I do not own The Inheritance cycle, R&R


Thank you all for your reviews last chapter. And welcome to the Discord server: EvilDragonMuspelheim, ShadowFuse and US Bulldog Hope we can all get along :)


A/N: Hey people, there will be some explicit gore in the chapter for a bit, it's not over the top bloody or anything, but to be on the safe side I'll change the rating to M. There will also be future scene's where it might get bloody, this after all a story about war.


In the last chapter Lena finally broke out of jail and even decided to go after the messenger and hopefully kill him before he leaves the valley. Or at least before he gets close to Uru'bean. But will everything go as smoothly as she hopes?


Quote of the day:

I don't live in darkness,

darkness lives in me.

-Someone somewhere-


Chapter 3, Part 2, Hunt it down

At dawn I went toward the road, as I had expected there really was no one around. Despite that, traveling on the road made me feel eerily exposed. The clacking of hooves on the gravel pavement made me feel even more uncomfortable. In the end my anxiety got the better of me, going with gut feeling. I went with caution instead of speed. I went to over to the treeline having Sunshadow trot below the cover of the trees on on the right side of the road. While I wasn't exactly hiding myself I didn't feel as exposed anymore. Nor was I going as fast as before though. I still felt at least a bit better. I suppose that if there was someone watching from on higher somewhere looking for me, I would at least be exponentially harder to spot me.

Around noon it became hard to keep focused as lack of sleep finally started to take it's toll. But I wanted to at least get eyes on my prey before he left the valley. Once he left the valley he would be much harder to find again, especially if I couldn't find out what road he took. While I did have a bit of experience tracking, it was not something I regularly trained in my old world. Nor did I have any confidence that I would still be able too, especially if the tracks were more than a day old. That's why I had to catch up as much as I could, while he was still in the valley. But he would be using the road and I was using the mushy soft ground where the grass grew, that together with having a nearly full day as a head-start it would be no easy task. I couldn't slack my pace for much more than a moment or I'd lose my chance to catch up in time.

I looked ahead and saw a bent in the river, as a small idea popped up, I spurred Sunshadow to the river for a small break.

Luckily, it's unlikely he knows I'm following him yet. No. No! I'm sure he can't know yet. Not in a valley like this.

The valley narrowed, and forced me to now use the road, but with overhang from the forest, rosebushes, weeds growing, and other forest debris lying around, I didn't feel as exposed anymore. The closer I got to the Utgard the worse it got, even the road disappeared at times, it all making the journey much harder and more irritating.

When I finally was in the right position to decently see the palace atop the Utgard, I was awe-struck, the several spires wonderfully decorated, despite the discoloration and collapse still had an noble air about them. The palace's many beautiful colors, lighting up just right with the glaring sunlight. Despite the beauty it also filled me with dread, like the very walls of stone and marble remembered how to be magnificent, yet unable to forget its sadness and the spilled blood, unable to move on from its despair, like a heartbroken beauty. It truly was Ristvak'baen a place of sorrow.

The spiraling columns and rows let to a caved in ceiling of what was probably a great hall, it all reminded me of a game I had once played on the Wii for hours on end, called: Pandora's Tower, it told a tale of two young lovers, of which the maiden was cursed to slowly turn into a beast. Unless the brave young knight would go to one of the thirteen towers every other day to kill its master and return to the maiden with its flesh. Only able to lift the curse if he defeated all 13 masters of all 13 towers, and the maiden ate all 13 pieces of their flesh. Only then would the curse be lifted.

The towers and the complete structure of the collapsed palace looked as intricate and efficient as they had been in the game. That it looked as if there really could be such monsters ruling the place.

The finality of its collapse and the sadness filling me when looking at it made me feel very melancholic. So much so, it gave me the nagging urge to try climb up the vertical mountain to rebuild and repair and make whole the damaged beauty once more myself.

However I knew that even with magic it would be neigh on impossible to even get up there, let alone undo the damage the last fight between Vreal and Galbatorix caused. The timeless after-effects of the magic left in their wake, would take only the most skilled in spell-casting and powerful of magicians to undo even a fraction of the ancient malicious magic that tainted not only the palace but the whole area. It saddened me greatly how the building itself was ruined beyond the repair any ordinary being could do. But it did also make me think of how Saphira would heal the shattered star sapphire in the dwarf city Tronjheim in the future, and estimated it would at least take magic of that caliber to repair even slightly the damage done, maybe even more so.

