Chapter Forty-Eight: The Saviour
Hiccup held Astrid's broken, pale body against him, his whole body shaking. Astrid opened her eyes slowly and gave him a weak smile as Valka, Stoick, Rose, and Snowdrop surrounded them, their lips quivering and their eyes wet. Hiccup reached around Astrid's body, reaching behind her, feeling down her spine. He felt the break, a place the line suddenly ended. A sob tore from his throat as he clutched Astrid to him.
"No –" he choked. He sucked in a breath and broke down, sharp, heartbreaking sobs ripping his body apart.
Rose couldn't bear it. She covered her mouth and walked away, stumbling for the Mother Dragon. She walked across as snow began to fall around her. The dragons tore each other apart above, bits of them falling out of the sky, as they tried to assert some kind of dominance over each other.
Kindness… love… compassion… trust…
The dragons couldn't remember that anymore. They felt nothing… mindlessness… chaos.
Rose choked on her tears, gritting her teeth, watching them hurt each other in the sky. She looked away, holding her face, before she looked up through her fingers to the Mother.
The Mother's mouth trickled with pink foam, her eyes fixed on the destruction above her. Her children… her babies… torn down to nothing. And… she was crying. Tears fell from her huge eyes of blue and violet, coloured like the Gate of Valhalla. Rose rested a gentle hand against the mother's face, looking deep into the pupil that was ten times the size of her. The Mother's eye flicked down, a groan – a cry – a sob – coughing from her drooling mouth.
Outcast Orchid. Rose shook her head and sobbed again. Something from a flower so small… so beautiful… so deadly…
"Shh…" Rose whispered, wishing she could hear the dragon speak back to her. "I'm… I'm here…"
She sat next to the dragon and rested her cheek against it, staying with her as she kept trying to breathe.
The Mother stared at Rose, thinking back thousands of years to her lover… a man of red hair, and strong jaw… and a perfect heart… like Spirit Weaver… and if Rose, the final reminder of her lover long past, was the last thing she looked upon… she would rest well.
Valkyrie kicked and tried to climb her rope, but the rope began to choke the life out of her. There was nothing below her, nothing but stars and clouds. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the last bit of herself forth, trying to send one last message.
"Mum," she choked through her teeth, her lips turning blue. "I – can't – breathe –"
Astrid gasped a small gasp, coughing out of her lung that slowly filled with blood from a broken rib.
"Hiccup," she choked.
Everyone leaned in as Hiccup pulled away, pressing his forehead to hers. He sucked in a breath to calm himself. "Y-Yes?"
Astrid grabbed his hand, squeezing it as tightly as she could. "The baby –"
She choked and coughed, and blood spattered Hiccup's cheek. Her teeth were red, her breaths were quickening. Stoick and Valka furrowed their brows and looked to each other. Did they just hear her right?
"Our baby?" Hiccup asked, holding her head against his, even as blood speckled across his face with her every breath. "We're going to take you to the matrons, you're gonna – you're gonna have it in a safe place, at home –"
"No –" Astrid breathed, shaking her head. "She – she can't breathe. And… and I'm running out… of time…"
"Don't say that," Hiccup growled, holding her tighter. "Don't say that, no, you – you're gonna be fine –"
Astrid's face contorted into sadness, and she gasped for another breath as Valka's and Stoick's eyes filled with tears.
"My body is broken," she whispered hoarsely. "You have to get her out…"
"C-Can you push?" Hiccup asked as the heavy realization dawned on everyone else. Valka's eyes overflowed with tears, her throat constricting and her nose stinging as Stoick felt as if he'd been hit in the gut. Snowdrop's lower lip quivered, her big eyes glassy. "If you push, then mum and I will pull it free, and –"
Astrid shook her head slightly. "…No, my love… I can't feel anything anymore…" Her pale lips pursed as she rubbed them together. "You have… to… cut…"
"No," Hiccup spat. "No, I'm not doing that to you, I'm not doing that, we're –"
"She can't breathe," Astrid choked. A tear ran out of her eye and created a run through her bloody cheek. "If you don't, she'll die…"
"If I do, then you will."
