The final part of this great battle is here, folks! Today you will see what will go down in this chapter, and as well as the result of it all. But if any of you have already figured it out, you probably know what is going to happen...
As usual with these battle chapters, I recommend listening to epic cinematic battle music for a better reading experience, and of course, make sure to wear headphones!
Enjoy!
The Red Death let out a thunderous roar as it landed far off from the armies of the Archipelago, and by its look, everyone could tell that it was ready to let out all it had. Even Stoick and Gobber could both see it coming.
"Odin help us…" Stoick muttered as the large Dragon slowly stomped its way towards them.
On the other side of the battlefield, Hiccup, and Ivar's brothers stood stunned as they gazed upon the fire-breathing leviathan, and yet Ivar stood there grinning at the horror he had just unleashed.
"By the Gods… what is that?!" gasped Ubba.
Ivar turned his eyes to the others, spreading his arms out. "Behold my greatest weapon! The power of a God! The Red Death! After more than a month of torturing this beast, the Dragon has been put under my divine will! Were it not for it's weakened state, I would have not been able to break it…"
"But now it is stronger than ever! Strong enough to lay waste to your entire army, and to your Dragon riders! While I would love to stay here and chat, I have plans of my own that I need to carry out! More forces to recruit, a new Dragon army to build! Oh… so many things in such little time!"
Ivar then turned his back on Hiccup and the others, whipping his horse forward as he quickly started to ride off towards the Southeast, heading towards Kattegat. "My regards to Drago Bludvist for the Dragons!"
"Drago who?! Who helped build your Dragon army!?" called out Hiccup. "COME BACK AND FIGHT DAMN YOU! IVAR!"
Hiccup in a hasted move attempted to run and chase Ivar by foot, but a hand immediately fell on his shoulder as Sigurd reached his arm out and stopped the young Viking from following him.
"Don't do it, Hiccup." he said. "Right now we have a bigger problem over our shoulders. We have to deal with that monster!"
Everyone's eyes turned back towards the Red Death as it continued slowly making its way towards the Tribes of the Archipelago that were on the brink of running, and as it came closer, many felt the urge to run back up the path of the mountain and to the top.
"Get back to the camp!" one warrior yelled as the massive chain route began, with many pushing their way towards the path.
Stoick's eyes widened at the sight of the retreat, knowing clearly that they were exposed. "No! NO!"
It was then that the Red Death got into range. The large Dragon stopped in place as it's mouth lit up with bright orange flames, and before anyone could react the beast breathed out a massive stream of fire on the army, burning and incinerating any who attempted to run up the path.
The Red Death then turned towards it's attention towards the center of the lines, and with another powerful breath of fire it streamed down the center of the army, burning more Vikings by the hundreds and splitting the ranks in two with a giant wall of fire.
Thankfully for Stoick and the other Chieftains, they managed to survive the firestorm, but many of their forces were not so lucky. By now they had lost hundreds and hundreds of warriors and maidens to the Red Death's assault, and now there was chaos unfolding.
Alvin who stood nearby looked back him. "Wha' do we do now, Stoick!?"
"Gah! We have to get out of here!" he said. "Alvin, gather the other Chieftains that are with us and rally on the other side of the mountain! We can't stay here!"
Alvin nodded in obligement, signalling for the other Chieftains with them to rally and make way to the back of the mountain. The warriors and Chieftains on the other side of the great wall of fire however already had the idea to run to the far side as well, thus both sides of the army split off and began running towards the back of the mountain.
From above on the plateau, the remaining archers along with the trebuchet and siege weapons attempted to fire onto the Red Death and damage it, giving all they had on it, but not even an arrow could pierce it's rough hide. Thus, the large Dragon responded by blasting forth a great fireball, causing an explosion that caused rocks to fall off the side of the mountain as the archers and siege weapons burnt to a crisp.
Hiccup grunted, glaring down the Red Death. "We can't hope sustain another attack from that beast! If I have to, I will lay down everything if that's what it takes to kill it. Toothless and I will go!"
"Are you insane?" asked Hvitserk. "That thing is like a moving mountain! It will crush you before you can even-"
"I don't care!" interrupted Hiccup. "Ivar is the one who unleashed that beast, and it's already killed hundreds of us. The Red Death is my responsibility as much as Ivar is! I will put an end to it…"
"...Toothless, are you with me?"
The Night Fury responded with a light roar as he approached his rider, leaning down and allowing Hiccup to mount onto him before unlatching his tail fin. Hiccup then looked back, giving Ubba, Hvitserk, and Sigurd a nod.
