A Queen's Hero
Disclaimer: I do not own How to train your dragon
KEY
'Thoughts/memories'
"foreign language/projected thoughts"
Emphasis/yelling
(A/N: Before we begin, I must reiterate that this isn't a death flag for Hiccup… well at least for any major characters. I may do an epilogue or a "special" chapter, depends if I can get in touch with my favorite FF author. 'Monster' by Starset fits Hiccup during his Fighting/Rage moments, at least in my opinion.)
Review responses
OechsnerC: Thank you.
Guest: I'm sorry.
CajunBear73: I wonder how much the premium is for crazy axe swinging lunatics, Lol!
Arraia: Thanks, ehh maybe?
PastaShark000: Thank you and yes, it is.
CynderX: -I know right, the buster sword is in my top ten "Most awesomest weapons ever" list. Foreshadow? Eeh, I don't plan that much ahead and besides, their tribe's healer Hilde has Eir's herb pastes. Thank you.
-All good, I'm just happy you read it.
Umbra Lycan: Thank you. With what may happen, I doubt they'll be anything left to roll.
Venom Williams: Thanks, here you go.
More more more: I'm juggling two stories at the moment, but I'm pushing myself to update this one at least once a month.
Back to the action!
Chapter 23: Sacrifice
Nar POV
Open ocean
"Hiccup needs our help, we need to go faster!", Mira called out to Donnager, Siv and Asa. The three colossi each held hive steel chains as they beat their massive wings, dragging the Scin'faxi across the sea. The colossi trio and their escorting sekär swarm had left Tempest and her depth hunters behind. The speeding ship struck a swell, making it lurch forward. Toothless caught Mira with his tail as she lost her balance, "Thank you".
The fury trilled, "You're welcome".
He dug his talons into the deck to steady both, Mira squeezed her hands, 'Please hold on Hiccup'.
Beartooth caverns
"Everyone, watch your footing and stay close to the torches!", Ivor's bellow echoed through the caverns. A pair of guards carrying torches led each group of villagers, one in front and one trailing behind. Arnora held the torch for her husband, her unconscious daughter gently cradled in his large arms. Hilde had done her best to treat Heather's wounds, bandages covered her arms, back and half her face.
The trail of villagers followed their guards through the maze of passageways, the firelight glinted off the water droplets condensed on stalactites. The first group neared the hidden entrance that led to the forest, the leading guard extinguished his torch and held aside the hanging vines. The children's whimpering calmed when they see the open sky, a guard ushers them forward, "Hurry, we must reach the ships before the fire closes in.
Hosvir looks towards the mountain behind them, the light from their burning village clearly visible. 'By the mercy of the Allfather, please let Hiccup be alright', he silently prayed for his friend's safety. The evacuees jogged through the dense forest, the children and elderly carried by the men to not slow them down. The villagers reach an open area halfway to the ships, several berserkers and uglithugs burst from the undergrowth. Hosvir and two other guards broke from the group and met them, "How'd they get pass the fire?!", one of the guards muttered.
Hosvir blocked an axe chop with his shield, he notices the singed pelt of his foe's armor, 'They're mad men!'. The raiders were willing to run through an inferno to kill them, that thought steeled his resolve. He dodged a downward chop and slashed into the berserker's arm, before running his sword into his foe's belly. Their hive-iron weapons and armor allowed them to cutdown raider after raider, but more emerged from the brush.
A snarling berserker leapt up, intending to bring down his great axe on Hosvir. He brought up his shield, blood splattered down on it. His attacker's arms hung limp; the great axe fell from his grip. Hosvir stared at the scythe blade protruding from the dying raider's chest.
"I don't want to kill-", Mira swung her skewered foe into the ground, "But I will to protect my friends". She pulled her war scythe free and spun it clean, a pair of raiders rushed at her back.
Toothless roared, "Get down!", Mira went to a knee just as the fury's tail swiped above her. The raiders were sent crashing into a large pine.
"Lady Mira!", Hosvir bowed, "Have you come to save us?".
The female hybrid smiled, "We'll do what we can, is everyone here?". She looked around, "Where's Hiccup?", Hosvir grimaced.
"I'm sorry, he's back at the village holding the enemy at bay", he bowed his head in regret.
Mira clenched her teeth, "DONNAGER!", the massive colossi descended. He trilled questionably, "Take Siv, Asa and some sekärs, help Hiccup however you can!". Donnager chirped and flew up, then bellowed out. Both female colossi hovered over to him, a large portion of the swarm formed up around the trio. The group flew towards the orange glow behind the mountain, Mira and Toothless stood beside Hosvir and the other guards.
