Chapter Eight: A Hollow Victory
A new day had come and gone on Berk! This time, the light of a setting sun was shining over the island; cast a blood red and purple glow. Berk had finished repairing the siege weapons damaged or destroyed in the Screaming Death's attack. The Jupiter's Might was hidden behind a rock formation, ready to surprise Dagur's Bezerker Armada. All of the dragon riders and their dragons were hidden along the cliff edge…well almost all of them!
"Hey…has anyone seen Snotlout? I haven't seen him all day." asked Astrid in a whisper. Yes, Snotlout was still missing and no one had seen him! Most of the riders assumed he was fuming at the Roman's rising popularity in the village. While Stoick and Hiccup had started to become truly suspicious of Ameilianus and his web of 'coincidences,' the average citizen of Berk was simply grateful for his help. What would happen after Berk and the Romans beat back the Bezerkers was still up in the air.
"Don't know. Ain't seen him since that new buncha Romans showed up." said Tuffnut, truly clueless, "What about you Fishlegs, you seen him?"
"I don't normal associate with Snotlout that much." admitted Fishlegs, "Besides, I been looking into the shortage of Terrible Terrors, and I think I'm onto something. You see-"
"Later Fishlegs! We got incoming!" exclaimed Hiccup quietly motioning to the horizon. Already, Dagur's fleet could be seen coasting in at a slow pace in the light of the sunset. Dagur had apparently made no attempt to hide his vast armada's approach, perhaps too sure of his victory. Not that there was a doubt it could have conquered Berk; in total, there were about one hundred ships in Dagur's navy, with up to twenty to fifty Bezerkers or Outcast per ship. A sizable force for any occasion!
"Alright everyone, remember the plan. As Dagur's fleet closes in past the pillar, the Jupiter's Might will come out blast its weapon into the fleet. In the confusion, we'll swoop down and set as many of the ships on fire as possible. Dagur and his men will have to swim to shore, where they'll be met by my dad and his men. All in all, we should suffer no causalities in this attack." explained Hiccup, sounding sure of the plan's success.
"Seems like a good idea…but…" started Astrid nervously.
"Dagur's not an idiot! How do we know he isn't landing something on the other side of Berk?!" questioned Ruffnut, showing she was the smarter of the Twins…by a smidge.
"We've got Ameilianus and his men keeping an eye in that direction. If something goes wrong, it on them." answered Hiccup simply. Although Hiccup respected Ameilianus in the beginning, too many surprises had turned up for Hiccup to ignore. The arrival of the Jupiter's Might was too perfectly timed to be a coincidence! Not to mention that Ameilianus had little to no trouble dealing with all the grief Snotlout gave him! It was almost like he expected Snotlout's attitude…
Hiccup was interrupted from his thoughts by the sound of explosions! Looking back down into the harbor, the Jupiter's Might had started attacking the lead ships in Dagur's Armada early! The plan was for the ship to wait until at least ten ships had passed beyond the rock formation…into the range of the prepared siege weapons and other surprises! However, the trireme was still causing devastating damage to the Armada, sinking eight ships with its black powder weapon while dodging the returning catapult fire.
Hiccup reluctantly gave the signal for the rider's attack. This change would also complicate their role as well. Now, Dagur's men had a few more seconds to align their crossbows at the dragons. Not to mention, Snotlout's disappearance would leave them short a dragon for the plan! Still, there was nothing they could do about it now except follow through.
Despite the earlier hitches, the plan was still going well! The Jupiter's Might was proving to be devastating to Dagur's forces! Before the dragon riders arrived, the ship and its crew had scored an impressive twelve kills with another two on the way. It was not coming out unscathed, however; Dagur's crossbowmen had killed half a dozen legionnaires and the sails were getting holes punched through them. This all changed when the dragon riders started their attack!
Hiccup started them off with a shot at Dagur's flagship in the center of the fleet. The main mast was blown off, stranding Dagur, and in his anger he ordered his men to fire on Hiccup, which only lead to the shots falling on his own fleet! Fishlegs and Meatlug turned into one-shot sinkers, with the lava balls burning straight through any ship they hit. And when the catapults fired…Meatlug ate the shots and fired them right back at the offending ship!
