Title: Captive's Heart
Rating: T for violence and mild language
Genre: Adventure / Hurt/Comfort
Summary: Murtagh is in the service of the King, Galbatorix. He kills and betrays for him and whatever else the king commands, but does he do it by choice? Murtagh is a captive just as much as those in the dungeon, if not more. Forced to betray his only friend, he is hated by many, including himself. With the help and understanding of another unlikely captive, maybe they can both be freed, and Murtagh forgiven.
A/N: Hello!! I finally thought of a title for this! It came to me in physics class today. Odd no? I think it's double meaning suites it though. This may take a while for me to update as well as my other two (one of which I still haven't posted the first chapter of yet) mainly due to school and a malfunctioning laptop. I have to use the home comp to post but my comp to write so I get to have fun transferring things. Well ya, I plan on this fic being semi-long but I believe it will be enjoyable enough. Well, read and enjoy!
Chapter 1: From Across the Sea
A cloudless night with its three-quarter moon riding high watched the sea below as a deep mist spread to the shores. The stars twinkled and shined brightly but were unseen by those traveling through the fog.
The silence of the evening was broken now only by the soft sound of oars shifting through sea-water, pulling its host toward the land.
A small traveling shop emerged from the fog into the light of the moon revealing four figures on board, rowing slowly to shore. A fifth figure emerged from below deck, and old man with graying short hair that had begun receding down this scalp wearing a black traveling cloak. He walked to the bow of the ship, dragging with him by a chain in his hand a silver female wolf. The chain was attached to a muzzle over her head and a metal neckpiece with different coloured jewels and an inscription biting into her neck. She struggled against the pull of the lead making the chains rattle. The old man yanked hard on the lead, making her whimper slightly. One of the men on the oars, a man with medium build and shaggy brown hair wearing the same type of traveling cloak as the old man, shot him a sharp reproving look. They weren't supposed to make any noise.
Another of the oarsmen, a tall, lanky man with red hair, straightened and fixed his sight on the horizon. "We're here." His voice was barely above a whisper and at his words the land came into sight. They had studied a map of Alagaesia so they new they were landing just south of Feinster.
Slowly all four men stowed their oars and hopped off the boat to help beach it, while the old man stood In the same spot at the front of the ship with the wolf. One of the company, a very large, burly man with scars criss-crossing his bare arms and chest and a bald head, looked up at the old man scornfully. "Move y'ur rump Wizard!" he called. "You're part of this crew and y'ur gonna help!" The wizard stood still but looked down with distaste at the rather large man.
"I'm keeping this beast in check," his reply came back with a sneer. "And I'm sure you don't need the help of a frail old man."
"At least get y'ur carcass off the ship so we can beach it." The wizard grudgingly descended from the ship and waded to shore with the wolf in tow. The wolf shivered at the touch of the cold water but didn't dare whine incase the moody wizard decided to hit her again. He did that quite often.
When the other four men had finally finished beaching their ship, they sat down on the rocky beach to eat. They didn't want to risk a fire so they pulled out some salted beat, bread and ale.
The wizard dragged the poor wolf to a nearby tree and fastened the chain around the trunk then sat down with the other men. The wolf was hungry; she wanted some food, even if it was just a crust of stale bread. She whimpered quietly, hoping they would notice her and give her something to eat.
One of the men looked over to her and scowled. "Shut up you mangy mutt!" She decided to be quiet then. There was no need to provoke them into violence.
As the men finished, one threw a few scraps over his shoulder for the wolf. She hungrily went for the food and ate it quickly. She didn't want to give them a chance to change their minds. As she ate greedily, the men went to the boat. Two of the men climbed aboard and disappeared below deck. When they reemerged, they were carrying packs which they tossed down to the men below.
Once all five packs had been unloaded, they disappeared once again below deck. After a few moments, the two men appeared again and left the ship.
"The holes are drilled," one of the men reported to the large man.
"Good. C'mon men! Time to sink 'er." With that, all five men pushed the ship back out into the sea. As she slowly moved out further into the blue expanse, she began to disappear beneath the water. The wolf looked on with sad eyes.
There was no going home for her now.
The next day, they traveled north and west. They didn't travel by the road but they stayed close to it. When the city of Feinster came into view, they began traveling west near another road. The whole time, the silver was dragged along with no rest for her tired body.
When night reached them, they strayed from the road and found a place to camp for the night. After another cold supper of salted meat, bread and ale, and a few scraps for the wolf, they began to settle down.
Suddenly one of the men, a short guy enshrouded within his traveling cloak, stood up. "I'm heading to the road now." His voice was a raspy hiss that seemed to come from no where. One of the men with medium build glanced over at his creep comrade.
"If you talk like that you'll scare away any of the caravans that come your way."
"You know very well I can change my voice to accommodate my needs," he replied coolly. He turned around and headed back towards the road.
