I'd like to announce to readers of this story that despite earlier plans and statements to the contrary I have started a new fancfiction story called "All For Some" about My Hero Academia manga and anime that you can find from my profile. MHA fanfic just caught me with it and with this new story I have manged to write more in 1.5 months than all of last year in all fiction writing I did. In terms of what that means for Another Nightmare, I don't like to leave things unfinished so I am planning to push through to the end of book 3 with usual monthly updates even though the story has been strangely harder to write for a year or more now. After book 3 everything is open and AN might end as a trilogy, most likely sometime during the summer.
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Also I am starting a new training/internship tomorrow, which while positive development in my unemployed life does put more pressure on prioritizing what I can invest time in writing. But for now, enjoy this chapter.
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comments:
Dragonrider's Fury: Nice to hear that. His character is quite interesting to write and has unique enough personality to be written distinctively easier than many others.
MysteryWriter175: Choosing neither can still end bad for her though, at least if the hunters win.
erikatyusharon: What is stupid but works?
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proofread by 3DPhantom
Gerd stumbled on tree roots. Even with the leg Hiccup had made and months of practice with it, getting through the pathless forest in the twilight of the summer night proved difficult. Her mother had to save her from falling several times as they crossed across the island.
"You shouldn't have come," her mother whispered.
"Yes, I should. I'm too involved to stay away."
"And too stubborn. I should have confiscated your leg."
"Mom!" Gerd yelped and instantly slapped her hands on her mouth to keep quiet.
"Sorry," she whispered and looked around. "I think we're approaching the right area."
"So how are we going to find the kids?" Old Torbjorn asked.
"We don't. The dragons will find us," Gerd said and focused on listening. She wished she had Hiccup's abilities. Eventually she heard a ruffling of bushes. Toothless' head rose over a nearby rock.
"You're right about that," Hiccup said as he walked past the rock with Ivar, Fishlegs and two women Gerd had not seen before. Little dragons' heads peeked over their shoulders.
"We should probably start with some introductions," Gerd's mother said.
"Indeed," one of the unknown women responded. "I am Atali, Chieftess of the Wingmaiden tribe, protectors of the Razorwhip dragons."
"I am Minden, a warrior of the Wingmaiden tribe," the other added. Gerd's mother nodded to them and put a hand on Gerd's shoulder.
"I am Eira, a fisherman's wife and mother of Gerd."
"And a key leader for the upcoming rebellion," Atali added.
"I may have been dragged into some role like that, at least until we can free the Chief, though Gerd has organized more people than I have."
"Recent events have forced us, too, to reconsider our views on the capability of young people," Atali said.
"I can agree with that," Eira snorted.
"Mom," Gerd interrupted, "shouldn't we focus on the important stuff?"
"See," her mother said pointing at Gerd. The Wingmaidens nodded. "Anyway, we have convinced ten more people after our last message. Mister Torbjorn has assured me he has enough weapons to arm everyone who doesn't yet have their own."
"Everyone will have at least one weapon, but some better bring their own shields. I don't usually make many of those or wooden items in general so I could only make a few without being suspicious," the old blacksmith said. "If that is enough, I can't say."
"No matter how well our side is armed the enemy still has superior numbers," Ivar said, "at least as long as every warrior in the village is either on their side or locked up. We might have enough people to free them, but only if we can use the advantage of surprise."
"Yeah…" Gerd started, "that may be in danger. I ran into Heather the other day. Hiccup, she wanted to talk about you. Brought you up out of nowhere. Something about the Grimborns being obsessed about you. They may be expecting you to come back and I get the feeling Heather didn't just try to warn me out of the goodness of her heart. She's been very clear about not risking herself by challenging the Hunters. If she thinks you've come back, she might even the tell the Grimborns."
"Of course she would," Ivar muttered, squeezing his fists.
"Regardless of what she would do, if the Hunters expect us to return, they'll be on guard and searching for any hints of our presence," Fishlegs concluded. "We may not have the element of surprise we were going to rely on and even if we do it may not last for long."
