Hey, I just noticed that whenever you write a review now, a text will pop up that says that the author thanks you. Know that this message should not be read if you ever comment on my stories, as I would much rather like to respond personally to your review than have some automated response.

High to fly

Mercury POV
Mercury and Kilgharrah were soaring high in the sky. Kilgharrah's scales had the exact same colour as the sky above them: a clear light blue colour. The sky was virtually empty of any clouds today and the winds were nothing more than a gentle breeze. As Mercury looked around and beyond the city of Urû'baen, he could see the golden fields of crops, which were only stopped by the beautiful green pastures and the grey cobblestone roads, which lead travellers to Urû'baen.

Mercury far enjoyed sitting atop Kilgharrah, when they flew through the sky, than when Kilgharrah had simply snatched him up in his talons and carried him. He could definitely see why Eragon and Saphira liked to fly so much, as it gave a sense of tranquillity and awe, when you flew unhindered through the skies.

Mercury had quickly decided that all in all, it would actually be a quite beautiful day...if you overlooked the fact that on the walls of Urû'baen there were heavy fighting and bloodshed, and the fact that the fake Saphira and the very real Thorn sometimes missed with their flames and accidentally set fire to some of the buildings, but then again even the flames gave a certain tinge to the sky, which made it somewhat resemble a setting sun.

Are you even paying attention to what goes on below, came Kilgharrah's voice, which broke the small serenity, which had so far encompassed Mercury's mind.

Of course I am, but we cannot interfere with the battles on the wall or in the city, before we have neutralized Thorn and Murtagh, Mercury replied in a voice, which showed that he was slightly insulted that Kilgharrah would question his focus, and we need every advantage to neutralize those two, as they have way more experience, power and sheer size, so you just have to remain up here and keep out sight.

A roar of cheers broke from the ranks of the Varden, and as Mercury looked down, he noticed that Saphira was clearly visible, despite that the plan was to have her magically camouflaged all the way up to the keep. Murtagh and Thorn clearly noticed this too, because after a minute of hesitation, they left their pursuit of the fake Saphira and set out towards the keep.

NOW!, Mercury screamed in Kilgharrah's mind, and immediately after Kilgharrah changed the angle of his wings and started to descend rapidly towards the ground.

Kilgharrah's descend was not done randomly, but rather angled and controlled, so that he would cross Thorn's current flight path and be able to attack him from above. He did not roar a challenge on the way down, but merely kept as quiet as he possibly could, because their best chance would be to catch the dragon rider pair completely off guard.

To anyone at the ground, Kilgharrah would have looked like nothing more than a fast moving shimmer in the sky, which was because of his colour changing scales and almost completely transparent wings. Mercury had studied one of Kilgharrah's scales, and had theorized that the scale was composited of two primary parts: an outer part, which encircled the inner part from the outside, and a smaller inner part, which could be tilted slightly by a small group of muscles near each of the scales. The outer part of the scale was as hard as any dragon scale, but it also acted like a kind of lens, which directed all light falling on the scale into the inner part of the scale. The inner part then acted as a sort of prism, and dependent on the tilt of the inner part, would show any kind of colour in the rainbow, which was then directed out of the scale by the same lens function, which directed the light into the inner part in the first place, or at least that was how Mercury theorized that it worked.

Kilgharrah approached Thorn and Murtagh from above with astounding speed, which was a direct result of his rapid descend, and almost without making any sound, but Murtagh must have set some kind of ward on Thorn, because the second before Kilgharrah slammed into Thorn's back, they both directed their attention towards where he was coming from, but from the look of their faces, they were very unsure of what was happening, and neither was fast enough to do anything before Kilgharrah's strong front talons grabbed around Thorn's wings.

The size difference was so great that Thorn was at least twice as large as Kilgharrah, but size did not matter because of Kilgharrah's very favourable position. Thorn struggled to get the now deep royal purple dragon off his back, but Kilgharrah merely grabbed on tighter with his front talons and began to snap at Murtagh, who was still trying to release his feet from the straps holding them into position.

Although Thorn's wings were far greater than Kilgharrah's, they still could not keep the two dragons and their riders aloft, so everyone quickly began to plummet down towards the earth, although Thorn did manage to angle the descent, so that they would glide across the outer walls and hit the grass plains on the outside.

Tear off Thorn's wings!, Mercury shouted to Kilgharrah.

What? But he would never recover from that, Kilgharrah said in voice, which had a tint of guilt in it.

We cannot only give them superficial cuts and bruises if we are to even survive, Murtagh healed Thorn from far greater injuries in seconds, when they battled Eragon and Saphira, Mercury quickly responded in a commanding voice, Tear them off, before the idiot realizes he can simply stop us mid air with his magic!

After that Kilgharrah immediately began to pull at Thorn's wings, but Mercury thought he could sense a bit of sadness emanating from him, and he knew the reason behind this was that dragons treasured flying above all else, and if they somehow survived to have their wings ripped off, they would often commit suicide because of their loss.

