By the title of this chapter, some of you may be hyped, and some of you may have not much of a reaction, but all I can say is that by the end of this one - you'll all be in for a treat! Though whatever the case, I hope you still enjoy!

Also, a thanks to KorrieChan, Trygve11, dabzzygirl, and especially Xythisdi1987 for the review last chapter! Seriously, guys. I'm glad you love it. And to Xythisdi1987, I'm glad you're liking this story so far! Your review put a smile on my face. :)

Anywho though, let's continue onwards with our journey!

That night, hundreds and hundreds of prisoners and slaves were freed from the Jomsvikings' grasp, and as the morning sun rose Hiccup could almost feel a sense of relief from the aftermath of the suicide mission that he and his friends had to endure.

However, he knew in his mind that this conflict was nowhere near to over. They had a long way to go.

As he stared out to sea from atop the side beach's hill with Toothless, just by the ruined watchtower, he began hearing several pairs of footsteps come over towards him from behind. Turning around he saw Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the Twins, and Magnus and Eira with their Dragons too by their sides.

They looked exhausted.

"So, I assume the freed slaves and prisoners have been accounted for?" asked Hiccup, turning his back away from the group as he laid eyes upon them.

"Aye, it was quite a round up." Snotlout nodded, approaching Hiccup. "More than a thousand were released from their chains. If anything, it almost seemed like two thousand."

"Almost or… definite?"

"Almost perhaps." replied Astrid. "But maybe definite. What we do know is that the three remaining Viking Tribes were set free, though there's one of them I don't recognize…"

Hiccup raised a brow. "Who did we set free?"

Fishlegs spoke up. "The Northlander and Thunderhead Tribes were set free, along with any remaining warriors from the Berserker, Outcast, Meathead, and Bogs Burglar Tribes who were kept on this island. Plus, all of the surviving folk from our allies that we found were also set free, and they're already in the midst of being sent back to their Tribal islands."

"That's nearly half of the prisoners that were imprisoned here. That's good news I'd say." said Hiccup.

"Aye, it is. Stoick right now however is discussing peaceful terms with the Northlander and Thunderhead Chieftains of whom were imprisoned; Snorre and Arngrim."

Fishlegs paused for a moment. "However, then there is this new Tribe which Astrid mentioned that we don't recognize. They call themselves the Defenders of the Wing, though we immediately gained their trust after freeing them."

"That's… quite odd, Fishlegs." said Hiccup. "Why would they instantly agree to allying with us after freeing them? It's not like they know us."

"Well, here's the thing; these guys, they actually treat Dragons like they were their friends and allies."

The scrawny lad's eyes widened a bit. "...Like us?"

"Like us." Astrid said, arms crossed. "When they saw our Dragons coming in with us by their side, their Chieftess, especially their Chieftes- or well, Queen, instantly grew a liking - seeing as how we Humans and Dragons fought side by side in this dark hour. And so, we have gained not only their trust, but as well as secured an alliance with them."

Hiccup exhaled, smiling "That is excellent news."

"That it is." Magnus responded. "Though I think it's time we get things settled back down below. No doubt Stoick would want us to help him regroup and tend to our warriors' wounds. We lost about two hundred men in that battle. Stoick had to call for reinforcements from Berk, but I don't know how many will come."

Hiccup turned to face Toothless, and the Dragon motioned him to mount up. "We'll see. For now, let's waste no further time. Mount up!." he said, loud and clear. "We must get moving."

"Aye, there isn't a single moment to lose…" nodded Magnus, just as he turned his head to face east. "Though... you go on without me. There's something that I want to see."

…

"There is no way that I'll ally with some Berkian scum in this conflict of yours." exclaimed Arngrim, crossing his arms with his brows lowered. "This is not our war. This is your war."

The Riders and their Dragons stood with Stoick, gathered at the docks where the remnants of the structures that Hiccup and the others destroyed burnt dimly. They stood and sat circled around the bonfire, discussing as rain fell from above, but not in the best manner.

"Our war is about to become yours as well, Arngrim and Snorre." replied Stoick, motioning his finger at both the Chieftains. "You cannot sit idle and wait out the storm. Our enemy is bringing the storm, and it is vast."

"Not unless we sit by and not interfere." spoke Snorre, pacing slowly back and forth. "You brought forth an army of ill-equipped and unprepared warriors who were nearly slaughtered. You don't understand what we were FORCED to forge for them in this prison fortress. Those two hundred Jomsviking bastards nearly broke us."