"Our warriors cannot defeat the Hunter army in a head-on battle, and I cannot sacrifice them on such attempt," Atali stated, though as she spoke she turned her head away, unable to face them.
"No, we have come too far," Hiccup said, barely managing to keep his voice down. "We can't stop just because they might suspect something."
"Then there is only one option," Minden stepped forward. "We must move swiftly before their suspicion becomes knowledge."
"I agree," Eira said. Gerd nodded in support as her mother continued: "Every day we wait is a risk. If we are going to do this it should be as soon as possible. I propose we attack tomorrow night and no later. Can you do that?"
"We are ready at any time," Minden responded, placing her hands on her hips in a confident manner. "Just waiting for you to get ready."
"I see. We'll be ready tomorrow. If you promise to behave, I'll give my husband permission to pick up you girls in his boat, just this once."
Gerd grimaced and looked away from her mother at the comment, but most people in the little meeting just laughed.
"We will be waiting for him at noon, and don't worry," Atali assured. "We don't usually steal men… from this far away."
"Moving on," Hiccup said, making every adult woman present chuckle. "If we're going to attack tomorrow, we have to agree on the final details of the plan now. Do you have any new information on the Hunters' defences?"
"Not much," Gerd's mother answered and handed Hiccup a few papers. "They build and change things a little bit every day, but the basics seem to stay the same. Many archers and ballistas that can shoot chains or poison arrows are stationed. They move them around the camp so we can't be sure where all of them are tomorrow. That graph shows where we have seen ballistas along the edge of the camp but there are almost certainly more inside, and of course on the ships."
"The ships aren't a concern," Hiccup said. "Taking away their ability to retreat would only make this harder. We can stay out of their range. I'm more worried about the dragons caged inside the camp."
"That's another reason to worry that they might be expecting you," Gerd said. "They are clearly prepared for a dragon attack and keeping dragons near their weapons."
"I know," Hiccup said, "but the attack is only a distraction while our real target is in the village, and I doubt they realize what they are up against with Toothless."
Hiccup's words were confident but as soon as he started speaking Toothless brushed his head against Hiccup's side, the boy scratching behind Toothless' ears in return. Gerd might not have had Ivar's eye for detail, but she saw enough. She didn't say anything. As long as those two were together it would be fine.
The discussion lasted a little longer, but the basics of the plans had already been agreed to before, so there wasn't much new to discuss. For the return trip Gerd and her mother had time to have chat about their own topic. It was called the "concerned mother talk". Old Torbjorn gave them space the moment Herd's mother first opened her mouth.
"I won't have you anywhere near the fight. You aren't a warrior Gerd, and I won't risk it. The forest has many places to hide, but Hiccup's dragons can still find you if things go bad."
"You can't seriously ask me to stay out of it after all that we've already done?"
"Yes, I can. Talking to people in secret is one thing. Being in the middle of battle is another."
"We still need to talk to people. Lots of people on our side don't really trust each other. You need all the help you can get to make this plan work, especially if your attention is to keep in contact with the Wingmaidens."
"Your father will keep contact with the villagers."
"He hasn't even talked with most of them before. I convinced more than half of them to join us in the first place. How will it look if I just run away as soon as they're expected to fight?"
"Gerd, I can't…"
"Mom," Gerd interrupted, "we're talking about the future of the island. It isn't about what you can, or want, to do."
Her mother couldn't respond right away, which was unusual. They kept walking in silence.
"I would still be with dad," Gerd said more quietly than before. Her mother sighed but didn't argue as they snuck back into the village. They barely avoided a patrol of warriors near the edge of the village. There had never been such need to guard the edges of the village before but with Hakon at least some warriors were always out and most of them didn't patrol inside the village. At least that made it easier to get home after the trio got past the outermost buildings. Gerd's father was still awake and sitting in front of the door when Gerd and her mother returned.
"Finally, I was afraid you had gotten yourself in trouble," he said and hugged Gerd.
"Not yet," Eira responded.
