Well, looks like it's time for a battle this chapter! Now, I don't have much to say aside that like with other battles, this chapter will be longer than others, so I hope you enjoy it!
Also, a thanks to KorrieChan and dabzzygirl for the reviews last chapter!
Now, let's get into the action!
The night came quicker than anyone anticipated. Outside the base camp of Jyornstad, Hiccup, along with Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, the Twins, Heather, and Magnus and Eira crouched from within the woods whilst Toothless remained on guard with the other seventy five warriors.
They stared towards the camp from a far distance, seeing how heavily fortified it was. Guards with bows watched from atop the ramparts, and several more stood outside the entrance with weapons unsheathed.
"Definitely more than three dozen warriors now." began Fishlegs. "Seems more like a hundred if anything. I doubt we can just approach them head on. We'll need a new plan-"
"Like what?" asked Snotlout. "Climbing the walls? Those trenches surrounding them have spikes in them. Anyone who gets shot or pushed off will land in them and get impaled. Through the gate is our only option."
The Ingerman shook his head. "But we will be easily spotted and get shot down. We have to-"
"Will you two stop?" interrupted Hiccup, putting a finger over his lips. "We will be given away if we bicker and remain like this. The best thing to do right now is improvise on our plan rather than change it."
"And what would we do?" Astrid asked him, still facing the camp.
He sighed. "Astrid, we have Toothless with us. There is a reason why he's called a Night Fury. Now, if we're to break through both easily and effectively without getting spotted, we'll need to surprise those guards with something they won't see coming."
Magnus nodded in agreement. "Hm, that's wise strategy. But if we're to take them by surprise, we'll need to intimidate them. Something that will alert them without warning... Any ideas, Hiccup?"
"...Aye." he said back. "Just leave it to me. Astrid, Toothless, come on. We're going to scare them real good."
"I like where this is going." she replied, followed by a warble of laughter from Toothless. "Lead the way, then."
Hiccup nodded, keeping low as the shield maiden and Dragon followed behind him with extreme stealth. They kept to the woods from the left side of the main path, but the closer they got to the camp, the more they could make out what was going on.
As they closed in on it, still hidden in the woods - they were able to get a small glimpse behind the walls of the base, and inside the camp, they saw dozens of Vikings, either patrolling in separate parties, guarding certain corners, or talking about their own business.
Jyornstad itself however was not much. The camp held basic structures that one would expect; a small Mess Hall, a few huts, a Blacksmith, an unfinished watchtower, a Stable, and a Storehouse.
"Doesn't seem to be much." said Hiccup. "But it looks like they've been arming themselves to the teeth. All we need to do now is grab the attention of the guards near the gate."
"Wait Hiccup, we can't get them all onto us. What if we get overwhelmed-"
"Stopping doubting yourself. Remember we have Toothless." he interrupted, grinning. "Do you really think six Vikings would be enough for one Night Fury?"
"...Well, considering all the damage Toothless has done so far..."
Hiccup lightly chuckled. "Just leave it to me. I assure you this will go smoothly. When I give the command, strike."
Astrid nodded as her hand fell to the hilt of her sheathed sword, which acted as her temporal weapon ever since her axe was taken upon captivity.
She then watched as Hiccup picked up a single rock, and then throw it a short distance into a cluster of bushes near them so that the guards up ahead would come close enough for them.
...And to her surprise, it actually worked.
From afar, the guards noticed suspicious movement, and immediately they looked at each other with curiosity, wondering how to act.
"There's something in the distance." one of them said, tightening the grip on their axe and shield. "I think we're being watched…"
"You think it's those filthy Archipelago cowards?" another asked. "Brynjar did say that they could strike at anytime without warning, so maybe we should check it out?"
"Aye, we should." the captain said, before pointing his axe towards three of the guards and directing it towards the forest. "You three, go see what is going on, and search closely."
They saluted their captain, stomping off towards the forest while he and the others remained behind, gazing their direction off from the three wandering warriors.
Astrid smirked. "Three warriors. This will be easier than I expected."
