I'll just like to say that this story has gone much farther than I thought it would and all of your reviews are wonderful motivation factors. So thank you, and let's see, what else. What else? I guess there's nothing and since I'm holding up your reading, I'll stop now. R&R readers!
The sound of mockingbirds trilling told her that the world was up and that she should rise with it as well. Blinking, she rose to her feet, stretching her limbs and taking in her surroundings, and saw the forest of Du Weldenvarden, instead of Ellesméra. Turning her head slightly, she saw Eragon laid out against the ground, still asleep. She was about to shake him awake when she remembered what Bard had told her before they had departed from Farthen Dûr. Eragon was not a morning person.
Bending down, Arya took in the sight of him sleeping. He looked more peaceful asleep, she thought. It was hard to mix the concept of a peaceful Eragon with the rather detached Eragon that she had come to know. Reaching forward to wake him, she immediately drew her hand back when she felt his cold and clammy skin. Arya hadn't been in contact with sickness much in her life. Being an elf made it harder for illness to befall her, and even during the seventy years with the Varden, she rarely associated with humans besides those in high ranking positions. But she knew from first glance that what ailed Eragon wasn't a simply a cold.
Bringing forth her hand again, she placed it on his forehead. Despite his cold skin, he was burning inside. "Eragon . . ." murmured Arya, gently shaking him, but received no response. The only thing that showed that he was still living was his deep breathing. What made matters worse was that Saphira had left with Eridor in the night to hunt and she knew that the dragons wouldn't be back until night fell. That left her with the task of taking care of Eragon.
"Something is bound to go wrong," she muttered to herself. First thing first; she had to take care of his temperature. Removing a piece cloth in her pack, she went to the stream and soaked it in the clear, cool water before wringing it damp. Returning to Eragon, she gently laid the cloth on his forehead.
But even that gesture seemed insignificant. He was too sick and it was hard to determine what to do when she didn't even know the illness that seemed to rack his body. She glanced back at his forehead where sweat seemed to be forming as the sun began to reach its height in the sky, pounding heat down on them. It was a risk . . . but . . .
My mind is my only sanctuary.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. Reaching out with her mind, she pushed forward until she touched his thoughts. Then something strange happened. It was as if she was being pulled from her own body and into his mind.
It was a strange place, a castle but yet it had no walls. Odd furnishing and decorations stood on the stone floor and hung on the invisible walls. What was this place? But she already knew, this was Eragon's mind. Taking a step, she stopped as everything about her began to shimmer and become distorted. But as fast as it happened, it stopped and she found herself staring at paintings that surrounded her.
But they weren't paintings . . .
The people within them moved and the scenes changed. "Memories?" she wondered. But where was Eragon's presence? He was here somewhere, she was sure of it. But where? Reaching out, Arya tentatively touched one of the moving memories.
The entire world before her disappeared into a white void. A wall came forth from nowhere and with it blossomed another image, one that almost made her heart stop. It showed a cell, very similar to hers back at Gil'ead, but much darker. A small window stood high on a sleek cement wall and below it were markings of blood. What was going on?
The the door burst open and a boy was thrown into the open space. Expecting him to crash into her, her eyes widened when he fell through her body. She was nonexistent in the memory. The boy lunged for the closing door with a cry of despair. "No! Let me out!"
But the door slammed shut, and encased the cell in darkness, the only light that penetrated the dark space coming from the small window. The little boy turned and she felt her shock heighten at the sight of Eragon. She had had an inkling as to who it was but to see his young face, his innocent eyes . . .
He was bruised and bloody, his brown hair a mess, and his clothes, which seemed to resemble very fine silk, were dirtied and torn in a few places and frayed at others. He glanced at the window with a defeated look in his eyes before sitting with his back against the opposite wall, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around his legs as if to ward away his enemies and fears.
Arya stared at the Eragon before her, defenseless and fearful. Letting her feet take her next to him, she squatted down next to him, watching him, try to ward off tears. A broken whisper lodged itself in her mind. "I'm all alone . . ."
And that brought back painful memories. Fäolin falling . . . Glenwing following as they fell to the ground. She wanted to reach out to touch him but the image began to fade again, distorting and changing until she watched the boy Eragon struggling against bonds that were restraining his arms to a table, making it seem like a crypt.
"STOP!" he screamed in horror, and she saw the scene clearly with her own eyes. Strange people wearing dark robes and demented eyes stood over him, one at his head, holding what looked to be as a small carving knife. What was happening?
