Chapter Text
"Your only way to stay alive is to work for Drago Bludvist. Either you die because I'll kill you -I can't risk you sailing back and talking, or you die in the war against England. The only chance of winning is on his side, Eivor. On my side." She hated him. How could he say something like that? It was his fault to take her with him after all. She hated herself for actually coming with him. She must kill him. He's a traitor. He betrayed his village. He deserves to die. Not in a battle so the Valkyries take him to the halls of Valhalla, no. He must be killed at night, in his sleep. That way, he won't fall in glory. After his death there's only going to be nothingness, emptiness and he won't be able to see his family in Valhalla. That's the best punishment a viking could get - after his death at least. "I can also put you on an island and you'd have to try to survive on there. But there's no way you can go back to Koranes. I can't trust you." Njal almost sounded like he'd try to tell her he was in the right and that he's innocent. Though, that wouldn't help at all. Eivor was a girl that could think for herself. She wouldn't fall for something like that so easily. "Die, bacraut (asshole)" was the only answer, followed by her spitting on the ground. "You wanted it" Njal said as he walked towards her, having nothing more than an axe in his hand. He threw it on the ground and took out a rope instead. "I can't risk you doing something stupid" the boy defended himself before he knocked her out with a punch on her nose. He probably broke it the way it bled. Not risking anything, he tied her up and laid her down somewhere comfortable on the ship.
In the moonlit night, Eivor got woken up by an echoing screech. Still being numb because of the deep 'sleep' she was put in, she tried to stand up, only to find her hands tied together. A pulsing pain in her nose greeted her. Out of reflex, Eivor wanted to hold her nose, feel her nose to see in what condition it is, only to be reminded of the rope around her wrists. "f*ck" she cussed. With that, she received Njal's attention. Said boy stopped sharpening his axe. "Slept well, sleepyhead?" he teased and then went back to his axe, ignoring the curse words that got thrown at his head by Eivor. Her swearing got interrupted by a dragon flying right above their heads. According to the way the ship suddenly swayed, it landed on the ships very top, the mast. Eivor freaked out. She knew she couldn't defend herself and the only way to survive was to be saved by Njal. The person she wanted to kill. But said boy was very calm. He put his axe away and stood up. He almost seemed like he'd welcome the dragon with open arms. But soon, she understood. The night fury crawled down the mast, revealing a person on its back. But not just any person, no. Now, she knew who it was. The other traitor. "Kami! What took you so long!" Njal greeted, forcing her into a hug. "You didn't come alone like I told vou to, why?" she pointed her weird looking sword towards Eivor, who was still lying on the ground. "It's a long story" he said "but we have more important things to talk about now". Njal sat down on a bench, far away from Eivor, hoping she wouldn't hear a thing they'd talk about. Kami got off her dragon as it jumped down from the mast onto the ship's floor and sat down to face Njal. "How are you, brother" she asked before putting off her helmet she still wore.
Eivor struggled to free her hands from the rope. No way in Hel that she'd just lay there and do nothing about the traitors. She needed to kill them and that damn night fury! That was her duty as drengr (warrior). The only thing she picked up from the talking siblings was "Drago", "War", "England" and "Dragons". Finally! Her hands were free again! She rubbed her wrists that were sore from the rope already. Now she just needed to grab the axe and put an end to these lunatics. Slowly and quiet she stood up to make her way to Njal's weapon. The siblings seemed to have sunken into a different world while talking. They were too focused to even notice their 'enemy'. Just one more step. Just one more inch and she'd have the axe lying in her hands. As she reached for it, her smile widened. Then, suddenly, a flaming sword flew across right infront of her eyes and stuck in the mast, making her dodge and fall back. The night fury crawled down from the mast and walked towards Eivor, pushing her down to the deck of the ship on her chest and threatened her with holding its plasma in its mouth. "It's fine Alzali, leave her" she heard Kami say. 'Alzali' followed the command and let go of her. "That's quite a lively one you brought with you, Njal" the girl walked towards Eivor and picked up her flaming sword from the mast on the way there. She held it infront of Eivor to see her face. "Eivor?" she gasped surprised. "She's a good choice I must say, a Drengr for sure" she took a closer look at her face. "Damn, what happened to your nose, huh?" Kami dodged a quick punch. Njal finally decided to join the two girls. "Well, about that. She's not really an ally" "Then we kill her" the girl said, cold. "We can't just kill her Kami!" Njal shouted, horrified. "Of course we can! She's an obstacle in our way that needs to be cleared" That statement completely changed the way she viewed Kami. She used to say that about dragons, but about vikings from her own village, about friends? Well, who could've guessed, she'd befriended dragons as well. It seems that her whole impression of who Kami was, was wrong. Has she just played to be that way the whole time? Or did the dragons do that to her? No matter what the reason was, she betrayed her village, which is why she needs to die either way. She almost sounded like her father. 'Whatever it takes' is one of the worst mindsets there is!
