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Disclaimer: See Chapter One


Chapter Nine

Back on the ground, Eragon cursed fiercely while Taiven, feeling terrible himself, had his head bowed and scuffed his foot in the dirt. He didn't mean for the creatures to get away at his expense, and now Eragon will almost certainly dislike him for it. He wished he could say he was sorry, even if it probably wouldn't do him any good, but he had his father to blame for that inconvenience.

He noticed the Rider and his dragon to be in conversation and she seemed to be calming him down since his facial features became softer. He flinched as they looked in his direction, and then he grew a little worried as Eragon walked over to him.

"Hello again. How are you doing? You look a little shaken," the Rider said in a gentle tone. Taiven nodded his head in surprise as he was expecting a lecture in a raised voice. Eragon laughed softly.

"So you're all right?" Again, he nodded his head.

"What's your name?" the Rider asked. Taiven bit his lip. Eragon's forehead wrinkled in what seemed to be in thought and confusion.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Can't you speak?" Taiven shook his head and stared at his shoes. He felt the heat rise in his cheeks at not being able to utter one word to the person and his dragon who both just saved his life.

"Can you write your name?" he heard Eragon ask.

Taiven rolled his eyes at his own stupidity. Why didn't I think of writing before? I used to write for Cale when he—Cale! Oh no, Cale! Is he okay? Where is he? Taiven looked around frantically. When he couldn't find him anywhere, he sprinted back to the mountain with Eragon and Saphira behind him. He felt around for the entrance, but couldn't find it. Eragon appeared beside him, and Taiven looked at him pleadingly. The Rider seemed to understand and led him over to another part of the mountain. He held out his hand to make sure it was the right place and he and Taiven went right through. Taiven rushed over to the last place he saw the boy and let out a huge sigh of relief when he found him. Cale was still unconscious, but other than that he seemed to be fine. He picked him up and carried him to Eragon. Saphira stayed outside probably looking out for the creatures; though, Taiven doubted that they would return tonight.

"I can help him if you'll let me," Eragon offered. Taiven nodded his head in appreciation. "All right, but let's go outside. This place reeks." Taiven wondered why the disgusting stench didn't affect him as usual and took a sample inhalation of the room—then choked on the air as the odor came back in full. His worry for Cale must have blocked his senses for a moment, but they were responsive now. His eyes even watered some from the force of smell from that one small breath.

Once outside of the mountain, and once Taiven took several heavenly gulps of the clean evening air, he set Cale down so that Eragon may help. The Rider crouched over him and put his right hand over Cale's forehead. He then spoke a word in the Ancient Language that Taiven didn't know. A soft blue light glowed around the boy's head, and Taiven watched in fascination when Cale opened his eyes. Confusion covered his face when he saw Eragon, but then he managed a small smile when his eyes rested on Taiven.

"Hi," he said.

Taiven smiled back. How are you?

I'm fine. What happened? He tried to sit up but couldn't find the strength. Taiven helped him and supported his back as Cale looked around. How did we get out here?

When the Ra'zac attacked us, your crystal formed a shield over us and it must have taken quite a bit of your energy because you blacked out. I carried you out here, and Eragon revived you.

Really? Wow! Eragon must know some powerful magic. What happened to the Ra'zac?

Before Taiven could answer, Eragon interrupted. "Who are you two? And why didn't the Ra'zac harm you?" he asked.

I'll tell you all about the Ra'zac later. Right now, I'm going to need your help translating.

Cale smiled. Okay, sure. He looked up at Eragon. "My name is Cale, and this is my brother Taiven. He can't speak, so I'll be the voice for both of us."

"I'm Eragon, and this is Saphira." Saphira inclined her head. "How do you two communicate?"

"The same way you and Saphira do," Cale said simply, as though it was the only obvious answer. Eragon turned to Taiven.

"So you can mind speak and you didn't talk to me in that way?" Taiven shook his head.

"He says that it's wrong to go into someone's mind when they are unaware of the connection, or when they didn't allow you to," Cale answered. "It's a violation of their privacy."

"Well put," Eragon said. "You've been trained well . . . but by whom?"

Tell him that it's common sense. I wouldn't want anyone to enter my mind without my consent, Taiven replied. Cale repeated it to the Rider. This seemed to satisfy him, but only for the moment. He looked past them and waved. Taiven and Cale turned to see who he was waving to and they could barely make out two figures in the late evening light. They drew closer and Taiven and Cale saw Katrina walking toward them supported by a muscular fellow with a hammer in his belt.

"Hiya, Katrina!" Cale shouted. She looked up, smiling. Her face was a ghostly white from lack of nutrition and sunlight, yet her blue eyes brightly sparkled.

