Empire at war (A Httyd Fanfiction)

Chapter 13: Wolf among men

A/N: Such a tiring week at work, so glad I can take a breath and blow off steam by writing. Anyway, onwards to Vikings partying!

(Normal pov)

After the humiliating, and catastrophic loss Boleslav had been dealt, the Kievan ruler had been drowning himself in wine; attempting to drink away the pain of losing his son, nearly his entire army, and being utterly humiliated by Haddock on the battlefield.

Grievances that would need to be answered for in time.

The remaining Kievan commanders were inside Boleslav's ship and were forced to hear their ruler's sobs of outrage and blaming the warlords who once served Drago for abandoning him and his Rus' brethren when they needed them the most once the bloodbath had ended. But when demanding why they left the Rus' to be slaughtered, the warlords merely scolded Boleslav as a parent would at their pouting child and redirected blame back on Boleslav by telling him that he couldn't temper his anger and hurtled his army at the Viking capital city, which resulted in a massacre.

"They're laughing at me within that city; Haddock, his queen, people, heirs, and that... vile whore Katerina, all them are drunk with victory over me and our Rus' brethren!" Boleslav snarled out while also chugging down a cup of wine. "They think I'll sail home at first light!"

"Maybe we should."

Boleslav turned to one of his Kievan commanders, Alyona who had served the rulers of the Kievan Empire for many decades. The current Kievan ruler looked at this female commander like she had gone mad and barked out. "And flee? Like a whipped dog?" Alyona ran a hand through her blond hair and looked into the eyes of her king and spoke bold words. "Our countrymen believed we came here simply to retrieve Igor's wife," she then snorted and smirked, "we won't be needing her anymore."

"My son's blood still wets the sand and you insult him?!" Boleslav seethed out.

"It's not an insult to say a man is dead," Alyona said in a bored tone, "Igor is dead, as is your bloodline."

"If we leave now, we lose all credibility," A commander by the name of Pavel said, "Haddock's Viking army can defeat us so easily, how long before our supposed "allies" turn on us and continue their world-dominating conquest in the name of their dead master?"

Boleslav knew Pavel was referring to the late Drago Bludvist's warlords, how that madman was able to unite the unlikeliest people to support his cause was an impressive feat, but with Bludvist now dead, the warlords could easily turn back on the agreement that was settled between the Kievan Empire and perhaps sack his kingdom, now that his army was all but gone.

If this suspicion came to fruition, he would truly lose everything.

"If we stay, we stay here for the right reasons," Alyona added, "to defend the Kievan Empire, not your pride. Whatever you said to the Stormhearts before this battle began is what utterly destroyed us!"

"Those two are but two women—!" Boleslav barked out.

"And Hiccup Haddock is but one man!" Alyona barked back before letting out a bitter chuckle and gesturing around them. "Look what he did to us today!"

"Haddock fights for his nation and people!" Boleslav growled out. "Those two harlots of the battlefield fight only to avenge their dead father—"

"You forget that they lead the finest warriors in the world!" Alyona said while cutting Boleslav off for the second time. "Had we had the Stormhearts and their warriors with us, we could've seen victory! But you led us into the jaws of death, and we barely escaped the fate our fallen endured this day."