Author's Note: This chapter took much longer than I thought it would! And--ack!--I'm not sure which characters to use in the next chapter. Any suggestions...?

And this chapter is dedicated to Jade Rust and the other members of the Novelidea writing community, for their help with a very large writer's block.

Oh--and I'm not completely sure how to spell Dras-leona. My brother has taken my copy of Eragon, so there may be some spelling issues for place names...please forgive them.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 23: Traitor

Murtagh was tied up in the corner. He had originally been gagged, but Arya had quickly realized that this was hazardous to Murtagh's health; he kept vomiting, and although his screaming was growing annoying, they couldn't have him choking.

"Murtagh, if you don't shut up I'm going to gag you again! And where's that banging coming from?"

It was clearly not coming from Murtagh, who was delirious at this point that he couldn't have hit the broad side of a barn, let alone the wall right next to him. Arya thought he was making real progress, though—he had had stopped hallucinating that pieces of chocolate were taunting him.

Arya went into the next room, slamming the door behind her in the hope that it would drown out Murtagh's wailing. Inside this room, the sound of banging filled the air.

"…why are you and Brom banging your heads on the wall?" Arya said, crossing her arms. All three of them were totally unmanageable; it was a wonder they'd survived this long alone. Of course, she wasn't sure Murtagh was going to survive yet, but that was a question for another time.

"Because I'm (bang) going to (bang) die! (bang)" Brom said.

"Brom, for the last time, you're not going to die!" Arya said. "If you really want to know, go ask Subieko, she'll tell you."

Brom made no response except to go back to banging his head against the wall.

"And what's the matter with you?" Arya said to Durza.

"I don't (bang) have any (bang) friends. (bang)"

"That's it? What kind of lame problem is that!?" Arya said. "You're a villain! You're not supposed to have friends!"

Brom looked up. "Wait—does that mean I'm not your friend? Noooo—now I don't have any friends either!" He started banging his head against the wall at double the pace.

"Great, now you've got him started again!"

Suddenly, there was a low thump against the door. "Please," Murtagh said, barely audible. "Please let me out…I'm so lonely in here…no chocolate…no one to talk to…nothing to distract me from the pain…!"

"He's speaking in coherent sentences!" Arya said, opening the door. "Murtagh, are you back to normal?"

Murtagh turned and began speaking to the wall. "Is…is that you? Chocolate…? No—no, don't abandon me! Don't leave me alone! NOOOOoooo…..!"

Arya sighed, giving Murtagh a kick in the ribs to silence him. "You're all really getting on my nerves, you know."

"Then why did you drag us all into this in the first place?" Brom said.

"Well, I needed you to help me restrain Murtagh. And I needed Murtagh because you can't form a side with just two people. And I needed to form a side with Durza in order to get Subieko to keep me in the story. The only reason I'm in here at all is because I'm in his story arc!"

"What? I'm just being used?" Durza said.

"You didn't know?" Murtagh said, temporarily snapping out of his delirium.

Durza's eyes filled with tears. "That's it—I'm defecting to become a Bad Guy!"

"What!?" the other three shouted.

Durza turned to Murtagh. "Come with me, Murtagh—join the dark side! We have chocolate!" he said, ripping off Murtagh's bonds.

"YES!" Murtagh yelled, hugging Durza. They started out of the room.

"Wait!" Brom cried. "Don't leave me here—I want to come!"

"Why do you want to come?" Durza said. "You're not a villain."

"You're the only supporter I have left! Eragon has completely forgotten me, Arya doesn't care what happens to me, Galbatorix never cared about me in the first place…I'm all alone in the world without you!"

"It's okay, Brom—come join the villains!"

The three of them marched out. Arya was left standing in the now-empty room. "Damn…I guess I have no choice—I have to join the Good Guys." She shuddered, but marched out of the room.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"But Sir, where are you going?"

Durza turned to the trembling guard. "Are you questioning me, solider?"

The man shook his head frantically. "No, no, of course not, General, I was just—just wondering, I—"

"Shut up," Durza said. The man did so at once. "The King wants to see the prisoner. And me," he added, making it sound like this should be patently obvious to the guard. "Keep an eye on Murtagh…the King would most—displeased—if anything were to happen to him."

"Yes, Sir, yes, I'll do that, I won't let him out of my sight—"

"You're dismissed." When the man hesitated for a moment, Durza added, "Now." The man fled.

Durza then mounted his horse, mumbling, "All of my troops are idiots. All of them." Arya was already sitting in front of him, her hands bound again. This time it was only for show—the bonds were loose enough for her to slip them off if she had to.

