Beta-reader: Dragonblooded

As Marzanna's body fell to the ground, chaos ensued.

Eragon and Oromis jumped to their feet immediately and rushed forward in an attempt to help her. The Blue Rider was quickly sent to the ground by a branch against his calves. It never broke Oromis' shields, but the exertion triggered a seizure and sent him to the ground anyway.

When Eragon came to his senses, he saw Arya standing above him. "You cannot approach her. It could be a trap." There was a mixture of regret and determination in her eyes. She knelt next to Oromis to make sure he would not hurt himself further. Eragon massaged the sore spots he had just earned while he tried to make a sense of what was happening.

Murtagh was shouting desperately, the fear in his voice almost palpable. The chains around his hands forbade him from catching her, from even touching her as she fell away from his reach.

Not even the dragons were spared from the chaos. Boreas, naturally, fought against his chains, and the combined efforts of Glaedr and Saphira. Despite being outnumbered - and smaller than Glaedr - he gave them a hard time. What a dragon wouldn't do for his Rider. Of course, Thorn seized the chance and attacked Saphira. He would not dare to aim for Glaedr.

Some elves from the audience and jury stood up reflexively, wanting to help, but were stopped before they even lifted their feet from the ground. Queen Islanzadí shouted an order against even nearing the fighting. Some tried to protest, but one look from the elven queen made them mute.

Then, suddenly, there was a heavy silence.

Boreas went completely rigid. The body behind Däthedr sat up. Before anyone realized what was happening, Boreas' ice-form jumped off of the table and ran towards his Rider. He immediately fell to the ground next to Marzanna and lifted her gently into his icy arms, pressing her to his chest. He removed the brightsteel headband from her head, ignoring the crowd of elves prepared to fight him.

"You idiots!" he screamed at them, outraged. "You could have killed her! You could have killed my Rider! She needs her powers to live, and you took them away from her!"

"And let her kill us all?" Arya asked angrily. "She could live without them before. Why not now?"

"If she dies, I do not care about Galbatorix, or your allies, or anyone. I will kill you all." There was no anger when he spoke. It was calm and firm, the tone matching his ice-like voice. "She was not always part ice. What happens to ice if you heat it up?"

There was a tense silence.

Queen Islanzadí continued where her daughter had left off. "She has been sentenced to death anyway. You only change the means."

Meanwhile, Eragon helped Oromis back to his feet, supporting him slightly in the wake of his sickness.

"Däthedr-elda," Oromis started. All eyes turned on him. "I believe there is a law I would like to invoke. I am willing to take Marzanna's punishment."

"What? Oromis-elde, do not be ridiculous. There would be no point in judging her if anyone could take her punishment. I would not allow such a thing anyway," said the Queen.

Oromis smiled weakly and sadly at the same time. "I am afraid, Islanzadí-Dröttning, that is not for you to decide. There was a law written when we made a pact with the dragons, and the number of our children decreased. We valued them above anything, and as such, we wrote a law that gave them higher protection. If Arya was being punished, you would be allowed to take her sentence instead."

"Yes, but only because she is… oh." A shocked expression settled on Islanzadí's face. She staggered few steps back, further from Oromis.

It took Däthedr a few seconds to speak up. "Oromis-elda, are you implying Skölir Dautr? That is only legal if...if she…." He gulped his last few words down nervously.

"I do. I do not doubt she is my child."

Eragon thought he had heard wrong. Now, when he looked at Oromis, he did not see the flawless elf he had seen just this morning. He had always believed Oromis' path through life was always clear, free of mistakes. But if what he implied was true, then even the wisest Rider alive was flawed.

Yet, it made Eragon feel closer to Oromis to know this, as if this flaw made him more real and reachable than before.

The elf called Raefiler interrupted the conversation. "Now is not the time to make decisions. Now should be a time for father and daughter to reunite, after Marzanna feels well again. And perhaps take Murtagh with you. We cannot let him go. He still belongs to Marzanna. I trust we will come to a better agreement the next time we meet."

Islanzadí shot Raefiler a look of disbelief, about to protest, but Raefiler without waiting for his Queen had already turned and walked away.

"You will find us all at the Crags of Tel'naeir," Oromis said.

+BREAK+

If anyone looked up to the sky, they would have believed the old times were back, when dragons ruled the lands and skies. One moment the air above Ellesmér was spotted with birds, then all of a sudden, the sunlight disappeared behind the wings of dragons. A blue dragoness led the pack and a golden dragon closed it, keeping an eye on the two dragons in the middle.

She is not looking any better. She is getting worse. Eragon said to Saphira as he desperately clutched Marzanna to his chest, worried he might drop her. Even though it seemed impossible, they had convinced Boreas to let go of her so they could relocate her to the Crags of Tel'naeir. Eragon had been chosen to carry her, since Boreas did not like or trust Murtagh, for some odd reason. Not that anyone trusted him with her, but Boreas was the only one to say so aloud.

Saphira was silent for a while, looking through Eragon's mind at Marzanna. No, she really isn't. Didn't Boreas say it was due to the brightsteel?

