Hello everybody. I hope you are all holding up and doing well despite covid-19 and the quarantine.
It's been quite a while as usual. The writting of this story is advancing slowly, but is always still going on as promised even if I also wrote others stories in between. I plan to write more during the summer, but I don't know how much I will be able to do because there is also others things planned. I'm happy to see the HTTYD fandom is still alive and to discover new fanfictions even through the franchise is now over for more than a year. I pray for it to stay like this forever.
Now, responding to reviews.
Quimby Fletcher: Did Gobber survive or not? Hum...I don't know. Guess you'll have to read to see ;).
As always, enjoy the chapter and have fun.
Toothless's POV
The battle between us and the wild colony is ferocious. Our flight to intercept them forced us to fly farther away from Berk than I originally thought. Beside a few sea stacks and sea arches, there is nothing but water under us. The sky is dark either because of the smoke coming from the battles or the grim clouds who are now covering us. In normal circumstances, I wouldn't try to really hurt the dragons I'm fighting unless they don't leave me any choice. But these aren't normal circumstances and considering what is at stake, playing nice isn't an option. Just like Hiccup, I don't like it, but we have no choice. I dodge two streams of fire and fire a plasma blast at a Razorwhip's wing. The blast is powerful enough to injure his wing and make the dragon fall. A Deadly Nadder comes at me from above. I roll to dodge him, hitting his head with my tail while doing so. I move forward, dodging and attacking when I can. Having count in my head how many time I used my plasma blast since the beginning of this battle, I decide not to use them unless I truly need to. Even if the Alpha state increases my shot limit, they are far from unlimited, so I mostly use my claws, fangs and tail to fight like all the other dragons. Everywhere I look, I see dragons from different species fighting. Dragons being injured or falling. I notice an enemy Triple Strike catch the neck of a Timberjack in his jaw. I fly toward them to save the Timberjack before he is too badly injured. Just as I was about to fire a plasma blast, a dragon hit me in the flank. I quickly hit the dragon with my tail and fly away from him.
I then remember what Drago's Bewilderbeast told me in the cavern under the Sanctuary. If I could subdue these dragons, we could end this battle quickly and return help Hiccup and all the others back toward Berk. Dodging an attack from the left, I fly higher above most dragons. I try to make my back spines shine the brightest blue as possible and roar as loud as I can, trying to intimidate the other dragons and make them flee. It doesn't work since they don't stop fighting or even show the slightest hesitation. They are just too many. It does seem to have an effect on the dragons following me because they let out their own roars as if they were inspired and increase their attack. The wild dragons roar back and does the same. Another roar, one I've sadly come to recognise, is heard and the Skrill appears in front of me. No word is needed as we growl at each other, both knowing full well what is coming. She is challenging me again, alone this time. This time must be the last. Above us, the dark clouds have finally covered the sky. Thunder can even be heard. Charging herself with electricity, the Skrill challenges me. My back spines shine blue again as I accept it. Not like I have a choice anyway. Every dragon under us stops fighting to look at us. With a last roar, we charge and the battle resume.
Hiccup's POV
Stormfly flies above the battlefield. Now that the dragons were able to join the fight, the balance of power between us and them is more equitable. Not as much as I would have wanted since we had to send half of the dragons with Toothless to fight off the wild colony, but still thanks to the remaining dragons the Berserkers' fleet was able to launch a counterattack and stop the Hunters' fleet advance. For now. The fire breathed by the dragons create lots and lots of smoke partially obscuring the sky around the ships. This makes it harder for the hunters to target us with their artillery, but it also makes attacking from above more dangerous. Some ships are firing while others are boarded. Others are already on fire or sinking. Things seem even for now, but it won't last forever. The smallest action could turn the battle in favor of one side.
We must act quickly if we want to take the advantage. Stormfly flies between two columns of smoke, the shouts and screams of the warriors reaching my ears reminding me of the stakes.
"Hiccup looks," Astrid tells me pointing at a Berserker's ship surrounded by two Hunters' ships. Not Silent Anymore Sven is there on his Monstrous Nightmare with two other dragons, a Gronckle and a Stormcutter, trying to help, but they are overwhelmed. "They need help. Let's go."
