The little base became as busy as ever, everyone was gearing up for what would be the biggest battle ever to take place on the island. Humans and dragons alike were doing their best to prepare themselves for battle. Weapons flew of the shelves, saddles were mounted in earnest. Thora went over her battle plans with Sander in the war room while the group from the Edge prepared to separate. All six of them sat down on a table already adorned in their battle gear and weapons by their side.
"I guess this is it" Forde said with a nervous voice.
"Why are you sounding like that? You're not even to flying to battle like us. If there's anyone that should be nervy, it should be me. I would give anything to be in your shoes right now"
Thyra would bonk Sten on the head passing her point across to him.
"Hey, what was that for?"
"Let's all do our best. No matter what team we're on, we are all fighting for the same cause" said Virgil.
"Agreed. Let's give it our all" Rune said with conviction.
"Rune! It's time" Dagur announced.
"I'll see you all on the battlefield" Rune said standing up.
"Try not to get yourselves killed before we get back" Vyra added.
"Don't worry, you'll see us all still in one piece. Maybe not Sten though" Thyra teased.
The group had a little laugh as they split up; the little joke eased the tension and the nerves around with each trying to downplay the severity of the situation around them. Rune, Vyra and Forde would stand alongside Dagur, Heather and Bjorn as they prepared to set off.
"What's the plan Dagur? How do we get to the nest?" Rune asked.
"There are a series of tunnels we can use to access the nest, one happens to be in this cave. Our only problem is that once we reach the end of the tunnel, it turns to a maze. No one has ever reached the main nest. It gets too confusing" Dagur explained.
"Don't worry Dagur, we'll get through it" Rune said with an assured voice.
"This tunnel isn't big enough to fly through so we'll have to walk it. Once we get to the end, it opens up. Then we can make up time and fly through" Heather explained.
"Seems good to me" Vyra responded.
"Okay people. Let's move" Dagur said leading them on.
The team would head to the stables and get their dragons before embarking on the trip through the tunnel. As that happened, Thora had finished up her plans with Sander and it was time to brief the rest of the riders. She assembled them together and decided to carry out a briefing.
"With the other team well on their way, the success of this plan doesn't rely solely on them. We have a part to play and we're going to do it well" she said with a bold voice.
"Dane's going to be receiving a large shipment so our main aim is to blow up all the ports first and foremost. Without a port for the ships to dock on, he can't get his new set of dragons. As soon as we fly over, he would have men on our tails within minutes. To deal with that, we would be splitting into two teams"
"The first team would fly above the base and take some shots to get their attention. They would consist of fast and agile flyers who would keep the enemy busy for as long as possible. That's where the second team; consisting of our heavy hitters would be. Their job would be to blow up every port they have and stop the ships from docking"
"Dane has eight active ports around the island. Once those are down, it would be time for us to rain down hell on them all. We all hope that Dagur and the others would be back by then. Any questions?"
No one seemed to question her. All roles and responsibilities were easily understood.
"Good. Each team was created based on rider and dragon abilities. Sander would call out who belongs to which team and then we ride"
Sten, Thyra and Virgil had somehow been placed in the same team. They were tasked with blowing up the ports due to the nature of their dragons and how strong their fire type was. The diversion squad was twenty in number while the demolition squad were ten in number. Thora was also placed on their team, using her Singetail to lead the way while Sander on His Rumblehorn led the other team.
The entrance to the cave opened up and tens of dragons came flying out, today was the day they make their, for their freedom, for their homes, for all Berserkers. Sander and his team flew ahead while Thora and her squad followed them loosely. The second squad would stay within the tree line to camouflage themselves and their dragons.
Sander and his team closed up on what used to be their village. Now it was hardly recognizable, buildings had been destroyed or burnt down, cages littered the streets, tall and scrawny watchtowers were erected everywhere you looked. The darkness and hatred these men carried had managed to make itself into their homeland. That would all end today; the dark skies that covered Berserker Island would be cleared once and for all.
"CHARGE!!!" Sander yelled as his team pushed on.
The riders would unleash fiery blasts on the structures below as they began blowing up their buildings one by one. Within moments of firing, alarm horns blared alerting the guards of their arrival. Their reactionary force would take to the skies and engage them in combat. Just as planned, all eyes would be placed on them and the window of opportunity for the second team would emerge.
"It's our time now. Follow me to victory!" Thora cried as her dragon gave a resounding roar.
The cheers of her subordinates would echo around as they charged. They would shoot out from the forest and make their way towards the first port. With most men ordered to engage Sander and his team, they reached the first port in no time.
"Light it up!" Thyra cried.
Each rider instructed their dragons to shoot and multiple blasts came raining down on the port destroying it in an instance. Whatever wasn't destroyed from the structure was set ablaze by the flames throwing the men into frenzy.
From within his quarters, Dane would appear grumpily. His slumber was cut short by the sound of the alarm followed by multiple explosions. He wasn't in the best mood to say the least.
"Why have the alarms gone off? Why are there sounds of explosions in my camp?!" he demanded from his officials.
"It's n-n-nothing sir" one said frightfully. He was a thin, small man with a moustache. He was shabbily dressed, with barely any armor on him.
"Nothing?!" Dane yelled as he would pull down their insignia woven onto a curtain that covered a large window.