Shaking the thoughts, I continued on my way toward the exit of the valley. Around evening the path twisted upward to a steep hill, the litter of the forest covering the road and making it hard to find at times. The effort to reach the top was great but, it had its own reward when I finally did. The outlook I had over the valley was amazing, as I could see in all directions from the top. I could finally see what should be the other guarding mountain. And I new that once I finished going around the Utgard and passed between it and that other mountain, I would be able to see the Great Plains that separated the Shield from the rest of the Empire.

I enjoyed the scenery, but the effort made me just short of collapse on the spot when I unmounted. And a stinging pain in my stomach, that had been bothering me since midday made itself known once more. I could feel myself sway on my feet and after my vision darkened, I realized it was because I hadn't eaten anything since prison. Just short of cursing myself, I forced myself to take a break to eat something and at least get some rest, before I really did collapse! I made a quick work of making a small camp, choosing a spot between some trees where the ground wasn't stone and the debris was easy to shove away. I took the pack and saddlebags and after some rummaging, I found a water- and a wine-skin filled to the brim, dried foods like berries and beef jerky, a few fresh fruits for just the first few days and I found a big loaf of bread in the other bag as well.

Knowing I should keep the longer conservable foods for later, I only ate some of the bread and an undried apple. While eating I rummaged some more, making a mental list of all my supplies I even found all the stuff I'd asked Halberth for. The stomach ache didn't completely go away even after I finished eating, but at least it felt a bit better. It was getting late into the evening and the sun was already behind the mountain when I finished eating. Unsure whether I should continue now or not, I scouted a little around the camp and the direction ahead. The climb to the top had taken most of the day and I remembered from the books that there was no real path down the mountain, that it was described as treacherous and with lose stones. After seeing for myself, I came to the same conclusion, the first few steps from my camp were easily manageable, but the further down you went the harder the path was to find and not even a few minutes from the top completely disappeared all together.

Not wanting to break my neck in the dark, I decided to not risk it after all, even though I was anxious about catching up to my prey. I would have to actually be alive to kill it. Killing the messenger was not worth anything unless, I myself came out as good as unscratched. There was also the point of me desperately needing sleep. So I got the camp ready for a night. Which didn't seem that hard as there was somehow not that much debris at all, and I realized the spot must've been used by other travelers before me. Making a small bedding of the saddle and blankets I stopped when I was satisfied.

When the there was barely any light left in the sky, I looked around the valley a again, the North-West I came from no longer showed any signs of there being a town up ahead. Only the river that curled along the lowlands around the mountain was sure sign of my orientation. I turned and looked at the opposite side of the valley. The Utgard standing tall, once again gave me a very melancholy mood, but the feeling passed as I moved away my focus. Studying the furthest point between it and the river, that was the exit of the valley, I suddenly noticed a very local bank of mist.

However I quickly realized it wasn't really mist. It was smoke!

Knowing it was nearly impossible for anyone else to be ahead of me this far out in the valley. I knew I found my prey! Once again excitement caused my blood to pump and I nearly wanted to re-saddle Sunshadow. But the smoke could only mean one thing that the guy had already turned in for the night. And while leaving now would mean I would more or less be caught up to him by sunrise. I would have to get down that treacherous mountainside in the dark, so I forcibly reminded myself of my earlier point not to be foolish, not to mention the effort would leave me so completely exhausted that trying to even kill him would likely result in failure. And he'd be on guard for a second attempt, if he doesn't at all try to kill me too.

Gathering my thoughts, it stood to reason to calm myself and think carefully, my prey would be unlikely to move until after dawn as well. I desperately needed some sleep, so keeping my patience here would be for the best. Deciding to quickly turn in for the night and getting up just before dawn would be the best course of action, so I could set out right with first light. But that was easier said than done though, the excitement of the discovery had not yet left my veins yet. As I turned to pacing around instead, knowing that even if I were to lie down now, I would not fall asleep even if I tried.

A light bulb moment hit me, and a sly smirk appeared on my face. Well I can't sleep now anyway, might as well try for a bit. I rummaged a bit around the packs and surprisingly found what I was looking for. Taking it, I mentally once again thanked Marlene for having been so incredibly thoughtful as always.