Astrid stared at Snorre. "And yet in the end, we broke them, Chieftain. Your people were the ones that were unprepared when the enemy arrived. We-"

"Mind your tongue, girl." the Viking snarled. "You're talking to two of the most dangerous Chieftains in the Archipelago right now."

Ruffnut chuckled. "Funny the way I see it, because these two unprepared nuthead Chieftains were easily overwhelmed by a more dangerous foe."

A series a light chuckles followed from the Riders as the two Chiefs stood in embarrassment from the Thorston's words. Who knew that a Thorston would have the words to describe them without flaw? The thought just made Snorre filled with more anger.

"Now listen here you damn Dragon lover. If you think that you're in any way or form able to talk about me like that, you are mistaken. Another word from you and I'll-"

"And you'll have your own life risked for nothing." said the distant voice of a woman.

Everyone immediately turned their heads towards the direction of where the side gates stood, and from afar they saw the Queen of the Defenders of the Wing walking towards them with who appeared to be her right hand at her side.

"Stand down, Snorre. If you take up arms against these warriors, then know that your life will be met to a swift end. Your skill is hardly of match to them. Wouldn't you agree, Throk?"

"Indeed, my Queen." replied the man who stood next to her.

Hiccup's eyes fell on the two Vikings. Upon inspection, all he could think to himself was that the armor, and the style by the way they looked, it was unlike anything he had seen before.

"You're the Queen of the Defenders?" the young lad asked, leaned down as he was petting Toothless.

"That I am, Hiccup Haddock. And I see you've already settled with your Dragons."

His right brow arched. "You know me?"

"That we do." said Throk, nodding. "Your father has told us about you. Your deeds during the Siege of Berk against the enemy, as well as tonight's attack has made you the stuff of legend. Your name has been said many times throughout our ranks-"

"Pardon me, strangers." interrupted Snorre, stepping forward. "But who do you think you are to just come in and interrupt our conversation?"

Throk scoffed. "Conversation? That seemed more like an argument. And from how I see it, you interrupted me. If I were you, I'd remain quiet so that you could let me finish before I get blood all over your pretty hides."

Arngrim sighed, approaching the Thunderhead Chieftain. "Snorre, maybe you should back off-"

"Shut up, Arngrim!" the Chieftain once more interrupted. "This isn't about you! It's about me!"

"No, you fool!" shouted Hiccup, standing to his feet. "...It's about all of us. All of this time you argued, you've done nothing but whine about yourself and how you should stay out of this mess. Well the time has come for you to understand that you cannot stay like this forever!"

Snorre, for once looked at the young lad with curiosity. "What are you talking about, boy?"

"...Ivar the Boneless, the one who leads this great army, will not back down until we're done for." he said, loud and clear. "Don't you understand? He will keep invading the Archipelago until we are finished, or until we submit to him as his slaves. His eyes have fallen directly onto us, because not only is the wealth of the Archipelago combined vital to him, but so too are the islands and their resources, along with the Dragons."

"Gah! Realize that he will stop until he grows tired of it, boy."

Hiccup shook his head. "That's the thing. He will never stop, Snorre. And this is why we've called you and Arngrim here to ask for your help… The Vikings of Scandinavia, the Barbarians of Germania, the Slavic Rus' of Kiev; they all stand behind him. Thousands of them. And only by working together, with not numbers, but combined strength can we beat them, and we need to beat them if your people are going to survive."

Snorre remained silent as he began thinking about it for a moment. To him, there was a sense of truth in Hiccup's words, and it was hard to find any flaws at that point. But what would his people think if he went to war against an all-powerful enemy?

Arngrim however gave a light exhale as he nodded his head. "Perhaps… he is right." he responded, breaking the silence.

"If we sit by and let these Tribes do the work alone, what chance is there that we will survive? If the boy's words are indeed true, then that Viking army will likely return greater than before, and they will do things to us that will be worse than what they did to us here. And if we do sit idle, then perhaps we definitely deserve to be the last of our kind."

All that came out from Snorre's mouth was a "Hmm…" as he thought about it. From the way he now saw it, perhaps it was time to get in on this conflict. In any case if Berk and it's allies failed and lost the war, then any remaining Viking in the Archipelago would become the last to ever exist, and hundreds of generations of Archipelago Vikings would be lost.