Eragon nervously bit his lip. Marzanna's hair did not look like a freshly fallen snow anymore; it had lost its shine. Her face was extremely pale and reminded him more of ash now. It was as if snow was melting in Eragon's arms. He lifted his arm and gently glided with fingers over Marzanna's cheek.

With a shocked gasp, he pulled his hand away. Where he touched her, her skin had cracked, like a porcelain pot handled a little too roughly. Small gaps were spreading across her cheek, reminding him of a spider's web. Eragon tried to sit completely still, to prevent the cracks from expanding, but it was for nothing.

"We need to hurry up!" He shouted to Saphira, not realized he said it aloud as well. Sending agreement to him through their bond, Saphira sped up.

Try to use a spell on her, Saphira encouraged, feeling his distress.

What should I use? I do not know how to treat this. I should let Oromis take a look at her. Eragon was reminded again of the power of the ancient language, as the situation with Elva came back to him.

We cannot let her die. I am not a specialist in humans or elves, but she looks almost dead.

To that, Eragon could not say anything. He lifted his hand again, this time careful not to touch her even slightly. He moved as little as he could. "Waíse heil," he said, holding his gedwëy ignasia above the wound.

He waited for a few seconds, but nothing happened, the cracks now reaching over her chin and part of her neck. He tried some more healing spells Oromis had taught him, but nothing seemed to work. Try a freezing spell, Saphira said.

Eragon, who was becoming very nervous, did not dare question her idea. He dug inside his head for proper words. "Kaela frösa." A white mist descended from his palm onto Marzanna's damaged face and formed a sort of plaster above the cracks. A rime seemed to fix the cracks and stop them from spreading, but it did not make them disappear.

"Well, that's sorted for now."

Soon, all four dragons landed in front of Oromis' hut. The older elf only nodded to Glaedr and quickly, but carefully slid from his back to the ground. The golden dragon growled at Thorn to follow him with Murtagh.

With a few quick strides, Oromis was standing beside Saphira. Despite his best efforts to hide it, Eragon could still see traces of guilt and worry marring his face. The Blue Rider still did not dare to move and only explained the situation to the older elf.

Eventually, they managed to get Eragon on his own feet with Marzanna still in his arms. The cracks had appeared on more of her body, the landing not easy on her. Oromis turned to Boreas, who watched them with a suspicious glare, prepared to attack them both should they cause her more harm.

"Eragon, bring Marzanna into my bedroom. She can stay in my bed. There is a window on the other side of the house. I know I do not command you, Boreas, but I need you to cool her down, and I know you have exactly the ability to do so," Oromis said firmly.

Soon, Marzanna was lying under a duvet of ice and snow, exaggerating her paleness. Rime was tangled inside her hair, turning it into icicles. Boreas was lying behind the hut in his dragon form. From time to time, he breathed more cold air into the room.

Neither Eragon nor Oromis dared leave her side. No one knew if she would make it. They sat in opposite corners, furthest from the ice tor. The Blue Rider was drowning in his sorrow, as it reminded him of the tor he had created for his father. He was struck by memory after memory of the time he had spent in the presence of his own father, not even knowing it was him. Many times in the last few months, Brom's advice had saved his life. Sometimes, he tried to analyse situations based on what Brom would do.

He, Murtagh, and Marzanna were from the same generation of Riders: the generation after the Fall. His half-brother was unlucky enough to know his father, but at least when Thorn hatched for him, there was someone experienced there to teach him basic things. Eragon was lucky enough to know his father, but unlucky enough to not know him in that way. When he looked back at his journey, he would hardly have made it without him. And Marzanna was lucky enough to have her father still alive, but when Boreas had hatched for her, she was alone.

For the first time in many months, he did not feel as if the weight of the world was resting on only his shoulders. His anger at Marzanna because of the Ra'zacs had not vanished, though. It was just pushed behind the fear for her life, and it made him realize that he still cared for her.

The Blue Rider looked to his Master. Never had he seen Oromis so devastated. He sat on a small chair with his head clutched between his hands, his face a display of many emotions. Guilt and pain were ever present, laced with fear, but the main string was played by regret.

"Why didn't you tell me?" asked Eragon, betrayed. He had kept no secrets from Oromis, while he had been constantly kept in the dark. Deep down, he knew he should not salt his wounded master master, but he could not help himself.

A broken gasp escaped Oromis at his words. He opened his mouth to scold Eragon for his rudeness, but then stopped himself, instead releasing a deep sigh. "I did not know, Eragon. Not for long."

The Blue Rider waited a few seconds, hoping his master would continue. He did not want to pry, but at the same time planned to make Oromis speak more. He got up and disappeared outside for a few seconds.

When he returned, he was holding the book Oromis had given him some time ago. He sat back down and fished out the fairth of Lilith. Looking at it now from a new perspective gave it another dimension. If one knew what to search for, there were similarities between it and Marzanna. They looked more alike than they looked different. Where they were not similar, he could see Oromis' features without doubt.

