Hi everyone! I'm back and have decided to revamp this story! I'm hoping to get further with this story than I did before. To anyone revisiting this story, thank you for sticking with it. To new comers, I swear it get's better!
IMPORTANT: every chapter that has been edited and is up to date will be labeled as follows: !REVAMPED!
I wouldn't suggest reading further than that, unless you really want to.
Enjoy!
Chapter 1: Arrival and Discovery
The first thing Chloe Conti noticed when she stepped out of her ancient, faded blue Chevy truck was that the sky above her family's old house was considerably clearer than it had been when she was driving home. From a few miles away she could have sworn she'd seen the greying of storm clouds, but now not a single cloud was in sight. The birds were chirping, and, despite the fact that she'd had to run out on her band's practice early to come babysit her little sister and her so-called friend had bailed, the weather was giving every indication that today was going to be a fabulous day.
Which was why Chloe found herself frowning as she stared at her house in suspicion.
Nothing seemed particularly wrong; the door was still the same chipped red it had always been, and the cracked white wood paneling was as "charming" as ever as her mother liked to call it. The green trees that framed the house were still standing. They had miraculously made it through winter and the spring showers with hardly any water or snow leaking in through the sketchy roof. Her mother had recently been appointed manager at the local green grocers up the road, a position Chloe knew should have been hers a long time ago. And it would have, if the store owner didn't prefer to appoint flaky, young, pretty twenty-somethings to the position. And Chloe, well Chloe wasn't doing too bad; she'd passed all her classes with C's and B's, and had even managed to wrangle and A out of her physical education class, being one of the only to actually attend. Her mother might not have been as proud about the grades, but Chloe didn't mind. This time next year she'd be entering her second semester at her dream dance academy if all went well. Everything was going well, which to Chloe was alarming. Nothing good ever lasted: she was of the philosophy that all good things must come to an end, which she figured after the last couple of weeks the end was due any day now.
So with trepidation, Chloe approached the house, wearily unlocking the door and stepping in.
"Ronnie, I'm home," she called as she stepped inside, brushing her feet against the welcome mat. From what she could see from the parlor, everything seemed in place, all except-
"Ronnie?" she called again, this time with a hint of panic. Her little sister never failed to come greet her at the door, much less make her self known in all of her six year old adorableness. She was late, and Ronnie hated tardiness with the strongest possible affinity a child could afford, and Chloe knew she wouldn't miss the chance to berate her as soon as she stepped through the door.
So where is that little girl? Taking the stairs two at a time, Chloe scoured the landing for her little sister, checking first her room, then her own, the bathroom, and finally her mother's. Nothing. Going back into her room, she flicked the sleeping dog on her bed, giving him an annoyed glare.
"Where's Ronnie, Padfoot? You know I trust you more than Kaitlin to watch Ronnie," she admonished. The large black dog whined as he shook himself, and Chloe shook her head as she stared down at him. He reached up to lick her face once before bounding off her bed, skating across the floorboard landing and then down the stairs. Just as she realized where her dog was going, Chloe frowned, about to follow when a familiar giggle of a laugh floated in through her bedroom window. With a relieved sigh, Chloe trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen. Sure enough, the backyard door was open. Suddenly she heard Padfoot's angry barking, and she quickened her pace.
"Veronica you know you're not allowed outside alone when mom-Who the hell are you two?!" Chloe exclaimed as she stepped into the yard. Because just beyond where her little sister was sitting cross legged on the ground were two boys Chloe placed around her age if not a little older.
"Chloe!" Ronnie turned to her older sister admonishingly. "You owe me a dollar for the swear jar!" she said, causing Chloe to roll her eyes.
"Sure, kid, just get inside the house, okay?" Chloe said, eyeing the two trespassers. The younger of the two, the one with golden brown curls, straightened up from his crouching position, looking at her with interest. For a moment Chloe thought he was checking her out, but then noticed that he seemed more interested in what she was wearing. Is he...is he judging my outfit? She wondered. Like he was one to talk. He was wearing what looked like a velour shirt and riding pants and tall leather riding boots. His friend with the chin length black hair wasn't much better off. Blinking a few times to clear her mind, she flashed them a sarcastic smile.
"Hi there. Mind telling me why two creepy guys are in my yard?" Chloe asked as she held out a hand to Ronnie. Ronnie stood and ran up to her, grabbing onto her hand and swinging it happily in between them.
