For this chapter I have once again decided to have the point of view switch between our main protagonist and the main antagonist of the story. In this case it is Hiccup and Ivar. The first half of the chapter will be Hiccup's P.O.V. whilst the second part will be Ivar's - and although it isn't as long as the first half, I assure you it will in a way be more interesting!
Now then, that's about all I have to say. Let's move on into our story!
The sun beamed lightly from behind the clouds over Dragon's Wake, whilst from all around, everyone was hard at work. Dragon's Wake was at the point where it was considered more of a large village rather than just a mere camp now, thus everything was now more busy.
By now it had been a few days passed ever since the Archipelago Tribes reunited once again behind one banner, and under Hiccup's leadership they were able to destroy the remains of the Dark Eye Clan, and even sack and burn their capital village.
And although Hiccup and his friends had managed to deal a mighty blow to the Great Heathen Army, it still did not mean that the enemy was defeated, and nor the war was over.
Plus, there were other matters at hand.
From within the Mead Hall, Hiccup, Stoick, Magnus, Dagur, and the other Chieftains of all the Tribes sat around the long-table in the center of the large longhouse, discussing their next course of action.
The only exception for anyone else being there however was Sigurd, who stood guard next to Magnus and kept silence as he watched the others discuss.
At first, there was a large commotion of conversation between the Chieftains, discussing on who should have Ivar's head, on who should get the most amount of gold when they're done, on what Clan they should go for next…
The list went on.
However, the discussions among the Chieftains would immediately turn to silence as Hiccup, who sat at the end of the longtable, slammed his hand hard against it, causing all attention to fall onto him.
"Can we begin now?" he asked, with the sound of irritation emanating from his voice, and one by one the Chieftains fell silent.
Hiccup sighed, clearing his throat. "Right... So as you all know, the Dark Eye Clan - one of Ivar's main Clans, has now been totally wiped out by us. His Great Army has received a grievous blow, and the Dark Eye Chieftain lies dead thanks to Astrid. However, this does not mean we're done yet, because now is time that we make our next move."
"I say we go directly for the heart of the Great Heathen Army!" shouted Snorre, raising his fist. "Hiccup and his allies managed to defeat the Dark Eye in the opened fields outnumbered two to one, so what difference does it make if we challenge the whole army?"
"Are you an idiot? The difference is that we'll be fighting more than before if we challenge the whole army, Snorre!" Bertha called out, shaking her head. "Even with the aid of Dragons, we can't possibly hope to take them all on at once! Don't you remember what happened at the Battle of Skyrsdok?"
"Aye, she 'as a point!" Alvin nodded in agreement. "We can't 'ope ta take 'em all on at once wifout gettin' our behinds 'anded ta us. If anythin', tha best course o' action will be te fight another Clan."
"And that is exactly what we are going to do." the young lad stated, once again grabbing everyone's attention. "We're still sticking with the plan of attacking one Clan before moving on to the next, if our luck continues giving us the chance of doing so... but that is despite the point. Right now, I have something very important to share."
As silence took ahold once again, Hiccup reached out towards one of the small satchels around his waist, and from it he pulled out a roll of parchment with writing on it and proceeded to place it on the table, unrolled.
It was a letter. Specifically an order that was carried out.
"This letter was written by one of Ivar's Chieftains some time after we landed in Norway. I looted it off of Frode's corpse. Apparently it's an order he wrote from which to carry out Ivar's command."
"Can you tell us what it says?" asked Mogadon.
"Well, that's why I'm here to read it aloud." the lad replied back, before gazing his eyes on the letter. "It reads:"
...
To the Chieftains of the Bloody Berserkers, Broken Axe Clan, and Dark Eye Clan.
"I have received a letter from High King Ivar from across the sea, stating a couple of direct orders he wished for me to pass on to you."
"Here are his demands:"
"Firstly, as tribute to his leadership, King Ivar demands that each of you, including myself, give over a thousand men to his Völsung Clan, placing them into its ranks."
"In total, he will be given four thousand fresh troops, and although each of us will be a thousand short, our numbers will still be sufficient enough."