Meanwhile, Beartooth great hall
Hiccup roared as he swung his great sword, each swipe killing two or three raiders. More and more berserkers charged at the hybrid, Dagny watched from a distance. She spoke up, "Make sure to take it alive".
Vorg felt unsure of his chieftess's request, "Um Chieftess, why not kill the demon?".
Dagny spun her face at him and snarled, but relaxed it when she sees him cower, "Simple, I want to keep it as a plaything". Frenzied berserkers jogged pass the chieftess as she sauntered in the direction of the fighting, the approaching sounds of screams and bloodshed excited her. Dagny stopped a little over a hundred meters from Hiccup and yelled, "Give up freak and I might be merciful!".
"What?!", the slightly winded hybrid hissed, his response slightly distorted by his hidden mouthparts.
"You heard me, drop your weapons and get down like a good little mutt!", the chieftess relished the look of hatred on Hiccup's face. The blood splattered on his armor and weapons made Dagny's blood rush, the fire flickering over the carnage at his feet further aroused her 'warrior' side. She hadn't seen a man show such ferocity until now, not even those in her tribe.
Hiccup drove the Remnant he held in his left grasper into a crawling berserker, he twisted it and growled out, "Care to repeat that?".
His display only fueled her 'bloodlust', "Like I said, do it and I might consider going easy on you". Dagny unsheathed her short sword and casually played with it in her hand, "Maybe I'll cut off those disgusting extra 'things', or perhaps just tear them off to make it more painful?". He roared in pure fury, she licked her lips and sighed, "Absolutely delicious".
Her delight was short-lived, Hiccup's anger quelled when he felt the presence of his brethren, 'My kin'. The small cloud of sekärs flowed around the mountain like a flood, the swarm descended towards the berserker ships at the docks. The prince turned to Dagny and her raiders, "It's over".
"Yeah, you're right", she grinned deviously at him, "But not for us". Aboard her warships, berserkers pulled off sheets hiding net launchers. The sekärs closed in on the ships, unaware of the trap the deranged chieftess had set. The ship captains ordered the launcher crews to fire at will when the swarm entered range. The nets unfurled after traveling towards the swirling swarm of hive kin, entangling unfortunate sekärs that couldn't dodge them. Dagny shrugged, "Looks like our old dragon killing weapons are still useful for something".
One such sekär crashed onto the deck of a ship, it's limbs tightly held to her body. "Alright boys, finish that demon!", commanded the captain. Berserkers closed in on the trapped sekär, still trying to free herself. They raised their axes and swords but before they could bring them down, a reddish mass barreled into the group.
Ruger reared up and roared, protectively looming over his fellow sekär. He wrapped a pair of his clawed legs around his bound kin and flew off, other larger sekärs followed his example. Captured kin that landed on the decks or in the water were scooped up by their comrades. Dagny sees them and chuckles, "Such compassion for their fellow kind, what pathetic beast!".
Hiccup realizes that if he doesn't do something, his brethren will suffer heavy casualties. He takes a deep breath, then utters a reverberating trill, "All sekärs, I command you all to break off your attack, help Beartooth with the evacuation of the island!".
The strange sound confused the berserkers, especially Dagny, "What was that?!". She notices the retreating sekärs, "Ha, that's right, run!". Her warriors began shouting, "What is it?", they point to the sky. She looks up and sees Donnager leading Siv and Asa, the three colossi fly towards the approaching reinforcing berserker ships. They close in and release the boulders they were carrying; the chunks of rock collide into the vessel's hulls.
The trio swing behind the fleet and head back into the areas in the forest the fire had yet to reach. Hiccup squeezes his claws, 'More, we need to buy the others more time'.
Dagny groaned annoyed, "Really, you're gonna run out of boulders eventually".
"I know", He sighed, "But every minute I can buy the better".
The chieftess huffed, "Whatever", while motioning to her berserkers. She smirked, "Remember, bring it back alive… barely". The incited raiders yelled out battle cries, he tightens both his right hand and grasper around Unity's grip.
Later, Far side of Beartooth
The returned sekärs sped up the boarding of the evacuation ships, they lugged both the villagers and the few possessions they could carry. With Mira and Toothless handling the flanking raiders, Beartooth guards went back into the caverns to begin preparing the 'Fail-safe' as Hiccup had trained them. A little girl was crying, "Mommy, I'm scared".
Thyre hugged her, "Shh, it will be ok Signy".
Mira left the fury and walked over to them, she knelt to her, "Don't be scared". The redhaired little girl continued to whimper, "I know!", Mira reach behind her. "Here", Signy opened her eyes and sees the hybrid holding out her hand, in her palm was a strange necklace.
