Eragon met with the rest of the group, among them Nasuada, her councilors, Nar Garzhog, Arya, and Saphira.
They were curious about the small number that was announcing their attack. A small army of 300, Garzhog was worried about the upcoming battle, and that meant something considering his experience in battle. They agreed that the attack was most likely a trap but they did not know what it was and they could not identify it.
All questions were silenced when Eragon saw a stir of motion on the far side of the river behind a veil of willow trees. Red as a ruby soaked by blood Thorn flew in the distance, coming closer. And on the back of the glittering dragon sat Murtagh in bright steel armor with Zar,roc at the ready.
'They have come for us.' Saphira said.
Eragon's gut wrenched, he felt Saphira's own dread as well like a current of icy water going down his spine.
What Eragon was more concerned about was the potential of the unknown and that was the Dragonborn, if he came into play he would most likely fight Thorn and Murtagh out of boredom and possibly kill them. This was an opportune moment, with all the attention if the Dragonborn revealed himself then the other rider and his dragon would be in great danger if John spoke the truth.
As Eragon watched Thorn and Murtagh rise high in the northern sky, he heard Narheim the dwarf whisper,"Barzûl," and then curse Murtagh for killing Hrothgar, the king of the dwarves.
Arya spun away from the sight. "Nasuada, Your Majesty," she said, her eyes flicking toward Orrin, "you have to stop the soldiers before they reach the camp. You cannot allow them to attack our defenses. If they do, they will sweep over these ramparts like a storm-driven wave and wreak untold havoc in our midst, among the tents, where we cannot maneuver effectively."
"Untold havoc?" Orrin scoffed. "Have you so little confidence in our prowess, Ambassador? Humans and dwarves may not be as gifted as elves, but we shall have no difficulty in disposing of these miserable wretches, I can assure you."
The lines of Arya's face tightened. "Your prowess is without compare, Your Majesty. I do not doubt it. But please listen; this is a trap set for Eragon and Saphira. Murtagh and Thorn have come to capture Eragon and Saphira and take them away to Urû'baen. Galbatorix would not have sent so few men unless he was confident they could keep the Varden occupied long enough for Murtagh to overwhelm Eragon. Galbatorix must have placed spells on those men, spells to aid them in their mission to help Murtagh and Thorn take Saphira and Eragon. What those enchantments might be, I do not know, but of this I am certain: the soldiers are more than they appear, and we must prevent them from entering this camp."
Emerging from his initial shock, Eragon said, "You don't want to let Thorn fly over the camp; he could set fire to half of it with a single pass."
Nasuada clasped her hands over the pommel of her saddle, seemingly oblivious to Murtagh and Thorn and to the soldiers, who were now several minutes away from reaching them. "But why not attack us while we were unawares, why didn't they use the element of suprise?" she asked. "Why alert us to their presence?"
On of the dwarves and representatives to the dwarven was Narheim who answered. "Because they would not want Eragon and Saphira to get caught up in the fighting on the ground. No, unless I am mistaken, their plan is for Eragon and Saphira to meet Thorn and Murtagh in the air while the soldiers assail our position here."
"Is it wise, then, to accommodate their wishes, to willingly send Eragon and Saphira into this trap?"
Nasuada raised an eyebrow.
"Yes," insisted Arya, "for we have an advantage they could not suspect." She pointed at Blödhgarm.
"This time Eragon shall not face Murtagh alone. He will have the combined strength of thirteen elves supporting him. Murtagh will not be expecting that. Stop the soldiers before they reach us, and you will have frustrated part of Galbatorix's design. Send Saphira and Eragon up with the mightiest spellcasters of my race bolstering their efforts, and you will disrupt the remainder of Galbatorix's scheme."
"You have convinced me," said Nasuada. "However, the soldiers are too close for us to intercept them any distance from the camp with men on foot. Orrin—"
Before she finished, the king had turned his horse around and was racing toward the north gate of the camp. One of his retinue winded a trumpet, a signal for the rest of Orrin's cavalry to assemble for a charge.
Then Eragon felt a presents in his mind.
'Eragon?' A familiar voice spoke into his head.
