Before beginning, I'd like to say that this chapter will probably affect you guys in terms of suspense and sadness once nearing the end of it, and this took about three days for me to write up since I wanted to give off a heavy feeling. Not to mention this is a long chapter. But no worries because the wait is over!
Also, thanks to HikariCruz for the review on the previous chapter!
Now, without anymore wait, let us begin chapter six!
The Chieftain looked up at Magnus with a devil-like smile on his face, sending small chills down the blacksmith's spine upon sight. Knowing that Ivar wanted to probably speak with him, Magnus tried to keep his cool. 'Right, I'd better remain serious here.' he thought to himself.
"Hello, Magnus." he said. "Preoccupied as usual I assume?"
He showed slight tension upon sight of the Chieftain. "I- Uh, yes, Chieftain. I was just… going through my weapon rack."
"Alright..." he replied. "Can I come in, smithy?"
With no other choice, Magnus stepped to the side and allowed the twenty year old man through, shutting the door behind him as they made their way to the table. Ivar latched his hand on a chair and helped himself up, sitting down comfortably.
From upstairs, Hiccup heard who came into the hut, knowing instantly it was Ivar. If he was spotted once then it would be an axe to the head from the Chieftain of Kattegat.
The two older Vikings eyed each other, though Magnus showed more confusion than interest or curiosity on why Ivar was in his hut.
"Is there something you need, Chief?" he asked him.
"Yes, actually." replied Ivar. "As you know… your assistant Hiccup is now nothing more than a traitor to the Völsung Clan - I mean, he killed our people after all. Four guards dead at the hands of a single slave. A single thrall."
"And you want me to bolster my efforts in finding him?" asked Magnus.
Ivar gave another evil grin as he shook his head. "No… Slavemaster Olaf tells me that there is someone else helping him from the shadows, and I intend to find out who. Though… I know it can't be you, you're too loyal after all… aren't you, Magnus?"
He sighed under his breath. "Yes, Chieftain. I am yours to command."
"Good." smiled the Chieftain. "And so, I am here to make you a better offer."
The smithy leaned in closer as Ivar opened his mouth, ready to speak his mind and offering to the older Viking. "I will make you richer if you catch Hiccup and his acquaintance." he said. "Catch the slave, and I will offer you twice the amount of gold and silver, then catch his acquaintance and I'll give off another hundred pounds to you."
He then leaned back and gave a smile to the blacksmith who sat there, wordless. "You will be set for life."
Magnus covered his face in his palms, rubbing his eyes but also giving a look of concern and confusion. "C- Can you repeat that again?" he asked.
"Three hundred pounds." answered Ivar. "In weight of gold and silver… it's more than any man could ask for."
Hiccup squinted his eyes in suspicion. All of it had thus far made been clear to him; but why Magnus? Ivar is asking for him being the thrall he is to be turned in, whilst as well turning in whoever's helping, which is himself and Eira. And the gold he's offering; three hundred pounds…
"What is the Chieftain of Kattegat up to?" Hiccup quietly asked himself.
Magnus leaned back in his chair. "Is this a trick, or are you being serious about the payment which you are offering?"
Ivar raised his hands up, shaking his hands with the grin still on his face. "There is no trick, son of Arvid. All I ask is simply for Hiccup and his assistant to be handed over to me, alive or dead."
The older Viking gave a nod of approval, though in his mind he knew that he was not going to hand in the younger Viking, thus his nod simply proved to be false. "I'll consider it."
Ivar bowed his head. "Very good." he said. "When you have news or if you've caught them, just come to me with them in shackles and I will return you with the grand payment."
The young Chieftain then proceeded to slowly slide down the chair, before crawling his way to the door and making his way outside back into the cold of Kattegat, closing it tight behind him. When the coast was cleared and Magnus ensured that Ivar was no longer in sight, he ran up the stairs to the guest room and gave a nod upon seeing Hiccup.
The scrawny Viking looked at him with concern. "What was that offering he made about gold and silver?"
"I- I don't know." replied Magnus. "...But I am definitely not going to abide by his terms, and nor will I take a single piece of it."
"Well what are we going to do, then? We can't just sit by and wait for Ivar to find me and execute me. We must-"
"I promised you that I would make sure you left this city by nightfall." he interrupted. "And I will make sure that happens, one way or another."
