Two days passed, and the early morning sun once again shone onto Nordell from the tops of the mountains, with white clouds passing over. Within a short amount of time, much of the snow had melted from the elven realm, and the grass and trees were once more blooming green.
But even then, that mattered little.
The city of the elves was hard at work, and time was short. Guards patrolled the streets from end to end, and the people put their efforts into making repairs to the great city. Along with that, the vanguard was finally assembling, slowly but surely making their way to the front gates, where more than a dozen carts awaited them.
However, Hiccup and the others had another important matter to see to, as Arn was finally preparing for his departure.
At the city's landing, the seven riders gathered around the lad as he calmly packed his belongings onto Talon's saddle.
"So," began Hiccup with his arms crossed. "Is there anything I need to know about your men before we leave?"
"Well- there's not much I can say," answered Arn. "The Alsworn vikings are loyal to the end. Whoever is the highest man or woman among them will earn their complete loyalty, no questions asked. They will obey every command without question… that is unless the order goes against what they are fighting for, or, if it is unreasonable."
"Easy enough to follow, I guess," nodded Hiccup. "I promise I'll make sure to treat them well, as if they were my own tribe."
"...So what you're basically saying is that they're loyal, but not stupid," commented Snotlout. "Gotcha. Seems fair enough."
Fishlegs rose a brow. "I don't think that's a proper way to look at them."
"But isn't that what they are?" asked Snotlout. "I mean, Arn just said-"
"More than that, Snotlout," sighed Arn, turning his gaze from the saddle and back towards the Jorgenson. "The vikings of my tribe are my brothers and sisters, no matter who they are, or how old they are; they all made a pact upon becoming vikings. They serve a common code; of honor, respect, and strength. Since the day they swore their allegiance, they have not broken it…"
"...Just know this, Snotlout. As long as you treat them with respect, they'll treat you the same way. But don't think of them as objects. They're people too."
"...Uhh… cool speech I guess?" spoke Tuffnut. "Look, I'm not a fan of speeches, and no offense, I have no idea what you just said."
"He's not joking when he says that, is he?" asked Astrid in a low voice to Hiccup, to which the lad shrugged.
Arn rose a brow. "I don't know what you mean by that being a speech," he said. "I'm just stating the obvious. It shouldn't have been that hard to follow."
"I dunno. It seemed hard to me," replied Ruffnut.
"Ruff, Tuff…" spoke Hiccup, gesturing towards the Twins. "All Arn is saying is to be nice to his men, and they'll be nice to us in return."
"Well, why didn't ya just say that to begin with!?" questioned Ruffnut.
"Ruffnut, it wasn't even that long!" responded Arn. "The stories I tell are way longer than that! You know this!"
"Yeah, but it's still the early morning," she replied with yawn. "We only just woke up."
"Now that's just an excuse," sighed Heather. "You and your brother had more than enough time to get ready, and the sun wasn't even up yet."
"But what about breakfast?" asked Tuffnut.
"Um... you guys already had it," stated Astrid.
"Yeah, but that was just one," nodded Ruffnut. "Tuff and I still require a second breakfast. Isn't that right, bro?"
"Right indeed, sis," smirked Tuffnut.
"Second breakfast...?" questioned Astrid, her arms now crossed as her eyes expressed a hint of irritation. "For Odin's sake- why!? Who on Midgard needs to have a second breakfast?!"
"Us," said the Twins in unison, which only annoyed Astrid even more.
"This is getting nowhere…" sighed Hiccup. "Look, let's just get things going. We can't stay here forever."
"Agreed," nodded Arn, turning his back towards the group as he grabbed ahold of his gryphon's saddle, and quickly proceeded to climb on with ease.
Upon mounting up and putting both of his feet into the stirrups, the mighty creature gave a shake of his wings as his feathers blew against the chilly morning wind, with the light of the sun, which still hung somewhat onto the horizon, shining against the two of them.
As Arn made himself comfortable, he glanced down at his friends with a light grin, to which Hiccup and Astrid in return gave him confident smiles.
"I've assigned a captain to represent the Alsworn vikings. He's the best warrior among their group," said Arn. "And... yeah. Aside that, all I can say is that I'm going to miss being around you guys. Good luck… all of you."
"Same to you," nodded Hiccup.
With that, the blonde viking turned his attention back to Talon, and with a tug of the rope, the gryphon let out a squawk as he spun towards the edge. Upon facing the distant mountains, the gryphon suddenly started moving, and with a flap of his wings, followed by a great bestial screech, the two of them were finally off.