Hiccup smiled, winking at Astrid as they watched the Vikings walk towards them, without them still noticing. Their eyes by this point were fixated onto the guards like an arrow finding a direct mark, and eventually, the moment came where the warriors were nearly on top of them.
"There's no one here." one of them said, looking at the others.
"They can't be far. These bastards have to be hiding around here somewhere." another spoke up. "We must keep searching."
However, their search wouldn't need to continue.
Hiccup motioned the signal to Astrid and Toothless, and Toothless being the smart Dragon he was decided that he was going to flip the three of them over with a tail swing to prevent making much noise.
After getting ready, Hiccup then whispered:
"One… Two… Three!"
And in unison, the three struck out at the Vikings as Toothless swung his tail horizontally, and what followed was a pair of three screams of which would be quickly put to silence.
The captain in the distance however noticed this, and as such, he spun to face the direction he sent his warriors into. Both he and the two guards who stood by his side were disturbed, and at first, there was nothing but dead silence.
...But then, the silhouette of scrawny figure came into view, covered by the shadows of the night, and in both of his hand, he held two round objects.
The two guards and their captain reacted, taking a step forward and giving off threatening gestures to the figure. "Who are you!?" the captain called out. "Show yourself, or I will gut you with my axe!"
But Hiccup, who was the one under the shadows, didn't make a move. Instead, he threw the two objects in his hands towards the captain and his men, and what came rolling to their feet made them back up in intimidation.
Before them, were the heads of two of the three warriors that were sent out.
Hiccup then lit his sword as he unsheathed it from it's cover, and he raised it up in the air before shouting loudly;
"CHARGE!"
From the bushes, Toothless pounced out with his mouth lit in a purple light, and immediately he let out a plasma blast towards the captain and the two other guards, tossing them aside in flames as they screamed with shock and pain.
"A-AMBU-SH- GAAAAAGH!" the captain screamed.
The archers from atop the ramparts became alert as they saw the captain burn to crisp with his men, but they were also both shocked and unprepared, for the attack came without any warning.
Everything was now going according to plan.
From down below, dozens of Vikings came swarming out from the bushes with great speed, and at the front, Hiccup was the one leading them.
The young lad had his blade gripped tightly, charging without stopping as war cries and yelling echoed from his allies, and all the meanwhile, Toothless and Eira along with the Warsung bowmen began releasing arrows and Dragon fire upon the archers atop the ramparts, sending volley after volley onto them.
And from there, chaos broke loose.
Thankfully, Hiccup and the others were able to breach through front entrance without much trouble as the bowmen from the walls were one by one starting to waver. But upon entering the camp, they were met with a larger force.
The Hairy Hooligans, Berserkers, and Warsung lined up behind the young Viking and his friends as the enemy formed a battleline of over a hundred men, outnumbering them with dozens more.
"Stand your ground, everyone!" Hiccup called out. "Be ready to charge again! They will not beat us tonight!"
He stood there for half a solid minute, still glaring down the enemy and waiting for something to happen. Both sides wanted to engage the other, but a move had to be made, and as Hiccup swung his sword down vertically, the charge continued.
"Now! FORWARD!" he shouted.
Upon shouting the commanding, everyone immediately rushed forward onto the enemy right as Toothless gave off another plasma blast, and quickly they clashed at one another.
And from there, the battle had really begun.
By this point, Hiccup had nearly regained all of his strength ever since the defeat back on the shore, and the fighting spirit was back in him as he fought alongside Astrid and Toothless in a back-to-back position.
For the fight, he focused on going all out on the enemy, representing the traits of the Vikings of three Tribes that were with him whilst also holding his position and making skillful but complicated attacks. He had the mind and skill of a Berkian, the strength of a Berserker, and the haste of a Warsung warrior.
Whenever an enemy would approach Hiccup, he would focus on getting the Viking off-balance with his strength, striking down at the round-shields they raised in an attempt to pin them down. The scrawny Viking would then curve his attack around, identifying where the enemy was the weakest, and he would do so with ferocious speed, fast enough to where they could not react. And one by one, his enemies fell, battered and bloody.
