Apologies for the wait guys! This chapter required quite a lot of planning and decision making on my end, so I had quite the time making it. However, here we are now! The Battle for the Island of Tomorrow!
And so, I hope you guys enjoy!
The vikings all said their goodbyes that morning as the last of them boarded their longships; fifty ships in total for a thousand men. To that end, Stoick appointed Eret to stay behind to protect the town until his return, which the hunter gladly obliged to.
The day had come for the chieftain's plan of attack on the Dark Legions, and it was time to set it in motion.
Yet there was a sense of unease in the air. Much of the morning had passed by since their departure, and the Berkian vikings felt both eager and dreadful to lay eyes upon their ancestral island. The Island of Tomorrow.
Hiccup felt the same as he flew atop Toothless. On his right and left flanks, Astrid, Fishlegs, the Twins, his parents, and Gobber accompanied them on their dragons, while down below, there stood the sailing fleet of a thousand brave viking warriors.
Arn on the other hand rode along with Hiccup. The two of them kept their eyes peeled for the island, gazing through the thick, dense clouds before them; clouds of which had grown darker throughout the course of the journey. Yet as they continued, they soon began to notice green lightning striking the skies with the boom of thunder, and that alone only meant one thing...
They were getting close.
Hiccup looked back at the group, and gave them a nod.
"Alright, gang!" called out Hiccup. "Remember the plan! Stick together, and we will be fine! As long as we work as one, we will not break! We will hit them with everything we've got, and carve our way to Drago!"
"And then we will take him out," added on Arn, still peering through the clouds as a violent wind blew against his face.
"Heh! The more orcs we kill, the better!" laughed Ruffnut.
"Let's get ready, then!" nodded Astrid. "I have a feeling the island is not far!"
The group once again returned to silence, continuing their flight through the clouds with their undivided attention. However, as they continued going further and further, the green lightning above them began to intensify, along with the sound of the thunder booming and crackling…
And then the lightning struck them.
"WATCH OUT!" yelled out Hiccup.
Without warning, multiple bolts of green lightning struck down upon the riders and their dragons from above. Their speed and impact was great, and though the group managed to dodge them, they still kept coming.
At one point, the lightning began aiming for Stoick, for the clouds directly above the chieftain were crackling.
"Dad, look out!" Hiccup shouted to his father, which Stoick and Skullcrusher hurled out of the way of the oncoming lightning bolt. It was but a mere few feet from hitting him.
But then the large viking shouted out in warning, "HICCUP!"
The next bolt aimed directly towards Hiccup, but being a Night Fury, Toothless managed to dodge it with better ease before it could strike.
After about several rounds of lightning, the chaotic storm soon came to a halt, and continued to crackle the skies up above them. But by then, Hiccup and his friends were shakened.
Hiccup let out an exhausted sigh from the evasive maneuvering. "Is everyone alright?"
"We're alright, son," replied back Valka. "But that storm… whatever it was, it was not natural! It's as if they knew we were coming!"
Stoick's face went grim as he tightened the grip on his reins. "If they knew we were coming, that can only mean danger for all of us! Everyone, keep your eyes peeled! If you see anything out of the ordinary, make sure to-!"
But before the chieftain could finish, the sounds of war horns from the fleet down below caught his attention. He watched as the crews of vikings began running around on the decks of their longships, preparing themselves. Though the group was uncertain at first, they soon saw what their men were seeing as the clouds before them began to clear off.
"What in Odin's name?!" gasped Hiccup.
The Island of Tomorrow was finally revealed before their eyes, but the sight of it was truly horrifying. All that Hiccup saw from where he flew was not the island that he remembered from the stories told when he was a boy. The orcs' chaos magic had changed the large island beyond repair, and it spread out for miles.
It was dead. His ancestral home was dead...
"It can't be!" he gasped. "The Island of Tomorrow... It's been desecrated!"
Its rocky cliffs were as black as obsidian, cracking with tremors of green fire, and its soil was rough, dark and barrened - without a single meadow of grass or lively tree left standing atop it. Nothing living remained on the island. However, what shook Hiccup the most were the island's rivers, for they no longer ran with luscious blue water, but with molten green lava that spewed and flowed throughout the island, like the veins of a man, or as if some chaotic volcano had erupted.