As they both flew up into the air with the chilly wind blowing against them, Arn took a moment to look at his surroundings. Then, he briefly looked back, before nodding to himself as he looked back ahead with a determined gaze on his face.
"There's no turning back…"
…
After witnessing Arn's departure, it did not take long for the young vikings and their dragons to make way to the courtyard, standing before the front gate of Nordell, and upon landing, they were met with quite a sight.
The area was filled to the brim with hundreds of warriors. That included the vikings, the elves, and the dwarves, of whom had hauled in over a dozen carts that were loaded with food and other goods, and as the ranks of the vanguard all marched into their positions with discipline, they made ready for further orders as they stood at attention.
But in the center of the courtyard, another matter took place, which involved three figures who stood conversing with one another; one of whom was a dwarf.
Hiccup was quick to notice this from the distance, and as he dismounted from Toothless's saddle, he briefly looked back at the other riders.
"You guys stay mounted. I'm going to go have a quick talk with those three. Toothless, you come with me."
"Alright," replied the dragon obligingly.
Without further word, the two of them made way over to the distant figures, of whom were still in discussion. But upon getting closer, Hiccup was able to quickly make out the features of the dwarf, who he soon came to realize was Beldrak. With the dwarven thane was a black-bearded viking, who bore a helmet with great metal horns, and a light elf ranger, who wore no hood.
As he approached, the lad said aloud, "Hello?"
At the sound of his voice, the three turned their attention towards the lad, and Beldrak, upon noticing, gave a smirk as he took a few steps towards Hiccup.
"Ye made it just in time, lad!" he said cheerfully. "The vanguard's assembled, and they all await yer command!"
"M- My command?" asked Hiccup, tossing a brief glance at the hundreds that surrounded him, almost anxiously. "Um…"
The dwarven thane arched a brow. "Somethin' wrong, lad?"
Hiccup shook his head. "No, it's just that- ...I don't mean to be rude, but my friends and I just got here, and this is all... abrupt for me. I was hoping for a quick talk with the captains before we leave, but in this case, I'm not sure where to begin."
"Worry not, lad," responded Beldrak. "I already had a talk with our new friends here on what tae expect, so ye can be assured that they'll help make yer life easier along the way tae Dalgard. All ye need tae do is give us the word, and we'll handle the rest."
"Indeed," said the nearby Alsworn viking, as both he and the light elf next to him stepped closer to Hiccup, allowing the lad to get a better look at them. "But we'd better not remain here for too long. Time is of the essence, after all. Is it not?"
Like his brothers and sisters, the viking wore scalemail and leather for his armor, along with grey furs on his shoulders, and an exposed azure tunic and azure cloak. The biggest difference compared to the other vikings however were the three marks of blue paint that went down his chest gear, which to Hiccup, looked like the scratch-marks of a dragon.
But then there was the elven ranger… who Hiccup could now see was a woman.
The light elf's long hair was as golden as the sun. From her shoulders to her boots, she was armored in silvery elven plate, while on her back, a long sapphire-blue cloak with white furs extended downwards, which was extremely similar to that of Astrid's.
"...You guys are the captains?" asked Hiccup, earning a nod from both of them.
"Elendar and Arn chose their captains well, ye know," smirked Beldrak as he beckoned Hiccup forward, to which the lad followed with several more steps. "Hiccup, allow me tae introduce ye tae Captain Olof, and Captain Valara."
"I must admit, it's an honor to finally meet you, Wing of Midgard," said the Alsworn viking, bowing his head to the lad. "I saw how you fought during the siege, and your actions and valor alone earned my respect; not to mention your leadership. Were it not for your presence, half of my brothers and sisters would be in Valhalla by now, drinking with the gods!"
"I assume it was quite a spectacle to see the Wings of Midgard in action," grinned the elven ranger. "Unfortunately, I was not part of the group that sallied out. But even then, King Elendar said that you and your friends bested their leader, who was a powerful warlock. And, I see you have dragons fighting alongside you… including a Night Fury."
Hiccup tossed a glance towards Toothless at the mentioning of the name 'Night Fury,' and the two of them gave somewhat surprised looks. It appeared that his kin were not unknown to them.
"Toothless has been with me through thick and thin," said Hiccup, spinning his attention back to Valara. "He's more than just a warrior, really. He's my best friend… and, unfortunately, probably one of the last of his kind, if not the last."
