Chapter 1

"NO", Hiccup shouted.

Alvin snarled as he grabbed the front of Hiccups tunic and lifted him bodily off the ground. Hiccup struggled as he did so, grasping vainly at the hand buried in his tunic.

Alvin's next words were slow and dangerous as he brought his face closer to Hiccups.

"What did you say?"

Hiccups stopped his struggling and looked determined at Alvin.

"I said no. I won't train your dragons."

Alvin snared in anger.

"So be it," Alvin roared and threw Hiccup as hard as he could across the floor of the arena. Hiccup cried out in pain as he collided with the hard ground, yet more bruises being added to the ones he had already received. He came to rest at Savage's feet and groaned as he tried to sit up. Alvin was coming closer his towering anger radiating from him as he approached Hiccups prone figure.

"Take our guest back to his quarters Savage, and take good care of him. He has an appointment with the executioners block in the morning."

With that he stomped past them and out of the arena.

Hiccup froze at those words and made no protest as Savage grabbed his tunic and hauled him roughly to his feet. He had known how it would end. What his defiance to Alvin would finally result in but he felt the fear rise up inside him none the less. He swallowed trying to force it back as he was pushed forwards and herded back to his cell, a war raging inside him between panic and fear. He tried to blank his mind, keep himself calm and not show how terrified he was.

'I will not show fear in front of my enemy,' Hiccup thought, the old Berkian mantra rising to the forefront of his mind. He did not want to lose it now in front of the Outcasts.

Hiccup stumbled, his metal foot catching on the stone floor as Savage pushed him roughly through the cell door. He turned and gave Savage a glowering angry look. Savage laughed.

"Better get your beauty sleep boy. You'll want to look your best when we send you to Valhalla," and with that he slammed the door, shutting Hiccup in the near dark. Hiccup listened as the bolt was drawn across and Savage's laughter echoed down the corridor as he left.

Alone now Hiccup let the fear he had been suppressing rise. A horrible feeling of immense pressure began to build in his chest, it spread to his arms and legs, to his head and he felt as though a great weight was being pushed down on him. He squeezed his eyes shut, breathing fast and felt his legs weaken. He fell to his knees, shaking uncontrollably.

Black spots were forming in front of his eyes and he tried to calm his breathing realising he would pass out if he wasn't careful. In an attempt to combat the intense feeling of cold that now spread through his body he wrapped his arms tightly about himself. It was over, he was going to die and there would be no chance of escape this time.

He sat back on his heels his eyes squeezed shut as he tried to fight the horrible feeling of terror and waves of panic. He'd been on Outcast Island for several days now. If a rescue was going to be attempted it would have happened by now. He shivered violently and wrapped his arms tighter around his small frame. He had hoped to die a Hero saving his village, his family…Astrid, or even of old age if he had been that lucky. Instead he was going to die young, executed, by his tribe's greatest enemy. Not the way a chief's son was meant to go but go that way he would, all because of dragons.

He tried to calm his breathing, get his emotions back under control and gradually the shivering subsided. His mind coming to terms with his situation. At least he hadn't betrayed his tribe. He would not die a traitor. It was a small comfort and he hoped that his father, when he learned of Hiccups fate, would find comfort in the fact that he had defied Alvin and stayed true to his tribe...stayed true to him.