It was a hell on earth...
After earning himself a gaze of the island, Hiccup suddenly caught eye of a large orc force in the distance. They stood atop a wide long beach with multiple battalions, all of whom were armed to the teeth, and at the same time, they had also set up their defenses, fortifying the beach with watchtowers. But that was just the beginning.
Beyond the beach and over a hill following it was a large valley, and within the valley stood a large orcish city, fortified to the brim with enough structures to shelter an army of thousands. It was a literal city of war. However, at the end of the valley was a large fortress of blackened wood and metal, standing atop a lone cliff as it towered high up above the island, with green-lit braziers emanating it from top to bottom.
Atop its pinnacle, the clouds were at their darkest, with chaotic lightning striking and dancing over the tall fortress. To Hiccup, it was truly a place of evil.
"What the Thor is that thing in the distance!?" called out Astrid, pointing out the fortress.
"No doubt their stronghold. And, most likely where Drago is hiding! If we bust it down, we'll be able to get him out of hiding!" replied Hiccup.
"Then let's hope he's still there!" said Stoick, unsheathing his axe from the side of his waist. "ALL FORCES, MAKE WAY TO THE BEACH! LET'S SHOW THESE ORCS WHAT A VIKING AND THEIR DRAGONS CAN DO!"
...
The initial assault on the beach was met with heavy resistance. As the longships landed on the shore, scores of vikings rushed off and lined up in front of the orc army that stood before them. Though the orcs were equal in number to them, the vikings of Berk felt more prepared to take them on.
What the enemy did not anticipate were the catapults that were stationed on a dozen of the Berkian longships. Soon, they began firing against the lines of orcs, hurling flaming boulders into their ranks as they slowly thinned them out.
And not even the orcs' towers could reach them.
The commander of the orcish force, a large orc, kicked the orcs into line and made them hold their positions as he spouted out orders.
"Hold your ground, maggots! They cannot break us!"
Whilst this was going on, Hiccup, Stoick and the rest of the group landed down to meet with their forces. Their dragons dropped down at the very front of their ranks, and the riders swiftly dismounted from their dragons with their weapons unsheathed.
"Looks like our forces made it onto shore unscratched," said Astrid, amused so far with their progress. "We may yet just be able to win this."
"This battle has only begun," replied Hiccup. "And our only way forward is through that line of orcs... Dad, what are your orders?"
"...Run them down, and smash them aside," smirked Stoick as he stepped forward into view of his entire army.
"There's only one way forward, men! If we are to get through them, we must cut them down! And that is exactly what we'll do! CATAPULTS! CEASE FIRE! ALL FORCES! CHARGE!"
Immediately the catapults held their fire, and just like that in the blink of an eye - the whole viking army roared as they moved forward with their chief at the front, along with Hiccup, the group, and their dragons.
Though the distance was somewhat an effort, Toothless and the other dragons took this opportunity to begin hurling fire into the orcs, whose lines were already weakened from the catapults' volleys.
Toothless, Skullcrusher, Meatlug, and Grump shot first, seeing as their attacks were the heaviest - and altogether they were able to take out nearly fifty orcs. Stormfly, Cloudjumper, and Barf and Belch then fired next, seeing as they were now more closer to the orcs, taking out a few dozen more and causing fire to be set to their lines.
The orcs, though prepared, were not prepared enough for such a heavy attack. The damage from the vikings began to filled their ranks with dread, and now their center was weakened. As such, the line slowly began to fall into disarray…
And it was then that the vikings clashed...
The whole army roared in unison they raised their weapons, and with great impact, the front line of the Berkian forces met with their weapons against the orcs, taking out yet another great amount of them upon impact.
Soon, the whole orcish line was thrown into disorder, and as such, both forces no longer fought grouped up and began spreading out across the whole beach.
Despite the vikings' advantage of numbers however, the orcs were still larger and stronger than them, and as the fighting across the beach began, everything began to quickly escalate.
Hiccup, Astrid, Arn, Fishlegs, and the Twins stuck together as they fought, working as one whilst the dragons covered their backs, further bringing havoc upon the enemy.
