Chapter 28: Du Vindr abr Wyrda

War was coming, there was nothing that could stop that. The Empire's citizens were in need of defense against the invaders of the land and she was determined to provide such. Urgals, Surdans and the Hadarac Tribes, her own kin even, journeyed to Ilirea, eager to seize the capital.

With these thoughts in mind Nasuada briskly walked upon soft grass through a sea of violet tents. From high above the golden sun shown down upon them, illuminating everything with great brilliance. All around her soldiers prepared for battle, running every which way with weapons, armor, and other tools of war. Some sharpened their weapons, others traveled in groups listening to a captain, and others sat in corners, praying to the deity of their choice.

She was very pleased that not one approached her or greeted her for any reason. Whenever she would walk in the streets of Ilirea as queen, everyone would shout something to her. They were either words of praise or words of hate or of indifference; people always had things to say to her when they saw her. Yet here she was as if no one had noticed her, everyone ran about, doing what they could to get ready for the fights to come. To Nasuada, it showed the sense of responsibility of the Empire's army, they would not let a celebrity distract them. No, they were determined to protect their homeland and would let nothing slow them down from this. This truth gave her pride, she was absolutely proud to see her men act this way. She knew that with their attitude, their enemies would be hard pressed for victory if nothing else.

Walking to her left, perhaps a tad taller than her was Elva. She was dressed in a slim raven black leather getup, matching her hair perfectly. Upon her head still lay the curious Gedwey Ignasia that she had gained with Saphira's blessing. And lastly, Elva's amethyst eyes were of great size, twice the width and height of any other human's. In them though she showed sorrowful emotions, for she had been through all kinds of loss in her life through the emotions of others.

Like her growth, Elva's aging had increased dramatically faster than another human's would. If one didn't know her personally, one could assume that she was forty years of age. Yet she had not even a dozen years on her, oftentimes Nasuada would feel very sorry for her because of this. At this rate, she doubted Elva would live beyond thirty years, a pitifully short life for even a human.

Six of her best Nighthawk bodyguards surrounded her and Elva, their helmeted heads moving every which way, searching for any kind of trouble. To the Nighthawks' displeasure, Nasuada refused to wear armor during these times. She had worn armor before, yet found it impossible to fight while wearing such a jumbling set of metal. If everything was to go according to plan, she wouldn't even have to fight anyway. Currently, she wore a dark violet uniform of the finest cloth and linen. Though there were no trinkets or badges upon it, she found such things unnecessary and distracting for one of her standing.

For a few more minutes they trotted past tent after tent. A moment or two she was reminded of the times when they fought in the war against Galbatorix. More and more she walked until she reached her large pavilion; she told her guards to wait outside as she and Elva entered.

Already inside were five others sitting around a table, their attention upon a large mirror upon a desk. Orrin, Jormundur, Trianna, Angela and Roran sat around the table with Solembum lying on the ground as a feline. All of the men wore broad and heavy sets of chain mail and violet tunics underneath, while the women wore more of a light set of leather armor. At the time they were listening to the human rider Mathias as he spoke from the mirror. Though immediately when they noticed her, everyone became silent, but she did not let this silence last long; time was of the essence.

"I commend you for your bravery" Nasuada said with much praise towards Mathias. She had been told earlier as to what had happened by a few of her spies. "Though I must know, how soon will you and the Elves arrive?"

From the scrying mirror, Mathias said "The battle for Gil'ead is nearly over your majesty. The Elves are making short work of our foes, and if I were to make a guess…" he held a hand to his chin, as if in thought. He then brought his hand down again saying "Ah, we should all be in Ilirea around ten or twelve hours from now." Nasuada cringed when she heard this, though did her best to hide the fear within her heart. She had to remain strong otherwise no one would follow her, not even those who trusted her the most. Still, waiting for the Elves that long would be difficult, they would lose many in the coming fight without them.

"My sources indicate that we will be attacked on four fronts in no less than two hours" she said to him. "From the North come the Urgals, from the Ramr River and the East come the Hadarac Nomads and from the South and East march the rogue Surdan armies. It will be difficult, but we will do what we can to hold out until your arrival as well as Eragon and Saphira's.

"Good luck to you then your majesty, Stronghammer, Jormundur, Angela, Trianna and King Orrin" Mathias said. "May your swords stay sharp and your wits even moreso."

