Chapter 10: The Swords of England vs. The Great Heathen Army

(Normal pov)

King Edmund, the other kings of England and their armies marched to Norwich, their march in seemed to have shook the very ground, they'd been marching for days, their numbers were vast, they brought their machines of war as well: catapults, ballistas and battering rams.

Edmund and his personal guard took the lead, while a warrior Bishop named Uriah urged his horse to trot alongside Edmunds horse. "Ah, Uriah." The Bishop bowed his head. "King Edmund." The two then looked straight ahead as they entered a forest, Edmund then turned to Uriah. "We still do not know how many warriors the heathens have..." Uriah began, but Edmund waved his concerns.

"We have a great army, these heathens will fear us and God, or they'll join the devil in hell." Edmund said sternly, Uriah bowed his head and the Swords of England continued marching, the slightest movements in the bushes grabbed the Englishmen's attention, only to reveal rabbits emerging from the bushes and hopping away, the army continued to march in silence, however they fail to see one of Hiccup's dragon riders flying away.


(Viking occupied Norwich)

Upon arrival to enemy controlled territory, the Swords of England were shocked to see the town and castle all looked abandoned.

Where are they?

The town was like a ghost down; the light breeze sending the burning embers into the air, the wood supporting some of the huts creaked and groaned and it was all... quite. Too quite.

Edmund turned around to army, they looked spooked, but remained sharp and watchful, they soon laid eyes on the castle before them, there was no sound, no sentries patrolling the walls. Where was the enemy? The other kings made their way to Edmund and they all looked at there destination.

"I don't like this one bit."

"But what choice do we have? The heathens must be exterminated, no matter the cost!"

"This is obviously a trap King Edmund, may I suggest bombarding the castle and force the cowards out of hiding?"

Edmund turned to that king and nodded. "Give the order." That king nodded and gave orders to bring out the catapults, the knights pushed the catapults to where the kings were and loaded massive boulders into the launchers; ready to fire away.

"Aim!!"

The knights positioned the catapults toward the castles walls and leaned the launchers back; so that way the height of the boulders would crash into the buildings within the castle.

"FIRE!!!"

Four boulders were launched and they landed within the castle grounds, but they didn't hear a sound; no screaming, barking of orders, nothing.

"Again!!"

Again the knights loaded the catapults until a plasma bolt ripped through the catapult being loaded and sent sharp pieces of wood flying everywhere; impaling knights or nearby horses, the raised their shields and then looked up to see a creature, black as night, with bat like wings and on top of the creature was a... boy?

The boy spoke a language the knights couldn't understand, the creature fired another plasma bolt toward the kings, sending them and their horses flying back and crying to an unrecognizable crisp.

Edmund shielded his eyes from the attack and saw the boy and his dragon turn around for another attack. "Concentrate fire on them!! FIRE!!!" The remaining three catapults fired boulders, but the creature dodged two and blew the other boulder to pieces, this creature barrel rolled while firing multiple blasts, sending knights flying while burning alive, and the other three catapults were ripped apart, the creature and its rider dodged archers and they retreated to the castle.

Edmund, who couldn't believe what he had just witnessed snapped out of his stupor and gave orders. "Forward men! Advance!!" Edmund urged his horse to move, the remaining kings barked orders for their armies to advance, the knights sprinted toward the wall, the doors to the castle were already opened, and the Englishmen advanced, they entered the main plaza, only to see two separate paths, Edmund groaned in frustration. Which way should they go?

The warrior bishop Uriah approached Edmund. "Sire, orders?" Edmund licked his lips, thinking what to do, he then turned to Uriah. "Have the other kings split our forces, we divide and conquer." Uriah bowed his head and retreated to the other kings, the Englishmen then split into two groups and Edmund led the first group with one of the other kings and Uriah led the second group with the final king, the two nodded at each other.

"God be with you Uriah."

"As well as you Sire."

The two groups separated and they soon entered narrow alleys and streets which were cloudy due to the knights seeing burning embers forming smoke screens, yet unknown to the English army, Hiccup and his army had laid out traps all over the place, Edmunds group were suddenly getting picked off by arrows.

"Shield wall!!!"

