My little Flower (HiccupxOC, part 1 of Grimborn Family AU)

Chapter 89 - Final Battle part 1

Viggo's POV

I entered the Great Hall in a rush, almost tripping over the little Night Fury who had settled herself in front of the door. In the center of the hall Nanna crouched in front of the hearth, circled by Eira and the gang of dragon riders. At her feet lay a form covered in a bundle of blankets and furs. It was obvious that this must be Valka. "My gods..." I gasped out, rather breathless from running. She was as pale as death itself, but her body was shuddering as if wanting to prove it was still alive.

Within a heartbeat I dropped to my knees and shook Valka by her shoulder. I needed to get information out of her. In this moment I didn't care if she could hear me or not - I had to try it.

"Valka you need to tell me what happened! Wake up!" my voice sounded strained. Valka did not move, so I shook her again and with more vehemence as I felt my frustration grow.

Nanna, however, stopped me by grabbing my arm and shot me a stern look. "She's in no condition to answer Viggo. Can't you see? Only the gods know if she'll even survive. It might take days before she will wake up again."

I let out a frustrated groan but nodded anyway. Nanna was right, as usual. Scrambling back to my feet, I let my gaze wander around the Berkian youths. The twins stared down at Valka with an anxious expression and for once even the two of them seemed to be at a loss for words. Fishlegs looked the worst. The little colour that remained in his face upon their arrival had drained completely from it. He chewed at his fingers and whispered incoherently to himself. It sounded like he was sending prayers to the gods. Snotlout tried to stay as indifferent as possible but even he couldn't hide his feelings. I noticed how his nostrils flared and his eyes grew watery, though the boy tried to cover that fact by rubbing his eyes. Astrid seemed to be more composed than her friends although her face was white as snow, lips pressed tightly together and she clenched her fists open and closed. Then her eyes met mine and it was like we shared an unspoken thought.

"Something really bad has happened...I can feel it. We can't sit around here any longer. Hiccup and Stoick...they need us." Astrid's voice shook slightly as she held my gaze. "And Lilly too of course." she quickly added. I gave a curt nod.

"I agree. But as Drago's armada outnumbers us by far, we will need a better plan than to ride blindly into battle. Give me a moment to think of it. Now get outside and prepare your dragons as well as your minds for battle. Astrid, Snotlout you might want Nanna to check your wounds first."

"No we cannot wait, we need to go now!" Astrid said urgently, looking around at her friends and they all nodded in unison.

"Hang on, you can't just fly off like that. Viggo is right, Drago has a whole dragon army behind his back. I have seen them - you would be dead before you even reach the first ship of his fleet." Eira said, earning a glare from Astrid.

"Oh I didn't know it was any of your business!" Astrid snapped and crossed her arms. "If it wasn't for your brother keeping us then we would have arrived way sooner and perhaps Hiccup and our chief wouldn't have been captured!"

"Do you have a problem with my brother?!" Eira asked hotly, stepping closer to Astrid.

"Perhaps I do." Astrid answered equally angry. She and Eira stood so close that their noses almost touched and looked as though they would quite like to hit each other, but I interrupted them.

"Stop it you two. Astrid, if you don't want Nanna to tend to your wounds that's fine for me although it might weaken you in battle. However none of you will leave this island without my permission."

Now Astrid turned to me, her face red with anger. "Why should we even listen to you?"

"Because, my dear, I am still the chief on this island although there are some people who tend to forget that fact." I narrowed my eyes at Eira and watched her gulp down her anger. I knew she did help my tribe in the end but still...she lied to me over and over again. How can she be trusted?