I do not own the story of How to train your dragons or any of the original characters. Any names matching public or historical figures are strictly coincidental. The story is rated M because of language and adult situations. Anyone below the age of 17 should probably not read this story.
Chapter 8 The Attack
Leia the Younger was very tense. It was just short of eight bells and she was getting ready to board the first of two skiffs that would take herself and her small force of shield maidens to Hogshead on Outcast Island. The Shieldmaidens all wore dark furs and had darkened their faces with mud they had brought and had darkened their hair with temporary dyes. The skiffs and the longboat had been painted black. They even had black sails.
Leia had decided that at the five-mile mark they would disembark and the skiffs would be rowed the rest of the way. The oars had been wrapped in wool to make the rowing as silently as possible. Leia knew the success of the attack depended on her and her shieldmaidens. She had also decided that it was an all or nothing attack. The Shieldmaidens would be successful or they would not leave Outcast Island alive.
Spitelout Jorgenson was at the helm of his longboat staring into the blackness his force was a couple of hours right behind the Shieldmaidens. Like Leia the Younger, he too had adapted his plans. He had sent two boats to the south one straight ahead and two north.
Spitelout had anticipated that the Outcasts would be patrolling expecting an attack sooner or later. On those five ships were the best rowers, the best lookouts and the best archers. Each captain in the longboats had a decision to make upon sighting an enemy ship and that was to back off or to row fast, engage capture or destroy any vessels sighted.
He would sail farther north then make a sharp turn to the southeast to cut off any escape of what was left of the Outcast fleet.
The southern group had to avoid detection if possible, send a skiff up the Knife Channel to see what type of defenses the ships Stoic was to send up
there would face. Those southern boats would then anchor in the Devils Channel, wait for dawn then attack.
The northern force would attack and destroy any patrol vessels they found then sail to the mouth of Roman Nose Channel, anchor and wait for dawn. Spitelouts force would enter the North Channel and begin the attack on the, (hopefully), anchored fleet.
Stoic and the remaining force of eighty-two ships sailed two hours after Spitelout's task force had left. Once in sight of Outcast Island Stoic would divide his force into three parts. The first task force under Princess Eir Stormheart would travel straight ahead making a demonstration against the Citadel. Ten of her ships had one catapult angled so that the shots (each ship was equipped to make ten shots each), could hit high upon the Citadel itself.
The other ten would follow the southern half of the fleet, helping with the demonstration at Dead Mans Cove and then act as a reserve force once reaching Raiders Bay. This had been the brainchild of Eirs and he applauded her for it and he would see that she got an extra portion of the spoils once the battle was over.
The second task force under Ragnar the Bloody would sail south. Two of his ships would make a demonstration against the cliffs in front of the village of Freeman and, if only lightly opposed would attempt to have twenty warriors scale the cliff and attack the village. Ragnar's force would then proceed to the Devils channel with a three-ship detachment heading up Knife Channel to keep the watchtower in front of Crowes Nest busy.
The rest of the fleet would swing north then come in to attack Outcast Island from the Northwest through the North Channel. By that time he hoped that the Shieldmaidens were successful in creating enough havoc to force Alvin to split his forces.
He also hoped that Spitelout had the Outcasts fleet destroyed or captured because if not, his landing skiffs and the men in them would be at risk. The initial landing at Blood Beach would be 300 warriors using 30 skiffs.
The next wave under the command of Ragnarok would be 250 warriors using twenty-five skiffs. If either the docks or Blood Beach could be captured
then Spitelout could begin to send full longboats in as reinforcements which would be at most, (until Princess Eir ships arrived after bombarding the Citadel), 150 warriors.
This all depended on his initial estimates of Alvins' remaining manpower, the mental state of Outcast troops and how they reacted to the Shieldmaidens attacking the herds of sheep and Yaks as well as the attack on their fields.
