For this particular A/N, I don't have much to say aside that this chapter is the spark for what's going to happen next chapter, and that spark will turn into a bonfire. However, you guys will just have to wait and see! But for now, I hope you guys will like this one!
And of course, thank you guys for all the support so far!
Now then, please enjoy!
"Right everyone, fall into formation!"
Stoick's voice bellowed as rank upon rank of Vikings marched into position outside Ravengard, ready to be addressed to their Chieftains whilst a number of voices were shouting out orders.
From atop the ramparts, the guards of Ravengard watched with slight tension, as well as concerned as to what was going on.
"Who are they? Are they planning to siege us?" one of them asked, looking anxiously.
"Do they plan to starve us out?" another questioned, tightening the grip on his axe.
Though their voices were low, Stoick from down below noticed the silent commotion, and he rose a brow as his eyes glanced up at the guards from atop the wall.
'What are they doing?' he thought to himself, not knowing that they were actually somewhat anxious of his arrival.
And so, he took a step forward, giving a friendly wave to them.
"Greetings!" he shouted. "I come on behalf of the Tribes of the Archipelago, and I have come to see my son and your Jarl!"
The guards looked at each other in confusion, now wondering if the Vikings that stood before them weren't actually their enemies.
"Archipelago?" one man's voice spoke up in question. "And... a son?"
"Aye, my son Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III! He came here recently with his friends from atop their Dragons! ...If you could, could you please bring both him and your leader out here?"
There was a moment of silence. No answer came from the guards except for the drizzling rain falling. Instead, they simply just stared at Stoick, uncertain if he was truly addressing who he was.
But then, someone rose their voice up to speak.
"How do we know we can trust you? For all we know, you could be working for that lunatic Ivar and his crazed army of outsiders! We've been attacked by Barbarians who don't come from these lands, and you think you can just walk in and demand that we let you see our leader? You have no right to-"
"Enough!"
A sudden voice of authority immediately interrupted the guard as the sound of multiple pairs of footsteps from the other side caught the warriors' attention.
They looked down, seeing Hvitserk looking back up at them, scoffing in disappointment at them. With him were Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather, the Twins, and Sigurd.
"Next time there is a situation, you leave it to me to handle it. Now open the gates! I want to speak with our visitor myself."
On command, four guards ran over as they slowly pulled the large gates opened, revealing Hvitserk's face to Stoick as he and the group walked forward.
They took a few paces before stopping a some feet away from Stoick.
The Chieftain stared at the young Jarl, intrigued in his appearance.
"A bit younger than I expected…" he commented. "But I assume you are the one Sigurd told me about?"
"That's right." the lad replied. "My name is Hvitserk, and I am the Jarl of this town which you stand before. It's called Ravengard, and it's my home."
Stoick nodded with a smirk. "I see… A beautiful place I must say. But if I may ask, what was your answer to Hiccup's offer for alliance? Did you-?"
"Yes. I accepted, and I accepted willingly. I want to stop Ivar as much as Hiccup does, but I have to first deal with Karvein and his Barbarians who have been recently harassing my people. That Germanic wretch has to go."
"Indeed." said Stoick. "So… I guess that makes us both allies then?"
"Aye, it does." Hvitserk replied as he stuck out a welcoming hand.
Stoick responded by sticking out his own as well as they both grasped each other's hand for a firm handshake.
"It's good to have you with us." Stoick said as their grip separated. "Now… if I may ask, where's my son?"
"He left about half an hour ago or so." said Snotlout, standing behind Hvitserk. "Fishlegs and Astrid found something, so he went with her, and Magnus and Eira to investigate- as well as with Toothless. So far though, I don't know where he-"
"Dad!"
The familiar voice of Hiccup caught everyone's attention as he came running into view with Astrid, Toothless, and Magnus and Eira at his side. All of them breathed heavily.
As they stopped in front of Stoick, panting to catch their breath, the Berkian Chief approached his son and laid a hand on his shoulder.
"Son!" he said. "What happened? Is there something wrong?"
He shook his head, standing up straight. "No, there's nothing wrong… but we found something that you might want to hear about."
