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 9 Alvin's Helheim
Alvin was awakened suddenly by pounding on his hut's main door. "He jumped up naked from his bed leaving an equally nude and frightened middle-aged slave woman and her trembling 14-year-old daughter in his wake, grabbed a sword and ran to the door and opened it screaming "This had better be………" he never completed the sentence.
Standing before him stood a shaken Attila Daggerfist, "WE are being attacked my Chief" said Alvin's second in command being used to seeing his leader unclothed following private pursuits was nothing new.
Alvin; "From where and how many Atilla?".
Atilla answered, "I have only received a runner from the Citadel who reports at least thirty ships equipped with catapults. The runner also said that they have seen the alert fires from the Needle and Fortress Loki. The runner also reported the ships firing on the Citadel are firing shots of iron and shots that are torched and explode on contact. General Goff is requesting immediate assistance as the Citadel is on fire in several places."
"No runners from the Needle or Fortress Loki?" asked Alvin.
"None my Chief, and one of our road patrols have failed to return to the North Camp," said Atilla.
Alvin; "Have you sent out more runners?".
"Yes my Chief, three good men on horseback, " answered the General.
Alvin self consciously pounded his forehead with his free fist. He had to think. He decided, "Pull every warrior from the South Camp and the village and take them to the Citadel, I will meet you there."
Atilla; "Sir that will leave only Oddar and twenty men to hold the village including guarding our slaves." said Atilla.
"Tell that bastard Oddar that he is to defend the village to the last man. Its time for those useless pieces of Yak Shite to do something other than to beat and fuck slaves" yelled Alvin.
Atilla saluted, turned and disappeared into the night. He put his sword next to the door and strolled back into his huts bedroom. He pointed to the mother, "Get your clothes and get me a horse...Go!" yelled Alvin.
He went to the bed and pulled off the bed furs exposing the trembling body of a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, petite, budding girl. He looked at the bed and saw blood-stains from when he had deflowered her previously that evening. He gave her a sinister grin and the girl began to cry.
"Tonight my sweet young one may prove to be my last on Midgard. I have time for one more pleasure," said Alvin. With that, he grabbed both the now screaming girl's ankles and drug her to the edge of the bed. He then kneeled on the bed, placed her legs over his shoulders and savagely plunged his once hard again penis into the girls still bleeding sex.
He plunged harder and harder into the delicate girl who was now only whimpering and he thrust into her. The mother returned and ran into the bedroom as Alvin climaxed for the third time that night into the girl. Satisfied he stood and faced the woman. "Hand me my clothes" Alvin ordered her.
She complied then went over to try and console her weeping daughter now curled up into a fetal position shaking and moaning in pain. As he finished dressing he looked at the two slave smirking, "Wouldn't it be interesting if you both become with child. Fortunately for you two, I probably won't be around tomorrow to ENSURE that it happens" he laughed and then left the hut leaving two broken women behind. He mounted his horse and galloped northwest up the road leading to the Citadel.
As Spitelouts longboat he expected rain in the way of arrows to have been coming his way but instead, as the grappling hooks attached the two ships and his warriors and shieldmaidens boarded two Outcasts jumped overboard and the other men simply dropped their weapons, got down on their knees begging for quarter.
In their bloodlust, a man from Spitelouts crew struck down one of the whimpering me before he gave the order to cease the attack. Spitelout was confused. Where was the rest of the crew?
"Deck there, enemy vessels are cutting their cables" screamed the masthead lookout.
Spitelout was beginning to see. He turned to one of his shieldmaidens, "Bring me one of the prisoners".
A woman named Sella gave a salute and dragged one of the frightened men over.
Spitelout grabbed the man by the neck, "What goes on here? Where is the rest of your crew? The truth now or I'll let this Bog Burglar cut your dick off and feed it to you!"
"S-Sir, there are no more. Alvin only placed enough me in the ships to get them under weigh to either escape or to block the channel" the prisoner wept as he answered.
Finn; "Sir, the Outcast fleet is manned by only skeleton crews. They have been stripped of their fighting capabilities due to the lack of manpower."
Spitelouts eyes were wide and he quickly yelled, "Sella grab four others as rowers. Take this vessel and steer for the Northwest channel. Find Stoic and tell him the fleet has only skeleton crews and he needs to come on fast. Do you understand?"
"Yes general I understand," and she, of course, yelled to four of her sisters to man the oars and Sella manned the tiller bar.
"The rest of you back aboard. Captain get us underway and head for the channel entrance double speed!" shouted Spitelout.
"Yes General!" replied the Captain. Spitelout jumped back on board and rejoined the Captain. He laughed.
