A/N: The next two chapters are going to be an all-out, hectic war, so I hope you guys are ready for that!

(Normal pov— Denmark)

The evening was cold and unforgiving; snow descended on the earth at a slow pace, though the below-freezing temperatures were enough to kill a man in minutes.

Nikora Stormheart, was wrapped in a thick gorilla fur cloak and four basins of fire were placed on the steps of her throne to keep the unforgiving cold from seeping into her skin, she was seated on her throne onboard The Tempest and looked towards the horizon and could see a vast fleet of ships approaching, the lead ship was Willbreaker, Eir's warship. The Mongrel queen was unsurprised that her sister was returning to her, her impatience is unrewarded and resulted in a surprising loss of ships. Sighing heavily and pinching the bridge of her nose, Nikora finds herself starting to lose her own patience and suddenly cannot blame Eir for wanting to end this conflict with Hiccup Haddock. Despite having the advantage of overwhelming numbers, Nikora has lost over two thousand of her warriors due to exposure; winter and all of its fury have taken some of her most gifted warriors to the afterlife before they have the opportunity to earn a glorious death on the battlefield.

Once Willbreaker dropped anchor alongside The Tempest, Eir made her way to her sister's throne and could see her older sister heavy with thought. Breaking out of her thoughts, Nikora looked to Eir and raised her eyebrows in question. "How many men and ships did you lose because of your impatience?"

"An extensive some," Eir said with gritted teeth, "how is that... savage able to best me?! It's insulting!"

"You underestimated Haddock, like any animal backed against a corner that is when they are most deadly," Nikora said while rising from her throne, "you failed because of your impatience to hasten Haddock's defeat. But now that we are reunited, we will face him together and avenge the death of our father." Extending her arm out, Nikora waited for Eir to take it. Accepting her sister's arm, they grasped each other's forearms and pulled each other in for a warm embrace.

"We cannot fail—"

"We will not," Nikora reassured her eager sister, "Hassan Stormheart will be avenged and when we reduce Scandinavia to ashes, we shall begin the task of rebuilding the worlds Haddock and his animals have destroyed, train those who wish to join the Mongrel Tribe, and honor our family name with honor and glory." Eir nodded against her sister's neck, silently holding Nikora to honor her word and not hesitate when the time of vengeance finally arrives.

After breaking their embrace, Nikora turned to one of her Shadows and ordered them to signal the warlords to join them and their lieutenants onboard The Tempest to discuss the strategy of the coming battle. Turning back to Eir, Nikora gestured to her throne. "Come, I would have you by my side while we discuss our plan of attack," she then looked out towards the horizon and continued, "the end of our journey is upon us, let us pray that the gods will bless us with victory and give us the strength to wipe away the blight that is the Viking people and that devil, Hiccup Haddock."

Sometime later, a skiff that held Griselda, Chagatai, Rong, and Attila made their way to The Tempest and the four warlords boarded the ship and joined the Mongrel rulers and their lieutenants to discuss a plan of attack. Gathered around a large table at the steps of Nikora's throne, the group of foreign warriors began to discuss strategy.

"Hiccup Haddock has openly challenged us to unleash our full might against him and the Scandinavian people," Nikora said, "as my allies and most trusted warriors, I seek your suggestions on how to proceed."

"They are not deterred by casualties," Harald stated, "to a Viking, death is bliss. But Haddock and his forces will not be foolish enough to throw themselves on our sword, he already has a plan in motion and that plan threatens to consume us all if we do not strike now."

There were murmurs of assent across the table. "We've seen how capable Haddock is as a tactile genius," Chagatai stated. "We all witnessed how he obliterated the now late ruler of the Kievan Empire, granted, Boleslav was blinded by rage."

"Regardless, Haddock used Boleslav's rage to his advantage and wiped out his Rus' hordes," Attila added, "if we attack out of raw anger, we too shall suffer the same fate. My Hunnic brothers and sisters cannot afford such a loss."

Scoffing at Attila's words, Vitani voiced her thoughts. "Ah yes, the only reason you Huns are allied with Drago's warlords is that you seek spoils and riches, you do not truly seek war," she added with mockery in her tone, "you and your Hunnic dogs are nothing but... petty thieves."

Cursing in the Hunnic tongue, Attila glared daggers at Vitani. They both shared a look that Nikora knew all too well; it often proceeded in bloodshed. She watched them for a tense moment as Attila placed his hand on his sword, as did Vitani, she then raised her voice to say, "Enough."

They all looked to the Mongrel queen.

"The Huns are not just mere thieves, they are a nomadic race who know how to survive unforgiving environments, they are excellent horsemen, and they hold vast numbers that reinforce us. We need them!" Looking to Attila, Nikora offered apologies. "Forgive Vitani, but now is not the time to enter pointless bickering that does nothing but serves Haddock and his animals, we must stand together or we all die!"

