Part 7
Thorn was utilizing the training on speed flight he had learned from Shruikan very well. He tucked his legs, straightened his body to the accuracy of a pin, and pulled his wings in so that he sliced through the air like a hot knife. Murtagh held fast to the saddle, squinting against the whipping wind that slashed his hair across his face.
With Thorn flying as fast as he could most of the time, it only took half an hour to traverse the distance. Before Murtagh could see the city, he decided to find out if the soldiers had arrived yet.
"Skulblaka sven," he spoke, and his vision intensified tenfold. He could see the village easily, see every house down to minute detail. Thorn shifted his line of sight to include the area surrounding the village, and sure enough, about two miles from the village was the king's infantry nearing at a gallop.
Murtagh cursed under his breath and thought of anything he could do.
Thorn, warn them! he said hastily.
Without wasting a moment, Thorn loosed a massive, violent roar, the sound of it ringing through Murtagh's mind. Through Thorn's vision, Murtagh could see people immediately exit their homes, looking to the skies for the location of the disruption.
Thorn dove toward the village, and Murtagh released the spell as they neared the ground. Murtagh leaned back in preparation for the violent landing. Thorn snapped out his wings at the last second, his body going upright with the force of it. He landed incredibly gently on his hind legs before dropping to all fours and peering around at the many frightened villagers as he folded his wings.
Murtagh quickly leapt off of Thorn and stalked toward the villagers, who backed away out of fright.
"Moira? Anyone know where I can find Moira?" he called, searching each face for a hint of knowledge.
"Here! I'm here, Murtagh!" came her voice, and he spun around to see her approaching through a crowd of frightened people, her face the only shining beacon of welcoming, of friendship.
"Oh, thank what Gods there may be," he sighed, cupping her face when she advanced, and simply studying her. She smiled and rested her hands on his sides. It was obvious the villagers were dumbfounded, but none dared speak.
"You're okay," Moira was sighing. "Oh, I thought for sure the king would torture you again. I couldn't bare the thought of the blame resting on me…"
"But he has, Moira. He has," Murtagh spoke quickly, out of fear for the approaching infantry. "He has sent me to destroy my own weakness."
"Me?" Moira asked, somewhat startled that she was considered a weakness for him.
"Not just you, the whole village," Murtagh said. Gasps were heard all around him from the terrified villagers. "He has sent a whole division of his infantry to attack. He will raze the whole village!"
Angry outcries were loosed from the crowd, many of them verbally attacking Murtagh. But the two of them ignored them and concentrated wholly on each other.
"I want you to leave, Moira. Leave the village, take your immediate family, any women and children," Murtagh said hastily.
She finally seemed to realize the depth of the situation. "But… these people…" she said, gesturing to the villagers all around them. "These people are my family too, I can't just leave them."
"I'm sorry, there is nothing I can do," Murtagh grimaced. "I cannot return to the king without having fulfilled his order. He ordered us to attack the city and leave no survivors. The way I see it, if you are not in the village, you are not my concern."
"So I am to just leave my friends and neighbors to be slaughtered?" she gasped, taking a step back from him.
Murtagh had no answer. Honestly, he could care less about any of them. He just had to get Moira away from the threat. He didn't know why, but he felt that he was the reason she was dragged into this mess, and he had to rectify it.
"You!" he heard from the crowd, but passed it off as another angry outburst from the villagers. However, it quickly became more than that as he saw a man, entering at a run from the side of his field of vision, hand raised as if to hit Murtagh.
Murtagh turned and said simply, "letta," but it was too late for Thorn. The crimson dragon stepped forward, opening his massive jaw and roared viciously at the now paralyzed and terrified man. The entire village took two substantial steps back and fell silent in its fear of the great dragon.
"It is alright Thorn," Murtagh said, holding up a hand to his dragon to calm him. The spell was firmly holding the attacker in place.
"It was you! You brought this violence upon us!" the man yelled, still frozen in place with his hand raised to strike. "It's you she's been talking about!"
"Carrogan, don't," Murtagh heard from behind him, and he turned to see Moira nervously spinning her hair in her fingers.
"You know this man?" Murtagh asked.
"Yes," she replied, looking down at the ground. "This is my… brother. The one who fled those days ago when the soldiers came recruiting."
"Ah," Murtagh said, turning back to face the man… Carrogan had been his name.
"Well let me assure you of one thing," Murtagh said, stepping closer to the man. "It is I who have brought this misery upon you. But I come now to warn you of the impending threat. Their orders are to destroy the village and leave no survivors. I am offering you now this chance; take your elderly, your women, and your children, and flee. The king's soldiers will show you no such mercy."
"But what are our charges!" a man in the crowd called.
"Yes, we are a peaceful village, always paying taxes, never calling for any question of loyalty from the king!" Carrogan said, his anger showing in his face.
