Merry Christmas, everyone!
Well, this is it guys! The last part of this battle is here! Prepare for what may be a somewhat quick but satisfying fight as Hiccup once again takes on one of our antagoniats!
As last time, I recommend listening to epic cinematic music with headphones while reading this chapter to make the reading experience better. Nevertheless, I hope you guys will like this one!
Enjoy!
"The long march is over…"
Snow lightly fell overhead from the bright wintry clouds that laid above Stoick. His voice sounded low and deep as he eyed the enemy ahead on the distant war torn battlefield. The sight of the flying figures of the Dragon Riders was enough for him to know that Hiccup was alive.
Now it was time to turn the tide.
"My son stands alone in this dark hour." Stoick said, laying his sight on the Fortress, yet as he spoke - eight more figures appeared to his side.
On both his right and left flanks, all of the Chieftains lined up next to him, holding their weapons tightly as they were prepared for battle.
Dagur stepped forth, spinning both of his axes in hand. "He's not alone this day. Today, we will be the ones victorious. Let's end it!"
The Berserker Chieftain then rose an axe up, raising up his voice to shout for those behind to hear.
"VIKINGS! COME FORWARD!"
As Astrid and the Riders watched their motions from afar, the sudden sound of hundreds of horses slowly galloping caught their ears. Behind Stoick, a long line of over three hundred horsemen came into view.
Astrid grinned with pride as her eyes spotted the colors of the Hairy Hooligan and Warsung Tribe atop the horses. Now things were indeed about to take a turn.
With the horses lined up in position, Stoick pointed his axe forward before shouting to the men behind with inspiration; "IN ODIN'S NAME! CHARGE!"
"FOR ODIN!" they all shouted in unison. Their horses then quickly began moving with haste, now galloping towards Vlar and his forces in a tide of steel which made the Warlord himself almost freeze in shock.
But that was not the only thing he would face.
From behind the wave of charging Vikings on their steeds, Stoick, the Chieftains, and the rest of the army rushed out - bellowing out their battle cries and roaring loudly as they charged.
Vlar, desperate not to lose this fight, looked back at those who stood around him.
"FORM YOUR RANKS! SHIELD BEARERS TO THE FRONT, SPEARS BEHIND!"
The Rus' warriors and their Viking allies, though shaken, rushed to the front with their weapons tight in their grip. Clearly they were tensed up after seeing their foe come into view, but now they began to doubt whether they could win.
Quickly the bearers grouped together and formed up a shield wall in an attempt to counter the cavalry charge, and the spearmen from behind stuck their polearms out to try and help in the effort. But even with their forces almost equally numbered to the Vikings of the Archipelago, their fear slowly began to take over.
The spearmen from behind took a few steps back as their weapons were no longer pointing straight out, showing off their cowardice and disability to continue fighting.
Vlar, who stood far behind the ranks with guards around him, glared at his forces with disgust.
"What the Hel is the matter with you dammit!?" the Warlord shouted. "Stand up straight you cowards! If you run, you will die by my hammer!"
Yet even as he poorly attempted to get his men back into shape, it was already far too late.
The Vikings atop their horses roared as they bashed through the enemy lines, nearly wiping out the first two ranks of Vikings and Rus' warriors as they entered the fight and formed a battleline, all whilst the Riders and their Dragons let loose fire from above on their foes.
"Let's give them what they deserve!" shouted Astrid.
"Comin' in hot!" cheered Snotlout.
From behind the line of horses, Stoick and the rest of the Vikings of Archipelago charged in, joining the fray as their weapons rose high up and clashed with their weakened enemy…
Over from Hiccup's point of view however, he and those around him could hear the sounds of battle emanating from outside the wall. It was clear that his friends and allies had arrived just in time. But even with them, the fight still had to be won.
He looked over at Hjalmar, glaring a smirk as he waved the Dragon's Blade in circles, ready to strike. "Looks like your Rus' allies won't be helping you in his one, Hjalmar."
"Who said I needed help?" he chuckled gutturally. "I'll make you choke on your own blood as my axe slices your head off of your miserable weak body! CHARGE!"