The Twins and their dragon were getting a piece of the action themselves! With Barf's gas, they were able to disorient the crews of the ship they attack. With Belch's sparks, they light the gas and cleared off many of Bezerker ship's decks! Astrid and her dragon Stormfly were forced to use their abilities more…creatively. Despite the heat of the fire blast, Stormfly could not sink a ship like Meatlug, but he could do as Toothless did and destroy mast and catapults and the spine shots disabled more than a few Bezerker or Outcast!
All in all, the combined effort took out nearly a third of the fleet, with fifteen sunk and twenty without their mast, weapons, or crew! Despite their success, the dragon riders and the Jupiter's Might, the fact of the matter was there were just too many of them! Despite Dagur ordering his men to 'shoot down the dragons,' a large contingent (nearly half the fleet) simply bypass the fight and charge straight towards Berk! As this contingent of ships entered the harbor, all seemed quiet…perhaps tooquiet…
"Now!" shouted Stoick, giving the signal to set off the trap! Vikings crossbowmen, with flaming arrows loaded, began firing shots into the harbor…though few of them hit the ships! The Bezerkers and Outcasts were confused: surely their aim wasn't that bad! The reason for the strange pattern of shots was answered when the arrows began to hit barrels floating harmlessly in the water…
BOOOM! With a titanic explosion, each barrel struck by the flaming arrows erupted in a surge of Greek fire! Flames shot into the air before covering the tightly packed enemy ships in flames! Panic spread among the enemy, who tried to steer away from the flames only the damage their fellows' ships or diving into the water only to realize that it offered no safe refuge from the flames! Those who managed to swim to shore were picked up by Stoick and his men to be placed in a holding cell (in this case, an old sea shack they barely used)!
Dagur was able to see the horrific sight and it filled him with unrelenting fury! This was not what he expected at all when he came to Berk! From seemingly nowhere, the Berkians had pulled out new weapons and strategies which was devastating his fleet! It also seemed like the Screaming Death had done nothing to weaken Berk!
Turning to Savage, his Outcast second-in-command (and sometimes punching bag), and screamed, "WHAT HAPPENED?! You told me the Screaming Death had crippled Berk's defense! Does that looked crippled to you?!" he said while pointing to the burn ships in Berk's harbor.
Savage, strangely enough, did not seem worried despite both the circumstances of the battle and Dagur's notorious temper. In fact, he looked out on the fleet as if everything was going to plan! "Milord, we still got enough forces to take Berk." explained Savage calmly to Dagur, "The fire will be out in the harbor and the dragons are running low on shots. We've already got the strange ship that showed up."
It was true! The Jupiter's Might had been seized during the battle after sinking a total of fifteen kills. The weapon had run out of ammunition and the sails were in tatters! Though the crew put up a good fight, they had little experience in a real fight and were captured when the Bezerkers boarded the ship. The enemy had just taken out the biggest weapon Berk had!
Dagur's mood brightened at the news of capturing the Jupiter's Might! Now he had an idea on how to turn the battle in his favor! "HICCUP!" shouted Dagur loudly to attract Hiccup's attention, "I HAVE YOUR NEW FRIEEEENDS! IF YOU WANT TO SEE THEM LIVE…I SUGGEST YOU AND YOUR RIDERS SURRENDER AND LAND ON BERK!"
Hiccup looked over at the Jupiter's Might and saw that Dagur's men did indeed have the crew at sword point. The worst part was that most of the dragons shots had been spent and they didn't have anymore surprises. Signaling to the other riders, Hiccup turned Toothless around and headed back to Berk. The others followed reluctantly and Dagur looked on with a twisted grin. He may have lost half his fleet (maybe more), but he finally had the Berkians by their bleeding hearts!