The knights raised their shields, but the narrow spacing wasn't helping them, they needed to get out of these tight alley ways now! They headed toward the exit, but suddenly, a group was cut off but doors falling in place, the knights kicked and pounded at the doors, but they wouldn't budge, hot tar was being poured overhead, the knights screamed as the hot substance burned their flesh, a tiny spark soon landed on the tar on the ground and it all combusted; eating the knights alive with fire.

Edmund and his group moved quickly, their army was sitting ducks at this point, knights tried going into the other alley ways, but fell and landed on pikes, small ones, but still enough to inflict major wounds. One of the knights ran up to Edmund. "Sire? Sure what do you command?!" Edmund didn't know what to do, he had led his army into the slaughter house, there was no end in sight, except through the alleys, Edmund dismounted his horse and turned to his group. "Follow me!!" Edmund used the dying men on the likes as portable bridges, the pikes cut deeper into the men's flesh of those already on them, it was horrible to use their fallen brethren as living bridges, but they had no other choice.

Hiccup, who had been watching the massacre from a massive tower watched as his enemies were being killing in the most gruesome of ways, he then felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to see Heather. "Orders Hiccup?" Hiccup looked down as Englishmen were still being slaughtered, he then turned to Heather. "Tell Alvin, Helga, and your brother and cousin to advance. The others will continue picking off the enemy." Heather nodded and went down the stairs to inform the other Viking leaders, Hiccup sighed and felt Toothless nuzzles into him, he smiled and scratched his dragons head.


(Bishop Uriah's group)

Meanwhile, Uriah and his men heard the slaughter and the knights began muttering prayers to themselves, they saw a street but the visibility was poor thanks to the smoke screens, Uriah then mumbled to himself. "Lord forgive us for the work we are about to do." The knights kept their eyes sharp, looking for any sudden movements.

A volley of arrows rained down on the group, piercing the knights armor and hitting their flesh, thanks to the Gronckle Iron being manufactured, the metal cut straight through the knights armor like a hot knife through butter.

"Shield wall!!"

Arrows came flying and continued cutting straight through the knights, again, hot tar was being poured on the Englishmen from overhead, and a spark came flying down and combusted the tar; igniting it and consuming the nearest knights. Uriah shielded his eyes from the intense heat and saw a series of alleys. "Follow me men!!" The knights that were burning still went ahead of Uriah and fell on the pikes that were laid out for them, Uriah stopped dead in his tracks at witnessing his brothers in arms being killed off in such a way. The bishop turned around to see the fire spreading and the smoke was causing breathing difficulties, Uriah saw no other choice but to use the men on the pikes as portable bridges, the ones that weren't dead would be now, due to the pikes cutting deeper into their bodies, once Uriah's group was on the streets, an axe came flying and impaled the nearest knight, they turned to see incoming Vikings. "Charge!!" Uriah roared, he and his group engaged the heathens that killed their fellow brothers in the sword.

Dagur, Cutthroat and Heather drew their weapons and began cutting down the nearest knight, two of the knights engaged Cutthroat, but the man dodged and swatted away attacks with ease and cut them down with his twin swords, the Berserker roared and pounded his fists. "Is this all you can do?!! I was expecting a greater challenge from Englands finest!!" While Cutthroat continued to taunt, Dagur was in his own world, he lived for pure carnage like this, a knight came at him, the Berserker chief ducked under the attack, and slashed at the knights leg and chopped his head off his shoulders as soon as he fell on the ground. Heather twirled her doubled bladed axe and swatted away attacks left and right, she chopped a knights arm off and then cut his neck, three knights charged her, but she threw two daggers at two of them, then proceeded to chop both legs off the third knight, he roared in agony while clutching his stump, she then kicked his face in; blood spatter landed on her face, but Heather shook it off and engaged the next knight, one of the knights screamed to the air before being cut down.

"Face us!! You heathen cowards!!"

That did it.

