Heart of a Berserker: Faith (School of Dragons)

Chapter 4

"Look how far you've come, you filled your heart with love
Baby, you've done enough, take a deep breath
Don't beat yourself up, don't need to run so fast
Sometimes we come last, but we did our best

I won't give up, no I won't give in
'Til I reach the end, and then I'll start again
No, I won't leave, I wanna try everything
I wanna try even though I could fail"

- "Try Everything" by Shakira

Chapter 4

"Oh no!" Hiccup exclaimed. "We're going to need a plan for a counterstrike when Stormheart inevitably attack us"

Upon returning to Dragon's Edge, I gathered Dagur and the dragon riders around and told them everything that transpired that day. Near the end, Snotlout, Skulder, and Fishlegs showed up and added their take. Then everyone split up to talk about our next course of action, leaving me alone with Hiccup and Viggo.

"I'm sorry, Hiccup," I said. "I messed up. I thought I could outsmart Stormheart, but it didn't work and only made her angrier. Skulder and Fishlegs could have died because of me."

"But they didn't," Viggo said. "Stormheart is a tough opponent. You did the best you could under the circumstances."

"Viggo's right," Hiccup said. "And you did save Fishlegs and Skulder in the end. I'm proud of you. You'll do better next time."

"And I will stay by your side and help you the best I can."

I bit my lip and nodded. "Thank you." I was still frustrated that Stormheart always seemed to be one step ahead of me, but they were right. I had to keep moving forward. Still, there was one more thing bothering me. "Before I left the Tempest, Stormheart said she's beat me because she knows my weakness. Do either of you have any idea what that could be?"

Hiccup and Viggo exchanged glances. "I don't know," Hiccup said. "I would said caring about your friends, but she already used that against you. It must be something more specific."

"I would not worry about it," Viggo said. "Whatever it is, it cannot be changed, and dwelling on it will only distract you, which is probably what she wants."

"Yeah, you're right," I said. But it would be nice to figure it out. I turned to Hiccup. "So, what's the plan?"

"Since we don't know where she might attack, we need to get our allies ready for battle," Hiccup said. "Can you two talk to Dagur and make sure he's ready to join us in this defense?"

"We're on it." I scanned the base for Dagur and found him talking to Sleuther off to the left. I took a deep breath and headed his way. "Hey, Dagur. How's Mala?"

"She's doing fine!" Dagur said with a grin. "Nothing can keep her down for long."

"Hiccup would like to know if you're ready for a fight," Viggo said.

Dagur laughed. "Ha-ha! Thank Hiccup for his concern, but that's a ludicrous question. A Berserker is always ready to cause maximum mayhem at the drop of a helmet! After what Stormheart did to my wife, I'm ready to double that. You can tell my brother that I'm ready for war."

I gave him a small smile. His enthusiasm was almost contagious. "Will do."

"Well, you should share that with Astrid too. Hiccup may be the chieftain, but Astrid would be the natural general, don't you think?"

"Indeed," said Viggo. "Let us be off, Brennda."

First, I returned to Hiccup and let him know Dagur was good to go. Then Viggo and I found Astrid near the training dome. "Hey Astrid," I said. "Dagur is ready to fight. Do we have a plan yet?"