Children of the Forsworn
Howdy. Feel happy! New chapter!
Now you should DEFINITELY be grateful to Within Temptation. I was listening to them on my ipod whilst hand-writing this. XD.
Show your gratitude by downloading their awesome music. LOL.
So this chapter is dedicated to them, for their incredible, inspiring music.
As you can probably tell, my muses have returned! Yay! They were unsuccessful in their attempt to run away :)
Disclaimer: Blahblahblah yadayada…nothing is mine except the OC's and the plot…yeah whatever.
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"Eragon, could I have a word?" The soft, almost musical voice cut into his thinking time.
"Hmm?" He turned around, meeting Renn's gentle blue eyes. She smiled and sat down next to him.
"You are so much like him. Your brother I mean." Eragon glanced at her sharply.
"What do you mean?"
"When you sit there, oblivious to the world, lost in your own head. He does that a lot."
Eragon smiled slightly. He wished he knew the dark haired boy better, which was no secret. Although he would never admit it to their faces, he was jealous of Renn and her siblings. They'd grown up with his brother, and he'd never had that chance. Part of him wished Selena had never run away. The other, infinitely more sensible part was glad that she had. "So. What did you want to say?" He asked.
"I want to wake Murtagh up. It isn't fair keeping him asleep."
Eragon ran his hand through his hair. "It's too risky. I don't know what would happen…and really, it's not fair to wake him up…not if he's going to get hurt."
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Renn was getting frustrated. "But how will Father even know he's awake again?"
"You think he won't be trying to get into Murtagh's mind every few hours? He isn't stupid…I don't want him to get hurt."
"And that's very noble of you, but, and I feel horrid saying this, I know him better than you do. He has his own way of dealing with this pain, and I'll help him. We've done it before, once or twice."
Eragon blinked. "What do you mean?"
"I guess you could call it easing the pressure somewhat. Only, I'm aware that this situation is highly different from the other times…"
"Other times?"
Renn's expression turned grim. "When he was brought back, the mental torture my father put that boy through was…hellish. He was so angry that Murtagh ran away, you see…and sometimes the pressure on your brother was intense, so he used to come to me for help. When Galbatorix was ripping his mind to shreds, I'd take some of the ache away, usually through simple telekinesis, or mind-jumping as the less educated refer to it as."
"Mind jumping? That's just the same as accessing another's mind, isn't it? Like how I can read thoughts?"
"Yes and no." Renn struggled to explain. "As well as contacting thoughts and feelings, those who are skilled enough can move those feelings around, into other parts of the mind, or into another 'intelligence'…are you following me?"
"I think so…you basically took the pain away by making it your own."
Renn put her head in her hands and laughed. "That was so much simpler than my explanation. You're right. Although…" here she blushed. "It cannot work unless there is a strong bond between the two practitioners."
"A magic bond?"
"No…an emotional one." Her blush deepened. Eragon grinned and nodded knowingly, but didn't speak again. Renn turned to look out between the trees, down onto the open country hundreds of feet below. It was a beautiful evening, the sun setting almost before their eyes, sending purple and pink hues onto the little clouds skittering across the sky in the light wind. The King's daughter relished the slight breeze that blew softly against her face She closed her eyes, smiling, getting a foreboding feeling that she'd not feel this sort of content for a while…
A voice snapped her back to reality.
"Alright. I miss him too."
"Hmm?"
"You can wake him up, if you think you can handle it. You obviously care about him enough if you're that sure."
Renn smiled. "Thank you, Eragon. I know I can do this…so can he."
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The first sensation was pain. Pain in his head…well he supposed it was better than feeling empty, like he had been for what felt like forever. His vision began to swim into focus as concerned voices floated above him.
"…be fine."
"…taking a while…come around…you sure?"
"Don't be stupid, of course he's sure. Now go away, sister, and give him some air."
That voice…he knew that voice. The most unforgettable words in his memory were the product of that voice… "I would wait forever…" Renn…
Thoughts and feelings suddenly flooded back to him, and after a swift intake of breath, his eyes snapped fully open, and he was aware of his surroundings. His brother stood over him, palm glowing.
"Hey." The brunette murmured, offering him a smile. Murtagh glared at him. "Don't ever do that to me again." He growled. Eragon looked shocked, and a little hurt. Then the older boy grinned. "But thanks." His brother gave him a somewhat relieved grin, and held out a hand, which Murtagh grasped.
