The air was filled with snow, smoke, and ruin.
After reuniting, the young vikings took a long moment to recover themselves, all whilst sharing their experiences of the battle in silence. Soon enough however, both they and their dragons found themselves walking through the streets of Nordell, with the exception of Arn and his gryphon, and what they were met with was a sight that nearly scarred their very minds.
It was a view that shook them.
Hundreds of elven warriors laid dead, along with thousands of innocents who were unable to run from the onslaught. The streets were littered with corpses and burning debris from one side of the city to the other, and the sounds of nearby weeping from women, children, and even men, filled their ears; both loud and silent.
Hiccup and the others looked upon the elves with sympathy as they all stood, sat, and knelt before their dead, sobbing.
Eventually, the group came to a stop, and as they did, Astrid caught eye of an elven lady with tears running down her face, all whilst she knelt before the body of a man, and held a wrapped infant in her arms, who laid as silent as the cold wind and the man who lied before her.
In that moment, Astrid's eyes welled up, and she placed a hand against her forehead as a single tear fell from her right eye. A tear of sorrow and anger.
However, this did not go unnoticed.
The shieldmaiden suddenly felt the light, comforting nudge of Stormfly, who gently pushed her head against her rider's left arm. In response, Astrid let out a sigh, followed by a sniffle as she wiped away her tears and laid her head against her dragon's.
"Those monsters will pay for this," she whispered with an angered sigh.
"They will in time," squawked Stormfly, despite her rider not understanding Dragonese. "Be strong, my friend. Relax…"
As Stormfly comforted her rider, the rest of the group began talking amongst one another; all of whom shared a similar feeling as Astrid did.
"So much pain…" said Heather, with a hint of hurt in her voice. "Of all the battles I've witnessed throughout my life, I've never seen anything like this before."
"Neither have I," spoke Fishlegs, standing alongside her. "How many more innocents must die until this chaos is over?"
"No more, hopefully," responded Hiccup with slight anger, gazing into the distance. "Even though the siege was inevitable, it was a fight we did not expect to happen so quickly. We can only hope for the best from here on out, and not just for Berk or the Archipelago, but the entire world."
"...And that means fighting harder and rougher than ever, no matter the odds. I swear to the gods, Drago will pay with his blood."
"I'll fight 'till my knuckles are bruised, then," responded Astrid, gazing back at Hiccup.
"Same," said Snotlout. "I'll fight every damned orc there is and make a mountain out of them, if that's what it'll take to bring an end to the Dark Legions."
"Uh… guys?" asked Fishlegs. "I don't think we should start acting so aggressive over this."
"Eh- if you ask me, I'd say give it a rest," replied Ruffnut with her arms crossed. "You are taking this waaay too seriously, Hiccup. You gotta chill. I mean, why-"
"Look around yourself for a moment, Ruffnut," interrupted Hiccup, tossing her a slight glare as he raised his arms outwards. "What's not serious about this? Hm? Thousands of innocents are DEAD! And you talk as if there's nothing wrong with it!"
"That's… not what I mean," said Ruffnut; her voice expressing a serious tone. "I know I usually say stupid stuff, but hear me out just this once; the thing is, all I'm sayin' is that you shouldn't take this all so aggressively. I understand why you guys wanna fight the orcs, but if we let our anger drive us towards them, fighting them will become the only thing we know, and that'll make us no better than them."
"...Like Fish said, we shouldn't get violent over what they've done here today. If we wanna win this war and make sure they don't do something like this again, we've gotta play it smart; not be angry and play it rough. Is that not how we've won our fights so far?"
"Uhh… don't you always play it rough, sis?" asked Tuffnut.
Ruffnut shook her head. "Shuddup! You know what I mean!"
"Eh- yeah, I guess you're right," he nodded.
