Alrighty! So before beginning, I'd like to point out that the cliffhanger from last chapter was not entirely intentional. The ending of that chapter came out to be more anti-climatic than I thought. Thankfully however, this chapter won't have a cliffhanger!
Once again, I recommend listening to some epic cinematic music while reading this to get into the mood, and I'd like to thank you guys for the support so far, and I hope you guys will like this one!
Enjoy!
"This is bad! Very bad!" Fishlegs called out.
The Riders were in shock when their eyes fell upon the Dragon flyers that rode towards them with speed. Just like with the Singetail they saw many weeks back, the Dragons that the flyers controlled were forced under their will.
Something had to be done.
Hiccup turned his head around, looking back at Magnus. "We can't hope to take on the enemy and their flyers all at once! Magnus, I want you to go down below with Thorwind and help Eira and Heather fight them off! The others and I will take care of this…"
"Are you sure Hiccup?" asked Magnus. "Those flyers outnumber you two to one!"
"We're Dragon Riders, remember? We work together as a team! Now go, we've got this!"
The older Viking sighed as he glanced between Hiccup and Eira, but nodded in approval.
"Very well. Odin be with you, Hiccup!" he said before he and his Dragon swiftly flew off towards the enemy whilst Thorwind's mouth was wide opened, ready to unleash lightning upon the foe.
Hiccup's eyes then spun towards the approaching flyers. His face glared with disgust. "Those Dragons are fighting against their own will. We'll have to split them up from their flyers without injuring them."
"How?" asked Astrid. "If we're too careful, they'll just easily blast us to bits!"
"We'll split up and make them separate to follow us! Our advanced maneuvers can make the flyers lose control of their Dragons, and we'll be able to easily take them down!"
"Uh, Hiccup? Anytime now! They're getting closer!" gasped Snotlout.
It seemed almost as if they were mere seconds away to blasting them apart. The flyers flew closer and closer with their Dragons, making them light their flames until they were but a few yards away from Hiccup and the Riders.
And then, the group immediately split.
"NOW!"
Hiccup, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Twins all flew off in different directions, causing the flyers to separate as the chase to take them down began.
However, it would not be easy for either of them to take each other out. Especially for the reckless Dragon flyers.
"Where are they going!?" one of them shouted out.
Another responded with a growl. "I- I don't know! Grr- that way! Follow him!"
As Hiccup flew higher above the battlefield, he looked back to see four flyers chasing after him. They were mounted atop a Gronckle, a Nightmare, and two Singetails with their leader riding one of them, particularly a larger Singetail.
Yet no matter how high Hiccup flew, it seemed almost as if they would not stop chasing after him, even as they still kept firing at him.
...That was until something miraculous yet unexpected happened.
As Hiccup looked back again, he saw that the Singetails began heavily resisting with their flyers to continue going up after him, and that only the Nightmare and Gronckle under the control of the flyers continued to fly up.
"Gah, fly up damn you!" the flyer captain shouted.
That gave Hiccup as sense of relief for him, but that still did not change the fact that he was still being chased, thus he began devising a plan.
He looked down at Toothless as he motioned with his hand to fly on level with the flyers rather than continue flying up.
"Alright, Bud. We're going to have to pick them both off at the same time." he said. "This may be risky, but we're going to have to split in order for this to work. You with me?"
Though hesitant, Toothless gave a Dragon-like nod, but not before narrowing his eyes towards the flyers that now laid ahead of him, flying their Dragons in place as if they were waiting for both him and Hiccup to make the first move.
The Night Fury stopped in place as well, glaring down the two Viking flyers with a growl as if he was ready to tear them apart.
Hiccup laid his hand against the side of Toothless' head. "Okay Toothless." he spoke with a hushed tone. "On my mark, I want you to fly towards that Gronckle with speed. When I give the word, you're going to fly under it and aim at the Nightmare's flyer. At the same time I will jump over the Gronckle and knock it's flyer off."
"Is that clear, Bud?"
