The winter had been relatively calm, and now that it was reaching its halfway point the town was full of activity. A lot of the snow had been melted by some of the dragons, which now eagerly helped with the preparations for the annual holiday. Houses were decorated and a large wooden tree had been built in the centre of the town.
People were working actively, putting up decorations and gathering materials for the feast that they would hold that evening. Half of the town was busy with the decorations, draping them across their buildings and putting them on every spot that was left undecorated. The other half was busy preparing for the feast, bringing food from the storage barns to the great hall and chopping firewood for the large fires that they would light to keep the hall, Vikings and food warm. It also helped to have a supply to last for a few days since a few days after Snoggletog the village would still be pretty quiet. After two or three days the dragons would return, which would also be around the time that most of the village has had enough sleep and rest to be able to function properly again.
Ragnar carefully avoided a row of barrels which were rolled up the hill towards the great hall by some of the inhabitants of the isle. They had some momentum and people neatly avoided their path to let them keep it. The barrels were probably filled to the brim with various beverages, most of them alcoholic. Behind them followed a few shepherds, who were escorting a small selection of the town's livestock to head towards the hall. Crates of fish and barrels of honey also made their way towards the hall, along with a broad selection of vegetables and herbs.
The village was a sight to behold, everywhere you looked were richly decorated houses and various other decorative constructions. The people were already in a cheery mood and were ready for the feast later that evening. The weather wasn't all too pleasant. Every now and then a strong wind would burst out and chill everyone to the bone. Luckily the Vikings society was a rather open one, so it wasn't strange for a group of people to quickly find shelter inside someone's house.
But, just like every year, the dragons had their mating period, and would leave somewhere that day. This year was no different, it was calm and quiet, and everyone was back outside when the first dragon took to the skies. Everyone who was still mounted on a dragon quickly slid of their back. Saddles had already been removed for the day, since they wouldn't be needing it on their journey.
After first dragon, many more took to the skies. Other flocks emerged from behind the mountain, and the Berkian dragons quickly joined the migration. It was a sight to behold. The first time it happened the Berkians had been fearful, scared even, fearing that the dragons were being enslaved again by some larger dragon. But after the safe return a few days later, accompanied with their babies. They decided that it was instead a beautiful thing to behold.
That and the fact that Dragon eggs exploded, and that Astrid had managed to get a hold of a few.
The last of the dragons disappeared into the clouded horizon, and Stoick was carefully watching from the entrance of the great hall. Beside him stood Gobber, who was watching the last barrel roll into the hall and into storage.
"And that's forty seven." He said with a big smile, excited for the feast that they were about to have. "Everything is here Stoick."
"Good." He said calmly, watching over the decorated village. "Sound the horn."
Gobber nodded gently, before waving his arm in the air, signalling the lonesome man who stood at the horn for the dragon races. He blew on the mouthpiece with all his might. The horn sounded loudly, signalling everyone in the village and in its outskirts that it was time for the feast to begin.
The villagers cheered and laughed, now Snoggletog had officially begun. Everyone in the village headed for the great hall, which was large enough to fit the village and a few more. Slowly but surely the village became deserted.
As the last people entered the hall the large doors were closed, and the celebrations could officially begin. Hiccup and Ragnar stood at the far end of the hall, chatting about their first Snoggletog with an actual tribe.
"Nope, never." Ragnar said calmly, answering a question about their previous Snoggletogs. "We've never stayed at a tribe for the celebrations."
"Not even in Roma?" Johann asked after he took a sip of his drink.
"We were never there." Hiccup answered. "We always came to the archipelago."
"The dragons still needed to mate." Ragnar added. "So we would head out for a few weeks."
"But where did you stay?" Another Viking asked curiously. "Surely tribes wouldn't have let such foreigners stay with them."
"We've never tried." Hiccup answered. "We stayed at the breeding grounds."
"Toothless and Bolt have the instinct to breed, especially since they are both rare dragons." Ragnar said. "We haven't had any luck so far though."
"Well, maybe someday." Fishlegs said as she scanned the crowd. "Oh, erm, I'm going to grab some food." He suddendly said, quickly disappearing into the crowd.
"I'll join him." Johann said as he slowly moved towards the place where they last saw Fishlegs. Before also disappearing into the masses.
"What was that about?" Ragnar asked confused as he looked around, finding that the other two Vikings which had joined in their talk had also quickly left.
"I have no idea." Hiccup said calmly as he scanned the crowd in the hopes of finding them, but to no avail. "They seemed scared."
