I clutched onto Inferno's back, wave after wave of frustration coursing through me. Why didn't Hiccup get it? I knew he was a peaceful person, who at heart never wanted to hurt anyone. But sometimes you had to fight even when you didn't want to. Sometimes you had to fight to protect innocent lives.

But still, he refused to see what was right in front of him.

Drago wanted to destroy lives. He couldn't be reasoned with. We had to fight. There weren't a lot of other options. I let out a long groan and buried myself further into Inferno, trusting him to fly us well.

Suddenly I felt something wrap around us. It tangled itself around us, pinning me to Inferno's neck and causing us both to let out cries of alarm. We were falling. We hit the ground with a thump, and were soon surrounded by huge hulking shadows. I struggled for all I was worth, letting out curses.

Inferno screeched angrily and almost forgot I was next to him, he started to light himself ablaze. He caught himself and stopped, snarling murderously.

I froze when I caught sight of the most shadowy figure yet came into view. Everyone else froze too, moving back from this new man as if touching him would kill them. He stepped forward heavily, and he seemed like a shadow himself, causing the light around him to back away as if the sun itself was afraid of touching him. He stopped only a foot from Inferno's head, and stared with cold, merciless eyes over us, combing every detail. His eyes stopped and rested on me.

I shuddered.

His mouth twisted into a horrible grin.

"Well, well, well." The huge shadow man growled. "What do we have here? Someone riding one of them?" He pulled out a huge bull-hook and cut the ropes around me, and I immediately stood. Inferno stood too, wrapping himself around me and growling.

To my surprise, the shadow man growled back. Inferno shrunk a little. The shadow man turned to me.

"Who are you?" He growled.

I stood a little higher, holding myself up and meeting those cold, heartless eyes.

"Richard Hamish." I said defiantly. "And this is Inferno."

The shadow man's hand snapped up and wrapped around my neck, pulling me up. He stared me in the eyes, seeming to stare into my soul. I wiggled, trying to get free of his grip and even landing a couple of kicks. His grip only tightened, causing my lungs to burn and spots to fill my vision. I stopped fighting. I began to shiver with fear but hid it behind anger.

"You belong to me now." The man snarled, his eyes glinting coldly. "You are mine. You belong to Drago Bludvist."

I spat at him and tried to struggle again. He threw me to the ground and hit my back with his bull-hook. The sound of cold metal hitting flesh rang out, causing the men around us to wince backwards. I let out a cry of pain and tried to hide it behind gritted teeth. I hope he hadn't broken anything.

I tried to get up, and Inferno snarled at Drago, moving forward and wrapping himself around me. Some men came forward and tackled him at Drago's command, trying to tie him up. Inferno struggled for all he was worth, roaring defiantly and even lighting himself ablaze. Even he couldn't fight forever, and eventually, they began to drag him away. I called out to him, and he called back.

"Inferno!" I tried to get to him, only to be held back by Drago himself.

"Richard!" Inferno yelled back, giving a few more struggles against his binds. "No!"

All the while, Drago smirked, finding our pain amusing. He pulled me back almost effortlessly, and my struggles got weaker when I realized Inferno was gone.

And I might never see him again.

I awoke with a powerful headache in a cell, my hands and feet binded. Once the initial shock of waking up again was gone, I began struggling and writhing in the ropes, trying over and over to get out of them. Hours later, I had gotten nowhere, and the only things I had achieved were rope burnt wrists and exhaustion. I let out a loud moan of frustration.

"No! I have to get out! I have to go back! I-! I-!" I broke out into sobs, shaking. "No..."

I was trapped.

Absolutely trapped.

I went silent after a while, pondering how in the heck I was going to escape. My stomach growled, and I was starting to wonder if they'd feed me. My back was throbbing painfully, reminding me of Drago's bull-hook slamming into me. After what seemed like days, or some even longer and more maddening length of time, my cell door was flung open. A figure wearing more armor than furs grabbed me roughly and forced me along through the dank hallways. I had no choice but to go along. No escape. Dim light turned to grayish blue light as I was brought above ground out of the cell. For the first time, I saw where I was.

Tanks. Giant tanks, connected by metal bridges that could be pulled back in seconds. There were traps of every conceivable size and shape, made for AI. There were rows upon rows of cages, filled with AI of many descriptions. There were many, many catapults designed to throw nets and arrows. AI flew around, or worked on the ground in chains, burdened by excessive armor. There were many people, also burdened with armor, or some chains.

It was a prison.

A base.

An army and armada.

All in one, and ready to switch between them at a moment's notice. I was brought along, from tank to tank, toward the most massive one in the center. On it stood Drago. He turned and regarded me with those cold eyes, a small smirk appearing. Well, a sort of twisted smirk that made me wince.

"Well," He growled, taking huge strides forward until he towered over me. "Have you thought about your little defiance problem? I assume you're going to be more obedient and cooperative now."

"Never." I hissed, glaring up at him the best I could.

His eyes seemed to glow with a new evil. His grimacing smile increased. "Good. I could use some entertainment." He slammed me in the stomach with his bull-hook, causing me to collapse to the ground in pain. Spots filled my vision again, and my back hurt all the more. Every muscle screamed with protest.

He motioned, and several men dragged in a huge wheeled cart of some kind, with a chained and roped Inferno on it. He looked as though he could barely move. The moment he saw me, he began to struggle violently again, even though there was no way he could get to me, despite all his strength. He lit himself ablaze, screeching and struggling. Drago watched, amused, as his men struggled to get the AI under control, pulling him closer and closer to us. As soon as he was close enough, Drago motioned for the men to get back.