Stormfly adjusts her trajectory and, after dodging a few projectiles, reach our allies. Overlooking the situation, I notice the ship is boarded on the port side while the starboard side is being attacked with flaming arrows and boulders. The men on the ship can't repel both attacks at the same time. I tell Astrid to get closer to Sven and the dragons. Once it's done, I call them.
"Sven, dragons, I have a plan. Astrid and I are going to repel the boarding party while the two dragons go help destroy the artillery of the ship on the other side. Sven, you go help the men on our ship and tell them to concentrate most of their forces on the starboard side."
Sven nods and immediately dive toward the ship. The two dragons look at each other then roar and dive too toward their objectives.
"Well done Dragon Master," Astrid says with a smile. "I don't know if these dragons would have listened to any human, even if he is friend with their Alpha."
Stormfly chirps, probably saying she agrees with Astrid. I roll my eyes jokingly. Stormfly dives toward the port side of the ship. Hunters already boarded the ship using wood planks. They're fighting against the remaining Berserkers warriors who are trying to stop them despite being outnumbered. We must help the Berserkers warriors and stop the flow of hunters boarding the ship. Neither seem easy. I notice something that could help us.
"Astrid, drop me on that yardarm then go destroy the wooden planks the hunters use to board the ship."
Astrid looks briefly at me and nods. Stormfly flies above the fight without slowing. I stand up on her back and once I'm close enough, jumps on the yardarm above the melee. I activate Inferno and begins cutting the ties. The sail is just above the spot where the boarding planks are set. The hunters already pushed back the Berserkers warriors away, so it won't fall on them. I see Astrid destroy the boarding planks, sending hunters into the ocean while doing so. I cut the last ties and the sail fall on most of the hunters like I calculated. However, an explosion occurring on the other side of the ship send flames on the sail, setting it on fire very quickly. The hunters stuck under the sail can't get out and the remaining hunters are distracted by all this allowing the Bersekers warriors to counterattack. I look in horror as I hear the screams of pain and plead for help from the hunters under the sail. This wasn't part of the plan. I want to help them, but I can't get down and Astrid and Stormfly are busy stopping the hunters on the other ship to set new boarding planks. The hunters who weren't captured are stuck between the fire and the Berserkers warriors with nowhere to escape. One by one, they are killed. I can't help but sigh. I know this can't be avoided, but I still hate all this violence and death, still think it should have been avoided.
Astrid and Stormfly arrive to pick me up. Once on the dragon's back, we fly toward our next target. Looking the battlefield, I notice the hunters have taken the advantage in some places while in others we have. It is completely chaotic and disorganized. Or is it? Looking again, I begin to notice something. A boulder almost hit us, so I tell Stormfly to fly higher. Now that I have a better view of the battle zone, what I noticed become clearer. The position and movements of the hunters' armada seem more structured than ours, less dispersed. In fact, if you draw an imaginary line between all the places where they are winning, almost all our ships will be surrounded by the enemy. If that happen, we'll lose this battle. I don't know how it is going on the other fronts, but if one front fall our forces are too scattered to launch a counter-attack. If our island is taken, then it's over. Rakkar. This must be his plan. According to what Eret told me about him and what I saw, he's the only hunter smart enough to try such a thing and succeed.
"If we want to win, we need to take down Rakkar and his generals. Astrid, help me locate their flagship."
"Would that be enough to make a difference? Getting rid of him won't make his army stop. I think we should concentrate on the troops instead."
"The hunters are simple soldiers. Rakkar is the brain. Without him and the other hunters' chiefs, they won't be as much effective. If you have doubts, think about what happened after we defeated Viggo, Johann and even Drago. In our situation, this is our best option even if we lose ground while doing so."
Astrid is silent a short moment. "Alright, but how do we find which…The Titan of course. Remember that huge ship, Eret said it was Drago's flagship. It must be Rakkar's too."
Looking down, we see the Titan is indeed among the enemy fleet. Positioned in front of two ships, he sails forward, never stopping even when attacked by boulders or flaming arrows. Even with his size, it doesn't seem to take any damage from these attacks at all which isn't normal.
'Because it is a reinforced ship. I saw several of them among the fleet, but this one is certainly the most dangerous,' I think.