This went well for a while, until his head tilted, and his eyes fell upon the others.
From a distance, the enemy began forming a shield wall that started to close in on Snotlout, Fishlegs, the Twins, and Heather along with a few others at their side. His gaze then fell upon Toothless.
"TOOTHLESS!" Hiccup called out.
The Dragon stopped upon hearing his name, though he was still in a combat-ready position. He turned to face Hiccup who had his sword pointing outwards in the distance, and as he spun his head towards the direction, he saw what Hiccup was pointing out.
In response to this, Toothless left from where he was fighting from, running to jump atop one of the huts for high ground, and from there, his mouth lit up in a purple flash as he released a plasma blast upon the dozen Vikings clustering up on the others, resulting them to be blasted apart in flames.
Hiccup gave a smirk of approval as he then switched his glance onto Astrid.
"Astrid, with me!" he called out, earning a nod from the shield maiden as they both ran over to the group, cutting down any foe that stood in their path, and upon reaching them, all seven of them formed a back-to-back circle, with Toothless gliding down into the center to blast away the enemy.
"They nearly had us, Hiccup!" Fishlegs yelled towards him. "They just came out of nowhere and began to close in on us!"
"Well, there's a reason why we have Toothless!" Hiccup replied, stabbing his weapon out at an oncoming Viking.
Heather replied with "True!" as she cut down an approaching foe with the axe and sword she wielded. "But the question is, where in the name of Thor are the other Dragons!?"
Her question would be answered quickly as a series of roars emanated from atop the hill leading to the Mess Hall. Four cages laid near it, rattling violently with flames bursting out from them. The group knew then for certain that it was their Dragons.
Hiccup felt relief and confidence upon the seeing their Dragons, but he nearly lost track of attention as Astrid called out loudly to him from his side.
"HICCUP, LOOK OUT!"
The Viking turned to face his left, and from a short distance he saw three warriors rushing him with their weapons gripped tightly in hand. Immediately, Hiccup held his sword out, ready to strike…
But before they could reach him, they were already quickly cleaved down.
From behind, Magnus charged towards the three Vikings, and with a single great cleave, he decapitated all three of them as if they were nothing to him, and as the three headless corpses fell to his feet, the group stared at him, jaw-dropped.
The Chieftain arched a brow. "What!? They were about to kill you, you know!"
"W- Well Magnus. It's just that- well…" Hiccup stuttered, trying to form out the words to express, but Magnus held his hands up, halting him.
"Forget about it, lad! What's important right now is that we free our Dragons, and flush Brynjar out of hiding! Now go! Do what must be done!"
Magnus turned his back around, charging his way back into combat while roaring as metal slashing followed.
Hiccup spun his head to the others, gesturing to follow. "We have to free them. C'mon!"
They all nodded back as their attention turned towards the hill leading up, and from there it became a fight up to the Mess Hall as they fought any opponent who got in their way.
But this would not go entirely unnoticed.
From the entrance of the Hall, commander Brynjar stood with his great axe in-hand, gripped tightly as he watched the young Vikings run up the hill, cutting down his men.
His eyes then fell upon his two bodyguards who stood at his side as he began shoving them towards one of the cages. However, it was a cage that did not stand alongside the other Dragons.
"Don't let them free the Dragons! Keep them away at all costs!" he said with a guttural tone.
The bodyguards looked at him with desperate and slightly confused expressions, but one of them spoke up in realization upon looking at the large, lonesome cage.
"Wait, do you want us to-!?"
"Aye!" he replied, before turning his back as he proceeded to walk into the Mess Hall. "Release the flaming beast! Let their small and weak force burn to a crisp!"
He laughed loudly, cackling as the doors of the hall were closed shut behind him upon entering. And thus the two Vikings would put the commander's plan into motion, ready to make something happen that Hiccup was not prepared for, nor anticipated for.
The young man gazed to the top of the hill as the commander fled inside the hall, and he watched as the two bodyguards made their way to the cage that their leader had pointed out.
Curiosity immediately held ahold of him.
"What are they doing?"
But it would be too late for him to even guess.
