Chapter 10
The path behind me unknown
The path ahead uncertain
To return to what I left behind
I am unable
To remain here unthinkable
Thus I travel on unstoppable
In Hope
-Unknown
He had once been told that if you ran away from destiny, it would inevitably catch up with you sooner or later.
Someone had once told him that destiny, be it for good or ill, could not be changed. Delayed, yes, but not avoided.
But he kept telling himself, that it was choice – not chance – that determined destiny.
For the first time in his life, he wished that he was wrong. If one could alter destiny to his or her wishes, then she might be able to outsmart doom.
No.
-
As soon as he had managed to free himself of the mass of stones upon him, Durza heeded into the direction the elf had run off into. Currently he could not think of anything, could not think at all, so plagued were his thoughts by the madness that had overtaken him.
The fact that she did not know where she was going was probably to his advantage. Certainly, she searched for a way leading to freedom, but Gil'ead's fortress had many paths leading into icy cells and only very few that disembouged into liberation.
The Shade opened his mind and felt out for any nearby presence. He was aware of the fact that the elf would know to shield her aura, but her powers could not be abundant anymore. They shouldn't have been, his mind noted, ever. How long could one exploit the pool of energy before it dried out?
Durza banished the thought and concentrated on the elf's aura again. He searched the corridor before him and the paths leading away from it. Up until now his efforts had proved useless and he had stumbled blindly in the darkness.
But then, all of a sudden, something flickered in the blackness. Not more than an instant and barely visible, but it had been there.
Durza stopped in his tracks, gathering his entire might and willed to see the flicker again. For a time he was surrounded by darkness, and a part of his mind told him that the elf had realized her fault and reversed it. As he was about to turn his back, the illumination was there again, now even clearer than before!
The elf was losing control of her powers, or had finally reached her limits.
Knowing that this might be his only chance to prevent her advancement, the Shade put all his rage, and anger – and fear? – together into a great assail, which he sent into her direction. Emotions, so he had been taught, were the most intense of all methods to probe a mind. The victim, if it came to an unsuccessful deflect of the blow, would be exposed to a whole range of alien feelings that impacted on his or her own thoughts, and sometimes distorted opinions and beliefs beyond saving.
As his attack found the elf, he both saw a massive brightness and heard an aggravated moan from up ahead the corridor. Not wasting another moment, Durza broke into a run.
And truly, after he had rounded two corners he found her leaning heavily against a wall, holding her head as if to prevent it from bursting. She barely seemed to notice his presence. Only when his iron boots started clicking when he approached her, she raised her head and became aware of the doom she hadn't been able to escape.
But when their eyes met, he thought to recognize the faint shine of arrogance in those emerald depths and it was, literally, the last straw.
How could she look upon him like that, after he had been so generous to her? He had kept the torture sessions to reasonable limits, instead of conducting them permanently had called three of his most powerful and gifted novices, so the mind probe would be as accurate as possible, without messing up her entire memories and thoughts through wrongful sizing of powers had even forbid his servants to lay hand upon her during his absence to prevent her from withdrawing even more into the arcane depths of her mind - and she was thanking his efforts with arrogance?
Without another warning or concern for the consequences, he sent such a powerful attack her way, which she would impossibly be able to block. It broke through her already weakened shield like a hot knife through butter.
He nearly lost sight of the elf, as the sheer amounts of energy concealed her fragile form. When she appeared again, she was not standing anymore. Having collapsed against the wall she observed him through narrow eyes, and was doing her best to ban the pain from her expression.
He could feel how she tried to accumulate the rest of her powers into a shield, but not even that she managed. He took another step towards her, but stopped as she hissed, "No."
Durza could not say whether she meant for him not to approach further, or to stop altogether, but before he could think of any other possibilities, the elf continued. "You shall not succeed. My people have outlived far worse than a Shade, and their secrets shall not be unveiled now, or in the future. Neither shall the Varden's."
For a split second he froze into place, surprised by his captive's words and the tone she had uttered them in. He had heard determination, pride and repulsion against himself. It was the latter that urged Durza to send his boot connecting with her body. He savoured the sound as bones cracked.
"Just a Shade?" he asked her, seething and continued to kick at the figure beneath him. She tried to lash out at him once, but it only cost her another kick. "One Shade will be enough to break you, and if you have to rot in a cell for eternity!"
He felt a weak attempt to circumvent his mental barriers – crack, as his boot connected with her again.