"I suppose some credit must go to their General," she whispered caustically.

Durza said nothing. This continued for some time, until they were well out of sight of Gil'ead. Then Arya slipped off the bonds on her hands, stretching her wrists. "Where are we going?"

"Dras-leona."

"How do you know the Ra'zac are there?"

"Because I ordered them to be," Durza said. "As soon as my message reaches them, they'll head back. That's where they live—in Mount Helgrind."

"You ordered them? Won't that be suspicious?"

Durza shrugged. "By the time they realize it is, it'll be too late. As far as they know, I'm still their General…and that means my word is the King's word."

"What if they report this to the King?"

"They won't," Durza said. "They never bother—they hate reporting to the King. When he gets angry, there tend to be…casualties."

More silence. Arya was starting to get fed up with it. She had been trapped in a cell for weeks, saying as little as possible. Now that she was finally outside again, it felt good to speak freely, even to someone she still considered a temporary ally at best, and an enemy at worst. But before she could speak again, Durza beat her to the punch.

"Tell me something. Why couldn't I break you?"

"…what?"

"Why couldn't I break you? I've broken more people than I can count—I'm good at what I do. So why not you? People with more experience than you, people stronger than you, people with more magic than you—all of them broke, in the end. But not you. Why?"

"Elves are much stronger than humans," Arya said stiffly.

"I've interrogated plenty of elves, princess. I was a General—I didn't have a great deal of spare time. I was never assigned a prisoner unless they were extremely stubborn. Physical torture, that I could understand you enduring. After a while, the pain becomes meaningless…and elves can block it out, I'm told. But isolation—I've never seen anyone resist for more than a week. Most don't last even a few days. They go mad, alone in the dark, unable to feel anything…so how did you survive?"

Arya frowned, thinking back. As disturbing as this line of questioning was to her, her curiosity had been piqued by that last remark. That chamber…lost in a world of nothingness, wondering if she even really existed at all…how had she survived it?

And then Arya realized that she hadn't. She had been ready to give in. If they had questioned her then, she would have told them whatever they wanted to know with perfect indifference. If Durza hadn't dragged her off, she might not have been able to speak at all, in the end.

"Maybe I have greater mental strength than others you've met," Arya said finally.

"…true enough," Durza said. Then he shook his head. "But you really do look like her," he muttered.

Arya had a feeling he hadn't meant to say that out loud—it sounded more like a stray thought. "Like who?"

"Hmm?"

Arya nodded, her suspicion confirmed. "You said I looked like 'her'. Who is it that I look like?"

"…it doesn't matter to you."

"Yes, it does," Arya said, feeling much more herself now that she was arguing instead of just sitting there. "If you think I look like someone, then I want to know who."

She didn't really expect Durza to tell her—Arya certainly wouldn't have if it had been her—but he spoke after a moment. "…you don't really look like her—just your hair. It's the same color. She wasn't an elf."

"Who?" Arya said again. At first she had only asked to get Durza to say something, but now she was curious.

"Someone I knew when I was young," Durza said, so softly Arya could barely hear him.

Before she could stop herself, Arya blurted out, "You were young?"

"Everyone is young at some point in their lives, princess," Durza said.

"But you're not a…a person."

"Then what in Alagaesia is it you think I am?" Durza said.

"You're a Shade," Arya said. "You weren't born, you just…exist. Shades are beings formed by the merging of a group of spirits that possess the body of a sorcerer."

"…how many Shades have you met, besides me?" Durza said.

"None," Arya said. "But I've read about them in the libraries of Ellesmera.

"I see. And how many of those books were written by Shades?"

"None, of course," Arya said. "Who ever heard of a Shade writing a book? They—you—live only to sow chaos and destruction."

Durza smiled bitterly, although Arya couldn't see that. "Do you want to know what people said about elves where I grew up, princess? You were the monsters they told children about. They said elves were savage creatures that lived in the woods. They had to keep themselves without any feelings at all times, or their animal natures would take over and they would destroy themselves. They never ate the flesh of any living thing—they sucked out their souls instead. If you ever met one, you were supposed to stab yourself through the heart so that you would die rather than lose your soul."

"That's ridiculous!" Arya said, twisting around to look at Durza. "That's—that's—elves aren't like that at all!"

"I know that," Durza said. "But my people had never met any elves. I have."

"…that's different," Arya said. "And you have no people, you're a Shade. They're not a species."