"I've seen these things performed in the past," Valka said gently. "I've seen women survive them."
But Hiccup knew Astrid better than anyone else. With her back shattered, her legs useless… she would rather perish than suffer a life like this. Hiccup broke down, sobbing awful, gut-wrenching sobs. Stoick and Valka all silently wept as Astrid lifted a hand. She rested it in his hair, and smoothed it over, feeling the braids she had braided into it three moons beforehand. His head fell onto her stomach, and he shook his head.
"Do you… remember what I told you…?" Astrid asked shakily, gently, barely above a whisper. "The night… I was taken from you…?"
Hiccup looked up, and Astrid smiled at him again, her eyes drooping.
"I made you promise me," she whispered. "You promised me… that you would keep going. You promised me that… if something happens to me… you would fight on, that – that you would do whatever it takes…"
"But I'm not the fighter, you are," Hiccup hiccuped. "I said that, I still mean it, you've always been the fighter –"
"We… are all… fighters… Hiccup."
Astrid cupped his cheek and pulled his face against hers. She kissed his lips and pressed her forehead against his. "I can't fight anymore…"
"No, you can –"
"I can't…" Astrid murmured, taking a deep breath. "Our baby is trying… You have to give her a fair chance…"
"But she'll need you," Hiccup cried, sniffing loudly and sighing.
"She'll have you," Astrid smiled again, blood trickling out of the corner of her mouth. Hiccup wiped a thumb over it, as if it would make everything better, but all it did was create a horrid red crimson streak across her flesh.
"I – I have a knife," Valka rasped. "If I –"
"No," Hiccup snarled, trying to keep himself together.
"Hiccup –"
"I said no!" Hiccup yelled to Stoick. "We – we'll figure something else out –"
Suddenly, Rose screamed from around the corner, and everyone froze as they heard a terribly familiar sound...
Dagur's laugh.
Valka and Stoick all jumped, but Hiccup refused to leave Astrid, as if he hadn't heard.
"Come out, Hiccup," Dagur growled, panting from around the wing.
"Don't do it!" Rose cried.
"Do it or I'll kill your friend!"
"Go…" Astrid told him.
"No –"
"I ONLY want Hiccup," Dagur spat, and Rose cried out again, something hurting her. "If I see anyone else, the girl dies. You have three seconds! One!"
Astrid pushed him away. "Go…"
"Astrid –"
"Two!"
"We'll watch her, don't worry," Valka said quickly, desperate for him to run out before harm came Rose's way.
"Three!"
"Wait!" Hiccup yelled. He shakily kissed Astrid again and stood on his feet, refusing to tear his eyes off Astrid's pale, failing face. "I'm coming out!"
"Fight…" Astrid said once more, smiling again. "I know you can…"
Hiccup closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "I'll be right back, don't do anything, just hold on."
He staggered away from them, and turned his back on Astrid. He gritted his teeth and ran out, turning the corner of the wing. Astrid's eyes followed him before she coughed again. Her smile faded and her hand trailed to her stomach. She loved Hiccup. She always had, from when they were kids to now. But even after so long of knowing each other, Astrid knew Hiccup. And she knew herself, and she knew she was always capable of making her own decisions, never minding the consequences in times like these.
"Birdsong…" she wheezed. "Valka…"
"I'm here," Valka whispered, grabbing her hand. Astrid looked up to her, her eyes red and swollen.
"…Do it."
Hiccup stumbled into the bright light of the snow-covered ground, bright from the sky above. He looked up slowly, rage building inside him, the feeling of Astrid's broken spine lingering on his fingertips. Dagur held his poisoned dagger under Rose's throat, the other arm around Rose's shoulders. He trembled where he stood, covered in drool and foam.
"Surprise," Dagur smiled. Rose wrenched against him, but Dagur pressed the blade to her skin. "I wouldn't do that, love," he chuckled. "There's still poison on this blade, it'll turn you into jelly."
"What did you do to the Mother?" Hiccup spat, stopping on one side of the snowy patch.
