When Hiccup woke up, the first thing he does is inform Mimir of his dream, making sure not to leave out any detail.
"So they are going to attack in a few hours," said Mimir. "I had half that would have more time to prepare, but it would seem as if that is not to be."
"Though it doesn't look as if the dark elves might participate in this fight," said Hiccup. "Atras wasn't too pleased about his people being slaughtered in the first attack."
"That is some good news, but considering the hordes of goblins and orcs at his disposal, the loss of the dark elves is insignificant. I am, however, more interested in the fact that Gullveig is starting to mistrust Loki."
"I don't think she ever trusted him in the beginning," said Hiccup.
"True enough, but alas, it would seem as if she will continue to work with him, and now we know that the mirror was indeed what Loki was looking for. It would all just figure out what it does. It might turn the tide of the fact."
"So what do we do now?" Hiccup asked.
"We continue to defend the Academy; I'll send word to the other commanders informing them that attack is indeed imminent. You had better head to the front and inform everyone of the attack and have our defences prepared."
"I'll do what I can, but you know as well as I that we're only delaying the inevitable," said Hiccup.
"It is all we can do, lad."
Hiccup quickly made his way to the Southgate and was pleased to see the defences were going on splendidly, though admittedly wished they had more time to prepare themselves better.
"Hiccup, is something wrong?" Astrid asked.
"Only that Loki is indeed going to launch an attack tonight," Hiccup informed her.
"How do you know?"
Hiccup then told her about his dream.
"So the Dark Elves aren't joining the fight this time," said Astrid, folding her arms.
"No, but we will have the joy of the presence of trolls and wargs."
"There is a good thing I had set traps for wargs especially," said Eret as he approached them.
"Eret, you going to fight with us?" said Hiccup, a little surprised.
"The Southgate is going to take the heaviest hits. Are you going to need all the help you can get," said Eret. "By the way, nice going on that mud trap of yours."
"Thanks, but it won't work a second time, and I had originally hoped to use it against trolls and wargs."
"Don't worry. I have a few traps for them, and they're going to be very surprised," Eret winked.
Fishlegs then rushed towards them. "Guys, everyone has taken up positions. Any final preparations you want to make?"
"Just tell everyone to stand ready, and that attack is indeed coming," said Hiccup.
Fishlegs gulped. "I was hoping for something a little bit more positive."
"So was I," Hiccup sighed.
"You think we should use our dragons to attack from above?" Astrid asked.
"Couldn't hurt; take Fishlegs and the twins; I'll stay down here on the ground with Eret to command our ground forces."
"Just stay safe," said Astrid.
"You too."
Astrid then ran off with Fishlegs and the twins.
"Any other ideas, commander?" Eret asked.
"That's just about it; all we can do now is wait," said Hiccup.
Hiccup spent the next few hours making sure everyone was in the proper positions, making sure the defences were solid, and that every archer had a supply of arrows and enough boulders for the catapults.
"I hate all this waiting," said Hiccup.
"The silence before battle is the one thing that terrifies a soldier," said Eret, standing beside him.
"I'm a little bit more terrified that we might fail," said Hiccup.
Eret nodded. "I know, but you've done everything possible given the circumstances."
"I just wish I knew what they would be enough," Hiccup sighed.
"Can't you look into the future and see?" Eret asked.
The truth of the matter was Hiccup had been looking into the future, but he could only see two possibilities. Either they succeed in the Academy and remain standing, or everything would have been destroyed and burnt to the ground. He didn't know which future was possible, which terrified him.
"Sometimes the future is uncertain; most of the time, it comes down to the decisions of other people," Hiccup sighed.
"Not very comforting, I must admit," said Eret.
They then heard the sound of enemy horns and saw a new horde emerging from the hills. Like last time, they could see goblins and orcs leading the front, but now, mixed in with the orcs, massive trolls were wearing battle armour. If that wasn't bad enough, charging ahead of the horde were orcs on the back of wargs.
"Here it comes," said Hiccup and looked at everyone. "Stand ready!"
Everyone in the front immediately held a tight grip on their weapons, knowing this would not be an easy battle.
"They should spring the first traps just a about… now!" Eret yelled.
Suddenly springing from the ground were massive snapper traps that tore through all the unfortunate wargs that sprung them along with their orc riders. Sadly, a few of them were able to avoid the traps and continue to advance towards them.
"Get ready!" Hiccup commanded.
All the demigods nodded and prepared themselves.
"Not yet! Not yet!" said Hiccup as the wargs got closer.
The wargs soon pounced upon them, opening their razor-sharp jaws, and the orcs on their backs raised their blades.
"Now!" Hiccup yelled.
The demigods in the front row immediately pulled wooden spears from the ground, pointing directly at the wargs as they pounced at them. It was too late for the orcs to respond, and the wooden spears impaled the wargs in the chest.
"Move it!" Hiccup ordered as he raised his sword Inferno.
Hiccup and a few of the demigods then quickly moved in, swinging their weapons, cutting the heads of the wargs, and plunging them into the orc riding on top of them. Alas, a few of the wargs did manage to avoid getting skewered and began attacking any demigod in their path.