"Something? ...What did you find out there, Son?" asked Stoick
"A Dragon, and a unique one I should say... Though I think it's best we discuss this somewhere more quiet, it's something that only you and the others should hear. Hvitserk, can you get the Chieftains settled in with Sigurd?"
"Aye, I'll see what I can do." he said.
Hiccup nodded. "Very good. Now Dad, as I was saying…"
…
"A Skrill?"
They all sat around a table, and Stoick, Snotlout, Heather, and the Twins spoke up in unison upon hearing that name, echoing throughout the hall.
"Aye, a Skrill." said Hiccup. "When we found it, the Barbarians pinned it down and planned to capture it. They wanted to take it to Karvein so that he could use it against not just us, but particularly Ravengard."
"Against this town?" asked Stoick. "But why a Skrill? He has an entire army that could have destroyed this whole village before we even arrived."
Hiccup shrugged. "Ivar has possession of a few Dragons that we have thus far not seen, but even I don't know why Karvein would want one for himself. Unless he wanted a Dragon as much as Ivar did?"
"To me, it seems like he envies Ivar's influence over Dragons." answered Magnus with his arms crossed. "The fool is not familiar with them as much as we are, and he believes that the only way to have a Dragon is to control it by force. But…"
Magnus stopped short of his words, looking down at his feet whilst he was thinking.
Stoick leaned forward in his seat. "What is it, Magnus?"
"...I think the Skrill nearly bonded with me or something." he finally responded. "I saw something in its eyes that I did not expect to see, and it seemed almost as if it was on friendly ground with me. When I freed it, it did not want to attack me, and I still wonder to myself why it gazed at me that way."
Eira, who sat next to him, chuckled as she lightly took one of his hands, pulling it closer to her and holding it in both her hands.
"That's because you were the one who saved it." she said. "You killed the captain with the first move in one blow, and you were the first one it saw when you charged out. As I said before, it likely saw a trait in you that none of us have, and you should be proud of yourself for having it. Hm?"
"Hm, I guess so." he shrugged. "It's just that I'm uncertain, alright? Who knows where that Skrill has flown off to, or if it will ever return."
"Someday, maybe." said Hiccup. "Toothless returned to me when we first met, so I think it would make sense if he returned to you."
"He?"
The lad nodded. "Well yeah, he's got to be a male or female, hasn't he? And from how I saw it's features, that Skrill looked more like a male than anything."
"Hm, makes sense… but the point being is, where has he gone? He could be anywhere in Blackwood, maybe even hunting down the Barbarians."
"Most likely he'd be doing that." Astrid stated as she glanced at a nearby brazier.
"Skrills are known to have little forgiveness for their predator, so most of the time they'd go after them. In this case, that Dragon is going after Karvein's allies, and if I stand correct, then that Skrill has just made the predator into his prey."
"Oh my." Heather lightly gasped. "Now things have really escalated."
She gave a nod. "Aye, and it probably won't end there. At least, not until most, if not all of the Barbarians lay dead. If anything, Karvein is just a nuisance to many who aren't seeking a fight, and because of his actions, his enemies are bringing the fight to him."
"So… in other words, he screwed himself over?" asked Tuffnut. "I means there's the Skrill, our new allies, the enemies he pissed off…"
"Tuff, we're his enemies." sighed Heather. "And besides, despite how we approach him, we are still going to beat him one way or another; even the field is already planned out."
Tuffnut giggled. "Good. I can't wait to see some blood on his face."
"Not unless I make him bleed first!" shouted Ruffnut as she dramatically unsheathed her sword, to which Tuffnut cringed.
"Ugh, you're so over-dramatic." he said.
Hiccup sighed, facepalming himself. "Guys, let's get back on topic, please? We need to- ...wait, Heather - did you just say that you already have the battlefield planned out?"
She nodded. "I did, but really it isn't anything special."
"I want you to tell me about it regardless… I want to know where we're going to fight."
"...Alright." she sighed. "If you must know, we have devised a plan to fight the Barbarians in an open area rather than in the woods directly since one ambush from them could annihilate our forces. But the location will need to be deforested."
