Sarah: Shout outs to Kitty (the guest...person...thing) I like your choice of name!
Ellie: And High Guardian, THAT'S RIGHT, GO ELLIE!
Meg: Also, Kyolover125, thanks so much for being here from the beginning!
Rebecca and Brooke: Next people who review will be gratituded by us!
Ellie: Is that a word?
Sarah: It is now!
"Where there is desire there is gonna be a flame, where there is a flame someone's bound to get burned. But just because it hurts doesn't mean we're gonna die," -P!nk
"Ellie, don't!"
"You won't help anything!"
"It's a stupid idea!"
"TRY AND STOP ME!"
Sarah, Rebecca, Brooke and Roran blocked the exit to the tent—a last defense should the fiery girl manage to disarm Eragon and Nasuada. "Ellie, Meg made the decision to impersonate me well aware that there was much at stake." Nasuada said calmly.
"I bet she didn't know she was going to get kidnapped!"
"Calm down! Be rational!" Eragon pleaded. "If you make a sound argument, I'll assist you in rescuing her."
"WHAT?!"
"Really?"
Everything became calmer. Ellie sat in a chair as far away from the exit as possible. Those who had been guarding the exit now sat in front of it on chairs while Nasuada and Eragon sat in front of Ellie.
"She's my best friend," she began. "If our places were switched she would have somehow managed to slip past you and defeat Galbatorix just to save me. I should be able to do the same for her.
"Despite the hard-core chick you think she is, Murtagh has somehow managed to make her love again. This puts her at risk for..."
"For what?" Eragon asked. Roran looked equally confused, but at least Nasuada knew what she was referring to.
"Do you recall what that being said to us at Orik's coronation? He had said something about one of us being the mother or whatever. Well, Meg started having dreams or visions. In the first one, Galbatorix said that he thought she was the one who would be the mother and save his throne. In her other dream, she had given birth to Murtagh's son—who Galbatorix took away to become his heir."
"But we're about to lay siege upon Uru'baen, we could save Meg before she gives birth if she gets pregnant." Eragon pointed out, finding it strange to speak of Meg—whom he thought of as a sister—getting pregnant by his half-brother.
"Because the baby doesn't need to be born for Galbatorix to win, it just needs to be created." Ellie replied.
"I see why it's so important."
"I'll go," They looked to Sarah in surprise. "You need a scout. Maybe I could even sneak in and talk to her."
"Very well, I shall allow that," Nasuada said. "But I need you two here. We can not afford to have you captured."
Ellie stood abruptly and stormed out of the Pavilion to her tent where she promptly fell on to her bed and wept silently for her friend.
"Ellie? It's Eragon. Are you alright?"
"What do you think?" She growled, well aware that he had entered without her permission.
"I'm sorry, I know you want to go save her, but would she want that of you? Would you want that of her if you were in her place?"
"Of course not, but she needs this,"
"Does she?" She glared at him. "Or are you just trying to prove something?"
"I just...I want..." Frustration mingled with sorrow in her voice. "I'm scared for her."
"And you have every right," He agreed; but there was something else. He was hinting to something, she just didn't have the patience or the cleared mind. "Which is why I want you to come with me to Vroengard so that we can free Meg."
"What?" There was no surprise in her voice, she just purely did not understand what he had just said. So he explained.
When they had gone to Teirm for the first time and Eragon had had his fortune told by Angela, Solembum had added some curious phrases as well which was how he had discovered the steel used to make Brisingr under the Menoa Tree. He had also said that in his time of need, he would have to go to the Rock of Kuthain and open the Vault of Souls. Eragon had stumbled upon a passage in a book that said that the rock was in Vroengard, the old home of the riders.
"I just know that going there will have all the answers." Eragon said confidently, "It could gain us the advantage in this war."
"Have you spoken to Nasuada and Rebecca about it?"
"Of course, it took some persuasion but they agreed."
She sighed, "Are you sure? Because though it might get us an advantage, it could also cost us the war and Meg if we fail."
"I have never been more sure in my life." He replied hopefully, like a child wanting something desperately from his mother.
"Fine, when do we leave?"
"Tomorrow, before the sun comes up."
"Peachy."
"Come now, Heartless one, it is time to speak."
It was too cold to be Murtagh's bed. Loathing it, she opened her eyes to find she was on a stone slab, tied and gagged and was looking into the eyes of her captor, Galbatorix, "Ah, the sleepy one has finally woken. Good, I was afraid I would have to use less pleasurable means of waking you."
She glared at him.