The tall lanky man turned to his comrades. "Let's hope it doesn't take him too long." There was strong distaste in his voice. "I don't care to stay here longer then I have to." All the men nodded in agreement.
Over a ways, the wolf was silent. She wanted to go back to her home across the sea, but if these men were able to go through with their plan, she would never see home again. She needed to think of a way to escape, but her brain was too tired to think properly, so for now, she laid down to sleep.
By the side of the caravan path, the man who had walked off from camp stood waiting for a caravan to come his way. Traveling with a caravan would be the quickest and safest way to reach their destination; Uru'baen.
They had their reasons for going to see the king and until they reached the king, they were going to interact with as few people as possible. He sat down and pulled his cloak close. Now, to wait.
For a day and night he sat there but didn't bother to go back to the camp for food. On the morning of the second day, his patience paid off. A sound drifted to his ears and he turned to look down the road and was greeted by the sight of a caravan.
He rose and brushed himself off. Hopefully this caravan was traveling in the right direction. The caravan wheeled up to the small man and stopped in front of him. The caravan driver was a fat, jolly man with plain clothing. He didn't climb down but turned in his seat to face the man. "Hullo stranger!" he greeted him with a wave of his chubby hand. "You alone? It's not safe to travel alone these days."
The small man, still hidden within his cloak, answered quite readily. "No, good sir." His voice, instead of the hiss from earlier, was now strong and deep. "Four of my friends camp near here." He gestured behind him without turning in indicate the general whereabouts of their camp even though it could bet be seen. "Where are you headed to?"
"Uru'baen, the capital. We have some trading to do."
"Good." The small man nodded his satisfaction. "I was wondering if we may travel with you and your caravan." The drivers face became unsure and he began to speak but the small man interrupted him. "I hear the bandits are becoming restless. All five of us are trained fighters. We can protect your caravan if you let us join you."
The driver thought for a moment and then replied. "Oh, all right. Bring your men over here." Beneath his hood, the small man grinned.
"Thank you sir. I shall be right back." He turned around and started back towards the camp at a waking pace. When he arrived, all four men were awake and lounging. Around with the wolf off a ways, awake yet silent. At his arrival one of the men stood, stretched and addressed the man.
"You found us a caravan?"
"Yes." His voice had gone back to a hiss and all four men were on their feet. "C'mon," he urged them. "Our ride is waiting."
They traveled with the caravan for three weeks without any problems or encounters with bandits. The whole time, the silver wolf was chained to the back of the cart and fed only scraps. The wizard rode while the other four walked along with some the stronger people from the caravan.
They were a week away from Uru'baen and they had yet to encounter any bandits so that night, once they had set up camp, the night watch slacked off and fell asleep.
But the silver wolf stayed awake. She lay down behind the cart, looked to the moon and prayed to any higher power that was out there to help her out of this.
In the distance, she could hear a pack of wolves howling. What she would give to raise her voice with theirs in a mournful song.
And then everything was silent. She sat up on her haunches, looked around and sniffed the air. Something wasn't right. Where had the birds and all the other night creatures gone?
She stood up and walked forward until her chain stopped her. A crackling and whirring sound floated to her ears. She looked up and was greeted with the sight of burning arrows. They thudded into the wooden cart, immediately setting it ablaze. A group of bandits rushed out of the forest and quickly killed all five of the men from the shore an attacked the rest of them.
The wolf began to hear for her life. She had to escape or she too would be killed. Whining in fear, she pulled and pulled on her chain. She dashed about hoping to break the wood she had been chained to. She had escape!
Finally the wood gave way and she tumbled to the ground but quickly recovered herself and began to run. She was weak from hunger and the beatings she had taken, but she had to run!
Her chain suddenly went taut and she full painfully to the ground. She looked behind her to see a bandit standing on her chain. "Well, well, well," he sneered. "What have we here? Looks like you'd fetch a nice price." The silver wolf whimpered and lay down in defeat with the sound of screams in the distance.
At the camp, everyone lay either dead or dying. The bandit leader waked through the camp taking what he wanted and destroying what he did not. The bandit who had captured the wolf waked into camp. The bandit leader began towards the man but stopped as he heard the dying caravan driver moaning in pain. Now he went over to the dying man on the ground and picked him up by the front of the shirt. "What is this wolf?"
The driver choked on the blood running down his throat but managed to speak. "It's not mine! It's theirs!" he gestured with his head towards the five slain men from the shore. "They said it was a gift for King Galbatorix!"
The bandits gathered around their leader all of them grinning like savage dogs. "Well then." He chuckled coldly under his breath. "We'll just have to bring the beast to the king won't we?" All the gathered men laughed and the leader brought his long knife up and then down again in one swift motion.
A/N: As I said earlier, it will probably take me a pretty long time to update. I lost my 3 page outline for this story so I'm trying to remember it all. Not to mention I have very uptight parents and a butt-load of school work but I will try my best. I will also be posting the first chapter of my novelisation of the Starfox Adventure game soon. Well tata for now!!