Hogshead
Leia and her Shieldmaidens disembarked onto the four skiffs with no unforeseen problems. As they rowed following a compass heading in the cool black night came the first surprise. At the three-mile mark, an Outcast longboat came out of nowhere. Leia ordered all her rowers to halt and everyone to duck down. The other skiffs were watching and emulated the action. Fortunately, the Outcasts were concentrated on seeing what the expected to see which was a fleet of longboats and didn't pay attention to the four masses that they raced by.
After the Outcast vessel disappeared in the darkness Leia got her crews moving again. Not a half an hour later still another Outcast longboat was sighted, "Shite!", whispered Leia to no one. This longboat was traveling much slower however but was not making any change in course to indicate they'd been discovered so Leia kept her small force going. This longboat kept going as well. The sailors expected to see the silhouette of a longboat and were not paying attention to the dark shapes they had glimpses of in the darkness.
Not long after the small rocky beach below Hogshead was sighted. "Oars up", Leia spoke softly as well as a hand gesture. One by one the four skiffs were grounded on the gravel of the beach. She gathered her forty Shieldmaidens together after sending out a couple of scouts to ensure there weren't any Outcasts hanging around.
Once she had them together she whispered as she addressed them, "Sisters, we have been given the honor and duty to open the battle on these Outcast dogs. The eyes of the entire archipelago are on us. Let us climb this
silly hill and cause so much mayhem the dogs will think Hel herself has unleashed all Helheim upon them.
Know this, should any or all of us are claimed by the Valkyries this day Odin himself will save an honored place in Valhalla for us and our people will tell stories and sing songs around the home fires till we are reunited at Ragnarok!" Each Shieldmaiden silently raised a weapon in acknowledgment of their leader's words then proceeded to their assigned tasks.
Advanced Guard
The night was as black as Hel's heart. With wrapped oars, Spitelouts men pulled for all they were worth. He had transferred himself to the boat heading north. He figured if they came into contact he would lead the hunt, overtaking and capturing any Outcast vessel they came upon. He had left his friend Cuyler Svenson in charge of his main body of ships.
They were six miles out when they saw the first Outcast Vessel. When they had been making preparations he had doubts about the effectiveness of painting the longboats black and dyeing the sails black as well but he had to admit it was working.
In silence, his yeoman steered towards the Outcast vessel. They were well within longbow range when they were sighted. There were yells on the Outcast ship then a torch appeared. Spitelout yelled at his best archer "Dean, strike that asshole down. Oarsmen full speed, put your backs into it! The rest of you, PREPARE TO BOARD!" Archer Dean let his arrow loose and just as quickly as it appeared the man holding it was hit falling overboard.
Before another torch could be lit Spitelouts longboat banged onto the enemy vessel, "At them lads, show them to Helhiem's Gate!" The men of Spitelouts vessel charged over the side of the enemy logboat. The Oarsmen lashed the two ships together, then they too joined the melee. The fighting was fierce but the Outcasts had no discipline and they soon panicked. Many Outcasts tried to surrender, but this day no prisoners were taken.
Within fifteen long minutes, it was over. All twenty of the Outcasts were dead and tossed over the side. The Outcast vessel was dirty but in good shape so instead of sinking it, Spitelout decided to use it. He called his men
together, " Avrid, take four of our Oarsman back to our ship. Follow this vessel within half a Vika.
Men, the rest of us are going to stay on this vessel and look for any other patrols. Hopefully, we can get within striking range before they know what's up. We will head for Hogshead. If we don't sight any other Outcast vessels we will head towards Roman Nose Channel and wait for support.
Hogshead
Leia's first climber was Gunborg Bjornsdoter. She came from a wealthy family and was the youngest one of six girls. With that many sisters, her chances of gaining a respectable husband candidate were slim so she decided to pursue fame and fortune instead.
All the shieldmaidens placed tight gags in their mouths so in case of a fall any screams would be muffled. Up Gunborg went on the 150-foot face of Hogshead. She rapidly made her way to the top and was ten feet from the crest when tragedy struck.