Dagur scoffed. "You really think even she can stop me?" he asked huskily. "Once I buried my knife into her tongue and sliced it as I fell into her throat, she was done for. This poison… leaves no survivors."
"Hiccup –" Rose begged. "Run –"
"No," Hiccup growled. "We're finishing this."
Dagur grinned, his scarred face twisting menacingly. "With what?" he laughed. "You gave me your sword."
Hiccup grimaced at the sight of Dagur's puckered skin surrounding his fire-sword in a flesh prison, still protruding from either side of his body.
"And I don't see Astrid anywhere, either."
Hiccup sneered, his hands curling into fists.
"And your Night Fury… gone, too? What's left really?" Dagur asked. "You're nothing without them, nothing but a cripple, a poor excuse for a Viking, a pathetic waste of a chief."
"You're wrong."
Dagur's tongue trailed across his lips. "Oh… I don't think so."
"You may have a dagger in your hand," Hiccup said coldly. "But I have more than you can imagine. More than your stupid fucking butter-knife covered in flower juice."
Dagur shoved Rose out of the way and raised his hand over head, brandishing his knife and screaming into the frigid air. Hiccup ducked out of the way as Rose tripped and hit the ground. Hiccup threw his entire body into Dagur's, throwing the pair of them into the snow. He straddled Dagur and landed a punch across his jaw, screaming out in the heaviest outrage he had ever felt in his life. Dagur's head snapped to the side with Hiccup's fist, but he didn't waver. He tried to bury the knife into Hiccup's back.
Hiccup grabbed Dagur's wrist, trying to wrench the blade from his hand. The men rolled to the side as Rose jumped to her feet. Dagur was on top of Hiccup now, the blade in the air once more. Rose screamed and hurled herself into Dagur's arm, sinking her teeth into his wrist. Dagur was torn from Hiccup as Rose's mouth filled with Dagur's blood. He held onto the knife and swung his other fist around, connecting with the bridge of Rose's nose. There was a crack, and the air blew out of Rose's mouth. Her eyes rolled, her mind dazed, her body stunned next to Dagur.
Dagur laughed again, holding Rose's throat with one hand and stabbing the knife down with the other. Rose turned her head and the knife barely missed her skin. She grabbed the hilt of the fire-sword, twisting it as hard as she could. Terrible, horrifying pain sent him howling, and the hilt was torn from Rose's grasp as he jumped back. Hiccup grabbed a fistful of Dagur's wet hair and he swung him around, throwing his body into a cluster of crystals on the Mother's neck.
Valka pulled her sweater from her body, practically tearing it free from her skin. She wore a torn shirt underneath as she handed Stoick the sweater.
Snowdrop touched Astrid's face with a small hand. "Astrid?" she whimpered.
Astrid looked upon her fondly, keeping her gaze away Valka's hands. "Hey, Terror."
"What are they doing?" she asked in a tiny voice.
"Do you remember when I told you… that I had a person inside me?"
Snowdrop nodded, but she looked towards Valka as she cut the lower half of her shirt free.
"Look at me, Snow," Astrid said. "Do you remember?"
"Yeah," Snowdrop replied. "I-I do."
"Well, that baby is still inside me, and Valka's going to get her out."
Snowdrop shook her head. "No, no, I don't want the baby, I want you to get up."
"I'm not getting up," Astrid murmured. "Just… just look at me, okay?"
Snowdrop rested her head on Astrid's chest, sighing sadly, tears still flowing. Astrid put an arm under Snowdrop's head, and she smiled again.
"Guess what?"
"What?"
"I saw mama," Astrid smiled.
Valka placed a hand on Astrid's stomach, pushing down with her fingers, sweat beading on her forehead as she tried to find the best place.
"Really?" Snowdrop sniffled. Astrid nodded.
"She's with papa, now," Astrid said, "but she told me you would find me. She said she knew you would."
Snowdrop smiled up at her. Valka found the stiffness within Astrid, pushing down again to make sure.
"She said she misses you, and she'll always be with you. Forever and ever."
