Chapter Thirty-Six: Jierda

Keira felt called to wake, but by what she couldn't tell. She was so tired from travelling at such a furious pace – they all were. So why did she need to wake up? She could tell it wasn't morning.

It took a moment to realise that it was light which called her to wake. She opened her eyes, blinking blearily in the lamp-light. Who had lit a lamp?

Then she saw him.

Murtagh stood over her, gazing down at her with a tortured expression in his eyes.

"Murtagh?" said Kayra, wiping sleep out of her eyes, "Am I still dreaming?"

Murtagh shook his head wordlessly, and Keira felt a jolt of fear when she saw tears running down his cheeks. But his words, when he spoke, were quiet and even.

"I'm sorry, Keira," he said, "I never wanted this. Please remember that. I've been ordered to take you and your dragon back to the king."

Keira frowned at him, wondering why he didn't ask about the extra dragon. Then she realised that, in the dim light, the twin dragons sleeping side-by-side would be very hard to tell as two individuals, not one creature.

"I'm sorry," said Murtagh again, before grabbing her shoulders, lifting her gently but with an iron grip. Keira struggled, unable to break free. Then, a thought hit her.

What are you doing, Keira? You have help three metres away. Use it!

Keira opened her mouth and gave an ear-splitting scream, shrieking as loudly as she could until Murtagh slapped a hand over her mouth, effectively cutting it off.

But, of course, the damage was done. Tria was upright and awake in less than a heartbeat, the dragons a spilt-second behind.

"Murtagh!" cried Tria, halfway through stringing her bow already, "What are you doing – no, scratch that – what are you doing here?"

She cast the weapon aside and moved into the circle of light cast by the lamp.

"Tria, stay out of this," said Murtagh in a dead voice, "You have nothing to do with it. I just need your sister and her dragon. I'm taking them to the King."

-Not today, buddy,- growled Daine, lumbering up to stand behind Tria.

-Razi, stay out of sight, if you please,- Keira muttered out of the corner of her mind, -I don't want the king finding out there are two of you.-

-But…-

-Just do it!- growled Keira, struggling as Murtagh pulled her in front of and closer to him, making sure she didn't escape. His hand was still over her mouth. -Murtagh, I'm really sorry about this,- she said to the world in general before biting hard on the fingers across her face.

In the same instant, she kicked out and caught Murtagh in the shin, her fist catching his gut as well. This combination was, thankfully, enough to make Murtagh release his hold on her. Thankfully, because her next step would have been to knee a spot she really didn't want to.

She stumbled away from him and dodged behind her twin.

"He's all yours," she murmured in Tria's ear.

"Keira, please don't make this harder than it has to be," pleaded Murtagh, "I have to do this – I swore in the ancient language I would. I have no choice."

"Shut up and stand still. We're gonna try and change that," said Tria bluntly.

"Keira, please," said Murtagh again, before sighing. "Get out of the way, Tria. I only want your sister and her dragon; not to hurt you. But I will, if I have to, to get her."

"Just shut up and stand still for a moment!" Tria shouted back. Murtagh moved a few paces forward, reaching for his sword, but he stopped when Keira spoke up.

"Please, Murtagh," she said, her eyes wide and beseeching. "If this doesn't work, I'll… I'll… I'll come with you willingly."

That stopped everyone short. "You will?" called Murtagh. Keira nodded. "Very well," the male rider said, crossing his arms. Tria turned questioning, horrified eyes on her twin, who looked a little sick.

"This had better work, Tria," she hissed. Tria nodded silently, very aware of how much trust her sister had in her, to do this. She turned her gaze back to Murtagh, who was standing a little way away with his arms crossed over his chest, his expression somewhere between amusement and curiosity. Tria swallowed, took a deep breath and spoke.

