A/N- Hello Everyone. If you are reading this I see that you have either found my story on your own or you are a returning reader. I moved from my sister's account mainly to have more space to post stories. I just felt bad about cluttering her story box with stories that weren't hers so I have moved to this account. All my stories will eventually be reposted.
Chapter One
The moon light shone silvery on the black fortress walls. Two young men crept through the shadows staying close to the stone walls. They stopped at the sound of voices, and ducked into an alcove as the guards stalked by, swords clanging against their chain mail. As the men stepped back out, the moonlight cast their faces into sharp relief. One was lean and muscularly built. His hair was longer than his companions. The other was slightly shorter but just as muscular. His dark skin shone an odd purplish color in the silver light. They both carried a small pack on their backs and had a sword strapped to their belts. The taller one wore a bow slung over his back and had four arrows; fletchings sticking out of the top of his pack. He continued on their way until they reached the outer wall of the city. The two looked up at the East Gate. The great wooden doors were several feet thick and were patrolled by watchmen all the time. Scaling the wall would be risky but the need to escape this cold prison pressed heavily on them. The man with the bow drew it back shooting a hook with a rope attached high into the air. It fell back down and stuck to the edge of the wall. He muttered a quiet "good" before grabbing the rope and beginning to scale the wall. The dark skinned man followed, climbing in pace with the first man. The long haired man reached the top and checked for guards, when he saw none he clamored over the edge and helped his friend onto the wall. They walked across the path and threw the rope over the other edge, checking that it was secure before starting their descent. The shorter man went first followed closely by the second. They moved slowly trying to avoid hurting their hands. When almost seven feet from the ground a voice above them rang out through the warm summer night air, "What is that; hanging from the wall?" it asked.
Another very much like it split the silence, "They're trying to enter the city!" it shouted, "cut them down."
The two men had no time to think before they were plummeting several feet and hitting the ground hard. The rolled to their feet and took off at a run. They heard another voice from behind them shout, "Stop them, it's the boy and his servant, Galbatorix will slaughter us all if we let him escape."
They kept running at a break-neck pace. It wasn't until volleys of arrows were flying at them, did they falter. The same voice shouted, "Aim for their legs, dunces, we don't want to kill the boy!"
They kept running as fast as possible, the taller one taking the lead. He turned when the dark skinned one fell to his knees, an arrow piercing his thigh.
"Tornac!" screamed the man still standing.
"Keep going boy, I won't have us both d…," the thought was never finished because at that moment an arrow shot the man in the back, protruding from his chest. He fell forward blood pooling from the wound and his open mouth. The man still standing faltered momentarily, but seemed to see reason his companion's words, for he turned and started to sprint away from the city. He knew not where he was going only that he was escaping never to return. Only that his only friend was lying in the dirt bleeding to death, and that he could do nothing to help him.
The sky was dark and he could hear a fire crackling somewhere nearby. Murtagh rolled over and tried to stand up but realized his hands were tied behind him. He tried to think back at what had happened, but his mind was fuzzy, making it hard to think about anything for too long. He looked in the direction of the crackling fire but could see nothing except for a faint orange glow. Voices floated through the night air enabling Murtagh to define two that he recognized: the Twins. He could hear them talking to what he assumed were some of the king's soldiers. I knew the Twins were un-trust worthy, he thought. He felt an invasion into his mind and he threw up the defenses, fighting it back. One of the twins shouted, "He's awake! You were supposed to drug him better morons."
"Sorry, Sir," a soldier said in a gruff voice, "I will go tend to the boy". Murtagh tried to sit up but didn't have the time. The soldier bent over and pushed a cloth down on his face. Murtagh struggled, trying to kick or knee the man away, but to no avail.
A/N- I had Murtagh's arrows in his pack because if you have ever used a bow you would know that when your quiver is not full the arrows rattle quite irritatingly. Yes I realize that the arrows we have now are made of carbon but I assume wooden ones would make a similar noise. So here is a short little one-shot that I randomly felt like writing about Murtagh's back story. Review please! Or not whatever? I really don't care this was just kinda fun to write. More one-shots to come when I get really bored.