He turned around, making his way downstairs with his hand grasped onto the hilt of his sword that laid around his waist, and Hiccup quickly followed behind him. "Where are you going?" he asked Magnus.
He looked back at his assistant. "Eira must know about this as well."
…
"Three hundred pounds?" she asked.
"Yep." they both replied in unison.
"Of gold and silver to you, Magnus - just for Hiccup's head as well as this 'acquaintance' that's helping him?"
"Well technically the both of you are helping me." answered Hiccup. "But yes, that's what Magnus told me. Two hundred for my head and a hundred more for the person that was helping me."
Eira facepalmed herself. "Alright, forget what I said before about a hundred pounds. Three hundred is a whole different story, and it's enough to become a rich Earl of Jarl… but now I think Ivar's crossed the line."
Magnus gave a nod. "Well at least we know the name of that smelly Slavemaster." he said. "His name is Olaf."
"Hah!" laughed Eira. "Now that's a funny name for someone like him - especially since it sounds like a crack about his weight."
Hearing those words the three began to crack up on the joke, their laughs lasting nearly a half minute straight. Hiccup never recalled ever having a funny moment like this, but this just took the cake for him, though eventually the funny moment did die out.
The three sighed, relieving their laughters. "Alright, back to where we were…" said Hiccup, clearing his throat.
"Now." began Magnus. "All I can say is that Ivar is probably desperate for catching you, Hiccup. And on extent, catching us as well probably. He doesn't know that we're helping you, but when he finds out that Eira and I were then he'll play a further bounty on the two of us."
Eira nodded. "Escaping this city will also be harder than I expected."
Hiccup and Magnus looked at her with arched brows. "Why?" they asked in unison.
"Ivar has fortified the docks with fifty guards that patrol every corner and every pier. There's no way we can get passed them with brute force, unless… we wait until night."
"How many will there then?" asked Magnus.
"Probably half of the amount, maybe even less if we're lucky."
"Then a plan must be settled." replied Hiccup. "To get to the docks in the day would be suicide - we know that, but what can we use in advantage in the night time if there's still a heavy amount patrolling there?"
Eira gave a chuckle. "Stealth is your best friend in this case." she answered. "As long as you remain out of their sight and keep a distance away, then you'll be safe."
"Being stealthy isn't what I'm worried about." he responded, shaking his head. "What I'm concerned about is getting onto the pier. How are we supposed to get passed them without getting caught by a dozen guards or more? There's nothing to hide behind on those piers."
Silence hit the room. The three looked at each other with unsure looks as Hiccup did have a point. Why bother trying to sneak when there's nothing you can use to sneak behind or in? It seemed as if there was almost no way of escaping.
However, Magnus snapped his fingers in thought, raising up his hand with a smirk. "I may have an idea."
…
Snow fell down upon the city of Kattegat, with the wind blowing as hard as if it were a blizzard. The townsfolk were all in their huts that night, and a majority of the Völsung Clan guard were off duty.
For many hours that day Hiccup, Magnus and Eira planned on the stratagem of the young Viking's escape. Going back and forth on one part of their plan before moving on to the other and doing the same thing all over again, and though it took a lot of thought and time it was still worth it. Now that night had come, things would become a lot more easier.
Hiccup and Eira hid behind a shrub of bushes near the docks, gazing at the guards that patrolled around the area with their weapons firmly gripped in their hands. To their luck, there was less than twenty guards overlooking the docks.
"At least eighteen of them." whispered Eira.
Hiccup gave a sigh. "Well, it's still a lot to get passed through." he said. "From what I see here at least three guards are patrolling their own piers, and one of the groups are walking among the vendor tents, so… maybe we can distract them?"
"...I have an idea, wait here." she said with a smirk before quietly rushing out of the bushes to another shrub of them clustered near one of the tents, keeping her head low whilst minding her surroundings.
After watching her rush into the next shrub of bushes, Hiccup sat there and waited, gazing at where she was to see what would happen - though what caught his attention and nearly sent a chill of tension down his spine was the nearby group of guards patrolling around the tents. And closer and closer they got to her position.