"It will be as you say Silverblade" Orrin said to him.

And with a serious tone, Nasuada said "On behalf of the Empire, I thank you, Luxor, Kes'thara and Fraethr for your protection of Gil'ead, its troops and citizens." Smiling, she said "If you were Imperial soldiers I would have given you all medals personally."

"Kes'thara thanks you as well as I" Mathias said, returning a smile himself. "See you all in Ilirea!" he finished as his image faded away from the large mirror. Without sparing a moment, Nasuada directed her attention towards one of the many maps upon the table. The one she presently looked at was of the Ramr River. It was a wavy line that stretched from West to East, then curved to the North of Ilirea before curving around to the South, then back North, all the way to Gil'ead. To herself she thanked the god Gokukara for giving them such a valuable defense.

"Before things get messy, I would like to go over our plans one last time" Nasuada said. Pointing towards the map of the Ramr River, she continued saying "The Urgals and much of the Nomads will most definitely need to cross the river if they want to get anywhere near our city. We will need to block off every single section of this river via our ships. Archery will be essential in this fight, every one of our best archers will participate here. Roran will be the one to command this campaign, seeing as he successfully led the Carvahallians to Surda via the sea."

"I will do all that I can to save our fair Empire Queen Nasuada" Roran said to her. Nasuada nodded, then pointed at a different map, one showing the fields East of Ilirea.

"We would be a fool to suspect that the Hadarac Tribes used all their warriors in the siege of Gil'ead. And indeed, our spies indicate that there will be much more of them will be coming from the Desert itself." She then pointed at the most Eastern section of the Ramr River. "And we also know that not all of the Nomads coming to here from Gil'ead will travel along the entire river. Many are coming from this point; so it will be a hard fight for whoever defends our Eastern fields. To reduce our losses here, we will employ our cavalry and execute hit and run maneuvers. That is why Orrin will lead the defenses to the East."

"I thank you my lady for not sending me to fight my countrymen" Orrin said to her in return. "I will do whatever that can be possibly done to save our lands." Nodding to him emotionlessly, Nasuada then pointed to a map that displayed the Southern parts of the Ilirean fields.

"Here the Surdans will strike. Here we have little to no natural defenses, so we have no choice but to hold out as long as possible there. Jormundur will lead battalions of heavy armor infantry to defend against the southern Surdan attack."

"All that you say will be done my queen, the Surdans will not lay a hand on our city!" Jormundur said with a tight fist. For a moment, Nasuada was sure she noticed Orrin flinch, offended by his talk, but he immediately hid his feelings. Passing off this observation as a petty occurrence, she returned her attention towards the map, pointing to the fields West of Ilirea.

"As for the West, our spies say that many wounded and weary Surdans will be coming from Dras Leona. It's also possible that a few exhausted Urgals who couldn't make it across the river will come this way as well. Because of this, much of this lot will be easier for us to kill. Magic will be a great asset here to make quick work of the weary ones to come this way with little risk on the magicians themselves. That is why Angela, Trianna and a few of our other best spellcasters will lead a few of our magicians on this front."

"Well obviously!" Angela said. "We are the only two left here, so by process of elimination of course we are going to defend the Western fields!" Trianna simply nodded at Nasuada instead of speaking, though Nasuada was slightly irked at Angela's comment. Angela was a great fighter and saying the wrong thing to her could cost Nasuada her support. So she held back from bashing Angela for saying such a thing given this situation, instead, she continued by pointing to a map of the city itself.

"Elva and I will remain in Castle Ilirea, where we will view what is happening on all fronts from the roof and several mirrors. I will relay orders using these mirrors during the changing battlefield." She let out a heavy sigh, Elva began to noticeably tremble a bit to her left, though she could not figure why.

"This may be the most difficult battle any of us will ever participate in. Our best hope of victory is to last as long as possible and to not take any dangerous risks. We cannot let any enemy soldier cross into the city, we need to hold out until the Elves, Eragon and Saphira arrive." She then pointed to the river map again, "The Elves from the North," then she pointed to the Eastern map, "Eragon and Saphira from the East," then to the Western map, "and Murtagh and Thorn from the West" she finished with a broad smile and warm thoughts. Though she soon took her thoughts away from those things, seeing as they would only distract her in this time. "From what Eragon, Dathedr and Murtagh have told us, we can assume that they all will arrive around the same time, ten or twelve hours from now."

