Author's Note: SOOOOOOOO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT. But hey, I told you posting was erratic. Anyway, in the spirit of excuses (yes, I actually have one) I will tell you that my reason is that my teachers decided it would be great to swamp me with projects this quarter. So I did all those (though not to the best of my ability), and then I was like "yeah, I should update cuz everyone prolly thinks I'm a dick!" And then, low and behold, my hard drive fries. Cuz the universe hates my writing apparently.

Chapter 12:

Wouldn't It Be Grand, It Ain't Exactly How You Planned

Part 3: Alex

Alex was silent. He was starting to regret bringing Murtagh along. As much as he knew that he needed to settle this with both his parents, he still was having a hard time not throttling him.

Deep down, Alex knew that Murtagh had been trying to help him, but he wouldn't admit it, not even to himself. He had built up so much hatred toward his anonymous father over the years that even though Murtagh's explanation made sense, he still couldn't forget the silhouette of a man that he had dreamt of killing throughout his childhood. The black shadow on his wall every night. The ghost that dwelt in his eyes.

And now Alex had been forced to face a past that he had thought he had buried when he left for New Vroengard.

Alex and Murtagh were in a clearing near the shore of Lake Isenstar. Murtagh was on the other side of clearing, his side facing Alex as he gazed at the shores of the lake.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Murtagh said.

"What?" Alex said, a little harsher than he intended.

"The lake," Murtagh said, unphased by Alex's tone. "It's beautiful with the sunset reflecting off it like that."

Alex stood and walked over to where Murtagh sat. Despite his overall bad mood, he couldn't deny Murtagh. The deep gold color reminded Alex of Vivian's hair. How soft it was. How…he snapped out of his daydream. As much as he loved Vivian, he didn't need any distractions right now. This was about his family. And, though he didn't like to think of it this way, how screwed up it was.

"Yeah; yeah, it is," Alex said, with images of Vivian still lingering in his mind. Alex examined Murtagh. He was wearing a black set of Elven plate armor, with Zar'roc hanging in its sheath on his left hip. He wore no helmet. To keep warm, he had adorned himself with a black traveler's cloak.

Alex turned his gaze to his own adornment. He wore silver chain armor that he had acquired from the elves as well. Blödh hung in its sheath on his left hip, just like Zar'roc. He had discarded his red cloak and taken up a dark grey, hooded traveler's cloak. His brown hair hung in his eyes, an attempt to keep his identity as secret as possible. Of course, his sword was a dead giveaway, but the cloak kept the blade hidden from plain view, and he had swapped out his brilliant red sheath for a more mundane one; a brown leather sheath now held his prized Rider's blade.

Alex's mind continued to roam, taking no particular direction. But, in the middle of his thoughts, a sharp voice cut in.

Alex! Get into the trees! Rubidia's voice slashed through his daydreams.

Go!

Alex cursed. Rubidia had been out searching for her dinner. She wasn't back yet, but he had a feeling that he knew what she had found instead. Alex grabbed Murtagh by the upper arm and charged into the trees. Murtagh, who had been jerked to his feet, swore and staggered along behind Alex.

Alex charged a hundred meters into the trees before slowing to a stop.

"What the hell was that about?" Murtagh asked after catching his breath.

"Rubi told me to. I'm guessing from the vibe I got that she found a Dragon Rider," Alex said.

"And where's Rubidia now?" Murtagh asked.

Alex reached out his mind. "I don't know. I can't contact her. She must be too far away."

"What do you mean? Didn't she just tell you to run?" Murtagh replied.

"I mean she probably flew the other way. She's leading them away from us," Alex replied solemnly.

"No! We can't let her sacrifice herself for us!" Murtagh cried, the image of another red dragon shooting painfully through his mind.

"Then what do you propose we do? Pick a direction and run? Try to follow her on foot?" Alex asked harshly.

"I don't know – I…I don't know," Murtagh replied, defeated.

"Look, if any dragon can outrun them, Rubi can. And if…if she can't, then we can't let her sacrifice be in vain. We have to keep going to Ilirea," Alex said solemnly.