"You are younger than I expected; though, to be honest, without the help of Murtagh's memories I would not know what to expect. You two had quite a thing then, 'tis a shame that it is all dust in the wind now.
"This is a place for truths to be told...and heard. I will tolerate no falsehoods.
"I have come to ask you a simple question, answer incorrectly and you will die. Will you, Mighty Heartless One, swear loyalty to me?"
He removed the gag and she burst out laughing, though he did not seem phased in the least. "O, how I wish it was true, Oath-breaker." She said, using the term she had picked up from Nasuada. "I wish you could kill me, but sadly, no one has had the guts to do so."
"And why is that?" He asked calmly.
"Because the heart that beats inside me now is more powerful than a thousand flames bursting from the belly of your dragon. If you kill me, that shell will explode and consume Uru'baen with it. You may survive, but your defenses, your loyal servants, your dragon will not."
He raised an eyebrow, "If that is so, why not kill yourself while you had the chance? Why stay here when you could have left?"
She scoffed, "Stories portrayed me as fearsome and heroic, not my vanity, no, never that. And why stay here? This is where the party is going to be. As for surrendering my life to you? I'm going to have to say no, try again later."
"As you wish," He said as though he was tsking her. "Murtagh, come, show yourself. You're being rude to our guest."
Shivic.
"He was reluctant to enter my services as well, but he has since become a most apt student. He has his father's talents, isn't that so?"
"Yes, sir," He replied mechanically.
"He surprised me when he killed old King Hrothgar on the Burning Plains. I didn't expect him to turn on his former friends with such eagerness, but then, Murtagh is full of rage and bloodlust, he is. He would tear out the throat of a Kull with his bare hands if I gave him the chance, and I have. Nothing pleases you so much as killing, now does it?"
The muscles in Murtagh's neck tensed, "No, sir,"
"Not even this woman?"
They were silent for several more minutes.
"You know, it's rude to ignore me, Heartless One. Murtagh, take up an iron." He did not move. "Ah, I see, old feelings have been rekindled. Tsk, tsk," With a word form the ancient language, Murtagh could no longer control his body.
He picked up a hot iron and pressed it against her arm. It hurt like heck, but she would not give him the satisfaction of hearing her scream. She mustered as much magic as possible and then began to drift—envisioned herself drifting.
Then, she was out. She literally exited her body in spirit form. It had taken her a long time to learn the technique, and she was no professional, but she wasn't going to let him think he could hurt her without a fight, er, a show. She smirked when Galbatorix looked confused as she appeared dead. "Strange, I thought she would last longer. I also thought she threatened to explode..."
Angrily, Meg grabbed the iron and bent it, hurling it into the corner. "I am stronger than you think!" She exclaimed, her voice disoriented and strange seeing as her body's lips did not move. "Pain does nothing!" She eased back into her body and blinked, murmuring as Galbatorix stormed out in thought, "Good luck."
"He will attempt to infiltrate your mind now, Meg," Murtagh whispered.
"How will I know what is reality if he does that?" She hissed.
"Don't worry, let me touch your mind so you know it's mine, every time he's about to start and every time he finishes toying with you, I'll let you know." He explained.
"Okay, go ahead," She said. "But, Murtagh? Don't actually dig around my head. There are things even you can't know and if you searched my entire head, you will go insane."
He nodded, brushed against his mind so she could remember what his touch felt like, then gently caressed her cheek. She leaned in to his touch and closed her eyes, dreaming that they were somewhere else, happy, free and together. "I love you," He whispered, recompense for what Galbatorix had tried to make him say.
"I love you, too."
"Brooke, are you alright?" Baldor asked as he entered their tents. She had been silent and cooped up in the tent since being confronted by Nasuada about Meg.
"Not really," she scoffed with a sad smile.
"What's bugging you, Stream?" He questioned, taking a seat beside her.
"It's Meg," Brooke explained. "When we came to Alagaesia, Meg and I were separated from Ellie, Rebecca and Sarah. Murtagh found us and we were able to go with him, and at night, when it was our shift to keep watch, we would talk about our dreams and hopes and our home. She would tell me all about her dream to be a mother, what she would do with them, their names, everything." She sighed. "It just kind of hit me harder than I thought to find out that the one thing she wants, she can't have."
"That's not true," He said, rubbing her back soothingly. "If we win, her curse will be broken and she will be able to bare children as every other woman in this land has the right to."
"Do you really think so?" She whispered, resting her head upon her shoulder.
"Of course I do,"
He could never tell her not to have hope.