As Kilgharrah continued pulling at Thorn's wings, Thorn realized what they were doing and elicited a roar, which although terrifying to most, also sounded extremely frightened to Mercury. Soon the ripping sound of flesh being ripped open could be heard, and before long both of Thorn's wings were plummeting separately from his body towards the ground. A massive flow of blood seeped out from the holes, where the wings had been a second prior, and Mercury could see Murtagh bend over in an expression of extreme pain, before Kilgharrah launched himself off of Thorn's back.

Without his wings, Thorn could not slow his descend, and what was meant as a semi-controlled glide towards the plains out in front of Urû'baen, quickly became a straight drop towards a relatively unmanned part of the wall. Mercury watched the entire event from the back of Kilgharrah, who was also descending towards the wall, although at a much slower and much more controlled dive.

Thorn eventually hit the wall and the people on it, with a resounding crack and guessing from the angle of Thorn's head, the crack had originated from his neck. Kilgharrah landed a little away from the massive red dragon and allowed Mercury to jump off, which he did with a fully drawn sword, after which he then started to carefully move towards the heap of the red behemoth.

As he approached Thorn's body, he could hear the crying sobs of Murtagh, followed by the occasional shouting of Thorn's name from near Thorn's head, and as he warily circled around, he saw Murtagh kneeling in front of the red dragon's head with his arms thrown around it. Murtagh seemed to notice Mercury's approach, because his sobs subsided a little and he began to stand, while slowly but determinedly drawing Za'roc.

"YOU KILLED HIM!", Murtagh shouted with spit flying from his mouth.

His anger makes him very dangerous, Mercury mused to himself, but it could also be the source of his downfall, as he has no regard for his own life anymore and certainly does not think straight.

A plan quickly formed in Mercury's mind, and as Murtagh began to advance on him, Mercury could hear Kilgharrah starting to growl warningly from behind him, but he quickly hushed him by saying, "this is between me and Murtagh", before he mentally told Kilgharrah of his plan, which Kilgharrah only grudgingly agreed to.

Mercury had never seen Murtagh fight, but from what he had learned about the dragon rider's previous encounters with Eragon, he was as fast and as strong as an elf, combined with an expert level of swordsmanship and an extremely vast resource of energy from his Eldunarya, which Mercury hoped that he would forget to properly use in his rage.

Murtagh quickly struck the first blow, which would have been a decapitation strike if Mercury had not managed to block it, but it had also left him open to attack, although only someone with the speed and strength of an elf would have been able to exploit this.

His next strike was also intended as a killing blow to Mercury's heart and the same counted for the next three strikes, which Murtagh made. Murtagh was shouting curses at Mercury between every strike he made, and after every failed killing blow, he would become even more furious, which made his attacks even more ragged and disorganized, but because of his speed and strength, he still far outclassed Mercury, who only just managed to duck, block and dodge his strikes.

"Why...won't...you...just...lie...down...and...die!", Murtagh shouted, as he continued to pound on Mercury's defences.

Mercury simply continued to block, evade and occasionally make a few counterattacks, while he patiently waited for the right moment, which he knew would eventually come; all he needed was to survive until it did. Then after another series of strikes from Murtagh, Mercury saw his moment and quickly shouted to Kilgharrah, Now!

Murtagh tried to stab Mercury again, but Mercury managed to sidestep him, and when Murtagh looked up, he saw a dragon with the exact same colour of scales as Thorn had had. Murtagh dropped his sword on the ground and made to run towards his beloved dragon, before he seemed to realize the massive size difference and generally different build of this dragon, but the moment he realized this was also the moment where a long thin slightly curved sword penetrated his back, went through his heart and exited on his front side.

"I'm...coming, Thorn", Murtagh managed to rasp out, before the sword left him as quickly as it had entered, and he collapsed on the wall with his beloved Thorn a little behind him, a red Kilgharrah in front of him, Mercury directly behind him and Za'roc near his right hand, but still just out of reach.

"Hmm, that was not so hard. I did not even have to use any of my gadgets", Mercury calmly said, as he wiped his sword clean in Murtagh's clothes, before he sheathed it on his back.

You did trick him in a very cruel way, and broke your promise of it just being the two you, Kilgharrah said with a little bit of accusation clear in his voice.

This is war, hatchling, Mercury bluntly responded, there is no honourable way to fight, because then both parties would have to negate all that made them better than their opponent, so that they could be even and honourable. Besides I never directly promised him anything, and even if I had, you did not directly interfere, and he did have the help of the Eldunarya to give him speed, strength and endurance.

I would just wish that we had been able to save them. They were dragon riders after all, Kilgharrah said, clearly saddened by the loss of one of his kin.

Do not be so sad, Kilgharrah, Mercury said in a soothing voice, they encountered much resistance and adversity throughout their lives, and would have continued to do so for countless years to come if we do not prevail here, so do not be sad for the dead, but be sad for the ones still living, for their trials are over and ours are just beginning.