"What is so funny sir?" the Captain asked.
Spitelout smiled at his friend and said laughingly, "That bastard brother-in-law of mine was right after all. That stupid bastard Alvin doesn't have enough men, so he has them all bunched up on the island to defend his sorry ass".
He watched as his remaining ships chased down the few Outcast vessels that had managed to cut their cables and get underway. "It's going to be a good day," Spitelout said to himself as the sky lightened with the coming dawn.
Princess Eir's ship was on its third rotation heading towards the Citadel. The shots of her ship's catapults had grown increasingly accurate.
The enemy catapults had only managed to hit two of her vessels before their crews were killed or driven off and those hits only slightly damaged her vessel and one other. With the growing light, it was plainly visible that not only was the Citadels north wall damaged and on fire in several places but that there were flames coming from within the fortress itself.
"Captain Jon, slow down and pass the word to the last five ships to detach from the formation and head at best speed for Dead Mans Cove."
Captan Jon quickly gave orders to the signalman and the coxswain. As the ship slowed Captain Jon came back and stood next to his Princess. "Highness is it wise to divide your force in the face of the enemy?" he asked knowing she had been personally trained by her father in tactics.
Princess Eir; "Not really my old friend. The enemy catapults are silent and the conflagration is spreading. I want them to conserve ammunition for the village. Perhaps Thuggory can make more than a demonstration" and she gave the man a big smile. Petur came up and saluted.
"Yes Petur?" asked Eir.
"My liege, at the present rate of consumption we have enough catapult ammunition for three more passes" stated Gunner Petur.
Eir casually looked at the sky. Now that you can see your target plainly I will expect that north wall to be opened and the fortress beyond use by the end of the second pass. I have every confidence in you and your men" said the Princess.
Gunner Petur understood he had been given a high compliment and understood the beneficial connotations. He went back to his men and repeated her words then said to them by "By Odin's beard we will send three accurate fire shots before the turn and when the wall goes down and the fortress burns they will sing songs of our glory around the fires for ages to come."
The Princess smiled to her men gave them a nod then continued to watch the battle progress with her hands held behind her back and her feet square on the deck.
Captain Jon was so proud of her. She had begun her training as a warrior at the age of six and had begun sailing with him by age eight. Now at the age of nineteen, she was the coolest warrior under fire he had ever seen. He would inform the King of her bravery personally and tell this story to his children and grandchildren.
On Stoics ship Firestorm The young Chief had his battle face on. He smiled and walked casually among his men and shieldmaidens giving a pat on the back and a pep-talk here and there.
Captain Olaf approached him, "It's time to signal the fleet for the turn my Chief."
It was light enough now to see for at least two Vikas. "Give the order Olaf for the turn, then beat to quarters," said Stoic.
Stoic then casually went back to where the Captain was standing. He saw the green pendant hoisted on the mainsail then turned and looked to ensure
the other ships were passing the order. "Deck there" yelled the masthead lookout. "Thor's Eyes dead ahead two Vikas".
Then the drummer boy began beating to quarters. Men rushed to their battle stations. The landing skiffs were now placed in position on either side of the ship in preparation for boarding and launch. This scene was being replicated on the sixty ships following the longboat.
"Deck there, ail approaching dead ahead one Vika" the lookout shouted.
"What sail" yelled the Captain.
"An Outcast Captain but they are not trying to escape but are waiting for us," yelled the lookout.
"That's odd," said the Captain, "They should be running".
Stoic thought for a moment. "When we get close to the vessel slow down and let them catch up. I believe Spitelout is sending us news" said the Chief.
On the western slope of the Needle two shieldmaidens, Erika and Dormer waited and were hidden. They had already killed several men on horseback heading frantically towards the Citadel. Another single rider came riding fast up the slope. Erika squinted then told Dormer, "This one looks important so just kill the horse. I want the rider alive."
Dormer quickly aimed and fired two arrows in less than twenty seconds hitting the Horse in the neck. The horse at a full gallop suddenly collapsed sending the rider flying over its neck.
Erika ran forward and as the rider got to his feet she expertly put an arrow in his leg. The man collapsed and both shieldmaidens drew long knives as they approached their quarry. The man tried to crawl away but Domer reaches him first and kicked him in the head knocking him out.
He lay flat on his face and with Dormer holding a notched arrow Erika rolled the unconscious man over, her eyes got big and she exclaimed, "MOTHER OF LOKI" Erika exclaimed.
"WHAT?" yelled Dormer.
"Just shut the fuck up and grab the bastard's arm. We gotta get him to Leia and fast," exclaimed Erica.