"Hey guys!" Astrid said as she emerged from the crowd. Holding a shield with a large flacon and two tankards. "Have you had a cup of cheer?"
"No, but it sounds lovely." Hiccup said absently, still scanning the crowd. He absently grabbed the tankard from the shield and took a big gulp, which immediately brought his attention to the drink.
"It's called Yaknog." Astrid said with a smile, turning to Ragnar. "Do you want some too Ragnar?"
Ragnar, who was pretty distracted by the way his partner seemed to be dying inside quickly turned to Astrid. "No, no, I still have some." He quickly said, grabbing an empty tankard from a nearby table.
"You're holding it upside down." Astrid said with a confused tone.
"Well, that explains why it's empty." Ragnar said. "I better get some more then." He grabbed Hiccup's arm and quickly dragged him into the crowd. Leaving Astrid with her Yaknog. She calmly grabbed Hiccup's tankard and placed it back on the shield, searching for other people who might like a taste.
Ragnar quickly dragged Hiccup into a storeroom, where he gladly emptied his mouth. The Yaknog quickly dropped on the ground.
Much was to be said about the Viking cuisine. Although it wasn't that developed, and mainly consisted of basic cooked food or boiled stews. It truly shone when they had their feasts, the honeyed meat and smoked fish dishes were delicate in these regions. They were often so well prepared that even outsiders, if allowed to partake in the festivities of a tribe, would agree that it was better than anything they had tasted.
But for every rule there is an exception, and for this one she was called Astrid Hofferson. Even as a kid Astrid enjoyed cooking, but because of her dedication to her physical training she wasn't good at it. This didn't stop her from trying though. Ever since she thought about the idea of making a special brew for the holidays a few years back she hasn't given up on the idea. Sadly enough, she hasn't improved it either.
Every year she would wander the hall with one or two flagons of yaknog as she called it. The brew was something special indeed. Since no one really wanted to donate anything to Astrid's cause it usually left her with only yak milk, but since that wasn't a proper beverage she would add a few eggs, shell mostly excluded. Since a most of the festive drinks contained alcohol they had some time to ferment. The first time, Astrid had just taken some mouldy milk, which in her mind equalled the fermenting process at least some bit. The other years however, now that she had more time to prepare for the festivities, she actually lets the mixture ferment, which leads to the thick, soft lumps that are present in the mixture.
The last of the Yaknog fell on the ground, and Hiccup stood over it, panting heavily.
"You had to puke from it?" Ragnar asked in horror. Not believing that it was that discussing. He had seen Hiccup eat raw fish that Toothless had regurgitated. "Actually had to puke?"
"That's not puke." Hiccup said with a broken voice. "That's the drink."
"That's the drink?!" Ragnar exclaimed. "It has lumps in it!"
"It has lumps in it." Hiccup slowly repeated. Wobbly on his feet and sitting down on a barrel.
"Stay here." Ragnar said. "I'll get you something to wash your mouth with."
The waters of the Nordic archipelago had always been dangerous. The seas were filled with strong currents and deadly predators. Not to talk about the dangerous colds it could reach when winter came. But along with the cold water came another problem. Ice.
The winters were often so cold that entire Harbours would freeze completely, rendering them inoperable. If they weren't they would be the home of large floating pieces of ice, which would sink any ships passing through.
Just like most ports, Berks docks were frozen completely, a long clean strip of ice stretched out towards the sea. Making it impossible for ships to dock, because the wooden bows would be smashed to splinters by the frozen water. This meant that no guards were needed because Berk was now inaccessible.
However, ships did approach, their bows covered with thick sheets of metal, shoving the floating pieces of ice out of their way. Five of them, the small armada of ice breakers sailed straight for Berks harbours heading for the thick sheet of ice that lay in front of it.
The first ship hit the ice, breaking it with the armoured bow. It cut deep into the sheet of ice, the other four ships following, two on either side. Eventually the ice grew too thick, stopping the ships. But, at this point the ice was thick enough to support some weight, which meant that the attacker could easily walk into the town.
One by one soldiers came from the ship, careful not to walk on the ice with too many people at once, since it might break because of their heavy armour. They wore strong steel plate armour, over which they carried white robes with a large red cross on it. Most of them carried swords, some along with a shield and some only carried a large pike with a flag. White with a red cross.
They gathered on the wooden docks, forming their ranks and marching up towards the town. They were even more organized than the guards that Alvin had brought. These were fully trained Templar knights, a breed of skilled warriors with one goal. Guided by the Order of Templars these men were tasked with following their leader to the bitter end, so he may help the Order achieve dominance over the savages of the lands.