Attila looked to Vitani and grunted while releasing his hand on his sword and falling back to stand alongside his fellow warlords, Vitani looked to Nikora and bowed her head in submission to her queen and held her tongue for the time being.

"Now, let us agree that the first thing Haddock will do before he meets us in battle is the fact that he'll attempt to liberate the dragons under the warlords' control," Nikora's words caused the warlords to hum in agreement, she then looked to Griselda and raised a questioning eyebrow, "what precautions are you taking?"

"We have our finest warriors watching over the caged dragons in case Haddock attempts to liberate them under the cover of darkness, our alpha also has been beaten into absolute submission so it knows better than to revolt against us even if it has been liberated by the enemy," Griselda said firmly, "but if it does lash out at us, we will remind it that resistance is pointless."

"Fair enough," Nikora said, "as long as you don't take a submissive pawn for granted."

Eir then turned to her sister and inquired. "When do we attack?"

"We attack when Haddock arrives," she answered, "he will be eager to reclaim his capital and home from us, and when he arrives we shall be ready to end this campaign and reduce these lands to ash."

(Hiccup's pov)

It had been six weeks since I sent Eir and her invading force out of the Greenland colony, and since then I've been sending Terror Mail to every Viking tribe and kingdom throughout Scandinavia to join my Red Maw in a final stand against Nikora and Eir's hordes. The gods continued to show us favor due to my children returning to my arms, not only that but they returned from Kyiv and the Celestial Empire to extend a hand of aid and it was a gesture that was answered and we had many thousands to further aid us.

Nuffink and Katerina, along with the hordes of Kyiv arrived and confessed that though persuading the Kievan people to aid us was more difficult than expected, regardless of the risk of returning to a Christian kingdom that would see them dead because of the grievous injury they inflicted upon their nation, their risk was rewarded and now Katerina stands as Kyiv's queen, and Nuffink is now placed in a position of ruling over all of Scandinavia, but also becoming a Christian and ruling alongside his wife. I know not whether Nuffink will have any interest in ruling my empire when the time comes, but I do know he will not leave Katerina's side. I suppose I'll see what date the gods have in store for my son all in due time; whatever his choice is, I will support him and be there when he needs me to be his father and not a ruler.

Halvor and Ingrid, alongside Avery, secured the full support of King Halbarad of the Celestial Empire, their empire thrived solely on opulence and economic trade but are by no means cowards, they will fight to the death if their kingdom and way of life are threatened by those who wish to extinguish them. And so, King Halbarad provided us with over twelve legions of his finest dragon riders that were placed under his son Avery's command.

With the tens of thousands of Kievan warriors and the hundreds of Celestial dragon riders, our numbers have swelled, but even with these reinforcements, the enemy still outnumbered us.

And to gain the upper hand over this enemy, we needed a sound tactic.

Currently, I had summoned every one of position and standing within my empire to assemble in the Great Hall so that we can discuss a plan of attack and how to deliver a defeat that is so crippling to our enemies, no foreign power will dare to put the Scandinavian people to the test. Our first course of action was to liberate the enslaved dragons the warlords possessed, Atali and her group of Wingmaidens offered to infiltrate the warlords' prize warship and liberate the dragons under the enemy's heel, not only that but also attempt to sway their alpha to our side. Mala and her defenders voiced their desires to aid Atali and her Wingmaidens to liberate the dragons under the enemy's control, a desire that I obliged in.

With that settled, I then turned towards the matter of dealing with Nikora and Eir's army of highly trained warriors, including the warlords, and their own hordes of ferocious warriors.

Many of the more seasoned Viking chieftains voiced their desires to charge the enemy head-on, much to my annoyance. Soon enough, the Great Hall was filled with pointless bickering; voices raised with the promise of violence, and I was about to stop this foolishness before it escalated to further quarrels, but Astrid slammed her battle-ax on a nearby table and boomed out. "Enough!" Her commanding tone silenced those who were bickering, they then turned to face my wife and give her their undivided attention.

"Even with the numbers we now have, we are eclipsed by vast numbers," Astrid stated to everyone gathered, "I am by no means suggesting we allow the enemy to crush us beneath their heel, yet to defeat these devils we must fall towards strong tactics and strategy, not brute force which will lead us into slaughter and possibly the end of our race, culture, and sagas to history!" Those who suggested such insanity lowered their heads in embarrassment and shame, they are but... eager to drive this enemy out of our homelands, as am I. Yet Astrid speaks the truth, we cannot rely on brute force when our enemy is highly disciplined and would most certainly strike us down if we go down a path leading to rushing them head-on. Turning towards me, Astrid smiled lightly at me and raised a questioning eyebrow. "What're the lay of your thoughts?"