"Those are my friends," Ronnie said before either boy could speak. "That's Eragon and that's Murtagh," she explained as she pointed. "They're magic." Chloe raised her eyebrows at her younger sister, running her eyes over her gold curls and then meeting her blue eyes.
"It's a good thing you're cute," She told her, before turning back to their unwelcome visitors.
"Thanks for stopping by, but I'd really appreciate it if you two would just move along, otherwise I will sic my dog on you. He can be mean to strangers, just so you know," Chloe said, nodding towards Padfoot. He was standing at her side, eyeing the two boys in a way that made her feel very safe if their intentions here anything less than benign.
"Please, miss," said the younger of the two, Eragon. He had an accent Chloe couldn't place, not quite English, but not anything she had ever heard before either. "We're lost. Quite frankly we don't even know what land we're in, nor how we came about it," he said, and the other began to roll his eyes.
"You, Eragon, are a fool if you don't think it was the Crystal of Eoam that transported us here," he said none too kindly, causing Eragon to scowl as he turned to face him.
"I'm the fool? You are the reason we're in this mess, Murtagh. If you'd only-"
"If I'd only what? If I had only gone against his orders? You have no idea what-"
"Oi!" Chloe called out. "Look, I don't know what this is about, or why it's happening here of all places. This is 2010, and I think you can find direction back to Arthurian times via the bar up the street, though you will definitely be carded," she said, eying Eragon in particular as she spoke.
"Where is your leader?" Murtagh asked impatiently.
"My leader-oh, I don't know, the White House?" She said. Both Eragon and Murtagh's eyes landed on the greying house behind her, and both made for it. Chloe quickly threw her hands up to stop them.
"Not that one you dumb m-" she broke off at a stern look from Ronnie. "My uh, leader, is very far away and very unavailable to you." she said.
"Very well, then which way to the elves?" Eragon asked. His patience also seemed to be wearing thin, and every time he looked to his friend his eyes would harden. Okay, so maybe not his friend, thought Chloe.
"The elves." Chloe repeated.
"Yes, the elves, unless of course the dwarves are closer," he said, and Chloe nodded slowly.
"For the elves I'd try the nearest Hogwarts kitchen, and as for the dwarves I don't think they actually like that, and that the politically correct terms is-wait a minute, I know exactly what's going on here," Chloe said with a groan. Eragon and Murtagh exchanged glances.
"You do?" Murtagh asked. "Because it is imperative that we get home," he said.
"You're stoners from the medieval club. I've never seen you around school before, granted I tend to avoid the dungeons-and-dragons types," she admitted. Both boy's eyes sparked with interest.
"Yes!" they both exclaimed at the same time, sparing a moment onto to glare at each other before rushing forward.
"We are not stone workers, but you know of the dragons?" Eragon asked excitedly, and, while Murtagh's next words were swallowed up by the roar of my mom's truck.
"That sounded a lot like-"
"Like the sound of a woman coming home who will definitely be kicking your a-butts, yeah." Chloe said, glad that her mother was home early from work.
"Dragon. At least a very small one-" Eragon broke off suddenly, looking at her suspiciously.
"What?" Chloe asked just as he snatched her hand into his own and twisted it, palm facing up.
"Oi! Let go!" she exclaimed, and Eragon quickly complied.
"She's not a rider," he said to Murtagh, who nodded.
"She is, however, right here. Look, really, honestly, you should just leave. My mom will call the cops on you, and as much as your little club of stupid fantasy-land stuff annoys me, I do appreciate the stoners, because they're really the only ones who come to my bands' gigs, so..." Again they looked confused, and Chloe wondered just what they'd smoked to become this baked, and if maybe they'd share because she wasn't sure she could handle them in her right state of mind.
"Chloe? Ronnie?" she heard her mom's voice call from the house, and glanced over her shoulder towards the kitchen.
"Yeah, out here, mom. There's a bit of a situation..." Chloe called. Her mother emerged a few minutes later, fixing her ponytail as she did. She stopped dead at the site of the two boys, dropping the mug in her hand in what was clearly shock. Chloe saw that her hands were shaking.
"Mom?"
"Miss are you all right?" Eragon asked in concern, and Ronnie looked at their mother questioningly.
"That accent..." Viviana finally said. She took a step closer, and for a second Chloe thought she saw tears in her eyes. "A-are you two from A-Alagaësia?" she whispered. Chloe's heart skipped a beat, then-
"Ha, ha, ha, very funny mom. You're pranking me back from last April Fool's. This was-hilarious, if not interesting. I have to say that I did not see this coming, mostly because you don't prank or joke much..." Chloe's awkward laughter died soon as she realized that she was the only one laughing. Eragon and Murtagh, however, seemed thrilled to see her mother.
