The next morning, Mimir held a war meeting with the other commanders, and Hiccup noticed that everyone looked particularly exhausted.

"I've wanted everyone here so we can know the situation," said Mimir.

"The situation is bad. What more do you need to know," said Guy.

"I think everyone here would prefer some details," said Mimir, narrowing his eyes at him.

"Bad more or less described it," said Christina. "We got a few stragglers that tried to attack from the rear, but we lost quite a few."

"I think you'll find that the South had it a lot harder," said Duncan, looking at Hiccup. "How bad are the casualties?"

"Nearly 50%," Hiccup sighed. "We do suspect many will pull through, thanks to Gothi and Ragnar, but we are seriously undermanned. I don't think we can take another assault at the gate."

"Said can be said everywhere else," said Guy.

"Then terms if we have no choice but to pull forces into the Academy itself," said Mimir.

"Which would more or less mean that the next fight will be our final stand," said Hiccup.

"We do have several advantages; we're taking out about half of the enemy's leadership," said Duncan. "Not to mention the Purists have now abandoned the field after the loss of their leader."

"They still have a large number of orcs and goblins at their side," Hiccup reminded them. "And while we have taken out their wargs, they still have plenty of trolls at their disposal. Not to mention, two of the most powerful sorcerers in the Nine Realms have yet to take the field."

"Plus, we still have a spy on the loose," Christina pointed out.

"And yet this spy has not been able to give the enemy much in the way of battle plans," said Guy, folding his arms.

"Because every single one of us has been keeping our strategies close to our chest and only get them out of the start of the battle," Hiccup pointed out. "No doubt they have given the layout of the entire Academy, and lest we forget, Johann did spend quite a bit of time here, so he probably knows where the best place to set up ambushes and fortifications would be."

"Hiccup is right; the next battle will indeed be costly and will no doubt be our last," Mimir agreed. "That said, I believe our enemy is now currently licking their wounds, and it may be a while before they launch another attack. For now, I want to pull off our defences into the Academy itself."

"At least have to come in single file to enter the Academy," said Christina. "That means they can't fully utilise their numbers."

"That is our only advantage, but the deeper they get in, the more spread out they get," said Duncan.

"And Eret says he's out of materials to make new traps," said Hiccup. "Plus, we won't be able to use the catapults."

Guy turned to Mimir. "Is Old Wrinkly any closer to figuring out that magic mirror?"

"He has made some progress and thinks he might know how it works," said Mimir. "He believes that the mirror will be able to prevent Loki from shape-shifting. If that's the case, capturing him will be a lot easier."

"Can't we just kill him?" Christina asked. "He may be my grandfather, but I'll be more than happy to plunge my dad into his heart."

"Alas, we cannot," said Mimir regretfully. "Loki is tied to the prophecy of Ragnarok. As such, he cannot be killed by any of us until it starts."

"Yet Loki thinks he can escape his fate during Ragnarok," said Hiccup.

"Because he's arrogant enough to believe that he can," said Mimir plainly. "Now, I suggest that we use this recipe for everyone to get some sleep; you are all going to need your strength for what could be our final battle."

Hiccup was indeed tempted to take Mimir's offer, but something was digging in the back of his mind, and that was Jill. He couldn't get what Sif had told him out of his head, and he needed to know what she meant about her past.

Finding her was particularly difficult, she was in the canteen and was sitting alone having breakfast. Hiccup sat opposite her and watched as she bit on a bit of toast.

"Jill, we need to talk," said Tom.

"Couldn't can't this wait until after breakfast?" she asked.

"I don't know if we will get another opportunity, and I wish to discuss this one. We're alone," he said, looking at her seriously.

"All right, if it's that serious," she said.

"Yesterday, Sif paid me a visit to do some counselling," Hiccup explained. "And during our session, your name came up."

"And what did she say about me?" Jill asked.

"She gave an indication that your cast was not a particularly happy one before coming here."

"And?"

"And I would like to know what she meant by that."

"I don't see what my past has to do with anything," she said as she ate. "Shall we be a bit more focused on the here and now, especially with Loki and his army about a knock on the front door?"

"Normally, I would agree, but I need to know," Hiccup pushed.

Jill looked into his eyes, and they weren't as enchanting as they normally were. In fact, they looked very much uninviting and soulless.

"There's nothing to tell; I'm sure my story is similar to practically everyone here. Abandoned by one's mother and brought up by a father who never wanted a child."

Hiccup expected that had been the case, but he also suspected that it was far deeper than that.

"Look, I can't even understand what it must've been like to grow up with an abusive father," Hiccup admitted. "But sometimes talking about it helps."

"That's exactly what Sif said to me during our counselling session," Jill spat. "And I'll tell her the same thing I told you. I don't want to talk about it."

"Jill, you can't keep bottling all this up. It's unhealthy," said Hiccup, grasping her hand.

"Talking about it won't help anyone, especially now," said Jill, pulling her hand away. "Besides, you're right. You can never hope to understand what I went through."

"Then make me understand."

Jill groaned in annoyance. "Do you ever give up?"

Hiccup shrugged. "I'm told them unbelievably stubborn."

Hiccup had to admit he had never seen Jill this angry before; clearly, what happened in the past was traumatic.

Jill sighed. "Fine, but I'm telling you, you're not going to like it."

"I never said I would."

