Heart of a Berserker: Faith (School of Dragons)

Chapter 1

A/N: Welcome back! This is part three of my Heart of a Berserker series. If you have not read the first two, please do so now. This section will finish up the current expansions, Wrath of Stormheart through Curse of the Hobgobbler. Once again, if a new expansion is released while I'm writing this, I will probably not let it affect the story.

Fair warning, the story will get darker in part three. I start off with Wrath of Stormheart, which is probably the most violent expansion in the game. Even though violence is evident in the game, it is aimed towards kids and does not delve in too deep. I will explore the ramifications of the characters' actions and choices, particularly those that are psychological. This also gives me a chance to delve deeper than the simplistic depictions of evil dragon hunters and pirates vs. good dragon riders. Hopefully you enjoy it!

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"Faith is the strength by which a shattered world shall emerge into the light." - Helen Keller

Chapter 1

"There!" I pointed to the two pirate ships closing in on one of Berk's fishing boats in the distance. Bolt growled. My companions, Viggo, Eret, and Skulder, emerged from the clouds behind me.

"What's the plan?" Eret asked.

"Viggo and I will distract them," I said. "You and Skulder get the fishing boat to safety."

We split up and flew towards the ships. Missions like this had become a regular occurrence since the defeat of Johann and Krogan over a month ago. Stormheart showed no signs of executing an evil plot but seemed content on having her pirates attack our fishing and trade boats and stealing our caches. It really should not have come as a surprise. This was what pirates did, right? It was part of the job description. And Hiccup, with his great faith in me, put me in charge of controlling the pirates. So, everyone morning I flew out with the Vikings I was training and looked for attacks like this one.

As we neared the ships, Bolt and Sanna let loose a pair of lightning bolts that hit dangerously close to one pirate ship. The two pirates on board glared at us and ran to their catapults. Viggo and I flew around the ships, hitting them with electricity while dodging flying boulders.

It quickly became difficult for Bolt to stay out of Sanna's way while also not getting hit. One rock struck his tail, and he wobbled in the air. And then something that was not a rock flew at his head. He pulled up, but the bolas wrapped around his feet. Startled, he lost altitude and was unable to fly out of the way of Sanna, who crashed right into him.

The pirates struck with rocks again, and these hit their marks. I cried out as both Skrills crashed into the water. We sunk for a few seconds before breaking the surface of the water. I coughed as Bolt growled menacingly at the pirates.

"Not so scary without your lightning, are you?" one of the pirates taunted.

I shot Viggo a questioning look. "How do they know Skrills can't fire in the water?"

But Viggo wasn't looking at me. His attention was on the fishing boat. My heart sunk when I realized our distraction tactic had been turned against us. While we were busy fighting off the pirates, another ship had overtaken the fishing boat. Harald's ship. I was unsure what he did, but Skullcrusher and Muddie were flying in frantic circles. Then they ran right into each other, bashing heads.

"You really need to work on your teamwork," Harald said as he jumped onto the fishing boat. He merely had to show the Berkians his sword, and they huddled together in terror, allowing him to snatch the net full of fish. "Or better yet, find a new profession." His eyes found mine, and he smirked smugly.

I clenched my fists around Bolt's saddle. There was no point in getting Bolt or Sanna in the air again. Neither dragon would attack Harald, and he knew it. It offered little consolation that he would not attack us either. He did not need to. Instead, we urged our dragons to swim to Eret and Skulder.