"Deforested?" asked Hiccup. "...Huh, it does make sense. After all, the Barbarians won't have an advantage at ambushing us."
"But they'll still have cover." stated Magnus. "We can't just deforest the entire Blackwood Forest. And besides, they'll likely hide behind the woods that will remain standing on the other side of the field, taunting us."
"So how do we get them to charge at us in the open?" asked Stoick. "We can't just taunt them that easily. They'll still mock us whilst we stand doing nothing but what they are doing. It would make us no better than them."
Magnus gestured in agreement. "Aye. And thus, we'll have to pull them out from a far range… but we'll need catapults and other kinds siege weapons since our Dragons alone won't be enough. We'll burn the forest behind them to cut off their retreat, forcing them to fight us."
"And then once Karvein is out in the open, we can cut the head off the snake and end him." stated Hiccup as he stood from his chair. "The faster we succeed in this, then the faster this war will end. Ivar won't stand a chance once he finds himself outnumbered and without his allies… but for right now, we need to-"
His words were suddenly cut off as the doors of the Mead Hall swung wide opened, and in came marching Hvitserk with two guards and Sigurd at his side. They looked troubled.
"Hiccup." said Hvitserk. "I need you outside with me, right now."
The young Viking looked at the Jarl with confusion. "What is it, Hvitserk? Is there a problem going on with the other Chieftains?"
He shook his head. "No, they've been settled in as you asked me to. But right now we have a different situation on our hands… A entire regiment of Barbarians stand outside our gates, unarmed."
"How many are there?" Hiccup asked him.
"At least three dozen. But they didn't come here without reason. They've come here to discuss terms with us."
…
The gates slowly opened as Hiccup and the others hastily made their way outside to the front of the village, and before them, a well organized regiment of thirty six Barbarian warriors stood in formation, unarmed with their weapons sheathed.
To Hiccup, the look of their bronze and iron helmets caught his attention, but not as much as the two noticeable figureheads that stood before him, both of them wearing black furred cloaks and dark lamellar armor.
They stepped forward, giving dirty grins to the group.
"Now then." one of them said. "If you will not interrupt me, then allow me to introduce myself and my ally here. I am Wulfrin, Chieftain of the Black Blade Tribe, and this right here is Adulmar, Chieftain of the Red Horse Tribe. We have come to state our terms to you under Karvein's orders. Specifically, terms of surrender."
"And whose surrender might you be talking about, Barbarian? Yours?" asked Stoick.
"It is not our surrender, Archipelago pig. That would be your surrender." spat back Adulmar. "Either way, hear us out before you make me gut you."
Hiccup nodded, crossing his arms. "And what are your terms, Barbarian?"
"...The High Barbarian Chieftain knows that you are here, Hiccup Haddock. Oh yes, we know who you are, and we know why you are here. You want to save your friend Hvitserk here from annihilation."
"Unfortunately, even with your Dragons, you are not safe from our gaze." Wulfrin responded as he gestured towards Toothless and the other Dragons.
"Thus, we give you Hvitserk - two final choices. Hand over Hiccup and the rest of his pitiful Vikings to us for Ivar and the Great Viking Army, and announce your loyalty to him. Your treason against us will be excused, and your people will not have to die."
"Or…" said Adulmar. "Refuse, and you can watch as your precious village burns to the ground by the thousands Karvein commands. Our arrows will rain death over your people, and we shall soon have Devastators that will bring forth fire and destruction over Ravengard. You know you cannot escape it."
"You know you cannot win."
Hvitserk was angered by the Chieftains' words, and what bothered him more was that they had the guts to march to his village, undermanned, and unarmed just so that they could threaten him and his people. For him, that was the last straw.
Even the others glared at the two Barbarians and their warriors with hate in their eyes.
"Exactly how stupid can you two muttonheads be?" Snotlout spat, stepping forward with his hand on his sheath. "You come to OUR ally's doorstep, and you demand him to surrender what does not belong to you? We have Dragons that have blown up more Devastators than your Slavic allies could possibly create, and they have killed your warriors by the hundreds."
"And yet our allies have Dragons too you know." laughed Wulfrin. "Soon, all oppression against Ivar will perish under his boot. Either you stand with him, or you stand against him."