"No Kami, we cant. It was my fault that she's here now. She's innocent." "Then why did you bring her with you?!" Kami bit. "I thought i could change her m-" he got interrupted "let me guess, it didn't work?" she sighed. The girl waved her night fury to her. "Is there anything of value on this ship that you don't want to lose?" Njal shook his head. "Nothing except my axe" he walked towards it and picked it up, understanding what his sister tried to do. A deafening roar echoed through the dark ocean. A Crimson Goregutter appeared from the foggy night sky and carefully landed on the ship. "There's your ride" Kami said. The huge dragon laid its head down, like it's bowing. Njal took the opportunity and held tight onto its antlers to be thrown onto the goregutter's back. He stretched out his hand, offering it to Eivor. "Either you drown or you give us a chance to show you" Kami threatened. The 16-year-old had no other chance than to give in and join them. She reached for Njal's hand and got pulled up on the dragons back by it. Another roar echoed and dragons descended from the dark night sky, having their claws ready to pick up and transfer the ship to Drago Bludvist's place. Kami took her helmet, put it on and mounted her dragon. "Let's go" was the last thing they heard her say for the next 2 hours.
Eivor's mind played tricks on her. It told her how nice the breeze on the back of a dragon was. How peaceful a dragon could be. How free she felt while flying through the clouds. A true vikingr would never think something like that. Dragons are the enemies. Njal or Kami must have drugged her to make her think that way. There's no way in Hel that she'd think something like that. Dragons have killed hundreds of vikings. That's unforgiveable. Unforgettable. But it seems as they have forgotten. Kami and Njal. They must've forgotten what dragons did to them. Was that the work of the dragons? Could they manipulate ones mind? There are tales from boatsmen, narrating that they have seen and experienced such thing at sea before. "Eivor" a voice startled her, pulling her out from her thoughts. "Join us" the boy infront of her said. "You don't have to die young, join us, join Drago Bludvist." She went back to her thoughts after that. If she understood correctly what she heard, the war is against England. They want to try to conquer a part of England and kill its king. Drago Bludvist wants to do that with dragons. That's a safe method for sure. No one has to die, except for some dragons probably. That would benefit her. But how would he control the dragons? Well, Kami was able to as well, for whatever reason. She wouldn't have to kill innocent people, just the soldiers that try to defend England. Up above from the skies it's easy to pick a victim without hurting anyone else. "Eivor?" the voice pulled her out from the deep, dark sphere of thoughts once again. "Join us" "Njal, repeating the same things for the hundredth time won't change her mind, idiot" Kami said annoyed.
"I will join you" Eivor surprised. A "WHAT?!" escaped Njal's lips. The crimson goregutter got startled by the sudden scream, which is why it growled back in response. "Sorry" the boy said. "We're almost there" Kami said from above, pointing towards a mountain with ships sailing through its huge hole. The night fury and the goregutter flew through a smaller hole while the other dragons stood back to drop the ship into the water and then fly away again. Alzali and the goregutter landed on an edge inside the huge cave. Kami pulled up her visor to talk. "Let me do the talking, just stay silent and don't touch anything, got it?" both nodded as reply. "Okay, let's go".