Moving himself over to the Jupiter's Might, since his ship had to be repaired, and lead his ships into the harbor! Most of the flames had gone down, with almost all of the ships that had gone in sunk or without crew! Maneuvering around the wrecks, Jupiter's Might docked with the harbor and Dagur walked down the gangplank with a cocky swagger, Savage close behind him! All of the most important people in Berk, Stoick and Hiccup among them, were gathered at the harbor to listen to Dagur's demands!
"Well, well, well," Dagur spoke with a confident, mocking, tone sure of his victory, "I have to say…I'm impressed! Hiccup, I was sure I wouldn't lose anywhere near this many ships when I attacked Berk! Truly, I salute you as a war leader!
"But, of course," all trace of joviality vanished from Dagur's tone as he continued, "this means I have all the motivation to burn down your village and put your people to the sword!" After he was done, Dagur breathed heavily, trying to reign in his Bezerker fury. Finally calmed down, Dagur glared right into Hiccup's eyes and made his demands, "If you want there to be anything left of your pathetic village by the time I am through, than I suggest you fulfil my demands:
You will surrender the secret to how you are able to train your dragons!
You will tell me where you hid the Skrill, because I know you didn't kill it!
You will hand over your Night Fury, because from now on: HE…IS…MINE!"
A hush fell over all those present as they waited for Hiccup's response to Dagur's unreasonable demands! The two stared each other down, neither flinching under the other's intense glare! Finally, after a long moment of silence, Hiccup responded, "You know what Dagur? I used to be afraid of you. I used to think of you as a wild animal that I had to be careful of crossing." After Hiccup said that, Dagur smiled, believing that Hiccup was giving up…until he heard what Hiccup said next!
"But now I see you for what you truly are: a spoiled little brat who gets angry every time he doesn't get what he wants! So no Dagur, you won't be getting anything from me or my people! Because I'm not afraid of you anymore and truthful, I'm surprised I ever was afraid of YOU!" exclaimed Hiccup defiantly looking Dagur directly in the eye. Dagur, on the other hand, was to say the least shocked, but that shock quickly turned to anger as he prepared to draw his sword…only to be interrupted by a slow clap coming from the roof of a nearby hut!
"Well I have to say Hiccup," stated Ameilianus from the roof, before jumping down to join the…event, "That was a very impressive speech! Really inspiring! Don't stop on my account…please continue!"
"Who, by Hel's frozen tits, are YOU?!" demanded Dagur, not liking the casual interruption by a stranger.
"Oh, of course, we've never actually met have we? I am Ameilianus Augustus Aemilius, Lord of Londinium, Slayer and Tamer of Dragons, Heir to the Nova Roma Empire, and most importantly…Conqueror of Berk, the Outcasts, and the Bezerkers!" Ameilianus stated dramatically with a bow, as if on stage. Everyone was stunned by the stranger's haughty declaration, though the Berkians (especially Hiccup) were more concerned about the bit involving dragons! Finally, an uproarious laughter came from Dagur's direction forcing all to look at him.
"AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh, you had me going there for a second! 'Conqueror of the Bezerkers' HAHAHA!" exclaimed Dagur before calming down, "You know, you really know how to put me in a good mood, which is lucky! Because anyone else who told such…outrageous LIES…would have been fed to the sharks by now."
"Oh, everything I just said is the truth! Here let me explain your…situation." Said Ameilianus, adopting the tone of a teacher, "You see, Dagur, you have lost almost all of your Bezerker warriors in their head long rush into the sea of fire! The people surrounding you, they're mostly of the Outcasts, isn't that right Savage?"
"Quite correct, milord!" said Savage, in a familiar tone. Dagur glared back at Savage before the look falter. How did they know each other?! thought Dagur worriedly.
"Oh, I see you are beginning to piece together the puzzle!" said Ameilianus as if about to say the punch line to a good joke or prank, "You see, before I came to either Berk or the Bezerker's Island, I came across an…old friend…of everyone here! ALVIN!"
With a mighty crash, Alvin the Terrible kicked open the doors leading to the Great Hall and stomp dramatically outside! With a smug look of triumph on his face, Alvin turned to Dagur and said in a sinister tone, "He'lo poppet!"
