Greetings!
Well, that was a had secret to keep. The reviews all said "I hoped that Aurora would write about that" and I was kind of just over here giggling. But, now that the announcement for TAAOFHAW is officially out, I feel better.

Thanks for follows/favorites/reviews!

Chapter Three

Scenes of the past hour flashed through his mind as Hiccup was dragged through a strange dark labyrinth of hallways. How had everything gone from so well to a nightmare in a matter of moments?

Where was Wrenlou? Was he even alive? The way that the Roman officer had responded to the questions regarding the other man made Hiccup think that perhaps they had Wrenlou in their custody as well. But that made no sense, as he and Wrenlou had been separated when Antoninus was killed. Maybe he had raced forward to protect him, or-

He was thrown to the ground suddenly, his shoulder cracking painfully against the rough stone floor. His hands were still tied together, so he wasn't able to catch himself from falling, and the blow to his head from earlier had left a vicious headache that was destroying his sense of direction.

The Roman man-Cassius one of the other Romans had called him-knelt next to him, and grabbed Hiccup's jaw, holding it in a vice-like grip that sent a jolt of pain through his face. Cassius tilted his head from side to side, studying him with dark eyes that burned with fury.

Then, without warning, he used his free hand to score a hit directly to Hiccup's abdomen. The younger man gasped as the air was driven from his lungs, and he doubled over.

Cassius made a gesture to the other men, and they left, apparently understanding a sign that was meaningless to Hiccup.

"Please." Hiccup said, trying one more time to defend his innocence. "I didn't kill Antoninus, I barely even knew the man."

"LIAR!" Cassius shouted, and hauled Hiccup up by the leather harness he was wearing. "Why do you keep insisting something we both know is true?"

Hiccup opened his mouth to reply, but cut off as he was slammed against the wall. His head jolted forward as a stabbing pain shot through his skull. The world around him fractured for a moment, and he blinked, trying to regain his focus.

"Please." He whispered. "Mercy." It was a slightly odd word to say, but in Dragoncity, sometimes when they were goofing off, and they accidentally hurt each other, the other would murmur 'mercy', almost as a joke to alert the aggressor that the roughhousing had gone too far. He wasn't sure why he had said it-it slipped out.

All the purpose it served was to enrage Cassius even further. He leaned in close to Hiccup and said fiercely "There is no mercy for the likes of you."

Then he was hurled against the wall once more, and again he slipped away into the waiting arms of unconsciousness.

Wrenlou sat in front of a fire, Snowflake curled around him. He was thinking; almost brooding. The longer he sat, the more things could be happening to Hiccup, but he didn't know what to do.

Snowflake nudged him, and he placed a hand gingerly on the white Night Fury's head. "It's okay Snowflake. It will be alright."

Toothless was pacing, clearly worried. There was no doubt that the bond between him and his rider was stronger than most dragon's. It was a special kind of friendship indeed that allowed him to put his safety into Hiccup's responsibility every day. It came as no surprise that the dragon had degenerated into a distressed state.

Wrenlou stood up, stretching, gazing up at the night sky, filled with thousands and millions and billions of stars, tiny specks of white light that were almost overwhelming in their numbers. The sky was so beautiful, heedless of his internal panic and anxiety.

"I'm going for a walk." He told the two dragons. "You can come if you like."

Obediently, Snowflake stood up, and trotted after him. A brief series of chirps and clicks ensued, and Toothless fell in behind him as well. Wrenlou grinned a bit, and began to walk through the long grass that sprang up around him.

As he walked, Wrenlou tried to figure out what to do. He needed to scout out the area where Hiccup was, so that he could find him, and rescue him. However, Wrenlou was used to having dragons to help him with the task, and he couldn't use that advantage here.

Perhaps he could fly in with Toothless-the Night Fury was as dark as its name suggested. He couldn't use Snowflake for scouting purposes, for obvious reasons.

He had made up his mind that after he got back to the camp, he would take Toothless out and try to find Hiccup.

So naturally, that was when a farmer appeared, charging them with a spade.