As the warriors banged their weapons on the large iron cell, a roar emanated from it, and the attention of the group fell onto it as they ceased their fighting. Something wasn't right, and it was big.
"What, was, that!?" Fishlegs called out, backing up a few steps.
The door to the cage would suddenly be unlocked however, and from it, flames bursted outwards as a winged reptile came out with its mouth opened wide, and parts of its body were bound by black chains, including the jaw. To this, everyone gasped.
It was without a doubt a Dragon.
The bodyguards pulled heavily on the chains that were wrapped around the Dragon's mouth, and as it opened up, they aimed for Hiccup and the group as flames violently lit up.
"Oh Gods." gulped Fishlegs.
"EVERYONE TAKE COVER!" Hiccup shouted, allowing for Toothless and the gang to react just in time to find cover as the beast released a blast of bright flames. It flew passed them, but it impacted into a cluster of seven Hooligan, Berserker, and Warsung warriors, enveloping them to ashes.
Hiccup grunted while covering behind Toothless who used his wings as protection. He gazed at the two Vikings that forcefully maneuvered the Dragon where to fire, but the real question for him was; where did Ivar obtain a Dragon? How did he obtain a Dragon?
For now however, he shrugged it off as he turned to face Fishlegs.
"Fishlegs, do you know what Dragon that is?" he asked him. "Is it in the Book of Dragons? Is it by chance one that you've seen before?"
"...That's a Singetail! Stoker Class Dragon!" he replied, covering behind a barrel as another fiery projectile flew by them. "When Stoick sent us a few months back to help Spitelout set up his Storehouse on another island, we encountered a small flock of Singetails that nearly destroyed us and our longship as we fled from them! Didn't think we'd find one here, though!"
"I didn't see it coming either!" Heather responded back, gripping her weapons as she hid behind a sturdy crate. "The question is however; how did they learn to get Dragons on their side!? Ivar could've never-"
"Ivar does not know how to tame Dragons!" Hiccup interrupted, glancing back at the Singetail who shook violently from the chains bound to it.
"But from what I see here, it seems that Singetail is being forced to attack us! It's clearly struggling! All I can say is that whoever gave Ivar this Singetail and taught him how to control it is definitely not of Scandinavia!"
Astrid nodded. "Then we should act now and free it from those cowards controlling it! Our men are being burnt to a crisp!"
"Agreed!" Hiccup replied. "Toothless, cover me as I make my way up! The rest of you, fall back to the battle and continue the fight! We will handle it from here!"
Everyone nodded upon command, rushing back down the hill as they joined the fight once more with Magnus and Eira, and soon, Hiccup began making his way slowly up the hill with Toothless acting as his shield and bulwark.
But they would not continue with ease.
Brynjar's bodyguards saw Hiccup and Toothless marching towards them in an attempt to strike out, and thus their attention quickly turned towards them, forcefully making the Singetail fire upon them rather than his allies. Though by this time, the camp was now in flames.
Toothless lifted his wings up in the form of a barrier for the lad, but now they were now stuck in that position as they were being pinned down, with the Singetail still being forced to release fire onto them.
Hiccup shook his head. "We can't continue on like this!" he said to the Night Fury. "If we're to get that Dragon freed without hurting it, we'll need to take out one of the guards from here to loosen their control over it!"
The idea was obvious, for he then said three words to the Black Dragon: "Toothless, plasma blast!"
Toothless turned his head to one of the bodyguards as he lit his mouth up, firing a purple ball of fire towards the warrior on the right which resulted in a successful direct impact. The Viking was alit in flames, and he fell to the ground rolling, screaming. But the other bodyguard knew that he was screwed.
"Dammit!" he said loudly. "Now Brynjar's going to-!"
Suddenly, the Singetail began shaking violently as it's wings started to flap up and down upon release of the chain, proceeding to go somewhat airborne as the other bodyguard attempted to hold it down with the chain he still gripped with his hands.
Hiccup knew now that it was time for him to strike.
"Let's do this." he said.
