I could not wait to do this! After spending the past two days of work on this chapter it is finally here! The final showdown! The battle that will end the war!
Before beginning, I would recommend for you guys to put on some headphones, and listen to some epic cinematic/battle music to give a better reading experience. If anything, I would suggest listening to Peter Crowley - Rise of the Dragons for this one.
Now then, without further ado let us begin the final battle! Please enjoy!
Clouds began to roll in from above, and tension was high between both sides.
The two armies stood far from each other, with Hiccup and his allies being many yards away from the main wall, and Ivar and his forces being positioned on top of the wall itself - ready to fire down all they could onto their foe, though it was clear to Hiccup that he and his allies would be going up against what was the larger half of Ivar's army.
It was fifteen hundred of their Vikings against fifteen hundred Völsung Vikings, but that was not all they had.
In the very back of the ranks of their large force, the Dragon riders of Berk and their Dragons stood waiting in anticipation, numbered in over a hundred and fifty riders, ready to fly off into battle.
This made Hiccup's allies have slightly more, but either way, the battle would still be tough.
Seeing how everyone was now accounted for, Hiccup looked back at his father and friends who stood beside him and gave them a nod, receiving nods back from them.
"It's time, Hiccup." Astrid said, running her hand along the side of Stormfly's head. "Let's begin this final battle."
Hiccup looked back, motioning with his hand towards Toothless to follow as he began making his way forward. The Night Fury gladly obliged and went forth with Hiccup, glaring down Ivar and his Jomsviking bodyguards who stood from afar.
After a dozen or so steps, Hiccup was in full view of the enemy army. He gazed onto Ivar, giving almost the same dark nightly look that his Dragon gave. As his eyes continued staring, his hand fell onto the hilt of his weapon - gripping it tightly and unsheathing it. After a moment passed, he bellowed out one name that everyone around could hear.
"IVAR!"
The name slipped out of his mouth, and after yelling out his name it was then that the ranks of warriors and maidens behind Hiccup began to get riled up. Their weapons danced in the air as they started to taunt the enemy, and before long they were screaming and shouting out their war cries, trying to mock their foe.
Ivar looked down at this without much of a surprise. He chuckled, grinning wickedly at the sight of the Archipelago Vikings attempting to taunt him into attacking, though he would attack either way.
He looked back at the men who stood beside him, giving them a nod. "Let's get this over with..." he said. "ARCHERS, KNOT YOUR ARROWS! CATAPULTS, LOAD!"
The order quickly started to spread along the main wall. As the archers knotted their arrows onto the strings of their bows, the catapults were loaded up with boulders covered in tar that were lit with bright fire.
Before Hiccup knew it however, the main gates to Kattegat suddenly opened, and flooding out of it came many Völsung warriors and maidens who quickly moved to form a shield wall - positioned many feet from the walls where Ivar stood. From how Hiccup could see it, the shield wall had at least a thousand or so Völsung Vikings.
He sighed, grabbing ahold of Toothless' saddle before flying up so that the Archipelago Tribes behind him could all see him. But it was then that he rose his fiery blade up, and swiftly swung it down.
"EVERYONE, WITH ME! CHARGE!"
The Vikings of the Archipelago roared in unison, and as soon as Hiccup and Toothless let out their first plasma blast on the enemy, the charge began.
Astrid, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather and the Twins along with Magnus, Gobber, and the riders of Berk mounted onto their Dragons, flying forward with all haste as their allies below them begun a massive charge - running forward with all they had.
Ivar grinned as his enemy charged him. The Warsung, the Outcasts, Berserkers, Meatheads, Defenders, Bog's Burglars, Trappers, Thunderheads and Northlanders; all of them charged in great unity with Hiccup, Stoick and the Tribe of Berk at the head of it all.
The Viking King rose his hand, looking back at his men. "ARCHERS! LOOSE!"
The two hundred archers on the wall let their arrows fly, launching them towards Hiccup's allies. Most of the arrows surprisingly found their targets, but they did not get as many as anticipated. Instead, only fifty or so Vikings fell before the large volley, but even that did not stop the charge.
Ivar grumbled, lifting his hand up once again. "ARCHERS! FIRE AT WILL!"