"Jierda du malthinae sem huildr vor aptr!" she yelled, extending her right hand towards him. A burst of green magic spun itself out of her silver palm and slammed into Murtagh. Tria braced herself against the drain of energy, but it never got as bad as she imagined. The spell was finished soon, leaving Murtagh swaying but still on his feet. Keira looked from her twin to the red rider anxiously, biting her lip.

Tria shook her head. Surely that hadn't used enough energy? The spell literally translated into 'break the ties that hold him back', and Tria had spoken it, thinking of his oaths… the oath to capture Keira foremost on her mind.

"Murtagh?" she called, "Are you okay?"

The man shook his head, as if to clear it. "I think so," he said, "But I… something's… I don't know."

"What is it?" asked Keira, turning her gaze back to him, then looking at her sister again.

"I… I don't know how, but I don't need to… I am no longer bound to bring you back to the king, Keira," Murtagh said slowly, "I can feel as much. But I still… still need to find Eragon. It's strange. It's as if the king had never built on his orders."

The twins looked at each other.

"This is a problem," admitted Tria, "That spell was meant to break all the oaths. Why did it stop at the 'hunt Keira' one?"

-Maybe you're not strong enough,- suggested Daine.

-No,- argued Razi from the shadows, -if that were the case, the spell would have killed Tria, not just stopped.-

"Tria, what were you thinking about when you said this?" asked Keira suddenly. Tria considered.

"Um, mostly about the oath to capture you and Razi," she replied, "Why?"

"Well," said Keira slowly, as if still thinking it through, "What if this spell only breaks a single oath at a time, for whatever reason. And since Murtagh has sworn many different things…"

She trailed off, but everyone understood.

"So, what do we do now?" asked Tria, "We can't just do this again and again until he's free. I'm tired from just the once. Eragon was right when he said this spell was only to be used in emergencies."

"Well, what if it's like a web?" Keira asked. That sentence was so seemingly random that both dragons and Tria stared at her in surprise.

"Okay, this is so not the moment to be having a sanity lapse!" said Tria, frowning.

"Girls? Are you okay?" asked Murtagh. He obviously hadn't heard a word of the conversation.

"What if his oaths are like a web," repeated Keira impatiently, "With a central anchor? That is, if we undo the one in the middle, they'll all come undone."

There was a moment of silence, then Tria hugged her sister so tightly it hurt. "Yes!" she cheered, "Yes! Genius! Yes!"

Keira shoved her sister off her, gasping for air.

Tria turned back to Murtagh, who was still standing there looking lost, and said, "Kopa du malthinae!" That is, 'see the ties'. Instantly Murtagh appeared, to Tria's eyes, criss-crossed with black ropes of pulsating magic. Her seeing gift meant that the dimness of night was chased away and she could see everything perfectly. She examined the black magic ropes with a destructive eye, asking herself which one to cut to send the whole lot tumbling.

And there it was, a rope that twisted around Murtagh's chest and neck. Tria could see it plainly, could see the words spoken by Murtagh in the ancient language rippling across its surface; "I swear loyalty and obedience to King Galbatorix."

If she cut that one, all the other ties; 'I will find Eragon', 'I will not let them escape'; all became meaningless.

Tria gathered her strength, not to mention some of Daine's, and once again spoke her spell, focusing on that one oath.

"Jierda du malthinae sem huildr vor aptr!"

Tria literally saw the rope cut in half, and then fall. She saw the other bonds loosen and fall in a heap at Murtagh's feet. But the spell had cost her so much, she could no longer remain conscious. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and she collapsed over. Daine, who had lent all her strength to break this one very strong magical tie, was in a similar situation.

Keira watched her sister and Daine collapse and rushed to their sides, hoping and praying they were still alive. Then, to her horror, Murtagh went very pale and collapsed as well.

"What's happening?" she demanded of Razi, who lumbered out of the shadows to his sister's side. Thorn, standing forgotten behind Murtagh, blanched.

-Who are you?- he demanded of the light green dragon.