"Okay, so my father fell in love with my mother, but he had no idea she was a goddess. Sometimes, a mortal mind is too weak to grasp the whole divinity thing, so she played the part of the mysterious woman that vanished from his life after a night of passion."

"Which is when you were created," Hiccup assumed.

Jill nodded. "You can imagine my father's surprise when he opened the door one night and found a bundle on his doorstep. However, instead of seeing me as a gift, he began to see me as a curse."

"In what way?"

"He thought I was a witch," she said bluntly.

"What?"

"The village where my father grew up was a very religious place, and they saw my sudden appearance as an ill omen. Things got worse, and my power started to manifest. All the boys in the village became infatuated with me, even a few girls. They believe that my mother was some sort of succubus, and that's what they thought I was."

"I'm sorry," said Hiccup.

Jill shrugged. "They called me all kinds of names and threw stones at me when I walked by. Then, one particular night, things got worse. They tied me up to a quad bike and began dragging me all across the ground."

Hiccup immediately felt sick to his stomach and started to understand why Jill never spoke of her past.

"So what happened after that?" Hiccup asked.

Jill closed her eyes. "I left, and I wondered up here, end of story."

Hiccup had a sneaking suspicion that wasn't the end of it, but given what he heard, he didn't really want to push any further more than he already had.

"Thank you for telling me," said Hiccup.

Jill shrugged. "It's not something I like to remember."

"Jill, you have friends here, and we're all going to support you no matter what," said Hiccup gently. "You don't have to be afraid anymore."

"I'm not afraid!" Jill snapped.

Hiccup held his hands up in surrender. "What I mean is you can talk to us about everything."

Jill looked away from him. "Trust me, you knew everything. You would like me as much."

"Jill, you saved us at Helheim's Gate; everyone likes you," Hiccup assured her.

Jill gave a small smile. "Astrid doesn't particularly like me, and that's mostly your fault."

"Oh, so back to that, are we?" Hiccup smirked.

"Hiccup, given how bleak our chances are, you should at least take this opportunity to talk to Astrid and tell her how you feel. You might not get another chance."

"I don't think our chances are bleak," said Hiccup. "Not when we have people like you by our side."

Jill's face turned bright pink. "That's sweet, but you should use those kinds of compliments to people like Astrid. They're the ones that deserve the true thanks. Now, if you don't mind, I want to finish my breakfast."

Hiccup nodded and left her be.

Hiccup returned to the dorm and took Mimir's advice to get some sleep, but naturally, he had one of those crazy demigod dreams.

He was back at Loki's tent in front of his war table, but fewer people surrounded it. Then he could see Loki with Gullveig, Johann, and Zar, but none looked too happy.

"This isn't going exactly as you planned, Loki," said Gullveig.

"On the contrary, we have now pushed the enemy back to the Academy itself, one last push and will destroy it once and for all," said Loki.

"At what cost?" Gullveig asked and then gestured to the practically empty tent. "Most of our leadership is either captured or dead."

"They were inconsequential," said Loki dismissively.

"Morale has dropped, Father," Johann pointed out. "And now we no longer have the Purists."

"Even my orcs are starting to question our chance of success," said Zar.

Loki then slammed his hands on the table. "Then you had better remind them that we're close, tantalising close, to finishing off these pesky demigods once and for all."

Gullveig narrowed her eyes. "Are we close? We've lost about half our army on this endeavour, and the Aesir and Vanir are starting to push back hard on our other fronts. If we don't succeed in our next attack, they'll likely come and support their children."

"We may have lost a number of troops, but so has the enemy, and they had far less than us to begin with," Loki reminded her. "According to our spy, Hiccup and his friends have decided to set up defences inside the Academy itself."

Johann folded his arms. "Are we sure our spy is reliable?"

"She has dedicated her heart and soul to me," Loki smiled.

Gullveig rolled her eyes. "Only you would manipulate a young girl's heart for your own ends."

"She saw me as the charming prince who rescued her from a living hell; I was not going to dissuade her from that fantasy, not when she could be useful."

Gullveig actually looked disgusted. "You had better hope that she does not discover that her love for you goes only one way. It could be disastrous if she decides to betray us all because you broke her heart."

"I will not be as foolish as to reveal my true colours to her, at least not until after we have succeeded."

"And what will you do with her afterwards?"

"I will make sure that she is amply rewarded, so long as she delivers us the victory we need, that is. Besides, it is far too late for her to get cold feet now; if she revealed her treachery to Hiccup and his friends, I very much doubt they will be forgiving."

"If the boy is anything like his ancestor, then he will be forgiving, Father," said Johann. "He did, after all, trust Alvin the treacherous, Dagur the Deranged and Viggo Grimborn; all three are deadly enemies."

"Only after they lost everything and knew that allied with Hiccup was the best way to get it back," said Loki dismissively. "But it didn't exactly end well for Viggo, as you know all too well."

"Just saying that I want to underestimate his ancestor; I would advise you not to do the same, Father, with this current Hiccup."

Loki immediately turned on him. "Be silent! I know what I'm doing, and all you have to do is follow my orders. If you had done what I asked in the beginning, you would have been frozen for over 1,000 years."

Johann glared at his father, clenching his fist. "I should do as you command, Father."

"Good; now I suggest everyone rests up because when night falls again, we shall be setting foot in the Academy, and when the sun rises the next day, there will be nothing left but a smoking building."