Freya's POV

I shivered inside the cell. Clinging my arms together for warmth, I watched Ryker as he sat upon his throne. He was focused on a map laid out on his knees.

Chests filled with stolen gold and dragon eggs lined the walls. Several guards stood by the door whilst the rest were beside the cages.

Directly opposite me, Swiftstrike continuously growled in a low, menacing threat. Her sharp eyes flickered between me and Ryker, her tail swishing, impatient.

Despite what I had told Ryker, he hadn't let me be with Swiftstrike. This was the closest we'd been - likely due to the fact that he didn't trust me not to escape. No-one had needed hypnotising yet, so eye contact across the room was the only reunion we could have.

Before I'd thought of way to convince Ryker into letting us stay in the same cage, the doors burst open. Everyone jumped up as several guards stepped through. Ryker's eyes narrowed.

"I told you to only inturupt me if there was an emergency," he stated, unimpressed. "You know the consequences." He brushed his fingers along a sword.

The hunter at the front shook his head. "It isn't that sir, not at all. We have caught a prisoner."

Ryker rolled his eyes. "Lock them up with the dragons then. We'll deal with them later."

"But sir, he's a Dragon Rider!"

I gasped. Ryker sat up in his seat, a cruel smile slithering onto his face. He beckoned for the prisoner to be brought in. Swiftstrike seemed to notice the change in atmosphere as she went silent, her movement becoming more anxious. I watched from my cage, trying to keep my face blank.

"Ow! Hey, be careful!"

I knew that voice... Gustav?

Ryker scowled as Gustav was pushed forwards. His skinny frame was almost snapped in half by the large guards as they forced him to kneel in front of the raised throne.

"Who's this?" Ryker glared at the guards, not recognising the leader of the A-team.

Suddenly uncertain, the soldier began to sweat. "He was riding a crazy monstrous nightmare. The beast kept thrashing about-"

"There's more of them?!" Ryker snapped, standing.

Had he not known about the A-team?

"More dragon riders?!"

"I, uh, well- "

"Damnit! Put the scum in the empty cage and prepare the dragon for hypnosis," he demanded, walking down. He turned to me. I resisted the urge to shrink on myself.

"Freya," Ryker spat, "come with me. Time to see if you really do know this monster."

Two guards lifted the heavy locking mechanism of my cage and each grabbed one of my arms. I struggled, but they only tightened their grip. At the same time, Gustav was being picked up and thrown into a cage and Swiftstrike's cell was being surrounded. Numerous guards stood around the opening of her cage, holding dragon root weapons towards her. Hissing, Swiftstrike straightened, but it was clear she would obey: she knew that it was futile.

Ryker grabbed me from the soldiers and shoved me towards Swiftstrike. Her eyes landed on mine and she cooed slightly.

"Get the beast to cooperate or we'll feed yer to the dragons."

I nodded, stumbling forwards. I faced Swiftstrike.

"Hey girl," I began, approaching the bars. She followed my movements with her strong gaze. "We need to stay calm, yeah? I know they hurt you but we can't go firing at them - no matter how much they deserve it."

Ryker watched, standing too close to me for my liking. I pressed on.

"Can you relax a little? Just for me?" I asked, my voice gentle. With a final snarl, she dropped her defensive stance and submitted her head.

Grinning menacingly, Ryker clasped his hands together. "Excellent, excellent! Casualties with be practically non-existent! Now," his tone darkened," to the monstrous nightmare."

"N-no."

We all turned to Gustav, who was shaking and on the verge of tears.

"Stay away from him, you monsters! Don't touch hi-" A Hunter shoved a gag in his mouth. Tears were flowing freely down his cheeks as muffled cries filled the silence. I felt awful, but there wasn't anything I could do.

Something sharp prodded my back and I stumbled forwards.

"To the dragon."

*

With a screech, Fanghook clawed at the metal cage. The melted pieces held firm, barely affected. He flapped his wings, trying to take off, but the small space and exhausted muscles prevented him from going anywhere.

I barely recognised him. Fanghook's hide was completely grey, his eyes a gleamless white. His scales were like sandpaper.

I felt sick. This was not healthy, not right. Fanghook didn't deserve this - Gustav didn't deserve this. Even Ryker seemed surprised at the condition of the monstrous nightmare.

Ryker scowled. "Tell 'er to make sure he stays put until we find a suitable female," he ordered.

I nodded, masking my surprise.

A female?

Swiftstrike's eyes flickered between me and the various hunters. Ryker gave the signal and the hunters repeated some code words and she recognised the commands.

"Make him calm, not too active," I told her. Not understanding my words, Swiftstrike tilted her head, giving me a confused look. I tried to demonstrate using actions and sounds. I thought I was being ridiculous but she got the idea and locked gazes with Fanghook.