"How are we going to do this. We can just attack it by ourselves, and it would take time to assemble ships of our own and even if we did, the other ships would certainly protect him," Astrid says.
"You're right. The Titan is too powerful for our ships anyway. Our best chance is to attack from above. We'll need as much dragon riders as possible. Let's find them."
It takes us a moment to assemble Fishlegs, Valka, Eret, Heather, Sven and Mulch and Bucket. Once it's done, I explain my plan to them. The dragons fly into formation and dive. The other riders attack the Titan from the front, the left and the right at the same time, trying to weaken the ship's defences as much as they can and create a diversion for Astrid and I. I also notice a few dragons begun attacking the two warships behind the Titan. Perfect. Stormfly dives toward the ocean and fly toward the end of the ship. With the hunters watching the sky, we have no problem not being spotted. We have done this maneuver so many times during our year on Dragon Edge that Stormfly manage to land on the hull at the end of the ship without being seen. Easy when the hunters have their eyes on the sky and not the water. Astrid and I take out our weapons, but I don't activate Inferno yet. Astrid leans forward toward her head and ask her if she can hear anything. Stormfly listen a moment before letting out a small chirp that we both know means no. She then gestures with her head toward the deck, seemingly telling us to go.
"Be careful. We never know," Astrid warns me before starting to climb the hull with me just behind her.
Stopping just under the edge of the bridge, we can hear two hunters standing guard, watching the sky. Astrid and I nod to each other, already other knowing how to do this. Silently, we jump aboard and take out the two hunters before they can react and throw them overboard. A third hunter we hadn't seen spot us and try to run away but is stopped by Stormfly who also throw him overboard. We are on the stern of the ship, which is elevated compared to the rest of the ship. On the other side of the stern stand Fenroc. Rakkar's second-in-command and I didn't forget he's the one who killed Owen. He could certainly tell us where Rakkar is exactly. Him and a dozen hunters have their back facing us looking at the battle occurring around the ship. Astrid and I move forward slowly with Stormfly just behind us. If we can capture Fenroc quickly…
Suddenly there is an explosion just in front of Fenroc. He doesn't move, but the hunters next to him turn around to protect their face. One of them see us and gives the alert. All the hunters on the stern immediately react and charge at us including Fenroc. There are too many of them. Thankfully I know what to do.
"Astrid, Stormfly, get ready," I say activating Inferno and taking out my four gas cartridges in my hand.
I quickly throw the first one at three hunters in front of us and Stormfly explodes it with her fire. Astrid quickly rushes to deal with two hunters on our left. Three more arrive at our right so I throw my second cartridge. This time, the hunters try to run away from it. However, Stormfly explodes it before they can. Astrid is finishing off her opponents while I face Fenroc and three more hunters with Stormfly.
"Where is Rakkar," I ask Fenroc without wasting any time.
"Rats like you don't need to know," he simply responds before ordering his men to attack.
I'm about to throw the two remaining cartridges, but Fenroc move faster. With a knife, he knocks the cartridge out of my hand. Stormfly jumps on the three soldiers, trying to het them with her spiked tail or her jaw. This doesn't stop Fenroc, however, as he runs past her coming directly at me. With his axe, he tries to decapitate me. I dodge the attack and try to disarm me, but his grip on his weapon his strong. With a kick, he sends me on the floor. Before he can attack again, Astrid arrives and with several swing of her double axe, she forces him to step back before he grabs her arm and punches her in the face. I attack him with a swing to his head to give Astrid the time to recover. Fenroc parries my attack and tries to plunge his axe in my shoulder. I block the attack, but his strength forces me to bend my knee. Thankfully, I'm not alone in this fight. Astrid arrives from behind Fenroc and target his knee with the handle of her weapon. Fenroc hear her coming and turn around, swinging his axe. Having dodged the attack, Astrid and I attack together. Despite his size, Fenroc's movements are quite fast and his strength make them even more dangerous. Working together, we manage to push him back toward the edge of the stern. He blocks both Inferno and Astrid's double axe with his weapon. With an angry roar, Fenroc pushes us back and charge, using his body to send us on the floor. He then raises his axe to finish us. Quickly, I hit his knee with my prosthetic leg which hurt and destabilize him. Astrid uses this opportunity to tackle him, sending him off the edge of the stern. We both jump after him. Before he can recover from his fall, I disarm him and Astrid put the blade of her weapon against his neck.