"Yes, miss. I am Eragon Shadeslayer, and this is Murtagh Morzanson," Eragon said quickly. Murtagh scowled, lifting his chin defiantly, though Chloe couldn't blame him. That was a pretty stupid last name.
"...know how we came to be here?" Eragon was saying. Viviana nodded gravely.
"I do, yes. These are my daughters, Chloe and Veronica. Please, both of you, come inside. I know from experience you two will be very hungry," she said, gesturing for them to follow her into the house. Ronnie quickly joined her at her side, and Chloe rushed to do the same.
"What is going on, mom?" Chloe asked. "This is getting weird. Fast. Do you know these guys?" Glancing over her shoulder she saw that both Eragon and Murtagh were following them into the house, and she noticed that the tension between them seemed to have grown.
"I'll explain once we're inside with some tea and hot chocolate. The suns out but it is unnaturally cold, wouldn't you say?" Viviana said, and Chloe was about to argue when she realized that her mom was right. It was significantly colder here in the backyard than it had been out front. She whistled for Padfoot to come into the kitchen with them, and he quickly followed in after them.
As Viviana busied herself with the tea kettle and hot chocolate for Ronnie, Chloe studied her mother. She'd never seen her like this. Viviana was always collected, liked to be in charge and was careful, controlled in her ways. And so Chloe wasn't sure how to feel when she saw her mother repeatedly pull out unneeded utensils, putting them away, only to pull them out again; when she spilled milk and sugar and sent another mug flying to the ground that would have shattered had Murtagh not caught it with uncanny agility. Ronnie was seated at the wooden table with Eragon, animatedly telling him the story of her picture book. He seemed oddly intrigued and fascinated, and would often pause to ask her questions about mundane things like 'cell phone' and 'television', garnering rather inaccurate yet hilarious responses from an increasingly frustrated Ronnie as he pressed for answers on how 'such devices' worked. Murtagh was quiet, and Chloe had the feeling he was evaluating them all, sizing them up as well as his surroundings. When her eyes met his dark ones she quickly looked away from his haughty expression.
The tea kettle began whistling, and soon Viviana was pouring them all a cup of chamomile tea. She sat at the head of the table, gesturing for Chloe and Murtagh to join her. Murtagh remained where he stood by the sink, occasionally eyeing the silver appliances, while Chloe took the seat opposite her mother. Padfoot rested his head in her lap as he sat on the ground next to her. Chloe absently ran her fingers through his black hair.
"Eighteen years ago, I myself was eighteen. I was young and living in this very house by myself. My father had left my mother before I was even born, and just a month before I turned eighteen my mother died from cancer. I was sad and alone and longed for someone to love me. But I was also untrustworthy of every man I met, as I always had been. What was to stop them from being like my father, from leaving?"
"I do not mean to offend, but is this at all relevant to mine and Eragon's...situation?" Murtagh inquired. Eragon looked at hid disapprovingly, though he seemed to await an answer to the question as well. Viviana smiled wryly.
"I promise this has everything to do with your predicament." she said. Satisfied, at least for now, Murtagh nodded for her to continue. Chloe looked unconvinced, wondering just when this twisted joke of her mother's would end. Or maybe she would just wake up from this stupid dream. Either or was fine by her.
"As I said, I longed for a man, a man perfect for me. And one day I met him where he appeared in my yard, just where you two were standing," she said, looking to Eragon and Murtagh. "I remember finding him handsome, if different. He was wearing the oddest of things, a tunic and leather leggings. He looked as though he had stepped out of the storied my mother used to read to me as a child. Stranger still was the tale he told me of a land where he came from, a land called Alagaësia." She paused, a smile tugging at her lips.
"His name was Galatyn, and he fascinated me with his words and tales of his land, and soon we fell in love. We were married-a small ceremony-and then I fell pregnant with our first child. It was just after our second child was born that he was pulled back to his true home by the magic that had brought him here," her eyes turned sad, and she turned her focus to the window facing the yard.
Chloe stared at her mother unblinkingly, stunned. She could feel tears pricking at eyes and her throat tightened, and liquid fury run through her veins. She was barely twelve when her father had died, and they rarely talked about him. Hell, they hadn't talked about him in years, and her mother thought it was okay to make him a part of this sick joke?