They landed on the biggest ship next to other smaller ships, which were full of green dragon cages made of metal as it seemed. Kami jumped off Alzali's back, signing the other two not to move. "Drago, how are you" she said. "You brought company" he grumbled. "Yes, your eyes still work well as it seems. This is Njal, my brother, rightful heir of Koranes, and Eivor, his girlfriend, the soon-to-be-chief's wife." She glanced at them, hoping they'd understand. "You bring me lovebirds, for what?" "To join your dragon army of course. They want to help infiltrate England once the preparations are done. They're both one of the finest warriors I know." A glance searched the two vikings sitting on top of the dragon. "Come down." Both followed his command. He searched them with his eyes. It almost felt like he'd search something inside of them. "What do you want in return?" "You know me too well, Drago" she smiled "but this time, it's nothing big. All I want is to have them under my command. I want to train them, 1 want to do whatever I want with them." Drago laughed in response. It wasn't because it was funny, no. It was because he expected Kami to demand that. "To have other dragon riders by your side? Do whatever you want with them, as long as they serve me until I die." "Of course, Drago" she smiled. "| want to speak with you, alone." Kami followed Drago into one of his cabins on the ship. "You two, fly to Valka" the girl looked more to the crimson goregutter than Njal and Eivor knowing it would understand it more than the others. "Valka?? Isn't th-" "Pshh, shut up! Let's go". They both climbed the huge dragon infront of them and flew away like Kami wanted them to.
"This is crazy" Eivor sighed. "It's our only way out" Njal responded. They have been flying for quite a while now, hoping the dragon would 'fly to Valka'. "I thought Valka was dead, abducted by a dra-" the sudden realization hit her. "Ah, now I get it". But why would one of Kami's dragons abduct Valka, why Valka? And how would the dragon know who to choose. Someone must have ordered them to. Was it Drago Bludvist? Or was it Kami? How could she give commands if she wasn't there? Or was she? How long do they know each other? Has she been under his command from the beginning? No, that's stupid, how and why would Drago Bludvist reach her without being detected? Questions over questions flooded Eivor's mind. And she wasn't the only one. Njal also seemed like he was thinking about something because he visibly had a frown on his face. Was there something wrong? Questions made their way back into Eivor's mind. Though, they couldn't help to fade out the stinging pain in her broken nose.
After 4 hours of fighting and discussing, sorting out thoughts and deciding what to do while being imprisoned on a dragon's back, Njal and Eivor finally arrived at The Sanctuary to meet Valka. "Whoaa what is this place?" the girl was amazed by the huge ice spikes that embellished the volcano-like mountain they saw at that moment. "My sister calls it 'The Sanctuary', she's using it as training grounds for the dragons preparation for war." Njal explained "there's this one big dragon - she called it the Bewilderbeast I think - that can command the dragons to do what it wants them to, just like Kami's night fury - Alzali - can." The Crimson Goregutter took course to the very top of the mountain, only then to drop down through the huge hole and spin circles alongside the gigantic ice spike in the middle of the cave. Both Vikings couldn't help but scream out of surprise and fear, thinking they are going to either fall off and die or the dragon is going to crash into something so that all three of them die. Out of reflex, Eivor held tight onto Njal, wrapping her arms around his back and belly. Both didn't realize it before landing as she quickly removed them again. They may never speak about it.
Valka stumbled out of the small cave Kami usually slept in, being surprised by the sudden screaming and the startled dragons flying around everywhere. Then, she saw it. A huge, colourful dragon with big, proud antlers stood right at the cliff she usually sat on. The woman has never seen such a beautiful beast before. To her surprise, it didn't come alone. The dragon put its head down on the ground, making the view to its back better. It revealed two vikings on the dragon's back, now climbing down its neck. "Njal?" was all Valka was able to say. The woman was too stunned to speak a whole sentence "What- a- you? Here?" "Wait... you both know each other???" the other person on the dragon's back now slid down its neck, "Why am I the only one being new to this whole thing?!" A girl, about 16 years old, braided brown hair, with a broken nose and a scar - probably from a dragon - on her face, now stood right in front of the two others. "It's a long story" the blonde boy replied. He seemed to have replied to both of the 'questions' at once. The Crimson Goregutter made its way to the Bewilderbeast, paid respect and then flew to the ice spike in the middle of the cave to be with the other dragons. Though it didn't really work since the Crimson Goregutter was bigger, heavier and clumsier than the others. It was almost too big for some parts of the cave. "Kami sent us here" Njal started, "Eivor and I sailed across the ocean but then our ship sunk. We were lucky to have met her, especially