Raided: 5 Show Me Who You Are

~ Raided: A Mericcup Story: Chapter 05: Show Me Who You Are

Merida was tiptoeing through MacGuffin’s dark castle a hand on her belly and the other on her shoulder.

It was quite late but she wanted to get to the kitchen, it should be nice and warm there. She also needed some Chamomile tea to calm her down, a terrible nightmare had woken her up.

Merida also couldn’t sleep from the soreness in her shoulder. She had never fired that many arrows as she and her mum could do for so long or so quickly. It had drained her and her arm and shoulder seemed so much more tired then the rest of her. She had never really thought about how she fired her arrows or what effects it had on her. She had talked to mum and all they could do was rest and recover as fast as they could.

Hopefully, no more dragons would raid the MacGuffin’s lands for a few days. Da had massaged her and mum, which had helped but her blankets had slipped while sleeping and the cold air had stiffened her up again. She was going to the kitchen hoping the hearth was still warm, that should help.

The Great Hall was mostly dark, a small torch by the kitchen door scattered its small light in the vast space.

There was a great blackness to one side. The dragon. Somewhere the rider, Hiccup, was sleeping, but she could not see him in that dark corner, though the bandages on the dragon were visible.

The guards were sleeping as they leaned against the wall. Were Hiccup and his dragon dangerous? Yes, but they didn’t feel like a threat anymore.

She moved silently through the hall but the dragon, Toothless, had heard her and his head was up and watching her as she passed. It was a little disconcerting seeing those huge eyes following her so easily.

The story the Viking had shared was awe inspiring and heartbreaking at the same time. He sounded like a hero but held such pain inside him. Merida thought she had hid great pain, being trapped by her mother’s rules, but it was as nothing compared to his. The clan liked her and so did her brothers and father, she only had issues with her mum.

She wanted to continue to be angry at him because he was a Viking, but all she felt was pity for him. It looked like no one in his entire tribe loved Hiccup. How had he survived?

She was a little angry and offended at his tribe for being so mean to him. He seemed like a great person, selfless and strong, always fighting against terrible odds.

Oddly, she felt jealous of the girl who got to ride with Hiccup. She hadn’t deserved it, beating up Hiccup for winning. Hiccup deserved better. She wanted to ride with him too.

Then she heard whimpering. The dragon looked down and Merida stopped. The dragon lifted his wing and she could now see Hiccup twitching under his blanket. It was obvious he was having a nightmare.

Merida wanted to help him, but the dragon made her wary. The dragon nuzzled his rider but Hiccup didn’t wake. Toothless looked at Merida, she took a step toward them and seeing no adverse reaction came closer and gave Hiccup a shake.

He sat up with a strangled grunt. After a few breaths, he saw Merida.

“Are you okay? You drank quite a bit last night,” asked Merida, smelling the ale on him.

“Not really,” moaned Hiccup, holding his head.

“It was a nightmare, wasn’t it?” asked Merida kindly.

“Ah, yeah.” said Hiccup grabbing his helmet and putting it on.

“Want to talk about it?” Merida asked, wanting to help, because she needed help.

“Nah.” Hiccup put his arms around his knees. Toothless gave Merida a look and warbled. Merida bit her lip. Was the dragon encouraging her?

“Mind if I tell you mine? I had one too. I usually tell my mum, but I don’t want to wake both of them up. They need to sleep tonight, if how I am feeling is anything to go by,” said Merida as she sat on the end of the cot. She didn’t really want to tell something like this to this Viking, but she was feeling like she was going to come apart if she didn’t tell someone soon, her eyes were blurred from her fear.

“Ah, sure,” shrugged Hiccup.

“We were in the stone ring in the forest. The clans had captured my mum, tying her to the stones. I was fighting my Da, he wouldn’t stop trying to kill my mum. So I...killed my Da. Then the demon bear, Mor’du, came and slaughtered the clans. I tried to stop him, but my arrows did nothing. He grabbed my hair, threw me around like a rag doll and broke my back over a rock. I couldn’t move. Then he raped my helpless mum as I watched, she was screaming and I couldn’t help her. My little brothers came over and ...began eating me.” Merida shivered as she bent over put her hands on her stomach as she remembered the tearing feeling in her guts the nightmare had left her with, but the feeling was beginning to fade quickly.

Hiccup put his hand on her knee. He was a little pale; that was a very serious nightmare. “It’s okay, it was just a nightmare. You’re fine and your family is fine.”

Merida wiped her eyes and said, “Thanks. It didn’t even happen that way. I did defend her without killing my Da and Mum killed Mor’du.”

“And here I thought dealing with dragons was exciting.”

Merida blew out a weak laugh.

“My nightmare wasn’t quite so bad, and thankfully it wasn’t my worst.” Hiccup took a breath, “I was dreaming that my entire village was walking past me. They were all burned, crushed, slashed, but they were walking into the burning funeral boat. My entire village was dead.”

