Dark Valkyrie

Thirteen: No turning back

Thirteen: No turning back

A/N: Graphic descriptions of violence.

On his knees, Hiccup felt as if his heart had been wrenched from his body as he saw Astrid standing there, clad in full Hunter uniform, an axe and a knife in her hand. Her cold blue gaze turned on him and he shivered, feeling despair at the remote hostility. Krogan turned his soulless gaze on her and his scarred face moved into a smile.

"And now for your first loyalty test-kill him!" he said coldly and she gave a curt nod, gesturing the Hunters holding Hiccup away and they retreated, seeing her stride forward. Krogan smirked and took a pace closer, Viggo smiling triumphantly as she leaned forward, the hand with the knife gripping his shoulder. The axe-the perfectly balanced and beautiful weapon he had made for her and serviced personally-was lifted, the edge resting against his ragged tunic. Swallowing, he looked up into her eyes, seeing wisps of her silky hair frame her face, her nose wrinkled slightly with concentration, the couple of small freckles on her otherwise flawless skin highlighted as she leaned close.

"Is that all?" she asked coldly. "You ask me to kill this boy? This young man who trained a dragon through his compassion, through noticing that the creature was as scared of dying as he was? The young man who learned to ride a dragon, defeated the Red Death, stopped numerous wars and defeated Viggo and his Hunters? The man who defeated Dagur and Ryker and Viggo, who escaped and outwitted them over and over? And who won not because he was the smartest tactician but because he was the best leader, the bravest, most daring warrior who would give his all for his friends and his dragon? You want me to kill him?"

"I'd rather you didn't," Hiccup murmured and she tightened her grip painfully on his shoulder.

"You get no say," she told him coldly.

"Not even if I said I loved you?" he asked her.

"That makes no difference to what I must do," she told him evenly.

"I do," he breathed. "I love you, Astrid Hofferson, With everything I have and everything I am. And I will never stop loving you. I will never give up on you. No matter what happens, no matter what you do, I will always love you." The sincerity, the power in his words was in defiance of the fact he was about to die.

"You shouldn't," she told him. "I'm really not worth your heart..."

"I know you are," he told her urgently. She shook her head and raised her axe.

"About time," Krogan sneered.

"You remember what I said when I was blinded, when I thought I was useless?" she breathed, so quietly that Krogan couldn't catch the words. "That there will always be a Hiccup and Astrid? Whatever it means?" He nodded, staring into her face, his emerald gaze wary but still bright with his love for her. "It means...THIS!"

The axe swung...

...Hiccup unconsciously cringed...

...and there was the sudden crunch of metal smashing into flesh and bone as Astrid's axe slammed directly back into the centre of Krogan's face. Hiccup felt her use him as a pivot and push him back as she wrenched the axe free, spinning with the axe to decapitate the victim even as he realised he was dead and turned to glare at Viggo. The former leader of the Hunters tried to scramble back but Astrid was already leaping, a terrifying war-cry shrieking through the air as the axe crashed down into the angle between his neck and body. There was a scarlet spray of blood as she wrenched the blade free and Viggo slumped back, trying to stuff his hand into the gap. But Astrid raised the axe again and this time the blade slammed into his chest, the snap of ribs and hiss of air evidencing she had breached his lung. He choked and blood sprayed from his mouth as he choked. He collapsed onto his back, staring up with his one good eye at the merciless Valkyrie.