'John, is that you?' Eragon asked. John's mind was hard to decipher.
'Warn that idiot King that Arya is right, the men that he is about to face are like the Draugr where I come from, I have used a spell to detect their life force and it is evident they cannot feel pain, they will only go down unless their head is severed or they can no longer move. Tell the king to make a line and hold it, if he charges he will spring the trap Galbatorix has set perfectly.'
Eragon paled at the idea of an army like that. He then told Nasuada what John told him and then she went off to tell the King Orrin with her guards following swiftly behind her. Eragon saw her in the distance and she managed to get King Orrin to stand down for now. As a test they fired a volley of arrows and were horrified when they just kept walking, some of them had their eyes hit by and arrow, their shoulders pierced and guts bleeding out, but they just kept walking. And then they started to laugh, a horrible, sickening laugh that was incredibly unnatural. It made Eragons spine tingle with fear.
It would take another five minutes based on the march before they met against the wall of shields created by the Varden.
Then when Eragon and Saphira had established a link of power between the 12 elves and Arya they took off to meet against Thorn and Murtagh. It only took a few seconds to meet them. Thorn was slightly larger than Saphira now, it was clear it was an unnatural growth since Thorn would still be considered a hatchling. Murtagh on the other hand had his long black hair billowing behind him, his eyes furious, and his face hard and taught. It was clear just based on facial expression that Thorn and Murtagh would not, and could not show them mercy.
Murtagh then spoke in a deeper harsher voice than normal, "You and Saphira have caused us much pain, Eragon. Galbatorix was livid with us showing you mercy. And after you killed the Ra'zac he was so furious he killed five of his servants on the spot and then turned his wrath on my and Thorn. We have suffered oh so much at the account of you two. We will not do that again." Murtagh raised Zar'roc as a signal to begin attack but Eragon shouted out to him.
"Wait!" Cried Eragon, "we were not the ones to kill the Raz'zac." Eragon said this in the ancient language to promise him that it was true.
Murtaghs eyes widened, "If what you say is true then who did it?"
"A dragonslayer that goes by the name Dovahkiin. He has the souls of hundreds of dragons inside of him. He killed the Raz'zac out of boredom Murtagh, pure boredom. And I fear you are in danger, this is an opportune moment for him to reveal himself-
Then they heard a thunderous boom and a roar of another dragon. Eragons heart wailed in despair as he looked up the sunlight that entered his eyes was blotted out by a gigantic shadow of another dragon, easily three times the size of Saphira. He was briefly able to make out the shape of the dragon but not the color or allot of its features.
Eragon looked desperately at Murtagh, "Shruikan?" He asked worriedly.
Murtagh shook his head and continued to stare at the dragon not uttering a word. Eragon was then heard Arya's voice in his head.
'Is it Shrukan?'
Eragon told her the situation. Before he could say anything further he heard the song again, but this time louder than ever before and his ears rang with the song, bringing him great fear.
Dovahkiin, Dovahkiin, naal ok zin los vahriin,
Wah dein vokul mahfaeraak ahst vaal!
Ahrk fin norok paal graan fod nust hon zindro zaan
Dovahkiin, fah hin kogaan mu draal!
The voices singing this song were in the hundreds, as if an entire choir sang together. Eragon did not know this but it was the souls of all the Dragons that had been slain by your hand.
Then the dragon dove downwards straight at Thorn, as it dove Eragon was able to make out more of its features it was a dark blood red dragon with wings of a pale snow white color and vains of purple. It was gigantic compared to either Thorn or Saphira. Thorn was about to dodge out of the way of the oncoming dragon but then a man on top of the dragon ran and grabbed onto the back of its tail. The dragon then curdled into a ball, tucking in its wings, and after a few spins, flung the man at Thorn and Murtagh like a bolt from a crossbow.
