Here we are guys, the moment of truth! The most important battle of the whole story has finally come, and now we will get to see it unfold! Just so you know however, this is not the final battle!
As with battles like these, they will last for multiple parts, so I hope you are prepared for what will come this chapter, along with the next two.
I also recommend listening to epic cinematic music while reading to get into the mood. It is going to be a long one.
Enjoy!
"Hiccup."
"Ivar..."
Both Vikings glared at each other as their eyes locked onto one another. After so long, the two finally met face to face once again, but from a great distance, and they were both ready for a fight.
As Hiccup and Toothless continued staring down at Ivar, he could hear footsteps rushing up from behind as the rest of the group rallied around him.
Stoick, Astrid, Magnus, Eira, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather, the Twins, the Sons of Ragnar, and the Chieftains; all of them had come to Hiccup's side, and after everything they achieved, it had all led to this moment.
As they glared down at the Great Army assembled down below, they all proceeded to unsheathe their weapons in unison, showing that they were ready to make a stand. Even their forces, who stood behind them, were eager to charge in.
Dagur lowered his brows. "Time to show Ivar the real meaning of berserk." he said as he rubbed the blades of both his axes together.
"Looks like he 'asn't got anywhere else ta run! This'll be a good fight!" chuckled Alvin.
"Let's save the enthusiasm until we get into the battle itself!" said Stoick. "Hiccup, what do you want us to do?"
Hiccup tilted his head towards his father, giving him an approving nod before glancing back the others.
"We make our stand here and now!" he announced, waving around his fiery sword. "Dad, Magnus, Ubba and Hvitserk, you will lead the charge. When the enemy advances, rush down the mountain path and hold them in place! The moment they show signs of their lines weakening, push them out! Magnus, Sigurd, you two will aid the bulk."
"Will do," nodded Magnus. "Just as long as Eira flies with me on Thorwind. Sigurd, you'll lead Warsung from the ground."
"As you command." nodded Sigurd.
Hiccup turned his gaze towards the other Chieftains. "Dagur and Alvin, you guys are in charge of the reserves. The moment we fully push into the field, rush down with all of the other Chieftains and meet with our main force. Make sure Ivar's army is splintered!"
"As ye wish!" said Alvin.
Hiccup's eyes then turned to Astrid and the others. "Riders, ready your Dragons! We're going to blast Ivar to pieces! Heather, you're coming with us!"
"Looks like it's time for some flying action." she replied, cracking her knuckles.
Snotlout grinned, tightening his fist. "Let's light 'em up!"
"Hel yeah!" shouted Ruffnut.
Satisfied, the young Heir of Berk gave a motion with his hand. "You all have your orders! Let's win this battle!"
The whole group rose their weapons up as the ranks of united Archipelago Vikings roared from behind with confidence and fury, knowing that now things were about to get real.
Meanwhile down below, Ivar surveyed what was going on up above. So far, he saw no other kind of movements happen from his enemy, and yet he was still determined to get them out into the open.
All around him his ranks were marching hastily forward into position, preparing their weapons for any foe that was ready to charge them all while his captains and commanders shouted out commands, and his catapults and Devastators continuously fired at the mountain, shaking it to its foundations.
However, as his forces soon began to close in on the path leading up and around the mountain he noticed movement along the path as he spotted multitudes of figures quickly rushing down to meet them. He knew immediately it was his enemy.
He tightly gripped his bullhook, glaring at the oncoming troops. "No matter what comes at us, keep firing at the mountain, and stand your ground! We must draw them out! Warriors, advance on the path! Devastors, increase your fire!"
Almost instantly, the Devastators' rate of fire had quickened. Rocks fell from every part of the mountain they hit, and at the same time, the Great Army was quickly closing in on the path - attempting to charge up to draw out Hiccup. But as they begun moving, they quickly noticed the ranks of their opponent approaching from afar, along with Berkian, Warsung, Grey Raven, and Battleborn Vikings leading the charge.
In an attempt to counter the charge, the Great Army's front line attempted to form up a shield wall, but then they saw something out of the blue that they did not see coming. From within the ranks of the four thousand Archipelago Vikings, three hundred mounted warriors came charging forth on horses, riding fast.
"HOLD YOUR GROUND!" the Völsung commander at the front shouted, attempting to bolster them, yet it was not enough.
The Berkian and Warsung cavalry clashed with Ivar's front lines, causing a dent in his ranks which sent the first line of warriors flying, thus forcing them to slowly pull back as a result. The battle had now begun...
