Raided: 14 The Challenge

~ Raided: Chapter 14: The Challenge

The tribe kept an eye on the Skivvy Scroungers while dragons stayed close to Hiccup as he trained with his father. Everyone could see a few of BigEars’ men loitering near Stoic’s campsite. Stoic had some men keep watch.

The Althing still had quite a bit of business to take care of, and since it was traditional for a holmgang to have a cool down period between the acceptance of the challenge and the fight itself, it would be several days before the fight. That allowed the ship bringing Toothless to arrive.

Fishlegs dumped an armload of bread onto the table. Gobber and the teens dug in, as they sat in Stoic’s tent after another day of watching and training.

“Hiccup, you had to go mess up a good thing.” complained Snotlout as they met around a table in Stoic’s tent.

“What do you mean?” asked Hiccup.

“I had all those girls swarming me.” said Snotlout.

“Hey, it’s not that bad.” said Fishlegs.

“Not for you. You still have the breadgirl favoring you,” countered Tuffnut.

“Her name is Lifa.” said Fishlegs with quiet dignity.

“Now with that challenge of yours out there, no one will come near us, they are all figuring you’re going to lose and no one wants to be on BigEars’ bad side by throwing their lot in with us.” said Snotlout as Stoic entered the tent.

“Great, all alone again.” grumbled Hiccup.

“Actually no.” said Tuffnut, “There are a few that are still interested.”

“Indeed.” said Stoic. “There are tribes openly on your side, including the Bear Slayers. I know that doesn’t sound like a lot, it isn’t, but it is way better then being alone. They are also real friends, the kind that stick with you in the bad times.”

“Yeah, those are good.” nodded Hiccup, relieved that there were some people that could be trusted a little. “Why would the Bear Slayers do that?”

“Because they took a long look at him and thought that you would be a better king, not because of the dragons, like some tribes are, but why you choose to become king. When you win, you already know who is really on your side.” said Stoic.

“Thanks dad.” said Hiccup, warmed by the faith his father had in him. “How did it go?”

Stoic sighed. “We’ve finally agreed on the rules for the holmgang. BigEars wanted some rules that favored him, I countered with rules that favored you. The lawspeaker balanced things out. It’ll be a fair fight.” Stoic handed the papers to Hiccup.

“So what are the rules?” asked Astrid.

“As the challenger, BigEars’ll recite the rules before we begin. It’ll be a fight to the death, for obvious reasons. There will be other holmgangs going on before ours, which won’t necessarily be to the death, they are saving ours for last, though we will get a fresh oxskin from the sacrifice.” Hiccup summed up the rules as he read them.

“We are going to fight on a oxskin that’s three meters on a side. The bounds are marked by a series of borders and stakes. Stepping outside means a forfeit, but all that means is he gets to be king anyway. We’ll be allowed axes, hammers and swords to fight with. As the challenged, I get to strike first. Yeah, that’ll be intimidating.” said Hiccup sarcastically.

“Hiccup, I could be your champion.” said Stoic.

“No, Dad, thank you. This is my fight, it’s not about the raids anymore, the dragons and the tribe are on the line now. I couldn’t submit them to him if you lost, but fighting him would make the entire tribe Nithing and I don’t want that to happen either.”

Stoic nodded. “I didn’t expect you to end up being put up for becoming king much less being challenged. You are very brave, son.”

“Thanks, dad.”

“Well, we learned a few things about BigEars and his tribe.” said Astrid, she and Fishlegs had done some intelligence gathering.

Fishlegs started, “On the plus side, his gear isn’t all that great. They only have a few swords and their iron isn’t all that great. The swords they do have bend easily and the axes dull fast.”

“The bad news is that he is immensely strong. He is breaking shields in one blow.” said Astrid.

“I noticed that the design of their shields are not quite as good as ours. Fighting dragons for so long has made us make better shields.” Fishlegs added.

“I am not going to be breaking his shield.” Hiccup said. “So any ideas on how to fight him. I expect it to be over quickly.”

“Hiccup, you have a lot of advantages here, you know.” said Stoic.

“Yeah, right.”

“You’ve been up against dragons outweighing you by a whole lot your entire life, this isn’t really all that different. Is catching an ax on your shield all that different from a Gronkle lava ball?”

“No.” said Hiccup thoughtfully.

“Frankly, if he just wants to win, he’d just charge you down and push you out of bounds. It would be simple, fast and effective.”

“Yeah, that would be.” said Hiccup, squinting, trying to think of a counter.

“But frankly, I don’t think he’ll do that.” said Stoic flatly.

“What?!” Hiccup, Astrid and Fishlegs said together.

“He wants to kill you as a feat of strength. He wants to batter down your shield and split you down the middle.”

“...thank you for summing that up.”

“No, no, that makes total sense.” said Astrid. “He kept talking about strength and boosting of the strength of his tribe. Though from what we saw of their women, he’s only talking about the men.”

