Chapter Eight

Strogg watched both pairs of fighters circle each other. The remaining guards in the arena started to move around Astrid and Ukiah, to which he called out "Leave them! I want everyone that isn't a Champion out of the arena. After all, we're here to watch a fight, right?"

The third Champion, Ugo, was busy patching Strogg's shoulder. Had Strogg been a normal sized Viking, the bolt would have done more damage. But due to Strogg's sheer size and muscle, the bolt was easily removed and didn't look like it did any permanent damage. "My chief, shall I accompany Harze and Malke?"

"No Ugo, we'll let them be." Strogg answered, relaxing in his chair for the first time since entering the arena "I feel this will be an entertaining fight. Interesting that the girl, Astrid threw herself in with the boy. Shame. I fancied her a lot; almost respected her."

Astrid checked her grip on her axe, gritting her teeth as Malke kept on staring at her. Harze and Ukiah were in their own staring contest as well; waiting to see who would be the first to strike. "Any ideas?" She growled.

"Just help me get to Arrow. If we can get him free, this fight will be a ton easier." Ukiah whispered, not wanting to tip off the Champions.

"Don't worry about that; already on top of it." Astrid whispered back, stopping in place.

Ukiah didn't have time to ask what she meant, as both Champions then charged the two. Astrid leapt backwards, raising her axe handle up and blocking a downward strike from Malke. Using the force from the strike to propel her, she slid on her feet backwards, putting more distance between him and her. She was at a disadvantage, as Malke had a shield. Knowing she was going to have to use her speed over him, she waited for him to charge her again, planning on countering or sidestepping the attack to try and give her an upper hand.

Ukiah charged at Harze, using both hands to swing the axe in a diagonal uppercut. Harze easily blocked the strike by swinging his shield down onto the oncoming axe head. Ukiah's fast feet then let him spin around Harze with the inertia of the counter, avoiding the strike from the shield and placing him directly behind the Champion. Harze then immediately shot his elbow backwards, making contact with Ukiah's chest. "Oof!" He coughed out. Launching backwards, Ukiah did his best to roll with the sudden force. Hitting the ground, he then rolled over on his side with the inertia, helping him get a little closer to be on his feet. Harze was already turned around and raising the shield over his head, ready to bring it down. Ukiah rolled away a second time, dodging the strike and putting him back on his feet.

By this time, both pairs were separated by the individual fights taking place. Astrid was still waiting for Malke to make a strike where he would open himself up. Malke knew what Astrid was trying to do, and was taking smaller swings, rather than large, powerful blows. Having dodged and redirected small strikes, she stared at Malke angrily as she kept on backing up. She couldn't get him to open up! Finally fed up with playing defensive, she roared angrily as Malke once again did a quick slash. Raising her axe above her head, she then brought it down as hard as she could. Malke easily blocked it with his shield; but the fury behind the swing caught him off guard. Crack! The axe had literately lopped off more than half of it! Splinters of wood flew everywhere! Malke barely had time to react, as Astrid kept on swinging in a fury. He couldn't even time his blows with hers to redirect them! Leaping backwards to put as much distance between him and the raging shield-maiden, he let a swing pass by and lifted his boot, planting it in her stomach; finally pushing her away. Shaking off the remnants of the shield that had remained strapped to his arm, he cried out "Who in the God's name are you little thunder?!"

Scrambling to her feet, Astrid gripped her axe even tighter and shouted "My name's Astrid Hofferson! And I'm a Berkian warrior!" With that, she again charged the now shield-less Champion, knowing she evened the playing field; perhaps even giving herself the advantage. Swinging her axe this way and that, she kept on pushing Malke farther and farther back. He couldn't do anything but attempt to redirect the blows, as her axe was larger than his.

Ukiah side jumped a strike from Harze's shield. He had no way to block the attacks; plus he never fought with an axe before, or at least he didn't feel the same confidence when he had his dagger. Clenching his teeth, he circled around Harze, who was also being methodical. Then he saw it. His dagger lying on the ground behind Harze. Not wanting to give away his plan, Ukiah roared and swung the axe as hard as he could upwards. Harze saw the strike coming, and swung his shield down, making contact with the axe head. The force from the strike caused Ukiah to let go of the axe. With it clanging against the ground, Harze grabbed Ukiah by the vest with his free hand and threw him around. Rolling on the ground, he finally stopped. Though not his original intention on how to get to it, he found himself right next to his dagger. Gripping it, he then readied himself and watched Harze pick up his axe, giving it a few swings to warm up his sword arm.