What Gunborg had thought was a solid rock outcropping turned out to be shale and it crumbled and gave way as he put all of her weight on it. She brushed the face a couple of times then hit the gravel so hard she bounced three feet. The rest of the shieldmaidens just stared for a few seconds before resuming their assigned tasks.
Leia signaled for Aida to come over. "I'm going up next Aida. If I fall, send someone else. We are committed now sister, it's all or nothing," said Leia. Leia took the line off of Gunborgs body and proceeded up the cliff. Twenty minutes later she had successfully made it to the top. She took a few minutes to get her breath back and to reconnoiter.
She crawled over to the seagrass growing on Hogshead as it gave more than enough cover. The edge of the cliff was about 100 yards away from the forest. She let the rope down and held on. Within ten minutes the next climber was up with another rope.
Both held the rope this time and soon the third maiden with still more rope reached the top. With this last section of rope, they could secure the end to a stout tree on the edge of the forest.
Once this was complete Leia whispered to the other shieldmaiden, "Go back and get that rope ladder up and secured. Give the signal to sink the skiffs. I'm going to for a look-see. Get the sisters up and have them hide just inside the treeline. I'll be back shortly".
Stoic and the main body was nearing the ten Vika mark. At that point, Stoic gave the signal and the fleet split with his forces heading North, Princess Eir heading straight for the Citadel.
Stoic smiled to himself if even half of this attack worked out, he would not only teach Alvin a lesson he would not soon forget, and his position as Chief would be secured by his fellow Chieftains even if those back at Berk wanted his removal. He would then teach his enemies on Berk a lesson too.
"Duran, Give the signal!" said Stoic. Without hesitation, Duran an archer lit the end of an arrow and launched it high into the black night sky. Soon more arrows lit the sky as each ship responded and repeated the signal.
"Coxswain", yelled Stoic, "Steer North by Northwest. Olaf, make sure to keep us six miles away and have your best lookout at the top of the mast. I want to know when Outcast Island is in sight". "Aye, Aye my Chief," replied Captain Olaf.
Princess Eir turned to her Captain, "Jon, I want you within firing range of the Citadel before dawn. Is that possible?" she asked.
Jon replied, "Yes, your highness. Our oarsman are in high spirits that we have been given such an important part of the raid. Our Catapult men have their best stones selected and have asked permission to use the new fire stones they invented."
Eir smiled, "Petur!".
" Yes My princess" answered Petur.
Eir: "You and your catapult men will make sounding shots with your stones then once you have the range every other shot shall be a firestone. I will reward each member of the crew a silver piece for every stone that lands within the fortress and if your firestones start a conflagration I will award a gold piece to every man and a flagon of our best meade on the trip home." The crew cheered.
Unfortunately the masthead lookout shouted down, "Sail-ho off the starboard quarter".
Eir looked out and couldn't see it in the haze. "Lookout, how far?" the princess yelled.
"Half a Vika highness coming on slowly" replied the lookout.
"Captain, now we get to see if the new tactics we have worked on for these past months were worth the time and effort. Have the signalman give the green signal with a shielded torch to the rest of our ships then beat to quarters!" said Eir. Highness, won't they hear us?" asked Captain Jon. The lookout yelled, "Captain! The Outcast vessel has altered course to intercept us and there is a second sail on the same heading!"
Once again the princess smiled, "They know we are here, my old friend. Let us show them what Mongrels are made of".
"Petur, prepare your men. 20 gold pieces if you hit that Outcast longboat in three shots. Oarsmen! 10 gold pieces if we catch that second sail before she gets out of range!"
Men ran in all directions as the drummer boy beat the crew to action stations. Eir could hear the Captain order a slight change of course to the coxswain and she could feel the ship as it picked up speed as the excited oarsmen put their backs into it.