But even the effort that the young vikings gave counted as something.
For Hiccup, the lad focused on getting as many orcs onto him as possible. They knew well that he was the son of the chieftain, thus their attention focused mostly on him and his friends. Once they got close, Hiccup used his advanced set of skills and speed against them since the orcs were stronger - and somewhat slower, so he had to think smarter.
When one orc would rush him, Hiccup would with ease parry or dodge out of the way of the incoming attack and swiftly strike back at where the brute was vulnerable. Being so used to how they fought allowed him to coordinate easily, and one by one the orcs who approached Hiccup fell beneath his feet.
Not even their armor could protect them from his attacks. With the combination of enhanced Gronckle iron as well as the hot flames from Inferno, his blade cut through the orcs' black plate armor like a simple dagger going through flesh.
All the while he fought however, he could hear the orc commander shouting out taunts to them as the large brute crushed any viking who was unfortunate to get in his way.
"You march to your death, vikings! Nothing can stop the Dark Legions! Not even your dragons!"
Yet words however were not enough to fill Hiccup with dread, nor any of the young vikings. Especially not the Twins.
Ruffnut and Tuffnut both worked together as one duo against the orcs. Though they did not fight as efficiently or precisely as the others did, what they made up in their lack of it were their 'creative' moves.
At one point, Tuffnut approached an occupied orc from behind, tapping on his shoulder to earn his attention, to which the orc turned around and saw the young viking waving his arms around, imitating him.
"Hey you, you piece of lard!" he taunted, pointing his spear at the orc. "Come and get me! Fight me like a man- or an… orc- or an… orc-man! Yeah! That's what you are! A lard orc-man!"
Immediately the orc responded by raising up his axe to cleave Tuffnut in two, but before he could, a large mace from behind wielded by Ruffnut smashed down on top of the orc's head, shattering his skull like a twig as he immediately dropped to the ground, dead.
The Twins approached each other with a fist bump along with wicked-like snickers.
"Ten for ten!" they both replied in unison.
Fishlegs meanwhile was rolling through the orcs like a boulder, just as Meatlug would. He was still not pleased with what they had done to his hut from the last raid, and now it was his chance to get even. He was not only swift, but also strong. Very strong.
As an orc attempted to rush the raging Ingerman, Fishlegs rose his shield up and immediately bashed the brute in the face, halting his charge in an instant before slamming his hammer into the orc's armored chest plate over and over to the point where he ripped through and began hammering him to death, breaking bone after bone.
"THAT'S FOR WHAT YOU BRUTES DID TO BERK, AND MY HUT, MONSTER!" he roared as the orc laid broken before he moved onto another.
As for Arn and Astrid, both vikings - of whom were at Hiccup's sides, handled the forefront with the heir of Berk at their side like great warriors. Whenever an orc or two would rush towards them, the two of them would outmaneuver the brutes to quickly cut them down, and at times, they would catch a distracted orc's attention before proceeding to butcher them. With the two vikings aided by Hiccup, they cut up orcs as if they were running towards a meat grinder.
The orcs however were not so pleased when they laid eyes on Arn. They recognized him for who he was, and had the instinct to butcher him to bits; for his tribe, the Alsworn, were the first to have fought the orcs with resistance, thus it made him and his tribe a nuisance.
As the three held their ground, the orcs continued to fall. Their skill and speed combined began to make the orcs waver as their numbers dropped, but soon, distant arrow-fire flew over them and began hitting their troops.
Hiccup looked around, and saw that the orcs had manned the towers, from where they loosed arrows onto their forces with deadly efficiently.
His head turned to the riders. "We won't be able to win this assault with those archers shooting from the towers! Fishlegs, Ruff, Tuff, mount your dragons and take them out!"
"Gladly!" the Twins replied in unison.
"I can only hope this works!" prayed Fishlegs.
The three vikings swiftly ran over to their dragons who were in the midst of fighting, mounting them before flying off towards the war towers that were still firing volleys of arrows onto them.
What followed was a havoc of a firestorm. Though the towers were well built with thick walls of wood as well as large metal spikes which would impale any dragon that came close and crashing, the enemy stood no chance behind them.