"This isn't funny, mom," Chloe said coldly. Viviana sighed, reaching out for her daughter's hand. Chloe slipped it off the table.
"You have to understand why I never told you the truth-" she began, and Chloe stood up so fast that Padfoot yelped and her chair knocked to the ground.
"The truth? Stop this freaking joke right now because I can't handle it! Just stop!" she yelled. She almost regretted raising her voice as she saw Ronnie cringe, but she couldn't let it go, not now.
"Please, Chloe, just listen. This isn't a joke or a farce. This is real and it's exactly why I never told you. When you were born your father told you stories, you remember? But we agreed that we wouldn't tell you anything more than that-stories, so that you could have a normal life. After your father was sent back...I couldn't tell you the truth, you were too old, and already too stubborn. But now, now you can't look past the proof, the living, breathing proof right in front of you!" Viviana exclaimed, pointing to Eragon and Murtagh.
"Uh huh, so tell me, mom, did dad ride around a dragon two, or is that only a privilege these two get?" Chloe snapped, Viviana went to answer and then looked to their guests, eyes widening.
"Dragons...dragons have returned to Alagaësia? Impossible-or at least, that is what Galatyn always said. He believed more than most, and hoped fewer than still he used to say, but... you're dragon riders." She breathed, awe taking over.
"We are. Which is why we must return to Alagaësia. In leaving my dragon, Saphira, behind I have left a piece of myself behind. Do you know of the Crystal of Eoam?" Eragon asked. Viviana nodded.
"Yes, Galatyn spoke of it. He was exploring it's isle when he came across it. He believed it was the magic of the crystal that sent him here." She said, and Chloe raised an eyebrow. Her mother had always talked...funny, to say the least, but she was slowly creeping towards Shakespearian, like these two stoners.
"It must have been. Eragon and I were...arguing beneath it when we found ourselves transported here," Murtagh murmured, pensive. "What fountain of magic is there in this land that could match it's power to send us back? Perhaps even aided by a spell by you and I, Eragon. I am willing to work even with you if it will get me back to Thorn," Murtagh said, and then paused, staring at Eragon as though he'd never quite seen him before.
"Eragon you...your face!" he exclaimed. "Your face and your ears!" Eragon reached up to touch the tips of his ears, and suddenly a look of horror crossed his face as he reached them. He quickly grabbed the kettle, using it's metal surface as a mirror.
"My ears! They're rounded again, and my eyes-"
"Ha! No longer are you a princeling, eh, Eragon?" Murtagh mocked. Eragon rounded on him angrily.
"This is all your fault! Saphira needs me, not to mention the Varden!"
"You seem to forget that I am under the control of Galbatorix!" Murtagh shouted back. "And I'll have you know that I don't see Thorn anywhere near here either!" Murtagh said, delivering a harsh shove to Eragon's shoulders. Eragon looked murderous, and he went to shove back when Viviana quickly stood.
"Enough! You are both guests in my home and I won't tolerate you boys fighting!" Viviana exclaimed. "Now I do believe it is your turn to explain," she said.
With little encouraging, Eragon launched into a tale so far-fetched, so fantastical and ludicrous Chloe found herself believing it. Murtagh sat quietly in his corner, occasionally adding in a detail or contesting the accuracy of an event Eragon mentioned ("I had you beat in that duel and you know it!", and even "Not evil, I'd like to remind everyone once again, that I am beneath the control of a tyrant." It took a lot of explaining, especially since Chloe's mind insisted that elves where house elves, not the attractive beauties that Eragon spoke so highly of. ("Yeah, I think I watched Lord of the Rings once. I will go ahead and agree that Orlando Bloom can pull off the elf thing.")
"So you two are brothers-
"Half. Half brothers," Eragon interrupted.
"-and the haughty one is the evil, sorry, I mean misunderstood one. And you all ride around on dragons slashing at each other with magical, colorful swords. Sounds cool, I guess, in theory, but do you have any proof?" Chloe asked. By now the sun had set and darkness had settled, and Ronnie had even ventured upstairs and returned with a plethora of coloring books and crayons and markers and colored pencils. Chloe pulled her eyes away from the happily ignorant six year old and to the boys, as well as her mother.
"Proof? We've established your world lacks magic. Even our gedwey ignasias are gone," Eragon said.
"I fail to see why we must prove ourselves to you. All we need is to return home," Murtagh said. Chloe got the distinct impression that Murtagh didn't like her, which was fine with her. He didn't seem to like much of anything, or anyone.