I sat crossed legged on my traveling rug, my blankets all wrapped up around my shoulders too keep warm. I held out the item in my left outstretched arm. I focused my intent and I called out:

"Steinr Reisa!"

Imagining the nicely smooth black-pebble-from-hell, that had originally been on my nightstand until Marlene had packed it for me, lift off from my hand. I could feel my consciousness spearheading to the magical barrier. I was dead-set on scattering that barrier, but also fully aware of the possible backlash. Mentally prepared for it, I erased all doubt from my mind, determined to chance my arm regardless.

Putting all my fortitude in the effort, I crashed full force into the barrier. Sadly however the barrier didn't come crashing down like it had before. Like when I blew up the lock, or that time at the river, the backlash of a fast approaching migraine was there though. However just as I was about to conclude the attempt a failure, I could've sworn I felt the hellish pebble move, if only ever so slightly. I mentally returned to the barrier, where an amazing surprise was there waiting for me to notice. The barrier had a crack in it! I could feel a little stream of magic leaking out!

It was an incredible feeling to sense the control I had over the magic. I hadn't just imagined the pebble moving after all, it actually had. The euphoria however made me lose my concentration and before I could even begin to try widen the crack, I lost control and the magic retreated back behind the once again smooth and impenetrable wall. Once again no trace of the magic could be found, so I opened my eyes. Only to find the world spinning like a top. My head fell to the side, the dizziness forcing me to once again close my eyes. Unable to control my body I was lucky to land on the bedroll I was already sitting on, for I fell vast asleep as soon as my head hit the makeshift pillow.

The next morning I woke up, shivering from the cold. Thankfully my head already felt a lot better then last night, the migraine had abated to a dull pulsating in my temples and I hoped it would completely go away soon. It was just before sunrise and the first light already made it just over the mountain top. The purplish sky and the mist in the lower glade giving the whole valley an eerie feel to the already unnaturally malicious area. Still shivering I got up, stretching and stepping in place to warm up a little. It was a little too early to set out just yet, but now that I was already awake I was too afraid to go back to sleep. I decided to just eat breakfast early and give Sunshadow some attention. Using the brush that was in the saddlebag I groomed her. Steadily creating a deeper connection between horse and rider. Though it wasn't as if she was completely unfamiliar with me, but this was the first time I had ridden her and done her grooming. So uncomfortable was the word, which was quite obvious as she kept being twitchy, shifting and prancing in place the whole time, often turning her head to look at what I was doing, but at least there was some measure of trust as she never tried to avoid me.

As soon as I finished cleaning out her hooves I saddled her, quickly packing up my stuff and got ready to leave. Shushing Sunshadow, I stiffly worked myself up into the saddle. However the morning frigidness, had me blowing out white steam, that made me remember about my old coat, which I had seen it packed into the saddlebag earlier. I put it on and the familiar weight and warmth immediately made me feel better. However I hadn't gone very far or the path, as I had discovered last evening, disappeared. Progress was slow, but it soon became worse when the hill started an even steeper descent. I had no choice to dismount and help Sunshadow keep steady. By the time we were at the bottom of the hill I was hot, sweaty and irritated by the effort. tying my jacket on my waist to prevent overheating I continued the last bit on food until,T thankfully the road continued. But it was now nothing more than a vague sandy path. It was past sunrise and from my viewpoint I could see the sun just tipping the top of the mountain on the other side of the valley, I stopped for a small break walking to the river to fresh up a little and let Sunshadow drink. It was no longer as frigid as before, but I remembered to put my jacket back on when a chill shivered over my spine, afraid I would get sick otherwise.

The break wasn't long and I kept going to the direction of the valley exit. I suspected my prey should be nearly there by now. Since I was a bit bored anyway, I decided to just to start practicing ahead of time. I looked at the path ahead trying to make out new hoof-prints from old ones. It was hard but after a while I got the hang of it. At least now if I couldn't catch up with him by the time he reached the split in the road, which became more likely with the second, since I had not been able to catch a glimpse of him again after the smoke last night, I would at least be to tell which way he could've gone.