Fishlegs sat back, the others could see he was thinking as his eyes shifted back and forth. “That means he has blindspots. He sees you as weak. You are not a physical threat to him.”

“That’s obvious.”

“It also means you don’t need physical force to win. He wants to kill you but you don’t need to kill him. But everyone has a shot limit to how many blows he can strike. You just have to avoid getting hit until he can’t attack any more. Just like fighting a dragon.”

“Hmm, fight him like a dragon.” said Hiccup thoughtfully.

# # #

Hiccup and the rest of the Hairy Hooligans approached the site of the holmgang. BigEars and his tribe were coming from their campsite as well. The dragons were sunning themselves on the heights, Hiccup had reassured Toothless this morning, but now he was feeling nervous again.

The lawspeaker and the other chiefs were along one side of the oxhide that was staked to the ground. All the Vikings were there to see the outcome that would change everyone’s lives.

Hiccup, Stoic and the rest of the teens stood at the edge of the holmgang, the teens carrying the shields and weapons Hiccup would use. Big Ears and his counterparts were similarly arrayed across from them. BigEars passed the leash of his slave-wife to another Viking, the slaves all kneeled with their heads down. Hiccup frowned at that.

The Hairy Hooligans had brought all the unattached males to the Althing. There were plenty of female slaves for sale, but Hiccup had spoken to the tribe and they had agreed to find true wives and not slaves. The men had been inquiring about potential wives among the tribes but little progress was being made. Everyone was quite cautious about the possibility of marrying into the Hooligans. No one was expecting Hiccup to win and while the dragons were powerful, BigEars had a nasty reputation. Everyone was waiting to see the result of the holmgang.

Hiccup and BigEars looked to the lawspeaker. After a nod, BigEars stepped to the center of the oxhide and spoke loudly to the crowd of Vikings.

“I, BigEars of the Skivvy Scroungers, have challenged Hiccup of the Hairy Hooligans. We contend for the kingship of the Vikings. Our goods, our tribes and the future of us all ride on the outcome of this challenge. This holmgang is to the death, there can be no quarter given for this prize. To step outside the bounds or to flee in cowardice is to forfeit both kingship, life and our tribes.” He pointed to the three rows of lines dug into the ground outside the oxhide, the corners marked by hazel staves.

“We have at our disposal: three shields, an ax, a sword, a hammer and a knife. The oxhide has been placed so there is no advantage of the sun to either combatant.” The oxhide was oriented so the combatants were facing East and West respectively. The lawspeaker and the chiefs were on the South so they would have the best view, all others were on the North and would be looking into the sun.

“As the challenged, he has the right to strike the first blow. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, are you ready?” asked BigEars.

Hiccup took his first shield and sword from Astrid and stepped onto the oxhide. “I am.”

BigEars retrieved his first shield and a long handled ax from one of his men and set himself across from Hiccup.

Hiccup asked, “Are you ready?”

“I am,” came the reply.

Hiccup swung and he felt the impact all the way up to his shoulder. He quickly recovered and put his shield in front of him, ready for the return strike.

“Is that all? Was that your best shot?” laughed BigEars. “My Scottish wife hits harder then you.”

“I’ve met the Scots. They are a strong people.” said Hiccup, a part of his mind could see the heads of the slaves come up slightly.

BigEars frowned, “The Vikings are stronger!” And he brought his ax over his head like he was chopping wood.

Hiccup dodged to his left, and deflected the blow with his angled shield, much like he would a lava blast from a Gronkle. Hiccup could tell that the iron of the ax was not very good.

Hiccup threw a quick cut at BigEars’ exposed arm, but the big man dodged. BigEars made another swing and embedded his ax in Hiccup’s shield. Hiccup gave his shield a quick twist and the head of the ax snapped.

There was a roar from the crowd.

BigEars stared at his ax handle for a moment, then opened his arms signaling a pause, Hiccup also opened his arms and they watchfully went to their respective sides and Hiccup took his second shield from Fishlegs and BigEars took up a hammer.

Hiccup noted that the hammer was a heavily, slower weapons but if it connected it could break his arm right through his shield. Hiccup adjusted his strategy to dodging the hammer blows, and wait for an opening from BigEars to strike.

However, BigsEars wasn’t throwing big strikes at him any more. He wasn’t leaving himself open to Hiccup’s jabs as much. So Hiccup was forced to sidestep a lot.

BigEars was bragging and banging his hammer against his shield like a Monstrous Nightmare showing off.

Hiccup just calmly waited, his heavy wood shield ready and sword in his left hand.

BigEars charged and swung, but Hiccup dodged easily, the years of dodging dragon fire made it easy. Hiccup knew he could not win a battle of brute strength but that was not required.

BigEars hurled insults and oaths but Hiccup had long ago left behind the ability to feel anything because of mere words.

