34 Undeserved Mercies

The old abandoned farm certainly didn't look very abandoned anymore with ever increasing numbers of Vikings, dragons and sailors flying in every minute. It was starting to get so crowded, that some of the Vikings were already preparing for the next part of their journey, back to Elydonia. Joric and Sigrid had taken up permanent residence in each other's arms, and shivering enemy soldiers were being given some of their uniforms back; much to Ruffnut's disappointment.

"What are we going to do with them all?" Mulch asked.

"I suppose that's up to the Chief and the King" Olvor replied as she adjusted her Zippleback saddle for a longer trip.

"If you've got your stone hammer with you Mr. Mulch, you could always do to them what you did to me when we first met" King Joric grinned "I remember that it was very effective at inducing long term unconsciousness."

"You're never going to let me live that down, are ye?" Mulch huffed as the others laughed.

"Hey Ack, have you seen Agnar anywhere?" Big Freya asked with Little Freya giggling loudly as she rode on her mother's back.

"Last time I saw him, he was going with Kara's group to keep an eye on the port road... why?"

"I just wanted to thank him for taking care of my little terror while I was a guest of the Emperor."

The familiar cry of the night fury pierced the air as Toothless swept down to the ground nearby followed by the last of the evacuees from the palace dungeons.

"Hi Astrid" Little Freya laughed as she and Hiccup dropped out of the saddle "Where's Stormfly?"

"I've lent her to the Chief" came the reply as Big Freya and Ack looked skyward and saw why.

"Oh no" Sigrid remarked as she saw it too.

At the rear of the line, Stoick rode in on Stormfly with three other dragons and riders; gently supported in their claws was Viper, limp and lifeless. They set his body down near the edge of the field about a hundred and fifty feet from the forest tree line before wandering off to collect large branches and logs for firewood.

"You would not believe how quickly he moved" Hiccup told his father "he was determined to save you... even at the cost of his own life."

"I know he was very happy being your dragon Chief" Astrid added "but I don't think he ever really got over losing Ivar last year, and I'm quite sure that he did not want to lose another rider."

"Maybe so Astrid" Stoick sighed "maybe so... but if you think about it, it's astounding that we didn't suffer much greater losses... considering the risks you've taken; well done Hiccup."

"I didn't do it alone Dad."

"Indeed... and I'm very proud of everyone."

"How did my people go Hiccup?" Joric asked "I hope they were a help and not a hindrance."

"Things would not have gone so smoothly without your sailors by our side" Hiccup was able to tell Joric precisely what he wanted to hear "We had one guy who was such a good an actor, that he almost had me convinced he was an Imperial Soldier."

Only half an hour passed by before everyone was ready to leave for Elydonia, but there was still one more thing that needed to be done.

"When we return to Elydonia" Stoick announced to the gathered crowd "we will take time to remember those we have lost and we will drink to their memory, but for now let us consider the sacrifices made as we lay these last heroes to rest."

Stoick gave a signal to Hiccup, who in turn nodded to his dragon. Toothless took a step forward, raised his head high and roared into the empty sky as several other dragons set the funeral pyre alight. Everyone stood in silence as the flames grew higher around Fotherington and Viper; they thought about everything they had been through since the attack on their ships, and they thought about the friends they had lost. After a few minutes, a single Elydonian voice began to sing a soft and gentle song of love and loss, and the others soon joined in.

The Vikings did not know the song the sailors sang, but it touched their hearts with its melodic tune and soulful lyrics. They sang of a child whose father had not returned from war, and of the mother who had died of a broken heart. They sang of the setting sun and the withering rose, along with the hope of the new dawn and the fresh flowers of spring after a long and bitter winter.

When the song was done, nobody moved for what seemed to be the longest time, but eventually they all began to walk towards their dragons; Vikings climbed into saddles before offering help to their allies, as Stoick approached two people who did not quite fit into either category.

"I suppose I should ask you what you wish to do, rather than just making assumptions."

"We still desire to see your home sir" Darius declared "and to learn more of these dragons."

"With respect sir" Victor interrupted "for now, I'd rather stay here and find out what the new Emperor plans to do."

"Humph" Darius gave a small laugh "I have been so intent on following my own desires and what I wanted to do, that I had not given any thought as to what it was I should do... and Victor is right; we all need to know what schemes Borges will concoct in his twisted little mind."

"But surly it's not safe for you here" Astrid noted as she and Hiccup eavesdropped in on the conversation.

"On one hand, it never was" Darius pointed out "But on the other hand, Karoc is dead and he was our biggest enemy... as my former employer."

"Come with us to Elydonia at least" Hiccup insisted "so we can discuss the future a bit more before we decide the best course; we can always give you a lift back here if you choose to return."

Darius Gershwin looked down at Victor and sighed "Alright... let's be off."

Hiccup and Astrid led the two spies to Ack and Starkard, and saw them safely off Elydonia while the King and the Chief wandered over to their prisoners.

"Well I don't want them" Joric declared "how about you?"

"It's not as if we need them as hostages till we get to the border" Stoick agreed "We're flying back."

