Night fell over the already dark cave and the sound of snores filled the room. While Neilson slept, Eerika quietly stood up and went around the cave. With some work, she got closer to reaching her blade. Luckily, since Neilson had had her chain herself, she had been able to position her arms behind herself and closer to the knife. "All I'd need to do is stab him, then I would be...still chained up. I could find the keys on him, hoping that he ever planned on unchaining me and actually still has them on him." The viking stared at him and kept trying for the weapon. When she got a hold of it, she went over to him. She jumped, lightly, so that she could move her hands from by her back to in front of her. Next, the princess took her blade out and crept over to Neilson. Before Eerika could do anything, she heard some new voices and a lot of them. Stealthily, she peeked out the cave. Squinting to see through the brush that kept them hidden, she was able to spot several ships pulling into the harbor and docking. She bit her lip, "Dang it. He called for backup. There'd be no point in killing him now. It is not like there is a good place to hide and I need time to think of a new plan."

Silently, she jumped again and moved her hands back behind herself. As the vikings approached, more noise naturally came and Neilson awakened. He brushed himself off and glared at Eerika-who at this point was pretending that she was asleep. Just before he tried to kick her awake, she moved. It was tempting to laugh at his disgruntled expression, though her own angst was more than enough of a deterrent from anything resembling joy. Large vikings with spiked helmets marched into the cavern. Eerika had never actually seen dragon hunters in person and had only heard about them and her own imagination could do little to fully convey these guys. It was not even so much that they were of an intimidating stature, but their presences radiated the fact that they killed for the heck of it and tortured for fun. A part of the princess was curious about how the interaction between them and her captor would be. "Glad to see you got my message." Neilson told them. His voice was as cold as when he abducted Eerika and ten times as serious. "How do we know if they got theirs?" the most sinister-looking of the group asked. Neilson smirked and pointed to Eerika, "I'll give you an easy way. If she's still looking like this and isn't in pieces, you know that they didn't get the note."

The hunters began talking about all the horrific ways they would kill the Berserkers and Defenders, sufficiently making Eerika's stomach churn with rage. Thrice, she was tempted to leap one more time in order to slash Neilson's throat. She could tell that he wanted a reaction out of her and badly. With every other caustic remark, he would side-eye the heiress. Finally, when he was completely annoyed that she was not saying anything, he directly spoke to her. "What do you think about all that, Eerika? Like the idea of us killing the pompous Queen Mala and Dagur the Deranged." Neilson chuckled, "I don't even need to come up with any insult. He made that one, himself." Eerika stared at him, blandly, and the young man continued. "You all shouldn't even be that upset about being around hunters. Your mom apparently loves us. After all, she did marry one, didn't she? You're half hunter." Still, the princess paid him no heed. Glowering, Neilson reeled back his arm and was subsequently kicked. After stumbling backwards, he motioned to the others. "Hold her down." he ordered. The hunters eyed each other for a moment and obeyed. Grabbing Eerika by the shoulders and head, they forced her, firmly, onto her knees. Once certain that she was immobile, Neilson again raised his arm. A hard punch went across the viking's face, though she just smirked.

Neilson's eyes widened for a moment, then narrowed, "I'm feeling wishy washy. I told your parents to come at noon, but I can use this time to have some fun." He eyed her, skeptically, "I won't leave your face totally scathed. Consider me merciful." The young hunger's hand reached behind his back and he drew a jagged knife. With his left hand, he held Eerika's jaw and used his right to carve from her cheekbone to her chin. Sharp pain followed a kick to the princess's side. Several more various attacks ensued, then she lost count. Loudly, a voice in her conscious told her to take the knife and cut him to pieces, but she could not listen. "He's setting up my parents. If I have an unknown advantage, that might be the edge that we'll need later. Even if I'm just giving it to one of them." The viking imagined her parents being there and killing them. While her mother was beheading a hunter with her sword, Eerika's father dug the blade that she had into Neilson's neck. Such imagery sent a jolt of joy into the viking. She laughed, in less than an entirely normal manner. The hunters, though disturbed, were nonetheless undeterred. After what seemed like forever, they stopped. Neilson wiped his hands on his legs and went to look out the cave. "They'll be here soon." he said, quietly. The edges of his lips curved upwards, "Good thing that we're ready."

Before an hour passed, some hunters went over to Neilson, "They're about to dock now." The word "dock" took Eerika off guard. Head throbbing, she peeked over her shoulder to see if they were telling the truth. To her surprise, they were. Without Sleuther as a mode of transportation, the royals had traveled to the cave. Several hunters rushed out to the ship and Eerika heard the sounds of them lifting items. Prior to Dagur or Mala entering, Neilson roughly lifted the younger viking up and draped her over his shoulder. He moved her to another part of the cave where she could not see anything and tied a cloth around her mouth. The viking grinned and tapped her bloody cheek with his hand before heading back out to the main area. Eerika listened as her parents walked into the cave and Neilson welcomed them. "Good to see you both again." he greeted. He beamed when the other hunters reentered with the gold filled chests. "We brought what you wanted. Where's our daughter?" Dagur demanded. Neilson opened up the holders and took in all his newly acquired wealth. "Who?" He peeked up, then flicked his wrist, "Oh, she's around here somewhere."

Mala bit her lip, "Seeing as we have delivered on our part of the deal, you should be returning Eerika to us." Neilson shrugged, "I mean, that's what I wrote, but things have changed. I like having her around. Anyway, thanks for the gold." Neilson let some gold coins sift through his fingers, "It'd be a shame for you to come all this way without seeing her, though." He went behind some large boulders and carried the viking out, then set her down. A knot formed in Mala's throat that made her want to both decapitate Neilson and cry out in horror. Likewise, Dagur felt a rage that he had not in years. It genuinely hurt the two to see Eerika in such a poor shape. Through gritted teeth, the chief said, "I would suggest that you give our daughter back, if you want to have your insides remain inside." The hunter raised a brow, "Is that a threat?" A demented smile spread over the king's face, "A promise." he corrected. For a split second, Neilson's bravado faltered. To overcompensate for that, he puffed up, "Don't you want to know why I'm doing all this? Aren't you even slightky curious?" There was a pause, "Well, it's because of the two of you. If you can look back far enough in the list of people you've murdered, you might recall a pair of hunters that disguised themselves as traders." An unfortunate memory commenced playing back in the minds of the two. Neilson noticed, "So you do remember. I'm sure you two didn't care that they might have had a kid." The hunter glared at them. "Since I've lost my parents, it's only fair that you lose your daughter." He smirked, "Besides, imagine the happiness you'd deprive Eerika of, if you took her away." Emphasizing his point, he picked her back up, put their faces close, and stroked her hair.

With more ferocity than a Screaming Death, Dagur lunged at the hunter. Just as he grabbed Neilson, seven hunters were on top of him, trying to pry him off. In the disturbance, Eerika had managed to get out of Neilson's hold and garner enough strength to jump over her hands again. With the knife, she went to stab the hunter, but was yoked up by another hunter before she could. Hiding it again, she pretended to slump. Terror was in Neilson's eyes as his throat was grasped in Dagur's hand. Mala drew her weapon and impaled the hunters attempting to restrain her husband. As Dagur's hand clenched into a fist, the life began to fade from Neilson. Just before the deed could be done, a hunter put an ax to Eerika's throat. "Release him and I'll release her." he stated. The Berserker saw something from the corner of his eye and dropped Neilson. The larger hunter smirked, though was cut off by a blast in the back of his head. He fell forwards and Eerika side-stepped to avoid being squashed. Her eyes lit up as she spotted a familiar reptile.