9 It's a Long Way to the Top
Sigrid the Strong was pleased to see Hiccup when he arrived back at the barn, but she was not happy to see that he was alone.
"Alright, what's gone wrong this time?" she asked.
Hiccup did his best to explain about what happened in the city, of Borges and his reputation, and how Fotherington had told him to wait until nightfall before he would meet them outside the walls.
"Looks like we may be in for a long night" she declared when Hiccup had finished.
"Good point" he nodded "we'd better get some rest now so we will be alert when the time comes. I'll take the dragons on a little trip to the seaside so they can feed themselves while you take a nap, and then I'll rest till you wake me up at sunset."
"Sounds like a good plan" Sigrid agreed but then she shook her head and sighed "and I was so looking forward to getting married tomorrow."
The cell door closed with a crash followed by the clank of the bolt locks being thrown. Astrid watched the guards leave through the peephole before doing a quick check of the cell for any sign of future escape possibilities, or of anyone being within earshot.
"Alright then" she whispered as she sat down next to Victor on the cold stone floor "why are we here and why do you say we are dead?"
"Well" he sighed "it all comes down to the fact that we have accidentally been put in between two men who both want to gain the Emperors favor and we can't give either one what he wants without destroying the credibility of the other at the same time so when this all settles down, someone is not going to be happy with us. Karoc will tell the Emperor all that we have told him and so, in order to come out on top, Borges will need to find out more, and he will do whatever it takes to find out what he wants to know."
"Okay, fair enough" Astrid did not see the problem yet "so we give Borges more information about the 'Sky Riders' to make him happy and then we go home; simples."
"And then when General Karoc hears what we told Borges, he'll arrest us for withholding information from him and we'll be thrown back in here to be interrogated, in other words tortured, until everyone is satisfied that we have totally spilled our guts; figuratively and literally."
"Ah… right… so we stick to our story that we have already told Karoc everything we know."
"Which will make Borges furious that Karoc has gotten the better of him, so he will keep torturing us until we give him something more, which will anger Karoc.
"So in other words… we're dead" Astrid agreed.
"Well there is a slim chance that we'll be released in the end" Victor acknowledged "but not with as many limbs as your friend has."
"Oh we can't have that" Astrid shook her head "Hiccup says I've got great legs."
Victor looked down at his own legs and pondered as to whether he could also use that as an excuse to keep them but decided that his were very ordinary.
"It looks like we have no other choice" Astrid eventually decided "we'll just have to escape."
"Hey, I know you're good" Victor shrugged "but have you looked around lately? And it will be worse when we get tied to… the machine."
"The machine?" Astrid repeated "Sounds awful."
"You don't know the half of it."
"Well maybe we can find a more… appropriate form of torture for this… swine to indulge in."
Borges heard the whimpering as he approached the cell so he quietly crept up closer and listened through the peephole in the door.
"I'm sorry Rose… I'll try to be brave."
"It's alright Ruprecht. It's natural to be scared… but at least we're in the dungeon" Astrid gave a weak chuckle.
"What's so great about the dungeon" Victor huffed.
"Well it's better than the tower. You know how scared you get in high places… and I'm not fond of them either."
"That's true" Victor nodded "I could never keep my mouth shut in the tower; after a few hours up there I'd tell them everything."
Borges grinned as he rushed off to get the guards. He moved so quietly that nobody would have known that he was ever there.
"It's okay" Astrid declared "he's gone now."
"Where are you taking us now?" Astrid pleaded ten minutes later, even though she already knew.
"Oh you'll like it I'm sure" Borges gave a Snotloutish smile "fresh air, charming views, much nicer than that stuffy old dungeon."
"Err... Rose…" Victor shivered as he looked up the spiral stone staircase before him.
"Don't worry Ruprecht" she comforted him "just watch the steps in front of you and don't look down; we'll be fine."
Borges walked at the back and reveled in the fear being shown by the two prisoners, although he would not have been anywhere near as happy if he knew that they were faking their fear. Each guard had one hand on the children's shoulders so every now and then Astrid or Victor would pretend to stumble on the steps, and Victor even crawled up for a while until the guard picked him up roughly by the collar. A gruesome sight greeted them soon after they reached the halfway point on the stairs; out of some of the open window shutters, Astrid noticed that there were metal cages hanging on the outer walls some were the size of a small room but most were just large enough for one person to stand up inside, but the worst thing about them was that some of the cages still had human bones inside.