Huffing and puffing a clearly pissed off Dormer growled at her friend, "Leia is going to execute both of us for abandoning our post".
"No she won't, trust me." Erika growled back.
"Leia, our western archers are returning and it looks like they have a prisoner," said Aura.
"What the hell, I told them to kill them not bring them back," said Leia.
Erika and Dormer stood at attention as their general gave them a frightening glare. The prisoner was coming to and he was moaning. Leia reached up grabbed the prisoner by the hair and pulled his had back. She gave a laugh, spat in the now fully conscious prisoners face.
She gave an order, "Someone attends this assholes wound." To another couple of maidens, she said: "Have that banner we had made hoisted on the watchtower to seaward".
A few minutes later, a large white banner with a red dragon head in the middle. Once again she got into the now clearly shaken prisoners' face.
"This is the worst mistake of your miserable depraved life. You let a Bog Burglar capture you alive ALVIN" Leia exclaimed.
Meanwhile, on the southern slope of Needle shieldmaiden, Terra of Berk couldn't believe her eyes. Alvin's forces were abandoning Freeman. All that seemed to be left behind was a pitiful group of what appeared to be slave overseers no more than a score in number.
The slaves were being herded into their disgusting huts and locked in. They only posted single guards at some of the buildings but the rest were heading into what she thought was the mead hall.
Her companion, one Herran Sormsdoter also from Berk seemed puzzled. "Why are they abandoning the village Terra? It makes no sense. Those fools can barely hold their pants up let alone protect this entire village."
Terra; "Look at the sky to the west and what do you see?" " A lot of this black smoke coming from somewhere on Odin's Beard," Herran answered.
Terra; "My guess is that smoke is coming from the Citadel. I bet some of our forces have damaged it and they need those men to put out the fires or they are reinforcements.
Now listen, I want you to go back up to Leia and tell her what we've seen. Tell her all the slaves are locked up and lightly guarded. Lastly, ask her if she could spare five sisters because I also think those idiots will kill the slaves if left alone but with six of us we could probably free most of them.
We could probably kill those guards and trap those other bastards in that longhouse. Go quickly and come back." Terra literally ran back up the southern slope not caring who saw her.
Spitelout couldn't believe what was happening. With the exception of three longboats, the rest of the longboat crews were surrendering without a fight. He was glad those crews did not know that they were probably going to be turned over to the Bog Burglars.
He was just at the mouth of Slavers Cove and still, Fortress Loki was quiet. Spitelout; "Captain, I need to know if the catapults at Fortress Loki are manned. Finn, get the men ready to disembark."
Finn; "Yes general." Finn Hofferson was a loyal and good warrior. His father Gunnar Hofferson had trained him well.
The Captain looked up to the masthead lookout and yelled, "Lookout, what do you see off the starboard quarter?"
"Deck there,'' replied the lookout, then he said, "I see the beach and it is covered with sharpened stakes half a man tall. I see three catapults 12 lengths out and five lengths up the slope all manned and ready".
Spitelout looked at his Captain and stated, "They haven't fired because we are one of their own ships and they are not sure what to do. One of our generals would be sending out ranging shots. Keep us here just at the mouth of the channel".
The Captain saluted then quickly passed the order and the oarsmen and helmsman steadied the ship up. Finn Hofferson returned to Spitelout's side and said, "Those spikes could slow us down and then the catapults will have a field day on our landing warriors".
"I agree but Stoic will not send those troops in until Princess Eir's catapult boats arrive. They will pound those catapults into submission and at our request pound a path through those spikes for our Berserkers and shieldmaidens. What do the docks look like?" asked Spitelout.
Captain; "Lookout, what do you see dead ahead?" asked the Captain.
"Deck there, forward I see the docks, there are no vessels and no personnel. I see thee catapults, one facing north, one facing west and the other facing south. Only the north catapult is manned and ready." replied the lookout.
Captain; "Lookout are the docks intact?"
Lookout; "Aye captain, the docks are as they should be. I can plainly see the watchtower on the Needle. It is manned and has a white banner with a red dragon's head displayed."
Finn gasped, "It cannot be! Loki be damned, we can't be this lucky!"
Spitelouts eyes bugged out and he cupped his hands and screamed: "Lookout, repeat your last!"
"Deck there, the tower is manned and ready it is displaying a white banner with a red dragon's head in the center" replied the lookout.
"Great Odin's Beard", yelled Spitelout, "That's ours! Those beautiful shieldmaidens have captured the Needle! We must act fast! Captain, raise our own banner up then hug the port bank and get us to the docks."
Finn; "General, I request the honor of leading the men up the slope. This is my firstaction and I need to make father proud."