The plan was crystal clear, and Toothless gave out a snarl that showed that he was ready for anything. And with that, the two flew straight forward, bolting towards the flyers.
As they quickly came closer and closer, Hiccup suddenly loosened the pedals, allowing for him to slightly lift his feet up as they were ever so closer… until they were finally right on top of the flyers.
"Now Bud!"
With a sudden move, the two of them immediately separated, and with great leverage at his side - Hiccup jumped up and launched himself up into the air, allowing himself to land on the Gronckle and take the flyer by surprise.
The man's eyes widened as he saw Hiccup leaping towarda him. "What the-!?"
With a great and hasty shoving punch to the flyer's exposed face, Hiccup bashed the Viking off the Gronckle's back, and at the same time, Toothless from underneath charged up a quick plasma blast - aiming it at the flyer atop the Nightmare and getting a successful hit, causing the man atop it to go jumping off in flames.
With the two Viking flyers out of the way, Hiccup finished up by jumping off the Gronckle as he quickly felt himself land back into the familiar seat of his saddle with his feet pressed down onto the pedals.
He cheered as he looked down at Toothless who grinned with excitement. It was a close one, but they had done it.
"Whoo-hoo! That'a boy, Bud!"
With their work finished up in the sky, both their eyes glanced back down below towards the battle, but what caught Hiccup's point of focus was the two Singetails that were still resisting to fly up, thus he knew it was time to fly back down.
"Alright Toothless! Let's turn around and take on those flyers down below!"
Without any delay, Toothless made a quick bolt towards the flyers riding the Singetails, but as he continued making his way down he immediately began to pick up speed, and his downward bolt turned into a swift divebomb. His mouth opened, revealing purple flames, and with a mighty huff he let out a powerful plasma blast onto one of the flyers by surprise, burning and knocking them completely off the Singetail along with shattering any armor or chains that bound the Dragon.
With the Dragon released of it's bonds, it made a quick dash as it flew off into the horizon away from the battle, leaving the leader and captain of the Viking flyers on his own.
Both he and Hiccup now flew parallel and across from each other. He glared down the scrawny Viking with anger.
"How could you have accomplished this on your own!?" he hissed, sounding guttural. "You are no skilled Dane nor Norse Viking, and yet you still manage to defeat my flyers!? We are the best trained by Warlord Vlar himself! I won't let you defeat us!"
"Is that so?" Hiccup asked back. "Look around you! You're with no one up here else except me - an experienced Dragon Rider! It is the reason why I easily took out your flyers up above! After my Dragon and I take care of you, your lackey flyers down below will be next!"
"NEVER!" he screamed. "I will never be defeated by an underling such as yourself! You can't defeat me! I'm-"
Before he could finish however, a loud yet up-close explosion caught Hiccup and Toothless by surprise - making them flinch, and before they realized it, they saw the captain of the flyers flying off the Singetail while covered in flames, leaving the somewhat large Dragon to quickly fly off towards the far-off distance.
Hiccup arched a brow, awkwardly looking around. "What the Thor was that?"
His eyes suddenly narrowed up as the sound of wings caught his attention, and from above, the Nightmare and Gronckle that Toothless and Hiccup managed to free came flying down towards them. Their Dragon faces showed a look of gratitude from the help that Hiccup and Toothless gave to them by freeing them from their captors, and because of this, they were both willing to help them out in winning the battle.
Even Toothless knew this as his expression was showing no signs of aggressive hostility, but rather the welcoming look of a new ally.
"Looks like they're going to help us now." Hiccup said, glancing back at the two Dragons that flew in front of them. "Alright then! If you wish to help, follow our lead! We're going to help free your friends!"
With no other response given, the two Dragons willingly followed Hiccup and Toothless down towards the other Riders who were fighting - yet still being chased by the rest of the flyers.
But now the tide was about to turn...
From down below, Astrid who fought along with the other Riders looked back at the flyers who were chasing her with great ferocity and speed. The agility the flyers had with the two Nadders they flew atop made it seem like they might catch up with her soon, yet no matter how much Stormfly threw at them, they wouldn't stop.
