Chapter 29: A Shocking Revelation

Link flew straight through a small gap in the concrete of Galbatorix's castle. The entire building was made of ebony, and sinister-looking spires jutted around its peak. Its architecture bore a striking resemblance to Helgrind.

He was in the middle of a stone tunnel, with jagged rocks flashing by like bared teeth with a lust for blood.

Link caught a glimpse of Thorn's red scales flying around a corner and urged Vanilor on faster.

Finally, the small, enclosed tunnel ended. Link and Vanilor entered what looked to be a large courtyard in Galbatorix's castle. Neither Thorn nor Murtagh were anywhere to be seen.

Most castle courtyards had lush, green grass separated by white stone walkways. They had trees lining the edges of the courtyard, usually.

This courtyard, however, did not. Instead of white stone, there was ebony to match the rest of the castle. There was grass, as well, but it was a nasty shade of brown that Link had never seen in grass. He also saw what looked like the remnants of a human skeleton poking out in various parts of the grass as if someone had buried the body poorly. There were also trees, but any leaves were absent, and the bark was a similar color to the grass.

Vanilor slowly lowered down, wings flared, until they touched the ground lightly. Link hoped nobody saw him. Though many of the city's guard were outside the walls fighting the Varden, Link was sure that some of them were still in the castle.

Link had no idea how he was going to get Vanilor out of here. He surely couldn't take him to Galbatorix's throne room with him; he'd never fit. Link half hoped he'd catch a glimpse of Shruikan, Galbatorix's colossal black dragon.

Vanilor, go back out to the field and help the Varden, Link said.

Link, we cannot be separated, Vanilor said.

We don't have a choice, said Link. You won't fit past this courtyard! Tell Saphira that it will just be Eragon and me going after Murtagh and Galbatorix.

All right, Vanilor relented. Be careful.

You too, Vanilor, said Link. Vanilor lifted into the air and continued to rise until he was above the spires of Galbatorix's castle.

Be quick! Link added. You wouldn't want Galbatorix's soldiers to shoot you down.

I'm already gone, said Vanilor.

Link stood, by himself, holding the hilt of Edoc'sil and waiting for Eragon to arrive. It wasn't long; Link heard Saphira zooming through the stone tunnel within a few minutes, and Eragon appeared on Saphira's blue back. They touched down to the ground, Saphira already knowing the plan. Link watched them exchange words before Saphira flew off in the same direction Vanilor had gone.

"Do you think that was a good idea?" Eragon asked.

"It's better than having them sit around in this courtyard. They would eventually be noticed, and they are doing a lot more good out there than they would be here," Link explained.

"I understand," said Eragon. "It's just that I get anxious whenever Saphira and I have to be apart."

"I know exactly what you mean," said Link. "I feel the same about Vanilor."

With that, they headed off, having no idea how to get to Galbatorix's throne room.

There was an ebony arch that led into a walkway made of, not surprisingly, ebony. The walkway sloped upward into the battlement pathway, where there were bound to be patrolling Empire soldiers. The walkway also led in another direction and curved up until it merged with a veranda overhead. Link decided that was their best bet and took it.

Eragon followed, knowing that Link had more experience in most of these areas.

Glad he had brought his enchanted belt pouches, which contained his various useful items, Link took his bow from one of them. Eragon also had the common sense to bring his own bow, and took it off his back. Link took his quiver from his pouch and slung it around his body so that he would have easy access to his arrows when needed.

Once they were on the veranda, they saw that it branched off into a skywalk directly over the courtyard. They were in a position that they could see the Empire guards, but there was no way the enemy would see them. They were all clad in red-and-black armor. There was a curving red symbol etched on their black shields. It was very tempting to draw an arrow and shoot one of them, but Link held himself back.

They crossed the skywalk that led into another veranda on the opposite side of the battlements. They had safely bypassed the patrolling guards. There were still bound to be some guards in the walkways of the castle, so they made sure they maintained their stealth.

Link went around the veranda in the direction of the dragon tunnel; they were directly above the tunnel, and there was a stairway that led past and under it. Link took it, and they were now in an area of the castle that was not exposed to fresh air. There were many walkways branching off in all kinds of directions. Link took the nearest one and saw that there was a guard patrolling down, wearing the same clothes as the ones on the battlements. Luckily, his back was facing them and he was walking away from them.

"You stay here," Link whispered. "I'm going to ambush him, so I can interrogate him to find out where Galbatorix's throne room is."

"Then what will you do with him?" Eragon asked. There was an apprehensive look on his face.

"I'll knock him unconscious," said Link, perplexed.