His command came out loud and clear. The Broken Axe Vikings came flooding through the gates, raising their weapons up and forward, and placing their shields out as they rushed towards Hiccup, Magnus, Eira, Heather, and their allies - roaring in unison.
Hiccup responded quickly by bringing his blade down and forward, yelling loudly "CHARGE!"
The Battleborn Vikings around him responded with bellowing screams and battle cries as they ran forward with Hiccup and the others at the front. Their blades, axes, and spears were ready for a fight.
As they charged, Toothless and Thorwind blasted the enemy from the sides with their lightning and fiery attacks which exploded almost point-blank ranged in their faces, sending them flying off in multiple directions.
After that, the two sides finally clashed, with Hiccup and Hjalmar's blades crashing into one another.
Their weapons fell into a weapon-lock, with both combatants pushing as hard as they could against each other like angry boars fighting over meat, except they were both the fresh meat.
Hjalmar laughed. "You're stronger than I thought, Haddock! But you are not strong enough!"
"Shut up and fight already, Hjalmar!" grunted Hiccup. "We'll see who comes out on top!"
Immediately the young Viking pulled his flaming sword back from the Chieftain's prosthetic axe, before landing another strike to get him off-balance. However, Hjalmar's size gave Hiccup's strength a disadvantage, and he responded by striking the young Viking's blade with heavy force, making the lad step back a couple of feet as he was nearly knocked to the ground.
"Is that the best you've got!?" spat Hiccup.
He quickly straightened himself out, lunging forth at Hjalmar with speed as he struck swiftly with the Dragon's Blade, performing attack after attack against his weapon in an attempt to give way for an opening. And although Hjalmar was stronger, Hiccup was quicker - and as they both continued fighting, it seemed as if the battle was even.
Almost too even.
Hiccup knew that simply attacking where he wanted to land a striking blow would not be enough. He knew the Broken Axe Chieftain was on the defense, taking all of the blows only to respond with a counter. So instead of wasting his time of continuously slicing and dicing, he began to slowly devise a plan until eventually an idea came upon him.
He took a step back, keeping his blade in front of him and in place. A smirk stretched across his face. "Well then, Hjalmar!" he began in taunting manner. "Looks like you may have the better of this one. But we'll see who is better on the offensive! Go on then, strike me if you can! Let's see how far you'll get before I plunge my blade right through your fat stomach!"
"Trying to taunt me, eh!?" the Chieftain asked gutturally. "It will take more than just piss coming from your mouth to make me attack you!"
Hiccup's brows lowered in a glare, nearly becoming tempted to strike. But his cool was kept as he continued in attempting to bad-mouth the large Viking. "And it will take more than just standing for you there to beat me! I assure you that the longer you stand there talking, the sooner you'll find yourself at Ivar's feet as a dishonorable failure and-"
"YOU INSULT MY HONOR!?" Hjalmar bellowed. "I will have your head for this, Haddock! Ivar will reward me once I am through with you!"
Once again the Broken Axe Chieftain charged, raising his axe as he violently rushed Hiccup in a fit of rage. However as he did, an opening became clear to Hiccup as he too rushed Hjalmar. As he did, he rolled around the large man's left side where his prosthetic attempted to cleave down and strike, and he struck.
Surprisingly, Hjalmar missed his blow as Hiccup rolled around him, and immediately he felt a bursting jolt of pain spread throughout his lower left leg as the young Viking sliced his fiery blade across the Chieftain's ankle.
Hiccup then quickly recovered as he straightened himself out and took a few steps back, now standing behind Hjalmar with a determined grin on his face.
"Looks like I wasn't wrong when I made that crack on your weight." Hiccup taunted. "I guess you really do have some weight issues."
Hjalmar turned around, heavily infuriated as he glared at Hiccup. "Gah! I've had enough of your nonsense, Haddock! Just DIE!"
The Chieftain was now in a frenzy. With bloodlust rushing through him, he hastily attempted to charge Hiccup with speed that not even the young Viking could have been able to dodge… were it not for Toothless.