"Y-you're not going to put us in one of those c-cages, are you?" Astrid asked, hoping that Borges would put her in one of those cages.
"Oh I don't want to" Borges declared sarcastically "but I know that you are withholding vital information from your Emperor, and that just cannot be permitted."
"We're not withholding anything" Victor pleaded "I swear."
"Don't lie to me boy" Borges replied sharply as they continued up the steps.
Fortunately for everyone else, Borges was not a very fit man and so both prisoners and guards had many opportunities to rest on the way up, but when the group finally did reach the top, Astrid's guard threw open the window shutters to reveal one of the smaller cages was hanging from a frame about eight feet away from the wall. The cage was hung from a five foot chain so the guard was able to pull the base in close using a hook on the end of a long pole that stood in a rack nearby.
"Please no" Astrid whimpered as the guard opened the door.
Even though this cage was made to hold a single adult man, it appeared obvious tp her that Borges intended to squeeze a young lady and a small boy into this one.
"This is your last chance to tell me what I want to know" Borges sneered.
"But sir, we've already told everything we know" Astrid replied desperately.
In answer to a flick of Borges hand, the guards threw Astrid and Victor into the cage and screwed up the bolt lock. Both of the new tenants squealed with feigned fright as the hook was released and the cage swung out precariously from the tower high above the palace.
"Do you have anything to tell me now?" Borges demanded over the screaming.
"We don't know anything more" Victor whimpered.
"Well perhaps your memories will improve after a few hours… hanging about" Borges grinned, proud of his very bad joke.
"I am going to have my supper now; perhaps when I return you will have something more to say… if I get back before the ghost comes that is."
Borges stepped back and the shutters were closed behind him leaving the prisoners outside alone. Astrid and Victor kept up the whimpering as they listen to the sound of Borges footsteps descending the stairs.
"The guards are still there" Astrid whispered "so be careful."
"So what do we do now that we're here?" Victor asked.
"Escape if we can, but I think we may be up a little too high for that so we will have to wait for Hiccup and Sigrid to come and get us."
"I just hope they get here before the ghost does" Victor looked about for any signs of a supernatural apparition in the vicinity.
"It's a bit early in the day for spooky stories" Astrid smiled "there are still a few hours to go till sunset."
"Oh this ghost doesn't wait till dark" Victor declared "it could come at any time."
"Hang on a minute" Astrid wondered "are you serious?"
"I'm very serious; look over there."
Astrid followed where Victor was pointing and noticed another frame similar to the one from which their cage now hung, but the only thing hanging from this one, was about a foot and a half of chain.
"If the ghost comes before your friends do, it will spit out its green burning saliva and we will either burn to death or fall all the way to the ground."
Victor's voice shook with fear and his eyes darted left and right as he spoke while Astrid started to get a sinking feeling.
"What does this ghost look like?" she asked.
"Oh it's almost invisible" Victor replied "But you can almost see it, when it's close by."
"Don't tell me" Astrid sighed "let me guess; when it's on the wall, it looks like the wall but when it's on the roof, it looks like the roof."
"Have you seen it?" Victor's eyes were wide with wonder.
"I think so, but it isn't a ghost; it's called a Changewing."
"A Changewing?" Victor asked surprised "What's a Changewing?"
"I suppose the best way to describe it, would be to say that it's a little bit like Skywolf, but not very much."
"You mean it's a… a dragon… like yours?"
"Pretty much yes but just as ours are all a bit different from each other, so is this one."
"So what do we do if it comes here?"
"I'm not entirely sure" Astrid pondered "I don't suppose you have any fish in your pocket, do you?"
I wish you could see the smile on my face. I have been having trouble with chapter 10 and had not written a word all week. This morning I finished proof reading and re-writing this chapter when it hit me; a weird idea for a new character. I don't know if anyone will like him and I don't know how long he will last but I am so looking forward to finishing off chapter 10 (on Sunday I hope) and introducing Dylan to the world soon after.
Please excuse the hype up, Marty (& Moon of course).