Prodigal Son 22

Alexandria was burning. Smoke billowed upwards in great purple clouds. Fires ravaged the docks, and swept through the marketplace. The streets were crawling with panicked crowds, and the sounds of their screaming carried far out to sea. Hundreds of Saracen troops poured into the city, moving from ship to ship to ship as the vast fleet unleashed its army on Alexandria.

Catapults were fired from the decks of the larger frigates, at anchor in the great harbor. The Pharos lighthouse, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, was being pelted again and again with enormous rocks. Nearly a hundred members of the city guard were holed up inside, trying to stay alive even as wave after wave of moorish pirate crashed upon their defenses and were again and again driven off.

The fort's skeletal garrison had been slaughtered almost immediately. Traitors in the Alexandrian ranks had opened the doors of the city's fort, allowing the Saracens to enter at will and slaughter the defenders.

The Saracen fleet had blockaded the harbor first, intercepting and destroying the many ships which tried to flee. They had landed small armies both east and west of the city to catch and slaughter Alexandrians. On the west side of the city lay the necropolis. An enormous graveyard housing generations of citizens. Refugees fleeing from the eastern gate were cut down in the hundreds with blade, spear, and arrow, often bleeding out on the graves of their ancestors.

A few civilians had boats docked on Lake Mareotis to the south. Citizens commandeered as many vessels as they could find, often violently. They set sail for the southern shore, getting as far from the carnage as they could, but it was of no use. A fourth army of two thousand Saracen soldiers was waiting for them on the southern shoreline. The boats found themselves stranded with meager supplies at the center of the lake.

Those fleeing west out the Canopic gate had the best chance of survival, but it was still slim. Escape lay west and then north around the shore of the Mediterranean all the way up to Byzantium. They still had miles to go through Caliphate territory, and they would pass by Jerusalem, at that time a regional Arab stronghold.

A battle was raging in the city itself. The city guard, under Martius' command, had held out against the Saracen hordes. They floated burning barges into the harbor to slow the advancing fleet. Hundreds of able-bodied men joined their ranks, and they held the docks against three separate attacks, and a near constant hail of arrows.

A large number of Saracen troops had been called away from their assault on the lighthouse in order to cross the Heptastadion, the enormous man-made causeway which connected the city to Pharos Island, and flank Martius' forces. A great battle had taken place on the causeway itself, and soon both the water all round Alexandria was thick with blood and bodies as men were thrown from the dyke into the raging sea.

The Saracen fleet had been forced to retreat, and fire balls of burning tar into the buildings. The flames drove the Alexandrian defenders several further into the city, giving the pirates room to land, and from the moment they did, they cut a steady, bloody swath through the city, house by house and street by street.

Temples and shops were looted and burned as they passed. Block by block the defending Alexandrians were driven backwards. In the narrower streets, what few families hadn't fled poured boiling oil from their windows onto the attacking army. The defenders fought with swords, shields and spears, but also with butcher knives, scythes, rakes, shovels, and all manner of heavy clubs. Carts were driven into alleyways, and planted across the wider streets forming barricades from which defenders pelted the attacking soldiers with stones, and held strong against their charges again and again. The blood and sweat and dust covered every man and obscured much of the city until neither side could tell the other apart. Chaos and confusion reigned.

Many of the weak, the young, and the infirm had taken shelter in the closest thing the city had to a fortress: the library of Alexandria. With its large courtyard, thick stone walls, heavy wooden gate, and sturdy roof, it would withstand a siege. Food was collected there, as were blankets and other supplies, and as the defenders were slowly pushed back, more and more people looked to the Library for safety.

Above it all, Hiccup and Toothless circled, trying to find the best way to help. The dragon had already expended his plasma blasts harrying the Saracen fleet and starting a few devastating fires of his own. A firestorm out five hundred meters from the harbor had cut the attacking armada's strength down nearly a fifth. But it wasn't enough.

The pair moved from barricade to barricade, swooping down on an attacking enemy squad and driving them off.

"Toothless!" Hiccup pointed, seeing a dark patch of Saracens bearing down on a large and scarcely defended barricade. The street beyond was clear of obstacles, and would give the Saracens a straight shot into the Jewish quarters.

"C'mon, Bud!"

The swooped down as the Saracens charged up the barricade. Their line had reached the top and were grappling with Alexandrian citizens when Hiccup and Toothless crashed into the fray. The impact knocked the front row of soldiers back down to the bottom of the barricade. Toothless landed on a group of Saracens, tail swinging and jaws gnashing furiously. He tore them all apart. Hiccup leapt off of his dragon and took up a thin scimitar from one of the fallen soldiers. He parried a blow from a masked attacker and kicked the man in the balls, at which point Toothless took over.

A young citizen, no more than twelve years old was lying on the cobbles, covering his head as a Saracen pirate prepared a killing blow. Hiccup ran forward and thrust his scimitar into the man's guts, splitting him open. "I'm terribly sorry." Hiccup said as the man curled up and tried to gather his innards, "Does your Caliph allow sick days? Because this really should have been one of those…"

Toothless shot him a dry look.