However, that was not all that they had to offer to Ivar's warriors.
The mounted Vikings unexpectedly spaced themselves out, and it was then that from behind, Stoick along with Sigurd, Hvitserk, and Ubba came charging in with the rest of their forces, meeting head on with the enemy in a large second wave.
Stoick let out a bellowing war cry, raising his axe in the air as his men and allies all loudly roared - with their shields lifted forward and their weapons up and ready, and with a second great clash they once again splintered Ivar's front lines, sending the enemy back to the point where they were pushed away from the mountain's path.
Ivar gave a grim look as he saw this unfold. The front line of his forces were quickly being cut apart with just two waves, and now his foe was pushing his army back.
A sturdy battleline was formed between the two strong forces.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" he shouted, slamming the base of his bullhook against his chariot. "I will not lose anymore ground to them! SEND THE DRAGONS FORWARD!"
As Ivar spun his bullhook wildly and fiercely, the sound of nearly twenty roars filled the air as a number of Dragons descended down from the clouds with their mouths lit in flames.
When Stoick heard the roars, his eyes almost immediately turned to the snowy sky as he watched the winged beasts flying down towards him and his men. Upon seeing this his eyes widened with shock and horror, and he nearly choked on his own voice.
"DRAGONS!" he shouted. "EVERYONE BRACE YOURSELVES!"
The men around Stoick showed confusion, however, a Monstrous Nightmare suddenly swooped in with its claws out, grabbing ahold of two Vikings as it hurled them wildly up into the air. Neither of the warriors survived the fall.
But that was merely the beginning...
What followed was chaos. More Dragons dove in, breathing out their flames onto Stoick's allies whilst others flew in with their claws unlatched, grasping onto as many Vikings as they could hold before throwing them up into the air, only for them to call to their deaths.
At first it seemed as if all had gone wrong, until the sight of one of Ivar's Dragons being shocked by lightning caught the eyes of Stoick, Ubba, Hvitserk, and Sigurd as it fell to the ground, unconscious.
Ivar's eyes widened as he saw the sight from a distance. "WHAT!?"
From above, Thorwind came flying in with Magnus and Eira on top, shooting forth beams and bolts of electricity that struck Ivar's Dragons faster than the Viking could count, and before the young King knew it, his foe's ranks bolstered as they began to push his forces back.
"HOLD THEM BACK DAMMIT!" he yelled loudly. "DEVASTATORS, BLAST THAT DRAGON OUT OF THE SKY! FIRE ON MY COMMAND!"
The engineers operating the Devastators swiftly obliged as they turned the large iron cannons onto Thorwind. Soon, they were all aiming towards him, including the riders mounted atop him.
"MAGNUS!" Eira gasped.
The Viking suddenly spun his head as Eira pointed towards Devastators, noticing now that they were targeting his Dragon - ready to blast both all three of them out of the sky and into oblivion...
But before Ivar could give the order, an explosion followed as a large fiery boulder from above crashed into one of the Devastators, crushing it to pieces as it set the weapon along with its engineers aflame.
Ivar and Magnus glanced up to the cliffs, and there they saw Hiccup flying on top of Toothless with his blazing sword lifted in the air. The Riders too were flying on their dragons, but what they soon noticed was the line of siege weapons forming up, along with a long line of archers.
Hiccup lowered his brows as he swung his blade down. "LOOSE!"
In one perfect volley, the two trebuchets, along with the nearby catapults, ballistae, and archers, began to open fire, letting all they had on the enemy. The range, though great, was enough for their arrows to find their marks as the main bulk of the Great Army found itself being pummeled by artillery and archer fire.
Both of Magnus' trebuchets too were striking the enemy well. The devastators, in particular, proved to be the ultimate test for the strength of their firepower, and as large fiery boulders came raining down on them, the iron-clad siege weapons were slammed into scrap and splinters.
"Now we're making progress." said Hiccup. "Alright gang, let's get in there! Give 'em all you got!"
The Riders immediately flew their Dragons forward, dive-bombing down towards the enemy that was now distracted on two fronts; from the archers and siege weapons on the cliffs, and from the main battleline that Stoick was leading.
And now Hiccup was about to make a third front for Ivar.
By that point however, Stoick, Sigurd, Hvitserk and Ubba had now pushed the enemy back into the field completely, and this left room for the rest of the Tribes to come running down the path to meet the enemy.
