Knight's Honor

The Battle

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Drago's army was a motley collection, but fighters at its core, and as soon as the ramp was low enough, they charged out of The Conqueror screaming loud battle cries and wildly waving their weapons. Through the shallows, they splashed as quickly as they could. Meanwhile, on Berk, the various bows were loaded and ready. On Bertha's command, they opened fire.

A fierce volley of arrows cut through the air, followed by another. The defenders could feel them whipping past their hair, a bit too close for comfort. None of their attackers fired back; they could only hold their shields up in and continue the charge. Some shields in front had dozens of arrows in them. Drago was in the lead, roaring like a lion, Alvin wasn't far behind, and Dagur had yet to disembark. More volleys were let loose, but the crossbows took time to reload even with rows of archers. The attackers were being pinned down, but slowly and surely beginning to make their way up the beach.

"Spears at the ready!" Stoick roared. "Fire!"

The only attackers in the front ranks who were still standing were the ones who had shields and knew how to use them. But there was still a multitude coming out of The Conqueror. Too many to drive off with arrows. The new waves pushed pass their comrades and kept coming at full speed.

The first rank of attackers came rushing forward and at last got off the beach. They charged forward eagerly over large piles of sand... and fell screaming into a deep trench they hadn't seen until it was too late.

"Hurray for Boar Pits!" Tuffnut shouted from atop a house.

"That's not a Boar Pit, stupid!" His sister shot back.

"Well, it should be! And it would've been if Stoick had let us dig it!" He threw some rocks at the men trying to climb out of the trench. "I tell ya, Sis, if I was in charge of defending this place, those guys would never know what hit 'em!"

"Our side or the enemy?"

"Good point! I'll need to think that through."

"Just keep fighting!" Gabriela shouted.

By this point, everyone has disembarked The Conqueror. For Stoick, Bertha, and Creighton, that was a sign of relief, it meant that Drago had no more troops except the dragons. But the dragons remained on top of the ship and showed no sign that they were going to attack Berk.

"I told ya them dragons are a danger ta us!" Spitelout shouted to nobody in particular.

"Well, I feel better having them on our side!" Someone, possibly Snotlout, it was hard to tell, shouted back.

Dagur was near Alvin at that point in the fight and he looked confused. "Why aren't the dragons joining the fight?"

"Who cares?" Alvin jeered. "We kill Drago and Solaire n' we've got it made!"

Now that every soldier had exited, the remaining crew on The Conqueror raised its ramp and started heading away from the island. Most on Berk were too busy fighting to notice it moved out to sea. Two people who did were the Twins. They were not great fighters, so they took positions on a rooftop where they can throw things at the attackers, but they were too preoccupied with watching The Conqueror.

"Look at that amazing boat, Sis," Tuffnut said reverently.

"Yes indeed, Brother, it's truly amazing."

"If only we could somehow blow it up!"

"If only we had some more of that powder Hiccup gave us." The plan to collect the combustible powder had been ruined when Hiccup had gone missing, for most of it was stored on the Island, and only Hiccup and his Knights knew the location.