He stood to his feet with his blade held tightly in his left hand as he rushed up the hill, charging towards the man with brute force. The Viking however was forced to let go of the chain as he saw Hiccup approaching, and immediately he unsheathed his spear in an attempt to parry.
But a spear of wood would do little against a sword with fire as Hiccup easily sliced the weapon into two, and all that remained were two halves of a spear with a burnt cut separating them.
The bodyguard looked up at Hiccup as he dropped the remnants of his spear, raising his hands up in surrender and hoping that the Viking would at least take him prisoner.
But all that came from the young man was the shake of his head.
"Sorry." the scrawny Viking said to him. "But I don't take prisoners."
And with that, Hiccup quickly gouged his blade through the man's chest, stabbing him three times as the sensation of fire coursed through his body and armor, and just like that, he would be tossed aside as the man fell to Hiccup's feet, lifeless.
"Good riddance!" he spat, now satisfied with his work before looking up, watching as the Singetail released itself of all the chains bound around it, before flying off without looking back.
Hiccup smiled at the thought of the Dragon being freed as it flew off, but his thought quickly shifted, remembering that there were others that he also had to free.
His body spun to face the other Dragons who rattled and shook in their cages, whilst roaring in hope that someone would free, and that someone would thankfully turn out to be Hiccup.
"I know what to do next."
He began making his way over to the Dragons as they continuously roared from their cages, but as Hiccup came closer and closer to them, their roars slowly began ceasing as their heads from underneath the metal bars turned to face him.
They knew it was him, just by his scent.
Their heads slightly lowered as they backed up in respect, knowing Hiccup was not hostile. One by one, Hiccup cleaved the locks apart with his fiery blade until the cages were all busted opened, and the mighty reptiles were let loose once more.
From down below however, Magnus and the others still fought, and as he was prepared to move onto his next foe after cutting down his previously one, he heard a series of Dragon roars emanate from the top of the hill, and as he turned his head towards the direction he heard it, he saw Hiccup, along with Toothless, Stormfly, Meatlug, Hookfang, and Barf and Belch standing by him.
"Oh... he's done it now." he said to himself, grinning and chuckling as he watched the Dragons fly up into the air, excluding Toothless, all before they began raining down a flaming hel onto the enemy as blasts of fire came crashing down upon them, taking them out by fews at a time with each blast exploding on impact.
But then there came a quick turn in the tide of battle.
The pressure alone from the Dragons was enough intimidate the enemy as their will to fight had now been broken, and the retreat horn sounded as the remnants of Brynjar's forces ran out the gate of the burning camp with a massive chain route - into the woods of the cloudy night.
Seeing this happen, the Hooligan, Berserker, and Warsung warriors cheered in victory as their foe cowardly fled from the battle, and as the last sword was struck and the last Dragon fired, that was all the camp was filled with; cheers of glory and relief along with roars from the victorious Dragons as they descended to the ground.
Hiccup gave a wide hopeful smile whilst making his way down the hill, and at the bottom he met up with his friends face first as they cheered for him from the outcome of the battle, whilst also reuniting with their Dragons.
Especially Astrid, who approached him with a happy look on her face as she hugged him tightly, chuckling with a hearty expression.
"We did it, Hiccup!" she said. "We won! Haha!"
Hiccup nodded lightly with a smile still on his face, hugging Astrid back until after a small moment passed. They then pulled back and released each other.
He stared back at her after letting go. "Hopefully this victory will make Ivar know that we are not done fighting yet, and nor will we ever be done fighting."
"That may be so." Magnus' voice replied in the distance as he approached them. "But it is too early to celebrate. We still have something else to take care of."
He gestured his head back towards the top of the hill where the Mess Hall stood, and Hiccup realized that though they earned a victory, they were not quite done yet.
"Right." he said back to Magnus. "Guess I'll need to do what needs to be done."
He nodded at Hiccup. "Brynjar is yours to take care of. For now I need to order my men to pursue the routed enemy, and then we'll free the prisoners that are held up here."
"...And don't forget the Hunting Lodge. We still need to loot it."
Magnus chuckled. "Right, that too."
