It has officially been too long! I'm deeply sorry I couldn't update as fast as many of you would have liked! This summer business got a lot more hectic as I draw closer and closer back to the school year (one more day!). I hope you guys haven't given up on me. :) And, this chapter wasn't as long as I wanted it to be. But read the ending and you'll (hopefully) understand. It wasn't writer's block so much as not having enough time to write it well! My personal problem is I have to keep writing if I want the story to flow well.
This is (as promised) the chapter concerning Roran's POV in the battle at Belatona. Hope y'all like this (relatively) short bit!
Roran paced restlessly around the shores of Lake Leona, impatiently waiting for the others to arrive. He had left Nasuada's tent quite cross, but he hid his feelings under a blank expression. How come I should be sent on this mission and not someone more powerful like Arya or the other elves? He had thought to himself. I should be at the gates, fighting alongside my regiment. Roran would never refuse a command, but he was still angry nevertheless. As he gathered up his necessary armor and weapons, his anger subsided into calm acceptance. He understood the logic in Nasuada's order. The others are needed to help Eragon if Murtagh or a Shade is in the city. I only hope they chose a good spellcaster. Roran pointed to a small pebble on the beach and muttered,
"Stenr reisa!" The rock did not budge, completely ignoring whatever Roran had said.
Roran looked up, to see a band of ten or so men approaching from the row of tents. He didn't know a few of them, but he was pleased to find many of them were in his regiment before, including Harald. Then Roran whooped with joy as he saw the thin form of Carn bringing up the rear, with a new silvery bracelet on his wrist. Carn smiled when he saw Roran's reaction and he embraced Roran on the arm, saying,
"Looks as if nothing will separate us, not even a secret mission."
Roran chuckled softly, replying, "No I suppose not. What is that bracelet you have on your wrist?"
Carn glanced at it, then shrugged, saying, "Your cousin, Eragon made it for me. It's to help me when I use magic."
"That's good. Who knows what unspeakable horrors lay behind the city gates?" Roran, not for the first time, appreciated the generosity of his cousin. Though they may lead completely different lives, it heartened Roran that his cousin still remembered him as family, and went extraordinary lengths to protect him. Roran's thoughts also flashed back to Katrina and their unborn child, who decided to stay behind in Feinster, with many of the other villagers, including Horst, Elain, as well as Gedric. He wished more than anything to have her with him, but the continuous march would do their child no good, and so she stayed with one of Nasuada's healers in the city.
"Who in the blazes is that?"
Roran broke free of his thoughts, and looked to find a short statured woman hurriedly walking over towards him. A small cat followed close behind. Roran recognized her as Angela, a witch that was as odd as she was mysterious.
The herbalist smiled at Roran in her peculiar sort of way, and said, "So you're Roran then. I must admit, I do see the resemblance between you and your cousin. Same brave ignorance too, by the looks of things."
Roran, unsure of what to say, stammered, "Er, thanks, but Nasuada has already sent us a spellcaster with us, we won't need another."
The witch's smile waned slightly before she composed herself and said matter-of-factly,
"Well, I wasn't sent as a spellcaster, Nasuada sent me here to help you in this rather precarious mission as a fighter. Don't worry, you won't have to order me around, although if you do see some mad rabbits around, it would be best to alert my presence."
Roran was thoroughly baffled at this statement, although he managed to say, "I suppose I will tell you if I see, er, mad rabbits." He had already seen the herbalist in combat, her strange two bladed staff a graceful but vicious weapon not to be messed with. Her werecat Solembum also fought as a strange small child with fangs and a sharp knife. Though Roran did not fully trust the strange lady, he knew the reason for Nasuada's actions and he was glad the eccentric witch had come along for the journey.
The group found their boat tied to a post nearby, and they dragged it to the water. It was a small nondescript rowing boat, longer than it was wide, with two long wooden oars. It would seat about fifteen people, and was the perfect size for their mission. Roran ordered the men in their required seats, while Angela simply sat at the front with Solembum. Using their oars to push the boat off, the group paddled slowly but smoothly out onto the pristine depths of Lake Leona.
By the time they arrived, the sun was starting to set, and they managed to sneak into the harbor unnoticed. The faint distant sounds of battle were now apparent, and the small group quickly docked the boat, and moved into the city. When the gateway approached, the group split and hid among the surroundings, behind walls, small houses, and shops. Crouching behind a deserted fish stand, Roran waited until the perfect opportunity arrived. A lone man hurriedly went over to the gates, knocked three times, then conversed with someone behind the gate, and he was allowed in, the gate shutting quickly behind him.
