Tact and Wit (A Viggo Grimborn Fanfic)

1- Introductions

The ship rocked rhythmically back and forth on the waves as Orinth watched the guards outside her cell. Ryker had given them strict orders to keep a close eye on her. They were surprisingly competent, for hunters.

The ropes on her wrists hurt, and her knees were begining to ache from kneeling on the floor. She shifted, causing both guards to whirl around quickly.

"On edge about something, boys?" she questioned.

They glanced at one another worriedly and said nothing.

As the voyage went on, the seas became rougher, and Orinth couldn't help but wonder what Ryker's plan was. She had overheard hunters earlier talking of capturing her dragon, which, although terrible, fits Ryker's motives. But capturing her served little to no purpose, and that worried her. If she was useless, he would have killed her already. He, or perhaps Viggo, had a plan. A plan that would be at least somewhat contingent on her help, assumingly.

She was brought back into reality be the thundering of hunters' boots above deck. Apparently, the rough waves were now accompanied by a storm. A rather fierce one, judging by the lightning.

At last, Ryker called from above deck for more hunters to stabilize the ship. Being the last two hunters, the guards rushed away.

Through the cracks in the deck, Orinth could see periodic brilliant, bright flashes of lightning. Thunder rumbled all around her, and something else. A dragon roar. A skrill was nearby, and the hunters began to panic.

At the next bolt of lightning, the deck above her splintered into bits. Seizing the opportunity, she clambered out of the hole, albeit with some difficulty, and joined the hunters on the remains of the ship.

Then she finally saw it: the Skrill in all of its glory. It hovered over the deck, threateningly. Skrill are extremely territorial, and if the hunters fired on it, it would decimate the entire fleet of ships.

Acting quickly, Orinth jumped in front of a line of hunters, holding her arms out.

"Don't shoot, you'll onl- auugh!" the sickening sound of an arrow ripping through flesh- her flesh- stopped her mid-sentence. Apparently, she hadn't been quick enough to stop all of the hunters from firing.

Ryker scowled at the display of ignorance. Who was the girl to tell him his business? She was lucky she was even still alive. The Skrill charged another electric blast. Tiring of the beast's display of dominance, Ryker ordered his men to finish it off. Drawing one of his twin swords, he launched it at the dragon with a yell. He missed, but the message was clear: only death awaits. The Skrill flew away with one last roar, seemingly satisfied that the hunters were far enough away from the neighboring island, and not willing to risk a severe injury over another battle.

The rest of the journey was uneventful, and the only further thorn in Ryker's side was the dragon rider. He hoped Viggo would kill her and be done with it, but matters were never simple with him.

*

Orinth was roughly pushed into a chair opposite the one and only Viggo Grimborn. Her arrow wound throbbed painfully, and she wasn't as quick-witted as she would have liked. After all, Viggo surely wanted something from her, and she wasn't about to fall for his tricks.

"Well, what's this? Seems you encountered difficulties, brother?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow at the still-bleeding wound in Orinth's shoulder.

Ryker scowled, frustrated.

"When I arrived, the Night Fury was in the ring with the Triple Stryke. Both the dragon and the boy escaped, but I've brought you another rider, and her dragon," he offered, hoping to tame Viggo's temper.

"Hmph," responded Viggo, clearly not pleased, but nonetheless formulating a plan. "Is that so? Then, the lightning burns on my ships are of no import?"

Ryker growled, "This pathetic do-gooder dragon rider got in the way just as my men were firing!"

"And it's a good thing I did," Orinth interjected, "because that Skrill would have demolished all of your ships had you provoked it."

At that, Viggo turned his attention fully to the woman in front of him. Ryker looked like he wanted to take her head off, and Viggo simply looked intrigued.

"You're new to the riders, are you not? And yet you show some amount of competence concerning dragons. Interesting," he observed.

"Don't pretend like you're interested in me. All you care about is information and profit, neither of which I'll give you," Orinth spat.

"Speaking of profits, your dragon's scales are rather unique among others of its species, are they not? Perhaps it will fetch a nice price to the right buyer," he remarked, a clear threat hidden in his words.

"I get it," she said, "you want to threaten me through my dragon. If we are going to bargain, I need to know that you haven't already sold him to the highest bidder."

"Very well. I can personally assure you that your beast is safe and will continue to stay that way-" he began.

"Prove it," she countered, not willing to accept any less than solid proof.

"Ah, but you didn't allow me to finish. He will stay that way, as long as you provide some small assistance to me."

"And if I don't?"

"Then your precious dragon, and others, if needed, earn a few new battle scars," he warned, as Ryker chuckled.

She narrowed her eyes, "Surely you wouldn't damage your precious property," she spat, throwing his previous wording in his face.

He raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to test him.

"Why don't we attend to your wounds, first. Then we can discuss how you can be of assistance to me," his words sounded like a courtesy, but she knew better than to take this man at his word.

------- Author's Note -------
Well, here's the second part of the story! Hopefully this is picking up your interest a bit more? I'd love to hear whatever feedback people have. :-)