Chapter 10

Snotlout p.o.v

"Form the line!" I yelled as I slashed at a charging warrior. He came at me with a berserker rage I had never seen before, it's like he had no regard for his life.

"Sir they're coming back for another attack!" He said to me as we tried to reform the lines. Ship-to-ship fighting was very hard, especially on these Rocky Seas.

The conventional tactic was to have your boat lineup as thick as you can and tie them together with a rope making one large flotilla and then your warriors could move around on the ships freely and reinforce other parts of the ships when needed. The only problem with this was if the enemy were to cut the ropes holding the ships, your ships may be cut off from the other half. We had our town behind us and an enemy force much larger than us in front, so all we could do was toss ropes to each other and make a large line to even the fight.

As our warriors kicked off the dead that we had slain from the previous wave of soldiers that had attacked us, they came back again with more ferocity, this time yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs. They were banging on their shields with their swords and axes, a truly terrifying sight. We were really unsettled by the fact that though they had maintained losses during the initial wave of attacks, it had not seemed to faze them at all.

"Brace for another attack" I yelled as I held up my splintered shield.

"Where the hell is the commander?" yelled one of my Lieutenants standing at my side.

Astrid's pov

"Women and children and non-combative! We need to get them to safety!" I yelled to a warrior, attempting to get people to safety. As soon as the alarm was raised I immediately jumped into action. Unfortunately, I was in no position to do anything—I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

The chief had decided to talk to me about the incident regarding the mercenaries and when the alarm came off I hadn't heard it. With everyone rushing around me, I was distracted and it took me a second to catch on. I quickly gathered myself and sprung into action.

"Warriors will meet me at the docks! We need to reinforce the guards who are probably engaged with the enemy," I yelled to an officer as he ran off to gather more troops.

I ran home to get my armor and my ax and other weapons I would need to fight. If only we had more time to prepare. As I entered my house I saw my mother Olga getting the straps ready to help me get my armor on. She was a big help like that.

This was my light armor which protected my shoulders with metal plates. I also added a leather waist protector and chest pad. I had a metal headband for the occasion and I quickly put it on. Once I got my battle armor on my mom looked at me as I held my ax in my hand. I was about to go off to war.

Before I left, my mom grabbed my hand and looked into my eyes. "Your father would be so proud of you," she said to me with a tear dropping from her eye. "Now go and protect your people!" I could see the pride and the worry in my mother's face. I gave her one last hug before running off to battle.

I never knew my father, he died defending Berk when Drago attacked and this is probably one of the biggest reasons why I hate anyone who has to do with Drago. My father was commander of the guards that night during the attack by Drago. My father fought valiantly against him. But in the end, and by Drago's own hand, he killed my father.

A part of me will never know the true extent to which my father fought to defend the village, but one of the warriors there who fought alongside him claimed that was the most fierce of anyone there, that he struck down more than 40 men before he took ten arrows to his chest and even then he was able to strike down 10 more. It was only when Drago came and drove his sword into him that my father finally died.

As I made my way to the docks where the enemy would come from, I found the rest of Berk's warriors lined up in a defensive formation. The docks were the only way to attack Berk without landing somewhere else and defensively it was a good place to hold them. Entrances to Berk led from the docks and there were high points where my archers would be able to shoot down on them. The docks were narrow so they couldn't really accommodate the number of warriors when they arrived. Our terrain denied our enemy the use of their large forces to outflank us unless we could be pushed back to the village. My strategy has been for a long time to hold them at the docks and force as much damage while they advance, during which I have Berk retreat in case we lose and they take the village, I don't want them there. We had catapults and Balistes, mostly for dragon raids, but the mercenaries showed us how to use them for other purposes.

Once I gave the signal, all entrances to Berk were defended. The archers readied themselves and our mercenary training into action, letting loose our balistes and sending rocks soaring from our catapults.

With the sound of the horn, Snotlout's ships began to retreat. I walked with my ax in hand as well as my few warriors who would protect me in battle and bring messages to the other commanders and officers leading in places I couldn't be.

I noticed a young warrior in the back lines with a shield and spear, shaking. He looked no older than 14 and like a fishbone if I have ever seen one. He was having trouble with his shield and I quickly helped him with it. "Here, hold it like this" I said, adjusting it in his hand.

The boy looked at me as though a Valkyrie had approached him and his face lit up. I knew I had raised the morale of all my warriors and so I decided to urge them on. "Warriors of Berk!" I yelled, moving my way to the front so everyone could see me, "the hoards of Helheim are upon us. Fight to the death!"

Narrator's pov

Snotlout's ships finally made it back as he had bought Berk enough time to ready their defenses.