"What? That was totally an inspirational battle cry."

The Saracens had backed off, and were forming a pike line, preparing to charge the beast.

"Uhh… Bud, you got any fire left?"

At that very moment a hail of stones poured form the top of the barricade and struck the line of pikemen, killing several and scattering their lines. Alexandrians poured over their defenses, wielding all manner of weaponry and charged the Saracen lines, chasing the soldiers away.

"You!" a voice called out. Hiccup turned to see an olive-skinned Arabian with a patchy black beard waving a crossbow at him. The man said, "I know you!"

"Are you sure now's the best time for a chat?" Hiccup demanded, mounting Toothless.

"My name is Ali Murat Yahya Attar! You stole baskets of fish from my shop!"

"And what?" Hiccup demanded, staring at the man's crossbow. "You're going to shoot me for it?"

"No!" the shopkeeper let his arrow fly. It went wide of Toothless and hit a Saracen soldier who had been creeping up on the duo. The shopkeeper rushed forward and scooped up the young boy whom Hiccup had protected. "Thank you for saving my son!"

"Oh, well then, all in a day's work." Hiccup said proudly. Beneath him, Toothless let out an exasperated grumble.

"Oh, shut up, Bud. Let's get going."

"A group of people have gathered at the Library!" the Shopkeeper called out. "We're going there when we can."

"Give me your son. I'll take him there now!"

The shopkeeper kissed his son on the forehead and placed him in Hiccup's waiting arms. The kid whimpered, frightened both of Toothless, and of the spindly leatherclad stranger. Hiccup pulled off his helmet and smiled down at the child. "Hi. What's your name?"

"Aden. I'm scared. I don't want to fly!"

"Nice to meet you, Aden. Have you ever gone sailing?" he nudged Toothless, and the dragon spread his wings out, each tip nearly brushing against the buildings on either side of the street. The crowd backed away.

"Yeah…" the child said cautiously. "Me and my dad did on weekends."

Hiccup unhooked his safety harness and passed it through the child's belt before hooking it up again. "Well flying is a lot like that. But you can go up and down as well."

"Sure…" the boy hazarded, pulling on the safety straps to test them. "Is this so we don't fall off?

Hiccup grinned. "Not unless you want to. Just shut your eyes and tell me about your favorite spot in Alexandria."

With that, Toothless took off, wings beating rapidly as they lifted away from the barricade and soared over the streets towards the Library. Sitting in his lap, Aden whimpered and snuggled a little closer to Hiccup's chest.

"Is my dad going to be alright?"

"He seems like a strong man." They caught an updraft, and the city shrank beneath them. Hiccup thought of his own father, Stoick, and how utterly invincible the man had always seemed. He wondered whether Aden viewed his own father in the same light, held him up on the same pedestal as Hiccup had when he was younger.

He watched another barricade collapse in the city below, opening up the north-eastern section of the city to the invaders. Hordes of Saracen soldiers poured through, and with a sinking feeling he realized that the barricade he had just saved was going to be surrounded shortly. He noticed Aden leaning out to take a look, and steered Toothless in such a way as to hide the sight.

"Are we going to win?" Aden asked. His face was ashen, and he was trembling. Whether it was fear of the war, or fear of the dragon, Hiccup didn't know.

"I hope so." Not for the first time, Hiccup wondered where his friends were. He thought of Yanick Erwan, the tough old ex-slave. Had the man known about the Pandev's betrayal? Where was he? Was he safe? More importantly, where was Artemisia?

Odin's missing eye, this hurt! During his time in the Varangian guard, Hiccup had seen his share of battles, big and small, but never in a place which he valued so much. The faces of the dead seemed to stare up at him from street-level. The same faces he had walked by every day. Alexandria was dying all around him.

The Library was still standing, though the hordes were drawing steadily closer to it. Street by street, and alley by alley. Fighter by fighter. Hiccup circled the wide courtyard once. Hundreds of people were gathered there. Mothers and children, wounded soldiers, innocents, all of them trapped.

"Hold on to me, Aden." He prompted. The boy obeyed wordlessly, and they began a steep descent. Aden screamed, unfamiliar with the falling sensation to which Hiccup had long since grown numb. They landed in front of Prometheus' statue with a jarring thud, and sent the refugees scattering throughout the courtyard. Hiccup unstrapped the boy as quickly as he could. All around him he could hear cries of fear. The few soldiers inside the fort ran forward, brandishing swords and gripping their shields tightly.

With the safety harnesses loose, Hiccup pulled the young boy to his shoulder so they all could see him. "Who's in charge here?"

"Leave us alone, demon!" a soldier called out as the troop crept closer.

"There's the warm, friendly greeting I've come to expect." Hiccup said. Toothless growled an affirmation of his own, sensing the Alexandrian's hostility.