As the Night Fury fought off waves of Vikings, he noticed his best friend standing in Hjalmar's crosshairs, ready to tear the young man apart. Toothless quickly reacted by igniting a plasma blast and hurling it towards the Broken Axe Chieftain, causing the large Viking to be knocked down onto his back as he felt blazing pain hit his side.
Despite the pain, Hjalmar quickly stood back up to his feet and spun towards where the source of the blast came from. His eyes fell upon Hiccup and Toothless who stood side by side, along with Magnus, Eira, Heather, and Thorwind who ran over to help Hiccup out.
Hiccup stepped forward. "It's over, Hjalmar."
The Chieftain spat, shaking his head. "Not just yet! HUSCARLS, GET OVER HERE!"
His voice boomed around the area of the courtyard, and before Hiccup or the others knew it, they saw heavily armored Vikings with plate helmets running towards them with two handed axes in their hands. Though their large figures were intimidating, they were not intimidating enough.
One of them approached Magnus and attempted to strike him down, but the Warsung Chieftain was not to be underestimated with.
Magnus quickly reacted by raising his blade up to block the huscarl's attack, before spinning his weapon in a circle to swing the Viking's axe out of his grasp and out the way. He then immediately came back up with his sword and swiftly struck at the huscarl's vulnerable neck - causing him to bleed out and choke before stabbing him through his exposed stomach.
After dealing with the huscarl, Magnus spun blade as he motioned Eira, Heather, and Thorwind to follow. "Hiccup, take care of Hjalmar! We'll deal with his huscarls!"
Hiccup gave a nod as the three Vikings and their angry Skrill ran off into battle. "With pleasure!" he responded.
Once again, both he and Hjalmar found themselves ready for another fight, except this time - Hiccup had the advantage. They both slowly paced in circles across from each other, glaring.
"You want to play that game then!?" the large Viking asked. "Fine then, LET'S PLAY!"
Hjalmar's feet moved hastily but heavily as he violently ran at Hiccup with his axe raised to the side, ready to cleave him in two. But the young Viking was prepared. Hiccup quickly blocked Hjalmar's attack, holding his prosthetic axe in a weapon lock until the Chieftain quickly decided to break the lock by pulling back, and attack Hiccup where he was exposed.
But despite how strong the Broken Axe Chieftain was, he was too slow for the hasty Viking.
Hiccup once more blocked Hjalmar's move, but rather than just blocking - he parried the man's attack, leaving an opening for striking as Hiccup sliced his sword across the left side of Hjalmar's lower chest, slowing him down even more.
Now he had the chance to even the fight's odds.
He looked back at Toothless who was ready to strike the man with a plasma blast. "Not yet Bud! Wait until I give the command!"
From there, things began to go downhill for the Chieftain of the Broken Axe Clan. Hjalmar would attempt to attack Hiccup in whatever way he could with his brute strength and speed, but no matter what he did, his attacks would turn against him as he was already slowed down to the point where he could not out rush Hiccup.
Because of this, Hiccup now had a strategy.
Knowing that he was swifter and faster than his opponent, Hiccup focused on dodging and parrying Hjalmar's attacks whenever he could. He would only dodge whenever the opportunity was not cleared to him - or whenever the enemy Chieftain was not exposed for an attack.
But whenever the advantage did come upon him, Hiccup would focus on slicing and stabbing his fiery blade towards areas that were exposed such as underneath Hjalmar's arms, towards the sides of his chest, or anywhere where there was no heavy armor protecting him, and when it was possible, Hiccup would attack in the same spots he had already struck at and do it all over again.
For a while the young Viking kept up at this, until the Broken Axe Chieftain began to go into another frenzy, and this time it was uncontrollable. The scent of his own blood began to drive him to madness, and the wounds and scratches on his body just fueled his need to continue pressing on.
Hjalmar backed up, gritting his teeth as he began breathing heavily. "I WILL KILL YOU HADDOCK, DO YOU HEAR ME!?" he roared. "I WILL SEND YOUR HEAD SPINNING DOWN TO HELHEIM AND I WILL SKIN THE HIDE OF YOUR DRAGON INTO A NEW CLOAK! I WILL-"
"NOW TOOTHLESS!"