The girl shakenly picked it up, "W-what is it?", she eyed the black hive-steel coin with a leather cord. The coin face depicted clasped clawed hands resembling Hiccup's with thin multi-segmented limbs in a helix around them. Hive script was etched near the rim of the coin, Signy looked to Mira.
"It's a luck charm and since Hiccup made it, you know it's good", she ruffled the smiling girl's hair. Thyre helped her daughter with the pendent, then scooped her in her arms. A sekär hovered over to them and wrapped its legs around the pair, Signy giggled as they were flown to the small collection of ships offshore. Toothless chirped, Mira looked over to him, "Any more of them?".
"I can't tell, the fire is getting really close", he trilled.
The guards returned, Hosvir walked up to her and bowed his head, "The preparations are complete".
Mira smiled, "Good, the rest of you can start heading over to the ships". The guards jogged over to several waiting sekärs, Hosvir saluted her and followed his comrades. She looked to the mountain and whispered, "Please make it back to us… and to me".
Back at the Beartooth village
Exhaustion was gradually setting in as Hiccup's swings of Unity were getting slower. After finishing off the last of the wave, he dug the tip of his great sword into the blood-soaked mud and went down to a knee. Hiccup panted, 'I… I can't hold them off for much longer'. He looks through his hanging bangs and sees another push forming in front of the grinning chieftess. The firelight reflected off the mirror finish of Unity, his battered visage finally apparent to him.
Minor bruises and cuts dotted his sweat drenched face, the enemy's blood matted his hair. Dagny called out from behind her amassed berserkers, "Last chance mutt, give up and I promise to be gentle… maybe". The sickening thoughts that must have been going through the deranged chieftess's mind made his skin crawl.
From above, Hiccup heard a sekär call out, "Milord, the Kind ones are all aboard".
The hybrid smiled slightly and trilled, "Good, tell them… it's time". The sekär chirped and flew off, Hiccup reached out with his voice, "Donnager". The orange colossi broke through the smoke and descended behind him; Hiccup wearily rose as he landed. The male clicked anxiously, the hybrid patted his side, "Don't worry, everything will be fine".
Dagny scowled as he climbed on Donnager, she yelled, "Coward, are you running away?!".
Hiccup slid Unity into its ornate scabbard attached to the colossi's harness and grabbed his cloak. The rush of air from Donnager's wingbeats churned the smoke, his hooded rider looked down at her, "You have won this battle".
"You're damn right-".
"But at what cost?", he motioned to bodies sunk into the mud.
Dagny humphed, "Please, now that I have this island, I'll use it to rebuild my tribe stronger than ever before!". The chieftess smirked, "Then we'll hunt down you and your friends!", she laughed haughtily.
"No… you won't", a second later, a string of muffled explosions began sounding off beneath their feet. The ground reverberated, knocking a handful of berserkers down.
The chieftess fought to steady herself, "What… what's happening?!". A fracture ran through her feet, branching out as it traveled towards the village. The rumbling around them was joined by panicked screams as she looked up to the mountain. Ship-sized chunks of stone fell away as the fissures spread across its surface; huge puffs of dust spewed from the ruptures.
Hiccup watched the raiders run towards the docks, fleeing from the pieces of the mountain that tumbled into the village. He closed his eyes as Donnager flew away from the chaos, 'I'm sorry, Ivor'.
Large pits open around the village, swallowing up buildings and fleeing berserkers. Dagny skidded to a stop when some of her tribesmen and uglithugs fell into a wide crevasse, their screams echoed as they plunged into the abyss. "Chieftess!", Vorg waved his arms, getting her attention. Dagny backpedaled then sprinted at the widening chasm, she jumped and soared at the other side. The chieftess fell short but Vorg reached out and caught her, "I got ya', Chieftess".
He pulled her up and followed her with the rest of their running people. Vorg held her back as they neared the cliff edge, "What are you doin-!". The ground before them fell away, taking ruined Skippers and Polybolos with them. Many chunks fell onto trapped ships, crushing frighten sailors. The dock ramps collapse with raiders still running down them, both debris and screaming men falling together into the treacherous waters.
Offshore, Berk's fleet
Stoick looked on in absolute terror, "Oh… my… Gods", the hooligans around him muttered fearfully. Everyone aboard his ships watched the island of Beartooth crumble away, slowly falling bit by bit into the sea.
Ack spoke up, "'e can sink entire islands, 'ow are we suppose' ta' fight someone like tha'!". His fellow tribesmen shared his sentiments, their chief silently did as well.
