Deception (A Dragons Race to the Edge Fanfic)

Chapter 3

You were thrust into a chair by a powerful, yet seemingly effortless, shove from Ryker. Opposite you, on the other side of the table, sat Viggo Grimborn. His gaze was prevailing and steady, not giving away any of his motives. You didn't try to avert his eyes for a second, but instead met his dark eyes with you own steely gaze.

"Good evening, my dear. How kind of you to join us so close to the completion of Project Shellfire. I trust you were impressed?" He began in a tone of mock-friendliness. "Such a pity that it will be the very thing that destroys your little island, along with all the other dragon riders." A menacing smile swept across his face.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." You replied bluntly. He arched a brow, prompting you to continue. "As threatening as combining a dragon with a weaponized ship might seem, you will ultimately be defeated by the Dragon Riders."

"Ah, I see you must have read the plans for the project." He said, his eyes narrowing.

'Great', you thought to yourself, 'now he knows you have the plans'.

But you brushed this thought aside. With Project Shellfire so near to completion, it was likely that he would attack the Edge soon, anyway.

"Well then," he proceeded, "I'm sure that Hiccup will be most proud of you for retrieving the plans, but I'm afraid there's nothing he or any of the other riders can do about it." His voice was scornful. "Howver, I'm sure he'll be proud of you nonetheless." He repeated tauntingly. You gritted your teeth at the thought of Hiccup and the other riders, subtly rolling your eyes. The other riders' voices echoed in your head: all the times they had taunted you, underestimated you and told you that you weren't good enough. Of course, when it mattered they helped you, but that didn't take away the fact that they disrespected you - especially Astrid. Your face grew hotter as you thought of all the times she'd mockingly outdone you somehow, and she made sure you knew about it. Without you even noticing, your muscles involuntarily tensed. Then, remembering where you were, you tried to retain an expressionless face, calming yourself down by reminding yourself that what Astrid overpowered you with in popularity and strength, you made up for in wit and agility. Despite your attempts to repress your burning feelings of vexation, your immediate change in composure at the mention of the other riders did not go unnoticed by Viggo.

"Is that a delicate subject, my dear?" he questioned.

"What do you mean?" you tried to answer dryly, hoping your lie sounded more convincing to him than it did to you.

"A simple observation." He stated. "I'm merely curious as to whether these 'friends' you have are really friends at all." Your skin pricked with anger. Why did any of this matter to him? "From the expression I observed, you seem indifferent to them. Its-"

"None of your business." You interrupted, sick of his smug smirking." I'm no traitor. I'm not giving you any information."

"You don't have a choice!" Ryker thundered, smashing one sword into the table in front of you, sending splinters of wood in your face, and pressing the other sword to your back.

"Relax, brother." Viggo said casually, "She will talk, only she needs a little more encouragement." His words were as cold as ice. Whatever was in store for you wasn't going to be pleasant.

You were led through a series of corridors (well, more specifically, Ryker pushed you through a series of corridors), the cold blade of his sword never relieving its pressure on your back. A few paces ahead was Viggo. The corridors were narrow and dimly lit. There was no hope of escape here; Viggo was in front of you and Ryker was behind you, and you came nowhere near equal to either of them in terms of strength. You knew that if you had any chance of escaping you'd have to outwit them - easier said than done when your opponent was Viggo Grimborn. Your wrists were raw behind your back. It was obvious that Ryker had deliberately tied the ropes as tightly as possible, taking pleasure in your suffering.

You arrived in a small, dark room a few minutes later. There was not a single window, only a dim torch, burning low in the corner. There were a few cages at the far end of the room, containing a Zippleback, a Deadly Nadder and a Razorwhip. Viggo turned to face you.

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to tell us about Hiccup's plan to attack?" he asked, already nodding to his brother. You made no reply.

"Shame."

Ryker suddenly thrust you backwards, propelling you against the wall, and knocking the air from your lungs. You just about managed to stay on your feet as you slammed against the hard, wooden wall. Struggling to regain your breath, and feeling dazed, you had no time to react, as Ryker's sword came hurtling towards you. The blade was sunk deep into your shoulder with incredible force. You sealed your mouth shut, stopping an excruciating yell from escaping you, but there was no way to hide the searing pain now written across your face. As blood began gushing down your arm at an alarming rate, you could see the amusement on Ryker's face and resolved that, despite the pain, you wouldn't give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he had hurt you. Trying to keep your composure, you stared right back at him. You could feel blood seeping from the deep gash in your arm, but didn't dare to look at the damage he had caused.

"How about now?" Viggo smirked. "Feeling a little more conversational?"

"No." Was the only word you could grunt out through the pain. You tried relentlessly to keep your voice controlled and unwavering, "Like I said before, I'm not a traitor."

"I must say," Viggo continued calmly, "you are determined, I'll give you that."

"But it won't pay off!" Ryker added. You felt Ryker's grip loosen as he walked to the far side of the room, towards the dragon cages. You heard the heavy clang of metal as he unlocked the Razorwhip's cage. The animal had been muzzled and its tail, its main defense mechanism, was restrained by dragon proof metal. Ryker yanked on a chain, forcing the creature out of its cage. With the same bloodied sword, he gave the creature a vigorous blow. The dragon gave a high-pitched shriek of pain. You couldn't bear to watch. As he struck the dragon, the wound in your arm seemed to sear with even more agonizing pain.

"No!" You yelled uncontrollably. What could you say? Hiccup didn't even have a plan to attack! Even if you had wanted to, you had no information to divulge. Then, an idea dawned on you. Ryker was about to make another powerful strike at the dragon, when you shouted:

"Wait! I'll tell you what Hiccup's planning!" trying to maintain a sense of reluctance in your voice.

Viggo smiled - he had won.

"That's better." He laughed menacingly. "Now, tell me, when will Hiccup attack?"

"Tonight. He plans to approach your island from the west, using the sea stacks for cover. He knows you're working on some sort of project, and intends to destroy it."

"Ryker, move the elite guards to the western side of the island. And then take the prisoner."

For a moment, it looked as though Ryker was about to answer him back, supposedly annoyed about having to take orders from his younger brother. But he merely turned away with a grunt to put the Razorwhip back in its cage.

"Thank you very much, my dear." Viggo said. His hands hadn't moved from their position, neatly folded behind his back, throughout the ordeal. "You have been most helpful." He said domineeringly. Biting your tongue, you acted defeated. Little did he know what you had planned.