"How?" Murtagh snapped. "There's no way we can walk all the way to Ilirea!"

"The Varden walked from Surda to Ilirea. So yes, we can."

Alex pulled his hood forward slightly, casting most of his face into even deeper shadow. Night had fallen several hours ago, but they continued on, determined to reach their goal.

They had been following the bank of the river for the past three days, and were coming up on the small town of Bullridge. Murtagh also slid his cowl over his head, shadowing his eyes. They came from the banks of the river to the small road that led into Bullridge, and closed in on the ciy gates, where two guards wielding spears and small round shields stood watch.

"Halt," the guard on the left said. Alex and Murtagh stopped.

"We have to ask that you remove your cowls travelers. The Rider Lord hunts fugitives, and requires that we inspect every man, woman, and child that enters our wall."

"Of course, sir," Alex said smoothly, tossing back his hood. The two guards stepped back in surprise. They had never expected that they would actually encounter the men that The Rider Lord hunted; they were just doing their jobs. But now they stood face to face with two of the fugitives. And they were dumbfounded.

Alex had been counting on exactly that. He stepped forward and drew his sword, uttering several words in the ancient language as he did so. He smashed the pommel of his blade into the forehead of the man directly in front of him, then whipped around to slam the flat of his blade into the other man's face, breaking his nose in the process.

Alex turned to Murtagh. "Quickly, heal his nose and get me the liquor in your bag." Murtagh complied, digging in his bag and tossing a bottle of liquor to Alex, before turning to the unconscious man in front of him. He muttered several strings of words in the Ancient Language, healing his nose and removing the blood from his face without waking him up.

Alex took the bottle of liquor over to the first guard, and promptly poured half the bottle down his throat. After Murtagh finished up with the second man's face, Alex poured the remainder of the liquid down his throat. Murtagh nodded, understanding Alex's plan. When the replacement watch came out at midnight, they would find the two unconscious watchmen. If the two woke up and told the guards what had happened, then the entire watch would be scouring the town for them, and they would be found by morning.

But if they had alcohol on their breath, then no one would believe their story. Which meant Murtagh and Alex would be safe.

They stashed their bodies in the guard house, making them look like they had passed out drunk. Then, they slipped through the gate and into town, making their way through the cobblestone streets.

Rain had begun to fall from the night sky, and the two quickly scurried under the shelter of the eaves of the buildings on the side of the road. A woman came running down, presumably heading toward her home to get out of the rain. Alex caught her attention before she could go by. He exchanged a few words with her, and then led Murtagh down the street and to the left where they found a small inn with a sign hanging over the door.

They ducked inside and were assaulted by a wall of sound. Laughter and conversation rang off the walls. Mead stained the floor in several places, and the faces of most of the men. Alex and Murtagh slipped through the tables and moved up to the bar, where they took two adjacent seats.

The woman behind the bar stepped up to them. "Hello, and welcome to The Dancing Dragon, can I get you two something to drink?" she asked, her voice a happy chirp.

"An ale," Murtagh said, never looking up. She turned her gaze to Alex.

"Same," Alex said, keeping his gaze away from her eyes.

"Course, honey," she replied, spinning away from them and heading toward the back room. Alex took the moment to examine the woman as she walked away. She was a blonde girl, with light skin and a skip to her step. She had long legs, and kept her arms straight as she walked. She also swung her hips as she moved away from the two.

"So what do we do now, Alex?" Murtagh said, turning his head toward Alex. Alex took a deep breath. He was still gathering his thoughts. Trevor's grip was tighter than he had thought. If he had the Empire's army looking for them, then their job was going to be harder than they had thought it would be. Alex put his hands on the table. His hands were covered by black gloves.

"Well, for starters, we rent a room here for the night. We leave tomorrow morning before sun-up, and keep following the river until it ends down South. After that, we make for the gates of Ilirea," Alex said in a hushed voice.

"Here ya go, sweeties." Alex and Murtagh both jumped at the voice. The bar maid had returned and had placed a mug in front of each of them.

"Say, have y'all been 'round here before? I could swear that I've seen you two somewhere," she said. "But I can't really tell with those cloaks over your faces. Why don't you take 'em off for me?" Murtagh and Alex exchanged a glance.