She saw her first gunner Petur and his catapult crew begin to make adjustments as the sighted up the now plainly visible Outcast longboat still heading their way. Her longboats were slightly larger, wider, deeper drafted and slower than a standard Mongrel longboat. Longboats had never before
mounted catapults. Ships boys had poured sand on the decks to prevent fire from spreading should one of the new firestones fall onto the deck.
The ships boys had also been trained to use the sand to put out fires and the young lads were extremely proud of their new roles.
Petur suddenly turned, "We are in range highness, permission to fire?" he yelled. "Fire at will, sink the Outcast bastards". And so it began.
Leia and Aida had sent out a pair of scouts each to check on the route to the heards and the road past the village. Leia's scout came back first with disappointing news. "Leia, the herds are not their normal places and where they should be is an encampment of possibly fifty warriors. There is a patrol of five warriors coming down the road."
The 36 shieldmaidens had good cover and concealment in the forest so discovery for the main body was not of a concern but if the two shieldmaidens Aida had sent out ran into the patrol their part of the mission could be compromised. Leia had to make a quick decision.
She gathered her ten best archers, "Tandra, position the archers on both sides of the road. I want them all dead and they mustn't yell out or scream. None must escape or we are all dead. Do you understand?" Tandra nodded her head yes.
"Good. Once they are killed hide the bodies so not even the ravens can find them, then get your butts back here on the double."
Shortly after the archers departed Aidas two more shieldmaidens reported. Aida listened intently then nodded and returned to Leia, "The east road and the village have extra troops guarding them. It will be impossible to get to the fields without being detected in the amount of time left. There must be nearly 100 warriors in the village and on the road. We will be detected sooner than later after that Outcast patrol is dealt with. In my opinion we cant hold the forest long until we are overcome by numbers."
Leia agreed, "You are right Aida. Stoic was wise in making you my second in command." There was a muffled cry in the distance heard and all the
Shieldmaidens froze. Within minutes there was the rustling of leaves as the five shieldmaiden archers returned.
A shieldmaiden named Aura saluted then she went to one knee, "I apologize General Leia or the noise. I rushed my first shot and hit the man in the stomach. I hit him in the throat with the second. The other Outcasts were dead before they could react and there was no alarm given. The bodies are well hidden."
"No matter Aura replied Leia. Such is Loki's humor. Gather around my maidens." Silently the same group took a knee in front of their leader. Leia: "Our mission as changed with events beyond our control our objectives cannot be completed. Fear not. In a few moments we will leave this place in the forest and we will scale the north slope of the Needle.
We will approach slowly and we will as silently as possible take out the Outcasts on watch. If successful we will then dispatch the rest in their sleep. If Odin still blesses us I will command the archers to kill those on or around the three catapults before they can turn those weapons on us.
What remains of us will hold this position to the last. We will also prepare the area so that before we are overrun we will light a torch so bright, Stoic the Vast will know we are on our way to Valhalla. Let us be on our way." And with that the 39 remaining shieldmaidens made their way through the forest and up the Needles northern slope.
Spitelout was having a busy night. No sooner had he finished manning the captured Outcast vessel, another had been intercepted by one of hs other boats that had caught up with his advance party.
Once again, the Outcast vessel had lit a warning torch and this time it took five minutes to intercept the ship and the battle that was waged took nearly twenty minutes with an additional two of Berks longboats to subdue the enemy.
The Outcast captain had even attempted to fire his own ship but was hacked down with an ax before he could complete the job. To make matters worse, the battle had cost the boarding parties five dead and seven
wounded. Worse still, Spitelout was now way behind schedule. Now it was a race against the dawn.
"Erland!" "Yes General", replied captain Erland. Spitelout; "Signal all ships, 'Beat to quarters' then a second signal 'Battle Speed'"
"Aye, Aye General". Spitelout smiled as his second in command Finn Hofferson came up to him and asked with a smile, "No waiting then?"