The Völsung archers immediately began firing at will, letting their arrows fly whenever they could. But as the Tribes got closer, their aim had started to become less precise due to the fact that their troops were in the line of fire.
Stoick who helped lead the charge rose his axe, leaping up in the air as he gave it all he had. With one strike, he managed to open up a gap in the shield wall for merely a split second and send three Völsung Vikings flying back, each of whom were bloody from the grievous wound the strong Chieftain made.
The shield wall however was quickly reformed, and as Stoick was about to land another strike he saw from around him all of the Tribes clash in with the enemy, officially beginning the fight that would finally dictate the outcome of the war.
"FOR BERK!" he shouted.
From above however, it seemed things were about to get hot and become painful for the enemy.
Magnus lightly chuckled as his Skrill lit up with electricity along his body. "HEADS UP!" he shouted.
Thorwind let out a bellowing roar, and with his body charged with electricity he let out a powerful beam of lightning onto the archers on the wall, hitting more than a dozen of them with one strike, including a group of defending warriors. But that was just the beginning.
Soon came in Hiccup and Toothless along with Astrid and the Riders on their Dragons, thus things were about to become serious.
Hiccup looked down at Toothless. "Plasma blast, Bud! Give 'em all you got!"
Toothless let out a growl, lighting his mouth up before aiming towards the wall at a cluster of warriors who as a matter of fact were near Ivar.
The Völsung Chieftain tilted his head away as Toothless launched his plasma blast, causing nearly two dozen warriors to go flying off the walls in flames - as well as destroying one of the catapults.
Ivar turned his head back towards the battlefield, and down below he could see that his foe was slowly starting to push. They fought through the shield wall whilst the riders of Berk and their Dragons blasted the enemy away, causing many to split from the wall and fight in the open. Ivar knew it was time to even the scales.
He raised his arms, looking back at his catapults. "CATAPULTS! BURN THEM ALIVE!"
Almost immediately, the siege machines launched their fiery boulders onto the allied army. As they went flying, Stoick was keen enough to notice them coming, and quickly he looked towards his allies and the other Chieftains, motioning with his weapon to brace.
"EVERYONE, SPREAD OUT AND BRACE YOURSELVES!"
The Tribes were instantly forced to spread out to lessen their chances of getting hit, but even with their strategy it was not enough to dodge them. The fiery boulders came crashing in, rolling onto their ranks and setting them on fire as they burnt and screamed to the hot flames.
From how Hiccup and Stoick saw it, at least one hundred warriors took the volley - and none of them survived.
"That pyromaniac!" spat Stoick.
Hiccup grunted, looking back at the others. "Astrid, Fishlegs, take out their catapults! Burn them to cinders and show them how we really heat things up!"
The two Vikings nodded, maneuvering their Dragons to fly towards the walls with speed. Knowing however that they would be exposed to the enemy's archers, they devised a plan.
As Astrid flew along the wall, she grabbed the enemy's attention by having Stormfly launch spine shots from her tail, which effectively pierced through the limbs of any archer who was unfortunate to get hit, all whilst she made advanced evasive maneuvers to dodge their shots. Their arms and legs were impaled with Nadder spines, and the pain in turn just slowed them down as blood seeped from their wounds.
This however gave room for Stormfly to fire as she breathed her magnesium flames onto the enemy, burning them alive just as how their catapults did to their allies.
"Good work, Stormfly!" said Astrid. "Now let's get them intimidated!"
While Astrid fought and distracted the enemy efficently Fishlegs and Meatlug flew as fast as they could along the wall - targeting down catapults which were still firing boulder after boulder onto their allies from afar, as well as shooting down riders from the skies. Surprisingly, Meatlug's lava blasts were extremely destructive to the weapons when it came to their impact. Every lava blast she spewed, the catapults would blow into smithereens which in turn set blasted away the engineers.
One by one they destroyed the catapults until nothing was left, and considering the damage they had already done - the timing could not have been any better.
In total, two dozen Berkian riders suffered from the catapult fire - as well as a hundred more Vikings. This as a result caused the Völsung to break their shield wall, and for the fight to spread out across the battlefield with Vikings on both sides battling one another in small and large groups.
Hiccup saw the opportunity now laid before him, and he decided now was the time to turn the tide. He looked towards the Riders and rose his voice up for them to hear.