"For his second order, King Ivar demands that upon the day of his return, we are to all rally at the landing site, of which he provided to us before he departed alone to the Archipelago."
"Upon arrival, he will have a new batch of Dragons in his possession, along with something in his grasp that is so great, every Dragon will fall to it's will and might…"
"...But what he brings is besides the point. Know that he will still expect us to be there within four weeks time."
"Until then however, keep the war going!"
"As of now, I make my way to the Foundry, and there I will decide where next to deploy our smithies and miners to gather up new supplies for our weapons and armor of war. Everyday we work, our arsenal advances."
"Remember. Ivar's eyes are upon you!"
-Signed Vlar. Chieftain of the Iron Wolf Clan, and Warlord of the Great Viking Army.
...
The Chieftains all glanced back at each other, and began talking silently after overhearing the letter. From what they made out, Ivar had taken in four thousand men from the other clans, thus making his kwn the biggest out of all the others.
Yet they knew not why.
Even Magnus, who sat left of Hiccup, glanced at the letter with deep concern.
He rose his voice to speak up. "...Vlar, Warlord of the Great Viking Army?" he asked.
Hiccup nodded his head. "Aye. Ivar promoted him to his right-hand man, and until he returns from his trip to the Archipelago, Vlar is in charge of the Great Army."
"But why?" Stoick asked, rubbing the bristles of his beard. "There has to be a catch. Why Ivar would make Vlar into his second-in-command."
"He commands the arsenal of the Great Army." Hiccup answered, still staring at the letter. "Vlar was the one who made the Devastators, arrow launchers, and overall siegery. He even went as far as to producing high amounts of chainmail armor for the army. If we're to succeed in this war, we'll need to take him out…"
"But not just yet."
Immediately the Chieftains' voices rose up in response to Hiccup.
"Why not?" spoke up Eret. "Aren't they more crucial than all of the other Clans?"
"He has a point." Mogadon replied in agreement. "If they are more important than all the others, why aren't we going for them?"
"It's simply because." said Mala, joining in the conversation.
Mogadon arched a brow. "Because what?"
"Because we don't have the equipment or manpower to take on the Iron Wolves. They wield the most powerful weaponry in the Great Army, and five Dragons alone would likely not be enough to take them on."
"She's right." commented Hiccup, running his eyes from Chief to Chief. "We can't assault the Iron Mountains and Shattered Shore. We'll have to take care of the two least dangerous Clans first."
"...Though even with the numbers we have, it is still considerable."
"The lad has a point." stated Magnus, looking back at Hiccup. "It is true that we have over two thousand troops in our army, but we are still going up against thousands of more Vikings, Germanics, and Rus'. Sure we may have lost only forty or so men in the last battle, but it is still not enough."
"So then who can we go for next?" replied Stoick. "The only two Clans left are the Broken Axe and-"
"The Bloody Berserkers." interrupted Hiccup. "To the south lies the Bloody Berserkers, hiding in the Blackwood Forest, where rain and snow falls all the same. But to me, they seem to be the most vulnerable of the other Clans, and I think that they would do nice as a next target."
Arngrim's voice rose up in shock. "You want us to go up against the Germanic Tribesmen?!"
Stoick crossed his arms, letting out a deep sigh. "They still have more warriors than us, and I doubt our Dragons will be of much use in the air since those woods are very dense. But what else is there that we can do?"
Silence spread over the hall as the Chieftains began thinking deeply to themselves. They knew the next clan would be stronger than the last, but they knew not if they could handle it.
Suddenly, a new voice spoke up. It was Sigurd's.
As he cleared his throat, all attention fell on him. "Perhaps we don't need to step into their territory yet… I may actually have an idea on how we can beat them... If I may explain, Hiccup? Seeing as you're the head of this meeting."
Hiccup nodded, scooting forward in his seat as he gestured his hand towards him. "Go ahead."
The older Viking eagerly stepped forward as he took out a map from his satchel, placing it down in front of him. "I stole this when we raided the Dark Eye village, but this will make it easier to explain my idea. Plus, it's coincidental."
