This really hurts to say this, but I am going to temporarily retire from Fan Fiction immediately after I finish this story because of some family-related conflicts. For those that were supportive, I send my deepest gratitude, but I must do this, no matter how heartbreaking it can be. This will definitely be missed, but at least I went out with a "bang." Almost everyone in this section knows me by this story. Do I know if I will come back? There is no way to tell at the moment. Just keep me on author alert and wait for my comeback, if I ever have one. On a final note, I will be taking this time to revamp my original work to see if I can push the publication date sooner than next November. Let's get to work: P.S: No love scene, but this is still graphic. No one would expect the ending!
Chapter 80: Death of the Beginning
"Good morning," Saphira whispered in Eragon's ear. The two were cuddled up next to each other in their bed, both naked and sweaty from the previous night.
"Were we successful?" Eragon asked. Saphira gently placed a kiss on her lover's lips and placed her hand on his thigh.
"I do not know," she said with a grin. "You were great, Eragon. Why did I even think of giving that style of mating up?"
"It is in the past." Eragon sat up in his bed and stretched his hands up towards the ceiling. "I am just glad that you are at my side again."
"As am I. Do you know how to raise a human child?"
"No clue," Eragon chuckled. "Personally, I am going to miss seeing you in dragon form for so long. What am I going to do?"
"Perhaps we were unsuccessful?" Saphira asked with a soft smile. "After all, was it not you who promised me that we would mate nightly?"
"My promises are to fulfill your dreams, Saphira. When you ask, I give."
"I did ask for a child."
"My dear, you may have gotten it."
"I want to change my request, Eragon." Saphira looked down at her thin stomach and placed both of her hands there on it. "I love you, but I feel as if we have enough on our plate already. There are still battles raging and you need your dragon more than your gravid wife."
"Pregnant," Eragon corrected with a chuckle. "There is a difference in those words."
"I want a child, Eragon, but I do not want to raise him in times like this. I want what is best for him."
"So do I," Eragon sighed. He stood to his feet and stepped over to the closet. In one swift motion, he tossed the doors open and pulled out an emerald colored tunic. Saphira smiled and gently pulled the covers closer to her chest to cover herself tauntingly.
"I have no regrets over last night," she cooed. "Whatever happens, we will do fine."
"Children do grow slower than dragons. Draken took less than six months before he took a spouse. Our child, if we are lucky, may not find a spouse until he is the age of sixteen. If we have a son, I will train him with every skill I know." Suddenly, Murtagh and Arthur barged through the door.
"HEY!" Eragon yelled. "Is there no such thing as privacy to one's home anymore?"
"Sorry brother." Murtagh cast his eyes away from Saphira, who climbed out of the bed with the covers around her like a dress. "We must hurry! Get dressed now."
"What is going on?"
"It involves the other part of the country," Arthur explained
breathlessly. "They are fighting as we speak. Murtagh and I have
just spotted two wyverns fly over towards it as well. If we do not
move now than more people will die."
"Problem." Eragon turned to look at Saphira. "She is pregnant."
- - - - - - - - -
Nasuada stood on the ridge of the mountain chain North of Buragh with Vanir, Orik, Roran, Katrina, and several other Elvin soldiers, which included a young teenager by the name of Lancelot, who was very strong for his age. At the hill's base stood a total of twelve hundred hostile villagers that came from all directions of the split country. Curses could be heard from these farmers as the angry crowd began climbing their way up the hillside.
"My Queen," on of the bodyguards told her. "You must flee now!"
"You are outnumbered! There are thousands of them and less than twenty of you! Look Vanir, many down there are the elves from the second part of Ellesmera. You stand no chance of victory!"
"Our victory is your safety, your highness!" Vanir shouted back to her. "Go! Take the path down to Tarnag and wait there. I am sure that one of us will survive…if we are lucky."
"I will not!"
"My Lord!" Orik spoke up. "We were assigned by Islanzadi herself to watch over you. How could we explain to her that the queen of New Alageasia had fallen?"
"Orik is right," Roran sighed. He picked up his hammer and smashed it firmly against his own shield. Katrina placed her hand on the queen's shoulder and smiled.
"I will escort you. I cannot be here during this battle because I am with child." Suddenly, a large spear flew past and into the trunk of a tree beside her.
"Go!"
- - - - - - - -
The leader of this new land must not survive.
Understood.
- - - - - - - -
"Where is this new queen?" The villagers below began shouting. "How could she allow this to happen?" The guards formed a sturdy line across the hill as the farmers pressed forward.
"No one gets by," Roran muttered to the other guards. Vanir unsheathed his blade and barred his teeth as the villagers moved in closer.