"Yet?"
"Tomorrow. Everything will go down tomorrow evening."
Suddenly he squeezed Gerd a little harder.
"Do you really want to do this? You are risking your lives, all of ours."
"Yes, we will do this, and you will do your part. It is the only way the village has hope for freedom," she said, but her husband didn't seem convinced so she continued: "When things really start, I need to count on you to keep our daughter safe. Can you do that?"
"Yes, preferably far away from here," he answered.
"Half true," Gerd said.
"What?" He turned to look at his daughter, confused.
"We will stay here. I already talked it through with mom."
"Oh really?" Her father said. Her mother sighed.
"Gerd, go to sleep. You will have a long day tomorrow."
Gerd did as told and despite all the thoughts going around her head it was far enough into the night that she soon slipped into unconsciousness. She woke way too soon to her mother shaking her shoulder.
"Gerd, it's morning. Your father already left. We need to get to work too."
After a quick breakfast Gerd headed out, mentally listing all of the people she needed to contact. She kept walking from house to house telling people it was time. The faces she saw during her tour spoke a grim language about the difference between agreeing to something in the future and having to actually face it. Seeing even a glimpse of that expression always made Gerd repeat that these people had already agreed to join them and especially what was at stake. After the tenth house she was feeling concerned as she headed up the village to visit some wealthier former students of Hiccup. She was just entering a jewellery maker's store as she noticed a familiar pair of eyes watching her from the next house over. Heather.
Gerd quickly turned her head back towards the door to not reveal anything on her face. It was too late to turn away from the place she didn't usually visit so she just stepped in and stayed next to the door, listening for if Heather followed her.
"Can we help you?"
Gerd turned around to face the jeweller couple and checked the shop to make sure no one else was there.
"Yes," she said, "the thing we talked about a couple of days ago, it's going down tonight. I came to give you your last instructions."
They paled and looked at each other. Gerd had learnt to know that expression way too well.
"Listen, we've been thinking," the man started.
"And we aren't really the fighting type. Our work is fairly light so…"
"I understand. If you don't want to take part in our last chance to save the village, you should stay inside and hide after you close the shop, but spare me your excuses. I am a kid with one leg, and I won't be hiding tonight." Gerd's statement worked. The couple looked away from her with a hint of shame on their faces.
Gerd stepped closer to them. "I know you're scared. Everyone is scared, me included," she said. "That is what the Hunters and Hakon are counting on to control us, to make us think there's no hope so why bother. That is why we must hold on to that hope, so others can have it too. You're afraid we may fail today, but that depends on how many people are willing to act. If you stay away because of that fear it will just make it more likely to come true. Either way, you need to choose now so I can share the most recent plan with you… or not."
They stared at her for a moment and then at each other before nodding at the same time.
"We will fight. We might not be very good at it but we will join you."
"Thank you," Gerd said solemnly. She then explained the plan and headed out, taking one last look at the couple before opening the door. They nodded back at her. She opened the door slowly, looking for Heather or any other sign of trouble. Luckily she found none, not that there was much she could have done if her fears came true.
Working non-stop and dreading the future, the day passed by quickly and with the long summer days Gerd didn't even notice the arrival of evening until it was already late. She only headed toward Torbjorn's forge when the sun was hovering barely over the horizon, ready to dip under it. There were more people outside than usually at this time, even for a busy summer day. Gerd recognized many of them while looking for her father. He was standing as far from the forge as he could while still seeing it and he was looking around until his eyes locked onto Gerd. At least a worried father looking for his daughter who stayed out too late wouldn't be too suspicious. The walked to each other.
"Is this really happening?" Her father asked.
"Yes, it's too late to turn back even if we wanted to," Gerd answered in a whisper. "Did you pick up your… passengers?"
"Yes, though they are packed tighter than the fish I catch. Your mother should already be at the harbour. So now we just need to wait for the dragon kid."