while she took some dragons with her for formation training" The quick exchange of looks between him and Eivor said a lot about the current situation. Eivor immediately realized what has happened right now, what she needed to do. Don't tell Valka about Kami's meeting with Drago Bludvist. But why? Wasn't Valka on their side? Kami probably was the one that gave the dragon the command to abduct Valka, why would she do that if Valka wouldn't completely be on her side? "And this is?" the woman asked. "I'm Eivor, daughter of Thorkell" the girl replied, "I'm from Koranes, just like Njal is" A welcoming look from Valka greeted her. "And you two think the same of dragons as we do? I would've never thought so, especially after what we've talked about before, Njal." Her eyes swayed from the two vikings standing in front of her. "Anyways, you two must be tired. Come" she waved her hands, signalling them to follow her. Both listened and did what she wanted them to. They strayed around the cave and arrived at their destination, Kami's 'room'. The room was dark, the only light in it was projected by some candles and a torch that hung on the wall. "Let me have a look at your nose" the woman said, pointing down to a wooden stool, "sit down." With care and caution, Valka felt every point in the girl's nose, intending to find out how to help it heal the best way. Eivor bit her tongue during the process as her whole nose ached more with every touch. In the meantime, Njal looked around and found some pieces of bread laying on a rock that was covered in fabric, it was probably meant to be some kind of table. "Hungry?" the woman's voice asked with humor laying in it as undertone. "It's almost feeding time, we can go eat something together then." The young vikings exchanged looks. "What do you mean 'feeding time'?" Eivor asked as she got some bandages fixed around her nose. "You'll find out soon" Valka said while cutting off a piece from the bandages. A deafening, deep roar echoed through the whole mountain. "There we go" she said, "perfect timing". Valka stood up and made her way to Cloudjumper, her Stormcutter friend. As she was about to climb up her dragon that was waiting right in front of the small 'room', the realization hit her. "You two need dragons for that" she chuckled. "Come" she commanded once again. As they walked out of the 'room', they found no one else beside each other in the huge cave. "They must've left without us..." Valka realized. Just then, a screeching sound echoed through the huge cave. A night fury with someone on its back and two dragons flying after it arrived in the cave. It carefully landed at the cliff. Kami put off her helmet and dismounted Alzali. "Everyone's here already I see, hungry?" she asked with a bright smile on her face, "need a ride?". The Crimson Goregutter from before and a beige and brown, night fury-like dragon with two tusks looking out of its mouth and fur instead of scales all over its body landed right next to Kami. "This is Sterkur" she pointed to the Crimson Goregutter, "and this is Fjall" she pointed at the woolly howl. "Your ride, as ordered" she laughed, "come on, let's go". Valka mounted her dragon, so did Kami and Njal. Eivor hesitated. "She won't harm you, she's really gentle." Kami explained. "Hurry up, we need to catch up to the others" Eivor's rumbling stomach got her to finally overcome her fear. With everything but ease, the girl jumped on Fjall's back and held tight on her fur. It was really soft... so comfortable. They all jolted in the in the air and took off, hoping to find the others. "Don't pull on the fur too much or she will throw you off" Kami joked. After that, scared Eivor completely let go and almost fell off her dragon. "I'm just joking! She doesn't really feel that" Kami and the others laughed, except for Eivor. "Funny". After the squad finally tracked down the others, Kami and Valka explained everything to Njal and Eivor, almost like their mentors. They caught fish with their hands while their dragons caught it with their mouth. After their successful hunt, the four of them ate their cooked fish at the spot Kami always used to stay at.
In the span of two winters, Kami taught the other three almost everything she knew about dragons. She made them all an armor based on their dragon's looks, a saddle for their dragons and a new weapon for the war (at least two of them got it for the war). She never told Valka about her alliance with Drago Bludvist or that she only brought Njal and Eivor for the war against England that was about to take place. Valka always looked out for the dragons while Kami and the other three went on 'expeditions'. These weren't just expeditions, no. Kami, Njal and Eivor went to see Drago Bludvist or flew to England to spy on them as preparation for the war. She reasoned their absence with 'hunting dragon hunters' and 'freeing the dragons or 'finding new land', which Valka seemed to believe.
They all evolved a strong bond with each other and their dragons. Even Eivor started to really live the life of the 'drekamenn', that's what they called themselves (islandic translation for dragon riders).
Njal's & Eivor's flightsuit
Credits go to all artists on pinterest: Njal: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/1055671968899834174/
Eivor: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/1055671968899834177/