"It wouldn't help to have them anyway" Joric shook his head "An Imperial Soldier would fire on his own mother if so ordered."

"I suppose we've no other choice then" Stoick nodded.

The soldiers listened to this conversation with trepidation.

"This is it" one of them said to the others as he resigned himself to his fate "Time to die!"

"ALL RIGHT YOU LOT" Stoick ordered those of his people guarding the prisoners "GET TO YOUR DRAGON'S AND GET OUT OF HERE."

While this was happening, King Joric then addressed the Imperial Soldiers.

"When you get home, you will not doubt hear rumours that I murdered your Emperor" a vocal rumble moved throughout the mass of men as they learned of Scias's death.

"I realise I have no way of proving anything to you, but I am telling you the truth when I say that I left Emperor Scias alive and in the care of Borges. So if you want to know who really killed him... well... work it out for yourselves. Now get going and I hope I never see any of you again."

"They're letting us go!" one of the soldiers declared in complete surprise.

"No... it's a trick" another sneered "As soon as we start to leave, it will be arrows and dragon fire in the back."

The soldiers watched as the Viking guards left on their dragons; they watched as King Joric climbed up onto Skywolf's saddle with his wife and flew off with Chief Stoick on Stormfly. Finally they watched the girl with the axe blow them a kiss as she departed on the back of a fierce black dragon flown by a young man with one leg.

"Any minute now" the suspicious soldier noted.

"Oh shut up and let's go home" his friend declared as the soldiers all walked off.

Every beat of the dragon's wings brought the weary travellers closer to the safety of Elydonia, and the hope of a long, well deserved rest.

"I think I'd better ask Stoick for some dragon piloting lessons when we get home" Joric informed Sigrid "I had a very difficult time riding Stormfly back from the port, but he's having no trouble at all."

"Don't worry Pumpkin" Sigrid replied "I'll show you all the tricks."

"Well you could Hunnybun, but I'm banning you from dragon riding till the baby is born."

"Yeah right" Sigrid chuckled "good luck with that."

"Or maybe till he or she starts school."

"Err... Pumpkin" Sigrid pointed down "should we be worried about that?"

The Dragon Riders were still deep in enemy territory, so the last thing they expected to see was a massive column of Elydonian soldiers marching south towards the New Loren capital.

"Yes my Dear; we should be Very worried about that. HEY STOICK; WE'VE GOT A PROBLEM!"

The Viking Chief looked down and saw what had Joric and Sigrid concerned.

"HICCUP!" he called out and his son flew over "Get the Dragon Riders to fly in a circle while we find out what's going on down there."

"You got it Dad" the young man replied.

Stormfly and Skywolf swept sharply down and came in to land in front of the long line of soldiers. The two horses leading the procession were being ridden by one of Jorics own generals on the left, and a good friend on the right.

"YOUR MAJESTIES!" Kylan cried out as she leapt from her horse, stumbling a little as she did "Your alright; I'm so glad to see you safe."

"We all are" General Thurston smiled.

"Never mind that; what are you doing in New Loren with half the army?" Joric demanded.

"Looking for you M'lord" Kylan declared "When Hiccup told us about your capture, almost every piece of evidence we had, pointed to Emperor Scias; so we..."

"So you left the kingdom undefended..." Joric began.

"Oh no M'lord" General Thurston interrupted "these are mostly special volunteers."

"Special volun...?"

Joric looked back along the line of soldiers and noticed at last what his general was telling him. The column that stretched back along the road consisted of rows of five; a fully armed soldier on each side with three very rural looking people standing between them carrying a very rural style of weaponry.

"And these are only the volunteers from the southern and southeast counties" Kylan informed him "We sent the rest to the eastern borders with Gondland and Mandoria... just in case."

"But Hiccup and the Dragon Riders rescued us; you should have just defended Elydonia" Joric was adamant.

"And let Scias think he can just take our ships, our people, our King and our allies whenever he wants? I am sorry to disagree with you, but oh no M'lord."

"HA!" Stoick laughed as he slapped Joric on the back "Looks like you have some wise and loyal people behind you."

"Well these wise and loyal people better turn around and get their wise and loyal butts back to Elydonia" the King insisted.

"What about the navy?" Kylan asked.

"What navy?" Joric sighed.

"Umm... well... your navy."

Okay... so this is how it went down; I had just gotten to the middle of this chapter, where Darius and Victor agree to go back to Elydonia, when I decided that with chapters 17 to 33 of Act II done, it was time to start posting. The only bit left to write was the return and a little closing piece... but then...

I spent the next 10 days re-writing and polishing from chapter 16 onwards and found that (as usual) I had completely forgotten what I had written; so it was a bit like reading a new story. By the time I got to this chapter, I was really desperate to find out what happened, and how the story ended... but it didn't.

I actually cried out in frustration that it stopped mid sentence with "Hiccup and Astrid led the" and soon found myself pacing around the room wondering what happened next. Eventually the ideas started to flow and I realised that I was not yet ready to close it off (this is how Seasick Dragon went from 2 acts to 5) so I decided to make their exit a little hairy; not much, just a few chapters (I think).