Eragon's attention drew back to them. "You two know her?" he asked, surprised.

Cale shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Yeah, o' course. We were prisoners, she was a prisoner. We talked." Taiven almost laughed out loud at Cale's answer but thought better of it just in case Eragon took offense. He had to hide his broad smile behind his hand.

When the couple reached them, Taiven saw Katrina take in their unharmed figures with relief, but when she studied the Rider, confusion and surprise covered her face.

"Eragon? Is that you?" The Rider smiled.

"It's quite a change from the farm boy back home, isn't it?" he said.

"Roran warned me that you would look different, but I never expected . . ." she trailed off, then, "Who did this to you? You don't even look like yourself."

"It was done by elf and dragon magic combined, mostly dragon. It's a gift for their future."

"You?" He nodded, and for the first time after seeing him, she gave him a warm smile. "Well, let's hope our future doesn't have us all look like you," she joked. Roran chuckled, and Saphira made a strange noise with her teeth bared.

"Ah ha, very funny," Eragon said in a bored tone, but with a smile. He suddenly looked deep in thought, and then said, "Saphira believes we should be going, and I agree, but she can't carry all five of us. It's too much for her. We'll take Katrina and Cale first because they need to be taken care of first, and then we'll come back for Roran and Taiven."

At this, Roran made a huge fuss being separated from Katrina, Katrina was practically yelling at Eragon, saying that she was perfectly fine to stay while the smaller boys went first, and Cale attached himself to Taiven as though never to let go again, all the while whining that he didn't want to leave Taiven behind. Eragon held up his hands and shouted over the commotion. "All right! OKAY!" Silence followed and Eragon cleared his throat. "It seems as though my suggestion is overruled. We'll take Roran and Katrina first and then come back for the boys."

"I think the boys should go first. They seem to be in the worst state. Poor little Cale can barely sit up," Katrina said. This was partly true. Taiven still supported Cale's back while he sat, and the boy still looked pale and weak from the crystal taking his energy and blacking out. Taiven on the other hand was still a little shaken from his fall, but other than that, he was perfectly fine. Eragon looked hesitant. Taiven knew he wanted to get Katrina to a safe place first, but the girl was being too damn stubborn. Then Taiven remembered something that will help Eragon and himself.

Cale! We need to search for our saddle bags! Everything we own is in them. Tell Eragon that he can take Roran and Katrina first, because we need to find our bags before we can leave.

Cale relayed what Taiven told him and Eragon looked pleased with the excuse of taking Katrina first. "Well that settles it then. Katrina, Roran, we'll take you first." Katrina didn't look very happy, but the other two did. Taiven just realized the relief shown on Roran's face as well. He wondered why Roran didn't speak up, but then thought it was probably safer for him to go along with whatever she said.

"We're going to be flying to Surda's capital, Aberon, so it won't be until early tomorrow morning before we come get you two." He pulled out a package from Saphira's saddlebag and handed it to Taiven. "There's enough food for two meals for each of you. I suggest that once you find your belongings, you get as far away from Helgrind and Dras Leona as you can. Saphira and I will find you." Taiven nodded his appreciation and thanks, hoping Eragon would translate it as such. The Rider smiled.

As the four flew off, Taiven told Cale he'd try not to be too long. Cale wanted to come with, but couldn't really stand on his own. He was too weak. Taiven helped him sit up against some huge black rocks outside the mountain so he could look at more than just the sky. He set the package of food down in front of Cale telling him to eat to regain his strength. Cale protested until he ate something too, but Taiven reassured him he'd eat when he found their bags. He felt Cale glowering at his retreating back, knowing that he only got away with not eating because Cale was in no fit state to chase after him. He finally found the entrance in the mountain after several tries, put his sleeve over his nose to try and drown out some of the smell and disappeared into its depths.

His sleeve really didn't do much. The smell seeped through the cloth and right into his nose. He gagged a couple of times, thankful that there was nothing in his stomach to see in reverse. He grabbed a rusted sword from one of the piles of remains along with a shirt, which he ripped into thick strips and tied them to the tip of the sword in a ball. Concentrating on the spell, a red light suddenly glowed through his closed eyes. When he opened them, a bright yellow and orange fire burned at the tip of his torch. He hoped the fabric would burn slow enough to where he wouldn't have to keep remaking his torch.