"Commander."
Looking around us, I see the hunters on the deck looking at us with their weapons out. I can't any dragon roar or other sounds telling me the dragon riders are nearby. It seems like they couldn't get through the ship's defences. Stormfly then land behind us and roar with her tail up and wings spread trying to intimidate our enemies. Sadly, there is no way we can defeat all those hunters. Damn it, I was counting for aerial support to be there to help us, but we're on our own in a very precarious situation.
"Stop. No one move," Astrid screams. "Tell us where Rakkar is and jump off the ship, or your commander will lose his head."
"I am already here."
Turning around, I see Rakkar standing in front of a door leading under the stern. His right hand is carrying a circular object that I can't identify. Seeing him, Stormfly immediately moves t attack him. However, Rakkar activate his object who let out a sound similar to the one produced by the Screaming-machines excepted less loud. We can barely hear it, but it is enough to affect Stormfly. During this time, his soldier surrounded us.
"Once again, you come to face me Hiccup. For someone so smart, you are so predictable. Despite yours and your followers' best efforts, this is where this bloodshed finally end."
"If you didn't want blood and misery, you shouldn't have attacked. You could just have let us live our lives in peace away from you," I retort.
"Because it was necessary to stop the dragons while we could instead of letting them grow back in strength so they could burn and shred us into pieces again like they've done for the past five centuries. You are quite naïve to think lasting peace can be achieved when our worse enemy is just next door constantly nagging at us."
"No," I counter with more conviction than I ever had in my life. "Dragons are not our worse enemy. Peace is possible, Berk and other islands are living proof of that. If it weren't for you, this war would already be over."
"Rakkar, could you tell those rats to let me stand up now," Fenroc then says.
"You shut up while the chiefs are talking," Astrid responds slightly increasing the pressure of her blade on his neck while occasionally taking a worried glance toward Stormfly who is still suffering.
"We both want to end this war, don't be mistaken. You have your ways to do so, I have mine," Rakkar explains. "And seeing as we are winning this decisive battle, I'm certainly not going to stop now. Now enough chitchat, kill them."
Hunters run toward us while archers ready the string of their bows when suddenly, someone screams…
"ENEMY SHIP INCOMING!"
Everyone stops looking to starboard where a Berserker ship is heading straight toward the Titan at great speed, faster than what he should be able too. Rakkar give the order to destroy it, but the artillerymen barely have the time to fire a few projectiles before the ship collides against the Titan. The strength of the impact is enough to rock the ship, sending everyone on the floor. The tip of the bow of the Berserker's ship even climbs onto the deck. Standing on my knees, I notice the small Screaming-machine not far between Rakkar and I, still emitting its sound. Quickly, I jump on it and destroy it using Inferno. One by one, Rakkar, Fenroc and the rest of the hunters are standing up. We then hear someone scream weirdly. Dagur then appears on the tip of the Berserker's ship with an axe and a sword with his dragon, Sleuther, behind him who let out a roar of hos own. Dagur jumps and lands on a hunter on the Titan's deck followed by his dragon. Other Berserkers appear too and follow their chief, invading the hunters' ship.
"Brother," Dagur calls me fighting his way toward me.
A hunter tries to cut off my head. I parry his sword, destabilise him with my left leg followed by an elbow to his nose before knocking him out with the handle of Inferno. From the corner of my eyes, I see Astrid is fighting hunters with Stormfly who too has recovered.
"Dagur. I don't know how, but you breached their flagship's defences."
"Mouahaha, you should have seen your face when I arrived," Dagur says taking out another hunter. "Heather told me you needed back up on this ship and fast, so I thought using water dragons to propel my ship directly through them. I mean isn't that what Drago did with his big beast and it worked. Anyway, we're taking care of the hunters, go get their chief. That is your plan, right?"
"Yes, thanks for the help. Oh, and try to take control of the ship if you can instead of destroying it. It could be useful for us."