Spitelout; "Finn, your father will always be proud of you just as I am. You have earned the right and have my permission to led the men up the Needle".
The Captain gave the appropriate orders then, in a tone only the general could hear, he asked Spitelout, "Sir, I will obey your order to the death but may what is the reason for this sudden order?"
"My friend,'' replied Spiteout, "Our shieldmaidens had only forty of their number for their mission. It is reasonable to assume they have taken casualties so in my estimate there are probably less than thirty shieldmaidens holding a lightly fortified position that threatens to cut off all lines of communications between Alvin and most of his outposts defending this island.
"We are going to take this boat hit the docks and all of You are going to Follow Finn Hofferson up the Needle to reinforce that position. It simply must be held at all odds," said the general.
The masthead yelled down, "Deck there, Incoming!!!"
Spitelout turned to see a large splash perhaps two lengths in front of his longboat and at least two lengths short. The dock was less than ten lengths away. Another catapult shot landed a length to starboard sending up a huge splash followed by two more shots both short.
Finn; "Sir, our luck still holds as I believe we are out of range of those catapults on Fortress Loki."
Spitelout yelled to the masthead lookout, "Lookout are there any troops coming to defend the docks?"
Lookout; "None sir!".
The Captain yelled, "Back your oars slowly" to his excited and sweating oarsmen.
The longboat slowed and Finn Hofferson commanded, "Men as soon as we hit the docks everyone grab shields and weapons then head up the Needle, don't wait for orders just get to the top!".
The Captain commanded "Ship Oars", then suddenly, there was a large bump as the ship hit the docks. Two men lashed the longboat to the pilings as Finn lead 28 warriors charge off the ship with Spitelout in the van with another thirty warriors.
As Finn ran forward the docks then up the steep western slope of the Needle several Outcast archers hiding in the forest to Finn's left, took aim and fired. Finn was struck by three arrows and was dead before he hit the ground.
Spitelouturged his men to continue up the slope. He charged the archers and killed three while the rest escaped. The general got to his knees and gently lifted the young mans head and shoulders up. "You're a good soldier young Finn. May the Valkyries speed you on your way to Valhalla." With that, Spitelout Jorgenson closed the young warriors unseeing eyes, laid him gently back down, and followed his men up the slope of the Needle.
Onboard the anchored long boat Styx just offshore of Freeman the lookout yelled, "Deck there! Five Catapult Vessels three Vikas to the northeast hugging the shore and coming on fast."
General Bonecrusher smiled, Good, Good! Now it's our turn to dance!
"Eret prepare your men to disembark". Eret Gruesome saluted his general and then began to give the necessary orders. A green banner was hoisted on the aft side of the mast signaling the other nine ships to also get their troops ready to disembark.
Within thirty minutes the five catapult vessels began their dance of death, firing shots over the cliff and into the village moving in a circle to give all the other vessels an opportunity to fire.
Bonecrusher watched with fascination as the fire shot arced into the sky and then came crashing down on the village. Soon smoke could be seen rising from the village of Freeman.
"Eret, deploy your troops and remember if resistance is light continue on up and take the village," ordered Bonecrusher.
Eret saluted and ordered his men into the four landing dinghies that had been built for this specific reason. The green banner was hoisted down and a bright yellow one hoisted in its place. The rest of the ships began deploying their men 200 warriors in all.
Meanwhile six shieldmaidens as stealthily as possible made their way to the northern edge of the village. One of the overseer guards saw them and began to run to the longhouse to give the alarm. He was quickly brought down by an arrow to the back.
They ran to that building. A quick search of the guard produced a key for that building. Herron opened the door and was immediately met with a foul stench. As her eyes adjusted to the dark the sight she beheld was truly a sad one. A group of at least forty slaves chained together lying in their own filth in a room that would normally hold six people.
The slaves immediately began to scream, she held up her hand and yelled, "Shut up all of you! I am a shieldmaiden of Berk! We are here to try and get you out! She yelled for an ax and began to break through the chains.
As each slave was released she pointed to the shieldmaiden at the door who quickly pointed to another maiden at the foot of the Needle. As quickly as possible thirty-two thralls were released and were painfully slowly headed up the hill to safety. The remaining thralls had already been freed by Odin.
As they made to go to another building the first fire shell hit immediately exploding and setting a building on fire. Herran noticed that after the next shell hit the guards panicked and fled en masse.
Herran signaled her sisters and they ran from building to building under fire, smashing locks and chains as fast as they could. One maiden was
suddenly crushed by a shot. Harran knew then it was time to go. They had managed to free 82 slaves, 17 of whom were men. The rest were women and children.