Merida put her hand on his hand.

“We really did lose about ten percent of the population of the village in the final battle where I lost my leg. I was unconscious for days, but I woke up in time for the funeral. I should have been faster. I wasted too much time on myself.” Hiccup berated himself, slamming a fist into his good leg.

“I’m sorry. You saved most of your people; sometimes you can’t save them all, mum told me that. We also lost a few warriors to Mor’du, before mum killed him.” said Merida.

“I’m sorry too. I’ll do what I can for your people. Dragons can be trained to live with people. Usually they avoid people, but this winter has been brutal even for us Vikings. Without the dragons helping us get fish and stay warm, we wouldn’t have enough food or fuel to make it though this bad a winter. My best guess is this nest of dragons ran out of food and came here looking for something to eat. They will raid every few weeks until something changes. Hopefully, Toothless and I will be healed up enough to do something next time.”

“You will and thank you again for helping. I was going to the kitchen, want to come?” Asked Merida, feeling much better.

“Sure.” They helped each other up and went into the warm kitchen for warmth and comfort.

# # #

The next few days were quiet as everyone recovered from the dragon raid. Hiccup spent most of his time sitting near Toothless just talking and checking his wounds, writing his observations about the Scots in his notebook, and generally being his quiet self.

Hiccup knew he was a prisoner, and had expected to be treated worse by Scots. Now, he figured that the stories were wrong, just like the dragons. He didn’t find himself surprised by that.

The chill between the Highlanders and the Viking and his dragon faded slightly as they got used to each other’s presence. Somehow being a prisoner among the Scots felt better then being an outcast in his own village.

Merida and Elinor would care for the wounds they had inflicted on the pair, with Fergus watching as the dragon slept quietly. It didn’t take long for Hiccup to not need the sling any more, though he tended to move his arm carefully. Toothless would wake from time to time and Hiccup would encourage him to open his wings but the dragon would grunt in pain before he could fill the Great Hall with his wings.

Then Hiccup had caught the royal boys sneaking close to Toothless when it looked like no one was about and the guards sleeping at their post. They soon became friends and the boys would sneak Toothless snacks of dried fish.

While Merida still had princess lessons with her mum, she was given the duty of caring for and keeping watch on the Viking teen. Hiccup was a good, polite person; so unlike the Vikings they had encountered in raids and invasions. Her Da warned her to not take him to anywhere sensitive within MacGuffin’s castle, but once they found out he was the apprentice blacksmith in his village, she got permission to take him to the smithy. Merida talked with the smith and arranged a time to visit.

The smithy was nice and warm from the forge. Hiccup spent some time talking shop with the smith, but the smith was quite standoffish, not wanting any of his secrets to go to the Vikings. While word of Hiccup’s story had travelled the grapevine; few people believed it since it sounded so bizarre.

Hiccup asked for some time at the forge and made a little tavern puzzle, a simple one of remove the ring, but it wasn’t easy without the secret. It felt good to work metal with his own hands.

Some evenings, Merida and Hiccup would go to the roof of one of the towers, to get away from the hubbub of the castle, even though it was so cold.

“Is anyone going to come looking for you?” Merida asked, sitting with Hiccup on the roof of the tower looking to the West in the darkness. They were heavily cloaked and their breaths made long streams of steam in the cold evening air.

Hiccup gave a slight laugh, a ball of condensation floated away from his face. “Not likely. Before last summer, I would have said definitely not. I was an outcast, no one wanted to be my friend. I was barely tolerated as the apprentice to Gobber, only because I was the son of the chief. No one would have mourned my death.”

Hiccup heaved a steaming sigh and then he turned away. “I learned ...they would have celebrated it.”

“What? No!” Merida gasped.

Hiccup nodded, “I learned that from my own father. He rather offhandedly told me how when he got back from the search for the dragon’s nest. People were congratulating him and saying there was going to be a party. He thought they were talking about my death in dragon training.”

Merida put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him and to steady herself, how could anyone, much less a whole tribe, or a father, be so cruel. Da loved her and would never say anything like that. No one had dared ask him about his story after that first night. He had been drunk enough not to remember and he told parts of it since, but not the same. She didn’t know how to even start. So she just tried to be his friend.

“And now...” she prompted.

“Now, maybe, Dad’s too busy. One of the gang may try to look for me. Well, Snotlout won’t, he’s my cousin, but he doesn’t like me. Fishlegs is too much of a coward, but he’d think about it really hard. Ruffnut and Tuffnut would get bored after a few minutes and turn back. Astrid is stubborn enough to look for me, like a lost hatchling.”

“Astrid cares about you.” Merida said quietly.

“Yeah, maybe. Half the time she acts like she owns me and the other half she ignores me. I don’t know. ”

There was a silence in the quiet starlight.

Hiccup sighed. “By Hel, I hate people so much sometimes.”