It was too fast to register as the man rocketed into Thurn and Murtagh, he pulled out a long knife and stabbed it into the side of Thorns wing causing him to roar in agony. The man himself was garbed from head to toe in bone like armor with two great swords strapped to his back. Thorn continued to flap but the man had already pulled out another knife and stabbed it into Thorn again, this time in the wing drawing buckets of blood, Murtagh tried to strike the man but could not because of the awkward angle. Thorn would have to land soon if he kept taking this kind of damage. Saphira and Eragon were about to engage in helping them but the red dragon slammed into them, roaring, and then to Eragons surprise it spoke.
"I will not let you interfere with Dovahkiin's fight, your adversary is myself!" It roared.
Thorn flapped twice to try and gain proper altitude but he was losing his wing too quickly to recover. Thorn rotated upside down allowing Murtagh to run along the side and strike the Dragonborn with Zar'rac, the maneuver was a complicated one but it allowed Murtagh to help Thorn. The man covered in the bone armor stood up showing perfect balance and not having to adjust himself as much as Murtagh, it was like he knew exactly how Thorn would maneuver and he made the proper adjustments so it looked almost like precognition. Thorn began to fall sense he was upside down so with his front claws he grabbed Murtagh and then twisted again so he was up right an then he started to flap again.
But the Dragonborn had run alongside during the twist so he was not thrown off of Thorn. The son or Morzan managed just in time to block a strike from his adversary's blade. It was a great sword made of the same material as his armor at 6 ft in length. They then fought ontop of Thorn, swinging in a blaze of sparks and fury. All the while the Dragonborn continued to smile, if he was as great as John said then he could have easily killed the rider and his dragon, but it was clear to Eragon that he was taking his time.
Then he shouted, "Dur neh viir!". And to everyone's horror another dragon formed inbetween the Varden and Galbatorix's men. First its bones grew as if spouting from the ground, then contorted rotten muscles and flesh rapped around the skeleton, finally the scales grew. However this was not a complete image of a dragon, rather the creature appeared inbetween life and death. It dripped a dark green ooze and parts of its ribcage showed as cockroaches fell from its body and scattered about the ground. It was slightly smaller than the red dragon but still several times larger than Saphira.
The laughing dead were now hushed as they looked at the figure of the dragon.
The soldiers on both sides were now terrified at the sight before them as the massive undead dragon lifted its head and gave out a ghostly roar that brought shivers to the bone.
"I hear and obey Qahnaarin." The dragon spoke in a raspy, somewhat ghostly voice.
The red dragon fighting against Saphira growled for a moment at the new dragon that had entered the fray but did not argue, it was clear they didn't like each other.
The undead dragon flapped its wings gaining altitude, it then shouted at the ground between the Varden and Galbatorix's soldiers. Moments passed by and then the ground began to sift. The arms of skeletons covered in a purple glow came out of their buried coffins. Soon hundreds climbed out of the ground, the ones facing the Varden formed a line of shields, and the ones facing Galbatorix's soldiers advanced. Their blades cursed and causing the men's souls to sap away. This was an unnatural army that caused unnatural pain that no mortal should feel. The soldiers were in disarray as the skeleton army advanced, made of mangled bones, rusty armor, and a haunting sight to behold.
Meanwhile Saphira and Eragon had their own problem to attend to which was the large red dragon in front of them. It flapped twice to gain the advantage in the high ground but Saphira did not wait for him. She tipped forwards and rotated her wings in their shoulder sockets with a pop, so in a span of a heartbeat she was pointed straight down. Then with a flip of her wing spun in a clockwise direction her muscular tail almost struck the dragons wing which would have ended the fight by crippling it. But the dragon shouted at them.
"FUS!" And her tail was blown back and Saphira spun in a counterclockwise direction now unbalanced because of the force of the shout. Eragon cursed himself, he and Saphira were now dealing with an unknown kind of dragon that could use magic, not only that but it had the advantage in size and power.
The dragon did a similar move but this time its torso spun making the strike faster. Its tail was like a mace and had jagged sharp edges like thorns as it cut into the right wing on Saphira. Crimson blood sprayed below and her roar converted into a whine of pain.
The elves helping the rider and his dragon helped to heal the injury but it took a great amount of effort. The dragon the pushed forward and with its hind paws kicked Saphira in the chest which pushed her backwards. Then it flapped back and bit hard onto Thorns tail because he was paying attention to the two people on his back and not and what was happening behind him.
