Now, before starting this chapter, I'd like to make a quick note on the Devastators so that you guys understand what they are when you read about their reveal as I know some of you are probably going to ask me about them. I'll tell you guys specifically the idea it's based on.
Now, the idea of the Devastators came from one of the types of war machines that Drago Bludvist used in HTTYD 2. If you remember, it sent out speeding metal shells that would explode on impact in flames and smoke - the Devastator in this story is what that is based on, only in a different image of it being bigger and more destructive. So to those who are concerned, I hope this helps clears things up for you!
Also, a thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I am glad you guys are loving this story so far!
Now, I believe we should continue on into the next chapter. Let's go on, shall we?
From the higher altitude in the distance, Hiccup glanced and watched as the enemy Vikings began scaling the ramps and cliffs in an attempt to get to the position where his father and the others stood, holding their ground with archer fire, but it was clear to the scrawny Viking that there was too much to handle at once due to what was going on from the sea and on land.
He had to make a decision on whether to go for those that were climbing near to his friends' position, or to attack those of whom were dealing devastating damage to the village from the ships.
Hiccup looked down at Toothless. "Whaddya think, Bud?" he asked. "Ships, or land?"
The fearless Night Fury growled towards the main thing that caught his attention, in this case the reinforcements that were coming in to enforce the main line near the top of the cliffs.
"Well, if you say so." he said to the Dragon, shrugging. "Let's go, Bud!"
Toothless let out a mighty roar, and the two of them were soon off. Quickly they began to pick up speed as they bolted towards a large cluster of Heathens that were close to advancing onto his father and friends, and with a screech, followed by one quick but charged up blast, the Dragon was able to cause a slight sense of fear in them as he aimed directly at the front of the advancing enemy line, killing more than three dozen of their enemies and injuring a few others.
With Berk's forces enforced and given time to attack, Hiccup and Toothless would turn their attention towards the sea where the other real action was going, and they bolted forward towards it.
However, this attack wouldn't stop the next wave.
"Damn! They're still getting closer!" Stoick pointed out, noticing another advance. His men turned towards the wide ramp leading down into the harbor and made ready for the attack. "DEFENSIVE FORMATIONS, MEN! NOW!" the Chief shouted.
Gobber, who was standing next to Stoick waved his prosthetic hammer in the air, charging forward as he yelled out his inspiration to the warriors. "Ya 'eard tha Chief, get te it! Either we die, o' they die!"
"SHIELD WALL!" ordered Magnus, speaking loud and clear to his men and the group, and in a quick maneuver - another shield formation was made, with Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather, the Twins, Dagur, Spitelout, and Gobber at the front with him whilst Stoick stood back to give morale to his men.
"HOLD!" called out Magnus, embracing the second charge of Vikings, Rus', and Barbarians; and as they were impacted shield to shield, a great pause of silence and stillness hit both sides like lightning, and the first ones to react were once again the allied forces.
Magnus gave an order once more. "SWING SHIELDS!" he shouted to the front line, and with a great heave, the allies swung their shields up and forward at the Heathens, causing them to stumble back before they struck at them with their weapons, killing ten or more foes, with the addition of archer fire taking out eight or so more Heathens.
"HAHAHA!" laughed Dagur as he impaled his axe into a Bloody Berserker. "Now that'll show them who the TRUE Berserkers are! Never give in, never surrender!"
His words gave morale to the nearby Berserkers of whom were fighting at his side, and with a strong push they began to slowly push forward towards the enemy like a moving wall. Although this changed up the shield wall, the battle line was definitely no longer straight as the gang would be able to close into the enemy on one side, creating a flank for their advantage.
"Keep it up, Vikings!" shouted Astrid. "We've gotten this far because of our ability! Our skill and strength compared to these Heathens is far more than they could've ever dreamed of! We can't mess up now!"