Merida said, “Please don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Hate all people. I wouldn’t hurt you. Again.” She finished lamely, touching the arm she had injured.

“No. No, you wouldn’t. Thank you.” said Hiccup, glancing at her. “Do you know much about Vikings?”

“Not really. Mum has given me lessons about them, but mostly it is about the raids and invasions. From these last few days, I’ve learned more about Vikings from you than from Mum has been able to tell me.”

“Okay, I can understand that, though I am not a very good example of a Viking. Wars are not a good way to communicate. I found that out with the dragons.” Said Hiccup, with a faint laugh.

He looked at her and cocked his head. “Let me tell you a story. The great ocean straddles Midgard, the world, and lying at the bottom of that ocean is a great dragon, a dragon so large it encircles the world and can grasp its own tail. That dragon is Jörmungandr, the world dragon. One day Thor, god of thunder, went fishing with Hymir the giant. Using the head of an ox got Jörmungandr to take the bait. After a great wrestle, Jörmungandr came to the surface but before Thor could strike with his mighty hammer Mjölnir, Hymir cut the line and Jörmungandr sank beneath the waves again.”

“Wow, some fishing trip,” said Merida.

A ball of condensation escaped Hiccup lips, but then he went serious again, “Thor and Jörmungandr will meet one last time at Ragnarök, the Breaking of the World. Jörmungandr will rise from the depths and poison the sky. Thor will do mighty battle with him, destroy the dragon, then walk nine paces away from the body and fall down dead from the dragon’s poison. The world will end that day.”

Hiccup stood and walked a little ways away.

Merida followed and stood next to him. She could see a deeper blankness on his face; something was bothering him. She put her hand on his shoulder.

“That story is important, why?”

“We, the other dragon trainees on our dragons, were just coming into view of the island as the Death came shouldering its way out of the mountain. I wondered if it was Jörmungandr’s Earth sister, or Jörmungandr himself. We were flying as fast as we could but we could only watch as it burned our ships and stomped on our tribe. It was just about to flame Dad and Gobber when we got in range and distracted it. I went after Toothless and Dad saved both of us. Then we flew off and defeated the Death, losing my leg in the process.”

Merida could tell this was an important issue to Hiccup but she wasn’t sure how. Hiccup lived a story that sounded just like Thor’s. Yet, there was something wrong.

Here she was with one of the most incredible people she has ever met and yet he didn’t expect anyone to come after him. He was a great hero, yet he was on a lonely survey mission to get away from his tribe, the tribe that had treated him so badly.

“Hiccup, I don’t understand. You did something that sounds like it will kill one of your gods, yet you lived. Are there no feasts in your name? No holy day? What...? Why...?” Words failed her.

“That’s the thing. I had to do the greatest deed in the history of our tribe, our mythology, to get to ordinary. I don’t know if there is anything left in me to do more. I never counted for much to them. Nothing I do really counts to them.... I don’t count.” Hiccup finished quietly.

“Yes, you do!” said Merida fiercely. “You count, especially to me. You don’t deserve that kind of life. You are extraordinary and you should be treated that way by the people you almost died for.” She threw her arms around him and held him close.

“Thanks, Merida.” said Hiccup as he returned the hug.

“Hiccup, is your tribe still bullying you?” asked Merida.

Hiccup pulled back a little, and then shook his head. “No, not really. Well, Snotlout a little, but he’s a cousin and that’s expected. Everyone else treats me like just one of the tribe now.”

Merida could hear the dismissive tone in his voice but there was something more, a pain he was hiding.

“Just one of the tribe.... I don’t get. Why doesn’t anyone at home like you?”

“I wish I knew. I really did. I have more status then anyone. Fishlegs calculated it. I don’t think anyone else can figure it out; it’s a really big number. I killed the biggest dragon we’ve ever fought, on her home turf, in front of the whole tribe, which I saved, while riding the fiercest dragon we know of, alone, ended the war with the dragons and I even lost a limb in the process. The only way to get more status would be for me to kill Jörmungandr himself with my bare hands, but I think I’ll let Thor have that honor.” Hiccup rolled his eyes at that.

Merida was so concerned. Hiccup was the greatest warrior she had ever encountered. He made her Da seem weak. Da had set aside a feast day for Mum for killing Mor’du, commissioned songs and more. Yet his tribe had done nothing for Hiccup. She had no idea how to start dealing with that problem.

“You think Jörmungandr is real?” Merida asked to buy herself some time.

“I don’t know. Gobber goes on about the BoneKnapper dragon that’s been chasing him, everyone else says it’s a myth, but even with an entry in the dragon manual I am not sure.”

“Considering that I’ve met will ‘o the wisps, ancient demon bears, witches and turned my own mum into a bear, I wouldn’t be surprised if he does.”

“Yeah.” Hiccup sighed, gazing into the distance.

“You’re actually thinking about it.”

“About what?”

“Fighting him. Why?”

