Right, now I don't have much to say/note for this chapter. However, I'd still like to give a thanks to BrawlerGamer and KaliAnn for the reviews from last chapter!
Now, let's immediately get right back into the story!
The night that the Berserker Chieftain, Dagur the Deranged, came to Berk was for Stoick one of the longest nights he had ever had in terms of discussing the dire situation that now surrounded them. He told Dagur about the Great Army, about Ivar the Boneless, and he even shared information to him about Hiccup being his son.
The long conversation between Stoick and Dagur however would go into the early hours of morning, and even when that came to a conclusion the two Chieftains refused to get any rest as the thought of Ivar and his Heathens still lingered in their minds.
That thought was especially lingering in Magnus' sleepy mind as he rested on his bed, dreaming of what was now coming, as well as what was soon to come.
He saw it in his dream… wave upon wave of Viking longships, numbering in the hundreds, with over ten thousand Vikings, Barbarians, and Slavic Rus' sailing the large fleet he gazed his eyes upon. An unbelievable sight.
And then, the scene switched again for him.
This time, he was flying over the Archipelago, gazing upon island after island. However, what he saw wasn't joyous or something that he had expected. He saw island after island fall to the unstoppable hordes of the Great Heathen Army, with the screams of innocents and the dying filling his ears like thunder.
Islands were burning, towns and villages were falling to ruin, people were being enslaved and slaughtered, and one by one the Tribes of the Archipelago were being dismantled. Not even the ferocious Dragons were able to stand against the bloody onslaught.
In the end however, only one island remained. All eyes from Ivar's coalition were met onto a single beacon that called them to make ruin. The island which his friends, his brother-in-arms, and his best friend stood upon. The island which was his home.
"Berk." he gasped. "No… No!"
It was then that in his moment of terror, he saw every longship, every boat, and every iron cog turn towards the small island that laid in the distant that was soon to be swarmed by the Great Tide of raiders and barbarians.
"NO!" he screamed as he stepped forward, only to be met with a fall as he spiraled downwards toward the ocean. He then placed his arms up in front of him, and as he braced for impact…
Magnus suddenly woke up. He found himself hitting the wooden floor of his hut, and it was apparent that his scream for help from his dream came out from his voice.
He looked around, breathing intensely and shuddering. He was relieved that he wasn't dead as he felt himself to make sure.
"Still alive…" he sighed in relief.
From downstairs however, Magnus heard footsteps coming upstairs - and the door swung opened revealing Eira, breathing heavily from running up the stairs. As she spotted Magnus laying on the ground she immediately ran to his side.
"Magnus!" she called out lightly, rushing towards him as she knelt down next to him and held his hand with both her hands for comfort. "What happened, old friend?"
"I- ...I saw it." he gulped, swallowing the tension.
"Saw what?"
"W-What the mad Viking King has to throw at us." he stuttered. "Our eyes have deceived us, Eira. The army that marches on us is but a whisper of Ivar's true strength! For beyond this army, there lies another, and another. All numbering in their thousands."
Eira slowly nodded her head, paying close attention to Magnus' words. "So that means that if we defeat the invading armada we're up against here…"
"It'll mean nothing!" bursted Magnus.
By that point, Eira was unsure of what to say. How on Midgard did Magnus know all of this? It couldn't have been a mere vision or unnatural dream he had. Hopefully it was some sort of nightmare. "Are you sure about this?"
The young man responded with a shrug. "We'll have to see after we meet them full on, or find proof. But until then, we must find a proper way to fight them…"
"...And we, will find that way."
...
"...You can't be serious. More islands have already been destroyed?" asked Hiccup.
Snotlout nodded at the young Viking as the two of them and the rest of the group sat around by the Blacksmith, discussing what had thus far transpired around the Archipelago.
The young Heir then proceeded to give out the letters he received from scouts to the group. One to Astrid, Fishlegs, the Twins, and Hiccup, whilst he himself held one in his hand.
"I received word from many of our scouts; each of them giving the same claim that the islands they've gone by have already fallen to a force of Vikings beyond anything they'd ever seen. Some say they saw a few hundred or more, others claim that it was over a thousand they gazed upon."
Hiccup rubbed against his chin with his hand, pondering. "Hmm, what are the Heathens up to?" he asked. "What would be the point to capture islands that aren't under Tribal control if they hold no value? ...Unless it's for territory?"
"Pfft, who knows. Maybe they just wanna take the time to kill Dragons."