"It is because…" Murtagh began, looking back at Moira as he paused. "He says it is because you harbor rebels, but this is a spurious charge. It is because I…" he couldn't bring himself to say it. Nor could he even find the right words to explain. He could not tell them he was involved with Moira, for surely they would turn their anger on her.
But Carrogan seemed to have figured it out. "You bastard!" he yelled, and Murtagh felt the strain on the magic as Carrogan fought to free himself of the spell. He didn't even manage a flinch.
"You dishonor my sister!" Carrogan screamed, his eyes turning red in his fit of rage.
"That has yet to be seen," Murtagh said hastily. "But if you would like to spend your minimal time arguing with me about whom your sister freely chooses to spend time with, be my guest. But each minute you spend speaking with me is one minute the king's infantry draws nearer. I beg you, all of you. Take your elderly, your women, your children. Flee, while you still can! I alone am offering you this chance!"
The villagers stirred, some already gathering their children in preparation to flee.
Carrogan paused, considering the truth in Murtagh's words.
Murtagh straightened. "I am going to release you now. You may strike me if you wish, for I deserve most punishments I receive."
Thorn grunted in protest, but Murtagh ignored him. He released the magic, causing Carrogan to stumble a bit on his uneven weight.
As Murtagh had expected, the first thing Carrogan did was throw a heavy punch to Murtagh's face. Murtagh did not stumble, but merely moved with the motion to ease the impact. Thorn growled, but did not act.
"That is for dishonoring my sister, and bringing bedlam to this village," Carrogan said, spitting at Murtagh's feet.
Murtagh sighed deeply, opening and closing his jaw to check for any sign of damage. Carrogan did something surprising then, and held out his hand to shake Murtagh's.
"And this is for warning me when the king was recruiting, and for warning us now," he said, in a much gentler tone.
Murtagh rubbed his sore jaw, straightening as he studied Carrogan's face. He should have been surprised by this, but he just wasn't. Being one himself, he knew how men worked. They solved their problems with brief violence, then turned to the pressing issues with intelligence and sometimes grace. Carrogan seemed congenial, so Murtagh took his hand and shook it wholeheartedly.
"I will not run," Carrogan said simply as he watched many of the villagers packing their cherished belongings with their women and children. "I will stay and defend my village. Who will join me?" Carrogan called.
Almost every man capable of fighting, and even some who were not, began to gather behind Carrogan.
"Carrogan, please don't do this," Moira begged, stepping forward from behind Murtagh.
"Moira, I must. It is my duty as man of our house to defend my family and my property. If I had committed any crimes, I would not be doing so. But as it is, we are all innocent. Therefore I will fight this indecency with all that is good in me."
Moira made to protest again. "Moira, I'll not hear it," Carrogan said firmly. "I want you to take some provisions, gather the citizens that will be fleeing, and lead them west to safety. They will find shelter in Dras-Leona. Do not return until you are positive it is safe to do so."
"Carrogan, I can't just leave you," Moira begged, tears welling in her eyes. Murtagh died to just hold her and comfort her, but he had no such luxury.
"You must. You remember when Caldwell was recruited?" Carrogan said, and Murtagh assumed that was Moira's ex-fiancé.
Moira nodded solemnly. "The family came together to help you. The whole village came together to support you. Now, you must help the village. Help them by taking those who cannot defend themselves and giving them the means hide themselves from harm. These willing men will defend their homes and their honor."
Moira obviously saw no way around Carrogan's logic, and resulted to throwing herself at him and holding him tightly. "I love you, brother," she wept, gripping his tunic tightly. "You defend yourself before you defend a home, you hear me?"
Carrogan stroked her hair before affectionately pushing her away. "Go now, please. Time is short."
Moira nodded, and turned to Murtagh. "I don't know how to thank you. You have given us the gift of survival this day."
Murtagh sighed, knowing full well that he, along with the king's soldiers, would be taking something very precious from her this day. "Yes, but it is I who brought the threat."
"No, no, you merely searched for a… how did you put it… a simpler world," Moira said, stroking his hair warmly. "You simply found that there is no such thing."
Murtagh's heart pained for the dirty deed he would have to commit after she left. He wished this moment would last, and his duties to his king would never have to be fulfilled. But alas, the villagers were antsy and chomping at the bit to flee the village.
"I must go now," she said, looking at him as though it would be the last time. And to Murtagh's knowledge, it might be. "Please show mercy to my brother, my neighbors."
He knew he could not. He had vowed to Galbatorix. Leave no survivors. But that was what was so heartbreaking. He could not lie to Galbatorix. He could lie to Moira.
"I shall try," he said, his heart paining for her.
She leaned forward then, onto the balls of her feet, and kissed him sweetly, just as she had the first time they had kissed. "Thank you, dragon rider," she said, and with that, she turned to join her fellow villagers in a flight for their lives.