Stoic had received Spitelouts message from the shieldmaiden prize crew. The sun was full up now so there was no longer any need for stealth.
Stoic; "Captain how for before we get to the demarcation point?"
"Three Vikas and twenty minutes at present course and speed my Chief" replied the Captain.
Stoic; "Get me there in ten".
"Aye, Aye Chief" plied the Captain and the order was given.
"Signalman!" yelled Stoic.
"Yes, my Chief" answered the man. Stoic; Raise the Dragon banner. Signal the fleet to do the same and then send the order to prepare for disembarking! Let's get this damn invasion started."
Quickly the orders were given and the Dragons Head banner was raised. Within twenty minutes the first ten ships had released their crews and had turned while forty Dinghies made their way towards the shore.
One of Spitelout's ships caught up with them and the Captain yelled, "Chief, The Needle has been taken and the docks are secure, have the warriors head there!"
Stoic couldn't believe Odin looked down upon him with such great fortune. He was going on with the next wave. He was angry. His warriors were not following orders. The plan was falling apart. Now he must go and personally take charge. His reputation and very Chiefdom was on the line. Many were going to face him and explain the failure to obey orders.
At the Citadel, General Atilla Deggerfist was trying and failing to put out the fires in the Citadel. His friend General Bort Zepryson had been killed during the initial bombardment. Where the hell was that son of a sea whore Alvin?
About that time the east wall of the Citadel collapsed. He turned to his bannerman, "Sound recall", he commanded. The bannerman blew three long notes from his Yak horn and his remaining warriors gathered around him.
"Captains, take a quick headcount of all able-bodied men."
The six captains saluted and complied. Soon Oddar and his remaining fifteen men came running panic-stricken up the south road.
Atilla grabbed him by the neck, "What the hell are you doing here slavemaster?"
Oddar stuttered his answer, "T-tthe village is lost. It is being bombarded from the sea and there are shieldmaidens attacking from the Needle".
Atilla; "Shieldmaidens on the Needle, you must be mad you stupid, worthless piece of Yak shite."
Oddar; "N-no general I swear. We could see them leading released slaves up the slopes of the Needle."
Atilla just stared south down the road then up the west road to the Needle. He had three courses of action. He could try to retake the Needle, he could try to bypass the Needle and take his men to Fortress Loki or he could try to retake Freeman which he could plainly see was burning.
It was really no choice at all. His tired and panicked troops would be useless trying to retake a fortified position the Needle represented, so he would try to take his men around the north end of the Needle up the east slope of Harolds Mount to reinforce Fortress Loki.
His Captains surrounded him and he said, "Report Captain Jorel".
Captain Jorel, "Sir we have 235 able-bodied men left. 10 walking wounded and twelve men who can't move."
"Thank You, captain," replied Atilla. He looked sadly over his men. "Men", he said, I won't lie to you. The situation is not good. The Citadel is of no use
now, the village is under bombardment and our position on the top of the Needle has been taken.
To my mind, we only have one choice and that is to head for Fortress Loki. We will have to move fast to get past the Needle. I do not know if Fortress Loki is even still there but it is our only hope. Those of you who can walk can follow us but we can't slow down for you. Captains organize your men and prepare to move out."
He thought of his more seriously wounded men. "Captain Jorel" he called. Captain Jorel approached saluted and waited.
Atilla; Jorel, I must give you a hard order and I can only trust you to carry it out."
Jorel; What are your orders General?"
General Atilla paused a moment, looked at the young warrior and said, "We can't leave our wounded to the enemy, you know what will happen if the shieldmaidens or Berserkers get them."
"I understand sir," said the young captain.
"Wait until the main body is gone, explain the situation and make it as painless as possible," said general Atilla.
The young captain only nodded. Atilla got to the head of the rest of the men and moved out.
"Petur" yelled Princess Eir as she watched in the distance as the eastern wall of the Citadel collapsed in flames.
"Yes, my liege" answered the overworked Gunnar.
Eir; "Cease fire! Captain Jon, signal the rest of our ships to do the same and then set a course for Roman Nose Channel at best speed possible. I know that the men are tired but we may be needed later."
"Yes, my Princess" answered the Captain. Gunner Petur had returned to her side on the quarterdeck. He was covered in soot and looked exhausted but had a look of satisfaction on his face.
Eir, "We have proved this day that our catapult ships and tactics have worked. Even if the rest of the invasion plan fails, we, no you and your men, have gained everlasting honor for our tribe. I will not forget this Petur. I will speak to my father personally on your behalf and that of your men.