Beartooth village ruins
Dagny and Vorg steadied themselves against the quaking, wide sections of the ground separated the surviving raiders. A group of berserkers rushed towards her, "Chieftess, are you alr-AAHHH!", the slab they were standing on sank. Other portions either did the same or were shoved up, throwing survivors to their deaths. The sound of slabs colliding and grinding against each other escalated the chaos.
'There's no way to escape!', a chasm opened between them and the others, trapping her and Vorg. Dagny felt her lieutenant's large mitts wrap around her arms, holding them to her sides, "Vorg, what the hel are you doing!". She struggled as he lifted her slender body up, "Let me go, put me down!".
"Forgive me, my Chieftess", he began walking, "I cannot do that".
"Vorg, I'm ordering you as your chieftess to release me!", she screamed.
"I've always admired you, Dagny. Ever since I saw you grow up from a little girl to the proud shieldmaiden and chieftess you have become. You are the embodiment of what it is to be a berserker", he smiled as her struggling lessen. "You held onto your beliefs, even as your father tried to stifle them again and again. No matter how much they separated you from the others, you never gave up being a true berserker. It pains me to know I won't be able to see how far you'll go, but I have faith that you'll do great things", he stopped at the cliff edge.
"Vorg, what are you-!", to her shock, he cocked his arms back.
"You have to survive, Dagny", he sighed, "For the future of our tribe… you must live".
Using all the strength of his muscle-bound arms, he bellowed and threw her far from the jagged rocks at the foot of the cliffs, "VOOORRRG!". His smile grew when he sees Dagny land in the clear ocean, he lost his footing as the slab he was standing on collapsed. Vorg's helmet fell off, bits of stone and dust rained down on him before he looked up. Another section of the land was shoved up as his fell, the mass of stone loomed over him. He closed his eyes as it slowly leaned, a tear ran down his face when the shadow washed over him. The stone chunk smashed onto his slab; the deafening crash joined others as the island was swallowed up by the sea.
Back to Berk's fleet
"Ya' think anyone escaped?", Spitelout asked his brother. For the first time in his life, Stoick didn't have an answer. A faint growing thumping gave them very little warning before a massive sword pierced into the foredeck of Berk's flagship. The light from the afternoons sun gleamed against the rainbow of colors, the great sword's tip was shoved deeper when a cloaked form landed on the hilt.
Like a banner dancing in the wind, the black cloak fluttered to expose blood stained armor. The hooligans stumbled away from the perched Hiccup, "Well done Stoick, you've managed to do what I thought someone could never do". Said chieftain stuttered when the prince pulled down his hood, revealing an emotionless face, "You've hurt me".
"Hic-", his words died in his throat at Hiccup's gaze, the light gone from his forest green eyes.
"I finally know, thank you", Donnager descended to hover behind his rider. The intimidating colossi only accentuated his fear inducing aura, Hiccup hopped off Unity and pulled it free with one hand. He rested it on his shoulder and turned away, but looked back to the stunned crew, "You've made your choice, now I'll make mine". Hiccup crouched and sighed, "See you on the battlefield, Stoick", then leapt onto his colossi.
They flew towards the billowing dust cloud where Beartooth once was, leaving the hooligans to worry. Stoick knew what had happen, he and his tribe were now the enemy of the Hive. 'What have I done?', the chieftain weakly squeezed his hands, 'May the gods have mercy on us'.
Island ruins
Flotsam was tossed by the waves amongst the sea spires, smothered by the sun obscuring dust cloud. One of the handful of the remaining berserker ships carefully sail through the spires and jagged outcroppings that were once Beartooth, looking for any survivors from their tribe. One of them asked, "You think anyone's still alive?".
His question was answered by a lookout, "I see something, I think it's a person!". The captain turned to the helmsman, he nodded and followed the directions from the lookout. More of the crew went to the railings as their vessel closed in on the form. A young woman with fiery red hair was clinging onto a large section of a mast, dust was caked on her soaked face, "It's the Chieftess!". The news had an immediate effect, everyone aboard rushed to help.
After fishing Dagny out of the sea and getting her aboard, the captain handed her a blanket then bowed. She wrapped it around her shoulders, a berserker asked, "Did Vorg make it?". Dagny slugged him and sent the man tumbling, he flopped onto his back unconscious.
The surrounding crew took a step back, the captain sighed, "So I take it there were no others?".
"No", she growled out, then walked to the spare private quarters. The crew fearfully made way for their chieftess, "Set sail back to Berserker isle".
"It shall be done, Chieftess", the captain organized his crew.