"It's getting late. I'll fix us dinner, and the girls can show you to the two guest bedrooms you can stay in. You'll have to excuse the clutter in them, I'm afraid." Viviana said. Eragon assured her that any accommodations would be appreciated, and that he and Murtagh were truly grateful. Murtagh only grunted in what Chloe assumed was agreement.
Robotically, Chloe led the boys upstairs. She stopped in the center of the landing, gingerly turning to face the two boys. "Right, so that's my mom's room, Ronnie's room, guest bedroom, my room, and the other guest room,"
"Can Eragon stay in the room next to mine?" Ronnie interrupted. Chloe turned to look at her. She was holding Eragon by the hand, and Eragon looked amused by the attention, and even a little unsure of what to do with it.
"If Eragon doesn't mind," Chloe said. "But I think he's a little too old for you, Ronnie." Eragon's amused smile slid right off his face, and he looked down at Ronnie in surprise. He obviously hadn't realized the root of the little girl's affections.
"That's why I have birthdays every year. When I'm old enough I can marry Eragon." Ronnie said in a matter-of-fact tone, causing Murtagh to snort. Eragon shot him a glare, and Murtagh attempted to pass his laughter off as a coughing fit. Chloe wasn't doing much better, but then sobered as she remembered the situation she was in, a situation where she suddenly the black and white lines between real and imaginary were blurring into a murky grey. Because none of this could possibly be real, just as she knew her mother would never play a joke on her this cruel, nor this elaborate. Of that she felt she was sure. But of everything else? Of that she was as far from sure as she was from the sun and moon.
Chloe watched absently as Ronnie towed Eragon away to her room to show him her toys, and realized that her mother was downstairs alone at the moment. If she was going to talk to her ever, it would be now.
"Your room is there on the right, if you want to get settled in," Chloe muttered she as left Murtagh alone on the landing, taking the stairs down two at a time.
Viviana was once again bustling around the kitchen, though this time her shaking hands had relaxed as she began chopping carrots and onions for stew.
"I'll only ask once, and I want the truth. Is this, everything you've told me today, true?" Chloe asked. Viviana paused her chopping, placing the knife down on the scarred cutting board.
"Yes, Chloe, and I am so sorry that this is how you had to find this out. But I was afraid that if you knew the truth you'd never move on, that you'd be like me, trapped." Viviana said.
"Trapped?" Chloe asked, and Viviana sighed.
"You have to understand, Chloe. Galatyn...Gale, as he was known here, was an adventurer where he was from. And when her came here, that didn't change. He was curious about our world, and he proposed we explored it together. I had wanted to leave anyway, sell the house and travel somewhere knew. But then you came, and you were our precious gift. So we stayed. And then Veronica was born, and we thought that once she was older we would sell the house and move. But when your father, when he was sent back, I couldn't ever leave. I couldn't, not hoping against hope that one day he would come back. I didn't want to do that to you, I didn't want you to jump at every rustle in the trees, at every whistle in the wind thinking that it might have been him...So yes, its's real. Sometimes I think it was all a dream, but how can I, when I have the proof of it staring back at me in the form of my two beautiful daughters?" she smiled sadly, gently touching Chloe's cheek before clearing her throat and returning to her cooking.
"Would you mind getting Ronnie to help you set the table please, Chloe?"
ERAGON
"Bye Eragon," Ronnie said sadly, hugging Eragon. Eragon patted her on the back awkwardly, never having much experience with small children before. Behind her, Chloe made an impatient sound.
"You'll see him again in like, five minutes!" Chloe exclaimed indignantly. Ronnie pulled away, head slumped in defeat as she followed after her older sister. Chloe expression shifted to one of guilt, and she scooped Ronnie up into her arms, carrying her down the stairs as she placed a kiss on her cheek.
"It would seem that someone has captured the heart of a rather young maiden, eh? It seems they're either too young or too old for you!" Eragon turned around to find Murtagh watching him from the doorway. His dark eyes slid over the room's pink walls and other-worldly collection of toys and objects he couldn't understand the purpose of before finding Eragon's. Eragon's gaze did not waver against that of his half-brother's, not until he remembered what lied on the small table at his feet. He subtly stepped in front of the table, blocking Murtagh's view of it.
"I propose a truce, Murtagh, until we return to Alagaësia. Viviana is kind to offer us hospitality, but it is clear that she can do little more. If we wish to return home it will be up to us, and I fear any spell that could activate the Crystal will require more than simply one of us for energy," Eragon said. Murtagh considered him for a minute.