Dagur stepped back with a look of shock and terror on his face. After all, here was Alvin, a man legendary for his cruel revenges, standing before Dagur after he thought he had slain Alvin! Tales of vengeful ghosts reappeared in his terror soaked mind! Perhaps the only one more shocked than Dagur was Hiccup! After all, he was there to see Dagur's treachery!
"Alvin?! But…how?!" asked Hiccup, shocked at his nemesis' return from the grave!
"Now don't interrupt Hiccup! My new friend still has a story to tell!" Alvin said to Hiccup in a merry tone, happy to see all his enemies at his feet!
"Thank you. Now where was I…" began Ameilianus, "Oh right! Alvin here told me everything I needed to know to catch up to current events around Berk! I headed over to Bezerker Island to recruit Savage and learn all I could about Dagur's plan. After that, I left Alvin to sort out things with his men and headed to Berk! I'm sure you can guess most of what I did after that!"
"But…the other ship…?" asked Hiccup unsure of some of the details.
"OH right! You see I always planned on taking Berk! I had heard about the 'Dragon Conqueror' long before I came across Alvin! He just helped me to…iron out some of the detail!" continued Ameilianus in his gloating tone.
"Oh it wasn't easy and a few things went out of schedule, like the Screaming Death's early arrival. But any true mastermind learns how to improvise when necessary!" admitted Ameilianus, still sounding confident.
Perhaps hoping to come out of the situation with his skin, Dagur spoke up, "Well this all sounds very complicated and clever…but you forgot one little detail! Sure, I lost a few of my men, but I still have more than enough to take you on!" With that declaration Dagur pulled out his sword and his Bezerkers did the same! Unfortunately Dagur's sense of triumph was short lived as these same Bezerkers turned their swords on him! Alvin and Ameilianus laughed uproariously at Dagur's look of surprise!
"Oh, I forgot to mention the fact that Savage manage to convince some of your men to support me! You see, Dagur, you were never really a good leader! Oh sure, you could come up with creative schemes and you had high ambitions, but other than that and your sword fighting, you never could excel enough to succeed in your…plots!" said Ameilianus, scathingly.
"Before anyone else gets any ideas of last minute heroics, I should probably mention something very important…I have rigged this village to explode!" stated Ameilianus simply, causing the inhabitants of Berk to gasp, "Confused? Allow me to explain. You see, along with the munitions for the battle, I had Faust create a little extra Greek fire and black powder to be put in casks around the village! Now you're asking yourselves: where did he get the extra supplies for this? Well…here comes your answer!"
Ameilianus pointed in the direction of a dark alley, where out stalked…Caligula, Ameilianus' pet cat! Only he was bring his master a gift…a dead Terrible Terror! "You see…I wasn't being completely honest with you Hiccup. True what your dragons…provided…did help in creating Greek fire, there is still one other key ingredient for the process!" explained Ameilianus as Caligula brought over the dead dragon. Picking up the ex-Terrible Terror, Ameilianus pulled out a small knife from his belt and stabbed it into the dead dragon's neck!
Shocked and appalled by the displayed, most looked away as Ameilianus worked his knife to remove…something…from the dragon…except Hiccup! Thus, Hiccup was the first to see Ameilianus pulled out an organ no larger than a grape (huge by the standards of a Terrible Terror) from the dragon! "This little beauty," explained Ameilianus casually, "is where a dragon's fire breath comes from! There is no official name for it or the substance that becomes the fire breathe, but I have come to call the substance…vitriol! The name is synonymous with hatred and I just love the way is sounds…"
"So…YOU'VE been the one killing all the Terrible Terrors!" accused Fishlegs, being the only one to pay attention to that issue.
"Actually, that was more Caligula's work, but I did profit off it!" admitted Ameilianus with a childish glee, chuckling at Fishleg's anger, "Oh relax! You have much more important issues to worry about!"