But to his surprise, they didn't notice her or her slight movement in the bushes, and when the first two guards passed her with the third following from behind - that's when Eira struck. She unsheathed a dagger from one of her sheathes and sneakily rushed up to the third guard of the group, slitting his throat as she pulled him back into the bushes she hid in.
Hiccup's eyes widened. "Alright then." he whispered to himself. "I've seen everything."
Eventually, the two guards would stop in their tracks as they would notice that one of the members among their group was missing, and the two looked at each other with exchanged glances.
"Split up!" the first one said.
The two parted ways into the opposite directions, one continuing along their patrol route while the other began making his way around in the other direction, circling back. Hiccup smirked from seeing their move.
As the second guard neared him he gave off a whistle. The large Viking looked around at first but he still continued to walk - then came the whistle again, and the guard stopped in his tracks. He looked around, more confused from what he was hearing rather than where it was coming from, though his mind was on both things as well.
"Is that a bird or something?" he asked out loud, holding his axe outwards with his shield in front.
Hiccup sighed and whistled again; this time louder and more direct to the guard.
The warrior looked to his left at the cluster of bushes, noticing slight movement going on as well as being able to hear the whistles more clearly as he got closer and closer. He gave a snarl, growling at whatever or whoever was hiding as he pointed his sword outwards.
"Show yourself!" he demanded.
Hiccup gave a quiet chuckle. "Alright." and quickly he lashed out at the guard, aiming his blade at the large man's windpipe. He sliced his blade up, hoping to the gods that he would get the hit and not mess this up by missing, but fortunately he found his target as he felt droplets of blood hit his face and hand whilst hearing the guard choke.
Immediately he pushed the larger Viking into the shrubs and waited until he slowly died from suffocation, and then the young man gave a sigh. "Good riddance." he said, wiping the small spots of blood off his hand and face.
As he was about to move to the next bush where Eira had hid in he noticed that she was already coming towards him, and to her feet was a limp body which she was dragging heavily to bushes which Hiccup hid in.
The two of them pulled the dead corpse into the shrubs, giving each other nods of approval. The first part of the docks had been cleared.
"That was quick." complemented Hiccup.
"Well, what do you expect from Vikings that are as sneaky and skillful as rogues? I've trained in this for many years along with fighting. Though- hmm..."
Hiccup noticed that Eira started to look around, almost as if she was expecting someone to come. "What's wrong?" he asked.
She looked back at him with a serious expression. "I don't see any sign of Magnus." she replied. "He should've been here by now… he'd better not be at some stupid tavern trying to pick up ladies. Last time that happened he was about your age, and he-"
Suddenly a distant horn began to blow, and the two of them looked back at the direction from where it was coming from. They started hearing shouts and yelling from all around as guards were running past them from the piers, obviously rushing to rally where the sound of the horn came from.
"What in the name of Thor is going on-"
Before he could finish a figure immediately jumped into the bushes, landing next to the two and startling them. The cloaked figure removed his hood and revealed himself to the two. It was Magnus, carrying a satchel in his hands with small scratches across his face.
Eira gave a sigh of relief. "What happened!? I was worried about you!"
The smithy breathed fast, trying to get air back into his lungs. "I got into a fight with five guards." he answered, still recovering his breath. "I killed them all and set the cottage on fire before running to the Blacksmith and igniting it as well."
Hiccup's face lit up. "You burnt your own shop?"
He nodded in response. "What more use do I have for a wooden and flaming outhouse? I'm done with serving weapons to barbarians, and I'm sure as Hel done with helping Ivar. Now, if I were you two, I would start searching for the longship that you prepared, Eira."
The young woman gave a nod, motioning the two to follow her behind. This time they didn't bother keeping their heads low now that there were no longer any guards around them, running as fast as they could along the row of piers.
"Which one is it?" called out Hiccup.
Eira gazed at the piers as they rushed by them one by one, until she noticed her longship in the distance. "It's… that one!" she pointed out.
The three immediately stopped running and turned their attention onto the fourth pier, changing their direction and rushing along the wooden floorboards until they spotted Eira's docked and prepared longship. The sail was raised and it seemed to be packed.
"This is it?" asked Hiccup, and he received a nod from Eira.