"You call this nothing?!" He said with an aggressive tone.
Behind him, another port would go up in flames contributing to his anger.
"These rebels assembled a motley crew of teenagers to attack my fortress, my army, and you say it's nothing?! Buildings and ports are being destroyed and you're in here doing nothing? Guards, take him away. I want flyers to intercept whoever is bombing my ports and I want those riders bombing my buildings to be shot down at whatever cost. Do you understand me?" he said with a sinister tone.
"Sir yes sir" They chorused.
"Those riders have disturbed my peace and they will feel my wrath"
Underneath the surface and armed with nothing but torches to see where they were going, the second group had been walking for close to an hour but they still hadn't made it out yet. The walk was exhausting, and the riders were beginning to feel frustrated. The men on the surface were risking their lives banking on them pulling through, yet they were nowhere close to the nest. Rune had his eyes peeled for any sign of ice. From his knowledge of Beweilderbeasts, the closer you are to them, you'll begin to see ice.
"We've been working for at least an hour now. Still no sign of the end" Forde whined.
"We're almost there" Bjorn said.
"That's what you've been saying for the last twenty minutes" said Vyra.
Compared to the other two, Rune was relatively quiet. He had barely said anything since they started walking. He was hell-bent on completing their task. It was his new chance at life, if he couldn't prove himself here and now, then it was a waste of time being incarnated when he still couldn't do anything significant with his life. As they walked deeper and deeper into the cave, something caught his attention. It glistened in the faint illumination the torches provided.
"What's that?" he asked pointing to the roof of the cave.
"What's what?" Heather asked.
"I saw something glisten on the roof of the cave"
"Everyone, raise your torches" Dagur instructed.
They lifted up their hands as high as they could go and the cloud of darkness above vanished. The torches illuminated the place and what glistened on the roof was nothing else but ice. A stream of it flowed into the cave and from the silence, they could hear water dripping.
"Ice?" Forde said confused.
"Yes, ice. That means we must be getting close. Right Dagur?" Rune asked.
"Yes. It shouldn't be long and then we can fly through"
"Yes!" Forde cheered.
This put a spring in their step, knowing that they were making progress. Within minutes, they would reach the end of the tunnel. It would open up to a large space with multiple tunnels now.
"Odin's beard" Vyra said in amazement.
The tunnels that stood before them were seven in number and they were gigantic. Ice ran along the top and the roof of the area, the riders began to feel chilly the moment they stepped their foot there.
"Those tunnels are huge" said Forde.
"Big tunnels call for a big dragon" Rune said.
"But no one has ever seen the dragon use them. They must have some other route" Bjorn said.
"That does make sense" Forde said.
"So Rune, how do you want us to tackle this challenge? We've followed every single one of those tunnels and it either leads us back here or we get to a dead end blocked by thick layers of ice" said Dagur.
"Well, that s where my trump card comes in" he said looking at Sandstorm.
Sandstorm looked a bit surprised, he stared at his rider with caution as if to say 'what are you talking about?'.
"How's your dragon going to help us here?" Heather asked.
"Well-"
"You're going to use Sandstorm's special ability right?" Forde cut in with some excitement in his voice.
"What special ability are you referring to?" Dagur said intrigued.
"You see-"
"Sand Wraiths have this special ability to feel vibrations through the sand around them. That's why they are able to sense their prey despite being buried tens of feet under the sand. Rune and Sandstorm used it once on Berk to locate Sten when he got lost in a cave. It's a really cool thing" Forde cut in. He just couldn't control his excitement and had to geek out.
"Way to go bro. You could've let me do the lecturing since it's my dragon" Rune said with disappointment.
"Sorry, I just got a little overexcited" he said still trying to contain his joy.
"A little is really an understatement. Gosh, you and your mentor are cut from the same coat. It's like I'm looking at another Fishlegs" Vyra said crossing her arms.
"I don't mind it. We all have something we get really excited for" Heather said.
"Okay people. We've done enough side talking. The others are depending on us to pull through. We have no time to waste" Dagur said calling them to order.
His words didn't feel like a command like he was forcing them, but more like an appeal. But behind those appealing words, there was confidence and authority. Rune had begun to take inspiration from him as a leader. Hiccup would be mighty surprised at how much Dagur had changed in a couple of years. He didn't look like the deranged Viking Rune grew up watching on the show.
"Rune, if you may"
Rune would nod at Dagur's words as he turned his attention to Sandstorm.
"Come on Sandstorm. We need you to do your thing. Take us to the King"
Sandstorm grunted as he proceeded to walk to the front of the caves. He had his head bowed and closed his eyes before he stomp his front right paw mightily on the ground. He waited for a couple of seconds before doing it again wanting to ensure that he got all the coordinates down. Forde was totally geeking out as he watched Sandstorm in action; it took Vyra all the strength she could muster from the gods to restrain herself from attacking him. With all said and done, Sandstorm would turn to Rune and give him a short roar.
"What does that mean?" Heather asked.
"He'll take us to the king"
"Alright everyone, Saddle up. It's time to meet the King" Dagur announced.
Without a moment to lose, each rider mounted their dragon as Rune and Sandstorm led the way to the nest of the King.