Let me Live

Let me Live - Chapter Seven

Dagur daintily spun his dagger on his finger, watching Hiccup desperately try to escape his new chains. The shackles around his arms were tight, and in combination with the metal clip attached to his leg - as plain rope would be easy for a metal leg to get out of - it made escape practically impossible.

"Tell me, brother..."

"I'm not your brother!"

SWOOSH.

In a flash, one of Dagur's... well... daggers, shot from his hand, and impaled the wall next to Hiccup's cheek. Hiccup felt sweat run down his forehead, and as it fell past his cheek, it connected with the blade, which barely missed from cutting him.

"Tsk, tsk, Hiccup." Dagur said, eagerly watching Hiccup's eyes grow wider. "Is this how you treat people who feed you?" As he spoke, he drew a loaf of bread from behind his back, dangling it in front of Hiccup, who had no way of grabbing it.

"Here's how this is going to work," Dagur explained, "I'm going to ask you a series of questions. When you answer correctly, you'll be rewarded. If you answer incorrectly, refuse to answer, or are rude in any way, then you'll be punished. Do you understand?"

In shock, Hiccup didn't answer. A few seconds and another SWOOSH later, a second dagger emerged from Dagur's fingers and hit the hard rock, near Hiccup's other cheek.

"I SAID. DO. YOU. UNDERSTAND. ME!?" He screamed at Hiccup.

"I, uhh, yes?" He awkwardly replied, not wanting those daggers to get any closer.

Dagur sadistically grinned, teeth wide - and as sharp as a dragon's. "Wonderful! Here's some bread." He ripped off a chunk from the loaf and tossed it into Hiccup's cage. Needing the bread more than his pride, Hiccup opened his mouth wide and tried to catch the piece with it - unable to use his hands to catch it for him. However, the piece bounced off, and landed on the floor, slightly out of reach.

"Well, I guess you didn't get it this time." Dagur laughed.

"You're not going to give me a replacement?" Hiccup asked incredulously. A split second later, a dagger landed in the rock again, this time slightly catching the roof of his ear. He could feel the blood trail down his face and drip off his chin.

"First question!" Dagur said, glaring at Hiccup, who shrank under his gaze. He was unlike anyone else Hiccup had ever fought. Dagur knew nothing about strategy - only understanding sheer violence and brutality and making sure that's all his opponents understood. It was terrifying. He was like a wild animal - and unlike dragons, Hiccup was unable to predict any of his moves.

Aside from one - eventually killing him.

"Where is Toothless?" He asked Hiccup with a smirk etched on his face.

"Like hell I'd tell you!" Hiccup shouted back, anger and rage filling his voice.

Dagur's smirk grew wider.

"That's just what I hoped you'd say."

SWOOSH.

"ARGH!" Hiccup screamed, the newest dagger buried not in the wall - but in Hiccup's shoulder. The sharp blade burrowed deep into it, drawing out copious amounts of blood - to the point that Hiccup was concerned about removing it.

Dagur didn't seem concerned. He seemed excited, eager almost.

Eager to spill more of Hiccup's blood.

Is this... it? Is he going to die by Dagur's hand?

The thought began to settle in. He... he couldn't die! He never prepared what would be done in his absence - he never readied Toothless for if he died, never married Astrid, never...

Never reconciled with his father. Stoick would never even know that Hiccup died, and he'd think the last time he saw Hiccup was when they argued - and not when Hiccup saved his life today.

Hiccup slowly lowered his head, refusing to look at Dagur. He refused to die without dignity, and he won't give Dagur the satisfaction of watching the light drain from his eyes.

"Aww, you're giving up so soon? Well I guess there's no point in playing with a broken toy." Dagur mocked him, standing up and walking towards Hiccup with a grin. "I guess I better end this quick."

Hearing that, Hiccup turned his head away from Dagur's voice and braced himself for pain.

"No, you WILL look at me!" Dagur screamed, grabbing Hiccup by the neck, and holding him up, forcing him to look into Dagur's eyes. His egotistical grin only got wider, as Hiccup's arms strained against the chains, and his hurt ankle burned with the force of a thousand suns.

"There we go." He whispered. "That wasn't so hard now, was it?"

He gently ran his blade across Hiccup's neck, drawing a thin line of blood.

"This is going to be fun."

Hiccup could do nothing but pray to Thor someone - anyone! - saved him.

Please. Please. Please.

"Hiccup?!"

Oh thank Thor.

Hi guys! Don't worry, the world isn't ending, I just have more motivation to write, and I have more time to write, so here's a new update! Yay! So I've estimated there's going to be 10 chapters in total - with the 10th one being an epilogue - so there's only a couple chapters left!! I'm super excited 😊. Thank you guys for supporting me, even with the super long waits for updates.

But for now...

Peachy out!