As the gate shut, Roran and the others stealthily crept up to it, careful not to jingle their weaponry and armor. Harald whispered in Roran's ear,
"How are we going to get in, the gate's locked! You saw how the man said something to get in."
Roran asked the others in the group whether they had heard. Everyone shook their heads until Angela piped in,
"Well unlike you blundering fools, I amplified my hearing when we entered. And I heard what the man said."
Roran cursed under his breath. The herbalist was right, they should improve their hearing if they were to avoid other soldiers. He asked Carn to try and improve their hearing, and the spellcaster quietly muttered something under his breath with his eyes closed. Suddenly Roran's hearing doubled, he could hear everyone's breathing around him, and even the rustle of their clothing. Carn was shaking with slight tremors afterwards. Concerned, Roran asked him,
"Are you okay?"
Carn nodded, but he said shakily, "I'll… I'll be fine. I just haven't tried that spell before."
Roran looked at Carn for a moment, then turned to the herbalist,
"Can you tell me the words that the man had spoken?"
Angela was silent for a moment, then told Roran and the others what she had heard. Roran stood from his crouch, and knocked three times on the gate, as the man before had done. A rough voice sounded,
"Who's there?"
Roran hesitated a moment, then repeated Angela's words. The voice didn't answer, until the gate rumbled and it opened ever so slightly to allow a man in.
Roran rushed through, teeth bared, and he drew his hammer in a quick fluid motion, bringing it down upon the helm of the man behind the gate. The soldier fell with a sickening crunch. Roran shouted at the others to enter, and soon the whole group was within the castle walls. Using his bow, one of Roran's men dispatched a guard atop a roof of a building. Harald and another man quickly eliminated a pair of unwary soldiers standing by a doorway. The street became quiet in a matter of seconds. Regrouping with the others, Roran led them down an empty alleyway, still on the alert for more soldiers. They managed to avoid several skirmishes, thanks to Carn's spell.
There are fewer men than I expected. He thought to himself. As if repeating his words, one of the men said quietly,
"Why are there so few men? I thought Belatona was a large city."
"They were probably all sent to fight the main Varden," Roran answered. "But don't be too sure there isn't a large group hidden somewhere."
As the group turned a side street into a major road through the city, Angela suddenly hissed, "Soldiers!"
Everyone bolted behind whatever they could use as a hiding place. Roran gripped his hammer firmly as he intently listened to what was occurring. He could make out a small group of men; between ten or twenty, he couldn't be sure, marching past them.
Carn said softly, so soft that no one would hear were it not for their improved hearing, "Do you think we can take them?"
Roran replied equally as softly, "I think so. On my signal," Carn nodded and relayed the message to others in hiding. If there are less than fifteen of them, we stand a chance, but any more and we can't defeat them without alerting our presence.
Roran saw the lengthy shadows of the men walking past him, and he shouted,
"Now!"
The group burst out of hiding into the group of stunned soldiers. Roran grimace as he realized there were too many soldiers for them to kill quickly. Roran bashed the kneecaps of one of the soldiers, causing him to topple over, who Roran finished with a quickly blow to his head. Then he whirled around, hammer flying in a wide arc, crushing the skull of another unfortunate soldier. Angela flourished her twin bladed staff, easily cutting through soldiers despite her diminutive size. Solembum had changed into human form, his small dagger flashing in the faint light.
The attack had gone well until one of the soldiers sounded a small horn, which rang unnaturally loud to Roran's ears. Roran lunged for the horn, but the soldier dodged to the side and swung at Roran with his sword. Roran barely managed to miss the singing blade, and he smashed the soldier's kneecap with his hammer. The horn abruptly stopped, and the soldier howled in pain as he toppled over. Roran dispatched the wailing soldier with a blow to the head. Roran fervently hoped that nobody had heard.
He was wrong. Distant shouts of more soldiers were coming from down the street. Roran quickly looked to see how the others had fared. By now the soldiers had been defeated, and he was relieved to see no one had been seriously injured. He shouted,
"Quick, soldiers are coming from that way!"
"Down here!" Angela called, standing in an empty alleyway with Solembum. Roran and the others rushed into the alley, weaving between random houses and shops. The soldiers' cries grew louder and softer just as randomly as well, as the opposing forces drew closer and further apart. Roran followed the herbalist, unsure of where she was leading them.
The soldiers' shouts grew fainter and fainter until Roran was sure they had lost their trail. As the group stopped to catch their breath, Solembum appeared from another side street, now in werecat form. The feline gave Angela a long look with his glowing eyes, and Angela relayed the werecat's information to Roran,
"Solembum says the second gate is near."