"And so will you?" Snowdrop asked, a sob hiccupping out of her little mouth.
Another tear tumbled out of her eyes. "Forever… and ever…"
Hiccup slammed Dagur's hand into the crystal clusters over and over again, screaming and grunting as he felt the bones in Dagur's hand break like twigs. Dagur dropped the knife, but he cracked his head into Hiccup's. Hiccup jumped back and Dagur hissed through his teeth as they glared at each other, ready to attack.
Dagur's eyes darted to his wrist, where Rose's bloody tooth marks remained. He glared at them, holding his hand in front of his face. Hiccup grinned as Dagur shook his hand, trying to coax it to heal.
"It won't heal!" Hiccup scoffed. "You destroyed that power the moment you poisoned the Mother!"
Dagur shrieked and sprinted for Hiccup. Hiccup bared his teeth and Rose snarled as Dagur ran for Hiccup. Hiccup grabbed one of the loops attached to his flight suit and wrenched on it. He knew from sewing it himself that if he pulled it a certain way, it would tear right off, and when the leather ripped off Hiccup's suit, he flung it over Dagur's face. Rose jumped onto Dagur's back and wrapped her arms around his neck, holding the leather around his face as he swung out blindly.
"Get the dagger!" Rose screamed as she struggled to hold on. "Get it!"
Hiccup scrambled for it under the Mother's neck, but he couldn't find it in the snow. Dagur reached behind him and grabbed Rose's hair. He hauled her forward, bending over and kicking up his backside to fling her over his head. Rose slammed into the ground and Dagur stomped his foot into her gut. She curled into a ball, struggling for air, as Dagur turned and rushed Hiccup.
Hiccup only had enough time to stand before Dagur punched him under the chin. Hiccup stumbled back among the crystals, cracking his head against them Dagur grabbed his throat and squeezed, laughing and growling in Hiccup's face.
"Second time's the charm," Dagur cackled as he shoved Hiccup into the sharp, pointed hide of the Mother. Hiccup kicked his leg forward, burying his metal leg into Dagur's shin. He cringed, but it only fuelled his rage as he closed his hands around tighter and tighter.
A rock smashed into the back of Dagur's head. He let go of Hiccup to hold it, grunting and stumbling in pain. He spun around to rip apart the person who threw it.
He almost didn't recognize the person storming towards him, another rock in hand. But to Ruffnut, there was no mistake. She hurled another rock at him, hitting him in the face as Hiccup coughed, holding his throat. Dagur held his nose before he looked up at Ruffnut's wet body, her cheeks red and her fists ready.
"You Berkians don't stay dead," Dagur snarked bitingly. Ruffnut scowled.
"It helps if you actually kill them," she replied.
Dagur laughed. Tuffnut appeared from behind his sister, their matching eyes glaring straight at Dagur. Hiccup clambered to his feet and Rose rolled over onto her hands and knees as Dagur looked around himself.
He was surrounded.
Valka unsheathed her knife and crawled to Astrid's other side. She pressed the knife against Astrid's skin. Astrid didn't feel a thing as she stared at her sister's face, grounding herself as it became harder to breathe.
Dagur flung the first punch, almost hitting Hiccup before Ruffnut jumped on him. She beat down on his head with her fist twice before he kneed her in the groin. She gasped and crumpled, and Dagur twisted her wrist around behind her back. He grabbed her jaw and tried to break her neck, but Rose jumped on his back. Dagur ran back, slamming Rose into the flat edge of a crystal spike again and again until she cracked her head so hard, she went limp.
Ruffnut stomped her heel down and crunched Dagur's foot before she threw her elbow back into Dagur's gut. He doubled over, but he managed to grab Ruffnut's arm and, a scream erupting from his throat, hurled her around until her face smashed into the dragon's hide. She joined Rose on the ground as Tuffnut moved to her, trying to get to her before Dagur did, but Dagur threw his body into Tuffnut like a battering ram. They sprawled out in the snow and Dagur kicked Tuffnut off him, sending him flying and rolling across the snowy patch.
