Inner peace
Eragon sat in the silence of the tree house alone. Kassia had run off at one point, when she had realised that there was no food left. He picked at the ropes around his feet wretchedly, cursing when his fingers began to burn as if fire was eating at them.
The sun was sinking into the trees, bringing every ray of light with it, like a tornado, sucking everything into it. It gradually disappeared, but Eragon's eyes went with it, pleading with it to stay and keep him safe.
It seemed as though everything had gone when the sun left, all that he could sense around him were the wooden boards under him, and the soft whispering of wind-caressed trees, the rest was blackness and silent.
Whenever a flash of white would pierce the darkness, Eragon would raise his head so abruptly that his head would hit the wood behind him with a painful 'thwak', but no white dragon stepped from the shadows.
As he was falling into an uneasy sleep, the crunch of footsteps on branches woke him. Kassia climbed into the hut and nodded grimly to him.
"I'm sorry to have to do this." She said in a barely audible whisper. "But traitors should not be allowed to live."
"I have done nothing!" He hissed back at her. He was not sure why they were whispering, but he was more than happy to do so at this time of night.
"Raising a dragon is nothing?" She shook her head as she unbound his feet. "I'm sorry Eragon, I wish I didn't have to."
"What's making you do it then?" Eragon's voice became mocking and harsh, yet still he whispered.
She looked into his eyes then, and he saw it, that unmistakeable glimmer of fear, obliterating all else in her mind. That was when he realised she believed that what she was doing was right. Before, he thought no one could possibly think it was right, but not anymore.
She wanted to ensure that no one suffered like she had, she was afraid for the other elves; she was doing it for their sake. But so was he, and he knew his way was more likely to work, and it wouldn't take all of the lives that her method would.
"I fear for their safety." She said sorrowfully, knowing that he would know who she meant.
"I want to help them too! Kassia, I know it must be hard to trust dragons, but I managed it! I was even worse off than you!"
"In what way?" She tilted her head to one side and watched him curiously.
"I… was responsible for my parents' death."
Kassia stopped untying him and knelt at his side. "Tell me." She whispered.
Eragon trembled, the sadness he had been concealing washed over him, but he strived to control it, shoving it back to the corners of his mind.
It was hard, like pushing a giant wave, but he managed it. "My mother, father and I were in the forest, searching for mushrooms. My father was a rather eccentric mushroom collector, you see, and we used to do it every week.
"We sat beneath a tree and ate peacefully, talking about our day; that was when I got angry. My mother had decided that we should leave Osilon so my father could find other mushrooms throughout Du Weldenvarden, but I didn't want to. I ran off, and hid behind a tree.
"They called out to me, saying that if I didn't come back right away, they would go back to the city and I would have to walk back alone. I didn't mind going home alone, and I knew that if I let them find me my father would make us wander around for hours more. I stayed, but oh how I wish I had run to them! They went home, and five minutes later, I heard screams and saw dragons above me. I searched for them, but they were dead. If I had not run away, they would still be here."
Kassia listened intently, her eyes burning with curiosity, making her look like a little child. When he had finished, she shook herself. "It's not your fault." She said. "Things happen for a reason."
With that she stared at the floor balefully for a moment, and when she next looked up she had a determined frown etched across her featuers, and she set to work untying him.
He fiercely wiped the tears from his eyes and stood when she told him to, following her out after massaging his aching ankles.
"Please, Kassia!" He begged, stumbling clumsily after her. "You don't have to do this! I will help you end the war."
She whipped around, her eyes furious, holding her dagger before her. "You don't get it!" she shouted. "It's for me too! I am so tormented, the thought of your dragon lying dead is he only thing keeping me sane!" She started to cry softly. "I need inner peace, the only way to escape is to die."
Eragon stepped forward, he opened his mouth to speak.
"I don't want to die!" Kassia sobbed.
"I wasn't about to suggest it. But you won't kill my dragon." His hands were clenched into fists.
"Your dragon." Kassia muttered under her breath. She held the dagger at his back and they continued onwards, blundering through the dark, guided by Kassia's memory.
A sparkle in front of them caused Kassia to stop and stiffen, she held his arm and pressed a hand against his mouth. It appeared again, a green glimmer, then a blue, and soon every colour had flashed before them.
He leaned forward, trying to understand what the strange lights were. After a while, his eyes understood it; a fire flickering behind a nest of dragon eggs.
It was only then that he realised that there were dragons all around. Huge chests heaved and fell, and loud snores sliced through the quiet of the forest like a knife through paper.
Kassia took a soft step forward and Eragon fixed his terrified eyes on her. She wept silently as she tied a rope back around his ankles.
"I'm so sorry. So sorry…" She sobbed.
He reached a shaking hand to her arm as she crept away, begging her with his eyes to untie him, but she pulled away, shaking her head mournfully.
Just when he thought she would walk away without waking the dragons, a rock hurtled through the night and hit the dragon nearest to Eragon.
The creature woke with a roar, thrashing his body about in search of his attacker. As all of the other dragons shook themselves awake, he thought he heard loud, heaving cries and careless footsteps, but when the dragons surrounded him, he forgot the sounds in the terrible, terrible fear.