"I'll admit, brat. You fight well for a poacher. You're quick on your feet." Harze sneered at Ukiah, readying his shield and axe. Walking in a wide circle, he continued to taunt "But nothing more. You cannot win, criminal."

"Said the heartless killer." Ukiah spat back, his eyes narrowing "You talk a lot for being a person who watches death for pleasure."

"I fight and kill the cold hearted creatures that attack and kill us back!" Harze roared, flashing his shield that had a slain Nightmare painted on it "While you fight for them!"

"I can't recall a time Arrow tried to kill me." Ukiah shouted back "You and your guards are the only ones that have! So who's the cold hearted creature?!"

"Enough!" Harze barked, ending the conversation.

Ukiah saw an opportunity start to present itself. A risk, especially since he just barely got his dagger; but for some reason, he knew he could do it.

"This ends with you dying for them!" Harze ranted. Holding his arms out as if to welcome Ukiah, he finished saying "Come poacher. Come and face your en-"

His sentence was cut short. Staring at Ukiah with confusion, hate, and anger; he slowly looked down at his chest. A dagger had buried itself where his heart was, up to the handle. Before he could even register what had happened, Ukiah charged him with a drawn crossbow bolt in his hand. Leaping into the air, he drove it into the side of Harze's neck.

The champion fell backwards from the blow. Crashing onto the ground, he lay there dead.

Ukiah stood there, breathing heavily and registering what happened. A roar sounded to his left, it being Malke who watched his friend be killed. Whirling around, he saw him grab Astrid's axe handle and push her over; knocking her down. Ignoring Astrid, he charged Ukiah with his axe raised above his head.

Ukiah knelt down as fast as he could, pulling the dagger out of Harze's chest. Still crouched, he knew it was too late to try and counter the charge. Leaping to the left, he felt his right forearm get hit, and then it started stinging, leading to a growing pain that seemed swell throughout his entire arm. Finishing the roll, he stood up and felt his grip on the dagger loosening in his hand. The odd thing was, was that he couldn't get himself to tighten it. Looking down at his arm, he stared at the gauntlet wrappings in tatters. Blood was dripping off the slashed straps dangling from his forearm, and his hand was slow to respond.

"You'll die now!" Malke roared, kicking the dazed Ukiah in the chest.

Landing roughly on his back, Ukiah looked up and saw Malke's axe already coming down. Time slowed down for him to where it was almost halted. For a moment, nothing seemed to happen; but slowly a shadow started to emerge. Coming from the right side of Malke, the shadow's form turned into a familiar shape. It was Arrow.

Time resumed as Arrow slammed into Malke, knocking him to the ground. Using his claws and teeth, he slashed and tore violently at the champion, roaring angrily for attacking Ukiah. And for trying to kill him earlier

Sitting himself up, Ukiah felt himself pulled up by his left arm. Turning, he saw that it was Hiccup who was helping stand him up.

"I finished cutting your friend loose while you were busy with…them." Hiccup said, pointing to Harze and Malke; who Arrow stopped slashing and left him where he was. The slashes all over his body had rendered him to nothing than a cut up, fallen soldier; making no effort to get up. He looked like he was living his last moments on his back.

"Uhh…thanks." Ukiah whispered, staring at Arrow who was now sniffing his bleeding arm. His piercing green eyes looked up at him, making sure he would be ok."

"I'll be fine friend. I've had worse." He smiled, wincing in pain as Arrow bumped it.

"Hey! Sorry to interrupt whatever moment you guys are having, but we need to get out of here!" Astrid shouted, running up to the two. Gesturing to his arm, she asked Ukiah "You gonna be ok?"

"Errggh, yeah. I think I will at least." He grunted, switching the dagger from his right hand to his left. "Don't need my arm to run."

"Great! Let's go!" She shouted, whirling around and running to the gate.

Strogg stared in disbelief. Harze and Malke fell to two kids! Well, two kids and a dragon. Seeing them run out of the arena, he shouted "Stop them! I want them all alive! If you kill one of them, you will be used in their place!"

"Yes my chief!" a unified voice rang out, mostly out of fear.

Rushing through the exit, it didn't take long before the three and Arrow were running through the main archway and heading down the path with the remaining guards hot on their heels.

"Where's your dad?" Astrid yelled frantically, turning around to see the guards chasing them.

"I don't know! I thought he was with Strogg all this time, but I didn't see him when we were in the arena!" Hiccup replied, equally frenzied with the situation.

"Not the time to be worried about that; whole new group of guards heading up our way!" Ukiah yelled, gesturing to a small crowd of Vikings marching up the path towards them.