Hiccup's command came out to Toothless loud and clear. All whilst Toothless stood there holding off further waves of Vikings, he held his breath in for the moment that he and Hiccup was waiting for, and now it was time break the Broken Axe beyond repair.
Toothless ignited his flames and began to charge up, and with a quick and final attack on Hjalmar he fired his plasma blast towards the Chieftain at up-close range, knocking the large man off his feet and down to the ground.
The blast caused smoke and dust to fly all around, and for a moment it blinded both Hiccup and Toothless of their vision. Once the smoke cleared however, they saw Hjalmar laying before them. His skin was seared, and his body was charred and severely burnt as a result of Toothless' plasma blast. The Chieftain was by that point barely alive.
Hiccup sighed, glancing back at his fiery blade.
"It's time."
Without anything else to say, Hiccup stomped his way over to Hjalmar until he was standing right on top of the broken Viking, and with a swift and direct strike, he stabbed his fiery sword right straight Hjalmar's exposed chest, causing the man to groan in pain as he felt a burning sensation run through his body, along with his mind beginning to go black.
However, the last words that came out of Hjalmar's mouth was; "One... hundred... kills..." as he slowly went lifeless.
Hiccup kept his blade in that position until the Chieftain's skin had gone fully pale, thus he knew Hjalmar's life came to an end.
He was no more.
The young Viking pulled his blade from the man's lifeless figure and spat on it. "May you rest among the dishonorable dead, mongrel." he said before backing up, and glancing over at Toothless.
Hiccup sheathed his blade, placing both his hands on Toothless' head. "Good work Bud… Looks like we've won here."
And his words would be proven right. From all around, he began to notice the remnants of the enemy Vikings rushing out of the gate, with the Battleborn allies chasing them out - hot on their tails.
He then heard Magnus' voice call out to them. "WE HAVE THE ENEMY ON THE RUN! PURSUE THEM, LADS!"
Now curious as to what was going on outside of the walls, Hiccup quickly mounted on top of Toothless and gestured the Night Fury to fly up to view Astrid and the other Riders who were still fighting against Vlar and the Iron Wolf Clan.
"Alright, Toothless. Let's see how Astrid and the others are holding up with…"
Upon laying eyes on the battlefield however, it was apparent to him that the Riders did not need help from him. Not even a bit.
On one side of the battle, Hiccup spotted the colors of the Hairy Hooligan Tribe flying over the field along with the colors of the Warsung, Berserkers, Outcasts, the Defenders of the Wing - and the rest of the Tribes of the Archipelago. They were all there, sweeping in on the enemy from the East whilst on the other side from the West, the rest of the Battleborn Vikings led by Ubba, Hvitserk, and Sigurd swept in, clashing with the enemy and slowly digging away at their ranks.
Hiccup knew without having to say it that it was a victory, especially when he heard the enemy's horn of retreat sound throughout the field. Outmatched and outnumbered, they had no choice but to run.
Down below from Vlar's perspective, the Varangian Warlord stood there in anger as noticed Hiccup and Toothless, glaring at the sight of them after being forced to blow the horn.
He then pointed his warhammer up towards Hiccup and Toothless. "I WILL HAVE MY VENGEANCE FOR THIS, HADDOCK! WHEN NEXT WE MEET, I WILL FACE YOU PERSONALLY!"
Though he knew he was too far away to be heard, Vlar still turned around towards the other direction, and began running for his life alongside the remnants of those who followed, and in response, Hiccup's allies and friends began cheering at the sight of the enemy fleeing North.
As they fled however, Hiccup noticed the skies slowly brightening up from behind the clouds as if Odin himself recognized who the victor was, and it was clear to them all that Ivar's defeat was to very soon become a reality.
But at what cost?
…
Hours passed, and the wounds were slowly starting to heal.
Hiccup walked across the ruined battlefield where bodies of the fallen laid littered like snow. By now, the majority of their forces had made their way into Strongholm, leaving only him and a handful of others who were observing the field.
His face showed a look of disgust, for although he and his allies had slain much of the enemy, others were not as lucky.