Hiccup had had enough watching, he urged Toothless to come, they both flew out the towers window, the air caressing their skin, they pulled up right before they smacked into the ground and flew through the streets watching the enemy leave the alleys bloodied or trying to put the fire out that was consuming them. Toothless fired plasma bolts which sent many of the knights into the walls and the force of the impact was enough to kill them, and Hiccup was picking the enemy off with his crossbow, suddenly, an arrow hit his shoulder, thankfully it didn't pierce his armor, but the force knocked him off of Toothless, the Night Fury stopped and rushed back to his rider, a knight who had shot Hiccup off had a sword in hand and raised it to land a killing blow, but Toothless tackled the knight and ripped the knights face off, Hiccup groaned in pain and rubbed his head. "Thank Thor I was wearing a helmet." Hiccup muttered, the young leader saw knights advance toward him, Hiccup drew out Inferno while Toothless crouched on all fours and readied to fire a plasma bolt, while wrapping his tail around his rider.

The knights couldn't believe the figure before them, he wore black leather armor, and a black helmet that covered his face and made him look like a demon, and the sword his carried had flames coming off of it.

"Devil."

"What kind of witchcraft is this?!"

"Surely they are spawns of the devil himself."

Hiccup scoffed at their words, he drew a dagger and threw it, it pierced a knight in the face and the knights formed a shield wall while looking at their enemy, Hiccup extended his arms out. "Don't you know who I am?" Hiccup roared, the knights looked at each other, Hiccup twirled Inferno in his hand and roared out. "I am Hiccup the Accused!! Your nightmares made flesh!!" The knights indeed were trembling in their armor, this man and his pet devil were striking fear into their very hearts.

Suddenly, the Hysterics, Lava Louts, and Jormungandr forces arrived behind Hiccup, emerging from the smoke screen, the knights gasped, Hiccup smirked through his helmet and turned to his men. "Kill them!!" Hiccup and Toothless charged, the Night Fury fired a superheated plasma bolt which sent a huge group of them flying, Hiccup released the Zippleback gas from Inferno's base and ignited it; sending knights flying back while being burned, the Vikings engaged the enemy and were cutting them down, thanks to their stronger weapons.

Uriah and his group arrived at the scene to see his brothers being slaughtered, he urged his men to give them support, they charged and engaged the enemy, Uriah dodged and swatted away attacks and killed a good number of them, the warrior bishop soon laid eyes on Hiccup who pulled Inferno out of a knight, the two soon locked eyes, Uriah's face twisted into rage and took in every detail of this man.

His armor was leather and it was jet black, his helmet covered the whole of his face, it too was made of jet black leather and made him look like a demon in the flesh, he had protective arm covers as well as leg covers, he red pants on but the black leg covers protected his legs from attack, and he wore two black boots, as did many of these heathens, but this one seemed... different.

Uriah walked toward him, but was soon cut off by both his men and the heathens they were engaging, the bishop pointed his sword at Hiccup, the young man extended his arms out; inviting him to face him, Uriah then barked at his men. "Fight for your kings! Fight for your God!!" The battle was heated and brutal, the Vikings easily had the upper hand, since they had Gronckle Iron made weapons and...

"Dragons!!"

Armored dragons landed and sent waves of fire on Uriah and his group, what shocked the bishop was that heathens were riding these beasts, a knight approached the bishop. "Sir! We must retreat! NOW!!" Uriah watched as these beasts attacked his men and shook them violently and threw them like they were toys and then sent more waves of fire, Uriah roared in rage and pulled as many of his men toward him. "Retreat!! RETREAT!!!" The knights didn't have to be told twice, they ran for their lives, but they were getting shot through the backs and accidentally activated more traps which sent arrows shoot though the walls and pierced many of the retreating knights, only Uriah and a handful of knights managed to escape.


(King Edmund's group)

Edmund and his group exited the alleys and saw armored dragons land before them and they roared at them, causing them to back away in fear, the dragons then unleashed torrents of fire; setting them on fire, Edmund ordered his men to fall back, the Vikings on top of their dragons urged their dragons to pursue, the Englishmen's numbers were dwindling at an alarming rate, the smoke screens weren't helping them at all, causing them to accidentally activate traps, causing arrows to shoot through the wall and kill handfuls of Edmunds group. "Keep moving!! We must leave now!!" Edmund roared through the screaming and mayhem.

Edmund stopped dead in his tracks as he nearly ran into Uriah, the two raised weapons, but sighed in relief at seeing their fellow countrymen.

"Uriah! Thank God you're yet of this world! Where are your men?"

"We are all that's left Sire."