"Take it away, then." Magnus replied in an intrigued tone.
Sigurd bowed his head, turning his gaze onto the map.
"Outside of the Blackwood Forest, there lays a village which houses someone that I have known for a while now. They are a distant friend of mine who I used to hang around with in the past, and now they are one of two Jarls which I have kept in touch with for a couple of years. But, if we go to him to ask him for our aid in this war, then I'm sure he will gladly accept in helping us."
A large amount of chatter quickly began to spread across the Hall as the Chieftains spoke with intrigued and excited tones in their voice. Was it indeed possible for them to get more allies in their war against Ivar?
It was hard for any of them to say. But even Hiccup gave a similar expression that the other Chieftains had.
He looked towards Sigurd with widened eyes. "Sigurd, does Ivar by any chance know about this? Does he even know that they-?"
"Not even a single bit." the older Viking replied, smirking. "These two friends of mine have been isolated for a long time now, with only I and a few others knowing about their locations. Hopefully when they see me however, they'll still recognize me."
Hiccup nodded slowly in interest, rubbing his hand against his chin as he started to allow his thoughts to swim on the matter, focused only on what Sigurd had shown them, and the more he thought about it, the more he was eagered to take action.
But at the same time, he knew that it would be wrong to act too hastily.
As he disregarded the thought, the young lad knew what to do, and what to plan for the coming fight.
His attention then fell back on the Chieftains as he gave them a light nod.
"Right, that concludes our meeting for today, then." he said, standing from his seat. "In the meantime, spread the word to your warriors that we will prepare to march out in two to three days timed. But until then, remained well rested and well fed, and see to it that our work remains active."
Hiccup then slammed his hand one last time on the long-table, before replying with one word; "Dismissed."
The Chieftains in response began making their way towards the doors of the Mead Hall, walking out into the light of day - and back into the busy village of Dragon's Wake.
However, as Magnus was about to walk out, Hiccup called out his name, catching his attention.
"Magnus." he said. "May I have a word with you?"
The Warsung Chieftain looked back at Sigurd who faced him with curiosity, but Magnus gave him an assuring nod as the blonde Viking continued his way out of the Hall, leaving the doors opened.
Magnus then gazed at Hiccup, making his way closer to him before the two of them sat down by the long-table, now sitting next to each other.
The eighteen year old cleared his throat, staring at Magnus with an expression that showed concern.
"Magnus." he began. "I just wanted to ask you- how is Eira doing? I received no word from you about her condition after you managed to remove the arrow from her, and I just wanted to know how she is doing."
He gave a light sigh. "She's fine." he answered. "As I said, we were able to remove the arrow without causing any further pain to her. Eira's just tensed up over what happened, but she's slowly healing. She'll be back up on her feet in no time ready to fight."
"Hm, I see. And when do you reckon that will be?"
"Most likely within two days or so." he said, gazing out towards the opened doors of the Mead Hall. "But until then, I'll have to take care of her. After all… she's so much more than just a friend to me. And even though she doesn't know it, it is indeed true."
"I know the feeling." Hiccup replied, giving off a small smirk. "... It's like the thing that's going between me and-"
"Yes yes, you don't need to explain." the older Viking said, getting a chuckle off Hiccup as he too giggled back in a hearty manner.
However, a moment of silence followed among the two as they looked around in embarrassment, wondering what to say next. But Magnus would quickly respond with a question.
"So…" he said. "How goes that project of yours? You still have yet to finish it, right?"
"Aye." said Hiccup. "But I believe that it will be ready soon. I just need to finish shaping out the mechanism that I'll need to activate the tail fin and-"
Upon hearing the words 'tail fin', Magnus' face became filled with surprise as he straightened his back, now interested.
"W- Wait, a tail fin?" he stuttered. "You're making a new fin for Toothless?"
"Yup, and I'm going to make sure that when I fly him up into the air, it works properly. I've worked many days and nights on this, and I assured Toothless that I will not let him down again. Once he is back in the air, he and I will have a fun time dealing with Ivar... y'know?"