"ALL RIDERS, FOCUS ON THE FIELD!" he shouted. "Let's blast them away!"
What followed was a fireworks show from the Dragon Riders and the riders of Berk. Hiccup, Astrid, Magnus, and the group all flew their Dragons across the area, attacking the enemy left right and center. Their Dragons gave the enemy all they had, breathing down their flames, sending bolts of fire towards them with dim colors, and as well as picking them up off the ground and sending them flying up into the air like toys. Like they were nothing.
The intensity of the battle from the Dragons started causing fires to burn across the field, for dirt and smoke to fly in the face of the enemy, and even make the Völsung Vikings become intimidated from the whole situation. If anything, it was too much - way too much, and they did not know whether they could hold it for any longer.
The Dragon Riders however were in a way having a great time.
Hiccup along with Toothless launched plasma blasts after plasma blasts, almost forgetting about the shot limit that Toothless had. To the Dragon, it was almost as if it did not matter. It felt like he could fight with ease as he flew through the air, making dive-bombs on the enemy and sending them flying back from the impacts of his attacks. His speed especially was unmatched for the enemy, and not even an arrow could hit him.
Magnus and Thorwind were a pair who were unlike any other, just like with Hiccup and Toothless, Astrid and Stormfly, and the rest of the Riders. The Skrill unleashed beams and bolts of lightning onto multiple foes at a time, almost as if he was infused with the power of Thor himself. His attacks were lethal, and his speed was close to that of Toothless'.
All the while they flew however, Magnus made life more difficult for the Völsung, dropping flame-lit flasks filled with tar onto the enemy which as a result caused exploding bursts of fire, lighting them up and quickly taking them out as if they were wood and parchment.
Astrid and Stormfly both worked as one. The two almost shared the same mind-set, flying through the air as they made advanced maneuvers and attacks that not even a single warrior could counter. At times, she jumped off her Dragon when she neared the ground, slicing down a Viking or two before Stormfly came flying back down to pick her up, and she would leap back onto her.
Astrid chuckled, looking back. "That's gonna leave a mark!"
As for Snotlout and Hookfang, they both used their anger and swift reactions as a means to make the enemy flee in sight of the Monstrous Nightmare. With Snotlout's guidance, Hookfang flew passed and around groups of enemies with his body lit up, causing them to either spread or group up before breathing down on them to deal the most amount of damage possible.
All while they flew, Snotlout chanted in delight. "SNOTLOUT! SNOTLOUT! OI OI OI!"
His father from afar noticed this, and smirked at the sight of his son who was shockingly dealing more damage to the enemy than he was. "Haha, that's my boy!"
For Fishlegs and Meatlug, although they were slow, they both still took their attacks from the enemy as if they were a shield that was stronger than any. To make up for the lack of speed however, they used mobility as their greatest weapon. This allowed both the Gronckle and her rider to attack their foe from almost every side - no matter what. Along with that, Meatlug even began to bash the enemy with her tail, almost as if it was a giant mace.
For the Twins however, both of them along with Barf and Belch were flying about crazyily over the enemy. If anything, all they cared about was blowing them up rather than just going for straight up tactics. There were walls of flames, huge bonfires, and so forth with whatever they could manage to deal. Whatever the case however, their efforts too were paying off with all of the others.
If anything however, things were starting to look bad for the enemy.
Ivar saw from atop the wall how his forces were beginning to get torn apart. Many fell before the Tribes of Vikings that fought below, and more fell to the Dragons like tissue paper. As a whole, the situation was not looking good.
"This can't be happening!" he said to himself. "I can not lose today! DO YOU ALL NOT KNOW WHO I AM!? YOU CANNOT KILL ME! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM!? I AM IVAR THE BONELESS! I AM IVAR THE BONELESS!"
"YOU CANNOT KILL ME!"
"That seems really unlikely!" Hiccup called out from nearby.
As Ivar turned his head, he spotted Hiccup flying towards him in the distance, dropping onto the wall with Toothless and landing in front of him and his Jomsviking guards. Behind the lad however, the rest of the riders and their Dragons flew in place, glaring down Ivar who stood there growling.