Her body reacted before her mind could get a grip on the situation. She watched as the knife went down, a piercing scream of pure agony echoing continuously through the room. The stream of blood that seem to drip from the table, the sound of the knife slicing and squishing a part of Eragon. And that object in particular was Eragon's right eye. She lunged, expecting to tackle the man, but instead went straight through him.
Steadying her feet, she turned to see the memory changing yet again. But the horror of the last one was still inflicted in her mind. His . . . eye . . . she had seen many horrors in her life but this was one of the few that made her weak at the knees. A child being tortured, pleading against his torturers. Resisting the strong urge to vomit, she took in the scene that now stood before her.
His right eye was wrapped with a white bandage that span around his head and back. He was kneeling in a hall filled with bodies, and she recognized them. She had just seen the dark robed people torturing him. But they lay bloody and some were unrecognizable from the infliction of injuries.
Eragon knelt in the pool of blood, a sword thrown haphazardly to the side, his hands raised before his face, trembling. His eyes dilated with fear and he looked half crazed. "W-what have I done? I-I-I—"
At a loss for words, he let out a demented scream, his hands coming to clutch painfully at his hair. And yet again the room began to change and this time, she found herself staring out into a sunset that turned the sky a beautiful orange and the ocean dancing with flames. A city port no doubt.
Clunk.
Arya turned her head to see Eragon in his armor walk forward until the water was lapping at his metal boots. His helm was nowhere to be seen. His eyes held a faraway look, his right eye bearing no trace of injury at all. It was silent as she stood beside him but that moment was enough. The silence spoke more than just mere words within themselves.
And finally he spoke. "Freedom . . . as wide as the horizon stretches . . ."
And suddenly it became a blanket of white and before her stood Eragon. And she had no doubt within her mind that this person was real for he was staring at her with such anger, he must be looking directly at her. "What do you think you are doing?" he snapped, his eyes burning.
She felt herself stiffen without meaning to. Arya didn't take that tone well, with anyone. "I wanted to just touch your mind to feel for your presence . . . but a rather strange magic seemed to have pulled me into your memories."
His anger still hadn't sedated as he stood before her. "You have no right! This is my sanctuary!"
"And it still is for I have naught to take from it!" she snapped back. He looked like he was about to retort but kept his lips firmly shut as if afraid of saying something overly offending. Trying to bring about something much less personal, Arya glanced about her. "Where are we?"
"My mind." He said rather scathingly, still angered at her intrusion, apparently. She nodded. But the difference in it, the strange quality, piqued her curiosity to no extent. She would have to ask later when he wasn't angry. "Now, what was the matter that was so important to the extent that you needed to intrude upon my privacy?"
She stared at him, at a loss for words. Did he not know how sick his body was? How the illness has racked him to the point that his skin was ice cold and a shocking white as well? Or perhaps this was a side effect of what was happening to him. "You're sick." Arya spoke deliberately and slowly. He nodded. She continued. "You haven't awoken and I thought to contact you . . . but instead, I was pulled within your mind."
He frowned and suddenly the white void began to change into an endless green meadow, filled with beautiful rain lilies. "I see," he said, quite put out. Not looking at her, he began to stroll leisurely through the flowers. "Beautiful, aren't they?"
He was avoiding it, she thought as she followed him. There was something that he was hiding from her. "Your mind is a very odd place," she said.
He shrugged. "At times, I find it easier to close myself from reality and wander forever in meadows of flowers. But I must admit, I've never had another person in my mind like you are right now."
She raised an eyebrow, signaling for him to continue talking. "It's an odd feeling to know that another being is standing in your thoughts and memories. Some of which aren't too pleasant," said Eragon, and her mind instantly came back to his right eye being stabbed by a carving knife. "My eye is fine, I can still see with it."
"Can you?" asked Arya, not sure herself. He nodded. They continued in silence in the never ending meadow. Neither knowing what else to say to the other. Eventually, Arya broke the silence. "I am sorry for intruding into your mind."
"You did it out of concern, I can see that. But whatever you saw stays between us, Arya," he said, turning to stare at her. She nodded.
"You have my word." He turned to face forward and the meadow began to shift and change, revealing the sea. He turned to smile at her as she took in the beauty of the water. The ocean, she had always loved the ocean.
"Elves love the ocean, do they not?" he asked. She nodded. "Why is that, do you think?"
"I do not know myself," said Arya truthfully. "But it is beautiful, is it not?"
"It is." The waves lapped at their boots and she had to admit that even the water felt real within his mind despite the fact that it was a creation of his thoughts. "Have you ever thought about leaving Alagaësia?"