"While I'm up there, you guys should get with your warriors. They'll most likely be following my dad around the mountain."
"We will." said Ubba. "And Hiccup… good luck."
"You too." he replied, turning his head to face the Red Death. "Alright bud, let's get this done with!"
Toothless wasted not a single moment. He began by running forward, quickly picking up speed before eventually swiftly taking off - making way towards the Dragon Riders that were fighting the Red Death with Gobber and Berk's riders.
Although they were outmatched, they still gave the Dragon all they had.
"Focus on it's head!" shouted Magnus as Thorwind rode around the large Dragon, breathing out beams of lightning. "Make sure that thing doesn't fire again! Blind it!"
"Aye! Ye heard him!" called out Gobber. "Blast tha' bloody thing ta cinders!"
The order came out loud and clear to all of the Dragon riders as they started pummeling down fire onto the Red Death, aiming towards it's head. The Nightmares, Gronckles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, and many other Dragons that were with them; they gave the beast all they had, and yet it was not enough. Even the large amount of smoke they made could not blind the Red Death as the Dragon did not have a blind spot.
This especially became clear when it opened it's other four eyes.
"What the-?!" gasped Eira who still rode with Magnus. "That thing has six eyes!"
"Uh- this thing doesn't have a blind-spot!" yelled Fishlegs. "What do we do now?!"
"Evasive maneuvers, everyone!" Astrid replied, raising up her voice. "Don't let that thing get a clear shot or we're-!"
Before she could finish however, a sudden and large blazing blast fired out from the Red Death, passing over her head by just a few feet and nearly hitting her. Although she was lucky to dodge it, many above her were not.
Dozens and dozens of Dragon riders above her were hit by the Red Death's attack, and they screamed as the incinerating flames burnt them alive - all before both they and their Dragons went spiraling down towards the field down below.
"This isn't looking good!" Heather called out. "Astrid, do you have another plan?!"
"Brace yourself for the worst, everyone! We need to get this beast off our trail and get out of here, or else we are screwed! We have to-!"
Astrid's voice immediately cut off however as the familiar sound of a loud roar filled the air, followed by an ear-piercing screech that became louder as it came closer and closer. Her eyes gazed to her East, staring up as she spotted a black dot dive-bombing towards the Red Death.
"NIGHT FURY!" one warrior shouted out.
"GET DOWN!" yelled Gobber.
Toothless came flying in with speed, and with great plasma blast the Night Fury let out much of what he could onto the large leviathan. So powerful the blast was that it knocked the Red Death off all fours, causing it to plummet on it's side and fall to the ground.
The sight of Hiccup and Toothless had the Dragon riders of Berk cheering as the two came into view before Astrid and the group. Both of them were ready to handle the situation.
"What did I miss?" Hiccup asked them.
"Took you long enough, Hiccup!" sighed Astrid. "That Dragon has killed more than a hundred of our riders so far! We're nearly down to half!"
"What's worse is that we can't pierce it. It's skin and hide is too strong!" Magnus added on, glancing back at the Red Death as it slowly attempted to get back up on all it's fours. "...We need to plan something out before it gets back up!"
"What else have you tried?" asked Hiccup. "Did you use any other methods?"
"There's nothing more we can do!" replied Snotlout. "We can't just attack it from the inside-out, Hiccup! Not before being bursted in flames! If anything, that would be the only way to possibly kill this beast, if Odin even allowed it!"
"Hmm, from the inside-out…?" he whispered to himself. "...I think I have an idea! If what you say is true and that you can't pierce it, then I'll have to use a different approach!"
"You?" asked Astrid. "Wait- You can't be serious! You want to-"
"Fight it alone? It's the only way." he answered her. "Right now Toothless and I have most likely caught it's attention, so it will be coming after the both of us. And besides, it's me it wants, not you guys! Ivar raised the Red Death as his pet… but I will be the one to get rid of it!"
"Hiccup!" Gobber called out. "It's gettin' back up! Ya better get ready fer it!"
"I know!" he responded back. "Gobber, just get everyone out of here! Leave this to me!"
Gobber gave a nod, motioning his hand towards Spitelout, Sven, and Bucket and Mulch to follow him. As the five flew off, the rest of Berk's riders followed, and soon Astrid, Magnus and the others followed as well - not looking back. Although Astrid sadly frowned at Hiccup's idea, she knew there was no other option.
She sighed, tilting her head down. "Good luck, Hiccup…"
After watching them fly off, the sound of large wings flapping behind Hiccup caught his attention. He and Toothless both turned around, watching as the Red Death quickly got back up on it's feet. But now, it was off it's feet and flying.
