Greetings! (Again)

Breyannia, your comment made me laugh. Thank you for putting a smile on my face. (Although for how violent this fanfiction is, I'm not sure that a smile is appropriate...)

I know that I already updated today, but, what the heck, no one is going to complain if I update so soon.

Chapter Four

"Get out of the way!" The farmer yelled. "There are dragons behind you!"
Snowflake had reared up to defend Wrenlou, and jumped in front of him. The farmer went to bring the shovel down on the dragon's head, but she dodged easily, and the shovel hit the groun, sending up a spray of dirt.

"Whoa, hold on!" Wrenlou moved around Snowflake, and grabbed the shovel from the man, who looked to be middle-aged, wearing a worn shirt and pants covered with dirt from working in the fields.

"Dragons!" The farmer yelled again, and Wrenlou had to suppress a grin.

"It's alright, they won't hurt you."

"What do you mean? Are you insane, don't touch it!" Wrenlou guided Snowflake over to the farmer, and took his hand gently.

"Look, Snowflake won't hurt you." The farmer pulled away.

"Gods, man, it's a Night Fury! What are you doing?"
Wrenlou sighed. "I know that it's a Night Fury. Her name is Snowflake, and I promise, she won't hurt you. She's one of the gentlest dragons I know."

"Dragons aren't gentle." The man said sternly, but he had already begun approaching the dragon. He stretched out a hand tentatively-very tentatively-although when Snowflake saw this, she pulled away.

"It's okay Snowflake." Wrenlou said encouragingly. The dragon gave him a long, scrutinizing look, and then turned to allow the farmer to place an anxious hand on her head.

The farmer shook his head slowly. "Amazing. What about that one? Is it yours too?" He was pointing Toothless, who had watched the exchange with little more than a vague interest. Wrenlou's shoulders sagged a bit.

"No, he...belongs to my friend." A thought came to him. "Do you know of any way to break into one of the prisons in the city to rescue someone?"

The farmer laughed condescendingly. "Not that I know of." He quieted immediately when he saw the darkness on Wrenlou's face. "Sorry. The person you want to rescue...is it your friend that has that other dragon?"

Wrenlou nodded, handing te shovel back to the farmer. "He was arrested for murder. He was framed for it." He quickly added. "I don't know if he's even still alive."

The farmer shook his head. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. One thing is for certain though:" Here he gave Wrenlou a hard look. "If your friend went into one of the prisons, you're not going to get him out."

~~~O~~~

The whip sliced through his back once more, and Hiccup closed his eyes, biting his lip against the burning pain. He had faced a lot of pain in his life-probably a lot more than should fall to his lot-and this wasn't necessarily the worst he had ever felt. But it was drawn out, continued at the same level for so long that he felt as if he might pass out. Yet the adrenalin coursing through his body made sure and well that he was conscious for the entire process.

The leather cord connected with flesh again, eliciting a moan. Then again, and again, and again, until Hiccup lost count, which bothered him. He had been trying to count the lashes as a binding point, something for his mid to focus on, but the numbers slipped from his mind. Was it thirteen? Fourteen? Or had that been surpassed already?

"Enough." Cassius said from behind him. Then his hands were being untied from the post he was strung up on, and Hiccup slumped to the ground.

"Bring him here." Someone grabbed his arms, and hauled over to where Cassius was waiting. A piece of cloth was tied around his eyes, effectively blindfolding him.

Then water was being poured down his back, and even though it was freezing, it soothed the fire that had erupted in his body, and he exhaled slowly in pleasure.

"Don't get too used to it." Cassius whispered harshly in his ear. "We can't hurt you if you're unconscious." Then he said, louder, to the others in the room, "Follow me. And bring him." He punctuated his statement with a kick to Hiccup's ribs.

The stone floor was rough against Hiccup's back as he was dragged through the prison, and it only served to aggravate the already tender skin on his back. He couldn't see anything through the blindfold, which scared him. He didn't like having one of his senses stripped away from him.

A door slammed shut, and then he was being forced onto a table-he could feel the grain of the wood, and it creaked like it was old. Then his hands were bound behind him, and the ropes around his ankles secured.

There was a strong source of heat coming from the side of the room...left of him. There was the sound of metal scraping against stone-a sound Hiccup was familiar with, having worked in a forge most of his life.

The blindfold was ripped away from his eyes revealing Cassius looming over him, holding a long knife glowing from sitting in a fire. Hiccup's breath caught in his throat.

"Please." He murmured. It was a word he spoke frequently in recent hours. "I didn't..." His plea of innocence was either ignored or in vain. It didn't matter-the end result was still the same.

The burning knife was lodged into Hiccup's am, and he opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Only a tortured gasp. The smell of burning flesh hit his nose, and he gagged. The whole thing was sick and demented. Why did he have to endure this? Why couldn't it have been the one who deserved to be punished?

Although Hiccup wasn't sure that anyone deserved this.

Cassius' voice filtered in through his mind. "It's interesting. If you stab someone with a knife thats hot enough, the heat will actually cauterize the wound. Meaning minimal blood loss, which is in and of itself productive in keeping you alive." Then he twisted the knife, and tears of pain slid down Hiccup's face.

Cassius pulled away, leaving the knife in Hiccup's arm, burning and sending flashes of pain through his body. The Roman pulled something from his belt. "Do you recognize this?"

Hiccup gritted his teeth, eyes widening bit. In Cassius' hand was Inferno, the blade Hiccup had made for himself. The one that coated the sword in fire. He knew what was coming, although he prayed that it would come to pass only in his imagination.

"Quite a few people got burned pretty badly trying to figure this thing out. It's a work of art, really." Cassius laughed softly. "And of course, it's always effective to use a warrior's own weapon against him."
Cassius clicked open the blade, which slid out with its trademark metallic shink. The fire blazed to life, dancing in Hiccup's bright green eyes.

"No." Hiccup said, doing his best to move away. He shook his head violently. "Oh gods, please, I didn't make that to hurt people."
"Well then, we might as well test it."

The blade wasn't sharp-it was for taming dragons. not slicing through things. But the fire was so intense, Hiccup could feel it even before it touched his skin.

Hiccup's back arched as pure agony exploded across his chest as Inferno was brought cruelly down on him.

He closed his eyes, tears streaming down his face. His mouth opened once more, and this time, a scream so vicious it hurt his throat making the sound was ripped free.