Meatlug with just one explosive spewing lava blast towards the tops of the towers was able to set them aflame in an instant, and Barf and Belch with their walls of fire blew the war structures to pieces.
The orcs simply stood no chance.
As Hiccup was eyeing this, he nearly did not notice a group of several orcs who were roaring and charging him, but as soon as he realized what was going, he was unable to strike back. The large brutes were quickly set aflame as Toothless fired a plasma blast towards them, hurling them off.
And it was not even a moment later that the combined forces of the Berkian Tribe were cheering as they held their weapons up. It seemed that the assault was already won, but their losses were considerable, for they had lost at least a hundred.
But the battle was far from over. As the riders rallied up with Stoick and the others, the chieftain gave a grim look as he glanced back at them with uncertainty.
"This was too easy…" he said, looking towards the hill which led up and over into the distant valley. "Their commander was easily slain by a few of our men, and their towers and fortifications were all destroyed like that by our dragons… what is going on here?"
"The orcs have something planned up their sleeves, I'm sure of it," replied Arn, gazing at the littered battlefield. "Yet I have a feeling that they've done something like this before."
"There is only one way to find out," spoke Hiccup. "We must go over the hill and take the fight to them. Dad?"
"Aye, agreed," he nodded as he turned to all of the Berkians whose gazes were locked onto him. "EVERYONE, RALLY UP AND FOLLOW ME! Let's continue this fight against them!"
The army of vikings quickly grouped up, with Stoick and the others along with their dragons at the front of their forces as they jogged their way in a line up the hill leading into the valley.
All while they ran however, Hiccup and Astrid spoke with one another.
"I'm surprised though," began Astrid. "I've never seen the orcs gather up this quickly. They may have not been that prepared, but this was more than what a usual attack from them would've been. They even managed to take out a decent amount of our men."
"You're right…" agreed Hiccup with a look of concern blazing in his eyes. "Something is wrong. These orcs are different. But what did they hope to accomplish with this assault?"
"Well they definitely have something planned," growled Toothless in Dragonese. "I can sense something on the other side of that hill, and I have a feeling it won't be good."
And Toothless was right. As soon as the group and their dragons reached the top of the hill, Stoick ordered a total halt as he and those around him earned a closer view of the city that the orcs had built in the valley.
Their structures were well built; made from blackened stone. A large stronghold stood in the center of the city, along with towers, foul workshops, forges of war, and many more buildings surrounding it. Yet that did not change the fact that the fortress at the end of the valley, which towered over all, was the true chaotic jewel of the city.
However, the amount of orcs that resided within the city was not to be ignored. The Berkians slew over a thousand, and now, they saw that thousands more were waiting for them.
"By Thor's hammer…" gasped Valka, tightening the grip on her staff.
Stoick looked nearly petrified. "Odin all mighty... they've assembled an army!"
"...We can't give up now," spoke Hiccup, his voice filled with confidence. "We took out a thousand of them on our own, we will kill thousands more! We should take this opportunity while we have the chance."
"Agreed!" nodded Arn. "As long as the orcs are alone and without aid from the rest of the Dark Legions' allies, we still stand a chance here!"
"So be it then!" replied Stoick. "We will push them back again! EVERYONE, CHARGE FORWARD! CUT DOWN ANY ORC YOU SEE!"
...
The vikings were met with heavy resistance upon attacking the entrance of the orcish city, for upon charging through the gates, multitudes of orcs swarmed in around them from nearly all directions.
Yet despite the disadvantage, the vikings of Berk still stood and held strong, giving the orcs a tough fight like they had from the previous assault.
As for Hiccup and the group, they and their dragons were able to slip their way past the main fight and make their way deeper into the city, allowing them to take the fight to the orcs in an unexpected maneuver, all while the brutes focused the bulk of their strength on the gates.
The six of them, along with their dragons, stood at a crossroad further away from where the main fight was, and all around them, the corpses of orcs laid dead at their feet by the dozens, whilst a tower nearby burned.
Astrid let out a grunt. "They just keep on coming," she said irritatedly. "I don't even know where we're supposed to go from here! We can't stay here..."