"Oh… hello there." he stuttered whilst gripping tightly on Toothless' saddle. "Well, he can fly!"
The Red Death responded with a bellowing roar to Hiccup, and it immediately started flying towards Hiccup with speed - fast enough to where it seemed as if it nearly matched Toothless' speed.
"C'mon Bud, let's lead it away!"
Toothless nodded as he swiftly bolted in the other direction, flying as fast as his wings could allow him. Although he was slightly faster, the Red Death could still as easily catch up with him. What was obvious however was that the chase was now on.
In an attempt to slow the large Dragon down, Toothless focused on flying around the mountain, making wide curving manuevers so that although he could turn and tire out the beast behind them, he would not lose speed as a result. However, the Red Death's size did not take the full effect. Although it was large and able to be tired out with immense flight, it still had Toothless and Hiccup in it's sights due to its size.
"Come on, Bud!" Hiccup said, motivating the black Dragon. "We can do this!"
As their chase around the mountain continued, the two soon caught the eyes of the thousands of Archipelago Vikings of whom were retreating to the other side of the mountain, and they all began cheering for Hiccup in an attempt to motivate and inspire him and Toothless to keep going.
Even Stoick, who glanced back at his son, gave a surprised look as he and Toothless swiftly flew past him with the Red Death in toll. Deep down, he knew the young lad had a clever plan.
"You can do it, Son." he smirked.
After some time of travelling around the mountain, Hiccup noticed a slight difference in the Red Death's speed as it started to slow down just a little bit. However, it was still good enough to give a noticeable speed difference between it and Toothless.
Hiccup's gaze then looked up towards the skies, focusing on the dark grey clouds that gathered. Although it would be difficult for him to see if he flew up, Toothless would have no problem guiding his way through with his Dragon senses… and it would be enough to trap the Red Death where he wanted it to be.
"Alright, Toothless! Time to disappear! Come on, Bud!"
Hiccup immediately shifted gears for Toothless' tail fin, flying the Dragon up towards the clouds with the Red Death still behind them. While flying, all of the Tribes of the Archipelago down below were looking back onto Hiccup and the gigantic Dragon that followed him. They gasped and chattered in surprising and interested tones, and soon both Hiccup and Toothless along with the Red Death were out of sight.
The Red Death stopped in place, looking around at it's surroundings. All it saw were clouds around it, and no sight of either Toothless or Hiccup. Though it had strong senses, it was not enough to look through the dense and dark clouds…
It continued glancing around, looking for a sign of the two, and then it heard it.
A loud screech filled the air around the Red Death, and then from out of nowhere, a powerful burst of purple fire from Toothless' plasma blast hit the back of it's head, causing the large Dragon to flinch.
From behind the clouds, Hiccup and Toothless flew around the Red Death, firing plasma blast after plasma blast onto the beast from all directions - as well as from those it would not see coming, nor couldn't have seen coming. Their moves were so fast and precise that the Red Death could not keep track from where they were coming from. From the perspective of Stoick, Astrid, Magnus, Eira, and the Riders along with the Viking Tribes however, Toothless' plasma blasts looked like lightning from Thor striking the sky.
For the Red Death however, enough was enough. It bellowed out a mighty roar which thundered the air around Hiccup and Toothless, and the Dragon breathed out a great stream of fire which lit the clouds ablaze once more. Unfortunately for Hiccup and Toothless, they were in the crosshairs of the large flames.
"Watch out!"
Toothless sped up as he caught gaze of the large wave of fire closing in on them, and although they both managed to dodge it and save themselves from their fiery deaths - the same could not be said for the prosthetic tail fin as it was caught on fire.
Hiccup looked back at the fin, giving a frustrated expression. "Alright, time's up! Let's see if we can finish this!"
Knowing that there was no more time to spend, the two suddenly flew out into the open once more - getting the Red Death's undivided and yet angry attention onto them. And just like so, they began their flight back down.
"Come on, is that the best you can do!?" taunted Hiccup.
The Red Death roared in rage, glaring down Hiccup as it gained speed, getting faster and faster on the way down. Even from afar the others were able to see this, and as he and Toothless got closer and closer to the ground, the large Dragon behind them opened it's mouth and prepared to unleash it's flames, ready to give Hiccup one last taste of its fiery wrath using all that it had. But as Hiccup heard the Red Death's breath as it prepared to fire again, he knew the time was now, and the moment was upon him.
"NOW BUD! Shoot into it's mouth!"
