'dis mah THIRD update today. AH EMAIL WORK WORK WORK! Shout-outs chapter 12, if my e-mail works then. :) I'll try to do either one or two more updates today. Enjoy the chapter, and the cliffhanger! :D
Although Hiccup couldn't see it, Savage grinned.
"We are going to let you speak," he said, "but if you scream, or yell for help, we kill your dragon."
Hiccup suddenly found the hand away from his mouth, and he gasped.
"Savage," he hissed. "What are you doing on Berk? I thought you were with the Outcasts."
"I was," said Savage. "But then Alvin formed an alliance with you, and I was thoroughly disappointed. I didn't want an alliance. I wanted war, Hiccup, not peace. But no. No one else thought the way I did. They all wanted to make peace with you Berkians." He spat. "Foolish," he said. "So, I left, along with a few Outcasts who wanted to join my cause, and then started a group of my own."
"What do you want?" said Hiccup.
"War," said Savage. "But we are small in numbers as far as people go...but Hiccup...as far as dragons go...we are strong. We are very very very strong. We just need someone to train them...to prepare them for war."
"And let me guess," said Hiccup. "You want me to do it?"
"Yes," said Savage.
"Me?" said Hiccup. "As inviting as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass."
"Well," said Savage, "I thought you might say that. So that's why I am going to bargain with you."
"Bargain?" Hiccup frowned. "How?"
"I have your dragon," said Savage. "Come willingly, and I'll let him live. And more than that, I won't even capture him. I will leave him here, where he will be safe and sound. And if you don't come willingly...well...I'll kill him, and then take you by force. You don't want that, do you, Hiccup?"
Hiccup was torn in two. "No," he said. "I...I'll go willingly."
Savage, once again, grinned without Hiccup knowing. "Good," he said. "Guards, take him to the ship. We don't want this one getting away. I have some business to attend to."
The men gagged Hiccup and dragged him away. And, of course, he had no choice but to follow.
Savage turned back to Toothless, muzzled and bound. The dragon was hissing and snarling, but Savage ignored it. There was nothing the Night Fury could do to hurt him at that point.
Savage took a piece of parchment out of his pocket, along with a charcoal pencil. Then, he wrote a note out to Stoick and the Berkians, creating his own little "bargain" with them.
Dear Berkians, he wrote, this is your new arch enemy speaking. I have captured Hiccup and taken him to an island one hundred miles South of Dragon Island. You have one week to come and surrender to me before I kill him. And there's another thing, too. If you bring any dragons, rider or no, I will also kill your precious heir, no questions asked. Surrender, or look for a new heir. The choice is yours. One week. No dragons.
-Your New Enemy
Satisfied, Savage took a nail out of his pocket and pinned the note to the ground in front of Toothless.
"You have failed your rider," said Savage, leaning dangerously close to the Night Fury. "You have failed yourself. Maybe Stoick will kill you, and just put you our of your misery. Or...then again...maybe he won't." Savage laughed and walked back to the shore, where the boat was docked.
"We're ready to head out, sir!" said one of the soldiers.
"Good," said Savage. "We'll get that little Berkian skum to train our dragons. And if he doesn't...well...I've got something special in store for him."
They moved out, the boat heading towards the island in which Savage and his men had come from.
...
The boat lurched, and Hiccup was thrown across the wooden planks of the ship, landing awkwardly on his side. He resisted the urge to cry out, just because that would be showing weakness to his new enemies.
Hiccup didn't know where the guards had put him, but he figured it was below deck. For some reason, they had felt the need to, not only gag him, but bind his hands behind his back as well. He was a nineteen year old blind boy. What were they expecting him to do?
A thought suddenly occurred to him.
Did they know he was blind?
Probably not. Maybe that was a mix between good and bad. He just didn't know which was which.
Another instant later, Hiccup heard the latch open. Then, someone grabbed him and yanked him out roughly, obviously not caring what they did to him.
"Take him to the arena," said Savage. "None of this prison business. To the training arena, now. We'll start him on a Thunderdrum."
"Thunderdrum!?" Hiccup shrieked, which was hard to do because of his gag.
"Take that thing off him," Savage ordered. "There's nothing he can say now."
One of the soldiers stepped forward, relinquishing Hiccup of his gag. "Where do you get these dragons!?" Hiccup shouted.
"We capture them, obviously," said Savage. "If you don't train them, there will be consequences."
"Oh really?" said Hiccup. "What?"
"We'll make sure you die slowly and painfully," said Savage. "You know, I left a little note for your villagers to find. And once they find it, they'll be scrambling to this island to save your life. And once they surrender to me, I will take down the Outcasts. It will work perfectly."
Hiccup actually laughed. "The Berkians? Surrendering?" he asked. "Never in a thousand years."
"Oh, they will," said Savage, leaning closer to Hiccup's face, staring straight into the boy's piercing, emerald green eyes that seemed to almost glow like a cat's. "You see, I have then in their weak spot."
"Oh really, a weak spot?" said Hiccup. "Would you mind telling me what that is exactly?"
Savage laughed, leaned forward even closer, and spoke one single word that made Hiccup's skin crawl:
"You."