And she really did mean it. By far, because of Hiccup's progress with Toothless, of Magnus' teachings to give them the chance to fight, of Stoick's inspiration and presence to fight on, and of the gang as a whole, they were able to continue standing. This confidence boost was as well something that Astrid relied on in this battle as her senses from foes became more aware.
As an enemy would strike her, she would find the time to dodge with a simple step to the side, not giving a Thor of what was coming at her, and then she would quickly react with his axe and shield as she rapidly hit her shield and the blade of her axe against her opponent, almost like punching with fists which led to her to getting a kill.
This same opportunity arose when specifically a Bloody Berserker came charging at her with bloodlust and carnage, her warcry loud enough to pierce a man's ears - but not Astrid's. Astrid swung her shield up to bash away nearby opponents, and she made her way opened to the Barbarian to charge and strike her.
...And the Germanian did just that, falling for Astrid's trap as the younger Viking stepped to the side, catching the great axe of the Bloody Berserker with her weapon and swinging it away to make her off balance, just before Astrid would swing her shield hard at the Barbarian's head, with her axe following and striking at the lower sides of her stomach.
Although the Barbarian was supposed to feel no pain in herself from the bloodlust, it seemed that the rage that was filled within had failed her. The strikes were too much to handle from Astrid, and soon she succumbed to darkness as the younger Viking looked down and spat on her corpse.
What followed from Astrid was a roar that wasn't natural for her when she charged into battle. It sounded more like a warcry that would be let out from the Scandinavian Vikings, more guttural and more fierce... It was clear that the Viking within Astrid Hofferson was about to show itself, and so she went back into the fight, letting this fury be unleashed.
Out at sea, Hiccup and Toothless were collecting up most of the archer and artillery fire from the catapults and bowmen. The two of them would cover each other's backs to allow them to work as one, with Hiccup making the decisions and Toothless acting out as the weapon.
However, to his left he noticed that an advance of ships had begun to make way towards the rocky cliffs of the village, numbering a large majority of the armada. Worse, they were going at a faster speed of knots, thus Hiccup had to act quickly.
"They're advancing on our allies' position, Toothless!" he said, warning the Black Dragon. "Go for advanced maneuvers! Fly in-between their ships and let's catch their attention to turn their own weapons against each other! Let's confuse them!"
At first, the Night Fury was unsure of what his friend meant. But when his eyes fell upon the volleys of arrows and the flaming boulders that flew over the village, he gave out a warble of laughter, understanding Hiccup.
The Dragon swiftly turned to the left, and began flying deeper into the enemy ranks as he flew in-between the ships to catch their attention, especially the larger ones that laid near the iron flagship.
"DRAGON ON THE RIGHT!" called out the captain of a nearby longship. "Archers! Ready your arrows, prepare to fire on my mark! Catapults! Load up!"
Viking archers immediately responded to the command, rushing towards the right flank of the ship with their arrows out and their bows aimed and ready. They aimed up towards the Night Fury that flew above them, who had oddly slowed down on his maneuver in speed. To some of the men, it was strange, but they proceeded regardless. Orders were orders.
A few catapults were as well loaded - with their boulders covered in oil and lit aflame and prepared to be launched at the clear target that flew above them in the grey cloudy winter sky.
"Wait for it, Bud!" said Hiccup as his eyes followed the large longship - loaded with more than half a hundred Vikings aiming at him and Toothless.
"LOOSE!" the captain ordered, and the arrows went flying like rain towards Hiccup and Toothless… however, this trick was all part of Hiccup's.
"Now, Bud!" responded Hiccup.
Toothless roared as his speed once again picked up, and the two of them flew off past the flying projectiles that were aimed at them, which had completely missed their target and instead had gone for another that the Heathens did not see it coming.
The captain's eyes widened with regret and realization as a gasp escaped his breath. "It was a trap!" he shouted, anger filling up with a mix of worry on what Olaf would do to him.