"Prepare for the incoming attack " Astrid yelled as Snotlout's ship entered the docks and their battered warriors exited.

"Are you okay muttonhead?" Astrid asked as snotlout approached her. His hand hung stiffly on his side.

"See I knew you cared about me," he said. He turned to face the fleet that was about to land.

Astrid only rolled her eyes and went back to the battle. "Ready shields" Astrid yelled as she grabbed her shield and joined the line. As the enemy landed on the island Berk's archers began to rain down on them.

"Launch catapults" Astrid commanded and the catapults behind the frontlines fired. Some hit the ground and others hit the water. Every now and then one would get lucky and hit a ship or a cluster of men.

As the enemy army formed upon the narrow docks and made a shield wall to protect themselves from the arrows, Astrid gave another signal and Balistes fired punching holes in the line.

"Are the wingmaidens ready to move out?" Heather asked.

"Swords, axes, shields, and spears ready" Cami replied.

Heather turned to her daughter and grabbed her shoulder lightly. "I want you to stay with me at all times ok? And do exactly what I tell you to." Heather said in a serious voice "I know mom you don't have to worry."

Heather pulled her in closer. "This is not the time for games, okay. This is serious," she said.

"I promise I will be right by your side," Largeatha said with a smile.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, okay," Heather said trying to convince her daughter that it was ok to sit the battle out.

"I want to be a warrior like you. How can I be one if I have not had the taste of battle?" Largeatha knew a battle was an ugly affair and that this was going to be something that she shouldn't take pride in, but she also knew that in order for her to become a warrior she must have experience.

As Heather and the wingmaidens moved out to join the battle that was raging Hiccup was gathering dragons. Hiccup knew Berk didn't have a lot of dragons on the island, so he had resorted to using Toothless's speed to get to the nearest island instead. He knew it had a large dragon population.

As he arrived at the closest island and had Toothless call the dragons. It took a few moments, but after a while dragons started to arrive by the dozens. There were deadly nadders and hideous zipplebacks and gronckles, monstrous nightmares came as well and even a few timber jacks came as well as wingnashers too. As they approached Hiccup and Toothless, they all bowed their head at the alpha in a show of respect. The alpha controlled the dragons and toothless had taken on this role by defeating the Red Death.

Though Hiccup didn't speak the language of the dragon, he knew they understood him to a certain degree.

"Dragons, I'm here asking for your help. I know I have no right to ask you for help, but I need you. My name is Hiccup, and like you all I have been hurt and abused by Vikings but now...I'm asking you to help me. I need your help in saving innocent women and children and people who don't deserve to die. Fight for me and for your alpha as we charge into battle. Please, I'm begging you. Like some of you Vikings have taken things from me—people I love, but even still I can't let them die. The same reason I couldn't let you all die to the Red Death."

A monstrous Nightmare looked at Toothless and then at the rest of the dragons before roaring. Soon one by one all the other dragons started roaring. Hiccup knew what it meant.

"Alright let's move out!"

"Fight! Fight for your family and friends, your homes and children, and Oden will welcome you into his great hall!" Astrid yelled as she struck down a crazed warrior with the edge of her ax.

"Commander, there are too many of them. We have to retreat," one of her officers said approaching her.

Astrid stepped away from the front lines to talk to the person who had said it. "We won't retreat until we receive the signal that Berk is clear of people!"

"If we don't retreat now we will all die," he said scared.

Astrid grabbed his shirt as the man tried to plead with her "I'd rather die bravely then live a coward!"

"Astrid, men are still coming. There are too many of them!" said Snotlout thrusting his sword in the direction of Purple Moon warrior.

"If we lose the docks then we lose Berk, and the signal has not been given that the village is clear!"

"Incoming!"

Out of nowhere, a huge flaming rock hit the back of a building on Berk.

Astrid watched as the building went down. That was from a catapult but how could the enemy have catapults on the water? Astrid thought. She looked out and noticed a new ship had arrived. If you could even call it a ship. It was more like a floating island. The massive structure, which appeared to have two large catapults on it, was being escorted by five boats. It carried maybe 300 warriors, and that's not counting the ones that were in front of the ship. She could see the catapults were being reloaded.

"We must buy Berk a little more time. Catapults target the large ship!" Astrid yelled.

As the catapults fired, the ship withstood the attack only suffering damage to the deck. As the massive ship lumbered its way, the signal was finally given that Berk was clear, and Astrid gave the command to retreat while she and a small group made a rear guard. Once the rest of the warriors made their way out of the village and into the forest to the meetup point, they could figure out what to do next. As Astrid and those that were left from the rearguard made their way to the meetup point, she felt as if she had failed her people, her tribe, her friends, but most importantly her father.