“Because I might have to. To save everyone.”

“Are your going to go home?” Merida asked.

“Yes.” Hiccup was looking over the battlements of the castle as she came up behind him.

“Why?”

“Where else can a Viking dragon rider go?” Hiccup voice was so bleak.

Merida put her hand out.

Kevin came popping up through the roof hatch and gibbered something about dinner. They both turned to him.

“It’s dinnertime.” Merida explained, her hand closing into a fist.

“Yeah, dinner would be ...good.” said Hiccup, while Merida tried desperately not to bite Kevin’s head off at the kneecaps.


# # #

Hiccup’s walls were up, as high as ever. Merida didn’t try to breach them for now. Hiccup was using his arm gently. Every day Merida would wash and bandage Hiccup’s and Toothless’ wounds. They were both healing well.

“So, Hiccup, how is the arm?” Fergus asked as he and the other leaders gathered in the great hall.

Hiccup carefully flexed it, it was still sore but he could move it all the way now. “Pretty good. Still hurts a little.”

“And your dragon?”

“Toothless is still sleeping most of the time so I expect he is still healing.”

“Very well. You said to expect the next dragon attack after fifteen days, that’s tomorrow.” Said Fergus and Hiccup nodded. “Can you help us fight them?”

“Well, I won’t be on Toothless, but I can show you that they can be trained. But I’ll have to get close to them.” said Hiccup.

“How close?” asked Elinor.

“I have to give them scritches. For example, you can drop a dragon to sleep by scratching along the side of the neck and jaw,” explained Hiccup.

Everyone’s eyebrows were up in their hair.

“I know. I know. The thought of doing that in the middle of combat sounds insane, but if I show you that, will you believe me? I’m sure I can capture a few of them and we can practice on them.”

“I know magic exists because I saw it. If you show me that, I’ll know it can be done.”

“Okay, deal. Where do you want me?” asked Hiccup.

“Over here by the sheep pens with me, we know the dragons are focused on them for food. Elinor and Merida will be on this high ground here with clear shots covering the pens and the stables. These two towers will have fires going so they can see well enough to shoot. We’ll have men covering these areas.” Fergus showed on the map.

“Good plan. Not that different from what we did, even down to the fires for light. We used siege engines to hold them off. Do you have people to fight the fires the dragons will set?”

Fergus looked at Lord MacGuffin, who shook his head.

“That’s okay, set some teens with shovels to throw snow on the fires so the buildings don’t burn down. Assign one as a spotter to warn them if a dragon gets too close, they’ll need to run until the dragon moves away but fighting dragons will be your jobs.”

Everyone nodded.

“Anything else?” Fergus asked.

“If you have to, you can keep a dragon from flaming if you clamp his jaw shut. It’s a crazy move but it works. Oh, and try to get some sleep.” Hiccup said, but he said it wistfully, not expecting anyone to be able to sleep.

Everyone sighed; the thought of sleep with a dragon battle in the morning just didn’t go together.

# # #

The alarm bells began to ring. Hiccup woke up and looked to Toothless who was up and facing the wall, his headplates waggling.

“What’s up buddy?” Asked Hiccup putting a hand on his dragon’s shoulder but Toothless shook him off. Hiccup was surprised, but wasn’t sure what that meant, though it seemed familiar.

Merida came rushing in. “Hiccup! Dragons are coming. Can you do anything to help?”

“I think so. Stay here buddy. I’ll be back soon,” said Hiccup and the two teens rushed out of the Great Hall.

“I wish I had some dragon nip that would be easy, it’s never easy.” complained Hiccup.

He looked up as they exited the keep, there were bonfires lighting up the night sky. The heavy clouds reflecting the light giving a pretty good view of the battlefield though dragons were popping in and out of the clouds.

There was a Monstrous Nightmare on the far end of the field being engaged by Fergus and several men. The big Dingwall and MacGuffin boys were engaging a Hideous Zippleback to the left, Kevin was swinging a really big sword but wasn’t getting close enough to land a hit. He could see a dozen or so Gronkles and Deadly Nadders through the clouds. A relatively small raid actually, in Hiccup’s experience.

Merida was scanning the battlefield for her mum, her bow by her side and her quiver full of arrows by her side and another on her back. The battle plan was for them to work as a team to take down dragons. Mum was just topping the hill with several men around her, one carrying a barrel of arrows.

“Merida! Rally to me!” called Queen Elinor.

Just then a bright blue Deadly Nadder landed in front of the teens. Merida began to pluck an arrow to her quiver, but her arms were pressed to her sides and she was shoved toward the dragon’s tooth-filled maw.

“Wait! What are you doing!?” Merida screamed, she had thought Hiccup was on her side. She trusted him and he was throwing her to a dragon.

“Shh! We’re in her blindspot.” Hiccup whispered urgently in ear. He was pulling her side to side as the dragon looked around.