Surprise followed his words. She turned to stare at him but he refused to meet her eyes directly. Leave Alagaësia? Why would she leave her forest and her people? It was true that elves did arrive in this land, but that was far and long ago. Now, she and her people were one with the forest in which they grew to love. Leaving was beyond her thoughts. "I've yet to think a single thought of such."
He nodded. His eyes still holding a faraway look. "Maybe that is because you have a reason to stay."
"You have your mother and father." Arya said quietly. He shook his head.
"Not for long." He tilted his head to the side to stare at her from the corner of his eyes with a sad smile. "How depressing it is, to watch your mother and father age while remaining unbound by the grips of time."
She didn't reply. How could she say something to that? It was true, as a rider, he and Saphira were bonded physically and mentally. He would not age as mortals would; he would live in her people's realm. Longer than most races. Without the fear of time. "I've been thinking about something."
"And what is that?" Arya said, prompting him to continue.
"That death isn't a punishment but a release from the burden of living." That could be put into question, Arya thought. Death was a state of being, a natural way of life. Nothing could be untouched by its grip and yet, everything tried to elude it. The only difference in death was that some died sooner and others died later. "Because in death there is no pain."
"There is nothing in death," said Arya.
Eragon shrugged. "We don't know that . . . but one thing that I do know is that there is great pain in living."
"Not always." She argued.
"No, not always." He agreed. "But there is enough."
"Do you wish to die?" Arya asked quietly, turning her body towards him. He stared at her, and then turned his body to face her as well. His expression was solemn and his eyes portrayed a deep sadness and pain.
"I would be lying to you if I said no," he replied just as quietly. But then he smiled. "But I don't plan to die anytime soon. I'll continue to play fate's game for as long as I am able, and protect those whom I love to the best of my abilities. That's why I'm still living."
Impulsively, she reached out to lay a hand on the side of his face. He looked surprise but didn't back down from her touch. "It isn't called living unless you live for yourself, Eragon."
He chuckled. "Then I must have been dead ever since I became a rider."
She gave him a faint smile. "I wouldn't call it such." She continued thinking, returning to her serious self. "But a day will come when you will find it in yourself to live for you and no other, I'm sure of it."
"Then I will try to live to see that day." He promised. She nodded and pulled her hand away, turning to stare back at the horizon.
"And yet, you are already sick and near the verge of death itself," said Arya. She turned her head to stare into his brown eyes. "You must tell me what to do Eragon, or it may be too late to save you."
He considered her for a moment, before nodding. "You need to bring me to Master Oromis. And hurry."
She was about to ask him his sickness but her spoke before her. "I can't tell you what ails me, Arya. But know this; I will not lose to it easily."
"But—"
"Do you trust me?"
Her response was immediate. "I do."
"Then please, bring my body to Oromis if I do not awaken from my stupor. Tell him to contact me through my mind."
Beating down her curiosity, she nodded. Oromis... she would just have to trust her master in saving Eragon's life. Thinking of Oromis brought her first priority back to hand; getting Eragon back to Ellesméra. She had to leave his mind and make haste — for if he was as sick as she thought he was, then time was of the essence.
"How do I leave?" she asked Eragon. He didn't answer her but motioned for her to stare back at the horizon. She did. As the two of them gazed out of the water, the air before them began to shimmer and distort. A brilliant white light sparked before them, before blossoming as if trying to eat the vacant space, and shifting into a doorway.
"All you need to do is walk through and it will lead you back to your own mind." She nodded and turned to leave.
Arya was stopped when Eragon's hand came out to grip her own. She turned to give him a questioning look. "Thank you, for coming for me."
She nodded and sent him a small smile because she lacked words for a response. It was enough, though, and he slowly loosened his fingers from her wrist. Staring at him for another second, she turned towards the doorway and left, leaving Eragon in her wake.
It was a strange experience as she passed through the door. It was as if she was being thrown back into her mind and body.
Rapidly blinking, Arya turned to stare at the person before her. And to her alarm, a sheen of sweat covered his face, and a slight tremor ran through his body. Glancing towards the sky, Arya was shocked to find that it was already noon. She had been in his mind for that long of a period.
Glancing back at Eragon, she placed a hand across his forehead. It was still burning. He gave a light cough in his sleep.
She was racing against time to save his life.
Anyways, I hoped you like this chapter. Thanks to all of you readers for keep on reading! I'll try my best to update really soon! And I'm still undecided about stopping the bonus chapters but that doesn't mean you can't review! Hehe...well anyways, I'll see you all at the next chapter! Thanks to everyone!