Hiccup dropped to the ground and swung his leg out, tripping Dagur. He tried to grab the fire-sword but Dagur blocked his hand. He twisted Hiccup's wrist over and Hiccup gasped. Dagur laughed at him as he cringed and tried to pull away, but he was too weak.
"Four Berkians later, and the Berserker remains," Dagur growled in Hiccup's face, smiling. Dagur wrenched his hand violently, breaking Hiccup's arm at the elbow. The sound of bone and cartilage snapping in a collection of teeth-curling pops and snaps sent Hiccup into a frenzy. He screamed, but Dagur didn't let go. "You are laughable. You are nothing."
"No!" Hiccup seethed.
Rose groaned in the snow, blood in her hair. She tried to move her legs but disorientation weighed her down. She tried to say Hiccup's name, watching blurry versions of him writhing and reeling.
Ruffnut lifted her head out of the snow, her face broken and bloody, only able to see out of one eye, and caught glimpse of a glint right in front of her face.
"You will fall, and when I'm done with you, I'm going for Berk. And when I get there, I won't rest until every Berkian bone is broken."
Valka dropped the knife, reaching in.
Dagur wrenched Hiccup's arm up and Hiccup fell to his knees, holding his shoulder as he felt the bones grind against each other, gasping and wheezing and strangled cries oozing from his mouth.
"People will know us, not as exiles, but as gods," Dagur hissed. "And I will teach the world about how to train dragons, and they will never speak your name again."
He grabbed Hiccup's head and kneed him in the face. Hiccup fell back, eyes fluttering.
Astrid struggled to breath as she felt Valka's hands deep within her, brushing against the bottoms of her lungs, holding onto Snowdrop for dear life. She stared at the wing above her, listening to the fight on the other side of the webbing, so close.
Dagur laughed as he stared down at Hiccup's shivering body as he tried to sit up. He kicked Hiccup's chest, shoving him back in the snow.
Astrid's air flew out of her as she felt something inside her shift. Valka grabbed her knife again, thrusting it inside as fast as she safely could. Astrid listened for Hiccup but couldn't hear him, and a breath caught in her throat.
"Hic-Hiccup!" she cried feebly.
Ruffnut reached for the dagger, grabbing it in her bloody hand.
"And when I leave your body to rot on this island, I'm going to watch your Night Fury get torn apart into tiny pieces," Dagur continued.
"Stoick, hand me the sweater!" Valka cried.
Dagur lifted his foot and hovered his boot over Hiccup's face, ready to stomp the life out of him, ready to stain the dirty snow.
"Come on!" Valka begged. She pulled again and Astrid heard a gush. Valka gasped. She threw the knife out of her hand and she leaned forward, pulling something into the cold air. Stoick threw the sweater over Valka's hands as Astrid looked away from the wing above, the life draining out of her with every second. Snowdrop lifted her head as Valka wrapped her nose around the baby's unmoving lips and nose, sucking the mucous out of her lungs. She spat it out and blew in the child's face, trying to encourage it to breathe.
"Valka?" Astrid wheezed. She reached up, desperate to touch the child in Valka's hand, stretching out her fingertips.
"Please, wee one, give us a scream," Stoick begged. Valka, eyes wild as she gave the little bundle a rough rub, closed her mouth over the child's face again as Stoick looked on. "Come on!"
Time slowed for Astrid. She hardly had any energy left as the ground and furs beneath her grew wet and warm. Stoick pressed the strips of Valka's shirt against the gash across her abdomen, but she couldn't feel it. Her entire world became tied, became bonded, to the tiny body in Valka's red hands, to the silent being within the sweater.
"Valkyrie…" Astrid breathed, tears streaming over her cheeks. "Please…"
"I hope Valhalla leaves you stranded at the gates," Dagur sighed. Hiccup coughed and peeled open his eyes, squinting at Dagur's sole above his face.
"Hiccup, no!" Rose screamed, trying to get up.
Hiccup squeezed his eyes shut. Toothless… his entire family… wouldn't survive this day. He tried. He fought as hard as he could… and he failed. Dagur clenched his jaw and sneered, a tiny smirk on his mouth, before he drove his boot towards the earth.