You and your men will be honored and rewarded before a gathering of our people once we reach home. Until then you have my thanks." and with that, the Princess pulled the tall man down and kissed his cheek. It was a small gesture but as the man stood tall she saw tears streaming down his cheeks.
Princess Eir spoke to the Captain and Gunner Petur, "In the hold, there is a cask of a special brew I brought back from my last visit to Scotland. Crack it open and give each man a flagon. No more. It is strong stuff. We will relieve rowers every fifteen minutes starting now".
A few minutes later forty-four men and one tiny woman had smiles on their faces and warm glows in their hearts as the five longboats made a westerly turn heading for Roman Nose Channel.
Jorge Norisson, captain of the Outcast watchtower at Crows Peak watched the enemy fleet now anchored in the bay as they offloaded more and more warriors into skiffs that were heading towards Slaver Cove and Blood Beach.
There seemed to be over a hundred longboats. About twenty minutes before he had sent out runners. One to the south towards the village and one towards the docks. Both had returned and were now giving him reports that shook him to the bone.
The Needle had been taken, the man had nearly been killed by both arrows and a catapult shot as he approached the docks. He also reported that the docks were unprotected and that at least fifty warrior filled dinghies were headed for them.
The runner then told Jorge that he had seen an Outcast vessel come in with an enemy banner flying and that the Catapults from Fortress Loki could not reach that far.
The second runner had even worse news. Freeman had been totally abandoned and was under attack from the sea. Many huts were on fire and he thought he saw enemy warriors in the village itself.
Jorge could see the writing on the wall. The only course of action he could take would be to try and get to a point near the docks and form some sort of defensive position to try to forestall those warriors from coming in. He rallied his men and headed up the road towards the docks. He had left two men behind to torch all three catapults.
Onboard the Styx now anchored just a half a Vika south of Freeman in Dead Mans Cove, sailors watched as the catapult vessels sailed away to the west. Under the protection of the catapult vessels, his first group of men had made it up the cliffs and had secured lines. Four rope ladders had been hoisted and rigged and now hundreds of his men were climbing up the ladders.
One of the original climbers had been given two banners as a signal. One was red to signify heavy resistance, the other, green, to signify little or no resistance. Almost immediately after the first scouts were up he received the green signal. He had sent a Signal to the catapult vessels to depart then committed the entire force of 200 warriors to the attack on the village.
General Eret the Gruesome had gone up in the first wave. The second wave was led by Jason Ingermanson of his old friend and rival, Abdiel Ingerman. At one time both he and Abdiel had been in love with the same girl, Faith Bjorndotter who they had both met at a "Thing". Faith was tall, with long legs, brown hair, silver-blue eyes, full firm breasts and a smile that could melt your heart. She was soft-spoken but a fierce warrior having already killed two Zipplebacks before they met. She was extremely sexy.
No man could get within ten feet of her without getting tongue-tied and a hard-on. She knew this too and would give the sweetest smiles. Abdiel came from a poor family so he knew his father could not compete against Northlander Chief for the bride price so before the thing was over, in front of
all the chiefs laid claim to Faith and challenged any to a fight to the death for her hand.
Bonecrusher and three others had accepted the challenge so over a two day period Abdiel fought them all. Abdiel was a strange bloke in that he valued life, not his own but the life of others. Abdiel was a brave and skilled warrior who had fought in many battles from the age of twelve and had the battle scars to prove it.
The first three men were no match and he quickly overcame them each asking and receiving quarter. Then came the fight with Bonecrusher. On and on the battle went, hours it seemed. At one point Bonecrusher looked over at Faith. She was dressed in a long deep blue dress that showed ample bosom.
But as much as Bonecrusher noticed the curves her noticed her eyes and hands clasped together looking with fear at Abdiel who was wounded in several places and bleeding.
Bonecrusher understood so when they came back together Bonecrusher threw down his ax, "I yield". There was a confused gasp from the crowd. He simply walked over to an equally confused Abdiel who now had a nearly hysterical Faith wrapped around him, patted his cheek and said, "I never stood a chance".
From then on, the two men became fast friends and over the years fought side by side. Faith introduced him to one of her cousins and within six months both men were married each had been the others ' first man'. Now his son Jason was on his way to fight with his first command. As the Bonecrusher saw the last of his men up the cliff, he ordered his fleet to weigh anchor and they headed west to join the rest of the fleet.
At Freeman, Eret had reorganized his forces. They had searched the remaining buildings and found fifty thralls still alive amongst the wreckage. They were women and children in bad shape. He left twenty shieldmaidens to secure the village and to take care of the thralls.
