For Milady

FOURTEEN: Through the fires

"We break dragons without hesitation-how much resistance do you think that you can put up?" he hissed, as Hiccup gave a weary smile.

"You'd be surprised," he murmured. "I'm known for being particularly stubborn and the Grimborns never actually got round to making me tell them anything useful..." The scarred man gave a cruel smile.

"Ah-you've not met the Captain," he told Hiccup and slapped his cheek a couple of times patronisingly. "I think you'll find he makes those northern pussies look like the weaklings they are! No one resists the Captain!" Hiccup gave a small smile.

"I'm a Viking," he explained. "I have stubbornness issues..."

"Resolve them soon-or you're gonna be in a world of pain-you and that flying newt..." the scarred man sneered.

"Hey! That's just plain ignorance...dragons are reptiles while newts are definitely amphibians..." Hiccup protested, earning himself another blow. "And ow!" The man straightened up.

"Take him to the Captain," he snapped. "And maybe then this skinny one-legged clown can tell us where to find the dragons..."

"Never," Hiccup growled as the man laughed.

"Never is an incredibly long time-when a single day in the Captain's hands can last an aeon..." the scarred man sneered. "Take him belowdecks!"

Hiccup managed to drag himself to the furthest corner of the cage and curled up, trying to cuddle his battered shape in the most comforting way possible-because the Captain-a man of medium height and utterly sadistic disposition-had been as fearsome as the Hunters had promised. He had been quietly spoken but every time Hiccup had resorted to his usual sass, he had been hurt-a blow here, a punch there, the delicate slice of a knife across a shoulder or arm... And as the man had started to demand his knowledge of dragons so the men could fill their cages, he had found them much more direct. Beating and whipping him had been almost a relief because they had burnt him, starved him, deprived him of water, half-drowned him, made him stand until his leg collapsed, deprived him of sleep and then started all over again. He had long since lost exact track of time, though the fact that his earliest bruises had already faded and gone and their successors were almost already faded gave him some timeline.

As he expected, they had not done anything irrevocable to Toothless because they were saving him for a big Dragon Auction in a couple of months-but the dragon had been cut and whipped to punish Hiccup and the sounds of his dragon's pain had been far more painful to the young Viking than any amount of punishment to him. And the final agony was that every hour he was trapped in the Hunters' clutches meant that Astrid got further away and the trail got colder. And, of course, he was exiled and alone: none of the Riders would be coming for him or even looking for him. There was no one he could rely on but himself to get him and Toothless away.

But as he lay bleeding and with every movement hurting as he curled up in the cage, he just closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," he whispered quietly. "I shouldn't have waited so long."

oOo

Since that fateful night where Astrid had fought her demons and won, her fortunes seemed to have picked up, as if the Gods approved of her courage and her decision. So the next village she had visited-Sniffling-had welcomed her and she had stayed there, helping look after the animals, helping wash clothes and bake the bread-though she pre-warned them that she was a poor cook. Laughing, the older woman she worked with reassured her that she would check the loaves herself, to Astrid's relief.

A couple more weeks had passed and she was very aware that there was a definite thickening in her waist, so that she had needed to let out her skirt and adjust her belt-but she was still as active as ever and had felt a surge of new energy since she arrived. She was visiting Stormfly every morning and evening and flew the dragon daily while she earned her place in the village. She gathered that the weather wasn't quite as harsh in the southern part of the Archipelago but the weather was still going to be cold and bad, with little food available and shelter definitely required so she carefully cultivated her place in the new Tribe.