Disclaimer: I do not possess the Eragon books or characters.
Author's Note: Thanks for sticking with me guys! I'm really glad and pleased that you like it so much and which author doesn't feel that way after reaching over 100 reviews? Of course, your actual feedback, advice, and response means more to me than just a sum but it does make me feel rather pleased if you get my meaning.
Enough rambling though as I don't want to bore you to tears. This chapter was gonna be longer but the ending felt just right and it is mainly concentrating on explaining the resistance to the dragon bond, what with Eragon's Lycanthropy. Sorry for the length but there will be some action soon, I promise! So just bear with me now and I hope this filler-chapter will suffice until the big episode I have planned finally hits and finally merges with the canon books.
Chapter 9: Dilemma
Eragon! A voice echoed in his mind. Where are you Eragon? Why have you forgotten about us, about the Void? You have not visited us in an eon.
I'm sorry, Eragon whimpered.
Open your eyes, Eragon, The voice commanded with the hint of a growl. Look and see. Understand.
Slowly and cautiously, Eragon opened his eyes.
His vision blurred and stretched; his head throbbed mightily and his whole body flared with pain. He was half-standing, half-falling.
Staggering, stumbling, he flailed about aimlessly and listlessly like a man in a trance with no goal or vision. All around him was an eerie ghostly white, almost akin to a graveyard. It was eerily quiet and all was still. He could not even hear his own footsteps as he trudged along.
Even so, he recognized the place.
It was the Void; Eragon grimaced, realizing he had not visited it in quite some time what with the upheaval at the valley.
As his head cleared he saw trees, bushes, and bubbling streams. He saw no werewolves though, none of his kin. Instead, he saw a dense gloomy mist shroud the trees, ghosting along slowly but surely.
You have deserted us, Eragon! The voice hissed. You have left us for another, a lesser kind. Do you not feel it? Do you not feel your powers abating, fading away?
Eragon nearly stumbled but caught himself in the nick of time. Feeling nervous and frightened for once in his life, he sucked in a deep breath and reached out with his sixth sense, for his werewolf side.
He was met with a thick, inky blackness.
Nothing.
No one answered his feeble knocking on the door. It remained solid and impassive before him, barring him from entry. It was a wonder it still existed at all.
He sank to his knees as he realized the voice spoke the truth. He could feel his strength diminishing rapidly, his senses weakening to that of a child. They should have been greater, even for a human since he was older now.
But they were weak, pathetic, useless. If he remained this way, he would be no more than a walking vegetable. He would help no one, he would only be a danger, a liability.
Why? He cried out plaintively, his mind racing. What have I done wrong? Where is my mistake?
Mistake? The voice asked coldly. MISTAKE? You have bonded with another and you will have to push us aside. You cannot serve two masters. You already told Brom you serve no one and we cannot abide by that. We demand allegiance, the Pack demands it.
What pack? Eragon asked in confusion. How do you know what I have told Brom? And who is this other...person that I have bonded with? Please, tell me!
As if in answer, the air shimmered and Eragon gasped in shock and surprise to see a semi-translucent image of the azure baby dragon that hatched for him.
But he hadn't Bonded with it, in all the old tales Brom told him a Rider was only Bonded with his Dragon upon the first touch. And that all depended if the Dragon accepted him. Eragon had held the dragon in his arms, that meant they weren't Bonded. But he had been granted access into its mind. Did that mean...
But the youth had no time to contemplate however, for suddenly the young blue dragon arched its neck and roared in pure rage and fury. A tongue of flame was unleashed from its maw and in a flurry of action and magic the creature...grew.
There was a brilliant flash of light and a clap of silent thunder that slammed Eragon to the side. He went backwards with a gasp for breath as he lay on the ground, winded. His vision became blurry whether from the fall or otherwise.
Where there was once one dragon, he saw another and another. Soon, there were many dragons, large dragons. Not all were the same shade of blue. Some were lighter, some were darker, almost the colour of midnight.
They were all glaring daggers at Eragon as if he was the enemy. Their wings were arched and they were rearing on their hind-legs. Dragon fire lashed out of their maws dancing into the air with a vengeance.
Trees burst into flame and exploded in a torrent of splinters and ashes. Snow transformed to dust and the air was filled with smoke and fire. Dark clouds billowed in the sky.