It was just past midday when I finally completed the bend around the Utgard and I could see the flats of the great plains ahead of me that were visible to the edge of the horizon. It was an amazing sight, however I still didn't spot my prey. Did I underestimate the distance between us last night? Or is it because of the mountains? Maybe I simply miscalculated how long it would take to get up and around the mountains...I just continued on the road as I went. I didn't see any sign of him for the rest of the day and I became more anxious as time went on. Maybe he knows someone is following him? And he's deliberately keeping out of sight? But then what? I should be able to track him on the plains sooner or later, right? But.. But what if he turned around and I missed him? What will I do then?

My mind kept going in circles even if the horse kept steadily going forward on the path. It was late in the evening and the sun had already sunk back behind the mountains, casting long shadows over the valley behind me, by the time I had made the full turn around the Utgard and exited the valley. Not much later I reached the split in the road. Luckily it was quite obvious what path he had taken. The middle one, just like Eragon and Brom had done following the Ra'zac. The most right one going South, following the edge of the Spine and the left, going along with the river somewhat heading North in the direction of Ceunon. Remembering what had been said during this chapter of book I, Brom had said that it was a four day ride from here to Yazuac, but with no sources of water in-between the places.

Thinking about it some more, I knew Yazuac would be destroyed at some point. But in the book the bodies piled up were still reasonably fresh, at most only a week old. So by all accounts it should still exist and prosper in this moment. I forced myself to take a break and make sure Sunshadow had enough time to fill up on water at the river, completely re-filling my waterskin myself meanwhile.

I returned to the path and continued until the sky was so dark, it sparkled with billions of stars. Combined with the crescent moon it was more then enough light to continue. But exhaustion was setting in and I made camp. As I looked up at the sky filled with the little diamonds, thinking about how you'd never see a star filled sky like this in a city. Remembering one of my favorite songs, I quietly sang the Latin version, I repeated part of it's translation once more like poetry:

The moon speaks faintly,
in a voice audible to no one.
The repeating rising and falling of the tides
are the scene of the moon's vanishing memory.

The stars record arcanely
in a script decipherable to no one.
From the swirls of infinite words,
billions of books are born.

To me, the sky is too vast,
and time is too swift.
Without knowing anything,
I'm gathering words in vain,
which only end up rotting in the earth.

Yet still, I will clamor.
Not even knowing why, I raise my voice.
May my echo continue into the celestial space.
Then, a new sun will eventually rise as well.

Imagining what it would be like to simply act like Brom, travel and recite poetry, sing, or dance in the great halls of the ancient kings and queens. The scene that emerged took hold and the notion that I could just see myself in the great Tialdarí halls in Ellesméra, amusing and competing with the other elven poets remained just out of reach, as such a peaceful picture was by far not what I was here for and the scene quickly faded.

The peace, quiet and emptiness of the plane surrounding me, made me feel just a bit lonely. Being used to solitude however it didn't bother me that much. While I was thinking about the next step, 'getting close enough to the messenger to actually kill him', the how was still a dilemma. While I now could use magic, it was far from being practical. While I was thinking on this it got late before I knew it. And I was reminded that I hadn't tried to lift the black-pebble-from-hell just yet for today. Letting out a sigh, I got the pebble from the saddlebag and once again started at the routine.

"Stern Reisa."

I managed to create a crack in the barrier again, at the price of another headache. But I didn't notice a wobble in the stone this time, there was something different though. Unlike last time the crack didn't close itself right away. I tried to control the flow as best I could, but fatigue quickly made me lose grip. I was disappointed that I couldn't make the pebble wobble even a little. But I agreed with myself that being able to keep the magic flowing for more than just an instant was at least significant, and already great progress since the first time I'd tried. Even if I was frustrated that compared to Eragon's, the progress was really slow, though I knew it was wrong to compare myself to the statistics of a rider. But I couldn't really help it, since he was the only real reference point I had, in the end I couldn't help myself and remained frustrated. I wanted to go for another try, but when I tried to lift up the pebble with my hand, I noticed I barely had the energy to even do that the mundane way. And I gave up the idea of trying again so soon.