"And when exactly would that fool ever begin to give us such a choice?" asked Astrid. "When was that choice ever given to us when he invaded our home!? He nearly destroyed everything that stood in his way, and he left our islands in ruin. If anything, I would leave him and his damned army ruined!"
"Agreed." said Sigurd. "I speak for Hvitserk as he speaks for me. And if anything, our answer to you is no. We will not surrender until all of you lie defeated beneath our feet."
Adulmar scoffed. "Hm, if that is your choice, then I guess we're done here. We'll send word to-"
"No" interrupted Hvitserk as he slowly unsheathed his blade. "You are not going anywhere."
The young Jarl rose his sword up into the air as he motioned the group to back up, and from atop the village's walls, dozens of archers ran into position with their bows in hand. As they quickly got into place, they pulled their arrows back on their strings and aimed it down at the two Barbarians and their warriors.
Then, with one single swipe from Hvitserk, the archers let loose their arrows.
…
Nine hours later…
Hvitserk went on a rampage after what he did. His hate grew deeper than ever for the Barbarians, and with Hiccup and the Riders aiding him with their Dragons, they sacked one of the major Bloody Berserker outposts, leaving only a few standing for them to return and tell the tale to their High Chieftain.
And he would not at all be pleased at the result.
Karvein stood from his seat around the bonfire, staring down at the small crate that laid at his feet with the heads of both Wulfrin and Adulmar inside it.
He grunted, staring back at the five warriors who stood near him at attention, infuriated.
"Let me see if I have this right." he began. "Hvitserk, who has refused my offer to invite him into the ranks of the Great Army, has killed two of my remaining Chieftains and the regiment that accompanied him, and you did NOTHING TO STOP HIM!?"
"We couldn't have done anything, Chief Karvein." one of them said. "The crate was delivered to our outpost this morning when the attack begun. Along with that, they burnt the outpost to a crisp until no hut was left standing. They only left us men standing so that we could take this news back to you."
Karvein's eyes widened in surprise, but also with slight confusion. "Which outpost did they burn. HOW did they burn it?"
"It was Axe Maul outpost that they burnt, Chief." the warrior replied. "It was the closest outpost to this village, more than six hours away from us. It housed over two hundred warriors."
Karvein nodded in note of it. "And how many survived?"
"Only a couple dozen of us. The rest were outnumbered and slaughtered by Hvitserk who was accompanied by… Dragons."
"Dragons?"
The man nodded. "Yes Chieftain. Dragons. Not only that, but they were ridden by a group of young riders who call themselves the Dragon Riders. They are led by the one you mentioned; Hiccup Haddock."
Karvein went silent. His head turned back to face the burning bonfire as his eyes reflected the roaring flames, showing the anger that began to grow in him.
"Hiccup Haddock thinks me to be a fool?" he muttered, clutching his fists. "Hvitserk first turns his back on me, and now he LEADS HICCUP TO ME!? THAT FOOL HAS TRIED MY HAND FOR THE LAST TIME! If I must get things done my own way, then I shall do so!"
"Your orders, Chief Karvein?" one of the warriors asked.
Karvein looked back. "Summon every Barbarian warrior in Blackwood and bring them all here to me! Tomorrow, we shall begin preparations to march on Hiccup and his fool ally Hvitserk! I will put them down once and for all!"
"All?" said another warrior. "But Chieftain, isn't that a bit risky?"
"We've tempered and covered our blades in Roman blood in ages past." he said, gritting his teeth. "Hiccup and his lapdogs won't be any different. If they march against us, then let them come! I will have Hiccup Haddock's head on my axe when this is done, and his Night Fury's skin will make a good cloak for me…"
"Now go! Spread the order around! In two days, we march!"
The warriors gave a bow to their Chieftain, hastily making their way out of his Longhouse and out into the cold night of the village, knowing now that battle ahead was inevitable. It would either be victory, or death.
"Prepare yourself, Haddock." spoke Karvein. "Only defeat awaits you..."
I hope you guys are somewhat hyped, because next chapter will be a battle chapter!
Thanks for reading!