Snorre, seeing no other option, sighed as he turned towards Stoick and reached out his hand. "Very well, Haddock." he said. "If what you and your son here say is true, then I will die fighting alongside my own kind to ensure my people's survival. I will fight."

"Same here…" said Arngrim, now reconsidered. "And all of which I said about you, I now take it back."

Stoick nodded as he turned to face Snorre, firmly grasping his hand and shaking it before turning to Arngrim and shaking his hand as well.

Hiccup sighed with relief, gazing at the Queen and at Throk with a smirk, approaching them.

"You have my thanks, Throk and…"

It took a short moment at first, but the Queen chuckled upon realization. "Oh, how rude of me. Allow me to present myself: My name is Mala, Queen and Chieftess of the Defenders of the Wing. I am at your service if need be as thanks for saving my life, the life of my right hand, and my people."

"Alright, I guess I can cope with that." Hiccup replied. "But… what about your people? The villagers and denizens of your island. Shouldn't you assign someone to take over while you're away fighting alongside us with your forces?"

"Well, you can say we already have." replied Mala. "The Great Protector of our island, who we have cared for, has helped protect my people from danger over the years he has stood. We see him as a leader, and thus we rely on him. Any danger that comes will be responded by him, but that is not the point right now."

"Hm? Not the point? What do you mean?"

"Your friend Magnus sent me. He wants to see you as there's something he wants to show you… make sure to bring your friends along too."

…

Magnus and Eira stood atop the cliffs that overlooked the beachhead where the main fighting down below took place, but the area itself of which they stood on was a plateau that they had not discovered before. Surprisingly, it was the only part of the island that had grass.

Where they stood however was in the midst of a former Jomsviking camp that now laid in ruins, housing at least a hundred tents or so with a few small wooden structures; specifically a lumber mill and a smithy.

Hiccup and the Riders stood before the two Vikings, and yet they gazed at them with concerned and questioning looks, because all around them they saw people, specifically former prisoners, inhabiting and manning the ruined tents and structures. What were they doing here - especially out in the rain?

"Magnus." began Hiccup. "Why have you brought us here? There's nothing here but burnt tents all around us… more importantly however; what are these men and women doing here? Shouldn't they be making their way back to their home islands?"

"...I am not the one you should be asking." the older lad replied to him. "However, I brought you here so that Sigurd could talk to you about something."

"Sigurd?" the Riders questioned in unity.

Hiccup looked around him. "And who might this Sigurd be?"

"I am." a voice said from behind the backs of Magnus and Eira, and came along a figure who stood between the two Vikings. Before them was a young man who looked no older than Magnus' age, but no younger than Ivar's.

He wore a blue linen long-sleeved shirt, along with a brown woolen gambeson, a pair of leather wristguards and leggings, and sturdy leather boots. His eyes were light blue, and his hair was blonde and long which extended down above his shoulders with braids, and as well as down near his upper back.

"Sigurd, Hiccup Haddock. Hiccup, Sigurd Argarnsson."

He looked at the young Vikings with his head up, though part of him looked exhausted.

"Well, at least you now know my name." he said, loud enough and clear to the Riders. "But as you can see, my people and I were former prisoners who by force were worked into forging weapons for Ivar's destructive war machine, but now we are released from his chains. However, because we are now freed to act on our own, we have decided that we want to come with you and assist you in this war of yours."

"Come with us, to Norway?" asked Astrid. "Why would you want to come with us? Shouldn't you and your people prepare to make way back to your island where it's much safer?"

"Well, we can't. And that is because… we have nowhere to go." he answered before pointing his head towards Magnus. "He is the one who we owe our lives to, because he rescued us! And after we found out that he was from Kattegat and who he was, as well as the first one who spoke out against Ivar, we just had to follow him."

Hiccup scoffed. "What, you found out that he was a blacksmith before- Wait! How do you know that he was…?"

His words slipped from his mouth as he gazed at Sigurd, curious and wondering how he knew Magnus was from Kattegat, and that was until he realized the sudden truth. He knew exactly why they couldn't return.

"Wait, are you saying that-"

"Yes, Haddock." Sigurd nodded, taking a soft step forward. "We were part of the Völsung Clan."

The Riders gasped at Sigurd's response.

"Völsung?" asked Snotlout, with excitement filling in his voice. "That's Ivar's Clan. Which means that you're all from Scandinavia! But how did you…?"