"Form up!" A harsh yet familiar voice barked. The soldiers obeyed, forming a shield wall between the dragon and the civilians. "Don't be afraid, men! God is with you!" A figure in blood-stained armor stepped out of the line. He stood alone, facing Hiccup and Toothless. "Let that child go, demon! I already have too much on my plate, but I'll find a way to fit you in somehow!"

Hiccup smiled. "Hello Captain Martius. How goes your day?"

"You know my name, devil. It doesn't matter. You let that child go or dragon or not, I'll kill you."

"Are you kidding…?" Hiccup growled in exasperation and tore off his helmet. "It's me! I'm on your side!"

Martius straightened, lowering his shield by a fraction. Hiccup let Aden go, and the young boy sprinted for safety behind the soldiers, clearly frightened by the ordeal of the flight.

"Boy," the guard captain said coldly, "You have ten seconds to explain this."

"Stop this at once, Martius, you ridiculous cow!" a woman's commanding voice echoed sharply across the courtyard. Artemisia, standing tall with her carefully arranged hair and immaculate white robe. She planted her hands on her hips. "Hiccup!"

"Artemisia!" He slid off of Toothless and hurried forward to embrace her. The dragon bounded up behind him them with wide eyes and a gummy grin. The soldiers backed away uncertainly. Then Martius arrived and pried them apart.

"What the hell is going on?" he demanded.

"Hiccup trained a dragon and now he's here to help us." Artemisia said shortly. "Can you handle that or not?"

Martius looked from her to Hiccup to Toothless and back. The Dragon was beginning to nose his way towards a group of young children who were gathered at the foot of the library's broad stairwell. Hiccup gave him a light kick to set him back on track. The dragon retreated and sat obediently beside him, but the moment Hiccup relaxed, Toothless batted him in the head with his tail.

"Where have you been the past day, boy?" Martius said finally. "We could have used a dragon this morning when the Saracens showed up on our doorsteps."

"I was at Byzantium, talking to Emperor Leo."

Both of their faces lit up. "What did he say?" Artemisia demanded.

Martius was a little more reserved. "When is the fleet coming? How long do we have to hold out?"

Hiccup glanced around at the courtyard, and all the hopeful, desperate faces. He said, "We should talk inside."

Artemisia led the way into the Library. Toothless followed with a steady gait, head swinging from side to side as he watched the refugees. Once inside, she closed the door and leaned against it. "Well?"

Hiccup bit his lip and looked down at his feet. "They're…ahh… they're not coming." He mumbled. "The Emperor sold us out to keep the Silk Road open."

"That whoreson!" Martius turned away and rammed a fist into the nearest pillar. "That treacherous pig!"

Artemisia said. "Of course he did. Byzantium's economy depends on the Silk Road."

"Go tell that to everyone dying out there!" Martius snarled. "This is our fucking city, Artemisia, and you're saying he did the right thing?"

"I didn't say that." She shot back.

"If it's any consolation, Toothless and I ruined his dinner."

"Well that just makes everything okay." The guard captain spat furiously.

"Hey! It looked expensive!" Hiccup replied defensively, "And we left it full of broken glass. He couldn't eat it."

The guard captain turned away and offered God a silent prayer. Artemisia was frowning. "We'll if we're on our own, how effective a defense can we mount?"

"I don't have the men!" Martius responded, his voice hoarse. "We can hold out here as long as supplies last, but-"

The door slammed open and a courier stepped through, panting heavily and leaning on his knees for support. "Sir, they've broken through the barricade at Copriae!"

"Damn and blast!" Martius hefted his sword and shield. "Gather what men you can and meet me at the crossroads. We can't let them near the storehouses. Not until we've finished transporting the supplies back here." The courier vanished, and Martius made to follow. He stopped at the door and turned back to Hiccup. "You know how to use that sword?"

Hiccup stared down at the scimitar and nodded.

"Good. Because I need every man I can get." Martius said grimly. "Let's see what you and your beast can do."

"Be careful." Artemisia called out, her brow furrowed with worry.

The center of Alexandria was not falling easily. People fought hard and fiercely when their backs were against a wall. The surviving Alexandrian population had withdrawn to a few blocks radius of the Library, and piled everything they had in the street, creating a miniature fort. Those who weren't actively fighting were loading food and water from the nearby warehouse into the Library, which had become the center of the resistance.

Except that a full division of the Saracens had broken through the eastern barricade, and their army was marching quickly towards the warehouses, intent on cutting off the resistance's supply lines. They met Martius' grim and ragged lines half a block from the warehouse itself. Each side was lined up in strict ranks at either side of the street, shields at the ready, spears levelled at the enemy. It had come down to this: a shield wall. One of the oldest infantry tactics in warfare.

Men stood shoulder to shoulder, each carrying a shield which guarded both himself and the man beside him. Two divisions pushed against each other, each trying to break the other's line. Victory came to whichever side held strong. Whichever side stood its ground. Chance really had no place in this sort of fight. The outcome rested upon the determination of either side. Whichever side gave in would be cut to ribbons. Hiccup had seen it before.