"Sorry," said Eragon. "It's just that… there was a time when I was with Murtagh that he mercilessly beheaded a man named Torkenbrand in a situation similar to this."

"Well, I'm not a malicious, cold-blooded traitor like him," said Link. Eragon nodded.

Link slinked his way down the walkway slowly, slinging his bow on his back and placing a hand on his sword.

Link looked up at the ceiling. It was low, and Link could easily jump up and hang from the wooden rafters there if he wanted to. He found himself doing precisely this when the guard suddenly whipped around, patrolling in the opposite direction.

Link responded instinctively and was on the rafters before the guard had pivoted all the way around. He didn't even catch a glimpse of Link, and he had made no sound.

This was perfect. Link only had to wait for the guard to pass underneath him.

Once the guard did just this, Link pounced. He landed right on top of the guard, pinning him down to the ground. Link's sword was drawn in seconds. The guard brought his hands up to his face to protect himself; Link pressed the tip of the Master Sword on the guard's neck.

"Where is Galbatorix's throne room?" Link asked maliciously. Eragon now revealed himself, showing the guard that even if he got past Link, he would be ready.

The guard, frightened, pointed with a shaky finger.

"His throne room is that way, on this floor," he said. "You can't miss it, there are huge double doors leading to it."

Without another word, Link conked the guard on the head with the hilt of the Master Sword. His eyes rolled back in his head, and his head fell limp. He then stood up and motioned for Eragon to follow. They broke into a run as they headed in the direction the guard had pointed, ready to end this war once and for all.


Things were not looking good for the Varden. It had happened very suddenly. More Empire guards had been sent out, at least another legion. The guards they had ambushed at the beginning of the battle had now organized, and were equally matched with the Varden. It was a hit-for-hit battle; there were equal amount of soldiers falling on each side.

Jörmundur wondered where the hell Orik was with his reinforcements. They would surely be defeated if this new legion managed to reach them before the dwarves did. The Varden were overpowering the small remnants of the original Empire soldiers, but the new ones coming far outnumbered what they currently had.

Jörmundur lacerated the face of an oncoming Empire soldier and decapitated another. His horse reared upward, kicking with his forelegs. When he came down, his hoof crashed through a soldier's head, helmet and skull alike.

Nasuada made sure she kept close to Jörmundur. Although she was his superior, he was a far better fighter than her.

Finally, the last of the first wave of Empire troops was dead. The Varden cheered, even though another legion of somewhere in the neighborhood of five thousand was headed straight for them. Once the cheering was done, they gritted their teeth and awaited the Empire; they weren't going to charge them. The front lines all wielded pikes, and would easily knock them right off their horses.

Suddenly, a deep horn blew through the air from the east. All the Varden looked in the horn's direction.

Coming over the hill was Orik himself, blowing a horn taken from a Feldûnost in the Beor Mountains in one hand and a great battle-ax in the other. Orik stood alone for a brief moment, until a vast army of dwarves appeared behind him. They all wielded various menacing-looking weapons, the majority of them being axes. Orik looped his horn to his belt and raised his ax in the air. He shook his ax and let out a menacing war cry, and all the other dwarves joined.

Then, Orik began to charge down the hill. The dwarves quickly followed suit. The Empire, worried that they would be outnumbered, picked up its pace and lowered their pikes. The Varden still held their ground. The two armies began to converge; the dwarves started out closer to the Varden than the Empire did, however, and would reach them first.

When the dwarves did reach the Varden, they kept running. This was the Varden's cue to march after them, as it would be dreadful to accidentally trample them with their horses.

The dwarves had an advantage on the advancing Empire and their pikes. They were small, so the pikes would go right over their heads. They obviously planned to utilize this. The dwarves went in and began chopping off the legs of the pike-wielders, and then lodging their axes and swords and all their other weapons in their opponents' bodies. The Varden then charged forward to wipe out any remaining survivors. The Empire's numbers were still greater than the Varden's, though, even with the dwarf reinforcements. The reinforcements helped greatly, however.

The catapults continued to launch boulders in the direction of the city wall, and many of them had collided. None had actually broken down the wall, unfortunately. It was extremely thick, and would require constant battering from the catapults.

Finally, the Empire guards in Galbatorix's castle had had enough. They loaded up their trebuchets up on the battlements and began to counter-attack the Varden's catapults. Some of them were aiming at the heat of the battle, though only one or two landed. Still, several soldiers were killed with each, dwarf and human alike on both sides.


Link and Eragon rounded a corner and were right in front of the throne room. Two guards stood in front of it, and instantly lowered their spears when they saw the Riders.

