Chapter Seven: Escape
"Are we ready?" Tria whispered.
"No, but let's do it anyway!" Kiera hissed back.
They stole out of their room, leaving a note for Coram on his desk. It read simply:
-Dearest brother Coram
It's gotten too dangerous for us to be around. If we stay much longer we'll all be in danger. We can't tell you why, but it's unlikely we'll meet again. Don't bother trying to find us. By the time you read this, we'll be long gone from Carvahall. We refuse to let Mother marry us off. Farewell, Coram.
Love, Tria and Kiera-
Their first stop was the oak tree. Kiera woke the two dragons up and quieted them while Tria ran a double-check on their packs.
"Meat, salt, cooking pot, water, knives, more water… Kiera, have you got the bows?"
"What a stupid question." Kiera tapped the bows that Coram had hand-carved for the twins when they were eight. Sisarra had never known.
"And your dagger?"
"Yes, I have my dagger. Is all this really necessary?"
"What, checking? Yes. How are the dragons?"
"Daine's coming to you. Razi wants to go back to sleep."
"I don't blame him. Let's go get the horses."
The barn was quiet. Darael snuffed a greeting as they stepped inside. "Should we bother with saddles, or just bridles?" Tria asked, and then answered herself. "Yes, we should take saddles; it'll be easier on their backs and our butts." The twins had both disposed of the finery they'd worn last night. Tria now wore the breeches and tunic she'd been hollered out of so many times before. Kiera wore a long loose skirt that was still good for riding and a long-sleeved shirt. She'd been hollered out of the blue skirt and white top just as many times as Tria and her breeches: Sisarra complained that the clothes made her look like a gypsy. Their long black hair was braided down their backs, out of the way, which only added to Kiera's gypsy look. Neither of them had bothered with jewellery. They didn't have much, anyway.
The twins saddled and bridled the horses, leading them outside to where the dragons tumbled in the dust. Daine looked up at them, cheeping a query. "Daine, I'm sorry, but you'll have to hide in my backpack until we get out of the valley." The twins had warned the dragons of what other humans might do, so Daine sprang into the pack without complaint and Tria mounted. Razi did the same for Kiera, and then the horses walked out of the yard as the sun peeped over the horizon.
As the twins passed through Carvahall on their way out of the Palancar Valley, few people were out on the street. Only one person bothered to ask them why they were up so early, and a cover story of delivering a message for their mother sated his curiosity. He didn't even notice what they were wearing breeches and that they were not riding side-saddle.
Once they were through the pass, Kiera breathed a sigh of relief and let Razi onto her shoulder. Dreamrose snorted irritably, and Daine squeaked as Tempest flicked her head. They were through the pass, and safe. They were free.
Though they didn't know it, the next day was the day the Ra'zac arrived.
"We should trot," said Tria quietly. "Get clear faster. I don't like just slowly wandering along."
Kiera shrugged. "If you insist." The horses began to trot, and not at all smoothly. The girls began to rise to the trot, feeling glad that they knew how to ride.
"Otherwise it'd be saddle-sores all round," Tria quipped.
Daine peeped from her shoulder, stretching her wings out. They filled with air and she was lifted off Tria's shoulder for a moment, until she grabbed at the trailing braid and climbed back. Tria laughed. "Wind a bit strong, my darling?" she teased. "Ah well, it's good practise for your flying. Which reminds me, Kiera, are we going to have to teach these dragons how to fly, or will they work it out on their own?"
Kiera shrugged. "I don't know. We don't know very much about dragons. All we know is what Brom told us and what we've learned so far."
-Tria,- sang Daine. -Tria, Tria!-
"Daine's saying my name," said Tria. "Wow. Now I know how couples feel with their first baby."
"We should teach them some basic words," added Kiera. "To help keep them and us out of trouble. Like, directions and stuff. Danger, water, animals, that sort of thing."
"Yeah," agreed Tria. "That would be helpful. Let's see what we can teach them."
The girls spent all day teaching their dragons the meanings of words, but at only two days old, the creatures only picked up basic words. By nightfall they could say "help", "danger", "brother" and "sister", plus "Tria" and "Kiera".
"I guess we shouldn't push them," said Kiera as she stirred the soup pot. They were camped by a small stream. "I mean, they're two days old, and understanding concepts and speaking a handful of words. How many human babies do that? And dragons live for ages!"
Tria smiled and fed Daine a chunk of food. The dragon gulped it down whole, then stole a small turnip from her bowl. "Hey!" laughed Tria. "I guess dragons do eat vegetables." Daine half choked on the root. Tria rolled her eyes. "If, of course, they do not manage to suffocate themselves."
After eating the stew and washing up, the girls packed their things away, ready to be on the move as early as possible. As they stretched out before the fire, bows at close hand, Tria asked, "You don't think Mother and Coram would follow us, would they?"
"Well, Coram might, if Mother told him to," Kiera replied, looking at the stars. "But I don't think he would. We warned him not to. And Mother can only ride side-saddle. They won't catch up to us. We're faster, and more determined. We never want to go back, and they don't know how to make us. Plus, they don't know what direction we went in."
"They could just ask anyone who was awake," Tria pointed out.
"Yes, but how many of them were actually paying attention? And none of them saw us leave the pass. With luck, they'll never think we're actually gone until tomorrow."
"But what about the note we left Coram?"
"He'll probably just think it was another one of our spats, and thinks we'll come home tomorrow dishevelled and scared. Boy, are they in for a surprise." Kiera chuckled.
Tria rolled onto her side. "What do you think Eragon and Brom are doing?"
Kiera shrugged. "Well, since we don't know where they've been or what they did in between when he left and now, it's almost impossible to tell."
----
As a matter of fact, Eragon was cleaning up after a war in the underground city of Tronjheim. Brom was, unfortunately for the twins, dead at this stage, buried in the hills outside of Dras-Leona.
----
Twin2: The last part isn't necessary. It's just something to let you readers know exactly where we are in the books. It took me a week to figure out the timeline and another week to edit it so that there weren't any glaring gaps or clashes.
Twin1: Review or else! By the way, we don't own Eragon, and we're still waiting on the third book…
Twin2: By-the-by, I know that Saphira didn't speak to Eragon for a couple of weeks or something, I'm not totally sure. But for the twins it's important, and relevant, so don't bug me about it. A good author does not reveal the plot before it's written!