The shieldmaiden grunted in frustration. "Grr! When will these flyers just stop chasing me!? Haven't they had enough?!"
Stormfly replied only with an aggressive squawk as she spun her head back around towards the flyers before launching a blast of magnesium flames at one of them. Surprisingly, she was able to hit the flyer, but the speed of the wind against them only injured and somewhat dazed him.
The flyer roared in anger. "I AM GOING TO RIP YOUR HEAD OFF, WEAK GIRL!"
To Astrid, it seemed like the chase was about to come to a gruesome close for her. That was until she heard the sound of several blasts catch the attention of her ears.
She looked up, and from above she watched as Hiccup descended with two Dragons following behind him and Toothless. Their mouths lit up with flames, ready to blow up the enemy.
Astrid smirked with a chuckle. "Oh boy. These flyers are about to be roasted now."
Hiccup gave a beastly glare as he eyed the flyers who constantly harassed his friends… as well as his loved one. But now it was time to even the odds.
He lifted his hand up, crunching it into a fist. "Give them what they deserve! Fire!"
The fires within the Dragons all of sudden brightened, and with the advantage on their side - the three Dragons let loose their flames upon the two flyers, quickly getting rid of them almost immediately which left both of the Deadly Nadders freed from their bonds and chains.
Judging by the look that they gave however, Hiccup knew that they were ready for another fight. This time, they would fight by their own will.
The two Nadders, along with the Gronckle and Nightmare behind Hiccup gave a communicative look at each other, and before he knew it, the four winged reptiles flew off towards the remaining six flyers and their Singetails with their fire once again ready and lit.
The flyers of whom were preying on Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Twins were about to become the prey.
One by one, the Riders and the four Dragons who flocked against the enemy that bound them began blasting the flyers out of the sky. Knowing that they had the advantage in their numbers, the Riders focused on guiding the flyers unnoticeably towards the Dragons that had joined the fight with them. Once they were close enough, they positioned themselves to where they and their winged allies could get a clear shot, and just like that with their combined effort, the flyers were taken down, leaving the Singetails to fly off - roaring as they were freed.
This would not go unnoticed by the enemy however.
From afar, Vlar watched as all of his flyers were all taken down, and although he was in a way angered by the quick defeat - he was also satisfied with their work.
His glare turned into a grin. "They served their part. All is going well according to plan…" he said to himself. "Soon their gate will be brought down as I intended for it to happen, and I will burn this Stronghold to the ground as we-"
"Warlord!"
The voice of a distant warrior from afar suddenly caught his attention. From the East, he saw a large amount of Vikings and Rus' warriors rushing towards him, all exhausted and bruised from their fight at the Eastern wall.
The warrior approached him, sighing as the forces behind him grouped up. "We have lost the fight on the Eastern wall, sir! The enemy, they nearly overwhelmed us and took out more than half of our attacking force. The commanding Chieftains you put in charge were all killed in the fight. This is all we have left."
"Is that so…?" Vlar growled. "And how exactly could you have been defeated by weaklings that you outnumbered two to one!? You're telling me over a thousand of our warriors were lost to them!?"
"They had back-up come in at the last moment, Warlord! We couldn't-!"
"AND WHO EXACTLY WAS IT!?"
...
After seeing the flyers fall to their deaths, Astrid came to a complete halt as she rode back towards at Hiccup who gave her a slight look of embarrassment.
"And where were you while I was being chased, knucklehead?" she asked as she approached him.
Hiccup gave a light chuckle. "Oh you know, handling things from up above! But right now, we have to help in handling things down here too!"
His hand motioned in the distance towards Magnus, Eira, and Heather who fought atop the wall with their allies. From their point of view, the situation seemed stabilized as they were slowly but surely pushing the enemy off the walls.
"Looks like the enemy is weakening! This should be easy enough to handle!" he called out.