He commanded Jason to divide his force in two sending fifty men around Crows Peak to the south to reconnoiter and eliminate any Outcast stragglers
they found and he would lead the other fifty north to clean out any stragglers there and to secure the docks. Eret would take the other hundred men to take the Citadel and then Needle.
Jason saluted and departed his men flying the white dragon banner before them as did all forces attacking Outcast Island this day.
Spitelout and his men were welcomed by the Shieldmaidens. Leia brought over Alvin and Spitelout laughed. He had told her that Stoic would be overjoyed to take this one back and Leia immediately reminded the General that all male prisoners were to be turned over to the Bog Burglars.
Alvin begged Spitelout for mercy begging to be turned over to Stoic. Spitelout spit at the ground and slapped Alvin in the face with his backhand.
Leia had Alvin re-gagged and smiled, "Don't worry General Spitelout, we maidens have special plans for the men of this island, especially this one."
One of Leia's scouts came running up, "Leia, a large force is heading up the north road!"
"How many?" the Bog Burglar general asked.
"At least two hundred" the scout answered.
Leia; "How much time do we have?"
"Perhaps five minutes," the scout said.
Spitelout; "Leia, I'll have my men move that center catapult into position at the north wall there. It won't reach the road but when your catapult on the slope hits them, they may attack us in force. I believe we have enough maidens and warriors to defend this position."
Leia; "That's a good idea Spitelout. You are senior to me so I gladly relinquish command to you".
Spitelout looked around at the black-dressed maidens and smiled, "Nonsense Leia. You took this position with less than forty maidens. The
glory this day belongs to all shieldmaidens. My men and I gladly place ourselves at your command" and with that he took a knee and his men followed suit.
The shieldmaidens cheered and with a proud smile said, "Thank you for this honor".
Then preparations quickly began. Leia sent ten shieldmaidens down the north slope within bow range of the road with instructions to withdraw if the Outcast force turned and attacked.
Spitelout and his men began moving the heavy wheeled catapult to the north wall. The catapult on the slope as aimed north and a couple of shots were taken to determine the range It was determined that they could just hit the road just north of the pond.
One of the shieldmaiden lookouts on the tower yelled down, "Boats approaching!"
The first of the forty landing dinghies made for the docks. They had been intercepted by a longboat and told to skim the south shore in Slavers Cove. They came under bow and spear fire from up on the cliffs. It was sporadic and not accurate.
Ragnar was in the third Berserker boat when suddenly a shieldmaiden in front of him manning an oar pitched forward with an arrow to her neck. A warrior gently removed the maiden and replaced her at the oar. A Shieldmaiden named Dana looked at her chief and sadly shook her head.
The chief looked down at Dana and simply said, I will personally avenge her within the hour."
The shieldmaiden simply nodded laying the dead shieldmaidens head on the deck. The chiefs few words were simple but enough. Death was an occupational hazard to all Vikings. The force of 37 landing dinghies (three had wandered too far to the north and had been sunk by the catapults on fortress Loki) disgorged their men and proceeded to head back to their longboats as hand been the plan.
Several more were sunk but all in all the plan was working. Ragnar took his men to the forest in front of the Needle to reorganize the battle formations and to wait for the remaining forces.
So far the casualties had been light. It took until noon before the bulk of the first wave had landed. The second wave was on its wave and Stoic himself was in this one.
Jason Ingerman and his men were on a slow jog when they ran into Ragnar's security at the edge of the small forest. He sent a runner to report to Ragnar. Emboldened by the fact he had over 200 warriors guarding his flank, Jason led a charge against the Outcast warriors led by Jorge. Jason never made it.
Seeing Jason grab the Dragon Banner from the fallen flag bearer, Outcast archers singled the young man out. Jason was struck by no less than four arrows before he fell. Seeing their leader collapse the Berk warriors enraged let out a roar which scared the Outcasts so bad even Jorge fled southward. Unfortunately for them, they ran smack dab into the other fifty men of Jason's force and were summarily hacked to pieces.
At noon five catapult ships under Captain Lars Stooferson sailed up the Knife Channel. His instructions were to destroy the Watchtower and catapults at Crow's Point then proceed into Slavers Cove to take out the catapults at Fortress Loki.
Captain Stoofersons first pleasant surprise was that the channel wasn't blocked. His second pleasant surprise was that the watchtower catapults had already been destroyed and were burning. The Captain signaled 'beat to quarters as they cleared Knife Channel and headed into Slavers Cove. Captain Stoofersons masthead lookout reported seeing a large dragon head banner in the tower at the Needle. The Captain passed the order for battle formation as they dodged incoming landing dinghies.
By two oclock the second wave had landed and was now being organized. The Outcast force under General Atilla had been pinned down and the Catapult vessels were launching their deadly missiles at Fortress Loki. There were losses.