"His name is Hiccup," Gerd corrected and looked at the sun just dipping under the horizon. Neither of them spoke as both focused on the slowly darkening sky, just a father and daughter having a moment, nothing anyone would find suspicious. Soon the sky went from red to dark…. -ish. Gerd glanced towards the hunter camp. It wouldn't get much darker than this with the many large fires being used to light the area around the camp and the streets of the village.
A sudden flash of blue lit up the sky above the Hunter camp and a few seconds later a loud boom made everyone around them jolt in shock. They all stood still, staring at the waning blue glow and red fires that took its place.
"It's time!" She shouted. "Everyone get ready, quickly!"
People, recognizing her voice, began moving towards the forge and more soon dripped in from every direction. Some came with their own weapons, sometimes with several that they shared. The rest received weapons the old blacksmith put outside his forge. As all this happened the village kept getting shaken by distant explosions and Night Fury screeches. The space between the village and the Hunter camp glowed red like the sunset sky minutes before as the rest of the dragon flock separated the two locations with their fire. Gerd moved her focus back to what was happening around her and on a nearby street corner.
Heather was there, looking at everything that was going on. Their eyes met briefly, but before Gerd could do anything, Heather turned around and ran. She was going to expose them. She rushed closer to the centre of the crowd.
"Everyone! We are going to be exposed soon. We have to go now. If you have a weapon group up and move to the arena!"
Apparently, her giving orders to battle wasn't enough in spite of everything, considering how people stared at her and didn't move.
"What are you waiting for!" Her father roared louder than she had ever heard while waving one of the harpoons from his boat. "You have listened to and trusted her so far! Don't stop now! Get going!"
The crowd looked at him for a moment, then a few started moving, then more until everyone with a weapon was on the move. Gerd's father tapped her shoulder and handed her another harpoon.
"Self defence only. Don't try anything stupid."
Gerd nodded in response and they ran up the village street following their small army. Well, an angry mob at least, but armed either way. Gerd even saw one person with a pitchfork. They jogged uphill towards the arena and as they approached Gerd saw Wingmaidens running along a different path, having not yet taken flight to avoid being noticed. They soon got to the opening around the arena and the two groups joined together, charging at two guards positioned outside the arena.
"Guard the entrance and open the dragon cages quickly!" Gerd's mother shouted. "If we can liberate the loyal warriors we have a chance at victory."
Some of the Wingmaiden warriors took flight, landing on top of the audience stands above the guards. Gerd focused on the guards facing the charging crowd. There was a swish and a high-pitched screech and one of the Maidens crashed to the ground between the crowd and the guards.
"Archers!" Atali shouted above. By the time Gerd raised her head there were entire rows of Hunter archers standing at the top of the audience stands. There were a few people with bows on Gerd's side, but as soon as they raised their weapons they were targeted by several Hunter archers each. People fell on the ground with several arrows in their chests. A large number of Hakon's warriors and hunters ran out from the arena stands and underground corridors to face the rebelling villagers. Hakon and Ryker Grimborn themselves walked through their forces to face the villagers and Wingmaidens.
"So," Hakon spoke, "surrendering to the dragons wasn't enough. Now you traitors have helped foreign dragon lovers to invade the village too."
Was he truly so ignorant of his own actions or just hypocritical while trying to paint his enemies in a worse light? Either way Hakon's behaviour fit his character. While the so-called chief had near maniacal confident glee on his face, Ryker Grimborn was the one whose expression sent shivers through Gerd's spine. It was the cold calm smile of a man in complete control of the situation with no moral concerns on whatever he was planning to do.
"They are here to help us liberate the village from invaders you brought here!" Gerd's mother shouted from the crowd. "And if you think this little obstacle is enough to stop us you are wrong. What you see is only a part of those standing against you!"
"Is that so?" Hakon asked, seeming to be on the brink of laughing.
"If you are referring to the dragons who seem to be trying to prevent us from coming here, a bit late, they are being taken care of just as you are."
As Ryker spoke yet another Night Fury screech echoed across the village until it suddenly turned into a different, higher-pitched scream that waned quickly.