Hiccup had been in a shield wall once during his campaign in Bulgaria. He found it a thoroughly horrible experience. Battle always was, of course, but the shield wall was a special sort of hell all its own. The pressure and closeness of his fellow soldiers made it impossible to move, nearly impossible to breathe. The dust kicked up had obscured his vision. All he could feel was the sweat and blood and press of men around him. All he could hear was the clanging and roaring of both armies, and the screams of the dying. A savage Bulgar with hatred in his gaze had glared at Hiccup from across the shield wall, but neither of them could move at all, being forced instead to simply watch each other and push with all their might.

The armies -Varangian and Bulgarian- had held their ground for almost twenty minutes during which time Hiccup, a mere two feet from his enemies, couldn't even draw his sword. At some point in the battle the man at his right shoulder had died. Not of battle wounds, but of simple pressure. He had been crushed to death by the press of the soldiers behind him. When a gap opened in the line, he dropped to the ground, and no one stepped up to replace him; at the very start of battle a Bulgarian spear had gone through the eye of the man behind him. Even that tiny weak link was enough to break the chain in such a high-stakes contest. A shock ran through Hiccup's line as the Bulgarians gained a step. Then another, pushing the Varangians back. With a mighty effort, they broke the Varangian lines and forced their enemy into a retreat. The soldier Hiccup had been staring at for twenty minutes planted an axe in his chest as he passed.

Hiccup lay there dying for another hour, during which time the Varangians reformed their lines, broke the Bulgarian offensive, and routed their army. He could hear his comrades celebrating some distance away, but he couldn't call out, for the pain was too great. All he could do was stare at the sky deliriously until a black, winged shape scooped him up and flew him to a secluded fishing hut where he was nursed back to health by a local couple who had taken a shining to Toothless.

That was Hiccup's experience at Nessebar in Bulgaria. Here he was in Alexandria, about to undergo the same bloody baptism. Well… not quite. Martius, blood-stained and battered but still standing tall, had a better plan. "You ever been in a shield wall, kid?"

"Once."

"Then you know how to beat'em. Use that dragon. Get behind them and tear them to fucking shreds! Every dead Saracen makes it likelier that we get out of this mess so leave none alive."

The two armies charged down the street and crashed into each other in a forceful collision which rattled teeth and broke bones. The grunts and cries of each side rose as they dug in their heels. The front ranks did the best they could with swords and knives and axes, trying to hit the man on the other side of the shield wall. Sseveral fighters on both sides were killed instantly, run clean through by a spear, or in one case killed on impact as both sides slammed together.

Behind them, Hiccup mounted Toothless and patted him on the head. The dragon's breathing was ragged and he was starting to whine. Hiccup knew why: the dragon was tired and hungry. So was he, for that matter. They had flown from Alexandria to Barqah to rescue Neptune's Pride, from Barqah overnight to Byzantium, and then from Byzantium back to Alexandria only to start fighting again. The battle brothers had had a worse time when they were stranded behind Saracen lines in the Iberian Peninsula, but at that moment they were both tuckered out.

"I know you're tired, bud. But we have to get this done or we lose the city.

A fighter in the defender's crowd screamed as he was slowly pushed backwards onto the sword of the man behind him, neither of them able to move out of the way for the press of people was too great.

Hiccup pulled out his scimitar and said, "Alright, bud. One last time. A low glide. Let's see how badly they scare."

Toothless growled, spread his wings and took off. They gained a bit of height, rising to the tops of the buildings, and then gliding over the embattled forces. As he passed, Toothless let out a loud roar. The Alexandrians, knowing the dragon was on their side, were heartened. Many of the Saracens looked up and cried out in fear. Several soldiers at the back of their division, ones who had seen the dragon in action on the open ocean, fled at the sight.

Hiccup let them run; his objective was to break the Saracen formation. He landed a good fifteen meters behind the crowd, and watched the back ranks, under the orders of their sergeants, cease their forward push and turn around to confront him. The Saracen division as a whole was pushed back a foot, but they dug in their heels and held.

"You have another shot in you, bud?" Hiccup asked as two ranks of Saracen soldiers, a few dozen in total, advanced on them. Enough time had passed; a few hours since Toothless had run dry. The dragon opened his mouth and fired a weak shot into the advancing ranks. It was at half-strength- a consequence of the dragon's fatigue- but even that was enough. The blue-white fire burned straight through two advancing Saracen soldiers and detonated in the midst of the struggling Saracen division. Armour, weapons and burned limbs were blown upwards, bouncing off the walls of the narrow street. Saracen fighters who weren't killed in the explosion were knocked sideways, stumbling and falling to the ground. The Alexandrian division pushed easily through the broken shield wall, slaughtering any living Saracen they passed as they moved down the street. The remaining Saracens turned, fleeing towards Hiccup and Toothless, and knocking over their own rear guard to get away. Toothless spread his wings and leapt straight forward, bearing six men to the ground. The Night fury thrashed and bit and clawed them all to pieces. His tail crushed a fleeing man against the nearest wall.