"And the orcs could jump us at anytime," added on Fishlegs.
"This 'news' should've been obvious the moment we stepped into this city," replied Arn. "The orcs are more organized here, and there is danger around every corner. If we're to make it through, we must stick together. The sooner we get through this vile place, the better."
"Well, you know how the orcs behave better than any of us," nodded Hiccup, just as the blonde lad began running ahead of them.
"Everyone, follow Arn!"
Without question, the group began to follow Arn through the city. Along the way, the dragons focused on destroying as much of it as they could. They began setting fire to the orcish structures, burning them from the inside-out, and they even managed to blow a few of them to rubble.
On occasion, an orc or two would lunge out at the vikings from a structure, all in an attempt to take them out. However, their strength alone would not be enough. Hiccup and the others were simply too fast, and they quickly cut the orcs down.
Together with their dragons, they were a meat grinder. With the vast majority of the orc army fixated on the main gates, it seemed their plan was going accordingly.
However, after a while of going through the city, they eventually reached an opening with a small chasm, filled with green molten lava. Across it, the fortress stood, towering over.
"We're close already?" asked Fishlegs as he eyed the large structure in the distance, noticing the green lightning that violently flashed over it.
"That seemed quick," said Hiccup in a curious yet skeptical tone. "First the orcs lost the initial assault on the beach, then we were able to easily slip by them and set fire to their city, and now this? We're already close to their fortress."
"But why has this been so easy?" asked Astrid. "Surely there would've been some sort of a real challenge by now. Yet even with their great numbers, we're still holding out."
"That is because you have not seen the true might of the Dark Legions. You have seen NOTHING!"
Everyone suddenly gasped, startled by the sound of the voice. Yet as Hiccup heard it, his eyes widened with shock. Not only did he recognize it, but it was the voice of someone that he long dreaded.
Someone he thought to have been long dead.
However, it was then that a figure came into view, standing atop a cliff off to the left which overlooked the chasm.
The first thing that they noticed about him was that he was no orc, but rather a human. Someone who was as tall and large as Stoick, who on his own was towering. The armor he wore was not plate, but rather a tough black leather. Along with that, he bore a black tattered cloak of dragon skin that fell over his left side, all whilst his right side was exposed, showing off the orcish-made bullhook that he held in his hand.
But then there were his eyes... They glowed with the same green evil magic that the orcs wielded, and that alone, along with his face, was enough to tell Hiccup who the figure was.
Drago Bludvist stood before them.
The warlord looked down at the group, smirking with a wicked grin. "Look at you all. Standing in defiance of the inevitable end of your world. The Dark Legions have conquered so much, and have waged constant war in the north... yet here you are, standing and playing hero like the arrogant and ignorant Berkians you are."
"Drago!" grunted Fishlegs, tightening the grip on his hammer.
"So you really are alive!" spat Astrid. "You will pay for what you have done to us, and to so many others!"
In his anger, Hiccup stepped forward, facing eye to eye with Drago. "You can't beat us, Drago! Look behind us! Your city burns, and your forces are being beaten down! Odin stands with us on this day!"
"Odin..?" laughed Drago, almost to the point of cackling as his green eyes glowed violently. "Stupid boy! Don't you see? You look upon the right-hand of a NEW GOD! A being who nearly cleansed this world in chaos fire over a thousand years ago! Your Allfather cannot help you here!"
"...And as for those orcs, their… distraction was necessary for this plan of mine to work. More of them will soon come, but I must thank you for your well timing! I have you right where I want you!"
"What!?" gasped Astrid with her brows lowered.
"A distraction!?" spoke Hiccup. "Oh Thor- it's a trap!"
"Right you are!" cackled Drago.
And it was then that the warlord made his move as he lifted his bullhook into the air, and like so, the tip of his weapon, as well as his eyes, began to violently glow green with chaos energy as his gaze was focused up towards the sky, almost as if he was trying to call something down.
"See now the powers that my master has granted me!" laughed Drago.
Hiccup and the others looked up as they saw right above them out of shock a crackling rift of chaos energies open up, and from it, a large green ball of fire and rock came flying out of it, aimed directly towards them...