Thorn screamed in pain as the dragon pulled on his tail forcing him backwards. Then the dragonborn leaped back onto his dragon. Only two minutes had passed and Galbatorix's small army of 300 was now replaced by the undead army.
For a few moments they flapped in silence the red dragon was above Saphira, and she was above Thorn but none of them made a move. Eragon looked over at Saphira, she was out of breath but did not have any serious injuries. Thorn however had many cuts running along his body and Murtagh had a large cut along his forearm, it was clear this dragonborn was deadly as he had no damage along his body as well as no scrapes on his armor but yet managed to hurt the dragon and his rider by a good amount. Eragon watched from above as Murtagh removed a small round object from his belt and pressed it against Thorn's shoulder. Eragon sensed no surge of magic from Murtagh, but the object in his hand flared and Thorn's torn body was healed as muscles and tendons rippled and the tears vanished, finally the wounds riddled over Thorns body closed and then Murtagh placed the stone on his forearm. After the process was over he put the stone back where it came from.
Eragon was about to propose a truce between him and Murtagh to deal with the new threat but then the dragonborn shouted.
"Joor Zah Frul!" A pillar of blue energy descended down quickly onto Thorn and Saphira. And then they screamed as if their very souls were being torn apart. Eragon felt the effects as well, it was horrible, he leaned to the side and vomited at the feeling as the shout took effect. At first he felt the rage from an entire people, as if they had been enslaved for a thousand years and finally built up their courage to stand up and express their hatred, it was built up and hot, this hatred was directed at the dragons. And then Eragon felt it, it was cold and barren of all hope, it was the idea of mortality. Eragon had barely managed to grasp the fact that he was immortal but this shout shattered that image.
The elves also shared the same effect as they were connected mentally to him and felt his feelings and his pains and shared them as if his own. But the effect on the elves was much worse since they did not age, the idea of mortality was alien to them and haunting, so when it was presented to them they screamed in pain. Three fainted instantly and Arya clutched her chest and threw up all contents within her stomach, but still she was strong enough to maintain the connection as she looked at her hands and started to weep, the rest of the elves still conscious did so as well, this feeling that they were experiencing was pure torture to them.
Saphira and Thorns flapping grew faint and they then fell to the earth losing even the faintest hope of regaining flight. They tried to glide downwards to make a landing but instead they both crashed heavily into the ground right in the middle of the undead army created by the other dragon.
The dragonborn landed like a meteor in the center of the group with his dragon hovering above, he looked transparent as the dust rose and settled around him, a normal person would die instantly but he rose up as his ghost like state faded showing he was fine and standing. He sheathed his great sword.
"Do not interrupt my fun!" He yelled at the two dragons and the army. Both not making a move to interfere in the fight.
Eragon unsheathed his sword and circled around the dragonborn. Thorn was beginning to recover from the shout as well as Saphira, however neither able to concentrate at the moment. Eragon met shoulder to shoulder with Murtagh at which Eragon looked at his brother.
"Truce, for now?"
Murtagh hesitated, while he had sworn to capture Eragon and Saphira this was by far a bigger issue in front of them. And so he nodded. He took the pouch from Thorns side and attached it to his back. Eragon wouldn't asked questions.
Before Eragon and Murtagh could attack the dragonborn stepped forward.
"Hello riders, to fill you in before we get started I would like to introduce myself, I'm the last dragonborn. I have killed inbetween 350 to 400 dragons. I am twenty six years old. My name is (your name.)"
Eragon paled. This was absolutely the worst situation. He bowed and told Murtagh to do so as well, but he couldn't, he was forced to bow to no other but Galbatorix. Eragon then looked back up and said, "Please do not kill my brother or his or my dragon. I beg of you please, I will give my life so he may live."
He frowned at this, "who told you about me?"
"John, the werewolf."
The man tapped his chin for a few moments and then he smiled, "Ah yes I remember him, he made great tea. Well I came here for a fight and I am sorry but I will kill your brother and his dragon, it's what I was created to do. Tell you what, if you or Murtagh can land a hit on me then I will let your brother go and I will remove my helmet to boot."