Dagur laughs maniacally before running back into the battle. Looking around to find Rakkar, I only see Berserkers and Hunters fighting. I don't know if they can take control of the ship, but we can hope. I finally spot Rakkar entering a hatch leading inside the boat. I run after him, calling Astrid to follow me which she does. We open the hatch and jump inside, landing in a corridor with our weapons ready. Rakkar is at the end of the corridor. He sees us. With an angry frown, he enters a room, closing the door behind him. Astrid and I run after him. From the opposite direction, Fenroc arrive obviously ready to battle us again.
"I'll take care of him," Astrid tells me. "Go after Rakkar."
I don't like the idea to leave her alone with Fenroc. However, before I can object she urges me again to go as she begins battling Fenroc. I hesitate a second then run toward the door. Fenroc tries to throw his axe at me. Thankfully, Astrid prevents him from doing so. The door of the room where Rakkar took refuge is locked. Breaking the door could take time if it is reinforced, so I chose to break the lock instead. I let out a small bit of gas from Inferno's handle into the keyhole and make it explode, destroying the lock. I open the door to find Rakkar on the other side of the room in front of a desk. The room is illuminated by a lamp just next to him,
"You never know when to quit, do you Hiccup?"
"Meh, I've been told it's one of my defaults. If you don't have it, then you'll surrender right here right now."
Instead of answering, Rakkar smirks. He pulls a lever on the desk and the door behind me close automatically. He can even hear the sound of a mechanism locking it again. Rakkar then turns off the lamp, leaving the room in complete darkness. Well, almost complete darkness since the flames of Inferno are providing some light around me, allowing me to see over a distance of one foot. Hiccup turns around with his blade in a defensive stance, trying to find Rakkar who is hiding in the darkness. I try to locate him by the sound of his steps on the wooden floor, but the sound of the battles next door and above make it impossible to hear them. In addition, the man seems very light on his feet.
"Hey, I'm the one riding a Night Fury," I say trying to get Rakkar to talk aware his enemy can see him. "Shouldn't I be the one hiding in the darkness?"
I then hear something and turn around just in time to block Rakkar's sword with my own. I push my opponent back and notice the flames on my sword are starting to die down.
"Not going to last long isn't it," Rakkar says disappearing in the darkness once again.
I am about to add more Monstrous Nightmare's gel when an idea crosses my mind. I let the flame extinguish itself and wait. I know that with my prosthetic leg, the probability of him hearing me if I move are high and he saw where I was standing, so I don't have much time. I spin around myself a couple of times, releasing all the remaining Hideous Zippleback gas in my weapon in a circle around myself. In a confined space like this, exploding this much gas is dangerous, but it's the best idea I have.
"DON'T," Rakkar screams just before I make the gas explode.
The explosion strikes the entirety of the room, sending me crashing against the wall at the other end. When I open my eyes, I notice that I can see. The desk that was in the room has been destroyed and the remains are on fire. The fire quickly spread from them to the floor. On the other side of the room, Rakkar groans as he stands up, obviously in pain. When he sees the fire, he looks at me his eyes full of hate.
"You idiot. You're going to kill both of us and for what. Dragons?" he screams.
He takes his sword on the ground, and I do the same. The fire is spreading to the rest of the room. I need to get out of here and fast. Rakkar runs toward the desk, trying to reach the lever that closed the door. Sadly, the fire prevents him from doing so. And I don't have any gas left to explode it. I try to open it, but it's no use. I search the new lock and find it on the top of the door. It is a metal disc who, when down, prevent the door from opening. Knowing Rakkar, he must have a second way to remove it. I'm about to ask him about it when he attacks me again. I dodge his sword but see his foot too late with which he pushes me away and send me on the floor. He tries to plunge his sword into my chest. I move away at the last moment and, using my foot, make him fall too. I raise Inferno, but Rakkar disarm me with a kick. His right fist goes straight for my head. I move under and with my left hand take out the knife on my right forearm. The blade slashes Rakkar's arm before cutting his neck, leaving a long and deep bleeding injury. Rakkar puts his hand on his neck, trying to stop the bleeding, but it is clear it won't work. I instinctively search for a way to help him, but I don't have anything that could and the fire, who has now taken over more than half of the room, is about to burn us alive.
"If only you would have been on our side," Rakkar says before falling on his back into the fire.