"...I guess you could say that." Magnus shrugged as he stared out into the blue. "But we still need to consider if the enemy will have dragons of their own - because I don't know about you, but I think Ivar has something big planned. We went up against one Dragon claimed Dragon's Wake, so where are the rest?"
…
Ivar felt rocky soil touch his boots as he, his men, and Drago jumped safely off the longship, and landed on shore without incident.
From his perspective, the Viking King did not know where he was. Drago had taken him dozens and dozens of miles upon miles away from Norway, only to land on a distant rock in the middle of nowhere that was covered only with fog and smoke.
Ivar gazed back at Drago. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked him.
The man nodded in certainty. "Indeed, young Lothbrök. This is the island that I wanted to take you to. And although it may not seem like much to you, there is in fact more before you than you think there is."
"You just need to look closer… Go ahead. Move yourself forward."
Ivar did as Drago told him, taking a few limping steps forward with his walking stick in hand.
He then squinted his eyes as he came closer to what seemed to be some sort of mountain coming into view from the fog. It was not a huge mountain, but it was a mountain nonetheless…
...However, as Ivar continued making his way closer and closer to it, he soon realized that the mountain was no ordinary mountain at all, but was in fact a volcano.
Along with that, Ivar saw that there was a massive tunnel-like hole leading deep into the fiery mountain, though he could not see where it led to. And even as he looked up, he could see that the flames were still lit - but the light it gave out was somewhat quite dim.
He now knew quite well by Drago's terms that this was the island that they were looking for.
"So… this is indeed the island then?" he asked once again.
"Yes, Ivar." he replied, taking a few steps closer to the younger Viking until he stood right next to him.
He then stabbed his bullhook into the ground, gesturing his arm outward. "For many years, a majority of the Dragons that you and I know were housed here… used as slaves by something that should be a slave… though it seems they managed to finally find their way out to freedom from it's clutches a couple of years ago."
"I see." Ivar replied in a hushed tone. "And I assume this explains the large tunnel that leads into the mountain?"
Drago nodded. "Indeed. This is how the Dragons made their way out of the mountain without having to go up and out through the center of it. They blasted their way out... However, it seems that they've left the creature within the mountain starving without its source of food. The dimmed fires from the top of the volcano show it to be so… It lays weak."
"And yet it managed to survive for this long through hibernation I suppose?" said Ivar, gazing up in interest. "After all, it would need to rest itself in order to maintain its strength."
Drago chuckled in amusement, giving off a light nod. "I see why they call you the clever one… But even as it hibernates, it is still too weak to fight with all of it's might. Without having anything to eat for a couple or more years, the beast can only come out and defend itself at best. Either way, this weakness will prove as a strength for us to break it."
"...And then, it will be yours."
Ivar lowered his brows with a smirk. "Then I say let it come. When it wakes up, I will-"
...His words immediately came to a halt. The two men looked up towards the top of the volcano and noticed that the light emanating from the lava and flames had suddenly gotten brighter.
After that, a violent shaking in the earth followed with the sound of a large boom which, to Ivar, sounded like something stomping against the island they walked on.
And then, that's when they heard it… a massive roar echoed out towards them from the large tunnel that led into the mountain as the rocks then began crumbling down in front of them. The stomping got louder and closer, and the men who accompanied Ivar began to shake with suspense as they took a few steps back.
Drago however pointed his hand out, shaking his head. "Don't go anywhere! Just stand behind me, and I will take care of the rest…"
It was then that he pulled his bullhook out of the ground, facing back towards the beach as he gave out a grunt, and exhaled in anger which he began to pump up.
He then spoke out in a low tone. "It's time to even the odds…"
Drago grunted again, louder than before as the anger filling up within him quickly intensified until he began spinning his bullhook in circles.
And then, he started to scream.
"AAAHHH! AAAHHH! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Quicker and quicker he spun his bullhook in circles until from afar, the waters of the beach slowly started churning - all before turning into giant waves...