"Fitful," I answer, "a plan is already forming, one that may lead us to victory." Everyone gathered murmured amongst themselves and then turned to me in silence, all waiting to hear what I had in mind. "This is my plan..." I pull a map of Denmark and gather pieces from Maces and Talons that represent our forces and the enemy, "...we concentrate our infantry to the center of the battlefield to attract the enemy advance and pull them inside our lines; our shield wall must hold because if it breaks then my plan is undone and our history as a people may be lost forever," I say while moving the game pieces together, I then continue, "while we attract as many as the enemy warriors to overpower our shield wall, two bands of our elite warriors led by Astrid and Mala who will advance from the enemy's flanks, boxing them inside." I then take another set of pieces that represent the most skilled among us and place them where they're to attack the enemy's flank. "Finally, a surprise attack from the rear, led by our Rus' brethren and the dragon riders the Celestial Empire provided us with will surround the enemy from all sides; cutting off the enemy's escape. If my plan succeeds, our enemies will have nowhere to run." Those gathered began murmuring amongst themselves about the brilliance of the plan, while others voiced it.

"An impressive plan," Viggo said with admiration, "one that I believe will work."

"Indeed," Mala said, "your plan is brilliant, we can only hope that Nikora and Eir fall for your trap."

I smirk at Mala's words and nod at her. "They'll come," I reassure her, "those two desire my death more than life itself, they will not resist the opportunity of killing me, especially since it is I who will be leading the shield wall."

"Hiccup—"

"Nikora and Eir will not hesitate to unleash everything they have upon us to see to it that I fall," I said firmly, cutting off Astrid before she could voice her worry, "this campaign has stretched on long enough, and I would see it come to an end."

"As would I," Astrid said wholeheartedly, "yet not at the expense of your life!" She took my hands in her own and continued. "You are the king of all Scandinavia! If you were to fall, then the enemy will have already won, we cannot afford to lose you—"

"What kind of king would I be if I do not stand with my brothers and sisters in the shield wall and stand firm against this enemy?" I then shake my head lightly. "I will not command from afar, I will lead in the heat of battle and deliver our people a victory that will be spoken of for generations to come," removing my hands from Astrid's, I then cup her cheeks and kiss her before murmuring against her lips, "I'm not afraid of death, neither is anyone within this room. Have faith, trust not only in the gods but in me."

"Always," Astrid murmured back, "then again, I have no choice but to trust you when stupidity and crazy is what you do best." Her words held truth, causing everyone present to chuckle.

I smirk at my wife's words and nod at her. "Yet here I stand," I said proudly while extending my arms out, "would you have me any other way?" Astrid chuckled while shaking her head, she then playfully punched my chest and voiced words of worry. "Do not become reckless, live and deliver a victory that will eclipse all others!" I nod in understanding and murmur words of reassurance in Astrid's ear; promising her that I will survive and that the enemy nor the gods themselves will not wrest me from her arms. Turning to my people, family, and allies I then speak for all to hear me.

"I will make no proclamations, except that everything is possible when your heart and mind is set to the task!" I boomed out. "And I will say nothing more than it is time to show Midgard what we are truly capable of! It's time to begin a story that will be spoken of amongst the living and by those in Valhalla forevermore. This defining battle that holds the fate of our sagas will be our song... our story to tell to the future generations until it is immortalized in history! Let it begin."

With that said, our forces set out to our respective ships and dragons as we prepared for what may in fact be the greatest battle our world will remember; where foreign powers sought to conquer a people they believe to be nothing more than beasts, but the Viking people will not fall so easily, we will fight tooth and nail to drive our enemy back.

This would be the greatest challenge I've ever faced as Blood King, and this was a challenge that would require every ounce of strength. I pray to the gods that when the time comes, our forces will be enough to deal a crippling blow to our enemy and send a powerful message to the rest of the world that we are not just "raiders" but a dominant power that will not be snuffed out of existence so easily. I have no doubt in the Viking people when your world and very way of life is under threat, you will fight to the death to preserve your culture and race from being wiped from history.

Nikora and Eir believe that with their hordes and the hordes their allies possess, they will be enough to kill us all. But we shall prove them wrong and show them otherwise.

We make our own fate, and we will not stand idle and allow ourselves to be slaughtered for the sake of slaking a person vendetta, a vendetta I caused so long ago.

Tomorrow, history shall decide who the victors will be and who the defeated will be. And I pray that the gods will not abandon us in our most desperate hour.

A/N: Short one, but the next two chapters will be worth it, I promise!