Taiven looked around and decided to go through the tunnel he watched the Lethrblaka disappear through not too long ago. Steadily walking forward, his eyes took in every nook and cranny of his surroundings, looking for anything that would lead him to the room he needed. He suddenly came to a split in the tunnel and felt that the left one was the one he should take. The long tunnel curved to the left and stretched on for what seemed like ever. It also seemed to be rising. Without realizing it, he made his way outside and found himself teetering on an edge. The cool night wind gently whipped about him, relieving him of the sweat that trickled down his neck from the hot, stuffy tunnels.

He finally turned around and headed back to the split in the tunnel. This time, he took the one on the right. Half way down, he saw a very small room on his left, but one quick glance told him that his saddlebags weren't in it. He continued down the hall where it took a sharp left and was about to follow the passageway, but something moving on the ground caught his eye. He thought it was a worm or a snake, but looking again he saw what appeared to be exactly half of a small rat with its tail flicking about. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, until the rest of the rat disappeared through the wall. His excitement surged through him as he stepped through the wall himself and looked around. He had accidentally found another hidden room – not just any room – it was the very room he was searching for, and lying on the ground next to a mass of other apparently valuable objects was his saddlebags.

Taiven raced over to the bags and rummaged through them frantically. The egg was safe and unharmed. He finally relaxed and let go of the breath he didn't even realize he was holding. Pulling together everything he figured he and Cale would need into two bags, he heaved them over his shoulders and made his way back out of the mountain.

On his way he saw the same small room he passed earlier, but this time stopped to see what was inside. Along the walls were several built in shelves, which held at least twenty bottles of a clear, shiny liquid. He knew that he should continue on, but his curiosity got the best of him. The bottles almost glittered by the light of the flickering fire, which seemed inviting and drew him in. Putting down the bags, he reached for one of the bottles and uncorked it.

Immediately afterward he held it at arms length as a putrid smell escaped from it. Still wondering what its purpose was, he looked around for something to pour it on. Not finding anything but his torch (instantly ruling out himself and the saddlebags, as he was sure it was something destructive), he settled for the bottom handle of the rusted sword. He held both of the two at arms length and carefully poured the liquid on the handle.

It oozed from the bottle, yet it didn't do a thing to the sword. Figuring that it probably doesn't affect metal, as the glass that held the liquid was still intact, he ripped off a sleeve and wiped the liquid from the handle. The fabric dissolved before his eyes. Then, wondering what its effect on fire was, he turned the sword around to where the ball of fire was now closer to the neck of the bottle. He figured a tiny drop would do and carefully tilted it toward the fire. However, more than just a tiny drop fell upon the flames.

BOOM!

The blast, though quite small, threw him from the room, ripping the sword and bottle from his grasp. He opened his swollen eyes as much as he could and groped for the wall. His face burned as though on fire, but with one quick touch of his hand, he discovered, fortunately, that it was not. He cried from the pain, but even the soft feeling of his tears falling down his burned cheeks made him wince with new spasms of discomfort, which made him cry even more. The pain felt as though it would never end.

He stood up with difficulty and looked in the room through his eyelashes. The torch, amazingly still lit with fire, and the now broken bottle were several feet apart from each other; nevertheless, he watched in horror as the liquid seeped toward the flames and his mouth opened in a silent scream. Grabbing the fallen saddlebags from the floor, he ran blindly and as fast as he could with the heavy saddlebags in the direction he knew was the exit, slamming into the walls when they curved slightly and stumbling over rocks. The wind from his run stung his face, but he didn't dare stop. Once in the huge room with the many piles of remains, he ran toward the wall leading outside and passed through it just before he heard a huge and earth shattering bang.

He ran for Cale with his arms over his head and the saddlebags banging heavily at his sides. Debris rained down around him, some as big as his head. As he ran, he thanked his lucky stars that he moved Cale a good distance from the mountain. When the boys face finally came into view, he took in the worried expression on his face. Then suddenly, a burst of pain emanated from his leg and he fell. He heard Cale shout his name. When he looked back at what had hit him, there was a rock the size of his fist lying next to his leg. He lifted his pant leg and saw a bruise already forming on his calf. Bits of debris kept falling on him and he watched as one about half the size of his head fall next to him.

"Taiven! Watch out!" Cale shouted. Taiven looked up, but it was too late. Another fist-sized rock sped toward him and hit him hard on his forehead. He watched dazedly from his place on the ground as Cale ran feebly over to him. Cale tried to force him up and out of the way, while Taiven tried to keep his consciousness. They somehow managed to make their way back to where Cale once was, and Taiven couldn't keep his focus any longer. He lay down his head and let the darkness envelope him.


Yea! Another chapter! And another cliffy! Oh, wait. You probably aren't excited over that. Well anyway, thanks again alsdssg!!

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