And that it exactly what they did. Dagur and Alvin both led the charge with the other Chieftains at their sides, rushing down the mountain's path like an avalanche until they met up with Stoick and engaged Ivar's forces.
It was then that a gap opened in the lines, and Dagur saw the opportunity to rush through.
"BERSERKERS, RUSH THROUGH THE OPENING! TAKE THEM ON!" Dagur shouted, rallying the Berserkers to his side as they charged towards the main battleline with their weapons drawn.
Ivar smirked, gazing at Dagur and his Berserker Tribe who were charging in. "Pathetic! I'll show you TRUE berserkers! BLOODY BERSERKERS, RUN THEM DOWN!"
From the rear of the Great Army, the remnants of the Bloody Berserkers rushed up with a frenzied haste, passing through their allies' ranks. However, the strongest of the large force of berserkers charged at the front of the group, of whom were actual berserkers; warriors wearing the hides of the animals of which their frenzy represented.
What was clear was that they were fully berserk, and they would not give in.
The Berserkers and the Bloody Berserkers soon clashed in the gap, and from there, a fierce fight broke out between the two forces.
Meanwhile from above, Hiccup and the Riders were blasting away the forces of the Great Army, as well as helping out Magnus with Ivar's Dragons. Yet from the damage they dealt to the enemy below them, it seemed like it was nothing. No matter how much they did, dozens more would take the places of the Vikings, Barbarians, and Rus' they killed.
Fishlegs sighed with exhaustion from maneuvering Meatlug. "There's so many of them!"
"Don't give in!" Heather said as she gripped onto his shoulders. "They don't stand a chance against us!"
"That… may be true!" Astrid called out as she and Stormfly knocked a Zippleback out of the sky. "But there's also these Dragons we need to worry about! They just keep coming!"
"Where did Ivar even get Dragons anyway!?" grunted Snotlout. "They're becoming a PAIN in my butt!"
"We'll talk about it later! For now stay focused!" Hiccup replied all while blasting the enemy apart with Toothless.
Despite all the Riders and their Dragons put into fighting the enemy however, more and more just kept coming. Even with their allies down below giving Ivar's forces a tough time, it was still not enough.
Ivar gazed across the battlefield, seeing how his foe now moved his forces completely away from the path, and pushed the front line of the battle out into the opened field and in front of the mountain itself. The battleline was now made up of hundreds and hundreds of men across, and so far the fight was very slowly turning in Hiccup's favor.
"I've had ENOUGH OF THIS!" Ivar grunted, looking down at his Völsung general. "Order our second line of forces to push through their ranks! Scatter their warriors!"
"But what about their siege weapons, my God-King?! They're tearing our back lines apart!"
"Order the Devastators to fire on them, and focus all catapult fire on the Dragon Riders!" he ordered.
The Völsung general nodded, unlatching a battle horn from his waist before blowing it as loud as he could for all to hear. "ALL SECOND LINE FORCES, ADVANCE FORWARD! DEVASTATORS, TAKE DOWN THEIR SIEGE WEAPONS! CATAPULTS, AIM FOR THE DRAGON RIDERS!"
The second line of ranks soon quickly began their advance as they put their muscle into breaking through the Archipelago Tribes' front line. So far, Ivar's foe had only lost over a couple hundred men whilst his forces lost more than a thousand. Enough was enough for him.
As Hiccup fought from above however, he suddenly heard the loud moving of distant gears and wheels, and as he spun his head to the Devastators and noticed that their barrels had changed direction and were aiming up towards the cliffs.
Specifically towards the archers and siege weapons on the plateau.
"NO!" he screamed, swiftly maneuvering Toothless towards the large cannons in an attempt to stop them before they could attack, but it was already too late. The Devastators immediately fired, sending their large flaming projectiles towards Hiccup's allies up above.
The Warsung and Berkian archers attempted to rush out of the way from the oncoming artillery, but were unable to. The Devastators' projectiles bursted out in large explosions upon impact, taking out a majority of them in flames along with most of their artillery, leaving only a few catapults and one trebuchet standing.
The Riders, especially Magnus, could hear the screaming of their allies up above as they were burnt alive from Ivar's onslaught. From that single attack over two hundred men were lost, and soon the Devastators would fire again.
"We have to take out those Devastators, NOW!" urged Magnus. "Everyone, follow Hiccup and help him out! I'll handle Ivar's Dragons!"
Without a word, Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather and the Twins flew out into the fray towards Hiccup, with their Dragons lighting their mouths aflame as they closed in on Ivar's cannons. As they did however, Astrid noticed an oncoming boulder flying towards both her and Stormfly.
