Hiccup's POV

"What's happening? Why are we here? Did something happen?" The same questions were being repeated over and over again as the village waited in suspense for my next words.

As soon as Astrid and I had returned from our flight that morning, I had called for an emergency meeting at the Meade Hall, leaving out any sensitive details to the public as I waited for them all to be gathered in one place.

Nervous chatter filled the room as every villager came up with their own theory to what was happening and shared it with their friends and family. As soon as I was certain the entire village were gathered in the Meade Hall, I gestured for Toothless to shoot a plasma blast to the roof, which sent the whole room into a hush as my people all looked expectantly up at me.

"I know that you are all wondering why I've summoned you here today, and that is for the simple reason that we are at the risk of war." Gasps filled the room as people clutched their chests and pulled their loved ones closer. "Astrid?"

Astrid gave me a sharp nod before stepping into her official role as General of the Berkian army. "Whilst the Chief and I were out this morning on an early flight, we stumbled upon the Berserker fleet, which we believe are headed for Berk."

"Question!" Tuffnut hollered from the other side of the Meade Hall, where he was slumped down on a bench with his sister beside him. I glanced over at Astrid and found her glaring daggers at Tuff. "Why do you believe they're headed for Berk, again?"

"Oh my Thor, Tuff, you were there when we rescued Astrid!" Ruffnut scolded her brother as everyone in the room turned to watch the loud exchange of words between the Thorston twins.

Tuffnut shrugged. "So?"

Suddenly, I felt the same urge as Astrid to glare at Tuffnut.

"Don't you remember what that maniac Dagur screamed as we flew away? He was all like: 'One day I'll get my revenge, Hiccy! One day I'll kill your friends and family and yada, yada, yada." Ruffnut looked expectantly over at her brother, who seemed to have been hit with a fragment of recognition.

"Oh yeah! I forgot that happened." Tuffnut admitted as he shrugged once again. I heard Astrid groan beside me as she shook her head at the twins.

"As I was saying, due to the threat of the Berserker fleet attacking, we are sending all children and those unable to fight to another island for safe keeping. Gothi, we need you here to tend to the wounded." Astrid locked eyes with the older woman, who nodded firmly in response, determination burning in her eyes as she tightened her grip around her wooden staff.

***

We had dedicated that entire morning to prepare for battle. The children and those unable to fight had been sent away on the older dragons on the island, whilst the Berkians that remained dusted off their weapons and armor and the council came up with some battle strategies.

In the Meade Hall, Gothi and her team of healers had set up a field hospital amongst the valuables that had been stored in the Meade Hall for safe keeping. The tables were stacked with everything from blankets to potions as the healers rushed around the Meade Hall, making sure that everything was ready for the wounded.

The council, having been thrown out of the Meade Hall due to it becoming a field hospital, decided that it would be best to keep the strategy meeting at my house. Astrid and I watched the members of the council trickle into our home as we awaited them at the dining table, where Astrid had rolled out a map of the Berkian territory. The discussion of strategy was a surprisingly short one. Each of the council members seemed to be less difficult than usual as they for once listened to all the ideas I brought forth and thought over them more than once.

After we had finished discussing strategies, we all moved to the stairs leading up to the Meade Hall, where every able Berkian was gathered, either chatting with their friends and family or sharpening their weapons. I stood at the top of the stairs, clearing my throat before addressing the crowd.

"People of Berk!" I began, making sure to speak loud and clear so I would capture the attention of all my people. "For seven generations have we have lived on this wonderful island, and for seven generations have we protected it from all kinds of dangers. Today, we will face a danger more destructive and more savage than ever before. They will try to burn our homes, rip our families apart, threaten our lives and steal our dragons. But will we let them? No! Because we are Berkians, and anyone who dares to challenge us, will meet certain defeat. Are you with me?"

The roar of the crowd was deafening as my people applauded my speech, which seemed to have inspired them to fight harder than ever before. A surge of pride flowed through my veins as I couldn't help but glance over at my mother and my wife, who were standing side by side, beaming with pride the same pride I felt as they cheered along with the crowd.

A guttural growl from beside me snapped me out of my moment. I turned to Toothless to find his shoulders visibly tense as he narrowed his large eyes at something in the distance. That's when I saw it, Dagur the Deranged's armada, sailing towards Berk at top speed.

***

One could slice through the thick suspense that hung in the air with an axe. The island of Berk had never been as silent as it was in that moment, it was like the entire island was holding its breath, just waiting to see what happened next.

