Deception (A Dragons Race to the Edge Fanfic)

Chapter 8

The darkness was dizzying, but you couldn't open your eyes. You still weren't fully conscious. All you could detect was that you were rhythmically rocking up and down, but you weren't quite sure why. You began to hear a fairly strong wind above you, but it seemed strangely distant, like something was shielding you against its cold touch.

As your senses became sharper, your eyes still shut, you became aware of a constant ache throughout your whole body, and tried not to think about the bruises that must be all over you. You tried to move but you couldn't, as if your legs wouldn't listen to what you were telling them to do. You tried to remember what happened to you. It all seemed like a blur. One minute you had been watching the Shellfire, and the next you were on the floor, surrounded by Ryker's monstrous laughter, and something else... Again, you tried to move your leg. You had a little more luck this time, but the slight movement sent a sharp pain rushing through your whole body. It hurt to breathe, but at least you felt that you had control over your breathing compared to when you were on the beach last night.

'The beach!' You instantly remembered.

You certainly weren't on a beach now; you could feel wood beneath you. So, where were you? One thing was for sure: you definitely weren't in any condition to escape from any perilous situations at the moment.

You began to open your eyes, expecting to face harsh sunlight that would make you wince. But, instead, it was a soft dawn light. It soothed you, like the light of a gentle candle. The sky was peach colored, as the sun was beginning to peer over the horizon. You were on a small boat, barely more than a dragon's length long, and narrow enough that you could have touched both sides of the boat if you outstretched your arms.  And there, in front of you, but with his back to you, sat Viggo Grimborn. He was looking at something in the distance on the horizon, but you weren't quite sure what. The soft dawn light glistened on the steel spikes of his shoulder armor. He hadn't yet noticed that you were awake. Great... You were stuck on a boat with Viggo Grimborn, completely dragonless and you could hardly move your legs without scrunching your face up in agony.

Well, you had to do something. He was bound to realize that you were awake soon. Mustering all your strength, you tried to use your arms to push yourself up against the end of the boat in a clumsy sitting position. At least then you might have a little more hope of defending yourself were Viggo to launch an attack. You bit back the pain, and the boat rocked a little as you successfully leaned back against the stern, your muscles suffering severely from the enormous effort it had taken to lift your bruised body up. Viggo turned around quickly to face you. You met him with a flinty glare. How dare he take advantage of your situation, in which you were physically unable to fight back! That was low even for him.

"Ah, (Y/n) you're awake."

"What do you want?" you snarled. "You can see I'm in no condition to fight!"

"Me? I don't want anything." Viggo replied. You arched an eyebrow, deeming that highly unlikely.
As for the latter," he continued, ignoring your scepticism, "your condition has improved exceedingly."

"Listen, you know what I'm saying! Why am I even on this boat anyway?" Perhaps if you could keep him talking, you could figure out a way to escape before he decided to put an end to you.

"It appears that you are unaware of last night's proceedings."

"What do you mean?" you questioned, you snapped back.

"Well, you see, my dear, after my brother left you for dead, it was yours truly who saved you."

At this you were genuinely shocked but, when you thought about it, it made sense. Somehow, you had gone from being close to death on that beach, after Ryker had ambushed you, and this morning you had woken up aching, but able to breathe and move to some degree. You looked down to see that a major wound on your knee and another on your shoulder, potentially life threatening, had been tended to. Then you remembered. The moments before losing consciousness came flooding back to you, as you realized that it was in fact Viggo who had saved you. Had Viggo actually helped you? No! How could he? He was the enemy! If Viggo had done anything, it must have been to his advantage, not yours. Besides, you didn't want help from him, you'd rather be back on that beach...

"I didn't ask for your help!" you cried out, trying not to let your voice shake with anger. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I think you'll find that I was saving your life." He shot back. "And, as for you asking for my help, you could barely breathe, let alone speak. I assumed my aid would be gratefully received in such a dire situation."

"But why would you want to help me? We're enemies. You certainly didn't seem intent on saving me at your base a few weeks ago. What are you playing at?"

"You certainly ask a lot of questions for someone who was on the brink of death a few short hours ago."

You narrowed your glare. You would not let him manipulate you into thinking he was on your side. You would not let him outsmart you again.

"I must say," he continued, "I was rather impressed by your little experiment." He resumed, his artful smirk back. "I bet even Hiccup hasn't discovered that. It would have been a dreadful shame to let such talent go to waste." He concluded. You made no reply.

"And it also seems I was correct in my previous presumptions." He continued in a lighter, almost questioning, tone. You tilted your head, unsure of what he was referring to. "There are tensions between you and the other Dragon Riders, I see."

"And?" you snapped. "So, what if there are? That doesn't concern you."

"It seems to me that they don't always recognize intellect when they see it." What he was saying was true, and you felt content that at least he recognized this fact; that it wasn't merely your temper that had led you to this assumption. But you wouldn't let him know that. You simply replied:

"What are you trying to gain from me?" he was about to answer when, from out of nowhere, something grabbed your arm, and you were soaring up into the sky away from the boat. Looking up, you realised that it was Ember, his scales camouflaged to a  peach hue, mirroring the dawn sky. He held you between his claws, carrying you away from Viggo's boat, and back towards Dragon's Edge. You let out a sigh of relief, if it hadn't been for Ember, you had no idea how you might have got out of that situation. Questions raced through you mind: why had Viggo helped you? What did he want from you? You resolved not to tell the other riders about what had happened. It was a long story, and you weren't even quite sure of what had happened yourself.

A/N: Another Chapter - Hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks to everyone who reads the stuff I write!