Edmund saw the handful of men behind the warrior bishop, the roars of the dragons and heathens reminded Edmund that they needed to leave right now. "We must leave, we cannot fight them any longer within these walls. Come." Uriah nodded, and what was left of his group joined Edmund and they made their way toward the exit, suddenly, torrents of fire stopped them dead in their tracks, as two armored dragons landed and their riders raised bows at them, the Englishmen turned around only to see the heathens arrive and their dragons too.

They then heard a high pitch whistle and saw the creature that attacked them before entering this death trap of a castle, Hiccup dismounted Toothless and drew out Inferno and pointed it in Edmund's face, the king held his breath at the sight of this man, his look was intimidating, as were his forces. Hiccup tilted his head and asked. "Can you understand me?" Edmund slowly nodded and Hiccup chuckled. "Good." Hiccup seized Edmund by the throat and the king of London clawed at Hiccup's hand, but Hiccup's grip was stronger, he then leaned toward Edmund's face. "Leave this place now. Or else my men will flay the skin off your bones. Understand." Edmund nodded furiously, Hiccup released him and roared. "GO!!!" The Englishmen ran for their lives, while the Vikings gave victory roars and sent taunts at them.

Hiccup panted and watched as his army celebrated, Alvin approached Hiccup and patted his back. "What now?" Hiccup smirked through his mask and turned to Alvin.

"Give order to pack your belongings. We're going to take London and finish this fight."





(Island of Berk)

Astrid, Fishlegs and the Thorston twins made their way toward the Cove off Raven point, once they entered, Astrid had them sit down and they all had worried face.

"Astrid, whats going on here?"

"Seriously, you're scaring me girlfriend."

"And you interrupted Ruff and I's yak tipping session, so this better be good."

Astrid sighed heavily and sniffled, the friends looked at each other in shock, is Astrid going to cry? She never cries. Finally Astrid revealed her reason for bringing them here. "Guys, I brought you here because I trust you with my life. Can you keep this a secret? I plan on telling my parents, but can you guys ensure this doesn't get out into the open?" The friends nodded and Astrid thanked them, she steeled her nerves and nodded. "I brought you here because I wanted to tell you that... Snotlout... raped me."

"WHAT?!"

Astrid winced at their tone, the friends came closer to Astrid. "He raped you?! Why?" Fishlegs asked, Astrid rubbed her arm and confessed. "He raped me because I visited the Seer and saw what happened that night Stoick was murdered, I saw the world from Snotlout's eyes, he'll do anything it takes to keep this secret buried, we need to show the village that we've crowned Srtoick's murderer." Tuffnut crossed his arms and nodded. "I sense a 'but' coming here." Astrid nodded at Tuffnut and continued. "But, Snotlout's lackeys have been keeping a close eye on me, thats why I brought you all here and away from prying ears." Ruffnut then hugged Astrid. "I'm sorry that he did that to you Astrid, we're going to take him down. Together." Fishlegs and Tuffnut hugged Astrid too, and the blond shield maiden began to cry.

"Thank you. All of you, you're the greatest friends I can ask for." The group smiled and hugged Astrid tighter, unfortunately they didn't see Breena and Helga witnessed the conversation but they couldn't make most of it out, regardless, they made their way to inform Snotlout.


(Snotlout's home)

"Has she told them what I've done?"

The two females shrugged. "We're not sure, she brought Ingerman and those two idiot Thorston twins to a cove off Raven Point, we couldn't make out the conversation." Snotlout licked his lips and sat at his table and growled. "If Astrid brings the Seer from the mountain, that sorcerer can ruin everything my family has sacrificed for my ascension to the throne." Snotlout turned to his lapdogs and growled out. "I need you to do something for me..."


(London— Kingdom of Mercia)

The Viking fleet sailed to London, they had their forces battle ready and Hiccup rode the Outcast dreadnaught, he had a grin plastered on his face, his plan had worked beautifully.

With the sacking of Wessex and offering Alfred up as ransom, he knew the price they asked for would never be settled, and instead the English kingdoms would send their armies to invade Norwich, they tried and they failed. Now with the whole of England ripe for the taking, all Hiccup had to do was led his great army into the English capitol and take at as their own, once they took London, they take all remaining land by the end of the year or less.

