Rain began to fall thick and fast on the castle rooftops, like an army of horses' hooves stampeding on the men below who were lined in their multitudes, armed with swords and spears far superior to the weaponry they'd been used to. Merida stood up in her saddle, mounted on Angus in front of the troops alongside Fergus and Stoick, dressed head to toe in armour made from the finest leather and steel and seated on the finest warhorses. Hiccup and Toothless hovered overhead, circling them.
"Men!" Fergus cried over the tumult of the rain, then spotting his daughter alongside him, added, "and women -" He coughed to clear his throat. "Drago is unlike any enemy you have faced. He fights with creatures, bound by hatred and enslaves them to do his bidding. We must be vigilant. We must stand strong, or the battle is lost. You have all been taught, you have all been given the best supplies we can give you.
"Now, we ask that you give us the best service you have ever displayed in combat. Only together can we defeat him. He is out to destroy, to conquer what is not rightfully his. He is tearing apart families, killing your loved ones and tearing down your homes, all for the quest to power. We cannot let him prevail. We are strong, bound together by our love for our homeland and our alliances within bonds formed in times of friendship and trust. That is what he can never take from us. He will never take our love for one another, and that is what we will fight for!"
A great roar of approval and applause rang through the whole army, energising and rousing them like a shot of adrenaline. After a time Drago's army was within easy sight and the order was passed throughout the ranks to attack. No one saw the messenger slip away, back into the castle.
She was a blonde with her hair braided in knots, woven into one plait. Her fringe obscured one side of her face; her armour was minimal and her eyes were a blue that hurt to look at. Quietly she slipped into a side passage; none of the guards saw her. They were out fighting.
The battle was hard and bloody, almost like a thick red mist had settled over the soldiers, blinding them to calm and innocence. All that mattered was the protection of their loved ones, the fight for their families and their kingdoms, their entire livelihoods. Drago's dragon army was rearing on their hind legs, poised to attack until a mysterious force caused them to slump, fall to the earth again, weighed down on their wings and tails by what appeared to be ice. Everyone was at a loss to explain it. Some believed it was God, some believed it was Loki intervening for a bit of fun, but most didn't care, they used the opportunity to kill the men on the ground, run past the downed dragons and fight on.
Merida was in the thick of it all, Angus leaping over the bodies of Drago's dead men and on into the centre of his army. She cut and slashed without mercy, becoming immune to the sound of the screams of the dying and the injured; she merely fought on because that was all she could do. The adrenaline rushing through her kept her sane, in a sense, as she cut, thrust and parried expertly whilst balancing her sword and shield in perfect proportion. Although she knew exactly what she was doing, at that moment she could hardly think.
Hiccup was overhead, circling the army by means of protection. Whenever a great multitude of Drago's men started approaching, Toothless would fire a plasma blast into their midst and instantly kill at least half, making Fergus and Stoick's army's job considerably easier. When he could, however, Hiccup would make a point to glance below him, into the distance, to check if a certain red-haired warrior had fallen.
Once, Jack flew up beside him and hovered in mid-air, a grim expression on his normally cheerful, grinning face.
"What?" Hiccup asked loudly, eyebrow raised.
"I'm worried something's up with Rapunzel," he shouted over the pounding of the rain. "I'm just scared for her. Her parents were the reason this battle's even happening. What if someone's got to her or something?"
YOU ARE READING
The Big Four - One Life
Fiksi Penggemar"Tell me the story," the little girl whispered eagerly, "of the ice boy and the flower princess and their adventures with the dragon rider and the arrow-splitter." Her grandmother chuckled quietly to herself. "It's a long story, my child. So we'd be...