Three Saracen spearmen were approaching the occupied dragon, weapons at the ready. Determined to protect his friend, Hiccup charged at them. He bashed the closest with his shield and knocking the man over. He whipped his scimitar across the fallen soldier's throat and moved on to the next, who had turned to confront him.

The man thrust his spear at Hiccup, who only just managed to raise his shield in time. The spearpoint skittered across the Gronckle iron and left a long, shallow cut across Hiccup's cheekbone towards his ear. Spears worked great in formations, where one division of men moved together and sought to utterly destroy another. However spears were somewhat risky in one-on-one engagements, as once a man committed to a spear thrust, recovery was difficult. This was a fact Hiccup knew and took full advantage of.

Despite the fact that half of his face was on fire, he stepped forward and swung his shield up under the man's arms, knocking the spear from his grasp, and leaving him open. Hiccup ran his scimitar along the man's belly, and finished him with a third strike across his neck, severing his head.

The third spearman moved on Hiccup while he was occupied, and it was only blind luck which saved the young viking's life. Hiccup happened to shift his hip during his last stroke, and where the spear would have caught him in the belly, instead it scraped along the side of his thick leather belt and knocked him over. The young Viking locked his arm around the spear's shaft, trapping his opponent's only weapon. The two of them tugged back and forth for three heart-pounding seconds before Martius arrived with his Alexandrian fighters. The captain ran the Saracen clean through with his sword and kicked the dying man to the ground, where he finished him with the edge of his shield.

"Hiccup! You alright?"

"Ow…" Hiccup pushed himself into a sitting position and quickly undid the straps holding his leather armour together. He slipped a hand underneath his armour and felt his side for blood, but didn't find any; the Spear hadn't penetrated past the belt. He let out a long relieved sigh and stared up at the blood-stained captain.

Martius turned to his advancing division. "I want that Barricade back! Go get it for me!" his men let out a cheer and charged down the street.

"You Danes are a hearty lot." Martius observed, turning back to Hiccup. "Damned glad you're on our side."

Toothless appeared at Hiccup's side, sniffing at his wounded cheek and growling ferociously. Fueled by anger, the dragon leapt, batting his wings to gain extra height. He scrambled onto a balcony and began firing small plasma blasts at the retreating Saracen soldiers, hitting a few in the back as they ran. Toothless raised his bloody head skywards and roared in triumph. It was a sound heard as far away as the docks, and gave terrified pause to Saracen fighters across the city.

"He's really tired." Hiccup said as Martius helped him to his feet. "And so am I. I haven't slept since we talked at Artemisia's."

"You've done enough for now." Martius said. "Go take a few hours. I think there's some salted meat in the Library's store rooms."

"Thanks." Hiccup waved Toothless down and the dragon landed beside him. Toothless gave the Saracen corpses a thorough examination, and then lumbered towards Martius, who tensed up.

"Don't worry." Hiccup called out. "He knows you're friendly."

"Sure it does." The captain said. Toothless licked his hand softly and then burbled and wrapped himself around the guard captain.

"Whoa, what's happening, kid? I don't like this!"

"He's thanking you."

"For what?" Martius asked as Toothless crooned and nuzzled him.

Hiccup pointed at the third spearman. "For saving my life."

"You're welcome, beast. Now get off me!" Martius shoved Toothless away and Hiccup moved forward to calm the dragon.

"Eat and rest. By nightfall I need both of you battle-ready."

"Yes sir." Hiccup saluted and pointed Toothless back towards the library.

They managed to find a barrel of salted fish, which Toothless devoured hungrily. No one dared to stop the dragon as he moved around the courtyard, sniffing at various resting civilians, and following wherever his curious nose led him. Hiccup followed behind at a steady gait, dipping bread in a bowl of stew a grateful woman had offered him. Several fearless children ran behind Toothless, trying to keep up with the dragon, giggling and laughing as Toothless spun around and licked them all in turn, sniffing at them and nipping playfully at their heels as they ran around him. The dragon's green eyes had grown big and round

"C'mon, bud." Hiccup called out after he had finished his stew and returned the bowl. Toothless turned and followed him reluctantly up the library steps and into the building. The first floor was taken up with the wounded. Red blood stained white marble and soaked the carpets. The cries of the wounded echoed throughout the building, somewhat hushed by the multitudes of paper scrolls. Women and children bearing salves and poultices moved from figure to prone figure, offering what help they could.

Hiccup found Artemisia on the second floor. She had set up a small desk, and was directing the library's scribes, sending them out on various tasks such as stocking the lower rooms with food and water in preparation for the expected siege, but she took a few minutes to lead Hiccup and Toothless to a secluded wing where she sat her protégé down on a bench and cleaned up his cheek. Toothless curled up between them and went straight to sleep.

"It'll leave a scar." Artemisia told him as she wiped the blood away and rinsed her cloth in a bucket of water.

Hiccup smiled grimly, an old memory bubbling to the surface. "Yeah. It's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

Artemisia chuckled quietly. "Who told you that?"

"Long story." Hiccup took a bandage and pressed it to his cheek, feeling the blood soak through.