Here and there Hiccup would spot the corpses of the fallen, of whom were once the proud and mighty Vikings of the Archipelago. But even then, the thousands lost that day on was overwhelming to the lad.
He sighed, looking across the battlefield from where he stood, with his arms motioning out towards the dead. "All of this loss. And for what? For a simple fortress located in this- frozen wasteland? So much life has been wasted today…"
"And it is all thanks to Ivar's doing."
The voice of a large man nearly made Hiccup jump as he spun around, only to face his father who approached him with proudness in his eyes despite his battle-dirty face.
Stoick sighed, landing his hands on Hiccup's shoulders. "But... were it not for you and the others, we would not be here. Thanks to you we have earned another ally in this war, and what's more important is that Ivar's hold on Norway is weakening. His only remaining Chieftain Vlar is on the run, whose forces are broken."
"It's thanks to you that we can continue to fight another day."
"Thanks, Dad." said Hiccup, grinning with a small smirk on his face. "I did what I could to end this Hel of a battle, but unfortunately it's not over yet."
"Yeah, but it's almost over."
Astrid's voice caught Hiccup's attention as his eyes glanced over to the shieldmaiden who walked over to him with the rest of the group at her side, as well as the Dragons.
Her battle-dirt covered face made Hiccup lightly chuckle. "Well milady, I suppose you've killed enough for one day?" he asked teasingly.
"Mmm… I guess so." she giggled. "But now that we've crushed Vlar's forces, we can focus on pursuing him and ending him once and for all."
"Aye." nodded Magnus. "Without Vlar, Ivar will have no one to power the Great Army's war machines, and he'll be left with only a handful of Devastators at his disposal. But so long as Vlar stands, he can still make an host of siege weapons and an armada of ships. Our only chance of making sure that doesn't happen is if we reach the Iron Foundry before he does, and destroy it."
"But won't there be anyone guarding it once we get there?" asked Fishlegs. "I mean- Vlar could have left reserves there if he ever figured that we'd fly our Dragons there to blow it up."
"I don't think that's the case." replied Heather. "Vlar brought just about everything he had to this battle, and lost nearly his entire army."
"As well as Hjalmar and the Broken Axe Clan." Hiccup said, catching all of their eyes.
Snotlout, who stood nearby, arched a brow, surprised. "You killed him?"
He nodded. "Aye, I did. It wasn't easy, but if it wasn't for Toothless - I would have been dead myself. That man went into a frenzy and nearly killed me. Talk about the Danes, they're crazy."
"Well, at least we're done with him now." said Eira. "For now, we should celebrate this moment. The Great Heathen Army has already lost half their numbers, and soon, Ivar will be the last obstacle in our way. We just need to deal with Vlar, and once Ivar returns to Norway, we will march on Kattegat and put an end to him."
Hiccup shook his head. "Not a good idea. Ivar still has thousands of more warriors positioned in Kattegat. It would be suicide if we went there. By now that city has probably been turned into a Fortress. It would be too difficult to get in."
"...Not unless we let Ivar come to us." said Magnus. "If we weaken him enough to the point where he has to retreat back to Kattegat, we can then siege the city in its weaker state and surround Ivar on all fronts. Until then, we'll have to strengthen up our forces. Right now we still have a cowardly Warlord to pursue."
"Heh, I hope he doesn't outrun us." chuckled Ruffnut. "I'm not done with that fat coward."
"Oh he won't get very far…" Hiccup replied as he glanced his eyes out towards the North, and then back at the Riders, looking eagered.
"Alright gang, here's what we're going to do. Before Vlar can reach his Fortress, we're going to have to pursue him and attack him at the last moment. We'll have to circle around him from the North and South to cut him off from retreating or running. We know that his army is tired, so their slow speed will give us time to rest and prepare for tomorrow. With haste, we should reach him in no time."
"...So, who's with me?"
Alright! Before ending this off, there are a couple of important things I want to mention.
By this point, there are only a dozen chapters left in this story. It's been a long road guys, but we are almost there.
Also, I will say that after the next chapter, there will be another battle. However, it is only going to be one chapter, and it will be only from Hiccup's perspective. You will see why eventually, but for now, you will have to wait.
Thanks for reading!