"The last time I agreed to anything you said, I ended up in the prison of the Varden in a dwarf mountain," he said evenly.
"Aye," Eragon agreed, stepping forward until he was staring right into his eyes. "And you were freer in the Varden's dungeon than you are in Galbatorix's command." Murtagh's eyes flashed.
"Fine. But the minute we are in Alagaësia you are nothing to me, brother." Turning around, Murtagh left the room, storming downstairs as Viviana announced that dinner was ready. As soon as Murtagh's footsteps faded, Eragon turned to the small desk, kneeling down next to it and picking up the drawings. The drawings were on an unfamiliar startlingly white paper, drawn with some form of colorful wax. Choosing the ones that sparked his interest, Eragon folded them and placed them into the breast of his vest pocket, hidden from sight. With that, he joined the people downstairs.
As he walked down the stairs, he wished for more than home, he wished for Saphira and the comfort of her mind brushing his. Outside, the winds stirred, as though mirroring his distress.
MURTAGH
This house may have been filled with strange objects and irritating people, namely Eragon, but this bed he was lying in was heaven. He'd never slept in something so firmly comfortable, not even in the palace. He fell asleep smirking, convinced that at least, miserable as he was, he was sleeping in a bed more comfortable than the Black King's. He slept soundly...
...for a few, preciously short hours. He was instantly alert, urging his eyes to adjust to the darkness as something moved around the room. He rolled out of the bed, grabbing the intruder and throwing them onto the bed. There was a surprised yelp and the room was flooded with a bright light. He blinked rapidly, finding Chloe on his bed, one hand extended to the gas-less lamp on the nightstand. Viviana had mentioned that 'elecicity' powered it, though Murtagh wasn't sure he understood. All he knew was that it was no fire or werelight.
"Can I help you?" the blonde asked rather rudely, folding her arms across her chest. She wore something of tunic down to her thighs, leaving little to the imagination. Murtagh concluded that this world's women must have been like it's name: bland. Chloe herself was rather shapeless, as well as senseless, apparently.
"I'd be asking you the same, lass. I believe you mentioned earlier your room is further up the hall," Murtagh said as he watched her slide off his bed. She tossed his a fake smile.
"Yes, but this is my house. I need to find something." she said, walking over to the closet and throwing it open. She began rummaging through it, and Murtagh made an impatient noise. If he was ever going to sleep soundly, it would be now, and here she was, disrupting his peace. He didn't even want to be awake; awake he could miss Thorn, asleep he could not.
"Can you not search for it in the morning?" he asked.
"Not if I want to go to sleep to tonight I can't." she said, voice slightly muffled. "Here it is." she grabbed pulled out a long, old trunk, carrying it over to the bed. As he watched her open it from over her shoulder, Murtagh was surprised to find that there was a bow inside, a long with a quiver of twelve arrows with fletches from an unknown bird. The bow was no masterpiece, more of a toy than a tool for hunt or battle, but Murtagh recognized the influence of traditional Empire bows in it's make.
"Your father make that?" he found himself asking. Chloe's hand jumped away from the bow as though she'd been burned as she remembered his presence, and she nodded.
"Yeah, yeah he did." She picked it up, turning it once it her hand before handing it to Murtagh. Murtagh took it, eye brow raised. As he inspected it. He found an inscription on the inner curve of the bow, and recognized it as the Ancient Language. He glanced at Chloe, finding her eyeing him closely.
"That inscription, can you read it?" she asked quietly.
"I can, though not many from my world can. It's the Ancient Language," Murtagh said. "Though your father didn't seem privy to it's good grammar. Roughly, it's meant to say: 'Fly high, my dove.'" as he spoke the words Chloe mouthed them, eyes closed. When she opened them he could see her eyes were burning with tears, and he hoped to all the gods that she would not cry, at least not in the room with him. Fortunately, she mumbled her thanks and replaced the bow in it's trunk and hauled it out of the room.
Murtagh fiddled with the lamp, his thoughts revolving around Chloe's father, Galatyn. He'd never heard of such a man, though perhaps he wasn't even alive anymore. How else would the secret of the Crystal of Eoam have remained hidden? Even Galbatorix didn't known what it truly did-or did he? Could that have been the true reason Galbatorix coveted the Crystal?
As usual in his life, questions, questions, and yet more questions, with never an answer in sight.
Thank you, and don't forget to review! :)