I watched the Berserker armada slowly inch towards the seastacks that marked the beginning of Berkian territory. As soon as the Berserkers passed those, we were free to fire at them as much as we pleased. But I didn't care much for the other Berserkers, my main goal was Dagur the Deranged himself. He was going to fall on that battlefield, preferably by my hand.

I gripped Toothless' saddle tighter as I released a shuddering breath. War is a risky business, and the thought of losing any of my loyal soldiers tore me to pieces, which is why I hoped and prayed that we would be able to get rid of as many as possible of Dagur's ships before they reached the shore.

Dagur's ships weren't far from crossing the seastacks, my heart was racing in my chest. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the fresh air that blew past me, knowing that in mere minutes, thick smoke would fill the air, combined with the metallic smell of blood.

The Berserker ships passed the seastacks, and almost instantaneously, all the dragons on Berk took off and headed in the direction of Dagur's ships, loading up their blasts so they would be shot at full-force.

Toothless and I were in the lead, as Alpha and Chief. Toothless fired the first shot, a thundering plasma blast that left a gaping hole in biggest ship in the armada, the other dragons followed suit. We hit the Berserkers, blast after blast as we blasted many of their ships to smithereens, barely allowing them any time to load up on boulders to launch at us before they were scraping the sea floor.

Toothless fired round after round of plasma blasts at the ships, his spines and mouth glowing an electric blue as I kept an eye on my people. My mother and Cloudjumper were busy avoiding nets as they distracted the Berserkers so that Snotlout and Fishlegs could attack them from behind. Eret and Skullcrusher were turning boats upside down, the twins were exploding ships left and right, and Astrid and Stormfly were sinking
ships with powerful magnesium blasts. Things seemed to be going surprisingly well, and I was beginning to wonder whether or not Gobber would actually have to use his dear cannon, Bertha, after all.

"We're out!" The twins announced as they flew up beside me and Toothless, covered in ash from their many explosions. Toothless ceased his fire as I stared wide-eyed at the twins.

I shook my head slightly before furrowing my brows. "All out?"

The twins nodded at the same time as Fishlegs, Snotlout and my mother all flew up to us, sweat dripping from their foreheads as they took a second to breathe.

"You too?!" I exclaimed, my stress levels rising as I glanced down at the remaining ships of the Berserker armada.

"Hiccup, I think it's time we play defense, some of the smaller ships are closing in on the island." My mother informed me as she pointed to four ships that laid ahead of the rest of the armada, slowly closing in on the Berkian shores.

I nodded. "You're right, can someone go tell Astrid and Eret?"

By the time the Berserkers had landed on our shores, we were ready for them. Bows were drawn, swords were raised and axes were ready to swing as the Berserkers flooded out of the smaller ships, weapons raised as they were ready to kill anyone who dared to stand in their way.

Though many of the dragons had little to no fire left, it did not stop them from joining in on the battle against the Berserkers. The dragons scorched them, chewed them in half and even sent some of our invaders running into the ocean. Our scare tactics were working and I could almost feel the confidence surging through every fiber of my being.

A roar came from behind me, and in the blink of an eye, I lit inferno and made sure to deliver a serious burn to my attacker before moving along the beach, leaving the man to yelp in agony before his cries eventually faded. He was not the man I was after, he was not Dagur the Deranged.

As I stomped through the cold sand, scanning the crowds for Dagur's famous head of hair, I was finally joined by Toothless, who as been busy doing what looked to be instructing his subjects on who was the enemy and who was not. I placed a hand on the dragon's head, letting him know that I appreciated his help more than he could ever know.

Suddenly, a growl escaped Toothless before he pounced from his position beside me and over onto a rather large man that had been attempting to sneak up on the two of us with his mace. I gulped as I watched Toothless' teeth uncomfortably close to the man's face, which was as white as snow as he struggled under the night fury.

A sharp pain rippled up my arm as the sound of a sharp blade slicing through air came from behind me. I let out a quick groan as I lit inferno once more, parrying the blow my attacker had planned was going to slice my neck. I struggled against my attacker, who was both physically stronger and larger than me, and suddenly, I feared my chances of survival were growing very thin. But despite the pain from the cut in my arm and lack of physical strength, I outmaneuvered my attacker by stepping to the side before pressing my blade to his throat, then to his chest and finally, to his face.