It took a day to sail to London, the winds made their ships fly, once London came into view, Hiccup grinned and felt a shiver crawl down his spine at the sound of his army give battle cries, Alvin joined Hiccup and lightly punched his arm. "Its ours for the taking." Hiccup nodded at Alvin's words. "This victory will solidify our conquest here; we take their treasures, add it into our own, enslave their people and the whole continent while become part of the Viking empire. But first, we need this victory, give the order to begin bombardments." Alvin nodded and barked orders to load the catapults, Savage then gave the order to fire.

Every Viking ship began firing flaming boulders at London, the citizens who were fishing quickly got up and tried warning the knights within the city, the knights within the city exited and prepared for the Vikings attack. Hiccup put his helmet on and signaled all the dragon riders to join him, they took to the skies and rained fire upon the knights guarding the main gate and the sentries on the wall.

The Outcast dreadnaught landed in the harbor and Alvin ordered to drop anchor, once that was done, the other Vikings docked and exited their ships, but left one hundred men each as well as five dragon riders to guard their ships.

The citizens of London were packing everything they had and ran for their lives, praying that God would deliver them from the forces of evil, the knights managed to hold some of the Vikings back, but their numbers were too much for them, they broke through their defenses and began killing anyone in their path. Alvin and Savage led their Outcasts to hold off the knights while Dagur and his Berserkers raid the houses and the stores for anything valuable left behind.

More knights arrived on horseback and charged, Hysterics and Lava Louts threw custom made bombs they made, they lit the fuses and threw them at the knights charging them, once they exploded, they sent razor sharp shrapnel which was coated with poison, the Hysterics and Lava Louts roared at the success of their explosives being so effective, they then charged and killed off the stragglers.

Hiccup and his dragon riders laid eyes on the citizens trying to escape, Hiccup turned to Sven the one eye. "Sven, round them up! No one can be permitted to leave." Sven nodded and took a group to round up the citizens running, they screamed at the sight of heathens and the dragons alike. The dragons blew fire, not enough to kill, but enough to prevent the people from running, Sven looks up to Hiccup. "We have them lord! Go!" Hiccup nodded and joined the Vandals, as well as Sigefrid and Erik, the brothers waited for Hiccup and Toothless and they kicked the doors of a church down, the people inside, including women, children, elderly, priests and nuns all screamed at the sight of heathens before them.

"Round them up and have them chained, if they resist? Hit them, if they attack you? Kill them." The brothers nodded and gathered their men to round up the citizens who were screaming, thrashing and whimpering in fear. Hiccup and Toothless walked down the steps of the church and saw Heather, Helga the she wolf and Cutthroat approach him. "Lord Haddock. Edmund and the remaining Swords of England are outside." Hiccup nodded and climbed on Toothless, he urged his dragon to fly up toward the wall that faced a bridge that led toward the forests, there, Hiccup laid eyes on Edmund, Uriah and the remaining Swords of England all struck with horror and shock.

"Hello King Edmund! Welcome home!!" Hiccup taunted while extending his arms out to the carnage and mayhem spreading throughout the capital city, Edmund panted heavily and was utterly spent, he and his armies had failed to vanquish the heathens, Uriah placed a hand on Edmund's shoulder. "Lord, may I suggest, surrender now, fight again later?" Edmund turned to Uriah and seethed out. "I will not surrender to these heathen dogs!' Uriah gripped his shoulder tighter and nodded. "Agreed, but think of the women, children and elderly within the city, we must surrender for their sakes." Edmund groaned in defeat, Uriah was right, they were in no condition to fight.

Hiccup crossed his arms and tilted his head, seeing the conflict on Edmund's face, the man was definitely swallowing down his pride, for the good of his people, Edmund threw his sword on the ground, as did the remaining Swords of England.

"We surrender."

Hiccup grinned and nodded, he then looked down to Heather and Cutthroat. "Gather your Berserkers and see these sad men to the prisons." The two bowed their heads and escorted their enemies to the jails, Toothless let out a mighty roar, as did Hiccup. They had done, today, they'd bask in the glory of this great victory, and tomorrow? They'd conquer all of England.

Bạn đang đọc truyện trên: AzTruyen.Top