"She must suffer like we do!" the villagers roared. At once, the crowd rushed to the top of the hill. The line of Nasuada's troops pushed forward and collided with the villagers, tossing many of them back down the hill. Roran swung his hammer and smashed it against one man's skull, tossing his teeth down the other side of the hill.
"Hold this place!" Orik shouted, driving his axe into the chest of another villager. The man let out a blood-curdling cry as the dwarf withdrew the axe's blade. He turned to see Nasuada just start heading down the path with Katrina. Suddenly, another spear flew towards him, impaling his shoulder.
"Orik!" Vanir screamed. More bodyguards began falling as the villagers pushed forward, but watching the only dwarf in Ellesmera fall to the ground was the most painful.
"I be fine!" Orik shouted back in his usual gruff accent. He reached out and broke the spear off, leaving the tip in his body. "We die with honor today."
"Who has to die?" A familiar voice called from the air. All of the remaining guards looked up to see Eragon flying in on Draken's back. Thorn was also present with his rider and Arthur astride him. Covin'thra and Equinox followed suit behind the two males while Lunalese remained at Draken's side. In one mighty leap, the riders jumped off and landed right in front of the villagers while the two dragons flew off. Eragon and Murtagh lifted their swords simultaneously towards the townspeople. "Take one more step towards these men and pay dearly for it." The villagers clamored around and stood still in front of the legendary riders. "Who is in charge of this?"
"It would be me," An older gentleman stepped forward and drew his rusty blade out of his cloth woven sheath. "Get out of our way, riders."
"I warn you old man, do not make a mistake so fatal."
"This new queen damned us all!" the man exclaimed. "Our crops have failed and our livestock have fallen over dead. Have we received any aid at all from our 'nation?' I think not! We shall rise up and form our own. Out of our way."
"Through our dead bodies," Arthur exclaimed. "We will not let our country divide spiritually as it has physically."
"Too late!"
The wyverns! Lunalese's voice suddenly shouted in all three of the warriors' heads. They are after Nasuada.
Protect her, Eragon responded. Take all of the dragons with you and get them to safety.
Yes. Suddenly, the older man rushed towards Arthur with his sword raised to his chest. In one quick swipe, the young boy brushed the tip of the sword away and brought Excalibur's tip to the villager's throat.
"I am faster than I seem, old one." The man trembled slightly at the touch of the magical blade against his skin, but Arthur lowered it away from the kill spot. "Angry peasants are not meant to be slain by this sword, but I will use it if I must to defend me and my friends. Do you all care to see the rest of my talents?" Eragon smirked over to Murtagh, who replied with a subtle wink. The three warriors took their place beside the bodyguards and bowed their heads in unison as they joined the formation.
"If you wish to do battle," Vanir scowled, "then let us begin!" The villagers roared in anger and rushed forward once again. Swords clashed against other blades as the bloody battle began. Eragon watched as his brother slammed the head of his hammer against an opponent's chest, leaving a bloody dent where it struck. Vanir, on the other hand, was fighting beside Murtagh, slicing many with his Elvin swordsmanship.
"These are just humans," Vanir mocked. Suddenly, a swordsman slipped behind him and drove his blade down the trainer's back. Vanir screamed in agony and placed his free hand on his back to cover the wound.
"Not all of us are," the fighter mocked, as he wiped Vanir's blood off of his sword with the black tunic that he was wearing. The man was an elf. He stood tall at a height of 6'2, and his hair was black but matted with crimson blood. Vanir took to his knees and gasped at the pain that shot up from the wound. His breath was leaving and his vision was as well. "Good bye, Vanir." Eragon was forced to turn away as the Elf plunged his blade through Vanir's heart, jabbing the blade clean through his trainer.
"VANIR!" Eragon shouted in rage. He lifted up his hand at the elf and roared in anger. "Thrysta!" The elf stood still for a second, but an unknown force literally pushed him up and off of the mountainside to the jagged rocks below, breaking the betraying elf completely in half upon impact.
"Forget about him!" Murtagh shouted. "You will do no good to Saphira if you end up like him!" He shook his head and quickly brought his sword up to parry a blow. "I have had enough of this!" Arthur was the only one battling without suffering from fatigue. He swung his sword effortlessly without one bead of sweat dripping from his brow or arms. The blade was sharp and hacked its way through the crowd of villagers that surrounded him. It was obvious that the blade he wielded was powerful. Eragon shook his head and quickly sidestepped to avoid being impaled by a spear. As he stepped aside, one of the bodyguards stepped forward and clasped the shaft firmly in his right palm, stopping it in mid-flight.