“We’re relatively safe here. When she lifts her head, we’ll duck under her chin. I need to get to the back of her jaw. I can take her down from there.” Hiccup whispered.

Merida relaxed and tried to move with the boy and the dragon. The Nadder lifted its head. Merida and Hiccup ducked under the Nadder’s chin. Hiccup reached up and gave it the sleeping scratch, but the dragon just hopped to the side and turned.

An arrow grazed the side of the Nadder’s head and it leaped into the air and flew off.

“I don’t understand, that always worked before,” said Hiccup in amazement.

“Come on!” Merida shouted and dragged Hiccup up the hill to the high ground Elinor had taken with a few guards.

“What do you think you were doing!?” shouted Elinor as they came near to her.

“It almost landed on us, we had to hide in the blindspot. I told you, you can put a Nadder to sleep by scratching the neck and behind the jaw, but it didn’t work this time.” Hiccup answered, shaking his head. Something was odd about these dragons, but there was no time to figure it out.

“Very well, we do it the hard way. Merida, we focus on one dragon at a time, together.” asked Elinor.

“Sure.” Merida and Elinor fitted arrows to their bows and then oddly closed their eyes and exhaled together.

Hiccup looked over the battlefield and surveyed what was going on.

“Gronkle, north-northeast. It sees us.” Hiccup called. Elinor and Merida raised their bows.

“It’s about to fire at us!” Hiccup shouted, wishing he had a shield. He heard both women exhale.

“Loose.” said Elinor calmly. Twin arrows flew downrange and down the monster’s maw, taking its heart from the inside. It crashed to the ground in a heap.

“Wow. How did you do that?” asked Hiccup amazed.

The Monstrous Nightmare was flying low, laying down a line of fire herding the sheep towards some Nadders.

Hiccup was amazed at how the two women were working together. He would see a dragon getting close and call it to their attention; they would take aim together and loose at precisely the same instant. It was more then a little spooky; it was like they were one person or something. Yet it reminded him of those very rare times when he and Gobber worked together at the forge and they were able to hammer out a perfect blade in hardly anytime at all. He had caught Snotlout saying something about spooky to Fishlegs and now he understood what he had meant. The twins were like that sometimes, but not nearly this intently.

“Brown dragon.” called a sentry behind him. Before Hiccup could so much as move, he found himself staring down the shaft of an arrow into Merida’s eyes. He could see the intensity of her soul the fire of battle focused, but it was like a candle in a large room, still and calm. It was a place he knew, like when he was creating the Mangler. It had built it over one amazing weekend, everything worked and nothing hurt.

“No shot,” announced Merida in an unearthly calm voice, her eyes looking beyond him, yet knowing he was there.

Hiccup dove into the trampled snow.

“Target acquired,” said Merida in that same intense but unconcerned voice. With twin twangs the women loosed and another dragon fell from the sky.

For the life of him, he could not understand how the two women did it. The arrows looked like just simple wooden arrows with regular metal heads. Their bows seemed ordinary too. Hiccup knew that ordinary bows were basically useless against dragons. Their hides were too thick and scales too tough, unless you got really lucky and hit them in the eye or a wing joint.

Hiccup had built a ballista that had been able to launch an arrow that was a handspan thick and an arm span long halfway through a full-grown tree, but it had been too slow to aim and then the trigger broke. Disarming the thing had been nerve wracking.

Hiccup stood and brushed the snow off, as the women turned back to the battle. They looked out over the wall for more in coming dragons. He was thinking that they fought dragons somewhat differently here and for good reason; they had different abilities.

Hiccup turned to check over the castle. There were several dragons overflying but moving out of range. The Monstrous Nightmare was circling looking for something juicy to eat no doubt.

Hiccup noticed light spilling from the doors of the central keep and three small shapes come out.

He saw a Zippleback land near the keep, those dragons were dangerous because they made things explode and the heavy stone of the castle could be a big problem. He wanted to take that out sooner rather then later.

Hiccup blinked, and looked back to the open doors. He saw Maudie come dashing out, her bow catching on the door, before she freed herself.

“Oh man, the boys.”

Elinor and Merida pivoted, expecting a target.

“Boys?” said Elinor dropping out of group flow. Then Elinor and Merida saw and understood.

“MY BABIES!” Elinor screamed, reaching out for her children, her bow forgotten in her hand.

A Gronkle blew a hole in the side of the sheep pen and sheep began spilling out and running around in a panic in front of the keep.

Dragons began to land around the sheep.

Elinor was in a panic. Her babies were in danger. They were supposed to be in the secure room in the main keep with Maudie, and MacGuffin’s younger children, but they had gotten out and she had to do something. Merida blocked her mother as she tried to run to her babies. “Mum, no! We can protect them from here! We need you in the calm place! We can save them!”

“But my babies!” Elinor cried, trying to push past her daughter.

“Mummy, please! Concentrate!”