The woman sat back and laid her hands on her knees. Her white dress was torn in several places, and had blood spatters all over it, but she carried herself with dignity enough regardless. She said, "You rescued Neptune's Pride."

"Yep."

"They arrived about six hours before the Saracen fleet did. They gave Martius enough warning that he was able to set up a meaningful defense."

"I'm glad."

"His own men turned on him first. The Caliphate had paid off half of his own guards. Martius had to cut his way out of his office to get to the barricades."

"He's a brave man."

She nodded. "I just wanted you to know that you were right to go after the ship first."

"Thank you."

"I've… um… I've got something for you." She rose and disappeared for a few seconds, only to return lugging a dozen cylindrical containers of the sort used by couriers. Hiccup frowned, eyeing them up. They were made from thin, hollowed out birch tree trunks. They had been treated with oils and sealed with a sap rim. The containers were sturdy and weatherproofed to the very best ability of Alexandrian's artisans.

Artemisia set her load down and disappeared to retrieve another. Hiccup watched in silence, blinking with exhaustion. When she had her containers stacked in a neat pile, thirty in total, she said, "There are over seven-hundred thousand scrolls in this library. I've picked out the two hundred most important of them."

A deep sense of unease grew in the pit of Hiccup's stomach. "Why?"

"I put in Euclid, Pythagoras, the writings of Cicero and Caesar, the best histories of the different ages of the world, the Iliad, the Aeneid, and the Odyssey, writings in several different fields of engineering, Aristotle's Poetics, and Plato's Republic. Observations and writings from the greatest artists, politicians, mathematicians, philosophers and historians our civilization has ever seen. This is the heart of the entire collection."

"Artemisia-"

"Shh." She said softly, waving a hand. "When the Saracens breach the courtyard-"

"If."

"When. This is a sturdy building, Hiccup, but it wasn't designed for the sort of fight the Saracens will give us. It is not a fortress."

"I don't think we should be making any assumptions here."

"Even if we drive off this army, the Caliphates can pull men from across Africa. Even if we hold the Library, the siege is going to turn into a war of attrition. One we can't win. Alexandria is lost, Hiccup. We have no support, limited supplies, and we're facing an endless army. It's only a matter of time."

He shook his head vigorously. "I don't want to hear this. Toothless and I should stay and fight! We should help save lives! I'm not going to just up and abandon you guys!"

Artemisia smiled sadly. "You're a good man, Hiccup Haddock, but this library-"

"I'm not interested in-"

"This is where I will die!" the woman said harshly. "I will die beside Martius on the steps of this building, holding out as long as I can, but it will all be for nothing if you don't hear me now, so you, Hiccup Haddock, You. Let. Me. Speak."

They stared at each other, each one defiant. She said, "This Library contains the collected knowledge of the Romans and the Greeks, and the scrolls beside you are the very foundations of that knowledge. Every single letter on every scroll was either inked by a great man himself, or else recounts their tales. Do remember Plato's parable of the cave? Because every scroll in here is the story of a man who broke his chains, stepped into the light, and did something incredible. Men who changed the world. These are the seeds of our city, of our civilization. Everything Alexandria is. Everything it represents is here in these two-hundred scrolls. This city has fallen, and this library will fall, but if we save but if fraction of this library survives, then our art, our history, our culture, survive. Alexandria survives even if its people are dead and gone.

"This is a larger battle, generations long. Reason has pushed back the darkness this far, and we have to fight to keep it from closing back in. All the math, all the science, all the history of the world is in this library, Hiccup. If it is destroyed our world falls into darkness and decay. I'm not asking you to betray us, Hiccup. Quite the opposite. I'm asking you to save us. I ask this of you not because I think you're a coward. Not because I think you wouldn't fight beside the rest of us to the last breath, but because you're the only one who can take the seeds of our civilization away from all of this war and violence and hatred and death. Take these scrolls and go home. Go back to Berk."

Hiccup was silent for a long time. Artemisia's pleas echoed in his ears as he sat on his bench, staring at the casks. Toothless' gentle breaths were warm against his feet, a great comfort to him.

"I might be able to fly some of the refugees out I can save a handful." He suggested.

"And drop them where, exactly? This entire region is boxed in." Artemisia said.

Artemisia was right. Hiccup had seen the size of the fleet, and the way it had stretched beyond the horizon. And he had arrived back in Alexandria to find that it was only a quarter of the Saracen army. That most of the invading forces had in fact arrived overland from across the Arab world to claim the last tiny patch of Byzantine ground. And they had done it with Byzantium's permission. There was no way to win.

He said, "Leo said that there was no idealism behind Alexandria. No science or philosophy. He believed this library was all just power and cynical politics."

"And what do you believe?"

"I think he's wrong." He let out a long breath, and shaking tears followed it, streaming freely down his face, being soaked up by the bandage. He looked at Artemisia and saw those same tears reflected in her eyes. An entire Civilization, entrusted to him. The weight of the responsibility was crushing, oppressive. And yet when his mind reached that impulse to run, to retreat, to backpedal and vanish, to shy away from his duty, he found that he couldn't. Not this time. Not if it meant losing this.