"Very helping, Tuffnut." sarcastically responded Astrid. "It's not like we've suffered enough from the hands of Mildew. Oh what a good time this is to be joking around whilst there's a THREAT on our doorstep! Get ahead of yourself!"
Tuffnut looked back at Astrid with his brow raised inquisitively. "What? Can't I joke around? Aren't they funny to you?"
Hiccup shook his head. "If your jokes were actually then you'd probably see me laughing until I start to water up with tears of-"
Immediately Tuffnut was triggered by that word, and from his mouth he let out a loud; "WAAAAAAH!" as he began to cry. Hiccup looked at him with confusion before turning to the group. "What the Hel happened?" he asked Snotlout.
"Don't worry about it. He always gets triggered to cry when someone mentions that word - so just try to deal with it, alright?"
As Hiccup and Snotlout got into a one on one discussion, Fishlegs glanced from the note he had in his hand to that which Astrid was holding, and his eyes widened as he snatched it. "Wait, what are you doing?" Astrid gasped as the letter was grabbed from her hands.
Fishlegs raised up a finger. "Hang on. I need to read this… something doesn't seem right to me."
Reading the two notes closely, there was something that caught his eyes earlier which got him curious - and soon it struck him when he read the times of which the notes were sent, and in response he gasped in shock.
"Hiccup." he began. "Something's off and not right."
The young Viking turned his head, arching a brow as he approached Fishlegs. "What is it?"
"Remember how you predicted that Ivar had sent nearly a thousand for this invasion fleet?"
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Well uhh… these two letters, they were sent back to us on the same day. And it seems the scouts who wrote these letters seem to have come from different islands. One claims to have seen five hundred whilst the other says a thousand."
Hiccup's eyes slightly widened at Fishlegs, but he shook his head - thinking perhaps that the letters were inaccurate. "Don't be ridiculous, Fishlegs. There is no way that Ivar could've managed to send such a large number at us if he can't-"
"Well he did. And it seems we underestimated them." a distant voice responded, sounding familiar to Hiccup and the gang as they all turned to face Magnus who was walking with Eira by his side. "And it is apparent to me now that the dream I had was no simple dream. These letters here likely confirm that I am correct of what I saw."
Hiccup expressed confusion to the older Viking. "Correct about what? What's going on, Magnus?"
"...We've deceived ourselves, Hiccup." he answered. "All of us. Our eyes and our ears have deceived us. What we are facing is nothing more than a small part of Ivar's ultimate strength. The forces which he has sent here are nothing more than a small, and yet big, invading force, that we know - but in Scandinavia, that is where our true threat lingers. His true numbers are bigger than what we have predicted."
"How big are we talking about this invasion?" asked Snotlout.
"Take the thousand which you guys had assumed Ivar would send at us. Times that by three." Magnus replied.
"Oh Thor…" Fishlegs said, with a small whimper in his voice. "This is far worse than I anticipated."
"If that has become the case, we have to do something." immediately replied Astrid as it was obvious that she was desperate. "If you're right about the fact that what you saw was a possible… vision, and that this invasion fleet is multiplied three times the amount, then we will have little to no chance if we don't act quicker and prepare quicker. We need to-"
"We need to trust in our ability, and trust in ourselves." Magnus answered. "The only way we can save the Archipelago, and all lives that dwell here, is by saving ourselves. There is no one else out there that can help us, for it is now up to us. Either we stand united, or we fall divided."
As the group sat, heeding Magnus' seemingly newfound words that were coming out from his mouth, Tuffnut rose a hand up and all eyes fell upon him. "What is it, Tuffnut?" asked Hiccup.
"Yeah, uhh… I just wanted to say; since when the Hel did he become all tall and wise?" he asked, before he proceeded to make a terrible impression of Magnus, resulting in everyone in the group frowning in disappointment at the Thorston, with squints coming from others.
"Do you ever shut up?" asked Snotlout, causing Tuff to roll his eyes as he turned his back.
Going back onto the topic, Hiccup proceeded to ask a question, and right away Magnus noticed. "What should I tell my father? He needs to know about this-"
The older Viking placed his hands on Hiccup's shoulders. "Tell him nothing about this." answered Magnus. "If he finds out then he will become too overprotective for you. The best we can do right now is wait and be prepared. News cannot go back to Stoick on the fact that the islands are falling one by one. Who knows if other Tribes are seeking refuge and are already in ruin."
Hiccup spoke up again. "But what else can we do? There has to be something we can do to get ourselves at an advantage."