I step back and run to the door again. I could have used Inferno to destroy it, but my sword is somewhere in the fire, so the only thing I have left is my prosthetic leg. Not wasting any time, I remove it and start hitting the metal disc with it. The fire is coming too close for my taste, so I strike harder and faster. The disc seems rather thin so with enough pressure…Yes, it finally breaks and falls. I quickly open the door only to find Fenroc standing in front of me.
Astrid's POV
My back hurt as I am thrown against the wall. Damn it, that guy is strong. Fenroc and I have been battling for a moment now and I can't seem to take the upper hand. I'd like to say it is a stalemate, but I'm certain it would be the truth. It doesn't mean I didn't hit him a few times. However, with his size, speed and strength, small wounds aren't enough.
I stand up my double axe still in my hands. I must get rid of that guy quickly so I can go help Hiccup. I know he made a lot of progress in battle these past years, but Rakkar has proven to be quite tricky. I run toward Fenroc, moving my weapon between my hands in an attempt to confuse him. I then swing it toward his flank. He parries my attack and tries to strike me in the head with his axe. I dodge it and attack him again and again and again, trying to prevent him from doing anything by forcing him to constantly defend himself. However, at the sixth attack, Fenroc manage to jump out of my reach. We then hear a loud explosion. At first, I look around trying to see where it might have come from before understanding it came from behind the door where Hiccup is most likely fighting Rakkar. What happened? Is he alright? I don't have time to think about it because Fenroc launch himself at me again. I jump out of the way and try to hit his back but misses. I can't waste any more time with him.
"This is becoming too long. How about we end this now? No stepping back," I propose.
"I agree. Besides, it is the traitor I want. Not you," Fenroc answers.
By traitor, I suppose he means Eret. He told me Fenroc has a personal feud with him. Well, the hunter will have to get through me first. I already build up in my mind my strategy to kill him, and I suppose he did too. With a last steady breath, we both charge. Our axes collide. With his strength, he begins to push me back, so I move my feet to pass under his left arm. He must have predicted my movement because he shifts his weight and his axe meet mine again when I'm on the other side. He manages to disarm me. With a wicked smirk, his axe goes straight for my head. I must act fast otherwise he won't miss me. I grab his right elbow and the handle of his axe, preventing him from completing his attack and immediately hit his two eyes with two fingers. Whatever the size of an opponent, the eyes are always a weak spot. I saw him do this vertical attack several times already and ended up noticing an opening in this move which with a good timing can be exploited. While Fenroc screams in pain and cover his eyes, I jump and roll, taking back my double axe and throw it directly at him. The blade plunge itself into the back of his head. Fenroc lets out a small noise before falling on the ground. Dead.
Just on the other side of Fenroc stand Hiccup. He is leaning on the door with smoke coming from the room behind him where I can see a fire.
"Pew, for a moment I was scared," he confesses.
"That's what we call a dramatic kill. Where's Rakkar and what happened to you," I ask noticing he is carrying his broken prosthetic leg in his hand.
I run to his side, put my double axe on my back and offer my shoulder to lean on. As we walk away from the room and the fire that is already spreading outside from its original place, Hiccup tells me Rakkar is gone and that we must leave the fire before the fire sinks it.
"The ship is reinforced," I say as we walk toward the hatch by which we came. "It was built to resist fire."
"Not if it comes from the inside. The reinforcement only protects from attacks coming from the outside."
I realise he is right. The fire is spreading quickly without anything stopping it and the heat is rising fast. Hiccup and I accelerate. We reach the ladder leading back to the hatch. Since Hiccup has lost his leg, I let him go first and climb right after him. When Hiccup open the hatch, the fire has already taken over the corridor and has begun to attack the ladder.
"Come on, faster," I urge him.
Hiccup almost jumps out of the hatch. The fire is almost touching my feet. I quickly climb the last bars and close the hatch behind me. I let out a long breath I didn't know I was keeping. The first thing I notice is that it is now raining. I can even hear the sound of thunder not far. How long have we been down there? Looking around, I see several Berserkers standing guard. It seems they manage to take control of the deck. I then feel a big head push my back. Turning around, I see Stormfly standing above me. Happy to see her alright, I hug her head. She emits a sound that looks like a question. At least to me, I'm not as good understanding dragons as Hiccup, Valka or even Fishlegs. I answer nonetheless.