In the distance, another large longship that was sailing towards the cliffs from the main force had received a direct hit from FRIENDLY fire that came from the longship behind them. Most of the arrows of the Völsung archers had found their targets and killed more than three dozen Vikings, Barbarians, and Rus' warriors along with their captain. The catapult fire finished off the rest however, and impacts of fire slowly burnt the ship until it had begun to sink.
Olaf noticed this and gasped in anger. "What's happened!?" he asked.
"Your own men fired upon our allies, General." said the Dark Eye commander. "You've lost yourself two major battle ships."
The General raised a brow. "What are you talking about? The one that signaled the attack is still afloat!"
His words would deceive him however as the familiar screech from Toothless filled and echoed the air, before a large explosion of purple fire impacted the other large longship from the Dragon's powerful plasma blast. Hiccup and Toothless then flew by with speed as that boat began sinking.
"The gods do not deceive my eyes, General." the Dark Eye commander responded, giving a light chuckle. "The young Viking riding the beast trapped your own men into attacking your allies rather than himself. That is why your advancing longship sank."
"Clever bastard…" Olaf grunted before turning to his engineers that were working on the Devastators. "GET THOSE WEAPONS READY ON THE DOUBLE! I want that Dragon blasted out of the sky! If the boy lives, he'll become my slave once again and will receive the torture of his life. If he dies, even better!"
The engineers nodded, quickening their efforts on preparing the metallic twelve foot tall siege weapons for their operation, for they would send a booming of destruction against Berk.
A grin started to spread on Olaf's face as he eyed the Iron Wolf commander. "Gahh… These things will once again deliver the destruction I crave… such cleverness for you to invent an advanced type of Bombard."
"Heh. Regards to the Chieftain." said the commander. "I assure you that he has more weaponry on the way than just these Devastators that he's been inventing in his prints, for I guarantee that they will advance our arsenal."
Olaf nodded with a smirk. "Then we'll just have to find out what it is once we get back to Kattegat. I am sure the other Chieftains would like to hear the destruction and conquest that we have thus far carved out throughout this Archipelago… and many more lands to come."
Just as he was about to continue however, a large clicking noise interrupted him as gears from the weapons shifted into place. The commanders and Olaf turned to see the large siege weapons now operational as the inside of the barrels of the weapons were heated and lightened up with lowly lit fires.
"The Devastators are now operational!" called out the overseer. "On your command, General!"
Olaf smiled. "Get them into position, and prepare to fire! These bombards will blast that Dragon out of the sky, and burn the village and it's inhabitants to ashes!"
It was clear that things were about to get worse for Berk and its allies, but the battle from Stoick's position still wasn't looking great at all...
At the top of the cliffs near the village, Stoick still paced back and forth with his weapon in hand, inspiring his men to fight on with battle cries and shouts of motivation. He would even on occasion get into the fight himself to help stabilize the situation, before getting the warrior he was helping back on his or her feet with the fight continuing.
However, things from behind too were about to go worse.
Stoick turned his gaze around towards the edges of the cliffs, and he saw multitudes of Vikings, Rus', and Barbarians rush them with war cries and battle shouts, screaming out their bloodlust in unison as they began to charge Stoick and his forces from the rear.
"THEY'RE COMING IN FROM BEHIND US!" shouted Stoick, grabbing the group's attention to turn as the Hooligan warriors still fought on. "Someone, cover us!"
"I've got this!" responded Dagur, turning around with Heather at his side as he raised his war axe into the air. "BERSERKERS! Rush them!" he yelled out, and the Berserkers turned themselves towards the rear and charged the Heathens, not bracing to make a shield wall this time. Their place of the front line was as well reinforced with reserves rushing in to enforce the wall.
And it was then, that the Berserker and Heathen forces clashed with one another - and this time, Dagur and Heather were prepared. The first blows they made as their axes struck their first targets were direct kills, all the while the Berserkers scattered around fighting their own individual targets, and with the training that they had gone through, they were more than able to actually make a stand.
