his free hand to put me in a headlock.

Trajan spins around, and Hiccup continues to advance towards us. The sword in his chest is gone now, and he's bleeding profusely from the hole it left, but looks deranged and determined. There's a fire in his eye that even scares me. I can feel how nervous Trajan is, and suddenly, feel the muscles in his arm contract. Hiccup makes some sort of movement, but I know that it won't be enough.

*^Hiccup…I Love you.^*

Trajan went after Astrid, and what's left of my blood began to boil. Suddenly, everything had cleared up. My training in the dreams: I had been practicing how to keep fighting even with a 'killing' blow to heart. My other, colder self kept telling me that I had to fight through it, or else. Now I know what the or else is, and he's attacking Astrid!

I pushed myself into a standing position, grabbed the blade, and pushed it back out the hole it made.

Okay, that's done. I only have 60 seconds before I black out

I started walking towards Trajan, coming from behind him. It isn't far unless you have a hole in your chest; then it is pretty far, and they are actively moving away from me as Trajan presses on.

50…

I'm a third the way there, and Astrid doesn't look like she's going to make it for much longer.

40…

I'm halfway there, and Astrid still is struggling. Her movements are sluggish, and Trajan is easily fighting her into a corner.

20…

I'm right behind Trajan, but he has Astrid captive in his arms. He turned around with an evil grin as he held a blade to her neck.

18…

Trajan starts to laugh maniacally. All he sees is that he has Astrid, and I'm about to die. I'll prove him wrong on that last one.

16…

I keep walking towards him, dropping the sword I was holding to show my compliancy. "Stay back, or she's dead like you!" He demands.

14…

I make eye contact with Astrid, and see the fear and pain in her eyes. It only makes me angrier, and I prepare my final move.

12…

"You WILL let her go, or you will never live to regret it!" I screamed with every drop of hatred within me.

10…

I twist my body, launching an ice shield straight at Trajan's head.

9.95…

*^Hiccup…I Love you*^ Astrid tells me. Her voice contained a combination of peace and fear that only dying can bring.

9.9…

Trajan flinched, and makes a deep slice in Astrid's throat.

9.89…

My ice shield splits Trajan's head into two pieces, killing him. Astrid falls to the ground, and I am laying there with her before even I know it.

We're just here on the ground, facing each other as we bleed out. I can see Astrid struggle to breathe, and as much blood pours from her throat as pours from my chest. Neither of us have long.

As we lay there, looking into each other's' eyes, the gravity of the situation hits me. As I realize what's happening, I start to cry and use all of my remaining strength to grab Astrid's hand.

1...

^Astrid…I love you.^

And then everything went black.

Nothing but black.

I couldn't feel.

I couldn't see.

I couldn't think.

There was nothing.

And I know that there was nothing, but for some reason, I still as if I can see my other, colder self. His fists are clenched. He's furiously shaking his head. It's obvious what he wants to say. I failed.

But everything is still black.

I don't know how long the blackness stayed, but suddenly I started to come out of it. It was almost like being born into a new body. I cracked my eyes, and felt as if I had seen light for the first time ever. My entire body ached, and I slowly came into focus.

I was in a bed. I didn't immediately recognize the room, but it felt like home somehow. Very earthy, just like the Nests.

I looked around, and saw Astrid standing next to my bed. Despite the agonizing burn in every inch of my body, I shot my arm out and grabbed her arm as if the world depended on it. Mine did.

"Astrid?" I forced out, extremely raspy.

Once my hand made contact with her, she disappeared and in her place stood Thuggory. I must have imagined her, and when I tried have her she vanished. Story of my life…

"…No, Hiccup. Astrid…she wasn't like you. You…survived…somehow. You shouldn't have. There's no reason that you should be alive now, but every reason why Astrid isn't." Thuggory told me. It wasn't mean at all; he was choking back a sob, and seemed as if he was truly bothered by how things went down.

"She's…?"

*Astrid is dead, bud. For a week, now.* Toothless tried to soothe me from the other side of the bed. He knew that no matter what he did, he couldn't take away my pain.

He was right.

Author's Note: Yea, so this one was important. It's never supposed to be an easy decision to kill off a main character; I thought this would be simple, but I'm having mixed feelings even as I write this. I've planned for this to happen since the beginning of 'Book 2' and now that it is here I'm interested to see your responses. I am a lot more cynical and dark than most people (most FF's are really fun and happy) so killing off main characters is exciting for me, but I know that many of you probably aren't big fans of Astrid dying. I would love to know what possibilities you foresee this causing, how you felt as you read this, or what you think of this second arc's plot as a whole now that the central cog is revealed.

As always, review, and be completely honest. I've had nothing but good reviews, so I have finally given you something you may not like! Give me your honest thoughts, I can handle it! :P