"Thrysta vindr!" Link and Eragon said in unison. A huge, compressed ball of wind combined from theirs and collided with the door, hitting the two guards as well. The double doors were knocked off their hinges and crashed to the ground in Galbatorix's throne room.

Link and Eragon sprinted down the walkway and entered the throne room. Link had expected much more than what was before him.

It was like he was in a volcanic cave. There were stalactites hanging from the ceiling, and the rock caved in some places, where hot molten magma bubbled and oozed, giving the occasional spurt of lava.

There was an enormous map of Alagaësia on the far wall. Link could see that Galbatorix had used it for forming stratagems and mobilizations across the countryside.

There was a walkway carved out of the rock that spiraled upward and led to an enormous throne. It was large enough for Galbatorix to sleep in, which he probably did. There were large dragon fangs mounted on the throne sequentially. Link's blood boiled to see that Galbatorix had put all the dragons he had killed to such a trivial use.

The evil king himself lounged on the throne, seemingly unsurprised at their arrival. As for the king's appearance, Link was surprised. He had expected someone much more menacing-looking. He looked old, and was bald. A short, white beard covered most of his face. He was garbed in black armor, with the same symbol on his chest as was on the Empire soldiers' shields. His sword lay in its scabbard at his side.

Murtagh sat to Galbatorix's right. His long black hair covered most of his face, but Link could tell there were daggers in his eyes.

A third figure sat to Galbatorix's left. Link was unaware that they would be outnumbered. This would complicate things a bit. Link could not see who the person was; he or she was concealed in shadow, but he could tell that the person was not small. On the contrary, it was a hulk.

"I see you've made it," said Galbatorix. His voice wasn't very menacing, either. "What took you?"

Eragon spoke through clenched teeth. Hatred was pouring over his words.

"Galbatorix, your reign has reached its ill-fated end!"

Galbatorix waved a finger and tsk-ed. "No need to get angry," he said calmly.

"You'll be pretty angry when you find out what we did to your vault," said Link smartly. The shadowed figure raised its head like a dog would raise its ears.

"What vault?" Galbatorix bluffed.

"Don't play dumb," said Link. "The Vault of Souls? Ring a bell at all?"

"This one's cheeky," said Galbatorix with a chortle. "I like him," he said to Murtagh. Murtagh didn't smile.

"You know, the Vault of Souls that you created the Ra'zac to guard? We killed them, by the way."

"I am aware of that," said Galbatorix. There was a hint of annoyance in his voice. "It is of no importance to me. They accomplished their purpose before you killed them."

"Too bad we emptied the vault," said Link. "So everything they did was erased."

"You lie!" Galbatorix shouted. Link was getting to him.

"All Eragon had to do was speak his true name," said Link. He began to say it, but quickly held his tongue as his heart leaped.

Suddenly, a strong force attempted to puncture Link's mind. Galbatorix was trying to find Eragon's true name! Link quickly put up barriers all around his mind with all his strength.

Vanilor! Help me! Galbatorix is trying to read my mind! Link cried.

Almost instantly, solid, impenetrable barriers were fortified around his mind. Galbatorix's efforts were rendered useless.

Link looked at Galbatorix. His face had turned purple, and a thick vein bulged out of his neck. It was a while before Galbatorix gave up. When he did, Link saw genuine fear in his eyes.

"So you did empty the vault," said Galbatorix, trying desperately to keep his cool. Murtagh shot a look to Galbatorix, frightened as well. The shadowed figure remained indifferent.

"Told you so," said Link smartly. Galbatorix's face twisted with anger.

"Enough!" he shrieked. He stood to his feet and picked up his sheathed sword from his throne/bed. He drew the blade from its scabbard and tossed the scabbard onto his throne.

Link saw that the blade of Galbatorix's sword was black as ebony, matching both his dragon and his castle. Galbatorix took a few steps forward, looking straight down at Link and Eragon. Murtagh drew Zar'roc and followed.

"I don't need the Vault of Souls to crush you, or the Varden," said Galbatorix. "It was a bold attempt, but nothing more."

The two pairs stared each other down for a time. Suddenly, Galbatorix calmed down again and spoke.

"It's Link, is it? The cheeky one?" Galbatorix asked. The shadowed figure stood to its feet.

"What's it to you?" Link asked, curious at the shadowed figure.

"Oh, not much, really. It's just that my friend here seems to know you. Perhaps you have met before?"

Galbatorix stood back so that Link could get a good look at the shadowed figure. The figure was breathing heavily, its enormous chest heaving up and down. Finally, the figure stepped out of the shadow. Link was speechless.

"Hello, Link," said Ganondorf. "It appears we meet again."


A/N: Heh… R&R.