They marched as an army, heading through the deserted town and towards the large building that was carved into the mountain. Their hall, so sturdy and strong would now become their trap.
The men gathered at the front of the doors, standing lined up and ready for a fight. Their leader stepped forward, he was a short man compared to the tall Vikings, as were most of the knights they had brought with them. But that didn't matter. Their information told them that every Viking would be unarmed and possibly slightly drunk by now. So they had a huge advantage.
A drunk Viking stumbled out of the door, getting some fresh air before he continued drinking. Once he was out of the doors he tripped and fell on the ground, groaning loudly. The leader calmly walked up to the man, helping him up. He cleared his throat, speaking in a language foreign to him. "Excuse me sir." He said politely. "Could you please get your 'Chief' for me, I need a word with him."
The drunken man looked at the Leader, who was just a bit shorter than him, he wore fancy, shining steel armour, which had small gold tints to it. It was polished and rather unshaved. And looked in pristine condition compared to the armour of the knights behind him, which was beaten and worn.
He quickly climbed back to his feet, swaying a bit from left to right before heading back into the hall. Inside, he made his way through the crowds of people. Searching for Stoick. He eventually found him with Gobber, both calmly talking about the past year.
"Chief!" The drunk Viking blurted out as he stumbled to Stoick. "There's some lass who wants to speak to you."
Stoick sighed, putting his tankard down and excusing himself. "Must be Mildew, complaining about the noise again." He muttered to Gobber, who nodded and continued his drink. He walked through the masses and headed out of the door, being greeted by a small army of knights.
Stoick stood frozen, not sure if these men were hostile or not, and puzzled about how they landed on the isle.
"Are you Chief Stoick Haddock of the Hairy Hooligans?" The leader asked calmly.
"Aye." Stoick said. "Stoick, the vast, Haddock of the Hairy Hooligans." He corrected.
"Splendid." The leader said calmly. "I apologise for interrupting your festivities, but I wish to speak to you and your generals."
"What do we have to discuss?" Stoick asked warily. "What is your business here?"
"I wish to discuss a peace treaty." The leader said. "My goal is to prevent as much bloodshed as possible."
"Can the others continue the festivities?" Stoick asked calmly. "It would create disorder if I were to suddenly call them off."
"They can, under supervision." The leader spoke. He quickly gave a few orders in Latin for a handful of guards to stay to guard the large doors. "Shall we?"
Stoick thought for a second, but then decided that it was better to follow for now than to let an army of trained warriors storm into the mead hall full of unarmed villagers. "Let me get my people." He said, as he disappeared into the hall.
He was quickly greeted by Gobber, who was coming over to the door to help Stoick if Mildew was being trouble. But before he could ask anything Stoick spoke to him. "Gobber, I need you to guard the door." He said without explanation. "No one can go out."
Gobber trusted his friend and chief. "Should I bar it?" He asked, looking at the large oak wood beam that they could use to effectively seal the doors.
"That would be best." Stoick said calmly. "I'm heading out with Spitelout and the riders."
"What's going on outside?" Gobber asked, curious about why he was heading out and why he had to bar the door. "Something bad?"
"Maybe." Stoick said. "Man clad in iron, a red cross as their symbol." He sighted. "They speak of peace while they are dressed for war."
"I'll get the riders and Johann." Gobber said as he walked off, turning after a few steps. "Should I get Hiccup and Ragnar?"
"We better leave them out of this." Stoick said. "I think this is one of the things they haven't told us."
The negotiation were held in the arena. Where Stoick, accompanied by Spitelout as advisor, was talking with the Templar leader. Johann was present as translator, but it wasn't necessary, since the Templar leader spoke proper Norse.
"Our term are simple." The leader, who spoke calmly. "We are granted access to your village and are allowed to set up various camps on the island. In return we will give you protection and a pledge that no harm will come to your people."
"Vikings are not too keen on strangers." Stoick said calmly. "Especially since southern isles have been having trouble with Romans. Our allies and companions will think of us as traitors if we side with you."
"And this matters why?" The leader asked. "Our informant tells us that this village is thriving on all sides, you don't rely on trade or allies."
"Aye, and although strategically strong, we can't stand an organised and long term siege." Stoick said. "If we side with Romans all the tribes will turn against us."
The leader sighted, the negotiations weren't moving forward as he had hoped. "Alright, let's return to this point at a later stage." He said as he rubbed his temples. "I had another question I was hoping that you could inform me about."
"And what would that be?" Stoick asked, glad that the negotiations had gone smoothly so far. Although they were surrounded by possibly hostile soldiers his free speech remained in the negotiations and the Templar leader was willing to listen to him to.