Swiftstrike's usually warm eyes grew vibrant and formed a blue hue. Her pupils thinnened, curving. I watched with my mouth open as Fanghook's eyes held the same pattern as hers. Their pupils spiralled. With mechanical movements, he shifted around until his body completely faced hers. The rotating pattern sped up and grew thicker, until their eyes were both black. Instantly, Fanghook fell down, unconscious.

Shaking herself, Swiftstrike relaxed, her eyes returning to normal. I stroked her neck and patted her horns, enjoying the contact after so long apart. She purred, but the hunters separated us.

Not long after, Fanghook began to wake. Before we could see the results of the hypnosis, the Dragon Hunters herded us back to our cells.

*

Ryker grumbled to himself, jotting down on some rough parchment. White markings from the Dragon Eye were laid across the wall. Some of the guards had moved at Ryker's command.

Ignoring him, I focused on the shattered teen as he lay inside his cell. I smiled at him but he didn't look me in the eye.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I whispered, shuffling towards him. Gustav leant on the bars, his knees hugged close to his chest.

He straightened himself. "I failed."

I shook my head, doing my best to be reassuring. "We all did last time, remember? It's gonna be oka-"

"No, you don't get it!" he whisper shouted. "I didn't just get caught, I got Fanghook trapped as well!"

I motioned to Swiftstrike, pushing away the rising guilt at the thought. His eyes softened but he continued.

"The rest of the riders are still on Berk with no idea that I left to start with!"

I froze. This was bad.

Gustav continued, "I managed to - "his eyes darted to Ryker, who seemed deep in thought - "send a terror-mail." He was almost just mouthing. "But I don't know if they'll even get it."

My eyes lit up, but I quickly returned my face to a neutral expression. By now, the guards where looking in our direction and whispering amongst themselves.

"But that's great news! Surely a rescue mission would be in place," I assured.

Gustav's gaze was uncertain. "We'll be hypnotized before then though. You'll be told to calm Swiftstrike and I'll be forced to work as a Dragon Hunter probably."

I frowned. "Maybe. But if the Riders do actually come for us, we need to be ready. We'll just put off the hypnosis for as long as possible with various excuses," I suggested, brushing over the fact that Ryker would probably not listen to any reason I provide.

Hope glistened on Gustav's face.

"OK. This is what we'll do," I began.

*

We discussed some ideas back and forth for what felt like hours. Several times the guards hit our cells to get us to stop whispering, but before long we continued.

Currently, our best plan was to act as if nothing was up until we were released. We would free Swiftstrike, getting her to safety. Then we would try to overpower the Dragon Hunters at the drivers' section and control the ship; we couldn't leave the dragons and the hypnosis would prevent them from flying away.

But we had no idea what the Dragon Riders had planned - or whether they would turn up at all.

Time dragged on slowly like a blunt knife through stone. Every few moments I found myself glancing up. Yawning, I forced back sleep; I couldn't be groggy when they arrived.

But oh how peaceful sleep seemed.

Despite my will, I found myself drift off, cold from the metal seeping into my skin.

*

There was sudden shouting. I bolted awake, my eyes half-closed as I took in the scene in front of me.

Ryker was arming himself, locking the Dragon Eye in a chest beside his throne. The guards were barricading the door as sharp snarls sounded from the other side.

Frowning, I sat up. Gustav was also awake, watching like a hawk.

Before I could figure out what was going on, the door was flung open. The Hunters lunged out of the way as several dragons squeezed through. A green monstrous nightmare managed to get in, firing at the dragon root weapons.

I leapt to my feet. "Here, boy."

His head snapped to mine as other dragons got through.

"Come here," Gustav added.

The monstrous nightmare snorted, ignoring our calls. A changewing slid into view, blasting the throne with acid.

Ryker growled, his eyes narrowing. Swinging his dragon root sword, he caught one of the monstrous nightmare's wings and it fell with a loud thump.

A slight creeping caught my attention. Part of a face was visible, right up to the bars. My eyes widened as the metal lock was inched off.

"Wha-"

"Sh!"

I finally recognised them as Hiccup. Glancing at Ryker, who was charging at the changewings, I nudged the door open. Hiccup had left towards Gustav's cell.

I was out! Relief washed over me but I knew I couldn't relax yet: we were still on the ship.

Gustav was released and Hiccup hurried towards Swiftstrike with his back bent, only visible from the underneath. But Gustav and I were out in the open. I crept behind the throne, Gustav hot on my heels. I took a spear from the wall as Gustav took a sword.

"Hey! Where are the prisoners?" someone shouted.

There was a pause as Ryker realised what happened.

"We haven't had a dragon escape, we have an attack! Catch the intruders!" Ryker bellowed.

Swiftstrike burst from her cage, spitting acid. I heard a night fury roar and shouting from the corridor.

They were here.

It was time to fight.

***

Some action!

What plan would you use to escape?