Hiccup looked around. The Nightmare had landed among the sheep, near the boys, as well.

“Merida, help your mum! I’m going to buy you some time!” Hiccup said and ran as fast as he could with his metal leg through the snow.

Fergus turned at his wife’s scream, after slamming a Gronkle with his shield, causing it to fly away. He saw Maudie running through the courtyard and then the boys with their little swords trying to attack a dragon.

“BOYS!” He yelled.

Fergus plowed through the snow as fast he could, throwing up a great spray of snow. A Nadder dropped down in front of him and shot a sparkling blast of flame at him. Fergus had his heavy wood shield up but rather then evading, he just charged the Nadder down, he could feel the heat burning through the shield, and smell the smoke of his shield as the dragon flame burned and charred it. Slamming the edge of of his shield up into the chin of the Nadder the dragon’s head lifted and then he drove his sword up and into the brain of the monster and with a twist, pulled it out. It fell to the side, dead.

But now he had to detour around the carcass and fight through the panicked sheep with more dragons landing.

“Maudie, your bow!” Fergus yelled, as another dragon landed near her and his boys. A dragon dropped down next to him.

Hunk Dingwall was stationed near the keep doors and to the right trying to protect the stables. He had just punched one head of a Zippleback and it had wobbled off into the air. He turned as he heard the queen’s scream from behind him.

An iridescent Nadder landed between him, his beloved, and her charges. In three mighty bounds, he leapt on to the dragon’s head and clamped its mouth shut so it could not flame them. Now he had the tiger by the tail and had no way to reach either of his swords as the Nadder swung its head back and forth trying to free itself.

“You naughty boys, what do you think you’re doing out heREE, “ Maudie was scolding the boys as they tried attacking a dragon but the scold turned into a scream, as she noticed all the dragons around her and the boys. The boys were retreating after the Zippleback snapped at them, with teeth as big as they were. There were too many dragons about for them to make it back to the keep. They gathered around her skirts.

Kevin MacGuffin was swinging his sword at a Gronkle driving it away from the sheep pens, he had not brought down any dragons with that huge new sword of his, because he was still too unsure of his own strength. The scream caused him to turn and see the distress of the queen he could see the boys in front of a Zippleback, he could see the two heads trying to choose which of the boys to eat.

With a roar, he ran through the snow, up the back of the dragon and in one mighty swing severed both the heads. He was thrown to the ground by the death throws of the decapitated dragon. Two dragons came down heavily to each side of him.

Maudie could see the men and dragons fighting around her, but she was so scared. Then her beloved Hunk was there, keeping a dragons mouth closed to keep it from flaming them all. As the boys came to her skirts, she heard Fergus shout about her bow. She carried it all the time now but she had only practiced a little due to trying to corral the boys. She had to do something.

Maudie unlimbered the bow and got out an arrow, dumping the quiver as she tore one out. She nocked it and tried to remember the calm place. She thought of the boys and how they drove her to calmness sometimes and she aimed under the wing of the Nadder her beloved was fighting and loosed. The arrow went in the thin skin under the wing and into the spine, the dragon dropped as it lost control of its’ limbs.

Hunk held it down and drove one of his swords into its head to finish it. A dragon crashed behind him.

“Hey, you big, ugly, brute. You’re fire’s all cold.” called Hiccup, insulting the proud beast, it was an effective way to get a Nightmare’s attention, but dangerous, they really didn’t like being called ugly. The Nightmare’s eye’s narrowed and he wheeled toward the teen who lead the dragon away from the children. Hiccup could hear the Nightmare galumphing behind him.

“Ha. Ha. Missed me, slowpoke!” Hiccup called as he ran. He timed it just right as he dodged uphill, as liquid flame barely missed him and flowed away from him. He was trying to lay the dragon out for a shot by the queen and princess, but what was taking them so long? He could hear arrows whistling through the air, roars from dragons and heavy thuds, but the Nightmare was still coming.

The night lit up as the Monsterous Nightmare set itself on fire, in its anger. The Nightmare should be near it’s shot limit, but he had missed the opening of the battle and didn’t know. He was running out for room to run; the wall of the castle was coming up. Hiccup was hoping he could make it to a large boulder as he hurdled a panicked sheep.

Hiccup heard a pair of whistles and then the night went dark. He skidded behind the boulder and peeked out. The Nightmare was down and out, steaming in the snow.

He saw a Nadder dive out of the clouds, looking like it was going to strafe the archers with a flick of its tail, but the women’s arrows plucked it from the sky like a ripe apple.

The light of the dawn washed over the castle and Hiccup could see what was left of the raid flapping away into the clouds.

Hiccup looked over the battlefield trying to see what was happening.

