Fire in our veins

You would win if you knew how to play

- Heather, Heather, come on. We gotta get outta here. - She pulled down the fabric that covered her friend and froze.

- Welcome, Hiccup. Oh Eira, my dear you don't even know how nice it is to see you again. - She trembled as she heard a familiar voice. When the man turned to her, and she saw those dark brown eyes again, she was only able to make out one word.

- Leif?

For a moment everything stopped. Hiccup looked at Viggo and her sister, trying to understand what was happening. He was the first to recover from the shock and together with his shield he stood in front of Eira.

- Where's Heather?

- Hmm bad news. She won't be joining us tonight. - At that moment, Eira came to her senses.

- You lied to me. - It didn't sound as serious as she intended.

- You must forgive me for that little lie, my dear. I can assure you, however, that the rest was sincere. - His face changed slightly when he looked at Hiccup again. - But back to the more pressing matter at hand. On the positive side, you've far exceeded my expectations. Good on you.

Eira noticed that besides Viggo, they were surrounded by dragon hunters on all sides. They were trapped, and not even the dragons would be able to save them. She wondered where the Stormripper might have gone, along with Toothless.

- So many guards, so little time. But, please. I am enjoying this.

- You're right, you better start getting used to the bars. I hear the Outcast Island prison is wonderful this time of year. - She retreated from the cage together with her brother, who was shielding them with a shield. Viggo just giggled.

- As feisty as she is beautiful. - He said it quietly enough that only Eira and Hiccup heard it. - I'll give your brother a head start. - She had to quickly figure out how to get out of this whole situation.

- Why would you do that? - There was something about it, another part of his plan.

- Because, I'm nothing if not a good sport. And if I didn't, the game would end here. And what fun would that be?

Hiccup ran towards the woods at Eira's command. He had to find Heather and the dragons as quickly as possible. On the other side, Eira was surrounded by dragon hunters. She raised her sword higher while standing in a defensive position. Viggo, however, signalled his men to lower their bows.

- What do you want? - it was all a game. She just didn't know what the purpose of it was.

- From you, my dear? The sword seems appropriate for a start. - He held out his hand towards her. She looked at the hunters, then at Viggo. She didn't stand the slightest chance, and with a sigh of defeat, she handed over her weapon.

- Any more wishes? - She crossed her arms over her chest.

Viggo indicated for her to follow him. Two guards walked on either side of her, and the third kept aiming his crossbow at her. For a moment they walked in silence. Viggo disappeared somewhere, which gave Eira the opportunity to free herself. She pretended to fall, and when one of the hunters came to pick her up, she threw earth into his face. Taking the weapon from the man and knocking out the other two was not easy, but she managed. With her new weapon, she ran in the direction she had noticed Viggo walking. In the clearing, she found her brother, and the rest of the hunters. Viggo stood on the cage and watched them with a smile.

- There you are, Hiccup. Didn't get as far as I imagined.

- Game's over, Viggo. - Eira had a bad feeling about this. There was a reason why Viggo had let her brother go.