"We have lost on of our, associates, in this region." He explained calmly. "I was hoping that you might have information about the death of Alvin the Treacherous."
Stoick sighted. "Aye, Alvin met his fate on this isle." He explained. "During a rather hostile visit."
"Sir Haddock, this is important." The leader began. "Is there any possibility that Master Treacherous met his fate by the hands of assassins?"
Stoick looked at Spitelout, who merely gave a stern look back.
"Yes."
The guards outside the hall were calmly chatting away, they had made a small fire to ward of the cold and were discussing the horrendous task that they had been assigned. None of them had wished to go to this barren Nordic wasteland, but the task was here, so here they were.
They didn't mind staying this far up north too much, but the presence of the Vikings unsettled them. These, in their eyes, savages were only capable of murder and destruction, and they didn't understand why they had to be reasoned with.
One of the men went to take a leak, heading out a few paces to find a clear spot before doing the deed. As he was emptying his bladder he calmly continued taking, sometimes shivering when a cold wind passed by. When he was done he quickly retied his clothes and turned around. Only to be met with a bolt to the chest. His body dropped quickly, making a crispy thud as he hit the fresh snow.
The remaining soldiers jumped to their feet. Readying their weapons as they looked at the lifeless body that now lay in the snow. They quickly formed defensive ranks and prepared themselves. One of them looked at the door, noticing it was still closed. They didn't understand who had attacked their fellow Templar, that was until he showed himself.
Ragnar emerged from behind a building, his crossbow on his shoulder, another bolt loaded. The Templars were shocked, they had expected a lot, hell, they had heard that there were dragons in this area, but they hadn't expected any assassins. Ragnar pulled his crossbow from his shoulder aiming it at the group, switching from man to man.
"Where is your leader?" He asked in fluent Latin, which surprised the Romans. "Where did he take the Vikings?"
One of the Templars stepped forward. "We are not telling you anything you assassin dog!" He spat. "We are trained to defeat" His sentence was cut short when another bolt flew through the air, hitting him in the side. He dropped with a loud grunt, his body quickly becoming lifeless.
The rest of the Templars quickly looked around, searching for the origin of the shot. One assassin could prove troublesome, especially since he looked like a master. But if there were two they had big trouble. They quickly changed their defence. Now forming a circle to defend themselves from all sides.
Pikes outwards and swords at the ready they looked around fearfully. Not knowing that the second shot came from above them. Because Hiccup was calmly waiting on the top of the mead hall.
"I'll ask you again." Ragnar said slowly. "Where are the Vikings?"
The Templars looked at each other, determined. One of them turned back to Ragnar. "We'd rather die."
"That can be arranged." Ragnar muttered as he fired his crossbow. Shooting one of the men. He quickly dropped it and readied his halberd, preparing for the fight. The men, startled a bit by how quickly one of their man dropped, quickly reformed their ranks. Now standing in a line to defend themselves from Ragnar.
Now it was Hiccup's turn. Dropping down from the mead hall, landing on two of the Templars, both his blades sinking into their necks. The rest quickly turned around to the new thread, which allowed Ragnar to attack them in the back. His halberd sunk into the shoulder of a Templar, quickly forcing him down onto the ground. He pulled it back and swung it around to hit another Templar in the side.
They quickly finished off the last few Templars, leaving only one of them alive. He was disarmed and had pushed himself up the walls of the hall.
"I'll ask once again." Ragnar began as he held his blade at the neck of the Templar. "Where are the Vikings?"
"They headed that way." The Templar quickly said as he pointed towards the bridge that lead to the arena. "Antonio is trying to reason with the savages."
Ragnar looked back at Hiccup, who was looking at the dead soldiers. "This is going to be a mess to clean up." He said as he looked at all the Templar crests on the soldiers. "And even worse to explain."
"Yes, but we got different things to first." Ragnar said as he picked his halberd and crossbow from the ground. "Let's see how the negotiations are going."
"If you wish to protect us you should leave." Stoick said angrily. "Your presence only gives our neighbours reason to attack."
"I can't just leave." The Templar leader said. "This is a delicate process. We'll be visiting your neighbouring islands too."
"And how will you visit them? With catapults and spears." Stoick asked. "We heard what happened at other isles, words spreads fast. Your words are honeyed, but false." He stood up from the table improvised table, turning to Spitelout for a last advice, which again was communicated just by a glance. "We are done negotiating." Stoick said. "We need you to leave our lands."