"Look out, girl!"
Stormfly responded by quickly dodging the boulder, letting it fly past her as it hit the mountain behind her, but that was only the start. Soon, the catapults all began firing on the Riders, all whilst Hiccup was left to deal with the Devastators alone which now turned their attention on him.
Astrid watched from afar as Hiccup took on the large war machines, slowly blasting them to scrap and splinters one by one. But even with the effort he gave he was not dealing with them fast enough, and they begun speeding up their rate of fire onto him.
Snotlout spoke up. "What do we do now!? We can't help Hiccup with this catapult fire over our heads!"
"We'll just have to deal with it then!" Astrid called back. "Snotlout, you and the Twins will take out the catapults! Fishlegs and I will deal with the Devastators!"
"I'll help as well!" replied Heather. "I have explosive flasks that Dagur gave to me before the battle began! He said it was something Magnus made a while ago to help us in times of dire need!"
"Then we'll use them to our benefit!" Astrid nodded. "Right! Let's get moving!"
The Riders quickly split, with Astrid, Fishlegs and Heather going for the Devastators, and Snotlout and Ruffnut and Tuffnut going for the catapults.
For the Twins and Snotlout, they knew that the catapults being close to each other gave them advantage, especially since they were near the back lines of the Great Army, defended by only a few dozen archers. And so a plan was devised.
As they closed in, Snotlout immediately maneuvered Hookfang into another direction, rolling his Dragon to the side as he allowed Ruff and Tuff to go for the catapults. This in turn however attracted the attention of the Danish Viking archers guarding them. Particularly the remaining Broken Axe Vikings.
"Zippleback incoming!" the Broken Axe commander shouted. "TAKE IT OUT!"
The archers in response quickly loaded their bows and crossbows and began firing on the Twins. The enemy expected the two Riders and their Dragon to retreat or quickly get shot down, but that didn't happen. Instead, the unexpected came with a snap of a finger.
From behind the Broken Axe archers, the catapults were almost immediately set ablaze as Hookfang flew in a line over the siege weapons, breathing down fire onto them until not a single one of them were left standing. Knowing that the time was now right, Ruffnut and Tuffnut finished the job as they maneuvered their Dragon over the Broken Axe archers, letting loose a long line of Zippleback gas that ready to blow.
"Zippleback gas?!" the Broken Axe commander gasped. "EVERYONE, RUN-!"
It was too late. The gas was suddenly lit, and what followed was a loud and destructive explosion that bursted out across field over the rear ranks of the Great Army, burning their archers to smithereens.
The sound of the explosion itself caught Ivar's attention however as he turned around and noticed that all of his catapults were on fire, and that the men guarding them were completely blasted apart.
And then his eyes shifted to the side as they fell upon Hiccup.
He watched as the young Viking gave all he got with his Dragon on the Devastators, as well as with the engineers and warriors of the Iron Wolf remnants arming them. Whenever he saw the opportunity open, he would fly Toothless with haste up and across the battlefield, all before coming back down with a speedy dive-bomb and firing a powerful plasma blast onto the exposed Devastators.
Meanwhile, Fishlegs, Heather and Astrid all worked as one. To cause more damage than the Vikings already could, Heather focused on throwing her flasks into the barrels of the Devastators once they were close enough. Once that was done, Fishlegs and Astrid would aim their Dragons onto one Devastator at a time, and upon letting loose their flames onto them they would burst out with fire from the inside out.
The heat from their Dragons' fire was hot enough not just to only light Heather's flasks but to also light the ammunition that the cannons carried, causing a series of explosions that blasted apart the Iron Wolf Varangians near them for yards around.
Soon enough, only one Devastator was left standing, and the final blow would go to Hiccup.
Hiccup chuckled under his breath. "C'mon, Bud! Show 'em what you've got!"
Toothless roared with anticipation. Immediately the Night Fury flew to the skies, charging up a devastating plasma blast that would tear the large cannon apart beyond repair, and once he reached a certain altitude he knew he was ready. The Dragon plummeted down from sky, dive-bombing towards the Devastator with a high-pitched loud piercing sound that grew louder as he flew faster and faster.
The Iron Wolf engineers around the Devastator became horrified as they saw Toothless bolting down towards them.
"NIGHT FURY!" one of them shouted.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" another spoke up, but it was too late for them.