They jumped onto the ship, giving a quick glance around and inspecting what it was loaded with. "It's packed with a week's supply worth of food, and it has a maximum speed of fourteen knots."
Hiccup gave a small grin. "Excellent!" he replied, though that grin on his face wouldn't last long as she would finish with; "It's a week's worth of food for only one person."
The scrawny Viking's smile faded as he looked back at the two older adults. "You're… you're not coming with me?" he asked before diverting his attention on the blacksmith. "Magnus?"
He shook his head. "I cannot go, Hiccup." he said softly. "I just can't risk to continue endangering you with Ivar and Olaf on your tail. They'll just keep running and running after you until they bring you to their knees, and I won't allow that to happen. I'll stay here and hold them off, as well as do what I should've done a long time ago. It is a personal matter, a matter that has much to do with Ivar."
Hiccup stared up at Magnus with widened eyes. His heart began to beat faster in the sense that he felt like he was about to lose someone. Someone that he relied on for the many years of his life, someone he saw as an inspirational figure, a mentor, and someone he viewed as family.
"I- I…" Hiccup's words choked. He didn't know what to say since Magnus was leaving him. "But you still have your friends." he said. "I don't want you to stay. I want you to come with me. We can-"
"Hiccup." he began softly. "There's nothing left for me here except the bones of my family that lay lost, and now I don't want to lose you and have you share their fate. You'll find your true family out there in the Archipelago, and probably with this."
From the satchel he had wrapped around his waist he proceeded to take out a furred woolen fabric of some sort before handing it over to Hiccup. It was a furred blanket.
"My father found you as an infant when you were wrapped in this blanket. Maybe it can help you figure out where you came from, and what tribe you're from." he said, taking the satchel off from around his waist and throwing it onto the deck of the ship.
"Use the map, and find the island known as Berk. When you get there, look for a large blonde Viking known as Gobber. Tell him that his friend Magnus sent you."
An expression of sadness and confusion began to form on Hiccup's face, his words now starting to stutter as he faced down. "B- But I- I can't. I-"
Magnus placed his hands on the young Viking's shoulders. "I know you'll make it through, Hiccup. You don't need me. What guides you through is just yourself, as well as your mind and your heart. Out there, there is another world waiting for you. One where you'll no longer need me. Hm?"
Hiccup looked up at Magnus. The smithy began noticing small tears forming at the corner of the innocent young Viking's eyes, tears which he tried his best to hold back, but eventually he gave in as he said to Magnus in a choking voice;
"My heart is broken…"
Magnus calmly pulled him in, placing his right arm around his shoulders and resting his chin atop his head as Hiccup sobbed. "It will fix itself soon enough, Hiccup." he replied softly, rubbing his left hand on the scrawny Viking's right shoulder. To him, Magnus wasn't just a friend, he was like an older brother.
From the distance, the horn began to blow again and sound of marching and running started coming towards the docks, and immediately the two older adults looked back at the source, gazing as torches with the silhouettes of guards came into view.
Eira placed a hand on Magnus' shoulder. "It is time." she said.
Magnus nodded back, pulling back and releasing Hiccup. He quickly ran towards the rope that kept the sail up and he started to undo the knot. Immediately the fabric came down and the ship slowly began to move from the wind hitting the sail.
Magnus and Eira proceeded to rush their way off the longship, and upon landing on the pier they gazed back at the vessel that started making it's way out of the harbor, and Hiccup looked back at them. "Know that I will always remember you like a brother, Hiccup… farewell, and good luck!" Magnus called out.
From behind, a dozen guards came into view with their weapons unsheathed and their shields at the ready. Magnus and Eira stared back at them, unsheathing their swords and giving off smirks of eagerness - the two of them ready to fight more than ever.
"Come and get us." taunted Magnus, and the guards immediately rushed them.
Hiccup rolled himself up into a ball, wrapping himself in his cloak to keep himself warm, and resting his head on his knees. Small tears still fell as he heard the clash of weapons strike from behind, hearing mostly the sounds of guards falling beneath his friends' feet. It would all soon cease however as the distance of the longship following the stream silenced all the noises of fighting.
All he heard now was the sound of water hitting his ship, as well as the wind from the snow blowing.
At last, he could start a new life away from Kattegat. At last, freedom was his...