Magnus stopped for a moment, thinking through Hiccup's question. So far the only ally that Berk directly had at their side was the Berserker Tribe and their remaining hundred warriors. They numbered five hundred against three thousand, outnumbered six to one, yet they were still at a possible disadvantage in their skill and strength. So what exactly could there be for Berk if it is to survive? Perhaps a weapon that no Viking could've ever dreamt wielding? Perhaps something to fight fire with fire? Perhaps…
Suddenly, a thought bursted into Magnus' mind, and a smile soon grew on the Viking's face.
"Perhaps you may need the aid of old rivals to help you, if you know what I mean?"
"...Elaborate?" replied Fishlegs.
Magnus shook his head with a splurt of laughter. "Think about it, lad." he said. "What else is there that you can tame to use against the Great Heathen Army? Something you can make from old rivals and into a possible fiery ally?"
...
General Olaf smirked from the bay as he stared at the burning village of the Thunderhead Tribe. Already more than a day had past since he first entered the Archipelago, and with the winds at his side for his fleet, he was able to make tne sacking islands and Tribes like it was no tomorrow.
He glanced back at the Iron Wolf commander. "Your Devastators have proven very effective." he said. "They have taken out flocks of Dragons and have set ruin to many islands. I can see now why King Ivar chose you and your Clan to come along."
"Well, we do what is necessary for the sake of our survival, especially under his leadership." the commander chuckled. "I assure you that even with this ingenuity, we'll be able to soon help your Chieftain with his… crippled problem."
"Oh? And how?"
The Iron Wolf commander crossed his arms as he began to speak, "Well, simple. All we have to do is-"
However, he would on short notice be interrupted as he and Olaf spotted the Bloody Berserker commander gathering and dragging prisoners, all consisting of warriors, men, women, and even children. One of the Thunderhead captains were among the group, plus there were fifty Völsung warriors escorting the prisoners.
"What is this?" asked Olaf. "A group of prisoners?"
"Aye." the Bloody Berserker commander replied, hyped for the blood and glory he was earning on the battlefield. "We've been hearing the mentions of an island in the center of this Archipelago from those we've been killing all across the islands. Saying that this Tribe is their ally and that they'll stop us. This captain here has mentioned it as well."
"Hmph." Olaf muffled as he pointed towards the captain. "Let's see what this one has to say then…"
Immediately the captain was nudged forward and pushed down onto his knees. His appearance looked bloody and bruised with injuries covering his body. His left eye was cut out, while half of his face remained covered in cuts and blood. The captain then looked up at Olaf and spat in his face.
The Viking General felt blood hit his face as he slowly wiped it off. Then he knelt down to the man's and gave a hard backhand across the face to him, giving off a grunt of anger after doing so.
"You and many other Tribes across the islands have mentioned an 'allied' Tribe that lies in the center of this wasteland of an Archipelago. Thus, I want you to tell me, what lies in the middle of all the islands?"
The captain splurted. "Do you ask about Berk?" he asked. "If you're thinking about going there, I would think twice before attacking. You don't know the amount of strength, skill, and heroism the Vikings of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe have. If you go there, you will underestimate them, and Berk will become your doom."
Olaf chuckled. "We'll see about that when I have the Chieftain of Berk and his head on a pike. Your island and so many others have already easily fallen before the might of my army. This island of Berk won't be any different."
"So be it…" the injured Viking replied. "But regardless for me, my time ends here. Valhalla now awaits me, and I will gladly welcome Odin's invitation to the Halls when he opens its doors for me. And there I shall drink ale from curved horns, and feast until the end of days!"
For a moment, the General looked at the captain with an expression of interest on his face, along with his eyes squinting and his brows raised. But it was then that an evil grin spreaded wide across his face, with the response; "I think not." as he unsheathed his warblade and decapitated the captain right there and then.
Afterwards he then turned to face the Bloody Berserker commander who seemed satisfied from Olaf's move. "Your orders, General?" the commander asked.
"Prepare to move out once this island has been sacked of all it's values." he ordered the Barbarian. "I want ALL of the Clans and Tribes that are among us to be rallied tomorrow for a massive siege."
"So then our next target is…?"
"Berk…"
Both the Iron Wolf and Bloody Berserker commander saluted General Olaf as he turned his back from the burning village of the Thunderheads, making his way back towards the iron flagship which was ready to be loaded with valuables and sacked goods.
"General, what of the prisoners?" asked the Bloody Berserker commander.
Olaf gave a smirk, letting out a huff of air whilst not turning around to face the commander as he continued to still walk towards the flagship. However, he did give an answer to the commander.
"Kill them all…"