Now he could also see that the fairth had been created by someone who loved Lilith. Eragon shook his head in disbelief. How could he overlook so many things?

Once he was finished with his inspection, he handed to fairth to Oromis, who took it with shaking hands. When the elf's eyes fell on it, a bitter laughter escaped his lips. For a few minutes, there was a complete silence, Oromis' eyes glued to it.

"I only realized the truth during the Battle of Gil'ead. Like the others, I believed the prophecy was no more. The Thirteenth Queen had given her life for mine, so I thought." Eragon did not have to be brilliant to know how difficult it was for his Master to speak about it.

"Most of her life Lilith spent with me. She had no child. I was so sure I would know if she did. But the moment I saw, when the snow storm spread from one person through the battlefield, I realized how blind I had been. I saw a young Lilith when I first laid my eyes on my own daughter." Oromis' eyes snapped to the ice tor. Eragon did not dare interrupt, scared he might never hear the end if he did.

"Lilith was an extraordinary person. Everyone feared her, yet she gave them no reason to. Since her mother was a well-respected member of the Riders, Islanzadí did not dare sentence Lilith to death, which would have avoided the mess with the prophecy. Instead, she was entrusted to me, so I could keep an eye on her." A sad smile appeared on Oromis' face as he started to remember.

For a few moments, there was a deafening silence. Oromis' voice cracked as he began. "She was an odd one. No one understood her, because no one even looked beneath the surface. She was a dreamer, always saw more than others, and always knew more than she was supposed to know. After a while, I began to understand her. In the end, she was with me almost constantly. Sometimes, when I was teaching new Riders, she was sitting there with me, lost in her own world. I believe Brom and Morzan met her as well." Oromis' fingers gently slid over the fairth in his hand, almost worried his touch might distort it.

"Eventually, I fell for her. I tried to deny it - it was wrong on so many levels - but it was stronger than me. And it was mutual. That is something incredibly hard to fight. When the Fall was near and I was needed, I sent her to Norvedrgarde in order to protect her. In the end, it was the only place where no one else could get. I did not see her for an entire year. I was certain I would never see her again, until Glaedr, Brom, and I were trying to fight our way out of the Spine. Out of nowhere, she appeared with that horrific crown on her head." Oromis voice broke at that moment. "I did not even get a chance to say anything to her before she sacrificed herself. She did not even say we had a daughter." A sob escaped his Master and a tear fell onto the fairth, sliding harmlessly from its surface to the ground.

Eragon opened his mouth to ask, but Oromis immediately interrupted him. "Am I certain she is mine? I am. The time is fitting, and I can see my family's features in her. And as Raefiler said, Riders tend to appear in the same families. Glaedr mentioned that she smells somewhat like me." A small smile formed on his face.

It took Eragon a few minutes to process everything Oromis had told him. He nodded and rubbed his eyes.

"What will happen now?"

"You never ask easy questions, Eragon. I do not believe Islanzadí will have me executed instead of my daughter. We will have to offer her a different deal, though. If Marzanna does not improve, I will dedicate my days and nights to healing her. You must understand, she is all I have left of Lilith."

"I would not expect it any other way. If you allow me, Ebrithil, I would like to offer my help," Eragon said.

The wrinkles around Oromis' eyes seemed to deepen. "I should not allow you to distract yourself any further. But I am glad for your offer. I may need it." Eragon looked from his master to Marzanna. She was not getting any better, but it was not getting any worse.

"If her recovery is successful, then I will try to free Murtagh of his vows and train all of you, as a future generation of Riders."

+BREAK+

For the next few days, Oromis did not leave Marzanna's side. Eragon had to leave from time to time to satisfy his humanly needs, and to take a look at Murtagh.

The Red Rider was obviously making up for the lost time with Thorn. Yet, it never stopped him from asking Eragon about Marzanna, since he did not dare approach her because of Oromis. The answer to his questions was always the same. Nothing was changing.

Saphira and Glaedr created a shifts system where one slept or hunted and the other kept an eye on Boreas and Thorn. Boreas did not leave Marzanna for a second, not even to hunt. He barely slept, but was always ready to lower the temperature inside the room. His ice-body lay lifelessly outside.

Eragon watched helplessly as Oromis' state quickly deteriorated due to sleepless nights and days of worry and despair. One day, when Eragon returned from his errands, carrying a tray with water and some cheese and berries, he saw him sleep for the first time as exhaustion overpowered him. Quietly, he laid the tray on a table next to Oromis.

He was about to turn and leave when he noticed something. On the surface of the water, an icy upper layer formed. It slowly started deepening, freezing the entire bowl. He gasped, and his breathed turned to white mist in front of his face. The air around him started to reach colder and colder levels. Particles of water flying around the room started to freeze and turn into crystals of ice, sparkling in their flight.

A snowflake landed on Eragon's nose and instead of melting, it kept its shape until he wiped it off. He was amazed.

His musings were interrupted by a raspy inhale. His eyes immediately shot to Marzanna. Her ice-cold eyes slowly cracked open.