If he didn't act, it would mean not just the deaths of the refugees outside, but also the deaths of ancient Greece and ancient Rome. The death of science and philosophy. The death of all the ideals which had grown to mean so much to him. The same ideals he knew could save Berk.

He said, "Alright. I'll do it."

He left that evening. He strapped the cylinders on Toothless' back behind the saddle, and under the dragon's belly. Toothless let out a mild groan of irritation, but the dragon had carried worse loads. They would be traveling more slowly, hopping up the coastline of Italy and across the empires of Europe before finally returning to the frigid north.

Outside the nearby open window, the streets of Alexandria were glowing. Not with the lights of busy citizens, but with multitudes of blazing fires. The city was burning down, building by building. There would be nothing left but charred soil. He could hear the men at the barricades, and the laughter and chatter of the civilians in the courtyard.

Artemisia was standing there, silently, as he ran through his pre-flight checks. When he was done, he rose and turned to her, his face grim but determined.

"I'll take back Berk." He promised as he embraced her. "I'll save it and teach them everything you taught me."

"I'll hold you to that, if there's an afterlife." She replied, kissing him on the forehead. They stared out the window. Far above the city, Venus could be seen, shimmering between clouds of smoke.

"I guess I'll never find out what makes them turn." She said sadly.

"Someone will, someday." Hiccup said. "I mean that's what we're saving these scrolls for, right?"

She nodded silently.

Armor jingled behind them, and they both turned. Martius was marching up to them. "There you are, Hiccup. We could use that beast on the barricades…" his voice trailed off as he spotted the scrolls strapped to Toothless. He drew to a halt, and looked from the dragon to Hiccup, to Artemisia. He sighed and slowly pulled his helmet off, running a dirty hand across his close-shaven head, yet in the looks he shared with Artemisia there was only sadness, and understanding.

"I'm sorry, sir…" Hiccup managed to choke the words out.

Martius turned his gaze to Hiccup, and the scrolls strapped in tight bundles to Toothless' saddle. He smiled dryly. "She always told me that everything the human race ever learned was in this library. Kept telling me to read, but I can barely manage my way through a duty roster."

Hiccup took a deep breath, fighting back his own tears. "I should stay and fight-"

Martius shook his head. "Don't. Anyone who's still here at dawn tomorrow is going to die. I can't tell the men, or the refugees, but we can't hold. The city is already lost. Half our rations are spoiled, and the moment a flaming arrow makes it through one of those windows this entire building will go up in smoke. Alexandria is finished, Hiccup." He walked forward and slid an arm around his lover's waist. "Artemisia and I both knew that the moment you came back. Don't be guilty. Our civilization isn't in this city anymore. It's strapped to your saddlebags. Best to save it."

Hiccup nodded gratefully. "Thank you." He mounted Toothless, and the dragon crooned sadly, picking up on the emotions of everyone around him, but not fully understanding. Artemisia went down on one knee and wrapped her arms around the dragon's neck.

"Goodbye, Toothless. Take good care of Hiccup for me."

The dragon murmured a sad set of noises and licked the side of her face, trying to comfort her. Martius stepped forward and patted the beast on the snout. He said, "One day you and I might have got along, beast."

Toothless growled at him, but nuzzled his hand nonetheless.

"Farewell, Hiccup." Martius guided Artemisia back to her feet. Tears were streaming freely down her face.

"You too." Hiccup said. "Give the bastards a good thrashing for me."

Martius grinned. "Was planning on it."

"Do you still have my Astrolabe?" Artemisia asked.

"Yeah." Hiccup fished the disc out of his pocket and held it out for her.

"No." She shook her head. "You keep it. Remember: when you carry it, you carry all of us with you."

Hiccup nodded silently and pocketed the device. "I'll miss you guys."

"We'll miss you too." Artemisia replied.

"For as long as we're here." Martius added.

Hiccup patted Toothless on his broad black head and whispered, "Let's go, bud."

With that, the dragon crooned one last time. He turned and leapt out the window, spreading his wings to drift on the thermals, carrying his rider and their precious cargo safely and silently into the Arabian night.

Artemisia and Martius stood at the library window, watching the black shape until it vanished. She let out a long, long sigh. "This really is the last night, isn't it?"

"One of them." Martius said. He gently brushed a lock of hair from her face and kissed her tenderly on her temple. "I should have married you." He whispered.

She smiled and leaned into his embrace. "It would have caused too much trouble."

"Trouble found us anyway."

"True."

They fell silent for but a moment.

"There's a priest in the courtyard." She offered.

He chuckled, a pleasant and comforting sound to her ears. He said, "One last act of defiance then?"

Artemisia turned in his arms and kissed him full on the mouth, a slow gesture, full of passion, and promise. "Let's get married and damn them all to hell."

"Thought you said Hell didn't exist."

"I said it's unproven. But let's find out together."