-Never mind that now,- said Razi impatiently, -Keira, go see if you can help Murtagh. These two are exhausted, not sick.-

Keira nodded and rushed to the side of the red Rider, kneeling next to him on the grass.

She placed a hand on his sheet-white forehead, trying to find what ailed him. He gasped and began to shiver violently.

"Tell me what's happening to you!" cried Keira desperately, "I can fix it if I know what's wrong!"

-He's reeling inside,- said Thorn, leaning over this girl whom his rider loved. -Somehow… somehow your sister's spell… it freed him of his allegiance to the king, but he's… he's…-

"He's in shock!" cried Keira, understanding in a heartbeat. He placed her left hand on his chest, her right still resting on his forehead. "Waise heill! Waise heill!"

Her magic flowed into him, taking nothing from her. Slowly, his breathing returned to normal and some of the colour returned to his face.

Keira breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the red dragon that huddled anxiously nearby.

"Watch him, tell me if he wakes?"

Thorn nodded his great head to her, and she, without waiting a second longer, rushed back to her sister. Muttering a few words over both Tria and Daine returned their energy and consciousness.

"Wha?" said Tria blearily, sitting up slowly. "Did we do it?"

"I think so," Keira replied, "But Murtagh went into shock when you removed the binds so suddenly. I had to heal him. He's still unconscious."

Tria glanced nervously at the still form that was Murtagh and then smiled. "He'll be fine. You healed him, after all."

Keira gave an anxious smile in return and Tria turned away to check that Daine was okay.

A sound behind her made Keira turn around. Murtagh was stirring, shaking his head in confusion and a little bit of amazement. He looked up, saw Keira watching him and slowly got to his feet. A glance at Thorn, and he was coming towards her. He caught her up in his arms and, as he had been yearning to for so long, hugged her tightly. Keira hugged him back, burying her face in his shirt and wondering if she was going to burst into tears. Overhead, Thorn and Razi sniffed at each other suspiciously.

Murtagh caught Keira's chin and tilted her head up so that her eyes met his. He opened his mouth to say something, but a quiet cough interrupted.

The in-love riders both looked at the cough's source, Tria. Tria was quite red, and, as they watched, leapt atop the unsaddled Daine.

"Goingforaflyseeyoulaterbye!" she said very quickly, and Daine took off, flapping away into the night sky, leaving before the really sappy stuff.

Murtagh chuckled a little, looking down at the girl he held in his arms. "Your sister is quite a character. Is she a Rider too?"

"Yes," said Keira, "That was Daine. This is Razi." She freed one hand to point at the dragon standing behind her.

"You freed me," said Murtagh, his eyes fixed on Keira's hazel ones. She blushed.

"Well, it was mostly Tria. She came up with the idea and said the spell and all."

"I'll have to thank her later," said Murtagh, his voice holding amusement. "But either way, I'm free."

"You're free," repeated Keira. "You're free."

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A/N: Twin1: Right. We'll leave it there. Mostly because Twin2 couldn't stomach a sappy reunion scene. She's already just about lost her lunch over this one.

Twin2: GACK! Romance! HURL!!

Twin1: Yes, yes, we get it. You hate romance. Well, anyway, you'll be pleased to know that now, not only have we saved Murtagh, but you will also get your happy, cheerful Keira back and sappiness, which has been reaching alarming highs these last few chapters, with now go way down. I promise!

Twin2: It's actually for my sake, not yours.

Twin1: So, as for this scene here… um, just imagine your own, okay? But remember the rating, people. Keep it clean! And also, if Murtagh knows certain… stuff where we pick the story up, just suppose Keira has already told him it, okay? That'll save me trawling through 104 pages to figure what he knows and what he doesn't. Anything to add, Twin2?

Twin2: Only HURL COUGH COUGH GACK YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!

Twin1: *Dramatic sigh* What a wuss…

Twin2: *makes inappropriate hand gesture* Step closer to me and say that!

Twin1: No thankyou.