Mercury thought he could sense a bit of comfort coming from Kilgharrah's mind, and he knew that his attempt to soothe him had succeeded, although most of what he said was meant only to ease Kilgharrah's grief at killing one of his kin, as he did not feel anymore sadness about killing Thorn and Murtagh, than he did about killing any other soldier in Galbatorix's army, as he surmised that most of those were probably forced into servitude just as Murtagh and Thorn had been. In fact the death of Murtagh and Thorn slightly gladdened Mercury, which he made sure to keep from Kilgharrah, because now he had taken a valuable knight off the board, just as he had planned he would have to.

I might have managed to merely subdue Thorn and Murtagh, if I had used the elves as backup, but that would go against what I needed to happen, Mercury mused to himself, and made sure that his mind was completely closed off from Kilgharrah's, and besides it would have taken up a lot of energy to subdue him, and then taken even more resources to keep him subdued, but what should we do now about the Eldunarya, which they were carrying? We cannot use them ourselves and we cannot let them fall into enemy hands. Kilgharrah cannot carry them all without a saddle with saddlebags and it would be too time consuming to move them to the Varden camp by hand, so that only leaves...

Hatchling start digging a hole just outside the wall, which must be big enough for all of the Eldunarya in Thorn's saddle bags to fit in, Mercury quickly said, and immediately after relayed his reasons behind his decision.

After the now again deep royal purple Kilgharrah had finished digging the hole, Mercury gently lowered the Eldunarya down into it, and when he was done, Kilgharrah filled the hole again and joined Mercury on the battlements once again, where Mercury quickly mounted him again, before they took off towards the sky, where Mercury could evaluate the situation and better decide where he wanted to be dropped off, as the last part of their arrangement.

Mercury could see that the elves had succeeded in destroying the gate, which the Varden was currently pouring through. Minor skirmishes had broken out in most of the surrounding alleys and a few larger battles were being waged in and among the larger roads leading to and from the gate. Near the gate Mercury could see an isolated group of 10 elves, about 50-60 humans and about 15-20 kull.

I can see your guard force at the gate, Mercury said to Kilgharrah, and sent a picture of where they were for good measure.

Hmrf, Kilgharrah snorted, dragons do not need guards. We are mighty and fearsome creatures on our own.

Alright, let me just rephrase that then, Mercury said, semi-amused at Kilgharrah's continued pride in his own abilities, I can see the group assigned to clean up after you, when you are done battering the thousands of completely helpless humans with spears, sword, arrows and other sorts of strange weaponry, which will of course be targeting you. And if you are feeling a bit tired and want a nap for a moment, I am sure this group can make sure that no one disturbs you during your nap.

Sarcasm? I never expected that from you. When did you suddenly develop a humorous side?, Kilgharrah said in a semi-amused voiced, before he continued in a slightly impatient voice, and are you not supposed to find a place for me to set you down, instead of lecturing me about my guard?

Are we impatient to get rid of me, hatchling?, Mercury chuckled, before continuing in a serious voice, I see a spot over there that will do just fine, and sent Kilgharrah a picture of where he wanted to be set down.

Kilgharrah immediately angled his flight towards the place, but on the way there he said in a concerned voice, are you sure you want to go down there? It is quite far from anyone from the Varden, and to even get to them, you would have to fight through the imperial lines.

Yes, I am sure. In fact that is why I chose it, Mercury quickly responded, I can do much more damage striking the enemies in the back than I can at the front, and as long as I keep to the narrow alleyways, I will not encounter more resistance than I can defeat or manage to retreat from.

Fine, Kilgharrah grunted, as he landed at the spot, where Mercury immediately jumped down from his back and moved to stand in front of his head, but do not die, alright? You still owe you that payment, and I will not let something as silly as death stand in the way of that.

Mercury scratched Kilgharrah at the spot, which Kilgharrah really much liked to be scratched at, before he said, I will not die and leave you without your payment of three unrestricted wishes, which you can have me do at any time and any place, where I must do whatever you say without question or hesitance.

Good, I already have plans for at least two of those wishes, Kilgharrah purred, and grinned in a way, which Mercury had learned to know as the dragon's version of a mischievous smile, before he lifted his head from the scratching and began to get ready to take off, but was stopped by Mercury's voice, halfway through his first flap with his wings.

Hatchling..., Mercury hesitantly and a little nervously said, do not die out there. I would hate to have wasted 6 months of my life, taking care of and tutoring an arrogant prideful and very irritating dragon for no other reason, than to have you die the minute I let you out of my sight.

Kilgharrah blinked once at Mercury, and then took off with his mighty wings and headed towards the gate, where his personal guard waited for him. Mercury watched him fly towards the gate, until he could no longer see him, because of the rooftops, and then slowly drew his sword, while thinking, oh well, of to work.

In case any of you have ever read my second story, I should probably tell you that I do not hate Murtagh, but I, unfortunately for Murtagh lovers, often find it very convenient to kill him, and believe me Mercury has a very good reason to want to kill Murtagh instead of simply capturing him, although he might have killed him no matter what, because he would consider the energy needed to capture and restrain Murtagh to be a waste.

Oh, and thanks to Restrained. Freedom for the idea of using prisms for Kilgharrah's scales, although I had to change the idea a bit and have an outer lens direct the light into and out from the prism, so that it would actually work, but it was still a great idea.