Surprised, Roran replied, "A second gate?"
Angela huffed a sigh of impatience. "Were you not paying attention in Nasuada's tent? Obviously they had another wall, this is just the lower level."
Roran, with his pride stung, addressed the werecat, "Um, could you lead us to the gates?"
The werecat gave no indication he had heard, but simply bounded off onto another street. Roran dashed after him, and the rest of his group following.
Where the devil is he taking us now? He wondered, and where did he go off to this whole time?
Every time Roran seemed to catch up with the cat, the feline would take another turn, and soon it was all Roran could do keeping up in the early evening. He skidded to a halt as he saw the cat sitting in the middle of a dark road, licking one of his paws. Roran glanced up the street and gasped as he beheld the sight.
There was a large iron gate, much taller than a man, with strange iron beams running along the wood. He had no doubt that this gate would be much better defended than the one they had entered. The other members of his group caught up and they too gaped at the sight of the entrance.
"How do you suppose we will get in, Roran?" Carn breathed.
"We can't."
Roran turned to find Angela retying her small leather boots.
"That gate is with no doubt protected by magic, which would prove far too operose for us to breach." She said.
Roran was unsure of what the word "operose" meant, but he understood the grain of truth in the herbalist's words. There should still be another way in. He thought to himself. Even the Black King's fortress would have many secret entrances.
He looked up along the wall, and groaned slightly as he saw rows of archers lined up down the length of the wall. Slowly, a thought began to occur to him, and his companions rested while he debated his idea with himself. Satisfied that it would not be unsuccessful, he gathered his comrades and told them his plan.
"That is ridiculous!" spluttered Harald, "such a thing would be suicide, Roran!"
"It is very risky," agreed Carn.
"I like it." finished Angela.
The men, even Roran, gaped at the herbalist. She continued,
"It is so unorthodox and risky it should work! The Empire would fall for it easily."
Roran, still perturbed by the herbalist's sudden agreement, decided to instead convince Carn that it would work.
"Come now Carn, why shouldn't it work? As Angela said, it would be so unpredictable that the Empire wouldn't think twice. You cannot disagree about that."
Carn slowly nodded, then said, "You're right Roran. I only fear for you and the rest of our lives."
"Do not worry," Roran reassured him, "this will work."
Dispatching the Carn and the others who needed to be sent, Roran set about finishing the plan. He, Harald, and another man by the name of Biled would stay while the others would go and find some slain soldiers of the Empire. After a short while, Roran saw a group of soldiers approaching from an alleyway. Calling to Harald and Biled to join him, he stood and waved at the group. Suddenly the group sped up, and approached Roran on a brisk trot.
That's odd Roran thought, this wasn't part of the plan.
He took three steps toward them before the leader of the group drew a sword pointed at Roran's neck and growled,
"You are under arrest, by the command of King Galbatorix and our great Lord Bradburn for breaking into our beloved city! Drop your weapons!"
Wordlessly, but with prickling horror nonetheless, Roran and the other men did what they were told.
Dum-dum-DUM! What happened!
Well I guess we'll have to wait and see. :)
School starts very soon so if I don't repost in a while, you'll know why.
Reply time!
Reply to RestrainedFreedom: Thanks! I had to be really careful to make it believable. Explanations will occur in later chapters I promise.
Reply to Draco Lucis: You seem to really want this to happen but in my view, I think Eragon's feelings for Arya have shifted. Not changed, or lessened but shifted. He of course could only ever love her, but I don't think it's the same obsessive nature as it was during the Blood-Oath celebration.
Reply to Princess Arya: I hope you weren't in too much trouble! :) But yeah, if it helps, then you're welcome!
Reply to SimplySupreme: Purple! Like grapes. :) But anyways. Was the chapter actually better? Yay! You don't know what I have planned for those mysterious magicians. I think. And yes I think I wrote this chapter to help with block but I ended up having block for it anyways. *facepalm*
Happy reading!
Reply to paolinifansimon: I am aware of that, although it is kind of difficult to add the info in the midst of a battle.
Reply to oromisfan768: I hope so! It didn't make a very good appearance in this chapter (he never really used it) but I'm fairly sure it will later.
Reply to Massa: Yes I assume if Oromis could, then so could Glaedr. But the said dragon is not entirely capable of coherent speech at the moment.
Reply to Korkman2: Indeed it was. What I find interesting is Microsoft Word deems your penname as a real word! :)
Chapter 8 (which is just a continuation of chapter 7) will hopefully come soon! Time will tell.
Did you know, that for each review you write, 4 dolphins in the Atlantic will have their lives saved? E-reviews. So environmentally friendly.