As she arrived at the place deep in the woods she found the chief in a hastily set up tent. Astrid entered and was surprised to find Heather of all people there talking to the chief.

"What's going on here?" Astrid demanded.

"We have come back to help take back your village," Heather said to Astrid. She and a brown-haired woman in battle gear gestured to a map of the island.

Though Astrid was furious that they left, she was in no place to refuse their help but she was going to critique their plan if she felt it was bad.

"We don't have the warriors to take back Berk," Astrid said as she walked to the map and looked at it.

The map had a wooden game piece on it to represent the opposing forces. The chief was also looking at it carefully.

"We brought reinforcements," Heather said with a smirk.

"How many?" Astrid asked as she looked at the board pieces.

"Seventy-five, 50 warriors and 25 ready-to-go officers and commanders—" Before she could finish Heather was cut off by Astrid.

"They have over 2000 there and you think that will make a difference!" Astrid yelled as she pointed to the entrance. "With the losses we took, we will be lucky if we have 500 warriors left."

"You didn't let me finish… I was going to say we brought an army of dragons as well, but you're right, with the losses you took in the initial defense, making a full-frontal assault would result in even more casualties. Which is where my friend Camicazi here comes in."

Camicazi had long auburn hair and yellow eyes. She was also a little bit shorter than Astrid, but not by much. She was by all means beautiful.

"The first thing you need to know is who you're fighting. The Purple Moon is a group of slavers and traders who deal with all sorts of things. Their business reaches all parts of the world and they are ruthless. The only way to beat them is by killing them all and erasing all traces of this happening. Believe me, the Purple Moon can field armies much larger than this. They certainly don't like it when their raiding party gets destroyed."

"So how do we stop them from leaving?" Astrid asked.

Cami took one of the game pieces and placed it on the map where the docks were located. "We destroy their boats."

"Great, so we do something that is impossible."

"Not for me and not for dragons. If we do that then I have only one question for your chief. How much do you care about the houses of Berk?"

The chief put his hand to his chin and thought carefully before answering the question. "Before the dragon raids stopped mysteriously some time ago we would have to rebuild those houses all the time" he replied, smiling.

"Once we take out their boats and their single dreadnought we then do something that the wingmaidens are best at! Shock'n awe."

Before she could continue Ragnar walked in, accompanied by Eret and Largeatha. Ragnar was wearing all his armor. "There is some small good news," he said with a smile. "I know you suffered losses in the battle but their dreadnaughts are full of slaves without homes so I think if we steal it and free the slaves, and we offer them a place on Berk, we can get the manpower Berk desperately needs."

The chief pondered this idea. It was not a bad one or an uncommon one. People often came in seeking shelter or a new tribe, but never at the scale, he was talking about.

"I guess we have no choice but to ask them to join our tribe," Spitelout said.

"What makes you think that they will fight?" Astrid asked.

"When you have lost everything you'd do anything for hope," he said, putting another piece on the board.

Astrid didn't know how to respond to this. She only looked back at the board and then at everyone else. "So when do we pull this off?"

At night while the rest of the invaders were in the village looking for things that the hooligans hadn't been able to bring with them, Heather and 20 wingmaidens made their way to the dreadnought. Windshear would have been too obvious, so the wingmaidens carried Heather there. They stayed close to the water making sure not to be spotted. Once they finally made it to the right side of the ship they began their attack. The ship was not heavily guarded. Only a dozen or so men manned the ship.

Heather knew that this attack had to be lightning-quick so they could not warn their comrades on the shore. She ordered the wingmaidens to stay at the bottom while she and two others went up to see the placement of the guards. As they looked over the edge of the ship they saw two guards walking away, two more on the other side, four more at the front and at the back. The ship was so large that if she took out one group silently then the others wouldn't hear it, hopefully.

She needs control of the horn which was being held by the group at the front of the ship. The only way to take them all out together was with arrows.

As she and two others floated her down, she told the wingmaidens, who instinctively knew what to do. They broke up into teams and on Heather's sign launched the attack.

It was over in less than four seconds. Heather and her group took out the side facing her while five warriors took out the back with arrows. Another five warriors took out the front, and the side was taken out by the other five wingmaidens.

"Collect the bodies and pile them somewhere, then prepare the ship to leave while I go check out what's down below," Heather commanded.

She and a couple of wingmaidens moved below deck. As they entered, she noticed a familiar, unmistakable odor. It was the smell of slavery, a smell she despised. Heather knew that where it lingered was also pain and suffering, rape and abuse. Even when you think you can't be broken anymore, she thought, they shatter you.