Despite accepting my shortcomings, my frustration still got the better of me, energy bursting forth, I threw the pebble into the darkness in an angry fit. It seems the noise startled Sunshadow as she suddenly stood back up and began whinnying softly, quietly cursing myself, I sighed gathering some more energy and got up to calm her down. Irritated with myself, I realized, that since I was now standing anyway, I should go get the stupid rock back. Before I'll forget the direction I threw it in. I walked into the direction, intending to pick it up, but in the darkness of night it was impossible to find. I was just about to give up and lay back down under the covers, when I saw a very small light coming from far way. I gazed into the distance trying to make out what it was. Until I could nearly slap myself again, it was obviously a fire! I had caught up so much with the messenger that he was only an hour or two riding away at most, even at a slow pace.

I considered myself lucky, if I'd decided to make a fire as well, I would've probably been long spotted by now too. Though, it wasn't real luck. I had thought about this extensively when I'd decided to hunt him down. I couldn't help use the road during daytime, but that I should minimize doing things that would get me noticed was a given. The sight of my prey made my blood pump so loud, I could feel my heartbeat pressing on my eardrums. No longer able to sleep now anyway I pushed my exhaustion aside and got ready to set out once more. I could rest all I wanted when my prey was dead and I was safe from discovery.

I rushed off in full galop, but quickly thought better of it when I heard the noise I was making and slowed down some. I closed in on my prey slowly, not taking my eyes of the small fire. It wasn't too long after that I could see his horse laying in the tall knee-high grass at the other side of it and he himself on my side of the fire. Lucky! He's facing away from me. Getting ready for a mad dash in case he spotted me before I could launch my attack, I grabbed for the one-handed, wooden handle of the little knife Halberth had promised me. I'd found it under some clothes, together with some extra thick wire wrapped around it. For a moment I was stumped on why that would be there, until I remembered I'd asked for it and I face-palmed internally. I'd asked for the wire so I could make myself a bow later. Thinking about it, it would be very convenient to have one right about now. So I kind of wished I had my own from my old home in the old world with me. But it was not like I could make it appear out of nowhere by just wishing it, or even with magic. Sadly nor could I make one that quickly. Besides there aren't any trees around at all, so what would I even make it off? So I begrudgingly got ready to use the knife to slit his throat.

Since it was no use gripping about it, I quickly let it go, twisting the wire around the canister with the horse on it. I made sure to grasp the dagger tightly enough. When I got close enough I quietly dismounted Sunshadow. Tiptoeing the last bit, I could see my sleeping target lying on his side facing the fire and away from me. Alright, now I just need to gently slit his throat while he is asleep. Come on, lets do this. Don't hesitate now... But... But... What if I don't kill him? He's never done anything to me personally, he can't help it that he got these orders. No! No... Come on already, you've been over this. The only way to ensure you'll be able to make a clean get-away is if you kill the guy. Besides it's unlikely he's really 'that' innocent anyway. It's now or never. You have to do this now... Yeah..., but even so he doesn't really deserve to die... Oh, shut up already, you just don't want to become a killer. For your own selfish reasons. Well tough luck, this is all your own mess, time to clean it up. So suck it the fuck up. And do it quickly like pulling off a spread of wax. Now stop hesitating before you butch it.

But just as I was thinking that, I blew it. My gaze was so fixed on the prey I didn't notice it, until it was to late and my lack of concentration made me fall over when I stepped on a loose stone. With a yelp I fell down, hard. I cringed, but got up as fast as I could. But the damage was already done, my prey had woken up! He'd suddenly stood up startled by my sudden appearance. He looked absolutely terrified, thinking I could maybe relax his guard by talking. I opened my mouth to speak. But just as I was about to say something he let out a high-pitched scream out of nowhere.

"It's you! How did you get here? Get.. Get away from me." He said as he scrambled to get up.

Stunned, I stopped for a second but continued on steadily a moment later. For some reason now that he was awake all my hesitation had vanished like snow before the sun. All my mind would do was repeat the same mantra over and over again:

Hello my prey, my dearest prey. Kill him. Stab him. Kill him. kill him. Before he runs. Kill him. Kill him. Slit his throat. Stab him. Make sure he doesn't get away. Make sure he never speaks again... My precious... Prey...