"So I've heard," said Valara as she took several steps towards the black dragon, before kneeling down to his level as she gently rubbed his head, earning a croon. "Legend says that only a few Night Furies wander Midgard these days, and yet no one can find them. But more than two thousand years ago, they were amongst the largest groups of dragons in the world."
Hiccup gave off wide eyes. "You hear that bud? Looks like the Night Furies were one of the most common dragons out there," he said, earning a delighted response from the dragon.
"That's a story worth telling, if I do say so myself," smirked Olof. "Though I must admit, what a curious name you gave your dragon... Toothless."
"Indeed," agreed Valara as she straightened herself out. "As much as I enjoy this conversation however, we can't talk forever. The longer we stand idle here, the more time we'll be wasting."
"Aye!" spoke Beldrak, catching the three's attention. "Not tae mention one of yer friends is gettin' impatient, lad. We should really get moving."
"HEY! What's taking so long!?" called out Snotlout, both irritatedly and angrily.
"Then I guess we'd better get ready," nodded Hiccup. "We'll talk more about this when we stop. For now, get with your warriors, and tell them to get ready. We've got to get this vanguard moving. Valara, can you signal the elves on the ramparts to prepare the gate?"
"Certainly," she said. "Let's get ready."
Without further word, the three of them calmly made way towards their warriors, and Hiccup turned his attention back to the riders, all of whom were still mounted.
"Looks like this journey's going to be a little something more with our new friends," said Hiccup as both he and Toothless began walking towards the group.
"Honestly, I never thought that there were still more of my kind out there," replied Toothless, responding in Dragonese. "But to think that the Night Furies were once one of the largest groups of dragons in this world? Now I really want to know more! These elves sure are intelligent…"
"Welcome to Midgard, bud," chuckled Hiccup, earning a warble of laughter from his dragon.
As the two of them approached the riders, Astrid was the first to speak up as she asked, "So… what was that all about?"
"Beldrak was just introducing me to the two captains," said Hiccup with a light smile, as he proceeded to mount up onto Toothless. "They're good people. Beldrak said that they'll make my life easier along the journey."
"So then, do you still plan on keeping your role as leader of the vanguard?" asked Heather.
Hiccup gave a nod. "Someone has to. I promised Arn that I would treat his men like they were my own, so I'll have to lead them as if they were my own as well. That includes the elves and the dwarves."
"In that case, Ruff and I will be singing along the way to Dalgard!" blurted out Tuffnut, earning baffled and confused looks from the others.
"I'm sorry…?" responded Fishlegs. "But how does that have to do with what we're talking about?"
"Well, if you're gonna be leading, you're gonna need some morale," stated Ruffnut. "And in that case, all you'd need is a little-"
"Morale is the least of our worries, Ruff," interrupted Hiccup, before glancing at each of the riders. "Staying warm and alive is our main concern, next to getting to Dalgard in time. I want to remind you guys that what we'll be going through will be tough."
"Pfft. Obviously," said Snotlout. "It's going to be as cold as Niffleheim out there."
"It's more than just that, Snotlout," added Hiccup. "...Once we begin crossing the Frel Mountains, we'll need to use our provisions wisely, and stick together; and I don't say that lightly. The land itself could rise up against us, and if we lose to it, it'll be the last thing we'll see before we freeze to death. We may have dragons, but they might not be enough to keep us warm. In any case, just know that this is your last chance to gather everything you need. Once we leave, there's no turning back…"
"...So, are you guys ready?"
Though it took a moment, the six vikings, after exchanging glances with one another, unanimously nodded. They were prepared to endure what the freezing mountains had to offer, and as such, the seven of them turned their gazes upon the gate. Like a breeze in the air, the courtyard came to an utter silence.
The ranks of the vanguard stood in wait for what felt like minutes. The azure banners of the Alsworn, along with the white flags of the elves, and the royal blue and maroon standards of the dwarves, blew in the cold wind, with the morning sunlight shining against their armor. On occasion, a few sneezes and coughs would briefly break the silence. As eager as they all were to begin the journey through the Frel Mountains, they were also slightly nervous.
...Eventually however, the sound of horn blowing throughout the courtyard would echo in their ears, causing everyone's heads to turn towards the gate, and shortly afterwards, the cranks and chains of the gate began moving as the massive door soon began to lift.
There was no turning back. The march had now begun...