"I will learn of the egg's location and once I find it, I will take you to Galbatorix himself to witness how the egg is returned to his rightful master."
She let out a moan and curled up into a ball to prevent the worst of damage.
"If every broken bone will unlock you a secret, then I shall break every single one myself! Shall it need a thousand mages to drive you mad, I will gather tens of thousands!"
His boots were bloody.
"Tell me! Are all elves such cowards as yourself, or are you an exeption?" He bent down and grabbed her by her collar, pulling her to her feet only to stare into a distorted face. He would remember the look in her eyes until eternity passed, when he asked her again, "Would have Faolin and Glenwing run away too, if they had still been able to?"
He let her fall to the ground again, not even noticing that she was barely conscious anymore. "I think they would have. I could see it in their eyes. Their fear. Just as I see it in yours…-"
Crack.
"…- I'll stab them out if it will make you speak!"
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
Cra-
"Master?"
He stood motionless for a moment, then turned around to face one of the mages, who had appeared behind him, with three guards in tow. The expression on the mage's face was unrecognisable to some extent, but he could still see the disturbance in his eyes as he caught sight of Durza's work.
Only now did the Shade himself look upon the elf too, and what he saw disgusted him. Before him lay but a pulp of blood and dirt and bones that stood out in awkward directions. Her face was barely distinguishable, and her shoulder poked out in an unnatural way. Vomit was spread across the floor, mingled with blood and dirt.
The mage behind him broke the uncomfortable silence by taking a step to the side, but it was enough to catch Durza's attention.
"Bring her to her cell." As the guards started moving, he took another look at the elf, and then the mage and added, "Look to her injuries before she wakes. If there is anything life threatening, heal it. Leave her to deal with the rest herself."
The Shade was already turning on his heels, when he remembered something very important. "And send whoever was responsible for applying the magic-inhibitory substance to me. I will be in my quarters."
First things first. Don't hit me! I know I needed awfully long to update, and I'll stand to my faults so no need to punish me!
Next subject: Tell me your thoughts. Especially for this chapter my opinions are split. Part of me thinks that it's a piece of crap, while the rest of me thinks it's acceptable. I need help in deciding with which part to agree!
Number three on the list would be the reviews:
Vyndi - huggles and kisses Can't thank you enough for all the work you've put into this! Your thoughts and comments really helped me a great deal!
twistedfire – That's something I like to hear! I hope you liked this chapter too!
alsdssg – Yeah, the definition ballistic pretty much describes Durza's mood in this chapter!
Dark S3cret – I definitely don't see Durza so all messed up like he's shown in the movie. That was like… a zombie, and those belong to Resident Evil and Co. not to Eragon. I don't really know exactly how I see him, it's more like a fuzzy image when I try imagining things. But I'd rather compare him to a drug addict on withdrawal than to a zombie, lol!
Javi – Whips, huh? Your wish comes true right after this review-section. Go ahead!
Du.Sundavar.Brsinigr – Skip to the bottom, hun, and tell me how you want to see Arya suffer!
Jimmy – Whips and other fun stuff coming right up in the next chapter!
Olive – Why thank you for the compliments! Here is more and some cookies too!
Durloth – Es tut in der Tat gut mal dazwischen Deutsch zu sprechen, aber irgendiw könnt ich mir Geschichten schreiben in Deutsch schon gar nicht mehr vorstellen! Sobald ich anfange fanfics zu schreiben oder sonstwelchen Tätigkeiten im Net nachgehe schaltet sich bei mir automatisch English ein. Da bewundere ich dich tatsächlich für deine deutsche Durza/Arya Geschichte! It rocks my sox off!
yellowdog – Update times, I know… you'll want to kill me for this lame excuse but Real Life is sometimes getting in the way. And writer's block seems to like me too…
LeiaSedai – Yes, will I follow the book or won't I? Oh, the choices the choices! Only way to find out is to stick around and read the story I guess!
guillotine – No for god's sake, I can't kill you with the cliffhangers! Who would update your story then:P
ThorneofDarkness – Rape. A Yes to that. But it won't be the end of the story, more like….in the second half, hehehe.
And now comes that what you've all waited for:
TORTURESince you've all been so patient with me and the lack of torture, this shall not go unrewarded. For the next chapter YOU can choose Arya's fate!
-Plain old whips: You know the drill, but it's still exiting!
-Rack her, she's deserved it!
-The mind-thingy, it's all about the mind-thingy!
-Something I haven't mentioned. Be creative!
-Huh?! I thought this was Harry Potter!