"Ivar betrayed us." Sigurd sighed with a grunt. "We were loyal to him until the end, until he threw us aboard prison longships and sailed us out to this godsforsaken place. We spoke out because we did not want another war! We lost our previous war in England, and we knew speaking out was the right thing to do…"

He paused for a moment, grunting once more. "But young Boneless was too proud, too confident that he could forge a Viking kingdom larger than anything before… he should've just stepped away from fighting and looked towards farming, just like how his father Ragnar became one himself."

"Hey, I would become a farmer of boars!" spoke out Tuffnut. "Then I could get a boar pit and sit back whilst-"

"TUFF!" interrupted Hiccup.

"Alright, alright! Geesh!"

The young lad sighed, turning back towards Sigurd. "So if you have nowhere else to go but with us, what do you propose to do?" he said before asking sarcastically; "Become farmers and farm everywhere we go until we make all of Norway into a farming community?"

Sigurd shook his head. "That's a funny question, but not well thought out. Please, allow me to show you..."

The blonde young man then turned to face towards those who were near them, and immediately the men and women all around began to close in on the group, armed with swords, shields, and axes in their hands.

At first, the Riders went into alerting states, along with the Dragons who lit their mouths with fire, placing their hands on the hilts of their weapons for defense, but Sigurd placed his hands up in front of him to indicate the younger Vikings to relax.

"Stand down. We're not going to attack you, I just want to show you..." he said to them, being truthful with his words, and eventually the Riders slowly lifted their hands away from their weapons and down by their sides. The Dragons too responded by standing down, seeing as how Sigurd's words sounded honest.

They looked around them and saw how the men and women gazed upon them with ease and innocent, tired looks, now noticing that their weapons were not tightly gripped. However their focus was not just on Hiccup and the Riders, but also Magnus and Eira.

"As you can see, we're also fighters." said Sigurd, getting closer to Hiccup. "We've fought and bled on many battlefields in the past for the Völsung Clan, and now we want to show those fools who backstabbed us what happens when they go against their own kind."

His hand fell on the young lad's shoulder. "Let us fight with you, Hiccup Haddock. Together, we can take down Ivar, and end his reign of tyranny. We will fight alongside your Tribe, and as well as with the other Tribes under a new Völsung banner, and we will have a Chief to lead us into battle until the end."

It was then that Sigurd turned and stared back at Magnus. "He will be our Chieftain."

Magnus' eyes widened, and his expression immediately became surprised. The former fighting warriors and maidens of the Völsung Clan, who spoke out as he did, now offer to fight FOR him. He went from a blacksmith to a warrior when he came to Berk, and now he was about to become a Chieftain?

Hiccup was not sure what to say or even think of this, but he was certain now that if the former warriors of the Völsung Clan fought for Magnus, and as a whole fought alongside with the Tribes, then Ivar would definitely be having a taste of his own steel.

"How many do you have with you, Sigurd?" asked Hiccup.

"...Five hundred warriors and maidens. And all of us will assist you in this war." he replied to Hiccup, smirking.

And so, with a grin on his face, he nodded and bowed his head towards the warrior, before responding with eagered words; "Welcome to the fight, Viking." and shaking Sigurd's hand.

Sigurd laughed, giving Hiccup a rough pat on the shoulder with his other hand which nearly knocked the breath out of him. "My thanks be with you, Hiccup Haddock!"

"No… problem…" he groaned until gaining back his breath and standing to his feet, but the grin still stuck to his face.

The blonde Viking walked towards Magnus, stopping ten feet away from him and Eira.

"We are all yours to command, Magnus. All five hundred of us will be with you and the Tribes as a whole until the end. We shall aid you and stand behind you in every battle you face. We will be your sword, and be your shield in the fights ahead. But until then…"

He unsheathed his sword from around his waist, lifting it up in the air and saluting Magnus before shouting loud and clearly; "LONG, LIVE, THE CHIEFTAIN!"

All five hundred warriors and maidens raised their weapons high, cheering for Magnus who looked upon all of them with proud eyes. For the first time in his life, he found the real respect and honor within the Scandinavian Vikings whom had shown only barbarism in his past, and now it was time for him and them to show Ivar who the true Völsung really were.

"They are really into you, Magnus." said Eira, smiling. "And now we have a bigger army at our backs... Lead these men and women to victory."

And that he would. In his ears, the chanting words from the warriors and maidens that kept echoing proved how eager they were to follow him.

"LONG LIVE THE CHIEFTAIN! LONG LIVE CHIEF MAGNUS!"