For a moment, Ruffnut's words brought silence as everyone gazed back at her in surprise. Rarely had words of wisdom ever come out of the Thorston, who relied more on her fists rather than her brain. But this occasion was one of those moments. Although Hiccup hated to admit it at first, he soon realized, deep down, that she was indeed right. With every single battle they fought so far, they had always revolved more around their wits rather than their brawns. But if they were to step away from that path…
"She's right," spoke Toothless, catching the lad's attention. "As stupid as she may be most of the time, she is still right. If you let this anger dictate your actions, you'll be no different to Valnr's vikings from hundreds of years ago, back when it was barbaric. For the sake of your friends, and for me, don't do this, Hiccup..."
Hiccup let out a shakened sigh, immediately shrugging off the remaining rage that bit at his mind. "You're right, Ruffnut," he soon said. "I think… we should take the time we have to clear our heads of all this anger. It's clearly not helping."
"Glad ya see it my way," nodded Ruffnut. "And in the meantime, we should let these people pay their respects, and uh… I guess wait and see what Elendar wants to do. I dunno."
"Well said, sis," smirked Tuffnut. "You really were always the smart one."
"What about your friend Arn?" asked Heather. "Shouldn't we go speak with him?"
Hiccup arched a brow, looking back at Heather with curiosity. "Why would we? Don't you think we should give him some time with his men?"
"...He's not with them, Hiccup," she replied. "The last time I saw him, he was heading down one of the roads leading to the landing, and he had a satchel in-hand."
"What…?"
…
Though the landing was in ruins, littered with smoking rubble, the riders were quick to spot Arn standing near the edge with Talon as he tied his belongings, along with his lute, onto the saddle of his gryphon.
Like so, they immediately began their way towards him.
"Going somewhere?" Hiccup called out, causing the lad to spin his gaze towards the group and their dragons.
Arn sighed, before turning back to his saddle. "You shouldn't have followed me."
"Then maybe you should've told us that you were planning to leave," spoke Astrid, crossing her arms as they all gathered around him. "Why are you doing this, Arn?"
"Because I have to," he replied. "After seeing the destruction that the Dark Legions brought here today, I now realize that this war is becoming worse than I imagined. You guys are needed here, but I need to act now."
"What on Midgard are you talking about, Arn?" questioned Hiccup. "What are you saying?"
The young viking paused, once again letting out a sigh as he turned his attention back to the riders.
"...I'm going to Aesilgard," he said, to which everyone's eyes flared with utter confusion and shock. "The Alsworn Tribe needs to know what happened here, and the vikings need to be amassed. When I get there, I'm going to send letters to the jarls of the tribe, order them to assemble hirds of a thousand men, and then have them march to Aesilgard. They will all fly the colors of their clans."
"How long will it take them to get to the city?" asked Fishlegs. "...For Thor's sake- why didn't you bring them up before?"
"I didn't think I'd need the jarls to get involved in the war," answered Arn. "As for the time, it should take around a few weeks. Their towns are all scattered across Southern Valnr, so it's going to take some time. One of the letters will go to Daneshire, and the rest will go to three other towns; Skálwood, Winterholm, and Havnbörg."
"But what about your men?" questioned Heather with her brows slightly lowered. "You can't just abandon them. They-"
"I already told them about this," he interrupted, his gaze jumping between the vikings. "And they're in full support of my decision. As such, I'm leaving them under Hiccup's direct command."
There was a brief pause. Hiccup stood there with his brows raised as he looked back at the other riders, who merely shook their heads and gave him a series of shrugs.
"...Why me, exactly?" he finally asked. "I'm not trying to be rude- but couldn't you have picked one of their own instead? I mean- I may be a Wing of Midgard, but am I also not a stranger to them?"
"And why exactly do you think of yourself as that?" the Alsworn questioned as he slowly began to approach him. "You told them your story, Hiccup. Last night, they themselves told me that if I were ever away, they would not hesitate to follow your lead. To them, following you means following hope. And right now, hope is what all my men need after what happened today."
"...Uh- all? Did they like- all survive or something?" asked Tuffnut.
"Aye. Surprisingly," nodded Arn. "But some of them nearly didn't make it, for they were severely injured. Even then however, I find it remarkable that none of them lost a limb."
"Heh, I guess Odin was with us," said Ruffnut.
A sigh escaped Hiccup's lips as he once again looked back at his friends with uncertainty. However, Astrid's face expressed a look of approval.