With that he got into a fighting stance as he unsheathed both great swords each the length of a tall man and each looking menacing. Eragon was about to try and plead with him again but Murtagh had already charged at him with a wild war cry. He was the first to strike, with a flick of his wrist he aimed for the gap inbetween the man's helmet and chest piece. But the dragonborn flung his blade at Eragon as he began to charge to keep him away from him and with his now free hand moved to the right and punched Murtaghs exposed wrist followed with an elbow to the face, this strike broke his wrist and his nose. Murtagh jumped back and it was Eragons turn.
"Wuld." The dragonborn rushed forward as fast as an arrow, Eragon barely had time to avoid the blade from cutting his eye out. He then picked up his sword and rushed at Murtagh while he was healing his injures. Murtagh saw the strike coming from above and raised Zar'roc to bloke it but this exposed his belly and the man did a side kick to his stomach that was so strong it knocked all the wind out of him and made him fly back several feet.
The young rider began to get a grasp of the fighting style of the dragonborn, granted he was not serious in this fight, and if he was serious according to John then they would both be dead by now. Regardless the swords were just large decoys and when someone went to block one of the blades they would expose an opening allowing two options, a fatal strike or a devastating blow. At which the dragonborn always chose the latter.
Eragon charged forward and slashed to the side but the armored man noticed the movement and sunk down to the ground while preforming a swift sweeping kick. Eragon leapt up to avoid being tripped but then was hit by the side of the Dragonborn's great sword on his cheek causing it to bleed. It was clear that the dragonborn was an expert at anticipating the movements of adversaries and remained several steps ahead in a fight, he knew if Eragon jumped into the air to avoid being tripped then he could not maneuver away from a strike. If he had used his swords edge then Eragon would have been decapitated right then and there.
It was Murtaghs turn again. Neither one of them could attack him at once since he always dealt a blow that required recovery before moving onto the other. And so the process was repeated. Eragon and Murtagh both tried spells but it seemed to have no effect. By the time that they had stepped back they were both bleeding hard, it had only been a good 30 seconds and they were covered in cuts, bruises, welts, and even some broken bones as they panted heavily.
Saphira was the first to recover from the shout that cursed her with a grasp of mortality as she flung herself at the dragonborn to protect her rider from receiving any more harm. She opened her jaw to bite him in two but he just stood there standing in place and smiled. Saphira bit down on him with all the power in her jaws. But something happened that amazed Eragon and Murtagh, his armor did not break. Instead he smiled and yawned while he went limp in Saphiras jaw. She shook her head in an attempt to snap his neck but did not manage to do any real damage.
So the dragonborn lifted his sword and plunged it inbetween the muscles in her jaws causing a gush of red to come out of her. Saphira tried to hold on but it was a pointless battle as she was doing no real damage and continuing to bleed. As a final attempted she breathed out as much fire as she could to try and burn him to a crisp, the flames hot enough to melt steel. But that didn't do anything as well, he just continued to smile at her.
Thorn now entered the fray and tried to help out Saphira. He whipped his tail in an attempt to crush the man with force, but instead he leaped up while cutting down, Thorns tail now cut and bleeding all over the place. Dovahkiin then slid underneath Saphira and cut the inner tendons of her legs making her spew blood and coat the man underneath her in dark red cherry like blood. It was the exact same type of cut that they saw on the dead Lethrblaka.
These tendons that were cut were important to her as she was now limp. The same thing was attempted to be done to Thorn but he knew what was going on after witnessing what he just did to Saphira, he hopped back raising himself to stomp down on the dragonborn, but he just grinned, he had him right where he wanted him.
"Fus Ro Dah!" he shouted. The shout hit one of thorns wings and broke it in several places, blood now staining the ground beneath Thorn as he howled in agony. And then the dragonborn charged and cut the red dragon in the same places he had cut Saphira making him fall to the ground. Murtagh rushed over in an attempt to heal Thorn but was again attacked by the Dragonborn being pushed back from helping his dragon. Eragon went over to Saphira and started to heal her injuries starting with her tendons.