Preparing for another big fight, both Hiccup and Astrid drew their weapons, while Ukiah gripped the dagger in his left hand, worried how he was going to fight with his weaker side. Arrow growled menacingly, his green eyes narrowing and his razor like teeth bared. He waited for the Vikings got closer.

"Wait, hold on a minute…I think…that's…that's dad!" Hiccup yelled in surprise "It is! It's my dad!"

Back in the arena, when Stoick saw the war paint on Ukiah's face, he went into a flash back. Almost two decades ago, on a forgotten island. He and his fellow Viking raiders were charging against a line of Viking warriors, all having the same black war paint, at a diagonal on their faces. Just from seeing Ukiah's war paint, Stoick knew that he was a decedent from that tribe; and to try make up for the mistake he made, he ran back to the Keep to get the crew.

The entire trip, Stoick was trying not to offend Strogg in anyway, but seeing Ukiah in the ring was the final straw. Arming most of his crew, he left the very minimum men required to operate the ship. While he and the rest were going to take the arena by force, the others on the ship were going to get it ready, so they could leave as soon as they got on.

"Hiccup! Is that you?" Stoick thundered, getting closer to them.

"Dad! We need to get out of here, we're being chased!" Hiccup yelled desperately.

"Run to the ship! We'll hold them off!" Stoick ordered.

Ukiah had a better idea, turning around, he yelled "Arrow! Blast the pathway!"

Arrow whirled around and fired a sand blast. The orange fireball exploded, leaving behind burning sand along the trail. The guards stopped, unable to traverse through the burning ground.

"That'll keep them back for a little bit!" Ukiah shouted, turning to face Stoick and sheathing his dagger. Grimacing, he looked down at his bleeding arm, knowing it was going to be slowing him down a bit.

"The dragon!? What's he doing here?" Stoick said, staring at Arrow. Shaking his head, he then returned to the current situation "Fine! Get moving!"

The entire group began to sprint to the ship which was still a good ten minute run. On the way, Stoick explained the plan to Hiccup, Astrid, and Ukiah. "As soon as we all get on that ship, it'll be ready to sail to Berk."

"Berk!" Ukiah thought a little alarmed at this. He was planning on splitting off from the group when they got on the ship. Have them drop him off on the shoreline. He didn't want them to be hunted down because of him! Thinking a little bit, he then concluded "Well I guess I don't really have a choice. If I stay here, even in my little cave, that'll almost be suicide! Plus, Hiccup's and Astrid's actions in helping me escape, would be just like telling Strogg in the face that they were going to fight him. He's going to chase them no matter what! I can't leave them, knowing Strogg's going to chase them anyways!" looking at Arrow, who was right next to him, he whispered "I hope you're ok with that."

Looking back behind them, Ukiah saw the guards had finally broke through the wall of fire. Seeing Stoick's group about a half mile ahead, and making their way to the docks; it wasn't long before they figured out what Stoick's group were trying to do, and went sprinting to catch up with them.

Ukiah at this point, was worn out. After being chased through the local streets last night, being knocked out, trying to kill himself, fighting two scores of guards, getting beat up, fighting a Champion of Thariin, bleeding through his arm, and then being chased AGAIN through the local streets; he was really feeling it all catch up to him; and it was beginning to show. His pace was getting significantly slower than the others and his breaths were a lot shorter.

"Ukiah, what's wrong?" Astrid asked, noticing him starting to lag behind.

"It's nothing, just getting, agh, a little tired." Ukiah huffed breathlessly. "I'll be alright."

"Come on!" Stoick urged "Only a little bit further and we'll be in the docks!"

With this new push; Ukiah forced his legs into overtime, which helped his pace increase enough to run with the group. Onlookers of villagers stared as the group of Berkians ran through their streets, with a dragon following them. The dragon scared most of them into hiding behind their stalls and into houses. Upon arriving at the docks, Ukiah collapsed onto his hands and knees, gasping for air. His body was begging for just a few moments of rest.

"Come on boy! We've got to keep moving! We're almost there!" Stoick yelled, turning around to see Ukiah struggle to stand up.

Ukiah looked up to see Hiccup run to him, helping him on to his feet. "I'll run with you." He said gently, and the two of them began to head down the dock that the ship was at. Astrid was just ahead of them, holding her axe at the ready, just in case a random guard might try to stop the two.

The guards by now had entered the docks and spotted Hiccup and Ukiah immediately; and then proceeded to chase them down, shouting that they found them.

Ukiah turned to see the guards closing in on them. "I'm slowing Hiccup down; I'm slowing down the entire crew!" He thought in alarm. Coming up with another one of his off the cuff ideas, Ukiah turned to Hiccup and asked "Thanks for helping me Hiccup, but can you do one thing for me?"