They lit a candle, and immediately Heather saw what she had feared. Men, women, children, and infants all chained to the walls. The smell was horrible, but one she was unfortunately used to. She made her way through the crowd of slaves noticing the number of young girls and boys who reminded her of herself as a child. They all looked at her, silent. She knew that look. Empty, alone, afraid, and broken.

All Heather wanted to do was release them but she knew that they were likely to run and this would alert the enemy. If she could get them to the other part of the island, she would release them as fast as she could.

"Just hold on a little bit longer, please, and you will be free. I promise," she told the crowd of heavy faces.

She returned to the deck, where the wingmaidens had gotten the boat ready to sail. It would take at least 20 people to sail this massive ship and Heather knew that.

"Are we ready?" Heather said, arriving at the helm.

"Yes ma'am," one of the wingmaidens answered.

"Give the signal and then let's get out of here!"

Hearing this, a wingmaiden lit a torch and began waving it in the air and then threw it overboard.

As they slowly moved out, the Purple Moon noticed and ran to their ships, sounding their alarms. However, there was no way a large dreadnought would outrun a regular Viking longship. Heather knew this and had counted on some of the warriors retreating to their ships to chase them down. As the enemy warships tried to get out of the port, a screaming whistle was heard. This was the sound of death.

Hiccup and Toothless hit a ship, sinking it mediately. A hundred dragons emerged from where he had dive-bombed the enemy ships. Unfortunately, Berk's ships had to be sunk as well. Know one could escape or else the Purple Moon would come and seek revenge. Like the ships, they all sank, and the warriors cried for help as the lumbering dreadnought headed off.

Once the dreadnought landed on the other side of the island, Heather was immediately greeted by Largeatha, who worried more than she cared to admit.

"Are you okay?" Heather asked. For once she was on the receiving end of a bear hug.

"I just was worried about you," Largeatha said smiling.

"I'm right here, sweetie."

The chief, Astrid, Ragnar and the rest of the mercenaries went below deck.

Ragnar moved forward to speak, "You are all free now. We have saved you and ask nothing in return. But for those of you who have no home and are looking to join a tribe I'm here to offer you a choice. Fight for chief Spitelout Haddock and become a member of the hairy hooligans."

Some of the wingmaidens entered with massive axes and began breaking the chains that held the slaves.

A slave girl stepped forward and spoke with suspicion, "How do we know we can trust you? You might just take advantage of us or sell us back. What makes you different?"

Ragnar turned to Astrid and the chief. "Leave."

"What," Astrid said angrily shocked.

"You can come back in once I'm done, but for now I need you to leave."

Before Astrid could protest Spitelout stopped her. "We will go. Come commander Hofferson."

Hearing her title she knew this was an order and went without argument.

Once they were gone and the only people left were the wingmaidens and the slaves, Hiccup approached the girl who had spoken and began taking off his chest armor. Heather removed her armor as well, and the two stood there in their tunics. Hiccup turned to Heather and nodded. He took off his shirt to reveal scars up and down his body, like a cocoon of stories that people would probably never hear the answers to. But the slaves noticed only the branding on the front of his chest. The mark was unmistakable— the Norse rune for a slave.

"The mark of a slave," said the chained girl.

Hiccup addressed the girl, who was still in awe and shock upon seeing the mark. Heather followed suit, and at this moment, taking off her shirt to show her branding to the rest of the slaves, her inhibitions were lost to the greater good. She felt no shyness as she revealed the mark to the crowd.

Hiccup took the hand of the girl who was looking at his branding and placed it on his chest.

"What is your name?" he asked gently.

"Pheone," the girl said.

"Pheone, if I thought for one second that you would be sold back I would never have made that offer." Hiccup stood back and put on his shirt and Heather did the same. "Like you all, I was once a slave. I understand what it's like, not having hope. So I made my own and killed the masters."

"Okay," Pheone said more confidently.

"Where are you all from?" Heather asked as she put her shirt back on.

"We are all that is left from a small tribe outside the archipelago. Our village was destroyed and we were taken as slaves," Pheone replied.

Hiccup backed away and looked on towards the crowd of slaves.

"Men and women, I speak to you not as a mercenary but as a former slave. What happened to your village is also happening to this one. If you help me and the people of Berk fight for their homes, I can assure you with Oden as my witness that you will have a place in Berk once we eliminate all of the Purple Moon warriors!"

A slave spoke out from behind "How can we win? We aren't an army. We're just farmers and boat builders."

"We have what very few armies in the world have."

"And what's that?" another slave said.

"We have dragons."