Eragon had now reestablished the link between 10 out of the 12 elves with one of them coming out of unconsciousness, much of their energy was out of them from feeling the grasp of mortality but they tried their best even though they were screaming that everything in this world was pointless. Soon Saphira was fully healed and she spun around, leaning forward so her tail rose up to smack the man down, he leaped up over to the right and lifted his sword upwards, Saphira's tail impaled by his sword. She hissed in pain as she lifted her tail to pull the blade out but the dragonborn used the sword as a handhold, he was lifted up and jumped onto Saphira's back, running to her head he continued to cut her wings so she could not fly away or retreat.
At this moment Eragon truly understood what it meant when John said to run away from this adversary. He was an expert dragon hunter who was raised for this single purpose. And then the man landed infront of Eragon just as he was starting to heal Saphira's new injuries. The man slid down and charged at Eragon, he lifted his sword and started the duel. Whenever his dragon would attempt to attack the dragonborn he would put Eragon inbetween them either by jumping over him or forcing him to turn, using him as a shield.
Then Murtagh joined the fight, they were finally able to fight together keeping the dragonborn preoccupied.
"We've got you on the ropes now!" Murtagh smiled, underestimating the dragonborn. Big mistake.
He shouted two spells with six words in total, "Su Grah Dun, Tiid Klo Ul (Elemental fury, slow time)!"
Eragon couldn't even blink fast enough as he felt enormous pain all along his body at the same time. Precise cuts as if made by a butcher formed along all areas of his body, the cuts were not random at all, they hit areas that were attached to main muscle groupings, Eragon fell limp to the ground only able to raise his head. Murtagh, Saphira, and Thorn had all suffered the same fate. They couldn't move or do anything at all. Eragon looked and heard clashing in the distance.
'That must be king Orrin,' Eragon thought to himself. Although he did not hear the screaming of men in pain, strange, Eragon was almost used to hearing that added sound in battles now.
'Little one,' Saphira whimpered in her mind, she desperately wanted to help him but could only move her head slightly and talk to him.
Eragon then saw the dragonborn, his breathing steady and slow. Eragon then had a chance for the first time to really look at the armor dawned on the man, and then it occurred to him, with sickening horror, that the man was wearing the bones of dragons.
He then walked over to Murtagh, slowly and steadily. He looked down at Murtagh and picked up Zar'roc holding it in his hands delicately. Eragon was about to protest, thinking the dragon slayer would kill Murtagh with his father's sword making it a poetic death. But then he gripped hard onto the blade with both hands sending incredible amounts of energy through it, and then Eragon saw the Dragonborn do something he thought was impossible under any and all circumstances, he broke the blade of a rider, shattering it into several pieces making them fall to the ground by Murtagh.
He then healed Murtagh and Thorn with no spell or incantation, their wounds ceiling on their own.
"Go, I have no more need for your entertainment today, go, and tell your king about the man who will claim his head and rip his spine out through his ass. Tell your king about the Dragonborn and every detail you have witnessed today. Oh and before you go."
Murtagh looked at the dragonborn and noticed he had one of the stones he had used to heal Thorns injuries with. The man held the stone, and then crushed it with one hand. Billowing light made of pure energy emanated from the stone and circled around the dragonborn, soon he absorbed the energy as it receded into him. He then licked his choppes and looked at Murtagh.
"Thank you for the meal."
Murtagh had the face of absolute terror written on him as he and Thorn flew away back to the king as fast as they could.
The dragonborn turned around and faced Eragon, healing his injuries as well as Saphira's again with no incantation, just golden light.
Eragon rose up, "Thank you for not killing him." While he was absolutely terrified during the fight he was at least glad that the dragonborn hadn't killed him and Murtagh.
"That was never the plan, sorry for lying, I just wanted him to treat the situation seriously."
With that the man put his hands on his head and lifted the helmet revealing his face. Eragon gasped and stepped back.
It was John. He smiled and put the helmet down and he put both of his hands to the sides shaking them side to side in exaggeration.
"Surprise."
So yeah I did a mixture of all of the options. Thank you for all your requests and comments. How did I do on this chapter?