Toothless' lethal plasma blast struck the Devastator with an explosion so powerful that the cannon itself, and anyone and anything even close to it was incinerated. Any warrior or maiden ten yards around the weapon however were blasted up into the air, burning.
The explosion itself was enough to shake the ground beneath Ivar's chariot, and the warriors around him nearly fell to the ground. Upon seeing his last Devastator fall, he knew desperate action had to be taken.
His front line force was slowly beginning to be torn apart.
"DAMMIT ALL TO HEL!" he responded angrily. "If I can't deal with Hiccup and his Riders myself, then I will leave it to my Dragons! LET THEM ALL FLY FORTH!"
Once again, Ivar raised up his bullhook and began spinning it, letting out a scream that caught the attention of nearly every Dragon he controlled, as well as those that still flew above the clouds.
He then pointed his bullhook towards Hiccup and the Riders, and as the lad and his Night Fury laid their gaze onto Ivar they noticed from the corner of their eyes that the Dragons that were initially fighting Magnus were now flying towards him and his friends, ready to blast them apart. Although Magnus took out ten of them with Thorwind single-handedly, it was not enough on its own.
Satisfied, Ivar turned his attention on the main battleline before riding his war chariot forward. He then lifted his bullhook up and letting out a mighty battle cry for all to hear.
Inspired, his generals and the rest of the Great Army around him roared in unison as they followed their God-King into battle, and upon clashing with their foe, Ivar simply rode over his enemies like grass with his horse and chariot, breaking through the line and allowing his Great Army to advance into the ranks of the Archipelago Tribes.
Both armies were now fully engaged. The fighting now scattered across the battlefield, and to Ivar - the true battle really began.
From above however, things were not looking any better for Hiccup.
"EVERYONE, RALLY TO ME!" he called out. "They're coming towards us head on-!"
"Hiccup!" called out Snotlout. "They're coming at us from behind as well! We're completely surrounded!"
"What!?"
Hiccup's eyes gazed behind them, and from above the rest of Ivar's Dragons descended. Nearly seven dozen of them flew down, lighting their mouths in flames as they were ready to burn them into oblivion.
Magnus, Thorwind and Eira attempted to storm towards them, picking up their speed, but Ivar's Dragons proved to be too quick in the situation they were in as the winged beasts rushed towards the others - almost uncatchable. It was impossible for Magnus to reach them in time, and for the first time in his life he did not know what to do. He was unable to help them out.
"This can't be!" he said, horrified. "I- I can't help them! I can't reach them in time!"
"Can't Thorwind zap himself towards Hiccup like he did last time with Vlar!?" Eira asked desperately, only for Magnus to shake his head in response.
"He doesn't have enough energy! ...Dammit what do we do!?"
For a moment, it seemed like all was lost. Hiccup and the Riders on the other side of the field were now surrounded on all sides by the oncoming Dragons.
"...Everyone, BRACE YOURSELVES!" Hiccup called out.
The Riders, with no other choice, turned their heads back and closed their eyes, waiting for the inevitable. Yet as the large flock of Dragons flew closer, something unexpected happened…
From above, a cluster of several flaming projectiles hurled down towards Ivar's Dragons, blasting a few of them out of the air and knocking them towards the ground which as a result halted the Dragons' charge.
Ivar for a moment shifted his eyes away from the fight. Though it was his main attention as he had killed dozens of Vikings on his own thus far, his attention now turned onto the sight of his Dragons that had been blasted out of the sky by a rear attack that was not from the Riders.
"What!?" he gasped.
It was then that it happened. For one moment all fighting ceased as everyone's eyes turned to face the cliffs at the top of the mountain - towards the plateau, and there and behold they saw four Dragons flying in place with five mounted riders. Even Ivar's Dragons who were initially focused on Hiccup faced their attention towards the new riders. But what caught Hiccup's attention the most was a blonde Viking mounted on top of a Hotburple.
"Gobber..." he said to himself.
Gobber, Spitelout, Sven, and Mulch and Bucket looked down onto the battle from above, seeing the devastation of the field. Though their allies had lost many, the enemy still lost more. Determined, Gobber rose his prosthetic weapon up into the air before raising up his voice.
"VIKINGS! RIDERS O' BERK! RALLY TA YER HEIR AN' FUTURE CHIEFTAIN!"
His voice bellowed loudly, and from behind Gobber came into view the figures of hundreds of Dragons with Vikings mounted on top of them. They all lined up at his side, cheering with anticipation as the blonde Viking swung his prosthetic down, pointing at the enemy.
"FER BERK!"
Things are about to get real!