"So be it." The Templar leader said calmly. "I offered you an olive branch, but you knocked it from my hand." He turned back to his man, signalling them to draw their weapons. "Perhaps you respond better to the sword." The man readied their weapons, spears at the gate of the arena and bows aiming down at them.
"Are you threatening us?" Spitelout asked.
The leader looked at the ground, sad almost. Before looking back at the group of Vikings. "Yes."
The four Templar bowmen notched their arrows, aiming them down at the Berkians that stood in the arena. But the arrows missed as they were pulled back, falling off the cliff silently.
The leader turned around, looking at the now vacant spot in his ranks.
Ragnar climbed up the walkway, his halberd at the ready. Allowing Hiccup to jump on the supports underneath and find a good position to corner the Berkians. They had a storage of weaponry at the arena, but it was inside on of the old cages. And the lever to open it was on the stone rim. He quickly flanked around, using his crossbow to eliminate the guard that stood near the lever. He pulled it and the door underneath slowly opened. Revealing a broad selection of weaponry.
The Vikings quickly stormed into the cage, grabbing a weapons and joining the fight only to see that it was almost over. The attackers dropped left and right, finding their fates at the end of the assassins' blades.
They few soldiers that stood in the arena had headed up to the walkway, believing the assassins to be a bigger thread than the Vikings. After a while the leader remained, and was cornered by Ragnar. He drew his blade, a long and shining steel sword, but Hiccup dropped down behind him and let his blade sink into his side.
The leader collapsed. Sinking into the ground as his muscles gave in. He sat half against the wall, his hands clutched at the deep stab in his side.
"Oh no, what have you done?" The Templar leader muttered softly as he felt his hands grow wet with his own warm blood.
"We've put an end to your schemes, you wish to take this village for your own." Hiccup said as he kneeled next to the Templar leader.
"Yes, so that we might protect them." The leader said. "Do you think the emperor lies awake at night, wondering about the fate of the savages north of the borders?" He couched, the blade having pierced his lung. "Sure, they are happy to trade when the northern region need food or weapons, but when the soil is filled, when the borders must be moved, we'll see how tolerate the Romans are."
"The Vikings have no quarrel with the Romans." Ragnar spat angrily, shocking the Berkians a bit. They knew what they were having a rather heated discussion, but they couldn't discover the subject.
"Not yet." The Templar leader said. "But they will, just wait, it's the way of the world." He sighed as he slumped even more, losing more and more energy every passing second. "I could have stopped it, could have saved you all."
"You speak of salvation and salvation." Ragnar began. "But you slaughter and enslave anyone who stands in your way."
"For they would not listen!" The Templar leader said with his last energy, before adding "And it seems neither will you." with his last breath.
His head fell to his side as he breathed his last breath, a small cloud coming from his lips as it touched the cold air.
Hiccup leaned over, closing the man's eyes. "Requiescat in pace." Hiccup said slowly. "For you claim peace if what you seek."
He stepped back, looking at the fallen leader for the last time, before turning back to the rest of the village. His father had a worried look on his face.
"Hiccup." He said, like a man questioning a little boy. "Who are these people?"
"I have no idea dad." Hiccup lied, slowly heading towards the exit of the arena. "But I think it's best if we return to the hall, Gobber must be getting worried." He added as he jogged to the hall, Ragnar quickly following him.
Stoick rubbed his temples. "You lot head back too." He said to the riders and Johann. "Spitelout and I will get rid of the bodies." He looked at his brother. "I got a feeling its better if no one knew of this."
The riders headed off, but Johann lingered for a moment, before also heading towards the hall.
AN:
A bit shorter, and a bit later, than expected. First of all, again, my apologies. I've had a busy set of weeks and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. There have been a few things that have kept me busy, I thought it would slow down a bit after my exams, but since I made it and can now go to the next study I have to prepare a lot for next year. This combined with work, family, a relationship and the dreaded and deadly Steam summer sales has left me with not too much time to write.
I'll try to improve everything and get back on track, writing is proving to be more difficult since I still have to rewrite a lot of chapter overviews for the story, so I'm basically writing mostly blind without really knowing where I wanted to go.
Anyway, next time we'll be a few days further, and there will be some tension in Berk.
I really want to thank everyone for reviewing and helping our with the story, it's amazing! If you have questions and/or suggestions please PM me, I'm fine with questions in the reviews but if I use a suggestion it's more fun for others if it stays a surprise.
If you leave stuff in the reviews on which you want a response than please make sure you have an account. Otherwise it's going to be pretty difficult to respond on questions and stuff.
Take care, and thanks for keeping up with my lazy ass.
R4y