Sheep and other livestock were milling around. Men were looking around for dragons to attack, their adrenaline still pumping. He could see Hunk pulling one of his swords out the neck of a Nadder. Maudie was scrounging for arrows that had spilled all over the ground. The boys were running toward their father. Fergus was running toward the boys from the pens, and so were Merida and Elinor from the high ground. Kevin was picking himself and that huge sword he had revealed last night from next to the body of a decapitated Zippleback from between a Gronkle and a Nadder.

Lord MacGuffin and his men were coming around from the far side of the keep, but they stopped when they saw the field of battle.

For good reason, Hiccup thought. The battlefield was littered with dead dragons. He had never seen so many dead dragons in one place at one time before. On Berk, they often killed a few dragons during a raid but they usually tried to capture a few for training purposes.

But this was a slaughter on a scale he never witnessed before and not what he expected from a place that had only been attacked a couple of times before.

Hiccup rubbed his arm as he limped toward the knot of family. He could hear Elinor berating her boys.

“Naughty boys. You are such very naughty boys. You are in so much trouble.” Elinor was scolding them but the effect was rather diminished, since she was grabbing each of them by the face and kissing them all over their faces. It didn’t help she was smiling and crying at the same time. He could see the confusion on their faces.

“No more of my desserts,” he heard Merida tell them, wondering what that was about. They did look contrite about that and nodded.

Quite the crowd formed around the royal family, but Maudie and Hunk were hugging tightly.

Then Merida saw him.

“Hiccup, are you insane!” screeched Merida in the upper registers of her voice as she stormed toward him. “What did you think you were doing with that big red dragon having it chase you like that!”

“I...um...ah.” quailed Hiccup.

“I lost concentration because I was so worried about you! You could have been killed!” Merida threw her arms around Hiccup and hugged him close.

“Nah. Well, maybe. I’ve been chased by Monstrous Nightmares before. You needed time to get that flow thing of yours working again,” explained Hiccup, reddening as he saw the rest of the people stare. He saw Elinor and Fergus exchange a look and Kevin heaved a sigh.

“Aye, young Hiccup. That was reckless even for a Viking,” said Elinor.

“Ah, an occupational hazard,” joked Hiccup, shrugging the compliment off, not sure how to take it. He had done crazier things. Elinor and Fergus shared a look.

Then Hiccup blinked, that phrase jogged something in his memory.

“Oh no! No, no, no, no, no!” Hiccup whispered realizing something. He ran back to the castle and into the Great Hall. Toothless was still facing the west, looking like he was listening intently.

“Toothless, come back buddy! I’m here. You can’t go to it! Stay, please!” Hiccup grabbed at Toothless’ harness to try to get his attention, trying to snap his best friend from the trance.

Toothless looked at him, blinked, and his eyes changed. He saw his best friend and crooned worriedly.

“Oh, man. We’ve got a problem,” said Hiccup as Merida came up behind him.

# # #

Aileen was dragged out of the home of her “husband” to the village square again. She wondered who was going to be raped or beaten this time or if it would be all of them again.

They had been chosen as “wives” by these Vikings, but they resisted as best they could. There were “wives” from several lands and while they had a difficult time understanding one another there was a friendship over their circumstance.

It had been weeks now since their capture, they had been forced to submit to many things but they still resisted. They were of the Highlands and they were brave. Aibhlinn had rallied them to resist. She was a brave spirit and Aileen added her fire and they were the core of the resistance.

The other women, taken from other lands, had begun to resist as well. They did the minimum they had to so they would stay alive but they did nothing else. They had been beaten and raped but they did not bend. Their hair had been cut to humiliate them, but they did not mourn their hair.

They were given only old sackcloth and rope to cover themselves. That had been a mistake on the Vikings part. A Gaulish girl, who had had long blonde hair which still curled to the side as short as it was now, conceived of a way to tie it all together so they were covered, barely. The women had found that it drove the men to distraction, they were raped more often but the women knew they were causing it, the slaves were in control of the slavers. A small Pyrrhic victory in a long-term war.

The rapes and the beatings took a terrible toll on the women. She could see the redness in the women’s eyes from tears and the subtle flinches when men were near, but they were strong and would fight these slavers as long as they could.

Aileen saw gagged Aibhlinn tied inside a large wooden frame, ropes wrapped all around her, knots placed over sensitive areas of her body, standing on two small blocks of wood at the center of the village square.

They raised their chins to each other. They were brave.

Aileen was forced to kneel between some of the other girls.

BigEars the chief of the tribe came forward and walked down the line of kneeling women with their upraised chins.

BigEars was a barrel of a man with a face like weathered stone, a shock of black hair and a braided beard that ran down his chest. His eyes were like granite.

“You are the strongest women I have ever met. You are brave and tough. We have raped you, beaten you, alone and together. Yet still you resist us. I honor you for that. The strong must rule the weak and you are strong. We will make a great tribe. You would make great Viking wives, if you would submit to us.” BigEars said.

The chained women knelt straight and tall below him. Behind him, Aileen could see Aibhlinn’s arms and legs were beginning to shake from fatigue as she held herself up, keeping the ropes from tightening around her.