"Drop the ropes." He advanced the few steps to Inferno and pulled out that cruel bull-hook. "We'll see how this defiant little brat thinks of this."

My eyes went from narrow to wide when I realized what he was going to do.

"NO!" My voice echoed along the tanks. "DON'T!"

Drago lifted the bull-hook right next to Inferno's head. I knew what this was. He wanted me to obey, or lose Inferno forever. Tears moved down my cheeks, despite me fighting them back. I met Inferno's eyes, he was angry, but begging me not to fold. Not to break under Drago. To fight. But...

To have my friend gone forever? I knew from Hiccup that AI were not replaceable. They weren't disposable. Inferno had saved me and displayed emotion so many times that I knew without a doubt that I couldn't let him be killed just for me. I didn't want to do that. I couldn't go on without him. I tried to think of what Hiccup would do.

Of course he would do anything to spare Toothless.

And so would I.

My defiance died. My spirit faded. I felt a new pain, a numbing anger, a frustrated tingle. With reluctance and my eyes burning with fury, I bowed my head. Drago grinned nastily, meeting my eyes. I knew what was next. A life of slavery for both me and Inferno. I had thought that perhaps it was better to die free than live a slave. But I wasn't willing to have Inferno die and be free myself.

Drago tilted his head back and laughed evilly, a throaty, hoarse cackle. He took his bull-hook and hit Inferno hard on one of his horns. The clang of metal rang out. Inferno winced slightly as his horn dented. I winced too. I had just done exactly what Drago wanted.

And it wasn't going to get better.

Torture. Whips. Chains. Bull-hook.

Questions.

Who are you allied with?

Where are they?

Not giving answers at first.

Torture.

Half truths.

Whips. Smart remark. Whips. Chains.

No answers.

Anger. Fury. Whips. Whips.

Giving up. Quitting. No answers. No talking. No eating. No drinking. Nothing. Numbness. Chains. Cell. Walls.

This is my life.

I awoke for the millionth time in the cell. It hadn't changed a bit. In the past few weeks had been the roughest time of my life. Or was it weeks? I had no clue. Time didn't seem to pass. It was just one long torture session. I had managed to hold out on a lot of info Drago wanted from me.

But he was growing impatient.

And I was useless to him. I knew what happened to those who served Drago no purpose.

I let out a sigh, and with the slight shift of muscles and skin came agonizing pain. Spots filled my vision. I held still as best I could, but every breath was as painful as the whips I had come too familiar with. And I was starving. They barely fed me. My body could barely move, the chains almost had no effect. Every one of my limbs was sore and pounding, as was my head. I could feel stings on every inch of my back.

The door opened with a rusty metal creak. Drago stalked forward, his dead horrible eyes staring straight into mine. I didn't hang my head at first, trying to maintain a spark of defiance. Drago noticed and growled dangerously. I immediately winced and bowed my head. I stayed as still as I could, but my body began to quiver against my will, shaking. I was terrified of him.

And he knew it. Drago moved until we were inches apart. I dared to look up just enough to look into his eyes. He slammed his bull-hook, that stupid bull-hook, so so close to me, so close it would have punctured my skull a few inches to the right. I was sweating. A figure appeared in the doorway, I hardly noticed.

"Sir? What-" The other man started.

Drago motioned to me. "Take him to be whipped again. Then deliver him to me. I will break him once and for all."

Eret, that smug man Hiccup and me had met at a hunter's base, presented me, freshly whipped, panting, tied, and bleeding, on my knees to Drago a few hours later. I stared straight ahead, trying again to ground myself in some reality. My mind felt as though it was slipping, numb. I hardly heard Drago's heavy footsteps as he approached. It wasn't until I heard the familiar noise of a bull-hook slamming into something close by that I snapped to attention, taking gasping breaths and trying to calm my speeding heart, which was slamming against my rib-cage with every beat.

"Submit to me now." Drago growled.

I remained still, trying not to wince or back down. I had tried to hold on to what made me whole as much as I could throughout this experience. Why was I still trying? I was stubborn. I was past weakening, but I held myself as I as I could. Drago kicked me in the stomach, causing agony, and white spots in my vision. I went blind with pain for a moment, and I couldn't breathe.

"Submit." He repeated.

"No-" I wheezed, my voice barely leaving my lips.

Another kick. My body screamed in pain, and I fell over, gasping with more agony. I could hardly breathe, trying to right myself and failing, trying desperately to get up. With shaking limbs, I tried desperately to right myself, only to slam painfully to the ground. I tried again, but this time, nothing responded. I felt as though I was tied up, or made of stone. I couldn't move, I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think. Every inch of me begged for mercy and was getting none. I felt my empty stomach, beyond sore from being kicked and tormented. If there had been something in there, I would have lost it. It was all I could do to fight down tears.

"SUBMIT." Drago repeated again, this time forcing the word so harshly that it hurt my ears. No, I wanted to say. I wanted to scream. I wanted so badly to scream my defiance at the top of my lungs at this madman, this horrible, heartless, soulless slave driver. But it wouldn't leave my lips. Days of torture, starvation, whipping, and thirst, hour after hour of being forced down into submission, agonizing, never ending seconds being rendered helpless had finally taken its toll.

I was done.

I could not fight any longer.

I held still, frozen as defeat washed over me.

I was through.

Drago seemed to sense my submission immediately, like a shark smelling blood, or a vulture swooping on a carcass. He grinned with the satisfaction of breaking me. He pounced like a hungry lion, picking me up by the front of my shirt with one hand.

"You belong to me." He growled.

I couldn't do anything but stare into those dead eyes.