My mind racing, I now found myself thinking about just anything but, backing out. Now it was just desperately trying to calculate every angle of a possible fight that might ensue. How best to kill him, how effective each stab or cut him would be, and the most efficient way to reach my prey. My soon to be victim however, seemed to have a prey-animal like instinct, as he tried to slowly back away. White as a sheet as if he'd seen a ghost, he stared at me with fearful eyes. All the while I continued to slowly step forward, the little knife hidden behind me. I kind of felt sorry for the poor guy, but at the same time I was also relishing the thrill.

I tried smiling at him, but it only seemed to put him off more, so much he started to nearly hyperventilate, when I stepped another foot closer, I could even hear his quickened breath from still a little ways away. It seemed I scared him so much, enough even that the damn idiot forgot that there was a fire behind him. He stepped in it and cried out as the flames were quickly taking hold off his leg, burning through the fabric and immediately setting on to eat the skin.

I could already smell the scent of burnt flesh. As the messenger jumped to the side to roll on the ground to try to douse the flames that had taken hold of his pants and were quickly spreading upward. Shaken out of my stunned stupor I quickly tried to take advantage of his stupidity. I tried to stab him while he was down. But the attempt ended in failure because he was moving around to wildly, only making a small scrape on his arm instead.

Regrettably I had now made my motives known, annoyingly without even dealing a serious injury. Cursing all the while I tried again. However this time he saw me coming and he quickly rolled away, kicking at me. The flames had gone out and he quickly got up. I dove after him but missed again. He faced me for a moment and I looked at him with a fierce gaze, I could see the fear in his eyes growing even more. I also noticed that the small gash I'd given him was bleeding a lot more than I'd initially thought it would, as it had already started to completely soak his sleeve.

The fire if a bit upturned still gave enough light for me to see the blood dripping from his hand, making a small puddle on the sandy ground. It seemed the cut was small maybe, but it was deeper then I'd expected, causing me to smirk and show some teeth. Maybe it made him even more nervous, because I saw his shifty eyes becoming hard form determination and I prepared myself for an attack. But when none were forth coming even after several seconds of circling each other I lunged forward myself. But instead of meeting the attach, he stepped back! But I had thought he'd prepared himself to fight back, but all he was doing was evading me. Just when I thought he wouldn't do anything after all with the opening I had left him with. He suddenly jumped forward, I was prepared to fend of a punch or something, but instead he just gave me a hard push!

I stumbled back. I thinking he'd follow up with something I prepared myself for a hit. Only to see him rush past me and turn tail! Running toward his horse at full speed. It had already stood up because of the upheaval. The messenger ran away quickly, or at least as fast as he could with his leg sporting the grotesque burn that was now revealed after the fabric had burned off, it looked like a second-degree burn covering the ankle and lower side of his calf, with blisters and yellow pus oozing out of it. He didn't seem to notice it much however as he barely limped while he ran across the campsite. He yanked the reins loose, making it the horse run with him. Completely leaving everything else he had, including the saddle. He jumped on the horse bare-back and spurred it in a fast galop by smacking its flank with a flat hand a few times.

For a moment I was dump-struck, unsure of what to do. And wether I should even bother to give chase or not, he had left everything! All of his stuff and it was mine for the taking. Besides if I was lucky he would just go and die off all on his own, likely from dehydration or infection or something. And besides even if I took a while to gather the stuff, I doubted he would get very far anyway. Not to mention that it looked like he had left some good quality stuff behind, even a small bag of money from the looks of it. And who knew, maybe he wasn't completely stupid after all and would come back to reclaim his stuff, when it seemed I'd dropped my guard?

Anyways, all I knew was that he had to die either way, and I couldn't help but let out a evil laugh.


A/N: 1, The game described: Pandora's Tower, actually exists and was honestly quite fun, the story-line and ending also relying on how well you play and how much you stick to the time-limits. I really liked the game, even if it was far from perfect. I enjoyed it, and there's even a few fanfiction about it on this website under the games-section.

A/N: 2, The name of the actual song is in Latin and is: Cras numquam scire, which translates to: Never know tomorrow. It is from an anime called Dantalian no Shoka/The mystic archives of Dantalian, which is still one of my favorite anime because of the beautiful artwork. Also this is not the whole thing, but only a few verses it officially has two more, but they might be included in a later chapter :D Hope you could enjoy it. If you liked this, be sure to check my fictionpress profile of the same name, with some of my own poetry.


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