Dagny closed the door behind her, the light from the candle at the desk bathed the room in a flickering orange light. She dropped the blanket and unfasten her damaged chest piece, tossing it and her vambraces aside. With the irritating soaked padding away from her skin, Dagny sat at the desk in her breast bindings and lower armor. She hammered her fist on the desktop and roared, frightening the crew outside. One of the younger berserkers muttered, "The Chieftess sure is scary".
"Mind your tongue boy and get back to work!", bellowed his older crewmate. He quickly nodded but looked back at the cabin, the flickering light seeping around the door.
Inside the cabin, Dagny breathed in heavily after screaming in anger. She pulled her knife from her boot and began carving into the desk, "I'm going to kill you, Demon". "I'm going to make it as painful as I can, I'll take my time and make you suffer for what you took from me", she stabbed it into the wood, then walked over to the cot and flopped down. On the desktop was carved a name, the same one she whispered as she laid her arm across her eyes, "Vorg".
Later, Beartooth's small flotilla
The Scin'faxi and the remains of Beartooth's fleet were being tugged by Tempest and her depth hunters. A handful of sekärs remained, the rest of the swarm returned to the Citadel with Siv and Asa. They ferried relief supplies from the hive warship, which was in the heart of the fleet, to the surrounding ships.
Ivor stood at the stern of his ship, staring at the plume of dust where his home once was. He knew it could happen, vividly remembering their discussion. 'No, there has to be another way!', his plea when Hiccup had told him of his plan echoed in his mind. If Beartooth were to be overtaken by their enemies, warriors would set specialized skipper bombs to detonate in their retreat. Not only would the resulting dust cover their escape, most of the invading force would be destroyed with the island.
"In order for us to survive, sacrifices must be made", Ivor whispered to himself. He recalled how he spouted on and on about how much Beartooth meant to him and his people. His parents were born there, his parent's parents and so on. Beartooth was their home and nothing was more important to them. What Hiccup declared still rung in his ears, 'What's more important huh, some dirt and rock or the people who depend on you?!'. In that instance, Ivor saw what a true chieftain should be, "A chief protects his own".
Hosvir walked up to him, "Sir, the lookout saw a colossus heading towards our fleet". Ivor pulled out his spyglass and scanned the skies, easily spotting Donnager heading towards them. Several minutes later, the orange hulk reached Ivor's ship and dropped off Hiccup, then flew alongside his personal ship.
The chieftain walked up to him, "Ivor, I'm so sor-".
The larger man wrapped the hybrid in a bear hug, "Thank the merciful Allfather that you came back to us, lad".
Hiccup was shocked for a bit, then returned the hug, "I'm back". They broke the hug, he sighed, "I'm sorry that I couldn't save your home".
"It's ok, my people are more important", Ivor patted his shoulder. Ruger carried Mira over to their ship and dropped her off, before returning to Hiccup's ship. The prince had little time to react when she ran into him, having to dig in his back-limbs to stop himself from being knocked over.
"Hic-cup", whimpered Mira, burying her face into his shoulder. Her sniffling made him wrap his arms around her and deepen their embrace.
He softly rubbed her back and rocked her gently, "I-I'm sorry f-for making you worry". Mira shook her head into his shoulder and mumbled, Hiccup pulled her away and cupped her face. Tears flowed from her gorgeous eyes, he smiled, "I hope you can forg-". She punched him in the shoulder, "Oof, you're getting really strong". Mira's expression relaxed, his smile fell when he remembered, "Heather, is she-?".
Mira sighed, "She's fine, Hilde treated her wounds great but-".
"But?".
"She had to place her into a deep sleep for a while", that news brought some relief to Hiccup.
Ivor cleared his throat, "Hiccup, so I take it our treaty is no more?", he looked back to his former home.
He rubbed the back of his head, "Well, it was created under the condition that Beartooth remained intact".
"I see-".
"But there was a clause that should the island be destroyed, we would do everything in our power to help your people settle elsewhere", Hiccup wrapped his arm around Mira's shoulders. "By the authority granted to me by Vera the red queen, I will lead you to your new island", both hybrids walked together to the bow of the ship.
"Where are you taking us, Hiccup?".
"Somewhere safe…, we're going Home", Ivor looked at him questionably, "We're going to the Citadel".
(A/N: We're near the end, I listened to emotionally epic music while writing most of this chapter. The battle was costly to both parties, Beartooth lost their home and Dagny lost her only real friend. It kinda reminds me of that saying, 'You don't know what you have till it's gone'. I don't know if I should write an epilogue, maybe even the "special" chapter. No, it won't be about how the baby in Hiccup's dream was made, get your minds outta the gutter!)