"Hel no Finn. The bastards must have seen us. I'll not have the bulk of their remaining fleet slipping thru our fingers and endangering Stoics fleet!" shouted Spitelout against the wind.
Finn; "Masthead! Any signals from the island?" asked the major. "None sir!" the man yelled back then a few minutes later the lookout yelled excitedly, "Deck there! Pigs Ear, (one of the Northern sea stacks near Harolds Mount), just off the port quarter".
Captain Erland came to stand beside Spitelout and Finn. "Gentlemen now we will see if Stoic guessed right," said the Captain. Spitelout only smiled. Once again the masthead lookout sang out, "Deck there! Ships at anchor dead ahead!"
"Lookout how many ships?" yelled Captain Erland.
Deck there, I count 10, no 20 ships at anchor! It the whole bloody fleet captain!" screamed the lookout. Spitelout clapped both men on the back,
"Captain! Signal the fleet to attack!
Finn, prepare your men to grapple and board the first ship!"
"Deck there" the lookout screamed once more, "Signal from the mainland" pointing in the direction of Harolds Mount. Plain as day a large fire could be seen on the top of the small mountain.
Princess Eir watched with interest as her catapult crew sighted heir weapon. She beamed with confidence because this new type of ship and weapon system was her brainchild. Her father had indulged her over the arguments of his captains.
Petur, her uncle and gunner believed in her from the start. They had proved the concept to her father and all the other captains in the bay outside the Mongrel Islands at both moving and stationary targets in different sorts of weather. The fire shot was another of her inventions. A fire shot consisted of a solid iron core surrounded by wool then heavily coated with mineral spirits, then wrapping of leather-covered in thick pitch surrounded by another layer of wool soaked in mineral spirits bound tightly with leather.
It had taken months of trial and error to get the final product. The fire shots were expensive to produce but devastating against made of wood or combustible materials. Once lit and fired, the pitch inside liquified then the shot disintegrated on contact splattering burning pitch everywhere. Now they would test their tactical and weapons concept against a real enemy.
Gunner Petur pulled the lanyard and the first solid projectile was on its way. "Deck there!" yelled the masthead lookout, "Shot over, two lengths!".
Petur gave his men a quick adjustment order then when they were clear, pulled the lanyard once more. "Deck there! Shot short half length!" (Note Eir's catapult used a standard longboats length as measurement. The maximum elevation of the weapon was three meters which gave a maximum effective distance of ten longboat lengths. A standard Catapult crew was four men and a gunner in command).
Gunner Petur made the final adjustments himself and was so confident he was using a fire shot for this third shot. A Catapultman torched the fire shot and when he was clear Petur yelled, "LOOSE!"
Eir grabbed the quarter-deck rail and watched with the rest of her crew, (even the oarsmen momentarily stopped rowing), as the flaming shot rose in an arc a hundred meters high before it began its plunge towards the Outcast longboat.
The shot came thundering down and actually hit the mainmast exploding and spreading flaming death over the hapless oarsmen. The cheers of Eirs men drowned out the screams of the hapless Outcasts as they burned to death.
Captain Jon ordered his coxswain to make a hard right to avoid the burning ship the longboat running over several Outcasts who had dived overboard.
"Deck there! Second sail altering course due south!" the lookout yelled.
Captain Jon approached, "Highness shall I change course to intercept?" he asked.
"Deck there! Land Ho!" the excited masthead lookout reported.
"No Captain. Signal the fleet to form line of attack. We have bigger fish to fry this day!" Eir told her Captain.
Quickly the signalman put two torches on the fantail which signaled the fleet to form up line astern of her vessel. As she watched, each catapult vessel formed up behind her ship known as the 'Hel's Breath' and give a quick response signal.
Her other ten troop vessels turned away sailing to their own rendezvous points. "Deck there! A signal on the mainland!" yelled the lookout.
