Viggo's Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Days

Part 27-Hypnotism

Viggo struggled, growling at his captor through his gagged mouth, but it was no use. The figure in front of him smiled, the top half of his face hidden by a mask. How had he even gotten into Viggo's private quarters in the first place?

The grimborn had gone to bed late last night, exhausted after a long day of looking over maps and figuring out some new winter routes to use. He had walked through his door, yawning, and ran straight into a tall, muscular man, a hand wrapping around his mouth and nose, pressing chloroform into his airways.

Viggo woke up tied to a chair, with the masked figure still in his rooms. It must be early morning by now, and there was some hope that his absence would be noticed. But no, none of his crew would dare enter without permission. The figure reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, round object on a chain.

"Focus on me. That's it. Just focus on me..."

The voice became farther and farther away from Viggo's mind with each incantation, and eventually the dragon hunter's body relaxed, his eyes blanking.

"Good. Now, here's what I want you to do...

Ryker saw Viggo standing on deck, staring out at the water with a blank expression. "Not a morning person today, hmm?" Viggo didn't respond, and Ryker's brow furrowed. "Are you alright?" Viggo's eyes shifted to focus on Ryker, but something was... wrong. There was no soul to them. "Hey, what's-

One of Viggo's hands suddenly swung out. The knife in his grip sunk into Ryker's leg and he gave a shout of surprise. "What? Viggo?" The younger Grimborn swung his other hand out, revealing another knife, and Ryker grabbed his wrist, eyes wide with alarm.

"Brother stop! What are you doing?" Even as Ryker's fingers dug into his skin, Viggo kept trying to attack. Despite his dulled eyes and shuffling movements, there was a large amount of strength behind Viggo's attacks, and Ryker felt himself being slowly overpowered.

"Duck!" The command came from behind Ryker, and he obeyed without question. A split second later he was glad for his gut reaction- a spade flashed into view and struck his brother on the head, sending him crashing to the floor, unconscious.

Ola stood in the ship's walkway, backed by several scared-looking crewmen. She was panting and gripping the spade, looking slightly alarmed with herself. "What just happened?" Ryker asked.

Ola was already getting crewmembers to lift Viggo and take him to the infirmary, pressing a rag against his bleeding forehead. "I hit your brother with a spade."

"Well, yeah-

Ola held a finger to her lips. "And that's what happened. Let me explain in the infirmary." lowering her voice to a whisper, Ola added, "We need to be far away from his room."

Once in the infirmary, Ola sent the guards away. "Your brother was hypnotized." Ryker raised an eyebrow, but Ola stopped him from objecting. "Think about it. It explains his strange actions. We were only feet from his room- the one place where Viggo is alone for any significant length of time, and out of the way enough that a brief scuffle could go unnoticed."

"I already sent guards in after the intruder, so don't you run off on me."

Ryker nodded slowly, still eyeing Viggo's unconscious form. "And the only way you could snap him out of it was by hitting him?" Ola sighed. "I'm sorry for that, but yes. He stabbed you! I didn't have time to figure out how to ease him out of it naturally. I guarantee he'll have no more than a headache when he wakes up. You, however, could use some stitches."

Ola stitched the wound quickly and neatly, sneaking in a kiss on the tip of his nose. "I am sorry, but I'm glad you're not dead." Ryker gave her a small smile. "You had your reasons, stop apologizing. And honestly, Viggo kinda deserves to be hit sometimes."

This earned a brief snort from Ola, just as a crash sounded overhead, followed by, "We got the spy!"

"Viggo's going to be even more surly than usual when he wakes up, so at least we'll have some good news."

Ryker stood with a dangerous glint in his eye, and smiled strangely. "Oh yes, he'll have good news all right."

He paused at the door long enough to show her a blade in his hand. "I'm going to find out who was foolish enough to think that they could take down a Grimborn."