Suddenly, a shrill, tiny scream shot through the air. Hiccup's eyes snapped open as Dagur faltered, his glare resting on the wing, his boot one inch from Hiccup's eyes. He put his foot down next to Hiccup's head, entirely forgetting as he tried to place the sound behind the wing only a few feet away. He stepped over Hiccup and walked towards it, slowly, suspiciously.
Hiccup growled as his blood roared into flame, sending him newfound energy and life. He rolled over and watched Dagur near the webbing of the wing. He screamed and shoved himself forward, grabbing onto Dagur, wrapping his good arm around his neck.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" Hiccup shrieked. Dagur grabbed Hiccup's arm and pushed it up, trying to get Hiccup's elbow over his face. But Hiccup dug his fingers into Dagur's eye, refusing to let go, refusing to give up and blood squirted between his fingers. Dagur howled and Hiccup pulled on his hand, turning Dagur's head as he stumbled blindly. Dagur tried to slam Hiccup's back into the hide, but Hiccup had his feet ready. They landed on the hide and he grounded himself before he jumped forward.
Dagur spun and crashed to the ground, sending Hiccup sprawling. He rolled over his shoulder but landed on one of his feet. Hiccup held his arm to himself as it dangled limply at his side. Dagur got up, holding his face as he snarled. He charged for Hiccup. Hiccup watched him approach and waited, waited as he listened to the beautiful song of his daughter, waited as he reached behind him.
Dagur lunged for Hiccup, but Hiccup pulled his leg free, tearing the metal piece from his calf. He swung it and smashed Dagur across the face, shattering his teeth and almost knocking him out. The force Hiccup used to injure him sent his own body twisting, straining the muscles in his shoulder and arm. Dagur fell into the snow and crawled onto his hands and knees, blood drooling out of his mouth. He slowly staggered to his feet as Hiccup readied himself with his leg for another blow, anything to keep Dagur away from his family.
He lumbered around, his jaw misshapen and his eye nothing but black and red. He panted and yet, after all the injuries the Berkians had managed to inflict upon him, nothing phased him. He smiled and laughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood onto the snow. He staggered towards Hiccup, arms out, the two men ready to fight to the death.
Ruffnut wrapped her arm around Dagur and pulled him back, stopping him in his tracks. Hiccup watched her as she restrained him, barely using any force. She pressed her face against the side of his and held him back.
"You really should have killed me, you bastard," she whispered in his ear.
She had the dagger in her grasp, and she drove it into Dagur neck. Dagur's eyes widened and his screams gargled silently as she let him go, kicking him to the ground. She stepped over him as he tried to pull the dagger out. Rose kicked his clawing hand away and Tuffnut hoisted him up onto his knees, holding him still. Rose and Tuffnut looked worse for wear, but their faces relaxed as they watched the veins around the hilt of the blade turn blue. Ruffnut helped Hiccup stand, resting his leg back into his foot, before they glowered down at their enemy as his began to fester.
"Rose, Tuff… hold him still," Hiccup murmured. Dagur tried to resist but he felt the Outcast Orchid seep into his veins, filling his lungs with toxic froth. Hiccup looked to Ruffnut, knowing the horror Dagur had put her through, and looked to the hilt of the fire-sword in Dagur's belly.
Hiccup grabbed the hilt of the fire-sword with his good hand as Dagur snarled at him, and Ruffnut wrapped her hand around his, the pair of them staring into Dagur's eyes, into his evil soul.
"I hope Valhalla welcomes you," Hiccup muttered.
Dagur scoffed. "You won't kill me," he coughed, blood spewing through his teeth. "You're the Saviour. You won't kill me."
Hiccup sneered. "I'm not your Saviour."
Ruffnut and Hiccup heaved back on the sword and it tore out of Dagur's gut, dragging everything along with it. Blood, organs, and skin that had fuzed around the blade came with the Berkians, and Dagur's face went blank. Rose and Tuffnut let him go. Dagur fell face-first into the snow, his eyes open and vacant, his face expressionless.