Eir turned and looking towards the island she could plainly see a large torch burning on a tower in the Citadel. Then another flickered on the southern watchtower on the mountain named 'Odin's Beard', and then one the north tower.
"Lookout", Eir yelled.
"Aye Highness" the lookout answered.
Eir; "What is our distance from the beach?"
"Deck there, half of a Vika" the lookout reported.
"Lookout, sing out at three lengths!" she commanded.
"Gunners, FIRE SHOT, launch at effective range" she yelled over the sound of the waves.
Gunner Petur gave a quick salute and returned to the catapult crew. Gunner could see the cliffs plainly and the wooden walls of the Citadel just beyond them, "Our Princess is smart. Even if we miss, the shot will keep the enemy catapult men's heads down. Load." he said and two of his men carried over a large foul-smelling fire shot and laid it in the launch basket.
He motioned twice with his left arm and the ship's coxswain altered course two points to port. Petur held his arm straight up which meant steady as she goes.
Gunner Petur; "Torch!" and the catapult man with the torch lit the fire shot. "Yusef, down two notches," and the last catapult man adjusted the weapon then grabbed the firing lanyard. Petur; "Steady, steady, LOOSE!"
The black-clad shieldmaidens slowly climbed up the steep northern slope of the Needle. It had to be within a couple of hours of dawn and Leia knew she was running out of time. The twenty-foot wooden tower was plainly seen and there was a single guard/observer walking back and forth but clearly not paying much attention. There was a small stone wall surrounding the tower and she had yet to see a guard.
She motioned to the archer named Aura as the maidens stopped at the wall. With hand gestures, she gave Aura the instruction to take out the man in the tower. Aura nodded and notched an arrow. Leia slowly rose just to eye level and peered into the watchtower compound.
There was only one other guard and he was located over by the gate facing east and the road. There was another closed gate and Leia deduced that it must lead to the three catapults on the western slope that covered the docks.
She ducked back down and gave a single finger, then a choking gesture to a large burly Bog Burglar named Zara who simply nodded and disappeared into the darkness around the other side of the wall.
She motioned to Aida to take her shieldmaidens after Zara to prepare to attack. There were approximately twenty men in the compound, eighteen of which were sleeping.
She once again peered over the stone wall to discover no guard was present. She then saw Aida peek over her section of the wall and give a thumbs up. She was about to give the command to attack when she heard the sound of a warning horn in the distance. The guard in the tower began to blow his waring horn but was almost immediately cut off with an arrow in his chest. He didn't even scream when he fell.
The sleeping men were beginning to rouse at the sound of the horn in the distance so Leia yelled, "ATTACK SISTERS!". With a sound like screaming banshees, the maidens jumped over the stone wall and charged the confused men. Some grabbed their weapons, another screamed "shite" and tuned and ran others were simply murdered on their sleeping furs.
Those that fought were quickly hacked down. In a total of three minutes, it was over. Leia got a brilliant idea, "Shieldmaidens to me!" she yelled. As they gathered she gave out orders.
"Nara, Gertrude up the tower and blow that bloody horn. Opel light that signal fire. Aida, take ten sisters down the slope, kill any men you find then try to point one catapult at the north road and the other south. Fire on anything that comes down those roads, the rest of us will hold this position.
Aura, you and Tina go back down the slope and cover the north road. Kill or pin down any force of fewer than ten warriors. If a large force approaches abandon your position and report back to me."
"Yes my general" Aura replied and the two archers headed into the darkness. Leia sent two archers down the southern slope to cover that road from the woods there. She had lost three shieldmaidens so far. One fell from the cliff and the other two had been lost in the brief struggle for the watchtower on the Needle.
If she could interrupt Alvin's communications for a while then perhaps he would panic and all himself up in the Citadel. Now all she had to do was hope that Stoic showed up before the ruse was discovered and they were wiped out. In any case Hel just broke loose on Outcast Island.