Lightning rent the heavens apart and thunder shook the earth.
You see, Eragon, The voice crooned. This is what you will cause. This is an evil you will bring back into the world. An evil that was eradicated for a reason.
But I thought werewolves were friends of the dragons, Eragon said when his head cleared and his mind returned to him. They were both destroyed by the Empire. Do you not have a common enemy?
Perhaps, The voice answered grimly. But we also share a common host. A wolf and a dragon cannot be Bound to the same master. A soul cannot be split so many ways. One day, you will have to choose, young hero. One day.
Eragon was too weak without his powers, without the gift of Lycanthropy, and could only watch helplessly as the army of phantom dragons destroyed the Void.
He knew this was just a dream and that the Void would grow again since the dragons were just an implant in his head, so to speak. But that did not stop his heart from being torn in two as he struggled to decide whether or not to side with the werewolves or the dragon he was seemingly Bonded with.
They were both the last of their kind.
Werewolves.
Dragons.
Werewolves.
Dragons.
Eragon! Another voice called.
Werewolves.
Dragons.
Werewolves.
Dragons.
"Eragon!"
The boy in question gasped in shock, panting for breath and his arms grasping in the air.
Brom quickly caught his hand and held it as he placed a palm on his forehead to see if he had a fever. Brom sighed, seemingly in relief and Eragon sank back on his bed taking in deep gulps of air.
"What happened?" He asked. "One moment you were cuddling with the hatchling and the next you were passed out? I awoke to the dragon shrieking in pain and you two fainting. Talk to me, Eragon!"
Eragon sighed wearily and scooted towards the wall of the cave, since his cot was tucked into the back corner of it, and leaned against the wall. It was hard and cold, just like his heart.
"Apparently I was Bonded to a dragon," Eragon said impassively. "But not the normal way. Now, my kin want me to abandon it. They want me to choose."
He laughed bitterly and felt black emotions emanating from the dragon, through their Bond.
Brom groaned in frustration and clenched his fist. He looked like he wanted to punch someone but restrained himself, glaring into the crackling fire instead.
His dragon seemed to be doing the same thing, although it was crouching low as if it was about to pounce. It was hissing angrily at the fire, or at whatever he saw in the flames. Which was rather funny considering a dragon could unleash a torrent of flames.
"What would you do, Brom?" Eragon asked at last. "Which side would you pick?"
Brom didn't look up in the fire, but relaxed somewhat.
"I do not believe it is my place to say," He said slowly. "The answers for deep questions like this one always lie deep within one's heart."
"But if you are forced to choose?" Eragon pressed.
"If I must," Brom muttered. "Then I would choose both sides. Sometimes, doing nothing is the best thing but it can also be the worst thing. In your case I might just advise it though. Few are lucky enough to be Bonded to both a dragon and a werewolf as you are."
"Even if the price for those Bonds are my soul?" Eragon drawled.
Brom looked up sharply but when he saw no jest in Eragon's eyes, he seemed to sigh and suddenly, he looked much older and far more weary than Eragon had ever seen him in times past. He looked as if he had seen things a village storyteller would never have, things that no man should have endured.
"The choice is yours, lad," Brom said softly, almost inaudibly. "And there are none who walk this world or the world beyond that can make that decision for you. But..."
Brom held up his hands to silence Eragon's objections.
"...there is one decision I can make for you," Brom chuckled dryly.
"And what might that be?" Eragon sulked.
"I am afraid that due to recent events," The old man replied, with a steely gaze. "That you cannot come with me to rescue Arya."
TO BE CONTINUED!
A/N: As I said, it was more of a filler chapter and went kind of different to how I intended it. Still, I like it and the next chapter will probably have a time-skip to when Saphira is fully-grown (more or less). Because Eragon's still weak from the fight and has been Bonded to a baby dragon (as will be revealed) and that will just get them into more trouble while on a rescue mission. Also, Eragon has his werewolf powers back since that was just a bad dream and a warning. Here's a question though, what would you choose if you were in Eragon's shoes? Would you choose to be Bonded to a Dragon or remain a Werewolf?
Any thoughts, people? And, of course, how was the chapter?