On his feet, he swayed a little, shaking his still slightly foggy head. "How long have I been out?"
Renn was the one who spoke up. "A few days longer than me." She gave him a serene smile, her eyes closing, messy hair flying around her face.
"Oh…Gods, I forgot…guess it's stupid to ask if you're alright…since you're quite obviously unharmed!" Murtagh rubbed the back of his neck, offering the girl a grin, which she returned, opening her eyes. Then, the dull ache in the back of his head began to intensify. His hand went straight to the pain as he sat back down with a slight moan. Eragon turned to Renn. "Still think you can do it?"
"Of course." Murtagh watched Eragon move off a way before turning his eyes on the King's daughter. He eyed her warily, trying to ignore the growing agony in his head. "Do what?"
"This." Renn laid cool fingers on his temple and knelt in front of him, staring into his eyes. With an almost invisible blush, he gazed back at her, relaxing. He knew now, they'd done this before. He remembered the feeling of Renn's consciousness connecting with his own, it was very different to Thorn's…his dragon's mind was full of loyalty, whereas Renn's was full of passion and love. These feelings enveloped his damaged consciousness with a warm sense of gentle protection. He felt it now, and although the pain didn't vanish completely, it was greatly dulled by the intensity of the girl's concentration of emotions. Her fingers moved from his head to gently encompass his face. Staring into cerulean eyes, Murtagh found it extremely difficult to resist the temptation to close the very small gap between their lips.
He needn't have bothered. Renn did it for him.
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Eragon smiled, and then looked away, embarrassed, as Renn kissed his brother. Muttering some (probably unheard) excuse, he moved away, happy that the dark haired girl could look after Murtagh's mental health.
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Lillian scratched at her infernally messy blonde hair. The darn stuff had grown the past week or so, and the whipping wind from the ride on the dragons had tangled it into oblivion. It was also greasy and just plain…ick. She growled and in a fit of irritation messed it completely, running her hands through her hair again and again.
She stopped, however, when laughter reached her ears. Her brother and his best friend were laughing at her. "Having a 'moment', Lil?"
She flushed and glared at them. "You try having long hair, git." She got up, with the intention of finding some water to give her hair a semblance of a wash. She was stopped in her tracks by yet another grinning teenager. She stuck her tongue out at Eragon, who smirked. "Here, let me." He said. The little girl raised an eyebrow, her hands on her hips, just like her mother used to do. "What are you on about?"
"Your hair. Here." His hand made a gesture over her head, his fingers barely brushing the strands of dirty blonde hair. He made no sound, just smiled and lowered his hand. Lillian shot him a suspicious glance, wondering if he'd turned her hair a weird colour. It felt less greasy…she pulled some in front of her face.
"Hey…I'm impressed…" She murmured as she surveyed her miraculously clean, still blonde hair. "How'd you to that?"
"That's for me to know." He sniggered. Suddenly his expression turned serious and he cocked his head, eyes sliding out of focus. Lillian knew better than to interrupt. Aaran and Torket, seeing Eragon evidently conversing with Saphira, moved closer, curious.
After a few moments, the brunette came out of his little trance, expression grim. Aaran raised an eyebrow.
"Saphira says the Varden are moving, and the King's army are on the march. They're going to clash some way South East of here. There's no back up. It's a full-on frontal assault from both sides."
"So this is going to be it? No more skirmishes?" Lillian murmured.
"Yes. And we're going to be there."
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Phew. CLIFFHANGER!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Evil grin. The exciting bit is so close you can SMELL it. The next two chapters were planned a looooooong time ago, funnily enough, listening to Within Temptation's 'angels'. That's where this WHOLE CHARADE came from!!! Yay!
The 'I would wait forever line' was from an earlier, edited scene between the two characters. I didn't like how it turned out and it wasn't really part of the plot :)
I'm excited. There's probably about three-five more chapters, then an epilogue. Then it's all over!
Since I haven't been able to photoshop my fanart, I now need a new picture to draw…which I'll make paint-friendly…the question is, what of? Do you want a scene? Or a 'title page' sort of thing? Which scene is your favourite? Best idea will get drawn and PAINTED before the next update. It's my answer to the lack of a working photoshop program :)
Happy thinking!
I did laugh, though, at how many people have this on alert :) Thanks to all of you! There are about 40 I think! Yay! Don't forget to leave a review, they spur me on to write quicker! LOVE xxxx