Toothless swiftly turned around, firing a quick but strong enough plasma blast into the Red Death's mouth before the large Dragon itself could even fire back, and the result was almost like a miracle. Flames began to smoke out from the Red Death's mouth as they were quickly spreading throughout it's entire body, tearing the beast apart from the inside-out while it roared in pain.
The Red Death attempted to stop itself, spreading its wings out. But with its wings ripping from the flames it would not give enough to stop the fall, and it would be too late. The large Dragon would meet it's fiery end as it plummeted towards the ground, bursting in a large bright explosion of fire that sent a shockwave out for hundreds and hundreds of yards.
In an attempt to get to safety, Hiccup and Toothless immediately flew upwards to get away from the fiery explosion, dodging the remaining part of the Red Death's body as it came crashing down and incinerated with the fire. However, as Hiccup attempted to press on the pedals to flip the tail fin open, he looked back at Toothless' tail and saw that the prosthetic wing was damaged beyond repair. It was broken.
"Oh no! No no no NO NO-!"
His voice instantly filled with horror as his eyes looked back at the Red Death's large tail that came down upon him, and just like that, Hiccup was knocked off Toothless - unconscious as he fell straight down towards the flames.
Toothless' eyes widened seeing Hiccup fall from his back. Without thinking he spun around and flew down as fast as he could towards the young Viking, falling towards him as the two of them both went through the engulfing flames…
…
A dense fog covered the battlefield after the firestorm cooled down. The intensity of Hiccup's battle with the Red Death had left the land scarred. But even with the gigantic monster now taken care of, the aftermath was not a cheerful or happy one.
As Stoick walked through the smoke with Astrid and the others, he called out his son's name loudly in hopes of a response.
"Hiccup! ...HICCUP! ...SON!"
He rose his voice up as loud as he could, but to of no avail.
However, as he squinted his eyes up ahead of him, he noticed a familiar black figure laying on it's side in the dirt with it's wings folded and body curved. It was Toothless.
Astrid's eyes widened with suspense. "Is that Toothless?" she asked. "If he's here, where's-"
"Hiccup…" Stoick said softly.
The two Vikings without another word ran towards the downed Dragon to get a closer look of what possibly became of Hiccup, but as soon as they stood before the injured Night Fury they saw no signs of the young Viking.
They both only noticed that Toothless' prosthetic tail fin was burnt and broken, and that his saddle was torn and covered in black char from the smoke. If what they saw was correct, then Hiccup was truly gone…
"Th- This can't be..." Astrid stuttered. "He can't be gone!"
Toothless looked back at the two Vikings, crooning softly as if he was trying to tell them something.
Behind Stoick and Astrid, Gobber and the group along with the Tribes of the Archipelago, the Chieftains, the riders of Berk, and the Sons of Ragnar stood in sympathy for the sight they were seeing. Even their Dragons felt the urge to mourne for the fallen Viking.
Astrid fell to her knees, exhaling shakingly. "Hiccup…" she said softly. "Why did you abandon me? I loved you so much..."
Her words quickly failed her however as a loud sob escaped her mouth. She felt her eyes fill up with tears before they slowly started to run down her pale-looking face. For the first time in her life, Astrid Hofferson the shieldmaiden shedded her tears and cried.
Stoick sighed, placing a hand on Astrid's shoulder. "I did this…" he said. "I should have been there when a father needed him the most. It's not your fault that he is gone. It's mine…"
A moment of silence followed as Astrid sat there on her knees, silently sobbing whilst the Dragon Riders and Gobber felt dreadful. Not only had they lost the future Chieftain of Berk, but they had also lost a dear friend. The one who brought them so far…
Or so they thought.
Toothless crooned, motioning with his head towards his chest as he unfolded his wings, revealing Hiccup's body.
"Hiccup!" Stoick and Astrid said in unison.
The moment of silence suddenly broke as Stoick said his name, giving off an anticipating feeling to the Vikings behind him. He immediately knelt down, pulling the young Viking to his side to check and see if he was alive. He took off his helmet, tossing it to the side as he held his ear near his son's mouth.
…
...There was a breath.
"He- he's alive!" Stoick announced, nearly sobbing up. "You brought him back alive!"
His words brought life back to the Vikings. Almost instantly their hopes returned them, and they cheered in unison, raising their weapons up high in celebration. Not only had Hiccup survived, but he had also beaten back Ivar and managed to destroy the Red Death; taking a risk no other Viking would have ever taken.
It was a victory.
Stoick looked back at the Night Fury with gratitude in his face. "Thank you Toothless… for saving my Son."
Although Toothless had saved him however, Stoick's words were not entirely accurate as Gobber stepped forward, looking down at the unconscious Viking.
"...Well, most o' him."