"Our city is like a fine warrior, but one who is being struck by four swords at a time. However, we cannot let this warrior fall, for the good of our Empire we will survive! And this I ask of you, stall the enemy, slow them down as much as you can to live. For eight to ten hours we must hold out, when that time comes we will all follow Eragon's orders instead of mine." She then saluted to them all, to which they rose from their seats and likewise saluted back.

"Please, outlast them" was the last Nasuada said before heading out of the pavilion. Waiting for her was her brown steed Jonan, escorted by the other already mounted Nighthawks. As fast as she could she climbed upon him, then reached down to pull Elva up. However, Elva merely stood there, her arms crossed, a dark frown upon her face. Cursing silently, Nasuada dropped down from Jonan in annoyance.

"What's with you now?" Nasuada asked. "We need to leave now! We have to return back to Ilirea before any of the fighting starts." Elva said nothing, but merely kept her cold gaze at Nasuada which intimidated her greatly. "Come on then!" Nasuada said in desperation.

"I have told you many times Nasuada but you never listen!" Elva nearly shouted with frustration. "Your people and armies are not safe! I can see that as clearly as I can see you now. You need to evacuate them, take everyone away from Ilirea, away from this graveyard where they stay now." For many weeks on end Elva had argued this point with her, but Nasuada's response was always the same.

"Take them where Elva! To the South? No, that would be taking them closer to Surda. To the North? No, we would have to either cross the desert or take the river, both controlled by the Hadarac Tribes. To the West? The Surdans come from there as well Elva! Everywhere we would go would be worse than here, we have no choice but to stay here and fight!"

"But they will be obliterated! Everyone will die!" she pleaded Nasuada.

"Remind me, what outcome did you predict my Trial of the Long Knives to be again?"

"That you would lose" she replied without hesitation.

"Exactly Elva, your predictions are not always true then. Who's to say that this one isn't incorrect as well?"

"But,"

"But nothing Elva! This is what we are to do; these are the winds of fate." She then got up onto Jonan again, and then held out a hand to Elva. With a much more soft voice she said "Trust my judgment just this once Elva, this is the best option we have right now." Now grimacing, Elva snatched Nasuada's arm, then was half lifted up and she half helped herself up. When Elva was at her back, Nasuada let out a loud yell, scaring Jonan into a gallop. They traveled quickly South, returning to Ilirea a few leagues away.


"Archers ready?" Roran yelled as loud as he could.

"Archers ready!" a captain yelled from the left.

"Ballistae ready?"

"Ballistae ready sir!" yelled a magician from his right.

"Get ready everyone!" Roran shouted. All about him ran Imperial soldiers experienced in naval warfare. The ship he commanded, the Emancipator, was the largest warship in its fleet, perhaps a fifth larger than the DragonWinghe and the Carvahallians commandeered. Towards the stern was the main cabin, where little notches could be opened to shoot arrows or bolts out of the ship. At the bow stood the main storage areas and the other places where men could sleep. To his right lay a trap door which was constantly open, a staircase below it leading to the rowing area. All in all, it was a proud vessel which sailed at suitable speeds along the vast Ramr River.

Though his attention wasn't on the Emancipator itself, but the scene around it. Roran ran up a set of wooden stairs, reaching the top of the bow itself. Currently they sailed East, towards the ships the Nomads had commandeered. Countless vessels similar to the Emancipatoralso sailed in the same direction along the great river. Though not all did, some stayed behind or even journey West instead, dedicated to fight the Urgals or the occasional Surdan that may come along. Looking to the East, Roran saw in the distance many other ships similar in design to theirs, but different nonetheless. They were indeed the vessels the Nomads had taken from Gil'ead, every one he was determined to have sink. To the North Roran spotted thousands of dark figures upon the Alagaesian Plains, these were the Urgals. Though interestingly, they brought no ships for they did not need any.

If a Kull can sprint for days and nights on end so can he swimRoran thought to himself. He was sure that the Urgals planned to swim deep in the river so as to avoid fire spells and arrows. Then when they got close enough they would climb the Imperial vessels, then jump aboard to attack their crew. But he had seen Kull sprint before, much like humans, they needed to breathe heavily while sprinting as well. Which meant that they would need to resurface for air repeatedly before reaching any of their ships. And each time they would do this would be a chance for an archer or magician to kill them.