"Umm… Hiccup, I wouldn't be so confident!" responded Astrid. "I don't think the same could be said for the gates! Look!"
Her hand pointed down towards the main gate, and as Hiccup glanced down he saw that things were about to take a bad turn as the enemy's heavily armored battering ram positioned itself in front of the gates, ready to bring it down.
"Oh no…" he said to himself. His eyes then gazed back at the rest of the Riders, and he quickly began calling out to them. "RIDERS, RALLY UP! NOW!"
His voice bellowed loudly across the area, loud enough to catch their attention as Snotlout, Fishlegs, and Ruff and Tuff swiftly flew over with haste. Their hearts pounded heavily to Hiccup's call as if they thought he was in trouble. Surprisingly, even the four Dragons of whom they saved rallied to him as well.
Snotlout looked up at him, confused. "What's happening Hiccup!? Why are we-"
"Their battering ram!" he said. "We have to take it down now! They're about to bust their way in!"
Fishlegs' eyes widened with shock. "What!? But when were they able to get it there so quickly…?"
"Their flyers were just a distraction to keep us occupied!" called out Astrid. "Because of that, they had the time to get their warriors and ram forward!"
"Grr, why didn't we see this before!?" Snotlout grunted. "We need to take that thing down NOW! Fishlegs, destroy it!"
"With pleasure! Meatlug, fire!"
The Gronckle gnarled as her mouth filled up with rocky lava. Meatlug's nostrils smoked with anger as she then let out a spewing blast of explosive lava and launched it as hard as she could. The blast successfully found it's target…
...But the battering ram was not destroyed, nor scratched a single bit.
"What the-!? It didn't work!" gasped Fishlegs.
Hiccup gave a sigh of frustration. "It must be Dragon-proof! But if we can't destroy it, then the enemy will flood in. And that means-!"
The realization immediately dawned upon Hiccup as his eyes turned towards Magnus who still fought with Eira and Heather on the wall against the enemy. He knew if they didn't get off soon, then they would be attacked from behind.
Astrid's voice rose up, attracting back Hiccup's attention. "Now what do we do? We're just sitting ducks if we do nothing but-"
"I want you guys to attack their reserves with what we have, along with our new winged friends!" he ordered. "Right now the enemy are at their most vulnerable. Take out their Devastators, and weaken them as much as you can. I have to warn Magnus - now!"
Without another word, Hiccup and Toothless flew forward towards the wall, leaving the other Riders and their Dragons flying there in place with confusion towards Hiccup's reaction. But despite that, the group had their orders, and they knew what they had to do.
Astrid spun her head back towards the others. "Well you heard him. Let's give them Hel!"
The Riders all cheered in unison with the Dragons' roars, turning towards Vlar's position as they flew towards his ranks with haste, ready to give his men and allies a beating. The Dragons' mouths soon lit up brightly with flames of anger as they closed in...
Back down below from Magnus' perspective, the enemy was beginning to make their way off the wall. He, along Thorwind, Eira, and Heather put their effort into tearing the enemy apart. The three Vikings fought with their allies whilst Thorwind struck down lightning from the sky like a cloud - almost impenetrable.
As Magnus' blade struck down onto his last foe, he looked back at the Battleborn Vikings who fought bravely with him, and he smirked in approval.
"Victory is ours!" he shouted. "Continue to hold, they're going to send their next wave up soon!"
The Warsung Chieftain seemed confident with their position. It seemed to him that no matter how hard the enemy fought, they could not at all get passed them.
However, the voice of Hiccup would catch his attention as he spotted the scrawny Viking and his Night Fury flying through the sky, calling out to him.
"Magnus!" he called out as he swiftly landed on the wall. "Magnus! Get yourself and the others out of here, NOW! You're about to be overrun!"
The older Viking looked up at him, arching a brow. "What? Hiccup, do you not see that the enemy is on the run from the wall? We're going to-!"