“Winter is coming and we need you to do your part so we all can survive. This resistance must end! There is not time to kill you all and replace you.”

He pulled out his sword, with his massive arms, walked to Aibhlinn and laid the tip of his sword at the base of her collared throat. A few of the women in the line wavered for a moment.

“Aibhlinn is the center of your bravery. We all know that. You are probably expecting me to kill her. I will not do that. That would make her a martyr and an unkillable symbol of resistance. That I will not do.”

He turned back to everyone. “She will be broken, all of you will be broken.”

“It took six of us to bind her as you see her. She is strong, you are strong; Viking strong. She will bare us strong sons to lead this tribe, all of you will bare sons for us. We will be the strongest Viking tribe. But now I will use her strength against her. These ropes will tighten as she moves, hurting her. It will not kill her, but she will beg to have my sons before I release her.”

He spoke to Aibhlinn. “You are the bravest woman I have ever seen, but you must submit. I have beaten you and raped you. I have not been able to break you. So now you will break yourself.”

He kicked the wooden blocks out from under her feet. Aibhlinn grunted through her gag as the ropes tightened around her as she dangled above the grass. She had grabbed the ropes and now was holding up her full weight with only her hands.

“You will break. All of you.” The chief growled with determination. He sheathed his sword, folded his arms across his heavy chest and waited patiently.

There was silence except for Aibhlinn’s ragged breathing. Aileen and Aibhlinn locked eyes and tried to support each other. Aibhlinn fought the pain, long minutes passed. Sweat began to soak her. Involuntary moans passed her lips as the ropes slipped through her tired fingers.

She tried to hold still but the ropes dug into her skin, the knots burrowed into her pressure points and her body began to shake. The ropes creaked as they tightening around her slender, reddening limbs.

Aibhlinn was taking controlled breaths to hold off the pain, but tears were beginning to leak down her face. The women all offered their strength and resistance to the bound girl.

The sun moved slowly across the sky.

The weight of her body pulled at the ropes, lowering her. The gentle breeze caused the grass to tickle her dangling toes, Aibhlinn jerked as the sensation attacked her. BigEars smirked as he saw that, that hadn’t occurred to him but he would remember that for next time. The ropes bit into her skin as they tightened even more.

One by one, the women couldn’t take Aibhlinn’s torture and bowed their heads to the ground in submission.

Whimpers came through Aibhlinn’s gag as her limbs darkened as the ropes continued to tighten. BigEars removed the gag, so they could hear her whimpers more clearly. Aibhlinn stifled herself by biting down on her lip as her limbs began to purple as the blood was blocked. From the corner of her eye Aileen could see the other girls bending their heads to the ground as they broke from witnessing Aibhlinn’s pain.

Aileen was shaking as she experienced her friend’s, her village-sister, her sister’s pain. She was the last offering her strength to Aibhlinn, all the others had broken and submitted themselves to the Vikings. Tears were flowing down her own face, though. They kept eye contact trying to stay strong.

Then Aileen whimpered as she saw Aiblhinn’s own bright red blood forced out through the skin of her dark purple hands and feet. Aibhlinn’s lip began to bleed as she bit down so hard to keep from screaming. Her hands were flopping uselessly from the intense pain as drops of blood ran down her arms.

As a drop of her own blood tickled her armpit, Aibhlinn broke eye contact with Aileen and begged, “Please, stop it! By Morrigan, please, let it stop! I submit! I submit! I’ll be a good wife! I’ll bear your babies! From all of you! Good strong sons! Please, make it stop!” Aibhlinn began to jerk uncontrollably from the pain as the knots dug deeply into her. Aibhlinn began to scream in earnest as her bare toes scrabbled in the dirt.

Aileen dropped her own head, unable to help her sister suffer any more. She put her forehead to the dirt. It was over. They had lost.

BigEars swiped his sword through the ropes and Aibhlinn fell heavily to the ground like a sack of rutabagas.

“I win. I always win.” After a moment of watching the feebly writhing girl, he ordered, “Tend her.”

Aileen rushed forward as fast as she could with the chains on her, as did the others. They unwound the ropes from the screaming teenager.

“I’m sorry. It hurts. I can’t. It hurts. I’m weak. I failed. Forgive me. I’m sorry,” sobbed Aibhlinn helplessly, she was trying to move her arms and legs but they just flopped around after all that abuse. The blood from her skin stained their clothes.

“It’s okay. It’s okay, my sister. You were brave and strong, that was enough. It’s enough. I love you, my sister.” Aileen comforted, wiping her sister’s face with the sleeve of her dress as the others got the ropes off Aibhlinn’s shaking body.

They carried her to her bed. They cleaned her with wet cloths and their own tears. They cared for her as she slowly recovered and they did the work their husbands required of them, never fighting again.

*Author’s Note: Morrigan is the Celtic goddess of fertility and war.