No foe is without their weaknessRoran thought to himself with a smile. Then turning again to the Nomads, he thought fighting them could prove to be more difficult. They did not have the problem for needing air, so they could conceivably take cover behind the many structures of their ships. However, they stood upon wood, so if his magicians can remove any fire wards upon them, the Nomads wouldn't stand a chance. All in all, upon thinking further, Roran could not figure out which army would be the most challenging to fight. So he decided he would be among the ships to fight both, to see for himself what would need to be done in the battle.

With all of this in mind he and his men waited and waited for the time they would all confront their foes. The armies to the North and East grew steadily closer and closer as they sailed forth. In time the Imperials began to hear war shouts, the loud guttural and bestial cries of the Urgals and the deep bloodthirsty call of the Nomads. Roran grabbed a bow off to the side and notched an arrow, keeping his eyes on all of their foes. Their cries grew louder, more fearsome, one by one the faint figures far off to the North began to jump into the river. Those of the Hadarac tribes sailed onward towards them, perhaps only a few arrow shots away and sailed Westward at a breakneck speed. At first Roran was amazed at the speed the Kull swam, probably as fast as a human could run, though he quickly suppressed his amazement. They were his enemies, a threat to Katrina, to his children, and it was these thoughts that gave him the strength to fight.

Quickly he pulled the arrow across his the string of his bow. And as if on que, everyone around him did the same, letting sounds of strings stretching echo all about him. It wasn't just on the Emancipatoreither, every soldier on every boat around them did the same. All had their arrows ready, it was time.

The Urgals to the North approached them, sometimes resurfacing for air, though usually they stayed deep within the depths of the river. To the East the Nomads likewise had their bows drawn, ready to fire at the Imperials when they got close enough. Closer still they sailed, their enemies coming right at them and they at their enemies.
To his men Roran shouted "This is a direct order from your queen! Do everything you can, give it your all." He could now see the Nomads more clearly, their faces were visible as their ships were only a good stone's throw away. The Urgals below them advancing ever more quickly, perhaps as far from them as the Nomads were.

"For the glory of our great and modest land!" Roran yelled as he let loose the arrow from his string.


With a sense of fear Orrin examined the Eastern horizon upon Snowfire, whom Roran allowed to use in this battle. Everywhere along the landscape from North to South approached thousands upon thousands of figures approach them. He could only assume these figures to be their enemies, the mighty Hadarac Tribal Nomads. Orrin then turned around to look at his men, doing his best to hide the fear he held.

It wasn't even close, the amount of men he had were at most a fifth of those the Nomads had at their disposal. Though a thousand or so horsemen stood about in a line, ready for war, this clearly wasn't enough. He knew he would regret it, but he chanced a look at the South. There he saw thousands of orange figures approaching the capital, thousands of his men. Men that from a disgusting turn of events, had chosen to follow the orders of his general and not their king. They were his brothers, his kin even, and it pained him greatly to know that they needed to die this day, by his hand or of another's.

In such a way his men couldn't see, he bared his teeth and looked upon the ground. A couple of tears fell from his face and splashed upon Snowfire's beautiful white mane. He brought his gloved right hand off of the reigns, whipping the tears from his face.

Now is not the time for the weakhe thought as he drew his longsword and readied his shield. He then turned around to face his men again, forming his face into an expression of anger, anger at the fate that brought this upon them.

"Soldiers of Alagaesia! Today we fight for the defense of our glorious Empire! We fight for freedom no matter the cost, even if that be our very lives! So I ask you to ready your weapon, be it a sword, axe, lance, mace, bow or magic, for today your country needs it more than it ever has before!" As soon as he said this the men did ready their various weapons and began to have the hardened look of battle upon them.

With the simplest of smiles, Orrin turned Snowfire around to the now closer Nomad army. He sighed as he closed his eyes, accepting what it was he needed to do.

"Onward!" he shouted while getting Snowfire to gallop upon forward. Behind him he heard the shouts of his men, the cries of their steeds. He charged upon Snowfire with incredible speed, greatly separating himself from the rest of his army.

But he did not care, this was it, If I am to die than I am to die. There is nothing that can be done about it he thought to himself. Though it is not Surda, this is my new home, I will gladly give my life to defend it. The Nomads were now nearly upon him, Orrin raised his sword and yelled with furry as he brought it back down again.