"I believe this belongs to you!" The guard aimed and threw the spear with all of his might at the sender of the weapon, impaling him just underneath his chin. He dusted his hands off and turned to smile at Eragon. "Villagers just cannot seem to keep track of their things, can they Rider?" Eragon nodded his head and returned the smile before turning to face the fight again. They had dropped from twenty men to twelve and the villagers still outnumbered them. Three had pressed on Eragon, but he quickly uttered the death spells to snap their necks like twigs. "Nifty trick, Eragon," the guard said with a smile as he held his sword up to parry an attack. "Can you save us the trouble and…ugh…kill them all now?" The guard suddenly pushed forward and placed his foot squarely on the enemy's gut. With one strong kick, the man fell back and left his chest open for the fatal blow, which the guard gave willingly.
"You are quite the fighter," Eragon commented. The guard shrugged and spun his blade around to shove it through the stomach of another villager.
"I am never one to boast, friend," he replied between grunts as he slid his blade out of the dead man that was attached to it. "I am Lancelot, the most trusted swordsman in all of Alageasia." He paused to twirl his blade, bringing it down across the face of another victim.
"I can see why."
"Get out of your conversation, brother!" Murtagh shouted in rage. His face was cut and his left eye was swollen, but he still continued to fight. "We must fall back down the hill. There is a path behind us where Nasuada took. I have not heard from the dragons so I strongly suggest that we leave to assist."
"Sounds like a fair idea," Lancelot chuckled. He whistled to the other guards and motioned for the retreat. The only guards who did not fall back were Roran and Orik, who continued fighting the crowd.
"Cousin!" Eragon screamed. "Get out of there!" Roran swung his mighty hammer once more, crushing the right side of another person's face, while Orik cut away at them all with his axe. Everything happened in slow motion as the spear took flight from the villagers. It flew straight and true into Orik's chest. He fell instantly and lay limp on the bloody ground while Roran quickly rushed to join Eragon. It was obvious that Orik was gone and they were too exhausted to fight off so many men to find out the truth. He was not breathing and his blood flowed freely like a steady stream. Two of Eragon's closest friends were gone in one bloody mutiny.
"NO!"
- - - - - - - - - -
Draken dove down on the two wyverns with insurmountable speed, smashing into both of them in midair. The birdlike creatures flapped furiously to get away, but found themselves in a worse situation when Covin'thra plowed through them. The five dragons had covered all routes of escape for them and they attacked frequently each time the wyverns attempted to get away.
Where is the leader of the wyverns? Thorn sneered. I want a shot at his throat.
I will never give you that chance, lizard!
Show yourself and stop hiding behind your brethren! The second wyvern, who was solid black except for his golden eyes, beat his wings faster to gain a distance on his counterpart. Suddenly, Draken dove down after him and latched his claws on the bird's wings, tightening his grip each second of their freefall.
My uncle wants to taste your blood, Draken growled as the wyvern hissed in pain. It is I who will have that honor!
You can kill me but my vision has already come true. Your human race has begun to fight over itself yet again. If it continues, then you will all become extinct…dragons and humans alike. As soon as he finished the sentence, Recioh broke away and craned his head up to attack Draken's throat again.
"No you do not!" Covin'thra suddenly shouted. There was a loud crash as the silver dragon collided with the wyvern, tearing at his feathery flesh as they fell down together. As soon as Covin'thra released the bird, Equinox joined in the fray, pummeling Recioh with her talons. Thorn wanted to end the creature's misery, but he was after the red one. He found his opportunity to strike and latched his powerful jaws on its neck. The creature let out a painful cry, but it was quickly stifled when Thorn shook his head to snap its neck and end its life.
Lisben! Recioh roared in horror. He watched as his mate fell lifelessly to the mountainous floor underneath him.
"You are going to suffer the same fate."
What does it matter? Recioh asked. That was the last female. You have caused me to go into extinction. The eggs are still waiting to be hatched, but without a mother, they never will. You have doomed me.
"You doomed yourself!" Draken dove with all of his strength towards the wyvern. He opened his jaws and let out a stream of liquid fire towards him. The fire hit its mark and splashed against Recioh's skin, burning all of his feathers off and searing his skin. The wyvern screeched in pain, but Draken flew in closer and clamped his mouth over the bird's neck with so much strength that it decapitated him. "I fulfill my promises. The soldiers shall eat well tonight!"
I have more to cover in these next chapters, including Nasuada and Lancelot. Yes, Saphira will be expecting a child and YES, Katrina is also pregnant. Kids all around. I am trying my hardest to get this finished correctly and I would say that we have less than a week before it is all over. I am sorry, friends, but it is the way things have to be for now.