As my attacker fell at my feet with a loud 'thud', something inside of me told me to forget about Dagur and see how my wife was doing instead, just to be certain that she was still up and kicking. And as expected, Astrid was on the other side of the battlefield, swinging her axe from side to side as her braid swung in tact with her movement. First, the blade met the throats of those who dared come near hear and then they were met by a nice kick to the chest, which sent them flying at the same time as allowing new attackers to step in.

Her breathtakingly beautiful face may have been splattered by blood, her long, golden hair might've been flying all over the place and her ocean blue eyes might have been bloodshot from a lack of blinking and heavy concentration, but to me, she still remained the most beautiful woman I had ever had the pleasure of laying my eyes on.

Astrid's POV

I was soaked, not in water, but in blood. My face was dripping crimson as I stomped across the bloodied sand, where dozens of corpses had been scattered all over as sounds of battle came from all around me.

A loud cry came from behind me, and in my boiling rage, I quickly spun around and neatly sliced my attackers throat, adding fresh blood both to the blade of my axe and to my face.

I knew he was close, I could feel it in each and every one of my bones, I could feel the hatred boiling inside me as memories of the year I had spent in his captivity flowed through my mind. The scars that covered nearly every inch of my skin cried out for revenge, stinging painfully to remind me of the immense pain I had felt, day after day.

That's when my eyes finally locked on him. I could see him on the other side of the battlefield. I could see the fire that surrounded him on the burning ship he was standing on, and I could feel in my bones that he, he was the enemy, the enemy I was so very eager to wipe off the face of the earth.

I sprung across the sand, leaving my dragon behind as I set off for my revenge mission. I leapt over the fallen and ducked beneath the weapons that were being swung my way. Nothing was going to stop me.

It was clear that he had noticed me too, for with a maniacal grin, he calmly stepped off the burning boat he had been standing on, axes drawn as he was ready to face me, the scar across his face seemingly pulsating with excitement.

I let out an inhumane roar as I brought my axe down on him with all the strength I could physically muster. Gronckle iron rang against gronckle iron in a long, metallic ring as Dagur seemed to be struggling against the force of my blow.

"I'm so happy to see you again, Astrid! Ready to finish what we started?" Dagur sneered the last part of the sentence as he took a step away before charging at me with his axe.

"How about we switch it up a little?" I spat as I parried his blow and gave him a nice cut across his stomach. A animalistic roar escaped Dagur as he delivered blow after blow at me, only for me to parry them before inflicting damage on him instead.

"You know you won't win this, right?" Dagur's maniacal grin was back up again as I blocked yet another one of his attacks.

I swung my axe at his legs, only for him to block it, leaving the two of our axes to struggle against one another. "Oh really? Because to me it looks like you're going to be Dagur the Decapitated in a few short minutes!"

"Then only one question remains..." Beads of sweat formed on Dagur's forehead as he struggled against my axe, which I was pushing in his direction with every ounce of strength in my body. "Will that be enough time for you to save your husband?"

A chill shot down my spine as spun around to search for Hiccup. The fear of something happening to him crippled me, rendering me unable to function normally until I was certain he was out of the way of danger. How was I going to live with myself if he died because I was too caught up in trying to get revenge than protecting him?

Then my eyes landed on him and he was ... fine. He was in the middle of a heated battle with a man twice his size, but he seemed to be doing well, having barely earned a scratch whilst he singed the man's skin before letting Toothless at him.

Nothing seemed to be wrong, and that's when I realized it wasn't.

I raised my axe to charge at Dagur, but was cut off by a piercing pain rippling through my back as I fell to the ground with a loud groan, followed by an audible 'thud' as my face met the cold sand.

Warmth spread across my back as the faint sound of crazed laughter rang through my ears. I coughed, a raspy cough with a warm end. I let the taste sink in on my tongue as I realized I was coughing up a mixture of sand and blood.

Time seemed to slow as deep mumbling came from all around me, followed by a figure falling to my side and turning me over, which stung so painfully that I could feel my mind slipping in and out of consciousness.

As I was laying flat on my back, I was surprised to find that it was even darker than before, when I had been laying face first in the sand. With every passing second, the darkness grew darker. I could no longer hear the commotion that had surrounded me earlier, the deep mumbling, the last thing I was able to muster before it all went silent was the sound of my own voice ringing through my head as I croaked the name of my husband.

I felt my breathing slow as I grew more and more sleepy. Nobody would blame me if I just took a short nap after a long day of planning and fighting, right? My mind was growing heavy as the need for rest overwhelmed me. I no longer had a say in whether or not I should stay awake, I just kept on slipping away until there was nothing but pure and utter darkness surrounding me.