"No, we'd really rather not," Alex replied, sliding his mug toward him.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to insist. I really like to remember people," she said, batting her long eyelashes at them. "Or I may just have to throw you out in the rain."

Alex grit his teeth. Sleeping in the rain wasn't an appealing idea. But neither was getting revealed. He looked at Murtagh and nodded. "Fine then," Alex said. He and Murtagh tossed back their cowls, revealing their faces to her.

She cocked her head, scrutinizing them. Alex could feel heat rising in his body, adrenaline building up. His hand twitched toward the hilt of his sword, and he had to force himself to control the impulse. She looked at them for a long moment.

"Hm, guess I haven't seen you before." Then she walked away. Alex breathed a sigh of relief.

His head was buried in her hair, his arms wrapped around her waist from behind. He breathed in deeply, taking in her elven scent. She brought her hands down to cover his and leaned her head back as he slid his head down onto her shoulder. Despite everything, he wanted her. Despite the two years that she'd spent away from him, despite her desire to have him more intimately when he wasn't sure he was ready, despite the elves not believing in marriage, despite everything, he loved her. And he knew that somewhere deep within himself. In his bones. In his very core.

She swiveled in his arms, turning around to face him. She leaned her head forward and rested her forehead against his. She brought her hands around his neck, while his still rested about her waist. She looked up at him, her green eyes penetrating into his soul. He slipped one hand up her back, tantalizingly slow, before allowing it to come to rest on her neck. He gently pushed in, pushing her lips into his. They both melted into the kiss, their lips moving in perfect rhythm. He slid his hands down to her hips, pulling her closer to him.

Then, ever so slowly, he reached around with one hand, sliding onto her butt, caressing it, squeezing it. She pulled away from the kiss and gave him a mischievous grin before sliding her hand slowly down his body…

Alex woke. He turned his gaze toward the small window in his room, checking the sky. Black. Good. He'd woken on time. That's when Alex noticed it. There was an…uncomfortable bulge…in his pants. He turned red, even though the only other person in the room was asleep. Alex's mind slipped back to the dream he had woken from, before he forced himself not to think about it.

Which led to other thoughts he had been trying to block out. Red scales flashed in his mind's eye. Rubi's scales. He slowly sat up on the edge of his bed. His head dropped into his hands as tears leaked from his eyes.

"Rubi…," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." Alex broke down into quiet sobs. He knew, though he refused to believe, that Rubi was dead. His body shook as he sobbed, mourning his fallen dragon, his partner, his protector, his red angel.

"You were a warrior, Rubi," Alex whispered, "'till the very end."

Then another weight pressed down on the bed next to Alex. Alex looked up to see Murtagh sitting there, a sorrowful look in his eyes. He reached over and placed his hands on Alex's shoulders.

"I know you miss her, Alex," Murtagh said, his tone soft. "But this isn't gonna bring her back. This isn't what she would want. She would want you to keep fighting. To keep going. To fight on. Like she did."

Alex looked Murtagh – no, looked his father – in the eye. Then, he collapsed into Murtagh, sobbing into his chest. Murtagh wrapped his arms around Alex. He understood what it was like. His own dragon's red scales flashed before him. Thorn's dead body lying in the snow.

Alex slowly raised his head from Murtagh's chest. "Th – Thank you…Dad," Alex said, choking back another sob.

Murtagh simply nodded, the same look on his face, his hands on Alex's shoulders.

Alex and Murtagh slipped out the window of their room and toward the stable. Despite being completely and totally against their morals, they stole two horses from the stable and rode out of town.

With the speed of the animals, they reached Ilirea within a tenday. They met with Nasuada, who had been delighted to see them both, though horrified at Rubidia's fate. They discussed the plan to keep humans on the side of Eragon.

This was all they discussed, as by now, there was no longer a rift between Alex and Murtagh. After the night in the inn, they had become closer and closer. And now, it was like they had always been father and son.

It was a good thing, too. One of the few things that could help to take Alex's mind off his fallen red angel.

Author's Note: I know, you all hate me. R&R please!