"I'm alright. We did it girl. Rakkar and Fenroc are gone. We won."
"The battle isn't over yet," Hiccup then says sitting on the floor next to me.
Before I can respond, the ship begins leaning dangerously on the right. A dragon then lands in front of us. It's Windshear with Heather on her back.
"The ship is starting to sink. I gave the Berserkers the order to evacuate and you should do the same. I don't know what happened, but it seems to be destroying itself from the inside. We can't try to save it with all the remaining hunters still on board."
"Things got a bit out of control while fighting Rakkar," Hiccup explains while I help him stand up and mount on Stormfly's back. "A fire broke out and is currently spreading inside the ship. The reinforcement prevents it to come outside, but it's still destroying it."
I want to ask for more details, however, now is not the time. In every direction, I see soldiers, hunters and Berserkers alike, jumping overboard. When you are on a sinking ship with no dragon, it's probably the smartest thing to do. Heather takes off. I'm about to climb on Stormfly when the boat suddenly starts to pitch violently. The water on the deck makes it even harder to stay on his feet. I slip and fall, sliding toward the edge of the deck. I hear Hiccup call my name. I try to find something to hold on, but there is nothing, so I reach for my weapon. Too late, I pass over the edge before I can take it out. Thankfully, Stormfly catches me before I hit the water. Hiccup extends his hand. I take it and he helps me climbing on Stormfly's back.
"Thanks Hiccup. You too girl."
Stormfly chirps as she gains altitude. We are soon joined by Heather and Valka.
"Son, Astrid. Thank gods, you are alright right. Luckily, our attack gave the Berserkers the opportunity to board the ship. Did you succeed in taking down their chiefs."
"Rakkar and Fenroc are dead," I respond, "but we didn't see the other two. Agor and Huir."
"They must have been on another ship," Hiccup says. "What is the status here?"
"As you can see, a storm broke out not long after we failed to take position on the Titan. This forces the dragons to fly lower and it will be harder for boats to maneuver," Valka explains. "With Rakkar's death, this could play in our favor if we act smartly."
"Now that I told him the attack was a success, Dagur is already launching a counterattack with all our fleet, but we'll need the dragons help for it to work and for this we need you Hiccup," Heather adds.
Hiccup nods. He can't walk until he puts on a new leg so no more fighting for him. Knowing him, he'll want to stay and contribute like he can. As long as he stays with me on Stormfly, I guess it's not riskier than before. The storm has reduced our field of vision, but when looking at Berk I notice what I think is a fleet of big ships close to the island. Strange, the ships used by the Defenders of the Wing and the Wingmaidens aren't that big. Oh no. Does this mean?
"Look, there might be trouble on Berk," I tell the others. "I think the hunters' warships reached the island."
They look in the same direction and they too believe something might not be right.
"Oh gods no," Hiccup murmurs. "We can't let the island be taken. Stormfly, let's go," Hiccup urges us.
"Wait Hiccup," Heather stops us. "We need you here for the dragons. One of us can go."
Hiccup disagrees, but I believe Heather is right and tell him so.
"I will go," Valka proposes. "I'll see what the situation is and what I can do. If necessary, I will come back for assistance."
Valka seems determined. Despite being more of a rescuer than a warrior, Valka skills are undeniable. I see Hiccup want to object, but when looking in her eyes, we understand she won't back down.
"All right. If you're sure you know what you're doing. Just be careful."
I can feel his worries in his voice. With his father in Valhalla and Toothless gone to fight by himself, I can understand why he is unsure about sending his mother off alone.
"I promise," she responds before Cloudjumper flies off without her to tell him anything.
Even today, I still don't understand how she is doing that. I put my hand on Hiccup's.
"Don't worry. If someone can take care of herself, it's your mother. As for us, we still have a battle to win."
"You're right," he responds with determination.
So, Rakkar and Fenroc are dead. Rakkar was a fun character to write. I really liked him. How are things going to turn out now that they are gone. Is the battle really over? What is happening on Berk? And with Toothless? The answers in next chapters.
As always, don't hesitate to give me your opinion and support the story. I can't tell you when the next chapter will be published, but it will be. This you can be sure of.
Take care and until next time.