"And so do you!" exclaimed Dagur, working up the nerve to make a point, "There's a reason Alvin is known as the Treacherous! How long do you think it will be before he turns on you!"
"Oh, I already have that issue well in hand." Said Ameilianus casual. As if being signaled, the centurions from the Jupiter's Might, how had been unrestrained sometime during Ameilianus' performance, ran up and restrained Alvin! Needless to say, Alvin was both shocked and confused!
"What's the big idea?! I thought we was partners!" demanded Alvin as his hands were tied behind him and he was forced to stand by Dagur.
"Did you actually believe I was some gullible chump you could lead around by the nose? I had Savage on my side since the moment we first spoke! The sad truth is Alvin, you and Dagur have something in common: you both failed to capture Berk much too often! He knows when to back the winning side, as I am sure you remember!" declared Ameilianus, pointing out Savage's early treason after Alvin was thought dead.
Ameilianus let them all soak in the situation. He had outmaneuvered everyone to the point where he was in control of the situation! "Oh, by the way Hiccup," said Ameilianus in a smug 'friendly' tone, "I do believe you have been missing THIS!" With that, he pulled out the missing Berk Dragon Manuel from his back! He casually tossed it over to Hiccup…as if it had no value at all!
"Faust has already made a copy of the original so you can have it back!" said as he turned away…before turning back and saying, "OH! In case you're wondering, theLegacy and her crew set sail for Dragon Isle before the attack, so that we can get started on taming some new dragons!"
"We?!" asked Hiccup unsure if he heard that correctly.
"Yes Hiccup, we! Don't you see? People are under the mistaken assumption that muscle is all one really needs to get by in this world. But you…you proved them wrong! Come on Hiccup! In Nova Roma, the intellectual capable will be the ones standing on top, not the barbaric savages! Join me Hiccup…and we can make a world where people like you and me can truly shine!" declared Ameilianus dramatically, waiting to hear Hiccup's joyous acceptation of his dream…only for Hiccup to laugh at him, like he told the funniest joke in the world!
"Me…join you?! HAHAHAHAHA! I sorry but that's just never going to happen!" said Hiccup, ending on a serious note.
"What?" asked Ameilianus, a look of shock and surprise on his face. How could Hiccup refuse this…vision of the future!
"Are you kidding me?! You're more treacherous than Alvin, more deranged than Dagur! Why would I EVER side with a lunatic like you? I mean, you can't seriously expect the world to just bowed down and kiss your feet just because you feel superior to everyone, can you?!" asked Hiccup, incredulous to Ameilianus' delusions.
Adopted a cold look of indifference, Ameilianus walked up to Hiccup, with the setting sun at his back and said, "No Hiccup. They will bow down and kiss my feet, because to do otherwise…is to BURN in dragon fire!" As he made this finally statement, the blood red sunlight seemed to shine in his eyes. Hiccup could not think of a witty retort, so he simply glared back at Ameilianus, showing that he at least would not bow to this tyrant!
Stepping back, Ameilianus turned around and walked up the steps. Once he was at the top, he looked around hoping to see some kind of weakness from the Berkians. Instead he saw that same glare from Hiccup on each and every face in the crowd. Finally having enough, he looked down and said, "Very well Hiccup! Your whole village can suffer for your defiance! MEN! EXCECU-"
BAM! A fire blast hit the ground knocking Ameilianus off his feet! Everyone was shocked! As Ameilianus got back up, he looked to the sky to see an impossible sight…
"HEY AMY!" called down Snotlout on top of Hookfang, both leering at their enemy, "Miss me?"
Disclaimer: I don't own DreamWorks Dragons franchise or the book series it is based off of. Needless to say, last week was not a good week for me. The furnace shut-off for a couple of days and a lot of other problems piled on top of it. Still I persevered and I continue to write this story. The good news is I have a new laptop and it seems to work just find (mostly). This is probably my longest chapter ever! I will, unfortunately, take a little longer for my updates, because I have found I have made spelling mistakes in previous chapters. Plus, I still need to look for a job. Still, please read and review, I live for your supports!