It became like a dance as the two men fought for the right to rule. Constantly moving, ever dodging, waiting for his opponent to tire and make a mistake and leave an opening to exploit.

Hiccup descended further and further into the inky depths of his heart. He had fought dragons and won, he had survived the ridicule of his tribe. Yet this was a puzzle to solve like those tavern puzzles that Gobber made to stump the men as they waited out the long winters. There was a calm emptiness that enveloped Hiccup, a place he had spent many long lonely years. There was only what needed to be done to survive.

“Why don’t you fight me!?” yelled BigEars.

“I am fighting you. Hadn’t you noticed or are the sword and shield not obvious enough for you?” Hiccup said. It was strictly factual, the honest truth. Hiccup’s ears heard the buzz of the crowd but it did not register on his consciousness. BigEars reddened like a cooked crab.

“What is it with you guys? All you do is try to control yet it is never enough for you. You always need more. Why can’t you leave us alone?” Hiccup asked, he was near the corner by the lawspeaker and the Scroungers.

“The strong must be in control. The strong must rule.”

“But all you end up doing causes destruction. Why do you never build?”

“I would build. I will build an empire, a strong empire, a Viking empire. Vikings are strong and the world is weak, we should rule the weak. I will have your dragons and your women.” Hiccup could smell smoked eel on the big man’s breath.

“You want to build an empire but all I see you do is destroy.”

“Only the weak is destroyed, the strong would stand.”

“I am weaker then you in some way but I am stronger then you in others.” More simple facts in an emotionless tone.

Over Hiccup’s shoulder BigEars saw his slave-wife, Aibhlinn, she is kneeling where he left her at the edge of the holmgang. At those words she looked up. Their eyes meet. Her chin rose.

BigEars gasped at the strength still in her. His shield lowered slightly.

“No!” BigEars roared as he charged, swinging his hammer in anger. Hiccup was too far in the corner to dodge. He barely got his shield up enough to catch the blow, he couldn’t angle it and the force of the blow blasted up his shoulder.

Hiccup was driven down under the force of that blow, his shield cracked and part of it fell away. Hiccup knew that there would be no pause to swap shields this time.

“Hiccup!” Astrid shouted.

“Son!” Stoic called.

Toothless roared and bolted down from the ridge above the Thingstead, but he was many leaps from the holmgang.

“I always win!” roared BigEars as he brought his hammer up again.

BigEars started the downswing.
Hiccup kicked out with his artificial foot.
Hiccup connected with BigEars right knee dislocating it, but the hammer was coming down fast.
BigEars screamed in pain as he fell forward.
Hiccup rolled to his right, bringing his sword up, trying to deflect the hammer, but missed.
Hiccup’s sword glanced off the edge of BigEars’ shield and up into his neck. BigEars saw it coming, but with the heavy hammer and all his forward momentum he could no longer avoid it.
Hiccup’s sword bit into his opponent’s now open neck and the body of BigEars collapsed.

The lawspeaker looked around, many jaws were hanging open. “Hail Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, King of the Vikings!”

The slaves of the Skivvy Scroungers began to weep, because as awful as there lives were, they had no idea what would happen next.

Then everyone else began to cheer.

It was pandemonium as Hiccup slowly stood. Stoic and the lawspeaker were nearby already talking quickly, other chiefs were jockeying for position to be near them. The teens crowded around Hiccup as the tribe held off the other tribes.

Hiccup took Astrid by the arm. “Can you do something for me?”

“Sure, Hiccup anything.”

“Go to Scotland and tell them I am King of the Vikings. I will have to marry Merida to make sure all this sticks. If we marry then we’ll have an alliance which will stop the raids.”

“Are you sure you want me to do that?”

“Yes. I trust you. You never attacked me, until I was doing so well in dragon training and you were jealous of me. I desperately wanted to date you because you were kind enough to ignore me all the time.”

Astrid bit her lip, Hiccup didn’t deserve to be ignored. “It would have been...nice to be together.”

He took her cheek in his hand “Yes, it would have, you are good to be around, but life didn’t turn out that way.”

“No, it didn’t. You have a bigger life then I can imagine.”

“Yeah.”

“Will...you be okay with her?”

“I think so, but it needs to be done, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Astrid threw her arms around her king.

“Anything you want me to tell her?”

“Yeah, We probably can’t free all the slaves immediately, but I want to free them at the wedding as a symbolic gesture. I’ll have to get that organized.” Hiccup looked over to the Scroungers who he now owned. The women and their babies were crying, the men were looking dazed.

“Okay, anything else?” Astrid asked.

“I’ll be there soon to help arrange things.”

“Right but that’s not all is it?” Astrid waited, but then the lawspeaker came over and Hiccup had to turn his attention away from her. Astrid bit her lip, she would have wanted some kind of personal message from a potential husband, Merida would too.