Heather for instance was surrounded by three Vikings that managed to reach her as she went charging past the rear enemy line with others by her side. The first one struck with fury, but was a little too inaccurate as his weapon was caught by Heather, and with the other blade of her axe - Heather struck him down at the neck.
The second one wielded a great axe and attempted to attack Heather from the side and below, hoping to cleave her in two from her legs. However, he did not count on the reflex that Heather would use as a comeback towards him, and she easily dodged the attack with a circling jump - followed by a kick to the chest at the Viking. This impact blew all of the air out of his lungs, and with the momentum at Heather's side she approached the weakened and knelt down Viking, raised her axe, and decapitated him.
As she turned to then face the third opponent, she was quickly met with the Heathen being stabbed in the back by a Berserker spearman before falling to the ground and meeting his demise. Though she gave a shrug at it, she still continued to fight on.
Next to her, her brother Dagur was counting up kills as he was pinned down in a corner - though this corner was his meat grinder as his moves and skills were a lot more hasty and accurate compared to those who tried to strike. He would even trick some of his foes to attacking their own warriors by making them strike at where he stood which was by another of their own.
His words of counting even echoed as he kept killing his enemies. "Fifteen! Sixteen! Seventeen! Eighteen!" he shouted, embedding his axe into opponent after opponent that came at him. It truly was a slaughter, and he liked it.
...Back up above in the skies, Toothless and Hiccup were still cycle charging at the enemy, with Toothless firing blasts at clusters of Heathens as fast as his ability could allow him, while at the same time still charging them up for more power.
Though still, they were being fired upon from all directions… and yet still they held their ground in the air, flying strong and firm - or at least, that's what they both still thought.
Hiccup's attention soon fell left when he eyed suspicious movement going on atop the flagship. He saw flames and sparks in the distance as if torches were lit. He heard the moving of gears like that of a gate with chains opening or closing, and wheels like that of giant carts moving. It was hard for him to understand what was going on, but his curiosity got the best of him.
He squinted his eyes and looked back at Toothless. "Alright, Bud. Something strange is going on over there... Turn left!"
The Dragon nodded and did as his friend told him to, turning left to fly towards near the flagship.
However, what the two were doing was exactly what Olaf wanted them to do. It was all part of his plan, and as the black flying figure got closer and closer, his grin spread wider across his face. Wickedly.
"Haha… I've got you now, Slave." he said, raising his fist up into the air to signal his engineers. "TAKE AIM!" he shouted.
Those words immediately stopped Toothless from flying towards the flagship. The look on the Dragon soon turned from that of determination to doubt as his eyes fell on something vile and horrid that he never thought that he nor Hiccup would've ever seen. In front of him, six large war machines stood, ready and aimed at the Dragon and his rider. These constructs, were the Devastators. These war machines were big iron cannons.
"What the Hel are THOSE!?" gasped Hiccup as the six cannons aimed their large metallic barrels up at him and Toothless, and immediately the insides of the barrels began to heat up and light up more with flames - all before Olaf bellowed one word loudly at his men:
"FIRE!"
Loud BOOMs erupted from the Devastators, one by one, and from them came large fiery projectiles flying out towards Hiccup and Toothless at full speed, so fast that it was difficult for the two of them to maneuver on time as they were both surprised and shocked.
However, Hiccup managed to get back to his senses, and his eyes suddenly fell upon his Dragon. "TOOTHLESS, FLY BACK! FLY BACK!"
The Dragon did as best as he could, bolting around to fly back towards their allies who had too seen the horrors of what had just unraveled before their very eyes. Toothless flew faster, and faster… but it was too late.
One of the projectiles managed to hit near one of the cliffs, sending out a large fiery explosion which caused Hiccup and Toothless to go plummeting down towards the piers of the docks, where they were filled with multitudes of Vikings, Rus', and Barbarians.
"HOLD ON, TOOTHLESS!"