"Did you really think you could win this one?!" he asked. "Look at what has become of your army, Ivar! You've led them to their doom - without loyalty or care! Can't you see? Behind me right here is what we call loyalty and respect to one another! The loyalty of Dragons and Vikings as one in times of crisis - something you failed to see, and it is because of this that you have lost!"
Just as Ivar was about to respond, a commander from behind came climbing up the wall with haste - exhausted and bloody.
"My lord, Ivar!" the commander said. "The Eastern wall is about to be overrun! Ubba, Hvitserk and Sigurd have managed to breached the ramparts, and our men are fighting for their lives right now. We need support!"
Ivar let out a muffled sigh. He could even see from afar that the forces of the Archipelago too were ready to make a breach in the wall, especially since they were now climbing it. He looked back at his Jomsvikings and motioned with a hand towards half of them. "You fifty, go with the commander to the Western wall. The rest of you, stay here and fight! I have other things to attend to!"
"What? You can't escape me again, Ivar!" shouted Hiccup. "You have nowhere to run!"
"Neither do you, Slave! My Jomsviking guards will deal with you. KILL HIM!" he commanded, just before running off as he started his way towards the Great Hall.
As the Jomsvikings began to close in on Hiccup and Toothless however, it was then that the lad heard footsteps rushing towards him from behind. To his side came Astrid, Magnus, Eira, Snotlout, Fishlegs, Heather, and the Twins - all with their weapons in hand and unsheathed.
"Let's make this a fair fight!" Astrid said before looking back at Hiccup. "Care for us to join in?"
"All fine by me." Hiccup said, spinning his fiery blade mockingly towards the Jomsvikings. "What are you waiting for, then? Come on!"
One of the Jomsviking guards grinned wickedly, eyeing Hiccup and Toothless. "Ivar's going to reward us dearly for bringing your head! JOMSVIKINGS, RUSH THEM!"
Though to the Jomsvikings it seemed like an easy fight, little they did know that it was already a losing battle for them.
The group's combined strength and skill was all too much. Hiccup was skilled with his sword and hasty in his movements, easily cutting down his foes - especially with the aid of Toothless who swung his tail at them like sport. Astrid was both strong and acrobatic, making decisive and effective attacks against her foes which led to a blood outcome. Magnus and Eira both had strength and precision, making extremely accurate and brutal moves against their enemy which resulted in striking them down effortlessly.
As for the others, Snotlout was both brave and bold when it came to fighting, something he did not understand for a long time until months ago, and through this he dealt blow after blow to the Jomsvikings. Fishlegs and Heather worked well as a couple, with Fishlegs using brute force and Heather relying on her swift skill with her double-bladed axe to get the job done. The Twins however were both crazy and aggressive, striking and double-teaming on the Jomsviking in an unthoughtful but effective strategy.
Overall as a result however, the Jomsvikings were quickly taken care of, and not a single one of them remained standing.
"Well then," said Heather. "That was rather quick. Now, maybe we should-"
A large booming sound suddenly cut her off. The group turned around and saw from behind that a part of the wall had exploded into rubble, sending small pieces of iron and wood flying out in all directions.
A breach was made, and the Tribes knew that now was the time to storm into Kattegat. Gobber quickly commanded the Berkian riders to bust down the gates with Dragon fire, and with one single volley it was torn down completely.
The Vikings cheered, storming into the city as they marched through the streets, ready to clean up Kattegat of any remaining Völsung warriors and as well as free it's people.
Hiccup now saw the opportunity. He looked back at Toothless, giving him a nod as he mounted atop the Dragon, putting his prosthetic and foot in place before flapping Toothless' prosthetic tail fin open.
"It's time." he said, looking back at the others. "If I do not do this now then I will never be given another chance. Ivar has to be dealt with once and for all, and this time he has nowhere to run. I will finish this, even if I have to lose another limb for it..."
"...Wish me luck. And stay safe, including you Astrid."
"You too. Good luck, Hiccup…" nodded Astrid, watching as Hiccup and Toothless quickly flew off, flying towards the large and towering Great Hall.
As he went off however, she instinctively moved her hand and placed it against her chest, giving off a soft sigh as she thought about what was about to go down between Hiccup and his former tormentor. It would be the final showdown.
"I love you, Hiccup…"
Next chapter: Hiccup Haddock versus Ivar the Boneless...
To be continued...