"You agree with him, Astrid?"
She gave him a nod. "If what he says is true, then maybe we should accept it as it is. I can't disagree with the fact that many look at us as if we're beacons of hope. We've seen it from the votun, the elves, and even the storm dragons we allied with back in Votunheim."
"Hmph… I can't disagree with that either. But how do you know he's not lying?" asked Hiccup, glancing between Arn and Astrid. "Even though he's told the truth every step of the way, he still lied to us once before."
"And that was for good reason," answered Arn. "If I wanted to lie to you about this, I would've already flown off without any further explanation."
"Eh, he has a point," responded Ruffnut.
"I should remind you, though," the blonde viking added. "You were the one who led our forces into battle, Hiccup. The elves, the dwarves, and the Alsworn. Imagine if that scenario played out differently, and it wasn't you who led them. How many lives would've been lost today?"
There was a pause. As Hiccup stood there in thought, wondering as to how to respond, the sound of Toothless calling out to him from nearby in Dragonese suddenly caught his attention, causing both him and the riders to turn their backs.
"We have company!" he said. "Looks like one of those elven messengers!"
Hiccup and Arn immediately exchanged questioning gazes as their eyes soon caught sight of the hooded messenger, garbed in elven armor.
The messenger breathed heavily as she stopped in front of the vikings, but still kept a straight posture.
"King Elendar requires your presence in the palace dungeons," she immediately stated. "He has begun interrogating the enemy's general, and has need of your assistance."
"She must be referring to Golrok," spoke Snotlout. "That ugly son of a troll."
"Hmph. Well in that case, I'll have to delay my leave," said Arn, looking back at Hiccup with a smirk. "I'll come with you."
"We'll be heading off right away, then," responded Hiccup as he nodded. "Toothless, you're with me. Everyone else, leave your dragons here."
…
A ray of light shone down into the center of the chamber from the tall ceiling above. A circular column of elven pillars surrounded the room, along with nine braziers that burned brightly.
"GRAAAGH!"
Golrok let out a scream of pain as Toothless seared his back with plasmic fire. Beneath the ray of light, the orc was down on both knees; his arms were bound to the floor by chains of light magic that were impossible for him to break, and his clothes, save for his trousers, were stripped from him.
Elendar tossed a glance to Hiccup as he gave the lad a nod. "That's enough."
Hiccup nodded back as he raised his hand, and as such, Golrok's screams ceased, leaving only silence as Toothless backed away from the orc.
"What are you waiting for, elf!?" gnarled the brute. "Finish it already! END IT!"
"Not until I get answers out of you, orc," responded the elven king. "I'll ask you once again, why did your warlord send you to attack this city?"
"To kill you all!" grunted Golrok. "What more do you expect from me, elfling!? That's all I know…!"
Elendar's brows lowered as he marched over to the orc, grabbing him angrily by the neck. "And you've already stated that clearly enough! Three thousand elves are dead because of you, but I highly doubt victory was your only goal! I wonder how many times I must keep asking you…"
"Grr… what makes you believe that!?" questioned the orc.
"Victory was his goal, King Elendar. He just didn't expect to lose," spoke Hiccup, catching the attention of both the elf and orc as he stepped closer towards the broken brute. "However... you also told us that Drago had other plans of his own."
"And...?" growled Golrok.
"I think I know well what the purpose of this siege was," said Hiccup. "If my friends and I never came here, you would've won. But perhaps Drago anticipated this... This battle was never meant to be a victory. Only a distraction to delay and cripple us. I bet he left that part out for you."
"What are you saying!?" questioned the orc. "That he sent me here as a mere decoy, no matter if I lived or died!?"
"Precisely," replied Astrid from nearby. "Clearly you don't know your own warlord as well as we do."
"The orcs he sent to march with you were also weaker than the average," stated Arn with his arms crossed. "The elves, the dwarves, and vikings know it well. The only thing you excelled in was numbers. Fifteen thousand against four thousand elves, and yet despite the great damage your army dealt, you still lost. Also, whoever advised you to throw your soldiers at the front gates without any siege weapons was clearly a bad strategist."
