Empire at war (A Httyd Fanfiction)

Chapter 30: Glory

A/N: And here we are at the end of this story! Thank you guys for sticking with it. After this, I need a break before I finish the Traveler series and then get into my modern-day stories. With that said, onwards to the final chapter!

(Normal pov— Denmark, three years later)

Gudmundr awoke to the fetid stench of rotting flesh, agonizing screams, and aggressive caws of ravens circling overhead. Attempting to move his arms, the old Viking found himself tied to a pole just outside the Red Maw capital city. It had been three years since the collusion of the Bombardment as the Scandinavian people called, where Nikora and Eir's foreign armies attempted to bombard the Viking people into oblivion, since then the Viking people emerged from that campaign stronger than ever before and with their combined might they not only repaired the damages the foreigners inflicted upon their homeland but secured a victory that will make the Viking people immortalized in history.

Yet Gudmundr and those who sided with Nikora and Eir would not be alive to witness the Viking people rise to even greater heights.

Looking down, the old traitor noted he was naked and displayed for all to witness, the summer breeze felt like blades that seeped into Gudmundr's open, infected wounds, which caused the man great pain. As punishment for betraying the Scandinavian Empire, Hiccup Haddock, and the gods themselves, Gundmundr and the other Viking traitors had suffered unimaginable pains and torments for the past three years— slavery of the cruelest kind, beatings until they were mere inches from death's door, all branded as traitors for those among their kind to spit upon them, they were even roasted like pigs over a spitfire until the fire split their skin open, and finally, they were all tied to large poles outside the city gates and were greeted by cruel exposure that caused them even greater suffering.

Yet now their suffering appeared to be at an end.

Gudmundr could see several ravens pecking at some of his dead companions; tearing seared flesh from bone and fighting over larger portions of flesh. One of the ravens managed to pluck out an eyeball out of the fallen's socket, the sight caused Gudmundr to blanch as he realized that he'd soon be eaten alive by Odin's messengers.

Turning to his right, Gudmundr exhaled in horror as he laid eyes on Harold Forkbeard who was half devoured as ravens were all over his life corpse and picking off scraps off flesh off his bones.

"Ah, there he is! Still among the living old man?"

Looking down, Gudmundr laid eyes on Zephyr and Ingrid who were just now returning from a trading expedition along the Silk Road. Scoffing at Haddock's daughters, Gudmundr groaned out in agony. "I yet breathe," a bitter chuckle parted his lips, as did blood, "for the moment."

"Hmmm," Ingrid hummed in agreement, "the ravens will soon take your life, and you will die alone and forgotten." The older princess smirked that Gudmundr and added. "A pity such a Viking like you must die in such a dishonorable way, but then again traitors like you and those who sided with Nikora and Eir will not dine with the gods in Valhalla along with the greatest heroes our nation has ever produced," Ingrid's smirk faded into a sinister grin, "you will suffer in the fires of Muspelheim, where giants will crush you like the insects you are and demons will torture you for your betrayal." She then inhaled sharply and spat at the base of the pole that held Gudmundr before leaving the old man to die alone and forgotten, Zephyr merely snickered at Gudmundr's enraged face and followed her sister into the capital city.

At the same time, a flock of ravens descended upon Gudmundr and began ripping the seared flesh off his withered bones, causing him to release blood-curdling screams as he looked to the heavens and cried out for mercy to Odin.