Hiccup cleared his throat as his attention turned to the Mess Hall, and slowly he would begin walking towards it with his sword still gripped in-hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a cowardly commander to kill. Astrid, Snotlout!"
...
Brynjar stood near the end of the Hall, next to his throne as he paced back and forth. He had two more warriors by his side who stood guard, watching as their commander paced.
"What is going on out there!?" he bellowed, hitting his steps against the wooden floor. "First I hear loud cheering and roaring, and then everything goes quiet. Where the Hel are my men!? WHERE ARE THEY!?"
"Commander." one of the warriors spoke up. "I don't know about you, but maybe our warriors were routed? By now they would have reported back to us and-"
"I highly doubt it." Brynjar interrupted as he halted in his steps. "Our warriors would never-"
Before being able to finish his sentence however, a great thud hit itself against the doors of the Mess Hall. All eyes in the room immediately turned to face them, and the guards quickly drew their weapons as they slowly advanced from their positions.
Then, after a fourth and final thud, the large wooden latch locking the entrance cracked and busted into two as the doors were pushed opened widely by a pair of scrawny hands, and from outside, Hiccup came stomping in with Astrid and Snotlout on both of his flanks, along with Toothless who followed from behind.
The bodyguards instantly attempted to attack Hiccup, but their underestimation and low preparation would quickly prove to be the end of them. Astrid and Snotlout were just too quick, and they responded by striking out at the two warriors with quick but effective parries before stabbing their swords directly through both men's chests in unison.
Hiccup still continued walking however with Toothless now marching at his side, growling loudly at the commander who was now backed into a corner.
Brynjar in response unsheathed his great axe, getting himself into a combat ready state while pointing his weapon out towards Hiccup with one of his hands gripped tightly onto it.
To Toothless however, he found the Viking's fancy position more funny as he simply let out a plasma bolt towards the blade of the axe, blasting it out of the man's hands.
Hiccup then begun hastening his advance onto Brynjar, and upon reaching him, he grabbed the man by the collar of his tunic that laid beneath his gambeson. Both hands were gripped tightly as he pushed the commander to his knees.
Brynjar could only responded with a shaky and stuttering voice however as he breathed intensely at the sight of the unexpected yet victorious Viking.
"So then," Hiccup began with his voice sounding intimidating. "Ivar somehow managed to get his hands on a Dragon, and yet when he ordered the first invasion a month earlier, none were captured. So tell me; how did your King get his hands on a Dragon? Hm?"
The commander however did not say a word to the eighteen year old.
He was more fearful for his life rather than being able to have the guts to speak to him, and to this, Hiccup raised his hand up and backhanded the man with a hard yet surprising strike. Surprising for someone who was especially scrawny like him.
The Viking shook him violently. "TELL ME!"
The commander nodded his head up and down in a quick motion. "F- Fine! I'll tell yo- you what I- I know!" he began, stuttering. "...I- Ivar told us that he was given Dragons by an outside ally from the Archipelago, and that his ally is one who seeks the similar goals he seeks!"
"An outside ally?" Hiccup questioned, increasing his grip on the man's collar. "Is it from one of our Tribes?"
The commander shook his head. "N- No! ...But he didn't give a name on who it was!"
The young lad squinted his eyes in curiosity. "Well, if there are other Dragons out there, then most likely you know where they are. Thus, I will ask you this once; where are they?"
By now, Brynjar ran out of words to let out from his mouth. He was reduced to an intimidated and scared man-child which Hiccup found pathetic, seeing as the man was older than him. But still, the young Viking was not finished with him yet.
"Come with me, coward." he said. "I have something to show you…"
…
Hiccup made his way outside of the Mess Hall along Astrid and Snotlout who had Brynjar in their grasp - with their hands holding his arms in a tight grip.
Toothless too marched alongside Hiccup while also standing in front of the broken commander who was being dragged by the two other Vikings, but it wouldn't go unnoticed.
A small crowd of people began gathering around the three Vikings and Night Fury as Brynjar was pushed to muddy ground in full view of their forces.
Only thing being however, was that he was pushed to Magnus' feet.