"Depends, I'm kind of busy at the moment" Hiccup grunted sarcastically, while supporting Ukiah's left side.

"Get the ship as close as you can to that dock" Ukiah said pointing to another dock, parallel to the one the ship was moored at "That's all I ask!"

Caught off guard by the request, Hiccup felt himself being pushed forward. Turning around, he watched Ukiah turn and run down on another dock. Arrow was following closely, not leaving his friend. "Ukiah!" He yelled. There was nothing he could do, because the guards were closing in on him as well. Whirling around, he sprinted as fast as he could for the ship.

Ukiah, seeing that he drew most of the guards with him, saw Hiccup being chased by a few stragglers. Pointing to the dock that Hiccup was running on, he shouted "Blast that dock, Arrow!"

Arrow whirled around and fired another sand blast, hitting where Ukiah pointed at. The single explosion broke the dock that the Berk ship was attached to, becoming essentially a drifting island in the harbor, but also stopping the guards from chasing Hiccup.

Hiccup was knocked over by the explosion. Crashing on the dock, he began to crawl back onto his feet when Astrid grabbed him. "Let's go! Ukiah's buying us time, don't waste it!"

At those words, Hiccup stood up and bolted to the ship, actually running faster than Astrid! Jumping on board, he yelled "Bring the ship as close as you can to that dock over there! Ukiah's counting on us!"

Without questioning his son, Stoick ordered "Hard to starboard!" Swinging the ship towards the other dock.

Ukiah was running as fast as he could. Breathing a lot heavier and forcing his exhausted legs to keep moving, he fought the battle of fatigue as he turned down the dock he asked Hiccup to get the ship near.

"Get him! He's running at a dead end!" A guard shouted from behind.

Breathing to try to energize his limbs, he watched the Berkian ship sail closer. Focusing on it, as it was now moving dangerously close to the dock, he chased after it, trying to catch up to the ship. He knew he was tired, but didn't realize how tired he was until he saw that the ship was moving faster than he could run!

The entire crew of the ship were yelling at him to hurry and jump on! Hiccup and Astrid were the loudest of them all. They watched helplessly as the ship began to pull away from Ukiah.

Almost able to hear the guard's footsteps behind him, Ukiah closed his eyes and was about to give up. He couldn't run anymore. He couldn't! Wham! Something hoisted him into the air. His eyes now wide open, he stared at the water below as he began to fly. Looking up, he saw Arrow had grabbed his arms and picked him up! "Arrow…" He huffed out, both in relief and pain. His arm now had a jerking pain, as being lifted in the air didn't help the slash he acquired.

Being gently set down on the deck, he watched Arrow fly ahead of the ship and out of the port. Collapsing on the deck, he heard Stoick's loud voice shout: "Set the sails to carry us like the speed of the wind!"

Astrid and Hiccup ran over and picked Ukiah up, being careful with his arm that was bleeding profusely now "Are you all right Ukiah?" They asked simultaneously.

Ukiah looked over himself and seeing his slashed arm bleeding even more so, replied with a small, sarcastic smile "I've been better."

Kind of walking, mostly carrying Ukiah to a crate, the two sat him down softly on a crate.

Looking up at Stoick who was busy giving orders, Ukiah silently thanked him for taking him and his friend, Arrow, away from being executed. His arm suddenly lit up with lightning like pain, making him flinch vividly. Looking at his arm, he saw that Astrid was trying her hardest to clean the all the blood without hurting him. "Thank you…" He whispered, a smile growing on his face. How lucky was he? The girl that he had a crush on was helping take care of him! Shoot, she helped fight with him!

"Just toughen up and relax." Astrid huffed, flashing a quick smile at him before returning her attention to the slashed arm.

Hiccup was busy grabbing Ukiah's gear, unstrapping his quiver and his dagger. Staring at the quiver, it hit him! He left his crossbow at the arena! Heartbroken, Ukiah let out a long groan, leaning back against the ship. No sooner had he done this, a sailor yelled the words that Ukiah had learned to love. "Night Fury!"

The crew stopped whatever they were doing and looked up to see Arrow, who had just landed in the middle of the ship, make way to Ukiah. He dropped a mouthful of fish at his feet, and looked at him with worry. Almost whimpering, Arrow nuzzled against Ukiah's chest, as if he was re-assuring Ukiah that he would be ok.

Laughing softly, Ukiah raised his good arm and rested his hand on Arrow's spikey head, whispering "Glad you made it too! It was all worth it then…" Then with the combination of severe fatigue, intense pain, and blood loss, the world began to black out to Ukiah; which he later swore that it was death itself, visiting him.