"The same can't be said for the gate!" Hiccup interrupted, causing the look of confidence on Magnus' face to fade. "They're about to bring it down Magnus! We can't destroy their battering ram! They are coming!"
"No…"
His eyes widened, now gazing down towards the gates as he noticed that they were being pounded at with brute force. At this rate, he knew the gates would quickly come crumbling down.
Magnus pointed his sword towards the courtyard down below as he rose his voice up for all to hear.
"ALL WARRIORS TO THE COURTYARD! DEFEND THE AREA WITH YOUR LIVES!"
Upon hearing the order, the Battleborn Vikings without question began making their way down the stairs and into the large courtyard from which the Broken Axe Vikings would flood into. Eventually, the walls were completely emptied out, and all of the troops had made their way down.
Quickly they lined up into position, with the warriors placing their shields forward in a shield wall and the archers readying their bows and arrows to let loose onto the enemy.
Hiccup, Magnus, Eira, and Heather stood at the front with their weapons in hand, along with both Toothless and Thorwind standing at their sides. They were all ready to brace for whatever was to come through the gates, and as the great doors came closer to being rammed down, their hearts pumped more rapidly.
Until finally, with one last mighty ram, the gates were broken down and the way for the enemy to flood into Strongholm was clear...
However, out of an unexpected turn of events - they did not immediately rush in. Instead, only one figure came through.
At first, the smoke from the dirt and burning rubble shadowed the figure to Hiccup and the others. However, what they did notice was that in the man's left hand he carried a large axe that looked ready to cleave someone in two.
But as the smoke cleared, Hiccup realized that the axe in the large man's hand was not a regular axe, but a prosthetic weapon.
From the rubble, a bearded man stepped forth with a battle-crazed look on his face. His pale skin was quite noticable to Hiccup, and immediately the lad recognized who the man was, or rather - who the Chieftain was.
It was Hjalmar, Chieftain of the Broken Axe Clan.
As Hjalmar's eyes glanced around at the force that stood before him, his attention diverted onto Hiccup who stood out from the rest of them, and instantly a glaring grin formed on his face.
"So, we meet again Hiccup Haddock." he said. "I still have not forgotten the score you and I have to settle after what you did in my Arena. Either you will be my last kill, or you will give me a hundred kills as promised! I still only counted ninety nine!"
Hiccup rose his blazing sword up in front of him, making a taunting manner. "Oh… well, technically for me it's over three hundred by now. Considering how many I have slain in the previous battles against Frode and Karvein whose heads are now rolling, I don't think you will stand a chance this time."
"Be silent!" interrupted Hjalmar. "Ivar will see to it that your head is delivered to him on a pike! Your war against us has gone for far too along! Today, it will to come to an end one way or another, and soon I will-!"
Before Hjalmar could finish, the sound of a loud distant horn caught everyone's attention, taking him and all of the warriors from both sides by surprise.
Though Hiccup could not see it, he knew it was coming from the East, and it sounded... familiar.
Out on the battlefield where Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, and the Twins fought with their allied Dragons, the effort they gave in attacking Vlar's forces directly had made them exhausted. Even as the Devastators and war machines around them burnt, the enemy fired as many arrows as they could onto the Riders, but their aim was not enough.
Both sides were even.
But it was then that Astrid and the others heard the horn coming from the East as well. And it was no ordinary horn either.
It was the horn of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe.
Astrid's charred covered face turned towards the hill to the East, and above the hill she saw a white ray of light from the clouds slowly hit her, reflecting down onto the group and as well as the battlefield - almost like a sign of hope, and from afar, she and the Riders saw a figure.
Snotlout squinted as the bright ray faded from his sight. "Who- who is that?"
From the distance on top of the hill, a large figure stood looking over the ruined battlefield with an axe in one hand, and a battle horn in the other. His face was disgusted by the sight of the enemy, but gazing upon his allies gave him relief as he knew deep down, Hiccup, his son, was still alive and fighting.
Stoick took a step forward, taking a deep breath of air from where he stood.
He spoke softly. "The long march is over…"