"As a warrior who fought for many years, I can definitely agree with that," nodded Heather.
"Pfft. Looks like this just got awkward," snickered Tuffnut. "Even the smartest orcs are stupid."
A guttural grunt escaped Golrok's lips as Elendar suddenly released his neck, and upon letting go, the orc's head dangled down to face the floor. His eyes began filling with what appeared to be an expression of anger, and at the same time, his right hand curled up into a fist as the deep realization soon hit him.
"It seems my defeat was foreseen by the Dark Master," said the orc, before gazing up at the group with an unexpected grin. "Good. Then all must be going according to plan."
Elendar and the young vikings looked back at one another cluelessly, and all of sudden, the orc began to chuckle.
"What are you saying?" questioned the elven king; his hand falling to the hilt of his blade sheathed by his side. "Speak!"
"The end is coming, elf," replied Golrok. "You want the truth? Fine! Then know this; at this very moment, Drago Bludvist marches south with fifty thousand warriors, along with hundreds of monsters at his back! He will strike the city of your pathetic dwarven allies, and soon afterwards, the final ritual will begin!"
"Dalgard…" gasped Elendar.
"Wait- did he say fifty thousand?" asked Snotlout. "That's half a hundred thousand!"
"Captain obvious," said Tuffnut in a low whisper.
Almost immediately, Hiccup unsheathed his blade as he angrily pointed it down at the orc. "Tell me what this final ritual is!" he demanded. "You mentioned it once already! Now I want to know what it is!"
Golrok merely laughed, staring back at Hiccup with his demonic green eyes and his wicked smile.
"Your world will burn," said the orc. "The final ritual is the END of Midgard! Once it begins, there will be no stopping it! There will be no shelter to hide in! No army will be able to stand against the coming storm! NO ONE will be safe! Lightning shall break open the skies! Chaos fire will burn across this earth! And the seas will turn to blood! SOON, MALDRAGOR WILL RISE! HAHAHAHAHA-AGH-!"
As Golrok's cackle echoed loudly throughout the chamber, it was immediately brought to a silence as Elendar unsheathed his sword and swung it swiftly across his neck, decapitating the orc like a knife cutting through butter.
The vikings, including Hiccup, were instantly startled. They backed away from the corpse of the orc as it fell to the ground, lifeless.
Hiccup slowly sheathed his sword as he looked back at Elendar, eyes widened. "Why did you do that...? Wasn't there more he could've told us?"
"No," sighed the elven king as he wiped his sword clean of the green orcish blood. "That orc would've gone on with his threatening words. Even though what he said sounded like an exaggeration, I think he was telling the truth."
"What? That the world is going to end?" asked Heather.
"If we don't stop this final ritual from happening, yes," nodded Elendar. "But what concerns me right now is the safety of Dalgard. If what Golrok said is true, then Drago is marching towards the dwarven city with half a hundred thousand warriors."
"Which means our only chance of stopping this ritual is by getting to Dalgard, and stopping Drago," answered Hiccup.
"But how are we supposed to fight him?" asked Astrid. "Golrok was the real struggle of this battle. He alone nearly bested Hiccup, Snotlout, and I. Who knows what Drago could do against all of us."
"She's right. The last time we faced him, he summoned an entire army that nearly wiped us all out," said Fishlegs as he rubbed his chin in thought. "...But, if we had something that could make our powers stronger, then maybe we could stand a chance."
"C'mon Fishlegs," said Snotlout, shaking his head. "I doubt there's some stupid potion that could make us godlike all of a sudden. Get that idea out of your head and-"
"Actually," interrupted Elendar, catching everyone's attention. "There is something that could make your powers more potent. I've kept it a secret from my warriors, and only my most powerful mages know about it. However, it's something that only a few can handle..."
Hiccup arched a brow as he tossed the elf a curious glance. "What's this secret you speak of?"
"I'll show you myself," he said. "It's at the top of the palace's tower."
"But what is it that we'll find there, exactly?" asked Arn, to which Elendar responded;
"The fourth element of magic."