As the second catapult vessel had made to release a fire shot a lucky hit by one of the Outcast catapults hit the vessel and there was a large fiery explosion as every fire shot on board had blown up at the same time.
At three o'clock General Eret, whose force of 100 shieldmaidens and warriors, halted on the road just north of the Needle adjacent to Hogs Head. In front of him lay the remnants of the Outcast force under General Attila.
General Atilla had made two costly attempts to attack the force on top of the Needle. Now with just over 100 warriors remaining, he girded himself for the last battle.
Leia and the Shieldmaidens along with Spitlouts men rested. On the other side of the Needle, a very impatient Stoic had reached the end of his patience.
He gave the signal and 600 Berserkers, Hairy Hooligans, Bog Burglars, Meatheads, Mongrels, Northlanders, Dragon Trappers and Dragon Hunters began to march to the foot of Harolds Mount at his signal the charge began a large angry lustful roar went up from Stoics army.
About the same time Eret the Gruesome yelled charge and his hundred warriors and shieldmaidens charged Atilla and the Outcasts.
Aftermath
At five o'clock when Princess Eir and here five ships entered Raiders Bay and anchored. The battle was over. It was almost anticlimactic. The actual fighting lasted less than twenty minutes.
Seventy-seven Outcasts were still alive, most wounded, all men. Of Atilla's force, 18 had survived including Atilla himself.
Of Stoics forces, there were 88 dead, 62 wounded and 40 missing. Though it was over a fifth of his overall force the casualties were considered light. Stoic himself had stopped an arrow in his leg as he hacked down a defender on one of the catapults.
It took three days to sort everything out. Strangely the longhouse in Freeman had survived. Stoic set up headquarters there. Of the nearly five
hundred thralls on the island at the start of the battle, there were one hundred and ninety survivors.
Of those 190, only eleven were men. All of the women and girl children above the age of eight had been raped, sadly on a regular basis. Leia had been painstaking in taking their statements down and having them corroborated.
The surviving Outcast's were lined up so each woman and girl could point out their attacker if they were not in shock. Alvin had personally raped twenty-three women and thirteen girls, one ten years old. The mother and daughter he had been raping at the beginning of the battle had survived.
Each woman and girl who could gave their testimonies in front of Stoic and his battle leaders. It was sickening. It was unanimously decided that the entire force of shieldmaidens would be left behind to execute the prisoners in their own manner as well as any woman or girl victim who felt the need. Most not in shock did.
The Outcast prisoners screamed and begged to be executed out of hand but Stoic only shook his head.
The spoils were 15 serviceable ships, 40yaks, 150 sheep, 250,000 gold coins, 525,000 silver coins, and nearly one million copper coins. All of the weapons and shields of the Outcasts were divided up.
Finally, it was decided that all of the surviving thralls were to be freed as all the generals had agreed they had suffered enough. A few of them wanted to be returned to their homes but most decided that it would be better to stay in Viking society.
On the second day after the dead had been gathered a single longboat had been designated as a funeral ship. Prayers were said, then each of the Generals lined up with their fire arrows to send the dead on their way to Valhalla. Leia was given the honor of the first shot because her shieldmaidens had such a crucial role.
Twenty-three sisters had lost their lives. Each arrow hit its mark and all watched until the ship sailed out of sight. All the surviving ships loaded the
spoils and men aboard then at a given signal all the ships set sail for their perspective homes.
Honors would be given at next summer's "Thing". As the ships sailed out of Raiders Bay a long blast of a horn sang out. That was when the screaming began as the over four hundred shieldmaidens and thirty or so former female thralls handed out justice as only a woman can. It was said for years to come that the screams could be heard five miles out to sea.
Two weeks later two Outcast vessels crept into Slavers Cove. The stench of death was almost overpowering. As the Outcasts walked along their roads, everywhere they looked was an Outcast body hung from trees, nailed to walls and stretched out on the rocks.
All had their eyes gouged out, all had their tongues cut out, all had at least one finger and an ear removed. All had their testicles removed and sewn into their mouths.
On the Needle a special surprise. From the watchtower hung the body of Alvin upside down. His eyes had been gouged out, his tongue was cut out, each of his fingers and toes had been removed and by the areas of caked blood, he was still alive when it happened.
On top of that Alvin had been skinned alive, one strip at a time. Alvin's balls had been removed and sewed into his mouth and his dick had been sewn where is nose had once been.
Finally, for those who had the stomach to look, the names Hilda and Elda had been burned into the body. The names belonged to a thirty four year old thrall and her fourteen year old daughter.