"Whatever you like," Durza said. And that effectively put a stop to any conversation. They rode on for some hours, until the sun began to set, neither of them speaking a word. The silence was bothering Arya again, but she refused to be the one to speak first. At last they stopped to make camp in the shelter of an immense pine tree. Alagaesia was a wild land in the unsettled areas, and few roads existed; they would have to be careful. Bandits roamed the land, and they had to avoid the sight of even innocent people; if word of them reached the King, they would be finished.

Arya got down and stretched her legs, stiff from riding for so long. She paced about under the trees, glad to breath in fresh air at last, while Durza took care of his horse. He spoke to it in a language Arya didn't recognize. Shrugging, she walked a little farther, smiling as she ran her hands over the rough bark of the trees and looked at the deepening twilight through their branches.

"Can you carry both of us to Dras-leona, or do we need to look for another horse?" Durza said to Rashid.

The horse stamped his hoof. (I am not some noble's riding horse that needs to be coddled. I can bear you both as far as you need to go. Elves are light, and you are too thin.)

"We've been over this before," Durza said.

(You still won't listen to me. A swordfighter needs muscles—you don't take care of yourself. I've seen enough warriors to know that.)

"I'm a Shade. This is how I'm supposed to look."

Rashid just tossed his head. (And are you sure this is wise?)

"What are you complaining about? You'll have your vengeance for Tornac, and I'll have mine for Carsib."

(And Fatima), Rashid said.

"I don't want to talk about her," Durza said, his hands clenching involuntarily.

(Would you talk to the elf about her?)

"…just what are you implying?"

Rashid snorted. (You told her more about yourself in five minutes than you told Tornac in three years. All he knew was your name, and you weren't even the one who told him that.)

"So what? I need someone to talk to, and I don't exactly have a lot of options here."

(You could talk to me.)

"You're a horse."

(The problem isn't that I'm a horse. It's that you aren't one. And I thought you hated elves.)

"I hated them when I thought they killed Carsib. Why should I care about them now?"

(I don't trust her), Rashid said.

"Why not?" Durza said. "She needs our help…for now."

Rashid tossed his head again, shoving Durza with his nose. (You see? There is something the matter with you. Since when do you trust anyone? And you hardly know her. She hates you—you're her enemy.)

"There is nothing the matter with me!" Durza said. "Just leave me alone already."

(You've betrayed the Empire. The most powerful man in the world is looking for you. You need to be careful), Rashid said.

"I'm always careful."

Rashid didn't even dignify that with a response. He ambled off a ways to graze, leaving Durza alone.

-o-o-o-o-o-

Arya took a deep breath, trying to remain calm. A nerve was going in her temple. "Eragon, for the last time…get off of me!"

Eragon shook his head and continued to cling to Arya's knees. "Arya, I can't tell you how happy I am that you're back, this is so wonderful, I knew the Bad Guys couldn't keep you prisoner for long!"

Arya willed herself not to give Eragon a concussion with a swift kick to the head. She needed to join the Good Guys. It wouldn't do to knock out their leader.

"And now it's just me and you and Saphira, like it was meant to be!"

Arya managed a very tight, thin smile. "…right. So. We need to start planning our attack."

Eragon stood up, looking puzzled. "Our attack on what?"
"On the Bad Guys, of course!" Arya said. "They're finished!"

Elsewhere, Durza was banging on the door of the Evil Lair. "Galbatorix! Come on, we know you're there!"

The door opened a crack. "What do you want, you traitor?"

"We've come to join the Bad Guys."

Hearing the word 'we', Galbatorix opened the door all the way. His jaw dropped. "You convinced Brom join the Bad Guys!?"

"And Murtagh," Durza said. "But he's developed a chocolate addiction, so he's going to need some help."

Galbatorix's eyes narrowed. "How do I know you've really come over to the Dark Side—I mean, the Bad Guys?"

Durza grinned a villainous grin. "I hate the Good Guys—they must be destroyed!"

"And you two?" Galbatorix said, turning to Brom and Murtagh.

"I'm with him," Brom said, pointing to Durza. "The Good Guys abandoned me!"

Murtagh just stood hunched over, drooling slightly. "Hey…have you got any chocolate?" he said, his eyes bloodshot.

Galbatorix shuddered. "Come inside…we've got some work to do."

Somewhere else entirely, Subieko was typing away. "Gee…it's getting kind of lonely in here. Maybe it's time to bring in some more characters. Let's see…"

Taking out a copy of Eldest, Subieko began paging through, writing down names in her notebook every so often.