Shahira Pandev sat on the back end of her father's boat, whittling away on a piece of scrap wood. Her expression was sour, and her face was pale with guilt. Dawn had broken, revealing the vast column of smoke, moving north from Alexandria. Though it was miles away, she reckoned she could hear the screams carried on the wind, though perhaps it was just her imagination.

"Shahira?" She heard her father's heavy footfalls against the deck.

"Don't!" she ordered harshly, blinking back tears. "Just don't, dad! Don't talk to me."

"I did it for you, love." Anton said gently. "I will not die knowing all you'll ever amount to is a fisherman's daughter. You deserve better."

"And what did Alexandria deserve?" she asked, turning to him. "I know we weren't making it there, but we could have found another way…"

"If you think you could have stopped this, you're fooling yourself, Shahira." Said a third voice. Yanick Erwan, the blacksmith, appeared from the lower deck. He took a seat on a lobster trap. He was fiddling with one of Hiccup's pulleys. The same pulleys which had allowed them to outrun Alexandrian ships for the past two days.

"That city has been doomed for ages." Yanick said. "You weren't the only ones. No reason why you can't profit from the destruction. It's a cold, dark world. You can't do nuthin' but look out for you and yours."

At that very moment a familiar high-pitched noise rent the air. A large black shape dropped out of the clouds, wings unfurling at the last second to slow it before it hit the deck.

"I'll be damned!" Yanick said.

The fearsome black dragon was back, with Hiccup riding atop it. The beast had blood-stained jaws and stank of fire and smoke. Strange cylindrical containers had been strapped all over its saddle. Hiccup himself was still dressed in his leather armour. He removed his helmet to reveal a cold, angry gaze which traveled from her, to her father, to Yanick and back.

"Hiccup!" she said, striding forwards across the deck. "Hiccup, please!"

The breeze had caught his auburn hair, and the sunlight was shining across his face. There was a cut on his cheek, and his strange leather uniform was battered and scratched; a sign of his participation in the distant battle. He looked heroic, a far cry from the awkward young man she had first introduced to Artemisia. She found herself wishing more than anything to join him in the saddle. It was illogical, but she somehow felt that if she could get him to understand why, get him to join them, perhaps it would help alleviate her guilt.

"Hiccup, I know you must be angry."

"No, I get it." He said, his voice biting and snide. "You wanted to move up in the world, and damn everyone else. I get it."

"It's not like that!" she shot back tearfully.

Anton stepped forward. "Don't lecture us, kid. You have no idea how hard we've had to work and scrape-"

"Shut up or my dragon will bite your head off."

Anton's mouth closed abruptly.

"I wasn't lecturing. And if you can live with what you've done, nothing I say will make any difference anyway."

"Kid, I think you're looking at this all wrong." Yanick said.

"Toothless, if that man makes any moves, blast him!"

The dragon growled, a low visceral noise. Its eyes narrowed on Yanick.

"Oh." The blacksmith crossed his arms. "So that's how it is, huh? After all I did for you? Here I was just looking out for me and mine. And you were one of them, Hiccup. You were one of mine."

"That privilege just makes me go weak at the knees, Yanick." The youth replied coolly. "Where's my godsdamned sword! Where's my gladius?" he looked to each of them in turn. With a clear threat in his voice, his said, "Shahira?"

She retrieved it from the bottom of her personal locker, where she had been keeping it wrapped safely in some spare sheeting. For good measure she retrieved the modest bag of money as well. She handed it up to him as gingerly as she dared. The dragon hissed at her when she came too close, but Hiccup laid a hand on its forehead and it calmed right down.

"Hiccup, we can settle down." Shahira said tearfully as he strapped the sword to his belt. His shield was on his back, alongside a thin, curved scimitar. She said, "We have money now. We can buy a farm. Build a forge. There's a place for you and the dragon, if you want it. We can still make a life together, Hiccup!"

"I have a responsibility." The boy said, his voice resolute. Hiccup tapped one of the long, strange cylinders strapped to his dragon. He said, "This is all that's left of Alexandria. The library and everyone else is gone. Artemisia entrusted it to me, and I have to take care of it."

"So what? You can come with us. You don't have to let the past dictate what you do!"

Hiccup stared down at his dragon. His fists clenched against the handles of his saddle, and he looked back up at her. "That's what I'm doing every time I run away. Every single time. I'm tired of it. I'm going home. Try not to burn any more cities full of innocent people in your quest for a few acres of fertile soil."

With that, his dragon took off northwest towards Italy, leaving her alone to find a life with her father and Yanick.

And that's that, folks. We're done with Alexandria. I hope this was a satisfying conclusion. Everything from here on in is Berk.

Midoriko-Sama's final chapter of her trilogy has been updated. It is 'M' rated, but please go give it some love.

I know the first sentence of this chapter was probably music to the ears of many, but I hope some of you at least will miss it, or at least miss the history and science and learning the way I know Hiccup would. I really wanted to give Hiccup an adventure before his return. Something that would redefine his priorities, and give him a strong reason to come back and fight for the future.