The Warsung Chieftain knelt down to Brynjar's level, all before giving Hiccup a nod of approval as he grabbed the Scandinavian by his chest and forced him to look up. Now the cowardly commander was looking directly into his eyes.
"So…" Magnus began. "Are you happy with what you have done here today? Just look around you, and you'll see what I mean. Look at all the devastation you placed onto so many good lives who fought to avenge their brothers and sisters that fell beneath the hands of your King's dark tyranny!"
And Brynjar did just that. He glanced around at all the death that surrounded him, and although there were more dead on his side, there was also still quite a lot of death on the Tribes' side. At least two dozen laid dead for Magnus and his allies.
But despite all the bloody carnage that happened today, the Viking commander did not say anything. At least not until Magnus spoke up once again - now speaking in Norse.
"Thinn breyta mun-at fara ú-witaendhes á sjá doeger, en né munu vér óminni. Thinn víti, ir det. (Your acts will not go unknowingly on this day, and nor will we forget. Your punishment, is death.)"
The commander opened his mouth in response to this, stuttering. "NEI! At- At thví er miklu, gull en silfr, vinna ykkr vilja á spara vith minn lifs?! Hvatventa!? ATH, HVATVENTA! (NO! How- How much, gold and silver, do you want for sparing my life!? Anything!? PLEASE, ANYTHING!)"
Hiccup sighed at Brynjar - not in a pitiful manner, but rather a manner of finding the commander's reaction pathetic. And to everyone's surprise, he too began speaking in Norse.
"...Ér ru tynad. Sá látinn ru verth lund meir, thana gull en silfr. (...You are mistaken. The dead are worth more, than gold and silver.)"
No more words came out from the commander after that. It seemed no matter what he said, and no matter what he did, he could not convince Hiccup to spare his life. Even as he sat there on his knees, hanging his head down, he felt hopeless.
But to Hiccup, he saw it as revenge for what Ivar and his men did to his friends.
The lad cleared his throat, giving a light nod to Magnus before turning to two Hooligan warriors that stood near him. "He's no longer of any worth to us... Take him into the woods, and leave him for the crows to feed on. Make sure to drag him by horse."
Brynjar's eyes widened, follow by a gasp. "Wait, what are you going to-!?"
Suddenly, the feeling of sharp, burning metal pierced him through the side, and with widened eyes, he saw that Hiccup stabbed him right through with his sword.
He looked back up, gazing at Hiccup who stared directly back at him, straight into his eyes, and like a falling tree, he fell over onto his side.
From the Stables, a horse came riding out with a rope wrapped and attached to it's back, and without much effort, the commander who was slowly bleeding out had his ankles bound to one end of the rope, and with haste, the two Vikings who were atop the horse began to ride out.
Hiccup watched as Brynjar was dragged along the dirty ground out of the camp by his ankles, and after that moment passed and the man was out of site, Hiccup knew that it would be the last time he would ever see him again.
But alas, his war was still far from over.
From behind him, Astrid approached with a small smile on her face as she lightly grabbed ahold of his hand, to which the lad to replied with a light smirk as he felt his heart warm up - especially with the familiar feeling of snow falling from the winter sky now filling the air.
"Didn't know you could speak Norse." she said to him.
Hiccup chuckled. "Well, being around the Norsemen for years has taught me that much, so it's not really much of a surprise."
Astrid gave a hearty chuckle as she tilted her head up towards the skies, and then let out a sigh.
"So." she said. "What now?"
"Now…? Well, now we celebrate our victory. Tonight is a good night for our people. This battle will not be forgotten, and nor will our enemy forget. When our men return with the rest of the supplies from the Hunting Lodge and Farm, we'll feast and drink to our dead. Songs will be sung, tales will be told, and food will be held for everyone here!"
His head slowly turned to face the rest of the warriors and maidens that stood around him, gazing at him with expressions of hope and influence from the young Viking.
With a loud voice, he spoke up, shouting; "Hail to the dead!", and a heavy number of cheers followed, echoing and booming throughout the snowy night.
Tonight, they would feast well.