Fortunately, the archers quickly fired a volley of arrows, killing them before they could do any more damage.
"Well, that's the wargs taking care of," said Jill.
"Yeah, now we just got an entire horde to deal with," said Hiccup, turning towards the army advancing towards them.
The massive horde didn't look deterred from the slaughter of the wargs; they were advancing far more quickly than before.
"Lost the catapults!" Hiccup ordered.
They began firing the catapults, and many of the boulders took on large quantities of the orcs, even killing a few trolls. Alas, the sheer number of the force just kept advancing, and they were moments away from penetrating the first line of the defences.
"Stay strong!" Hiccup yelled as he raised his sword and shield. "Do not let them pass!"
Just before the horde reached the defences, Astrid, Fishlegs and the twins came swooping down on their spirit dragons. They immediately unleashed fire, lava and explosive gas upon the orcs, devastating them, but even that didn't stop them.
Hiccup then saw for the first time leading the horde was Krogan, who was standing on the shoulders of the troll with a vicious smile.
"Ah, Hiccup Haddock, I bet you regret now not taking Loki's offer of surrender," he smiled.
"Not in the slightest!" Hiccup yelled. "But I am willing to accept your surrender!"
Krogan glared down at him. "You're just as annoyingly optimistic as your ancestor; he would never give up either."
"Then I know I come from good stock!" said Hiccup.
"Kill them all!" Krogan commanded.
The orcs penetrated the first-line defences and began engaging with the demigods. The archers from the vantage point fired arrows down upon the horde, taking a few of them down. Astrid and her group continued to rain fire down upon the army, but they had to retreat when they began firing arrows at them.
Hiccup found himself clashing with Krogan's troll, wielding a powerful, crude war hammer. Sadly, despite its quality, the hammer itself was an incredibly powerful weapon, especially in the hands of a powerful troll.
Hiccup quickly used his shield, unleashing a powerful beam of light that blinded the troll; he then quickly moved in, swinging his sword into its chest. Alas, its hide was pretty thick, and it immediately grabbed him, pulling him up towards Krogan.
"And this is where it ends," Krogan smiled.
Hiccup managed to free one of his hands and quickly began casting a spell, firing a fireball directly into the eyes of the troll. It howled in pain, releasing him, and Hiccup quickly used this opportunity and plunged his sword right into the troll's heart with all the strength he could muster.
The troll roared in pain and finally went limp before crashing to the ground. Hiccup drew his sword, actually exhausted; he suddenly had an image of an axe flying straight at him. Instantly, he quickly raised the shield just in time to block the blow from Krogan's huge battle axe.
Sadly, the blow was enough to dislocate his shoulder and knocked him to the ground. Hiccup tried to get out, but Krogan placed his foot on his chest, pinning him to the ground.
Krogan smiled. "Oh, I've wanted to do this for a long time."
He then raised his battleaxe, and Hiccup braced himself for the end, but then suddenly, they heard a new set of horns. Krogan stopped what he was doing and looked out towards the battlefield, looking shocked.
"Impossible," he said.
Hiccup was able to turn his head. His eyes widened because he saw a combined force of light and dark elves charging straight through the horde. Additionally, he could see leading from the front was none other than Ragnar and Heather.
Krogan gritted his teeth. "How is this possible?"
Hiccup immediately used this opportunity to swing his sword, catching Krogan's feet and making him lose balance. Then before he had any time to react, Krogan rolled over and quickly slit his throat with his sword.
Hiccup was now too exhausted to move, and he could see a bunch of orcs advancing towards him. However, they didn't get any closer as arrows rained down upon them, forcing them to retreat.
Ragnar then quickly approached Hiccup. "Hiccup, you're right?"
Hiccup smiled at his best friend. "Better now that you're here."
Ragnar then quickly touched Hiccup's shoulder and immediately began to glow. Instantly, he felt a massive amount of warmth following through his body, and all the aches and pains disappeared; even his shoulder went back into place.
This was all down to the fact that Ragnar was a son of Frey, the god of fertility. He could practically heal any move with a single touch.
Hiccup got up and moved his now dislocated shoulder. "What took you so long?"
Ragnar smiled. "Sorry, it's a little longer for us to convince our people to join forces."
"But we eventually accomplished it," said Heather as she joined them. "And it looked like we arrived just in the nick of time."
Hiccup looked at the light and dark elves that had arrived; it wasn't necessarily a huge army. There were only about a hundred of them in total.
"Not exactly a big army," he noted.
"Our parents were unable to convince the main army to join the fight," Heather explained.
"We were at least able to get a little bit of help, volunteers mostly," Ragnar explained.
"Every little helps," Hiccup shrugged, smiling.
Ragnar then looked down at Krogan's dead body. "So Krogan's finally been killed again."
Hiccup nodded. "Let's just hope that's the last we see of him for a long time."
"And the enemy seems to have retreated again," said Astrid as she landed next to them. "Though we did take a heavy blow."
Hiccup nodded. "Let's attend to the injured; let's just try to save as many as possible."